Caray, Caray!

Great job ladies!!! Excellent recap!

Poor, poor Nellie! I'm so mad that the ho is getting away with yet another murder! And the previews weren't too encouraging that Salsa dude's plan will work. I felt sick watching the ho act like she was devasted by Nellie's murder. These writers have better come up with a super mega hiper big anvil!

Poor, poor Salsa dude! I felt awful watching him get a beat down. I'm still hoping for a happy ending for him but I do agree that in order for him to atone for his sins he needs to bring the ho down.

I wonder what other horrible thing Aniballs could be planning, can't even talk about him, I'm so disgusted. I hope he just plans to have his henchies to get back at Nellie but sadly they'll be too late!
 

NM and Mads - Thank you for the great recap.

I was really upset that Salsero was not honest with Bea. One can understand why, but, still.....
Maybe he can get off, if he turns state's evidence.

Anibal's thugs will probably be told to break into the mansion to "steal" those diamonds, and get them to NYC, pronto.

 

Thank you for the recap, ladies!

It seems Univision chopped the last 2 episodes (169 minutes of screentime) into four pieces:

1. July 24 ("180"):
In Mexico episode 180 was 41 minutes long, and it ended with Nelson's death. In the US it ended with a filler scene with Adriana and Lili at 29:30.

2. July 25 ("180 part 1"):
In Mexico it started with Nelson's accident. Here it started with a Vicky-Arriaga scene. Univision used the last 12 minutes from ep. 180 and the first 23 minutes of ep. 181.

Episode 181, the gran final is 128 minutes long.

3. July 26 ("180 part 2"):
I guess it will be 30-35 minutes long.

Which means...

4. July 28 ("180 part 3"):
I have a feeling the last part on Sunday will be at least 70 minutes long. (With ads it'll last for two hours.)
 

Thanks, Novelmaven and Madelaine. ,for this recap and for all your delicious recaps throughout this novela. Wow...what an episode.

I think that getting beat up by his best amigos and business partners is part of Dances's road to redemption...I hope. Bea does not deserve one more heartache.

that was a nasty ending for a guy who never physically harmed anyone and whose worst crime was being a pompous, egotistical whiny weasel and womanizer.

Yikes....the ho's funeral attire was ....interesting. I've never seen such a short skirt on a grieving woman. The little hat with the veil was quite saucy. We all know that karma is coming for her . We just do not know in what form. Maybe she will have an unfortunate accident with her hot rollers.

The advances were scary. My daughter and her family are arriving from pronto today , so. I may miss tonight's episode.
 

My Ipad changed Toronto to "pronto"....que the hell ???
 

Susanlynn --- Auto-correct on iToys has it's own bad karma that can be a b*tch. Ask me how I know .....
 

NovelaMaven and Madelaine: Caray's own personal Dream Team.

What an exciting epsiode! What an amazing recap! Your styles blended seemlessly resulting in a witty yet complete and enthralling summary.

NovelaMaven: "an hour of assorted fluff and fillers", "Speaking of useless and impotent" and "there's only room for one drama queen at a time in the bodyguard quarters and he has dibs on the post right now" (hilarious) were among my favorites.

Madelaine: "the Ho has already changed into her widow's weeds and let me just say, a skankier ensemble I have never seen" and " She thinks she looks fetching, but we just want to retch and throw tomatoes at her" were among my favorites. But, speaking of fetching, hasn't Tomi looked wonderful lately? Wow.

Understandably and justifiably livid, JA might have held onto his anger longer (and beaten Santino to pure pulp), had he not been awash in grief. I actually thought both he and Francisco took it better than expected hence their civil conversation at the wake.

Was glad to see Lili comforting Nikki but honestly, although not disparaging the memory of Nelson (such as it was), she was really the only person who seemed genuinely upset.

"(You are an oasis of peace for me.)" What a beautiful sentiment. I hope we are given a few moments of happiness for JA and Vicky before the end.

Of the two different reactions to Cande's predicament: "She buries her tear-stained face on Adriana's shoulder. Adriana, dry-eyed, looks over Lili's head to Vicente", I'm with Adri and Vin. Maybe 50 years is too much...maybe. Keeping the truth from Adri and JA once she became aware was unforgiveable, although I have to begrudingly admit, probably not a punishable crime. Would shunning by the entire family work? ;)

doris, I was afraid Anibal was plotting something nefarious (perhaps for Vincente? - speculation) but your idea is much more plausible. Although, it will be fun to watch those 2 bumbling idiots try and break into the house and steal the diamonds!

Aribeth, thanks for the recap update.

Getting a very bad vibe from the preview. How far will Santino's punishment go? Hoping the writers will keep the fact Bea cannot endure another tragedy in mind.

Spectacular ladies. Thanks again.

Diana
 

Doris..Okay, I am asking how you know !!!!!

Did the ho think that she was channeling Coco C. In that outfit with all the pearls ? maybe someone should tell her that Coco wore her dresses to her ankle and not short enough to show the good china. question..When women wear shorty short skirts dresses like the ho and Nikki do, do they have attached shorts like my granddaughters skirts ?
 

NovelaMaven and Mads- You two did a brilliant job sharing this Final Part 1 episode. Loved how your two styles blended.

Well, if someone had to be killed by the villains in the finale, then I prefer Nelson over anyone else. And what a spectacular way to go! Great job by the stunt coordinators on this crash. Did you notice they did another close-up of the lipstick mark just before fading away from the accident scene? Nice touch.

I felt so sad for poor little Mia, bawling her eyes out after that rude awakening by her crazy, villainous mama. Thank goodness Fatima is there.

Nikki is really the only one who will mourn Nelson’s death; although I’m sure Vicky also feels some grief since she did love the guy at one point. QEPD Nelson Brizz.

 

Susanlynn- The women who wear those kinds of dresses tend to wear thong underwear, or no underwear at all. Panty lines under those kinds of dresses are a no, no. But the more modest ladies, and those who need to hold things in and lift them up, tend to wear Spanx. Neither Nikki nor Kendra need a shaper, but for the sake of their modesty (with all those camera angles), I hope the actresses were something full coverage like Spanx.
 

Susanlynn - wow, autocorrect had your name right when I hit a wrong key on the iPad! Wonders never cease....
Anyway, back to my comment....

I would expect Nikki would have on a thong or something. As for Kendra, she probably goes commando, a la Paris Hilton.
 

Thank you, NovelaMaven and Madelaine for such a thorough recap. Ditto- Vivi- the styles blended well.
I was so hoping that the vile of drops fell into Kendra aka Marcaria's lap while she was in the car.
ITA - that if anyone had to go it should be Nelson but I was hoping for an end to Anibal too. Well he has to get those diamonds so I hope that he trips up somehow. His anvil is overdue.
Speaking of things- there are those without lines at all.

 

NovelaMaven and Madelaine,

what a great job you two did with this.

Salsero's confession(s) reminded me of Odette's recitation of her offenses to Vikki. Odette chose her venue more wisely.

My choice of lines both refer to Nelson (whose wry humor was for the most part under-rated by us):

NM... "The furry one will fornicate no more."

A fitting epitaph.

Mads..."Adri comes to Nikki and tells her to remember the good memories of her Papa."

Well, that shouldn't take long.

Carlos
 

Kendra has killed lots of folks lately:
1. Nelson
2. Cristina-who was innocent in all of this and got ran over by Kendra's hitman
3. Nabila

She's the female Charles Logan
 

OT:

For those who are unaware, Univision is the number 1 network in the country right now! Go figure! I wonder how that came about, hmmmm......

Amores Verdaderos is beating most everything in the same time slot. I will be curious to see what AV rakes in after Sunday's finale ; )
 

NovelaMaven and Madelaine - Fabulous double-teaming. The recap snarked and sparkled from beginning to end.

Okay, I will have a sip of whiskey at the Nelson table. I will miss his sex scenes with KendraHo. Psych!

But, seriously, Nelson had turned his life around -- well, as much as he could considering his ingrained arrogance, and was a good pop to Mia and at least admitted to Nikki he had been a lousy pop to her.

Salsero is one cool dude. He always has that "no big deal" tude when Bea fusses over him cause his face is all banged up. He should manage prison well, if he goes there.
 

I too think that Salsa Dude is starting on his road to paying for his sins of the past. I really like how honest he was with first the Angel, and I must say, he knew Angel couldn't see and yet didn't try to wriggle away from him, which Salsa Dude could easily have done. He took the beat down. Then when Frankie hit him, he didn't even move. I think he really felt he deserved this punishment and I don't think that Salsa Dude was blowing smoke at the Angel when he said he was his best and only friend. He has always been closer to Angel than to Frankie. I liked what I saw in the avances, more of Salsa Dude trying to get the goods on the Ho, aka Macaria Chavez. I wonder, besides being a ho, what else her deep dark past holds......

As far as the widows weeds o. m. gee, how tacky! Susanlynn was right, it did kind of remind me of Coco Chanel's style but Coco Chanel had class whereas the Ho, well to put it mildly she couldn't find class if it hit her in the face, jus' sayin'.
 

Carlos:

I just saw your avatar! How wonderful! You always come up with the most apropos avatar ; )
 

Two unimportant comments:
1) Kendra kissed the glass on Nelson's car before he drove off to his death. If you look closely at the crash scene the lipstick image shows up with the dead Nelson's eyes vacantly pointed at it. Nice touch.
2) Not only was Kendra in black but her baby was also in black. Mourning no doubt that its future was tied to a murderous ho.
 

Kendra's funeral getup has to be the sluttiest I've ever seen. I did love her hat. Poor FF got a vicious death...it wasn't enough to get in a simple accident, he had to fall off the highway, roll around some more, and that get hit by another incoming car. I had to laugh at the closeup of Kendra's lipstick kiss on the windshield...the mark of the ho!

@doris, I was upset with Salsa too, but I would probably do the same in his place. I got teary-eyed when he kissed Guillo goodbye. Based on the avances, I'm getting more and more scared that Salsero is going to die, but maybe he'll have planted a Salsa Seed!
 

@Diana, I think 50 years is far too much for Candelaria. To be honest, I think anything more than a year is extreme. Discovering the cruelty of Anibal, the love of her life, was punishment enough. And there will always be an irreversible dent in her and Arriaga's relationship. So I think Cande will go free.
 

IIRC, the only real crime Cande committed was not telling the truth when she realized Adriana was the mother of Lucia/Liliana.

Back at the clinic in Santa Rita, the baby was handed over as surrendered, to be placed in an orphanage. She bypassed the orphanage and found an immediate home for it. By telenovela standards, that probably isn't a crime.

She became an accessory to Anibal's crime when she figured out the truth. IMHO, 50 years is too harsh... the punishment does not fit the crime.
 

Good Afternoon y'all and thanks for the kind words.

I agree about the stiff punishment for Cande, it's too much. She has been riddled with guilt for a long time. Her conscience kept bothering her this whole time, especially when she found out that Lili was really Lucia. If it hadn't been for Anyballs' influence, I guess Cande thought he was like the Anyballs' of old, completely trustworthy, yeah right! She didn't say a word. Cande is the most clueless character eva! Really! Anyballs lied to her back in the day and never told her he was married. She found out and left him, pregnant and alone. That should have been her first clue he was untrustworthy. But they say love is blind and so Cande was.
 

I think that Cande believed what she wanted to believe about Animal. She's aging , and the thought of having a mate to grow old with mustbhave been very appealing. I think she was lonely and wanted to believe he was sincere about loving her and wanting to be together.
 

ROFLOL...Doris..The Ipad changed "must" in my above post to "nuts".....Ha...How accurate.
 

Cande never had another man after Anibal. She surely was lonely all those years raising Cris alone. And even lonelier after she made the baby-switch and distanced herself from Cris and her family out of guilt. Then she meets Anibal again at the lowest point in her life, Cris' death, so she's very vulnerable to his BS. Cande should've talked to Paula more because Paula had his number. But I guess Cande thought since she was Anibal's amor verdadero, he wouldn't screw over her like he did Paula.

Wondering how Anibal thinks he can be happy away from his family. He doesn't even have the Godfather now for company.
 

Susanlynn - Maybe Cande and the Godfather could give it a go. They're both lonely and now both despise Anibal, so they've got at least two things in commom.
 

Niecie..What a great idea,,Cande and the Godfather. that would be nice. animal is now alone with his money. I again refer him to the poem "Ozymandias " by Percy Bysshe Shelley...power is fleeting. Love is what lasts. love is stronger than death.
 

My iPad changed thongs to things. It should have read that there are thongs that do not show any lines at all.
 

Exelent recap NovelaMaven and Madeline!

I also felt bad for Salsero but it's nice that the novela is making him atone for his past deeds.

Poor Cande, I agree 50 years is too much. Just out of curiosity, I checked out the Penal Code of DF and "Robo de Infante" has a maximum of 40 years and a minimum of 15. However, I think what Cande did would not be considered robo de infante but "Retención de Menor" according to the code, since she didn't actually steal the baby, she just kept her and didn't give her back to her legal guardian (which would be the State in the case of an orphan). And since there was no physical, moral or psychological harm done to the child then Cande would only be facing a sentence of 1 to 5 years. BUT, "Retención de Menor" is only pursued if there's a complaint so if Adriana, in this case, does not press charges then Cande would not go to jail. I think all they'd have to do in real life to get Cande out would be to prove she did not steal baby Lili from her mother or the hospital which would get the case for "Robo de Infante" dismissed. I imagine the nurse who gave her the baby would be in more trouble though.

Jarocha
 

NovelaMaven y Madelaine---It's late and just about everything has been already said but I MUST say thank you to you both. Loved them both.

Wow!!! the final three hours and so much is going down. Is there still a wedding or two or three in the two hours that we have left? I wonder.

Anyballs had always said that he cared for his family. I wonder about that---at least he cared to control his family. Nuevo York and all alone? Well, he might have his diamonds to keep him company. I'll
stay tuned.
the gringo
 

@Jarocha, you bring up a really valid point. I wonder if the nurse will ever show up to testify against Anibal? I still think jail is the appropriate punishment for him, rather than death. He's been such a snob his whole life, so it's only fair that he spend the rest of his days in a squalid Mexican prison.

Gringo, there has to be a wedding. It's TN law. Maybe it will be a double boda with Nikki/Guzman and Vikki/JA. It would be so nice to see Adri/Vicente get married to, but that may be pushing it :)
 

Well this really is my final recap on this novela and I feel very lucky I got to share it with Madelaine. Thanks, Mads and the rest of the team -- it has been a blast!

I have appreciated all the comments and the conversations on these pages. Thanks to everyone for your generous words, your insight and your humor.

I absolutely love this novela. I know it is not the best one ever made and it is easy to poke holes in the Swiss cheese logic and make fun of the excesses of the writers and actors. But there is an essential sweetness here -- Is it from accomplished actors giving it their all? Who have great chemistry together? Who are just so LIKEABLE?

I don't know. But there is some kind of JOY JUICE this thing gives off. And even when the worst things happen, someone will do or say something and it will make me smile.

I'm going to miss this story and this little ad hoc community of commentors (though I hope at least some of you will be hanging out with us at TempeStuds.)
 

Through his contacts in the police department, Salsero was able to obtain the preliminary autopsy report on Nelson Brizz. Herewith an excerpt:

... a superficial examination reveals multiple contusions, lacerations and fractures as well as severe cranial trauma all consistent with the motor vehicle accident in which this man was involved. These injuries, however, appear to have been inflicted postmortem. The proximate cause of death is determined to be a massive cardiac infarction which occurred just moments earlier and may have caused the accident.

Further examination reveals evidence of severe atherosclerosis and previous cardiac damage; this unfortunate man had almost surely suffered several previous infarcts that may not have been clinically appreciated.

The liver was remarkable for severe alcohol-related cirrhotic changes. Additionally, the brain shows alcohol-induced atrophy that was, in life, most likely manifested as mild dementia.

Examiners at the scene noted the presence of a waxy pink substance on the victim's lips and traces amounts of a clear viscous fluid on the back of his head. Both substances have been sent for analysis and results are pending.

This examiner is frankly puzzled by the victim's recent saphenous bypass to the lower right extremity, (a technique used experimentally in the former Soviet Union in the 1970's and abandoned when none of the test animals were able to walk normally postoperatively).

Impression: Death due to myocardial infarction. Because of Extreme Skankitude of victim's common-law wife, foul play cannot be ruled out.

Plan: Follow the money. Oh -- and also pink stuff and the clear goo.
 

Thank you for the fabulous recap, ladies! You both have such great writing styles and you gave us lots of snark.

I can't believe we're so close to the end of Amores.

I'm rooting for Salsa-Dude. I hope he has a happily ever after with Bea. If for no other reason than Bea doesn't need to cry any more. Neither does Guillo.

Looking forward to tonight's episode!
 

NM and Mads this was a wonderful recap. It was sad that Nellie had to go out in such a fashion. Hope the ho will get hers soon. All the best to you both. NM, I'll see you at the TempeStuds thread.
 

I lurk but have been thoroughly enjoying your inspired recaps. You both keep me laughing along with helping me comprehend the episode a little better. Thanks, NovelaMaven and Madelaine.

Yes, this was a sweet novela that had some terrific acting and chemistry between the leads and supporting actors. KenHo and Anyballs were villainous enough without being scary psycho like crazy Carlota from Enda or the villains from AB. Can't wait for EY and Rulli again in combo or solo.

GinCA
 

NovelaMaven:
I'm so glad you joined us, your recapping style is fantastic.

"But there is an essential sweetness here -- Is it from accomplished actors giving it their all? Who have great chemistry together? Who are just so LIKEABLE?"

I agree. And the original Argentinian writers (Marcela Citterio and her team) also deserve the praises, because they created these likeable, interesting characters. This story was remade 3 times in 8 years, which shows it works. All the producers need to do is to find good/ok actors who have good chemistry together, and whoa, the magic works again.