Caray, Caray!

Let the 2-hour episodes begin!

Tiburcio makes excuses to the Virgen for not coming clean to the padre.  Hilda makes fun of him, thinking it's stupid of him to talk about Irene's daughter "wherever she is" when he knows damn well she's dead.

Padre Juancho asks a staff member at the church what happened to the guy who wanted to talk to him earlier.

Tad places the blame for what happened to their daughter squarely on Vicente, not that it keeps Irene from thinking dark thoughts.

Brigitte kicks Natalia off the sewing machine, but then goes to a friend's house to watch a movie.  Eleazar brings Lupita some chocolate and gets invited to stay for dinner.  Chato won't be joining them.  Eleazar looks at the sketches and gets the story of Irene Cacares Designs.

Chato arranges to hook up with his "mamita" to deliver the money in person.  That could mean his actual mama or his hot mama, but judging from his guilt when he realizes Andres is listening, I don't think it's the woman who raised him.



Abdul and Natalia head out to make sure tomorrow's delivery for the fonda is set.  Carmen tells Eleazar about Paolo's new job.  Lupita begs Eleazar for a bedtime story and he suggests a good "cops and robbers" tale.  Carmen doesn't object.  He notices the books, but Lupita doesn't want a story from a book OR any kind of story at all.  She wants to know what El's plans for conquest are.  Eleazar says it's not up to him, but he promises nothing will come between him and Lupita.

Karina serves Alonso a martini and wants to toast to…them.  "No, no, don't say a word.  Let me chew your face off."  I'm mentally kicking you in the shin, Alonso.

Tad and Irene talk a little about "what if."  Tad says he still loves her, not in the same way, but Irene is in love with someone else.  "What about Alonso?"  That's going to get as annoying is Carmen and El being "like siblings."

Said pair can't say goodbye for the night without it degenerating into some very satisfying snogging.

Chato makes excuses to some woman about why she shouldn't come to the DF.  And why he can't be at her birthday party.  Different woman than earlier?  Knowing Chato, I wouldn't put it past him.

Snoggus interruptus by Brigitte.  El's going to be taking another cold shower tonight.  And from the looks of it, so will Carmen.  El almost goes back to the apartment, but stops himself.

Tad always knew it was Alonso.  And he doesn't think the age difference should matter.  "Better to regret what you did than what you didn't do…but you could do the same with me."  Irene says their time has passed.  Tad takes it well.

Alonso doesn't seem to object to the face-sucking as much as being called "muñeco."  He gets the heck out of there and leaves his martini and the promise of pie behind.  Karina, on the other hand, is still feeling…encouraged by his…attentions.

Rodrigo is working on getting mobile.  In his darkened room.  Which means SOMEONE had to turn the lights off, so why is he in here struggling on his own?  He's a bit concerned about how hard it is for him to move.

Carmen ponders her sexiest hits with Eleazar.  And then the attempted romance of Chato.  I know who's winning ME over!  Carmen thinks she's stupid.  Not disagreeing with you, Carmen.  She says she's got to think with her head and first things first.  Whatever that means to her.

Aha!  Rodrigo is hiding his consciousness from everyone.  The nurse notices his sweat and Rod realizes she's worried about him.  Let's see how he uses that.

A little after-hours flirting at the Burgers Rex between Paolo and Mara.  Yay!

Tad's hand shakes as he turns off the car.  And his headache is back.  He tells Irene it's just a migraine and says he's fine to drive and he'll take his meds as soon as he gets home.  She buys it and goes inside.  It really sucks to watch him struggling to turn the car back on.  I wish she hadn't believed him.

Irene goes upstairs to tell Vicente that she knows about his visit to Tad.  And he can't keep rewriting the past anymore because now she knows how much it hurts him to know what happened to their child.  How Vicente can even say that he did everything for her own good is beyond me.  After she leaves, he throws a little tantrum.  Sorry, Puppetmaster…the puppets are all cutting their strings!

Alonso goes home and confesses to Diego that he kissed Karina and regrets it.

Tad gets back to his house in one piece and gets himself medicated.  He drops his glass and passes out, though, so his maid calls…someone…probably 911.

Paolo walks Mara home, but she seems nervous…because her mom is a man-hating battleaxe.  Yikes!  Pobre de Paolo…que suegra!

Carmen is annoyed that Paolo isn't home from his first day at work yet and hasn't called.

Alonso feels stupid and decides he has to talk to Irene, but she left her phone downstairs, so he assumes the worst.

Alina tries to invite herself along to Diana's lunch with "Karina."  Ha!  As if!  Diana's totally over having mami around.

Still waiting for Paolo…and here he comes.  He gets chewed out for being late and not calling.  He talks about how good a job he did with the kids' party.  He goes off to his room to think about his burger queen.  Carmen worries about his grades.

Paolo tells Abdul the truth about dropping Mara off and meeting her mom…a.k.a. "Carrie"!

At Mara's…did her mom put those scratches on her shoulder?!  She did!  And she blames it on Mara for "making" her do it by hanging out with someone with a Y chromosome.  This is so sad.

Rod hears that his nurse would be all over him if he weren't in a coma.  He thought bubbles that he'd reciprocate.  He hears the date when she turns on the radio and realizes how long he's been out of commission.

Irene re-reads Alonso's email and gets all gushy.  Lala brings her purse, since the incessant ringing of the phone is annoying her.  Irene returns his call…on his cell…which he stupidly left at Karina's.  The vicious hussy tells her that Alonso can't talk to her because he's taking a shower.  You're going down, Karina.

Rod is trying to move, still.  His nurse and her buddy come in and treat Rod to some gossip about what his nurse got up to with a doctor in Acapulco.  Rod approves.  Nurse 2 is going to be left in charge of Rod for a while.  She's not remotely optimistic and says she's seen lots of patients like him open their eyes like something's going on and die a few days later.  They decide to run some reflex tests and Rod realizes he'll have to resist moving when he gets poked with a needle.  Though, I don't know if he could move if he tried.

Chato and Carmen drop Lupita off at school.  He's ready to go on his trip and Lupita wishes him well.  She hesitates, but blesses him, 'cause she's just a nice kid like that.  He tells Carmen where he's going, but she doesn't recognize the name of the town.

Alonso can't get out of his apartment before Karina shows up to bring him his cell phone and the pie from last night.  Alonso tells her last night was a mistake, but she says she didn't think anything about last night.  But she won't quit calling him "muñeco" and acting like he didn't say a damn thing.  She leaves and Alonso is baffled and has no idea how to get rid of her.

Chato will be ready to ask for Carmen's hand once he's back from his trip and claims to have passed all her tests.  Carmen doesn't look convinced and resists giving him a kiss goodbye.  She's saved by Abdul calling her to fill a customer's order.

Tad's not doing well.  The doctor needs to talk to someone who can make medical decisions, but the maid says he doesn't have anyone.

Rod is hoping they won't stick him and curses Nurse 2 out as she sticks him. He fakes it well enough that she doesn't continue.  Nurse 2 does notice Rod's nurse's fondness for him.

Irene is awakened by Tad's maid, sobbing and begging her to come to the hospital.  OK, I am not happy about what I'm sure will be an Irene-Alonso split, at least until all the misunderstandings get cleared up.  And now it looks like Irene is going to get stuck with being responsible for Tad, unless she remembers some other relative he has that the maid doesn't know about.  But really, as long as Irene stays sober, I can be patient with her lack of a love life.  Or at least, I can try.

Rodrigo gets more alone time to seethe and do self-PT.  Nurse 2 disturbs his peace, but gets called away right after opening some tasty Jello.  That provides Rod with enough motivation to reach his hand out for it and scarf it down as quickly as he can.

This doesn't bode well.  I don't know how far along Brigitte is in her training, but even I know--as Natalia explains to her--that instead of cutting two halves of what looks like the back of a bodice, she can fold the fabric in half and line the mid-point of the pattern up with the fold so she only has to cut once instead of cutting two pieces and seaming them down the middle.  Brigitte accepts the advice without making too much of a face.  Though, they also should be folding the fabric more precisely so the grain isn't crooked.  Diego calls Irene because he needs her to meet with a potential client, but she's on her way into the hospital.  Irene tells him not to cancel--take Natalia with him.  Oh, he's only too happy to let her handle the "concept" part of the pitch to the client.

Tad's maid has to break it to Irene that Tad has a brain tumor and lied about being in New York.  His doctor says the tumor is in a location that makes it difficult to operate.  They're medicating, but not sure if they can operate yet.

Alina bugs Diana to eat more, but she claims she's never very hungry in the morning.  She insists her eating disorder is in the past and Alina should trust her.  She promises to stuff herself at lunch with Karina.  All Alina can think when Diana leaves is that she's bored and wants to call that hot guy she met the other day.

Rod thoroughly enjoys the Jello and hides the cup and spoon under his sheets.  He fights not to smile when Nurse #2 comes in, thinking someone stole her Jello.

Diego and Natalia meet with the client.  He actually does a decent job talking about the clothes themselves, to start with, but Natalia fills in the more technical details about their plans.  Dudes…holding hands during a meeting is not professional!

Gross…Alina got hold of Oliverio.  She's forced to accept Diana's offer of a ride to wherever she's hooking up with him.

Vicente meets with the angry client who wanted the clauses he'd agreed on with Diego.  He added the clauses back to the contract and the client is happy again and ready to sign.  Vicente has to keep up the fiction that Diego still works there, saying he's out at the plant.  Vicente got his contract, but he doesn't look happy.

Alina tries to get Diana NOT to drop her off where she's actually meeting him, but Diana is obliviously insisting.

Tad isn't exactly happy to see Irene when he wakes up and she tells him to calm down--doctor's orders!  Tad says he didn't tell her to avoid causing her any more pain than he already has.  He doesn't want her to feel obligated.  Irene promises she'll be there because she's fond of him and out of respect for what they've been through together, but not out of obligation.

Alina made it to the door without supervision.  Oliverio and his 'stache get to hear about Alina's fascinating work.  He thinks she's fascinating, but wonders if she's got money.

Tad actually feels a little better now that Irene knows.  He's assuming that he's got no hope, but that's not the impression Irene got from the doctor.  What Tad's most worried about, though, is living without painting because he loses his sight or the use of his hands after the surgery.  Irene tells him painting isn't everything and there's always a reason for living.  Tad looks a little like he might be making Irene his reason.

I ignore Alina and Oliverio as they plan to do some archaeological exploration between the sheets later in the week.  Gross!

Leaving the meeting, Diego gets a call from Vicente, but he pretends not to be able to hear him.  "We need to discuss the terms of your return to Caprico."  Diego says the terms are that Irene and her project come back too.  Vicente maybe says "ok" and maybe says "just get here" but Diego takes it as an acceptance of their return.  I guess we'll see when they get there.  And I would have lobbied for more space for Irene, cause it seems like they've got more work than that tiny office could handle.

Tad begs Irene to just forget about him.  "Ha!  If you were in my place, could you forget about me?"  He has to admit he wouldn't be able to.  He brings up Alonso and they're interrupted by a call from Diego.  She agrees to meet him at Caprico.  Tad hopes Vicente has changed his mind, but Irene isn't optimistic.  I like this whole Tad-Irene path we're going down.  I really would like it to stay friendship.  It's refreshing.

Diana picks up the rat poison before her date and pays in cash (which is unfortunate, because that means it's less likely there will be a trace.  In her car, she pours some out of the box and into a vial of clear liquid.  Which is promising, because if she gets some of the powder in her car, that can link it back to her.

Irene tells Diego about Tad, but insists on taking this meeting Vicente is asking for.  Diego thinks Grumps just came to his senses finally, is all.  Grumps is actually annoyed that they waited for Rosa to announce them instead of just walking in.  "You win.  I'll support the project, just the way you proposed it."  Go Team Irene!

Diana gives Brigitte the vial, and tells her it's a "potion."  Brigitte thinks Diana's silly to believe in potions, but Diana swears by its efficacy.  She's supposed to give it to Natalia daily until she "disappears" from Diego's life.  Brigitte thought bubbles that she doesn't believe it.  She agrees to give it to her, but for a price…3K pesos.  Diana won't pay until she sees results, though.

Andres sees Diana and Brigitte having lunch and in her shock and being confronted by him, she breaks the vial.  So much for that, Not-So-Dynamic-but-Definitely-Delusional-Duo!

Vicente claims the importance of family is what made him change his mind.  They'd just better not lose money, and they'd better not accept Tad's money, either!  Vicente tells Irene he'd rather she not see Tad again, but she refuses.

Brigitte claims they just ran into each other and Diana was trying to get Brigitte to tell Natalia to stay away from Diego.  Andres does agree with Brigitte that Natalia shouldn't be with Diego…"that rapist."  Uh oh, it's news to Brigitte.

Vicente tries to get Diego to come back to the house, but he won't be manipulated by Diana.  Diego leaves and Vicente asks Irene to talk to him and convince him to come home.  "You already heard him, dad."  Irene tells him that not interfering in other people's lives is essential to living together.  "You should try it."  She leaves and Vicente throws a tantrum.

Andres tells Brigitte the story of "that night" and suddenly a lot of things make sense.  Brigitte thinks Natalia's nuts.  She gloats over how Diego's a real piece of work and her sister is an idiot.

Oliverio is waiting for a locksmith to get his keys out of his car for him.  He calls "Valerie" to tell her he's running late.

Alina brags to someone over the phone about the hottie she's going to kill time with.

Diego is in his old office getting settled in quickly.  Irene  tells him she hopes he sticks to his guns about not coming back to the house.  They head to Natalia's to pack up Irene's stuff.

Mara is cold to Paolo when he sees her, but he gracefully backs off.

Family lunch at the fonda and some random chit-chat.  Natalia assumes Brigitte is at the house and brags that she's really applying herself and working hard.

Irene ignores a call from Alonso because she's in the car with Diego.  Diego gossips with her a bit about things being weird between Alonso and Karina.

Alina runs into Oiiverio in the garage.  Diana arrives at the same time and screams "What are you doing with my mother?!"  Alina remembers him from the video.  Diana lays into him for getting money out of her and going after her mother.  The locksmith, luckily for Oliverio, finishes his job.  Diana calls Alina crazy for going out with him and then faints--probably from lack of eating and too much excitement.  I mean, she plotted a murder, went shopping for supplies, and found out her mom was having lunch with her ex.  That's pretty much a full day, right there.

Brigitte is dutifully sewing when Natalia gets home.  Brigitte is pouty about how this isn't her strong suit and now accepts Natalia's help.  She asks how the client meeting went.  Natalia tells Brigitte she thinks Grumps has reconsidered and they're going back to Caprico.

Diego gets a call from Alina about being on the way to the hospital with Diana.  Diana, in the background screams that it's his fault.  Diego tells Irene it can't be that bad if she's able to scream at him like that and leaves her to go into Natalia's alone.

Abdul isn't doing a good job of helping Lupita with her history homework.  She says even Chato's better than he is.

On his way to a delivery, Abdul sees that they're opening another Veracruz-style restaurant nearby.

The ladies pack up at Casa Garcia.  Irene wants to let Carmen know, personally, and thank her.  Irene tells Natalia about Tad's tumor, and then about Diana's fainting spell.

Abdul walks Carmen over to the new fonda, where Carmen meets the skanky owner.  Who thinks competition is healthy.  Carmen realizes she can't reason with this woman, and Abdul's jaw is on the floor, so she leaves.

Rodrigo's nurse sees Diego at the hospital and gets quite a fright.  Rod's doctor explains to her that Diego is Rodrigo's twin.

Back at her own fonda, Carmen fumes about the new restaurant.

Rod is moving his arms around much better.  His nurse comes running in to tell him she saw his twin brother.  "He's as handsome as you are!"  She starts giving him a manicure as she says he's there with his wife.  Rodrigo thinks that life has gone on for everyone but him.  Natalia's face comes to him and he tries to remember who she is.

Tomorrow: Tiburcio finds out who Irene's daughter is; Rodrigo scares the crap out of Diana.

Labels: te-quiero