Caray, Caray!

Recap by LatinaInMD                       

Thank you, Lord.  I’m done.  My personal “sentence” is complete.  To all of Viewerville, thank you for the opportunity to recap C.I.  When I began this journey, I enjoyed watching this novela and thus enjoyed recapping it too.  But I must sadly agree with my fellow recappers and the rest of Viewerville that the third and fourth parts of C.I. have been truly painful to watch, so I am overjoyed that this process is over for me.

Note:  Some scenes are combined.

Maricruz and Octavio continue their tearful goodbyes as Lupita enjoys an apparent Benadryl-induced psychedelic trip with the overhead studio lights.  She’s so out of it that Octavio has to raise her arm for her so she can give a limp-hand wave goodbye to her crying mama.

Alfie’s dad informs his grieving wife that Natasha and her entourage of starving artists are back and wish to speak with her.  She refuses to see them.  She is not about to attend to her son’s “enemies”.  Dad has no choice but to go face the music, er, headband-wearing Natasha and her gang, who insist that they will fight to get back their friend’s painting.  Alfie’s dad promises to give them back the money he received for the “masterpiece”, but he begs them not to sully his son’s name by revealing that he stole it from his friend.

ShutUpDoris is back in town.  Oh joy.  She tells Octavio she still has problems with her daddy because of her plans to marry Octavio, but she couldn’t care less.  Octavio expresses concern that once back on the island her daddy will make life impossible for them.  Then, true to his nature, he goes from having just sworn undying love to Maricruz to yet again saying he must “take” his daughter with him, but “legally” he says - as opposed to just kidnapping her for a third time, I guess.  (Of course, seconds later he does an about-face and says there’s a chance Maricruz will be set free, in which case she is entitled to her kid.)….Octavio suggests to S.U.D. that she return to the island and wait there for him while he resolves what will happen with Lupita.  She refuses to leave on the “eve” of their wedding.

Meanwhile, back in Maricruz’s favorite “boutique hotel” (aka prison), she is surprised when a guard informs her she is wanted in the warden’s office for an “interrogation”.

More Maria humor, which I personally found disgusting.  She comes upon a man sitting on a bench chatting on his cell while holding on to a cup of orange juice at a distance, conveniently far enough for him not to notice when she takes a couple of long gulps out of it.  Gross, gross, gross.

The guard orders Maricruz to pack up her stuff before heading to the warden’s office.  Maricruz is visibly nervous.  It’s starting to dawn on her that, horror of horrors, she is about to be “evicted” from her rent-free prison studio apartment.  She is SO nervous that the guard actually tells her there’s nothing for her to be nervous about.  Ridiculous.  Then, without packing, she is led to the warden’s office, where a couple of cops demand to know why she lied and declared herself guilty of a crime she didn’t commit…..Maricruz STILL insists that she did the deed.  In a moment of high drama – NOT!!! – the warden tells her to stop lying and asks if she would recognize her own voice if she heard it…..She says of course, and he proceeds to play the recording of her “confessing” her innocence.  (I suppose ANY prisoner can now “confess” his innocence and that should be enough to set him or her free.  Brilliant.)

Now it turns out that Alfie’s most recent former flame (what’s her name????) is a friend of both Alvaro and his teenage daughter Elsita, aka Alfie’s other former flame.  What a tiny world Mexico City is - well, except whenever Maricruz and Octavio desperately need to find each other.  (Cue all the filler scenes with this bunch.  No point in describing them, because I don’t care what they do, and I’m sure most patio peeps don’t either.  Come to think of it, though, I don’t care about any characters anymore, so maybe I should just stop right here and enjoy my newfound freedom from “viewing C.I.” hell.)   Well, ok, I’ll continue – so, Alvaro eventually arrives home and immediately has to put a stop to “what’s her name” and her lame attempt to seduce him.

After some prodding from the cops and the warden, Maricruz finally “admits” that she is innocent.  Perfect, says the warden, now these men are going to determine your fate.  (Yes, the cops, not a judge or jury, because they don’t count for “s—it” in Mexico, especially not in a Lartilleux masterpiece.)  She hangs her head, as if any fate could be worse than a lifetime in prison.  (If they really want to hurt her, they should force her to watch C.I. on an endless loop for the rest of her life.)  This is beyond ridiculous – after commercial, we have the warden handing Maricruz a written declaration of her innocence and insisting that she sign it because, he says, “you can no longer retract your confession”.  Maricruz sighs and reluctantly signs her confession.    One of the cops then informs her that their investigations practically confirm that she is innocent:  “Therefore, you are hereby declared innocent of that charge.”  (Lord, help me.  As a lawyer, this crap is especially hard for me to swallow.  Now I understand how Carlos must feel when he hears all the medical nonsense.) 

More Maria antics - she is now at a bus-stop, enjoying a yummy churro.  Next thing you know, innocent bystander Maria is embroiled in a cell-phone stealing brouhaha, so while Maricruz is on the verge of being set-free, Maria is on the verge of taking her place.  All this drama is just too much for my heart to take.  Roll eyes.

Alfie’s dad informs his wife that he gave the money paid for the painting back to Natasha and her gang.  He assures her they will never speak ill of their son.  Now she does an about-face and says that’s all fine with her, as she caresses a framed photo of her son, wearing what appears to be his one and only pair of skinny jeans. 

I just don’t care, but you may be interested to know that what’s-her-name informs Alvaro that she “must” continue to visit his daughter, even if he doesn’t like her, because she “loves” his daughter so much.  Alvaro reproaches her for encouraging his daughter to have a relationship with Alfie while she herself was involved with him.  (Ok, Alvaro, then why the heck don’t you just grab her by the arm, hair, whatever, and just throw her out of your home already?  Just a thought.)  Ah, but no, Romero has a “big” surprise for us.  What’s-her-name reminds Alvaro that “many secrets” unite them, like we care at this point about these people’s back-story.  Next.

Maricruz is taken to “check out” of her rent-free prison accommodations.  A friendly prison guard hands Maricruz her release papers and informs her that they include her former husband’s address, which her daughter’s nanny was nice enough to provide to them.  (Good going, Juanita, hopefully that will put an end to the “running around trying to find Maricruz” game that Octavio has had to play since his salvajita first left Rancho Narvaez.  Or will it?  Gotta wonder.)  Maricruz tells the guard that she can’t wait to see her little girl but prefers not to run into “him”.  Don’t worry, whatever has to happen will happen, says the guard.  (Oh, no, here we go again.)

The tuba is back.  Lord help us all.  Maricruz’s lawyer just called Alvaro and informed him that Maricruz is about to be set free.  Alvaro tells him he is immediately heading to the prison to wait until Maricruz comes out.

Maricruz, ever so thoughtful, asks how Carola and her buddy are doing.  The guard informs her they will continue in the “punishment cell” for another week, so they’ll learn to respect their other prison mates….Anyway, she is led outside on a rainy day (with her loose, wavy and wild hair getting wet) and is happy to see Alvaro there waiting for her.  She just knew his would be the first face she would see, she tells him.  She thanks him for being such a good friend.  He still hopes he is more than that.

Maria is in a jail cell, but she doesn’t seem to be suffering much.  She is just busy recounting her hi-jinks to her cellmates.  Another long, useless scene later and Maria regains her freedom.  Oh, joy. 

Alvaro wonders where Maricruz is headed next.  She first wants to see her daughter, who is now with Octavio.  Alvaro wants to know if she plans to return with Octavio.  No, she assures him, that is long over…..Well, it’s “confession day” in Mexico City.  Now Alvaro “confesses” to Maricruz that his daughter Elsa is ill.  (I guess he previously told Maricruz, without telling the rest of us, that he has a daughter, because Maricruz is not the least bit surprised about that.)  So, he offers Maricruz a job as Elsita’s caretaker.  (Alvaro, are you nuts? She can’t even take care of her own child.)  His government job pays so well that he not only lives in an elegant, spacious home, but it also comes with a little guest house, which he thinks is perfect for her, her daughter AND the nanny.  Well, thank goodness Maricruz recognizes that she is too emotionally imbalanced herself to act as the caretaker of an emotionally imbalanced teenager, and she tells Alvaro she could probably cause her more harm than good.  As the tuba returns, Alvaro tells her he doesn’t want to pressure her, but reminds her he loves her and that he will watch over her if she will allow him to help her. 

Seconds later, Juanita is monkeying around with Lupita in Octavio’s new abode when she suddenly hears a knock on the door.  She runs to open the door and is surprised to see Maricruz, who not only managed to teleport to Octavio’s new abode, but also had time in between to get her hair all dried up, darkened, straightened and done up in a bun.  Juanita is excited, but Lupita looks like she couldn’t care less that her “mommy” just showed up.  Whatever.  Maricruz runs to her, sits her on her lap, embraces her, and flashes a big smile and her magic dimples…..Juanita is excited to see her.  (Maybe she’s hoping to finally get paid.)

Meanwhile, Doris just found out that “la salvaje” is free.  She is fuming because she is sure that in no time Maricruz and Octavio will reunite.  She quickly figures out a way to take Octavio far away before that can happen.

Natasha, what’s her name, and what’s his name brainstorming.  Whatever.  Next.

Front page news again.  Alfie’s mom reads the huge headline announcing WHAT JUST HAPPENED MINUTES AGO – “la dama desnuda” is free because the painter who fell from a plane was the murderer.  Alfie’s dad comes in and points out that the person most hurt by everything that happened is Maricruz.  His wife begs to differ.  “Our son was the most hurt.”  (Good point, the scumbag did lose his life.)  Her husband still thinks Maricruz got the worst of it and it’s time for his wife to acknowledge that Maricruz bears no fault for what happened.

ShutUpDoris calmly awaits Octavio’s arrival at the airport.  As soon as she sees him walking towards her, she starts feigning stomach pains and says she feels horrible.  She informs him she saw a doctor who told her she has to have gall-bladder surgery right away, so she has to fly home – because, you know, flying is the sensible thing to do when there’s a chance that your guts will explode.  But she wants him to fly with her to Isla Dorada because she doesn’t want to die alone on a plane.  (She wants to take him to hell with her.  Literally or figuratively, sounds good to me.)….. Octavio assures Doris that he will accompany her, but first he has to report-in for the flight he just completed.  Off he goes.  Doris thinks she’s won again, but the sneaky bastard goes to a public phone (still no cell phones, peeps) and calls the governor’s office and leaves him an “urgent” message that his daughter is seriously ill at the airport awaiting a flight to the island.  He suggests that they take her to a hospital as soon as she arrives there.

Back at Octavio’s little apartment, Maricruz opens the front door and is surprised to see Alfie’s mom standing there.  She tells her she is there to ask for her forgiveness.  Alfie’s mom tells Maricruz she feels so bad because of how much she has suffered.  Don’t even mention it, says Maricruz, this is par for the course for me.  Alfie’s mom wants to help her now, but Maricruz says no one can help her anymore – because, after all, she will do all she can to screw things up anyway.  (Well, ok, I added the bold part, but I’m sure Maricruz was thinking the same thing.)   “But I am indebted to you,” says Alfie’s mom, “and I will do the impossible to repair the damage my son caused you.”

Octavio goes back to Doris and tells her not to worry because he already informed the governor of what’s going on with her health.  He reminds her he can’t step onto Isla Dorada, so he will accompany her but will not even get off the plane with her.  He will come right back to Mexico City on the same plane.

Previews:  Sorry, I already saw the final episodes, and I still can’t believe what Univision is now showing as its “gran final” teaser.  I’m not saying a thing.  Speechless and shaking my head.  Best of luck with that recap, Vivi.

Labels: Indomable