Caray, Caray!

I thought I saw a familiar face from Porque El amor manda
Maximo Valtierra of Orion is Ramiro de la Garza, one of the big shot govt men in Cielo.
The actor is Juan Ignacio Aranda.
 

People en Español los bellos

Rafael Amaya is one of them

http://www.peopleenespanol.com/gallery/los-mas-bellos-detras-de-camaras?xid=pespdaily05042013
 

Lots of good stuff in this episode. Here are some of the highlights for me.

I confess that I was surprised and somewhat appalled when Ximena asks her father to set Heriberto straight about what's right and wrong, and Don Cleto advises him that it's best not to tell women everything, especially when it comes to the business. He then goes on to tell Heriberto quite proudly that he (Don C) was 12 years old when he started transporting drugs across the border, and Heriberto looks at him with immense admiration.

Meanwhile, Aurelio calls Mónica. She's taling with Guadalupe, so she pretends that it's Roxana calling, and she leaves to go see "her." They get into some hot and heavy sex. She asks whether he's going to leave Ximena. He tells her that Ximena is pregnant, and he can't and doesn't want to leave her. However, he continues, he wants to be with Mónica, but under "conditions." Apparently, she and he both understand that he means she would be his mistress. She says she never thought that she'd agree to such an arrangement, but she will, under one condition: he has to promise that there will be no other women besides Ximena and her.
He promises, but I suspect we all know how likely he is to carry out that promise.

Later, after Mónica is back home with Guadalupe, Roxana arrives, and it's clear that she hasn't just seen Mónica. Guadalupe realizes that Mónica has lied to him. She admits that she has been with Aurelio. Guadalupe is furious, both because Aurelio is his enemy and because he feels that in sleeping with Aurelio, Mónica is humiliating him (Guadalupe), perhaps deliberately. Mónica tells Guadalupe that he's not her boss; he can't tell her what to do. Moreover, she's not sleeping with Aurelio to humiliate Guadalupe but because she wants Aurelio. However, if there's ever strong evidence that Aurelio was responsible for Isidro's death, she will kill him.

Meanwhile, Aurelio and Chacorta have gone to Colombia. Don Oscar tells Aurelio he has found some excellent pilots for him. One turns out to be a woman, Soccoro Gonzalez, and not surprisingly, she's the one Aurelio chooses to pilot the plane for the current shipment of drugs. Indeed, he starts hitting on her while she's piloting the plane. So much for his promise to Mónica.

She lands the plane, and they're told it will take two hours to load the drugs. Aurelio is a little disappointed that he won't have more time to "talk stategy" with Soccoro. As it happens, however, he has a lot less time than he thinks. Almost immediately he and she are surrounded by about twenty guerrilas, members of the Colombian Revolutionary Army, who tell them that the plane and the drugs are now the C.R.Army's property. Aurelio offers to negotiate. The Army takes them to their encampment, and Aurelio offers to negotiate with their leader, but says he first needs to make a phone call. He calls Chacorta and tells him very quickly to have Norteño come with lots of money, because things have gotten complicated. He doesn't have time to say more before the phone is taken away from him.
He then explains to the leader that the drugs they've seen are just a very small part of a much larger operation, and Aurelio would like him to be part of this.

Meanwhile, Chacorta has called Norteño and told him to come to Colombia with money, men, and arms. [I tried to post one more paragraph but was told my message was too long.]


 

Here's the paragraph I had to cut:

There's lots more, but I'm running out of time, so I'll just mention that Marco Mejia and Jiménez Arroyo have come to Colombia to seek advice from the Colombians about combatting the narcotraficantes, since the narcos in Mexico are using tactics similar to the ones used in Colombia. The Colombians welcome them and put at their disposal one of their best agents, Leo Ballesteros, who was involved in bringing down Pablo Escobar. Marco is waiting for Ballesteros when a woman comes into the room. He tells her that he's waiting for agent Leo Ballesteros, to which the woman replies "A sus órdenes. Soy Leonor Ballesteros." (I wonder whether Aurelio will try to hit on her as well.)
 

Great start Juanita, gracias

Aurelio will hit on anything female & reasonably good looking.

Apparently that's FARC in the jungle.

Cleto is one of the better bad guys but unfortunately there are no good role models for a joven.

Bill C, drop by & say hola, we miss you.
 

Fabulous job Juanita! I just finished watching my recording.

Yeah, Aurelio's "promise" to Monica didn't last too long, but nor did his wedding vows to Ximena. Granted, he promised Monica there would be no strippers or 4th rate actresses. She said nothing about pilots. :)

And we get another hottie in Agent Leo. Looked to me like she'll be temptation for Marco. But yeah, if Aurelio ever gets a look at her, he's sure to be all over her. He's already sleeping with one enemy (Monica), why not sleep with another (an agent/cop)?

We saw one reason why Tijeras may have gotten his nickname, and it's not his half sheared look! I don't know why these minions betray their bosses when they know their bosses are psychopaths. The music agent was being quite stupid too, threatening to call the cops about getting shot in the knee...and now he's dead.

I thought Guadalupe took learning Monica and Aurelio are lovers very well. He actually did seem more hurt about the disrespect Monica was showing him (something she wouldn't have done to Isidro), than angry.
 

I was also annoyed, but not surprised, by Cleto's little man-to-man talk with H-berto. It seems like Ximena is fighting a losing battle all around. She still seems to be contemplating an abortion, but I really don't think she'll do it. And if she did, I think Aurelio would kill her.

Variopinta- It was funny to see "Max" from PEAM pop up as the president's cousin in Cielo. At least he's not smoking like a chimney here.

I also watched the episode before this last one, and was quite disturbed by the sick relationship between Chacorta and Matilde. Those two deserve each other.
 

Tks Vivi for explaining Ramiro's position. Is he corrupt? Who are the other 2 he was talking to?
 

I really doubt Matilde is going to make it out of this TN alive, she really lives on the edge.
 

Thanks so very much, Juanita. Excellent recap.

This was a very exciting episode, with lots of character development.

I was also disappointed with Don Cleto's "guidance" of his grandson. It apparently never occurred to him that the boy could lead a different sort of life.

That was one HOT scene with Aurelio and Mónica. It was interesting that, after she agreed to be only the amante, when her back was turned to him, her eyes filled with tears.

Guadalupe is an idiot. He's right about who killed Isidro of course, but his attitude toward his sister verges on incestuous jealousy and annoys me.

The "revolutionaries" that are out for money are much like the ones in Pablo Escobar and La Mariposa. They appear to be trying to get money for "the cause" but the leaders mostly line their own pockets.

I was liking El Turco a lot until he decided to have the poor gay manager killed for refusing to work with crazy, no-talent Mathilde.

I expect Carmen Villalobos to bring a lot to this novela. I've liked her in everything I've seen her in.
 

Juanita - thanks much for the recap. I have to admit I turned the channel several times when Tijeras was practicing his interrogation techniques!

Don Cleto's chat with his grandson had all the flavor of a chapter from the Godfather. It definitely surprised (and impressed) Heriberto. Since the estupido seems determined to join the family firm, Cleto's advice to tell Ma nada is actually good.

Matilde and Chacorta - what a tag team! He shot the poor guy in the knee, and then Matilde, who lit the short fuse, has the gall to say she was joking (!) about the guy hitting on her. No remorse, no guilt, no 'sorry about that!'

And Turco showed his true colors when he had the poor guy smothered. He's ruthless when it comes to cleaning up the brothers' messes. I have the feeling that under the polished, educated exterior, he's another murdering thug.

I couldn't believe AC told Monica about Ximena's pregnancy. Even though Monica would find out about it sooner or later, AC has given her plenty of lead time to arrange an 'accident' that might cause Ximena to have a miscarriage.

Guadalupe looked to me like he's far from finished with the AC/Monica relationship. I think he's still trying to put together a plan to kill AC, and the affair with Monica will be an impetus for him to do something.

Doris, fresh from her drugged up kidnapping yesterday, looked wide awake and ready for more subterfuge with Emma the next morning.

Beth
 

Beth, you're right! It was amazing how quickly Doris recovered from barely escaping the jaws of death. She reminds me of Lady Macbeth in that she's always goading Arroyo to climb the ladder of success, in the most devious way possible.
 

Lupe said he would kill AC if he found out Monica & he were getting it on a while ago.
 

Variopinta- That's why I was expecting a more explosive reaction from him, so I was surprised that most of his reaction was about being hurt by Monica's lack of respect for him. Of course he may still quietly plot to kill Aurelio.
 

Juanita:

You are very, very good at this -- you should do it more often!*

*In the department of no good deed goes unpunished

Anyway, thank you very much for an excellent summary of this episode. I can understand why the torture scene didn't make your final 'cut' -- Like Beth, I found it was unwatchable. (In fact I had earlier given up on this show because of a torture scene but decided to give the novela another try after listening in on your conversations here.)

Novelera, we think alike. I've been thinking of the colonel and his wife as the Macbeths for some time now.

Aurelio shows why he is the alpha male in that scene in the jungle. He talks his way out of what appears to be certain doom, in the process allying himself with the leader and humiliating the underlings (really the sapos who led the guerillas to him); he protects Socorro when the others want to take her away and do lord knows what with her; and he manages to get the word to Lassie to get help.

BTW, I realized that the actor, Rafael Amaya, has made me forget entirely about his "Güero Dávila", and his psychopathic "Julián". At first his norteño accent seemed fake to me here, but at this point I've bought into it completely. He seems to be inhabiting this role, really owning it.
 

Great recap, Juanita! I've been in Brooklyn taking care of my twin baby grandsons (22 months old) with my wife, and haven't been able to comment yet, but I've enjoyed reading all of the comments. The boys are napping now, so here's my chance. I greatly enjoyed the episode, with all the tough guy moves (silencing the manager, putting "pressure" on the Colombian snitch (Dobladillo?) to see who he was helping besides the now dead Jairo). Just as in Pablo Escobar and similar shows, the bosses don't dirty their hands with this stuff, but they have henchman who don't bat an eye in carrying out what's necessary. It's part of the nature of their sordid line of work. Don Cleto's advice to Heriberto is, too. If he were to tell his innocent mother or in the future, some innocent or not battle hardened professional girlfiend the truth, it could be fatal, as much as this upsets those of us with more normal lives. As it is, these guys have limited runs on top, and it's fascinating to watch Aurelio climb the mountain, avoiding problems with ruthlessnessness and cunning.

With the new agent Leonor, Marco may also have problems with Eugenia, especially if Leonor and he are both in some life threatening situation, where their normal professionalism gets strained by powerful emotions. Since Angelica Celaya and Carmen Viillalobos are two of my favorite actresses, I'm getting very jealous of the guy who plays Marco right now :)
 

I almost liked Tijera. But no. Not now that we see how he really got the name. Maybe that also explains his comfort in his masculinity that allows him to dress like he does. He'll fit right in in South Beach, Miami. I almost could have appreciated Chacorta but not after seeing how completely insane he and Matilde are together. And Turco! My heart hurt after that scene. Leaving, what, 2 decent men in all of (viewable) Mexico? Marco and the intern cop. Sigh.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo everyone. I realize most of Mexico doesn't care, but lucky for the tequila industry, we're willing to celebrate anyone else's holiday if it includes good food and drink. Salud!

Kelly
 

I thought they celebrated big anything in Mex, but I guess a winning battle over the French, not so much, except maybe in Puebla.
All the Mex restaurants & bars go big in Ft Lauderdale, but we don't need a whole lot of incentive. The French didn't have us for very long.
 

And now that I've been able to catch up with the show (God, why can't I be unemployed and rich?):

Ramiro de la Garza, cousin of the President, turning out to be corrupt...at this stage I'm not that surprised he's in bed with Huerta and General Castro and thus, I'm assuming, los Robles. But damn--they've basically set it up so that, with the possible exception of the still unnamed Secretary of the Interior, everybody between Marco's unit-in-progress and the President is dirty. Seriously, show? (Daniel Jimenez Arroyo's Lex Luthor-like ass probably counts double for this.)

Aurelio sweet-talking both Ximena (well, trying to) and Monica, and then turning right around and macking on Socorro the pilot is similarly unsurprising, if more plausible. Much like Sonny Corinthos, he can't keep it in his pants--and he's kryptonite to the women he meets as well. I kind of hope the FARC-ish guys wing him in the upcoming dustup, though tying them to doomed Jairo was a little odd.

And Chacorta and Matilde...deserve each other. Punto.

Monica desperately, desperately, needs a transfusion of dignity. Or should that be sanity? Not that Fernanda Castillo isn't rocking the crazy, but wow...similarly, I guess, Guadelupe needs some downers. Or to hook up with Roxana, who may actually be the sanest person in his orbit.

And is anybody else irrationally irritated that Telemundo didn't advertise this show at all WRT El Cartel?
 

This has been a very busy weekend for me, and I haven't been able to get back here until now. Many thanks to everyone who said nice things about my mini recap. And, once again, many thanks to everyone who commented about the telenovela. I couldn't be watching it without this wonderful community.

It's Monday morning, and I've gotta run.
 

Bill- Good to see you here again! Are employed now? I'm happy for you, but sad for us since you won't be able to give us those great detailed recaps each day.

It just means the rest of us will have to step up to the plate, like Hombre and Juanita have done. Unfortunately, I usually fall behind watching this during the week, othewise I'd happily provide mini-caps too. I'll also have to start paying attention and remembering the names, which you do so well.

Variopinta- Bill answered your question about the name of the President's cousin (Max from PEAM), and the other two guys' names.

I have been wondering about Roxana. Bill, you're right that she seems the sanest one of the Robles bunch, and pretty sane in general. I wonder why she divorced Isidro, since there still seemed to be much love and respect on both their parts for each other. The family still cares for her and trusts her. How did she manage to get away and now live a fairly normal life? I would say this could be a model for a post-divorce Aurelio and Ximena, except that Ximena is much more tied to that life since her dad is also a crime boss, and she and Aurelio have kids that they share.
 

Novela Maven
"BTW, I realized that the actor, Rafael Amaya, has made me forget entirely about his "Güero Dávila", and his psychopathic "Julián". At first his norteño accent seemed fake to me here, but at this point I've bought into it completely. He seems to be inhabiting this role, really owning it."

Rafael was born in Sonora, so I think his norteño accent is natural unless norteño is a different area of Mex.
 

How interesting that we're having this discussion on accents. I posted about the new 7pm tn starting next Monday on Uni, and Jarocha (our amiga in Mexico) commented when someone wondered about the accent that will be used. This is what she said about the norteño accent and its use in tns:

"They should actually all have accents in this novela and in others taking place in northern areas of Mexico (like PEAM or La Fuerza del Destino). The local accents in the central, coastal and southern areas can be lighter or even not really be heard on some people depending various circumstances(like education, social status, etc.) but in the north pretty much everybody has a heavy accent, it doesn't matter if you are rich or poor or if you went to college or have graduate studies. Also, northern accents are very sticky, you spent four days over there and you start speaking like them."

 

Here are some of the things I remember from last night's (super exciting!) episode.

Aurelio is being held, along with Soccoro in an outdoor cage prison by Macario, the revolutionary guy, and Pumbo and his buddy, some drug guys. Pumbo wants to take the plane, the drugs, and just kill Aurelio and the girl. But Macario thinks maybe they'll negotiate. He allows Aurelio to call Turco. Turco, fresh from finishing off that recording studio manager and scaring Alejandrito (but now in Colombia), says we've got $2 million ready. Macario wants $5 million. So no deal.

Meanwhile, Cabo and Oscar get the location of the kidnappers from Dobladillio. Now that he's talked, Cabo is going to kill him, but Chacorta wants the honor. Chacorta tells Dobladillio, I pardon you. You're free to go. Thanks, says the guy. Chacorta then KILLS him.

The paramilitary guys are at some river, and the Colombians and Mexicans all advance towards the camp. They'll wait 5 more minutes to see if Turco made a deal, since it's very risky to attack an army. Turco is now in a church, talking to a priest who is connected to Macario. There's no deal. Here comes the shooting. The priest says, wait, we WILL deal. Too late.

Somehow, the camp is overrun. The guard outside the cage is shot, and Aurelio reaches under, pull out his machine gun, and shoots a lot of people. He also shoots the lock off, and he and Soccorso creep out. They're ducking down when a military guy takes aim, and fires. But Norteno jumps in between and takes the bullet. He dies in Aurelio's arms, begging him to care for his family.

Aurelio then jumps up, and after some shooting, has Macario at the point of a rifle. Now, Macario DOES want to negotiate! Aurelio's okay, but wants payback against Pumbo and his friend, who are fleeing. The friend is killed, and Aurelio ends up being talked down from killing Pumbo (for now).

So there's going to be business with the paramilitary guys and the Mexicans. Back in Mexico, Arroyo hears about this. Marco has been introduced to Leonor, who at first doesn't want to join the team, since she already guesses Arroyo might be dirty. But she decides to go along, and they're even going to Mexico to fight the druglords. Arroyo tells Doris he's worried about this, but Doris says to get Marco mixed up with Leonor, that'll help. And it does look as if Marco's professionalism could be tested.

Aurelio is back at Oscar's place, is just about to get his "reward" from Soccorso for saving her, when Monica shows up! She came down to Colombia on her own, and Aurelio is not going to be happy about this.

And Ximena won't be happy with Matilda, who gets drunk, takes Heriberto out, and later, start smoking marijuana in front of him. So far, she isn't letting him smoke, but.......
 

Thanks, Hombre! This was an exciting episode.

"Somehow, the camp is overrun."

True. And remember that Chacorta lobs a grenade at the guerillas.

What does everyone think about the guerilla leader's accent? He sounds European to me although his Spanish is impeccable. Am I making things up?
 

Thanks, Hombre, I've been out of town and going again tomorrow, but I'm trying to stay on top of this crazy drug-war. I think the funniest thing you said was :"They'll wait 5 more minutes... since it's very risky to attack an army."

I actually thought Matilde had teased Heriberto in the most inappropriate manner for a family member. Yuck!

I hate hate hate the gross violence and often have to turn my head, but from what I've read and seen documented, it's actually quite mild compared with what these guys really do.

Interesting the parallels with Leo & Socorro playing against stereotype. Of course, FARC has its share of gun-toting women. I think it's a no-brainer that AC will get it on with Socorro, and I can't believe Marco won't succumb in the clinches.

That poor taxi driver in Cali looked scared $hitless when Monica told him where she was going. I hope he gets out of there alive after he deposits her maleta. And I hope she tips him good.

Oh, and muchas gracias to you and all the others (Juanita, Bill) for filling in the blanks and coming up with such interesting and original topics for discussion.
 

Muchos gracias, Hombre. Thanks so much for your recap. I saw that you also did one for La Patrona. So, a big double thank you is in order.

Most of these characters are hard core sociopaths who don't deserve a milli-second of sympathy, but I have to admit I felt a moment of sadness when Norteno died in Aurelio's arms asking AC to take care of his family.

The look on Aurelio's face was priceless when Monica showed up. Her timing was perfect. As someone said yesterday, Monica told AC 'no strippers or prostitutes' but never mentioned pilots, so technically she shouldn't have anything to complain about. I guess there will be fireworks tonight.

This show is addictive - no pun intended. I wonder how close the writers are keeping to the real life events and how much is fiction. No matter which, the story certainly keeps your (my) attention. The addition of the priest as go between (and spiritual advisor?) for the rebels is intriguing and most probably very true.

Beth
 

Thanks, Hombre, terrific recap of an action packed episode.

Chacorta almost got wasted by El Cabo, not a guy you want to piss off, when he basically disparaged the manhood of the Colombians who were not excited about raiding a camp full of FARC guys.

I thought Jimenez-Arroyo had a gleam in his own eye about Leo Ballesteros. He certainly was suggestive in that wine snob scene with Marco. But later he hinted to Lady Macbeth that he thought Marco might stop being such a Boy Scout and go for Leonor.

LXV, you are SO right about Mathilde's behavior with Heriberto. That woman is incapable of being within 20 yards of anything with a Y chromosome and not trying to seduce him. Doña Alba was very unhappy they left together.

NovelaMaven, I didn't notice anything about Macario's accent except that I'm still focused on the differences between the norteño accent from México and the Antiochia/Medellín Colombian accent. I read somewhere that they don't use the "voseo" everywhere in Colombia, but our narcos seem mostly to use it and to be from Antiochia.
 

Thanks so much Hombre. They really move these plot points along, don't they. Neither Monica's nor Aurelio's kidnappings lasted more than 1-2 episodes!

A little pot and seduction of H-berto, huh? So even her nephew isn't sacred to Matilde? Not a surprise since she tried to have him killed along with his sister and mom.
 

Muchas gracias, Hombre, for another superb recap. I chuckled over your "somehow, the camp is overrun." I don't know who in the production crew is responsible for the balaceras, but they've seemed pretty amateurish. The good bad guys (henceforth GBGs) simply come running out in the open, guns ablazing, and they succeed in knocking off one bad bad guy after another without ever suffering a serious injury themselves. It's true that at least this time Norteño was killed, but he basically put himself in the line of fire.

Aside from the gunfights, another beanie moment for me was when Dobladillo managed to speak on the phone and sound pretty normal in spite of his face (and the rest of him) having been beaten to a pulp.

Beanie moment #3: Marco enters his hotel room in Colombia, tries to turn on the light, and doesn't get suspicious or alarmed when it doesn't work, nor when none of the other lights work. Hasn't he watched any of these narco telenovelas?

Though I don't think this counts as a beanie moment, I was quite surprised when Cabo led the charge when the GBGs go to attack the guerilla camp. Just a short time earlier, Cabo was arguing strongly against such an attack, claiming it was bound to fail. I can understand his nonetheless going with the others once it was decided that they'd go, but why is Cabo out in front? Was he forced to be out in front as punishment for not initially being supportive? Did he just want to prove his manhood in spite of his earlier doubts about the attack? Had he put on weight and just needed to burn some extra calories? (Am I beginning to identify with him?)

Novelera, I too thought Jiménez Arroyo had a gleam in his eye when he looked at Leo B.

I thought Mónica looked even more gorgeous than usual when she arrives at Don Oscar's.
 

Starting tomorrow, I'll be traveling for almost a week, and I may not be able to keep up with the episodes, so I thought I'd offer some thoughts about last night's episode.

It seems clear that Aurelio can't control his, um, impulses, when it comes to good-looking women. Mónica clearly is not happy when Aurelio introduces her to Socorro in Colombia. Mónica won't even shake hands or reply to Socorro's "Mucho gusto." If looks could kill, Socorro would be dead. Since looks can't kill, Mónica has to resort to a pistol instead. In the plane the next day, Aurelio has Socorro turn on the automatic pilot setting. He also assures her not to worry about Mónica's cold reception; according to Aurelio, she's all bark and no bite. Oops, guess again, Aurelio.

I don't know how Mónica managed to get on the plane without anyone seeing her, but she did. She interrupts Aurelio and Socorro as they're getting it on, and Mónica shoots Socorro. There then ensues some rather tense moments, both about whether Socorro will die and whether the very inexperienced co-pilot can make an emergency landing on a very short landing strip. One of Aurelio's men claims that Socorro has died, but Aurelio applies CPR and all the gunshot wound skills he has apparently learned and revives Socorro and the plane makes a safe landing.

Meanwhile, Marco too is having women problems. Eugenia meets Marco and Leo Ballesteros briefly and is upset that Marco doesn't introduce her as more than just "Eugenia." A short time later, we learn that both Marco and Leo like to go to the gym every morning, and Leo suggests that perhaps they can exercise together--that is, if Eugenia won't be upset. Why should she be upset, asks the apparently clueless Marco. Leo gives him a "duh?" look and spells it out for him: why didn't you introduce her to me as your esposa, novia, pareja, or whatever? What are you afraid of, her or me?

Those were the highlights I recall most clearly from last night's episode. Oh, there was also Ximena's catching Mathilde encouraging Heriberto to try her marijuana cigarette. Ximena threatens to send Heriberto to a "correccional" if he again uses drugs, and she also takes him to have a talk with Don Cleto. To my surprise, this time Don Cleto supports Ximena and reminds Heriberto that we sell drugs, we don't use them. However, he's also the loving abuelo, and he gives Heriberto a ring that his (Don C's) father had given him. I suspect that this will prove significant at some time in the future.

One more observation: I LOVE Aurelio in the red shirt he wore in last night's episode.
 

Tks a lot Juanita, enjoy your trip.

Monica is one mujer loca. If I was going to shoot anyone it would have been Aurelio NOT the pilota.
 

Juanita, your "thoughts" are actually a complete recap! You noticed all the same things I did. Great job!

Marco's reply as to whether he's scared of Leo or Eugenia was something like "oh, I just want to keep work and my personal life separate". Oh, really? He and Leonor were also both great marksmen with pistols on the practice range. I like Carmen Villalobos's new short straight hair, proving she's a tough cop.

Chacorta ordered Matilde to be sent to Colombia (where he is), to get her away from Heriberto.

The emergency landing is not where they want to be. Aurelio has called for a new pilot, since Socorro has to recuperate. Good thing Aurelio was able to "bring her back". I sort of think we won't be seeing her character much more, but I hope I'm wrong.

Just like on La Patrona where there was an unplanned pregnancy, Ximena's getting lots of heat (from Alba) for even THINKING of not having that baby.

Aurelio is so mad at Monica now, it's off the charts. It's understandable since she both shot Socorro and endangered all of them. He basically never wants to see Monica again, although whether this will last beyond one episode remains to be seen.

Guadalupe slapped Monica. Big mistake. Apparently, some women can be slapped, like Matilde, but Monica told Guad if you touch me again, you're dead. She also wants to be more involved in the business strategy.

Interesting that Socorro was ALSO married, but that wasn't going to stop her from a dose of Aurelio's magic.

Those corrupt officials at the top are hoping Aurelio falls, since they back the Robles. Don't think they'll have much luck. Danny Arroyo seems to have picked the better drug family to be corrupt with.
 

Juanita, what a beautifully written resumé of the episode! Thank you! And have a wonderful week!

Actually, Hombre, Socorro admitted to Aurelio that she made up a husband on the spot when she realized where crazy, jealous Monica was coming from. And Aurelio complimented her on her quick thinking.
 

Was Lupe po'ed that Monica hitched a ride?

I doubt drug planes file flight plans, seems a little dangerous to put it on auto pilot.
 

Matilde was the best part of last night. Not where she's tries to get the kid to smoke pot, but when she's outside in her not-suitable-for-Univision bikini, Turco tells her to go pack since she's going to Colombia, and she saunters away but turns around to make sure Turco is watching her walk away and then laughs. So did I. She's a horrible person but so funny to watch.

Aurelio on the other hand is an idiot. He's up in the cockpit making out with the pilot? That's not safe because 1.Even on autopilot shouldn't someone be watching things? and 2.Monica, who is even more scary than an unmanned airplane. How could he not know she was there? 727s aren't that big. She should have shot him. He deserves it.

At least we don't have any of the usual lead sweet-as-cupcakes type of women here. Although I hope Ximena tells Alba to kiss off.

Kelly
 

Safe travels Juanita and thanks for the summary. Oh man! Sounds like I really need to watch this episode. Hopefully I'll actually have time this weekend to catch up.
 

Juanita, thanks a million for your recap. I missed part of last night's episode so was grateful for knowing what happened in the first 15 minutes or so.

Aurelio was cussing up a storm when Mad-as-a-Hatter Mónica shot THE PILOT in a 747. I know what they're bleeping out, but I wish they'd just let them say it. I think they use the words because when they show it in Colombia they don't have to bleep.

So Mónica sneaked on the plane and Aurelio didn't know she was aboard? Again, didn't see the beginning of the episode.

I'm so over Guadalupe. I wish Mónica would plug him.

Oh, and last night our boy Lupe put a classy (not) move on his brother's ex-wife/widow. They said once he's also older than Mónica, but I'd guess he was younger (and stupider) than Isidro and is trying to over-compensate now when he just doesn't have the talent to run a cartel.
 

Muchas gracias a todos for your kind words.

Novelera, if you want to see what you missed at the start of the episode, you can go to the Telemundo web site at http://msnlatino.telemundo.com/novelas/El_Senor_de_los_Cielos. They make the last five days of episodes available on their website. There are a few ads, but a lot fewer than when I watch it on TV.

I should add that I don't think it's ever explained how Mónica managed to get on board the plane without anyone noticing. It's especially puzzling because, as Kelly noted, it's not that big a plane. Oh well, more work for my beanie.
 

I get so bleeping angry when they bleep out what people say. What are we, children that could never have heard those words? Any 7 yr old has heard them.
If you have a chance, watch George Carlin's 7 words you can't say on TV.
Every nice word or combo of words is 100 times worse than those 7 words. & it is hysterical.

I think the reason they don't use Amado Carrilo's real name is that they didn't know a whole lot about him & have to embellish for the TN, unlike Pablo Escobar. There were rival narcotraficantes but I doubt there was anything like Monica.

Was La Reina del sur based on a true
drug dealer?
 

La Reina was based on the book by Arturo Perez Rivera. Good book and I'm sorry I missed the show. But totally agree about all the bleeping. How are we supposed to learn to swear properly if they keep doing that? I mean "infeliz" and "maldita sea" only get one so far.

Kelly
 

I learned muchos bad words in Spanish way before I started to study it. Amazing how those word stick
 

Just thought I'd add that as far as I know, Arturo Pérez-Reverte's novel "La Reina del Sur," on which the telenovela was based, is pure fiction.
 

Miércoles:

Now that the problems with the paramilitary guys are solved, Aurelio wants to give up a "big fish" to Arroyo. It's not hard for him to decide - Pombo, the Colombian drug guy who dissed AC. A shipment of drugs is sent to Mexico (I think), with Pombo in charge. Marco and Leonor are given the exact location, and they dress up in homeless outfits to wait for the transfer. The truck pulls up, the drugs are there, so is Pombo, but he spies Marco and shooting starts. Marco is just about to get hit when Leo steps out to shoot, to cover him. But SHE gets hit! The cops catch all the drug guys, including Pombo. Arroyo gets another feather in his cap. But Leo, who was hit on the side of the head, is in a coma.

Meanwhile, Aurelio surprises Ximena and family (they thought he was an attacker) with a mariachi band! Yes, it's very sweet. No, he can't move back in. He explains to little Rutila this is still his house, he just has travel a lot for business for a while.

A number of months pass. During this time, Ximena's baby is born. Ximena sort of laid down the law to Aurelio, any babe except Mónica. And AC's been okay with this. He kisses Ximena, can we have sex now? No, she just wants to wait another week or so. So it's off to the bar for him, where he sees a cute young lady and orders her a bottle of champagne. But wait! Here come the sexiest pair of legs I've seen in a long time. Yes, it's Mónica. Despite the fact that AC hated her and he was forbidden to be with her, in two minutes their in the ladies' room, getting it on!

Roxana, Isidro's widow (was also divorced before he died) has money problems. Mónica doesn't seem to help. But Guadalupe is much friendlier. Unfortunately, he wants sex in return, and Roxana resists, but Guad, the bum, apparently forces her into it.

There's a big meeting of the new Eastern Cartel (I could have that wrong). Don Cleto is sort of running things, but also gives lots of credit to Aurelio. There are two new guys, Topo and Pollo. After the meeting, Aurelio tells Chacorta and Lucas that he's going to kill every member of the cartel, one by one, and then he'll be king. What about Don Cleto? He'll kill him, too! Chacorta doesn't think Ximena will like that (it's her father). Well, she doesn't have to know, replies our wonderful hero.

Matilda's new disc is out, and it actually sounds good! I'm guessing there was a lot of autotune and studio sonic massaging to fix it up. And she's back in Mexico. Heriberto has a pal who's Dad can get Monica some exposure. I have a feeling though, that if she sings in public, it won't be as good as the disc. We'll see. And she's getting too close to Heriberto again!

Eugénia was really down in the dumps about Marco's being so close to Leo. But then Leo got into that coma, and Eugénica and Marco have been closer. Now Leo's out of the coman, and Marco has a new mission. She asks, with "her"? I guess so, he replies. Uh oh.
 

Tks Hombre
I'm going to have to watch again,I can't figure out who is who.
One guy ran, I think one of the original FARC guys, then someone held a gun to his head. Who is he & who held the gun to his head?
 

Variopinta, Pombo was the guy who ran. Yes, he was one of the FARC guys when Aurelio and Socorro were held captive. But, as has been shown more than once in narco novelas, the "revolutionaries" also run drugs, justifying this by saying they need to raise money for "the cause".

Pombo was also kind of crazy, wanting to kill Aurelio. And he was the one who killed Norteño, so AC really wanted to give him up on a silver platter.

I thought it was interesting that they made such an evil guy gay. Some other "revolutionaries" came to tell him the drugs were ready to be loaded, and he calmly got out of bed with his male lover. From what I can recall of the novelas I've seen, that's the first evil gay guy. They're usually sweet and sidekicks to one of the protagonists.
 

Ya know, if you want to get back in your wife's good graces, killing her father is probably not the best way to go about doing that...

Thanks for the recap Hombre!
 

Hombre, thanks so much for your recap. I wanted to answer Variopinta's question, so I focused on that.

Whoa! I was shocked when Aurelio said he'd kill Don Cleto. He kind of backed away from it when Chacorta pressed him, but I think he still has it in his mind.

Ximena's excuse for not having sex was some word based on cuarenta that I didn't quite catch but which works out pretty closely to 6 weeks after giving birth before having sex.

I didn't like the cliché about Eugenia being jealous of Marco's working with Leonor. She was right to be annoyed he didn't introduce her as his partner, and she might have felt that way if she'd been introduced to a man, just wanting the label. But it was pretty clear later on they were going with jealous. And Marco isn't guilty, at least yet, of having any such feelings for Leo.
 

I watched it again & understand things better. Arroyo gets the credit for catching some narcos that Aurelio set up, one of them being Pombo.
FARC will do anything for money, mostly kidnap for ransom. There is only one good guy in this, Marco, as far as we know.

I catch a lot more when I watch on the computer.

Hot baño scene with Aurelio & Monica was really sth. He pulled off her thong. Fernanda really has fantastic legs, all the way up to her arm pits.
 

Variopinta- Yes, that bathroom scene WAS indeed something! Wow.

The camera man has a real appreciation for Monica's/Fernanda's legs. I don't even think I've seen Aurelio or any of the male characters give them a good gander, but the camera sure does.
 

Here's some info on La Cuarenta-

http://www.babycenter.com/0_bringing-back-the-hispanic-tradition-of-cuarentena-after-chi_10346386.bc

She gets 40 days to relax and take care of herself and the baby before going back to fighting off her fufurufa of a husband.

It's sad for Ximena that she's having to write off her son as being lost to Aurelio's lifestyle, but she may have to worry about him much longer. After Chacorta kills the dumb kid for messing with Matilde.

Kelly
 

Kelly- Yeah, I see a very bad situation when Chacorta catches on that Matilde is inspiring more than aunt-like feelings in Heriberto. But if he touches a hair on the kid's head, Aurelio will kill him.

I just caught up on the last two episodes. I'm glad Monica made it clear to Guadalupe that she wasn't going to take being hit or manhandled by him. Such a shame he took his frustrations, about not being respected like Isidro, out on Roxana. Just when I thought she had somehow escaped the curse of the narco-women, she ends up being used and abused and at the mercy of one of these men, like all the rest. I want Monica to take Guadalupe out and take over the whole business. Of course, she's also BSC, so Aurelio and all the other bosses better watch out if that happens.

I think Aurelio is really only thinking about killing Don Cleto because Cleto told him to keep his horndog activities in check if it's going to bring their business troubles (like their pilot getting shot). Aurelio doesn't like people pointing out his faults or telling him what to do.

 

Novelera- I don't like Eugenia being super jealous either. But Marco did seem shady when he didn't introduce her properly and avoided her kiss on the lips in front of Leo. I did like how the last episode ended with Eugenia and Marco bonding over work. I think if he can keep that sort of connection with her, where she feels like she's really his partner on this bring down the narcos, then she won't freak out as much about his partnership with Leo.
 

Telemundo does a great job making the episodes available online, whereas televisa sucks. The are not available in this country & you have to be lucky to find it before they take it down on another site. It is really stupid on televisas part, it could be the difference of losing a viewer if they don't have time to watch or keeping them if they can catch up online.
 

Hombre, thanks for the recap. There was a lot going on last night.

I think AC called Monica and told her to meet him at the bar. If memory serves, during the conversation with Chacorta and Turco (which included the part about killing Cleto) AC made it clear that he wanted to talk to Monica about the drug deals. Chacorta and Turco were strongly against AC's doing that, but he looked and sounded determined to contact her as he left the room.

Lupe and Roxana - did he rape her? I couldn't tell how that scene ended.

Beth
 

I think Lupe did rape Roxana, I saw a tear in her eye, what a scumbag.
 

My first narco novela and wow!!
Aurelio went 50 Shades pulling off Monica's thong!!!
 

I did notice that Roxana did start to kiss back after trying to fight Lupe off for awhile.
 

Variopinta- I noticed that too, but it was almost like she said to herself, if I keep fighting he's going to REALLY hurt me, so I better play along. I don't think she was happy about it at all.
 

Quite the episode last night, with Matilde and Heriberto playing their own version of the Graduate. I liked Don Cleto's saying about the neurons (neuronas) decreasing as the hormones (hormonas) increase. He and Ximena can see this situation very clearly, but they need to move faster to get Matilde out of the same house as Heriberto. What makes Matilde think that Chacorta wouldn’t kill her instead or in addition to Heriberto if he caught them in a compromising position? And what makes her think Ximena, Cleto, or Aurelio wouldn’t kill her first? This woman love playing with fire, that’s for sure.
 

Jueves:

Apparently, Guadalupe did rape Roxana, but apparently, she IS now attracted to him. When Monica comes back, she tells her she had sex with Guad, leaves out the rape part. BTW, Guad gave her a small suitcase full of cash. He tells her privately he has no feelings for her, just wanted to sort of see what his dead brother had felt (the scumbag), despite the fact she now is attracted. Monica is more mad at Roxana, never wants to see her again.

Monica wants to be more in the business. She thinks Aurelio will let her, but he wants all the contacts the Robles have along the border. Guad won't give these up. Monica wants to betray her own brother, it seems. But since Guad won't give these contacts for drugs into the US, Aurelio tells his crew they have a new plan. Stop sending drugs to the U.S.! Huh?

He says let's get everyone in Mexico hooked. The rich people will get super high quality drugs, and the poor people will get hooked on crap cocaine. Nice guy. Chacorta and Turco are a bit hesitant, but eventually agree, and they start putting this into practice.

Arroyo is now a general. He tells Doris it's thanks to AC. She's not too happy about that. AC wants to give Arroyo a present. He's thinking a Lamborghini, but he's told Arroyo likes art, so he buys a painting worth a million dollars or so. The pretty art curator (Irina?), who has a French accent, I think, realizes he doesn't like (or understand) abstract art, so she recommends a painting of a sexy nude blonde. He likes that one!

Leonor is back. She's going to work with Marco again. After Arroyo says drugs are down in Colombia, she later tells Marco that's totally wrong, they're way up. She doesn't trust Arroyo. Also, they both notice that while lots of Mexican drug people have been seized, Aurelio Casillas keeps going scot free. Wonder why that is.

Heriberto does to the club (pelenque?) with Matilda (call me Mati), she dances sexy with him. He tells the manager he's AC's son, so Mati's going to sing there starting next week. The arrive home, she's drunk, says, remember when you were a baby I tucked you in? Why don't you take off my clothes and tuck ME in? Don Cleto arrives to head this off, tells Heriberto to watch his hormones.

The next day, Mati calls Heriberto (I'm calling him Bert) into her room. Dressed in her skimpiest bikini lingerie, she wants him to run lotion onto her super hot bod. He starts to, and almost gets caught AGAIN. This is trouble.

AC is now known as Lord of the Skies to almost everyone. When told Guadalupe has those contacts on the border, he says Guad can be known as Lord of the Tunnels! Aurelio continues to get more powerful and more ruthless each episode.
 

Thanks for the great recap, Hombre.

I thought it was interesting that Aurelio's plan is the exact opposite of Pablo Escobar's. Escobar always wanted to pretend to be a good guy and on the side of the poor. He always told his pet politician and others that what he did was fine because he was only hooking those capitalist gringos on the cocaine.

Aurelio's brilliant idea is to avoid the complications of getting drugs across the border by hooking his countrymen.

That was one scary look, if he were smart enough to figure it out, that Mónica gave Guadalupe when she told him he was going to regret not sharing details of the business with her.

Actually it was the outrageous Mathilde who brought up Aurelio Casillas' name when it looked like she wasn't going to get the singing gig. She then turned to Bert (I like that nickname) and he was forced to confirm that he was the son of the big guy. I don't think he wanted to go there, but she forced him into it.

I just can't imagine how long they're going to go with Mathilde continuing to play with fire. Ximena told Doña Alba last night that she felt that Mathilde had always been jealous of her and her family and that this move on Bert could be because of that. She's probably right; but, like Vivi, I don't understand her thinking she can get away with this if Chacorta becomes aware.
 

Tks Hombre
Even though this is part of Matilde & Chacorta's sick relationship, she is really overstepping the boundaries. Chacorta didn't get his name for nothing. Mat thinks he is so addicted to her that he wont kill her. But she puts everyone else in danger & lies to get out of it, remember the poor mgr of the record co. This will probably be that Bert tried to rape her. Everyone has a gun, so hard to know how this will turn out.
 

Thanks so much Hombre.

This plan to get his countrymen hooked is pretty slimy,even for AC. But his plan also includes driving up demand in the States during that time on order to come back with even hire prices. It's a pretty brilliant long term plan. I was actually impressed as I had started to think AC was all flash and no substance.

It was actually Ximena who interrupted when Mati was trying to convince Beto to tuck her in. She was not pleased.

I was disappointed in Roxana coming back and saying she's actually attracted to Lupe. But then I had the thought that what she really wants is revenge, maybe Lorena Bobbit style. :)
 

That's higher prices. Hard to type on a phone.
 

thanks so much Hombre!

for a guy that wants to change his face, (that's still in the works isn't it, Turco's setting it up?), I think we have already seen about every face there is from Aurelio Casillas, from the concerned family man to sex before business, to kill 'em all,

so I guess Aurelio who did his time for his crimes, isn't really a wanted man,

interesting that Monica doesn't seem to carry a gun, (but always has one when she needs it) and rarely has a body guard, probably no one wants the job,

I guess that since Beto is family and living with Ximena, they can't just bury him in hookers, and why hasn't someone thrown Matilde out of an airplane yet?

Roxana's IQ sure went out the bottom walking into that whole thing, but she got the cash,

I wasn't really getting Aurelio's new plan, till you guys explained it, but now what is it that the Colombians don't like. And won't this turn the country/government against him. (didn't the Cali guys in Pablo Escobar have a chain of drugstores?)

oh novelera, on gay evil guys, wasn't one of Pablo Escobar's main thugs turned over by his temporary boyfriend?

 

Deb, as far as I understood it, Oscar Cadena was telling El Cabo and Tijeras that he was concerned that they'd shipped tons and tons of cocaine into México, but it wasn't crossing the border into the US. Not sure how exactly he'd know that.

El Cabo asked Oscar the obvious question: Hasn't Casillas paid for all the merca? Oscar said that, of course he had. But I think he smells that Aurelio is up to something stockpiling all those drugs. He sort of alluded to being worried he'd be shut out at some future date.

I'm not sure how Aurelio could shut him out because, as far as I know, coca plants don't grow in México. So AC would need to import from Colombia.

If anyone else understands Cadena's worry, chime in, please.
 

Thanks much, Hombre, for the super recap!

Tia Mati and Bertito - wow! Ximena was absolutely correct when she told Bert he could cause a family tragedy. Matilde's behavior could have explosive results between Chacorta and AC - even though both men know how provocative she is. The woman has no boundaries. She excuses her actions by saying that Chacorta has slept with half the women in Mexico. I hope Ximena straightens out the living arrangements and gets Bert away from crazy tia. Maybe he can go stay with Don Cleto.

Poor Roxana - got screwed by both Lupe and Monica. Eeuw! I hope, for her sake, she wakes up, takes the money and runs far away.

I don't think Monica will kill her brother, but she's capable of almost anything else, so my guess is that she'll find a way to get those border contacts.

Beth
 

Is Arroyo Mad at AC because he gave him a painting costing millions & therefore casting suspicion? If so, was AC aware that this would happen?

Did the art dealer know that AC is a narcotraficante? What is her name?

She was pretty slick when Marco & Leo came to investigate. And it looks like she gets it on with AC next wk,what a mujeriego he is.