Monday, July 07, 2014
Lo Que la Vida Me Robó #169 Lunes 7/7/14: The Price Tag
“Come with me. We have to talk.”
Labels: robo
Finally we know what happened to Padre.
EZ kept him a prisoner all that time? And that's what he calls "safe"?
"Amelia was a cool as a cucumber telling the rest of the story. Fabiola was far from it" and " Rosario didn't fire any warning shots. She aimed right for the head" were among my favorites.
I thought I would be overjoyed at the sight of our dear Padre. While relieved to see he is alive, if not truly well, it was clear he has lived and existed under difficult and troubling circumstances lo these many years.
"I will forgive her. My mother loves me. My mother told me she loves me. She loves me.” I could not help but be moved at Fabiola's utterances. The pitiful phrases made it clear she wanted her mother and the money took a distant second place. Is she truly her mother's daughter?
The scenes between JL, Rosario and Lauro were painful to watch. The Rosario/JL confrontation had been brewing for a time and had percolated to the boiling point. I do wish their argument had been conducted without catching Lauro in the crossfire. This served no purpose but to drive a wedge between JL and Lauro, effectively decimating their relationship.
EZ thought quickly to pull "the padre is alive" card out of his hat. I'm not quite sure the news sufficiently mollified the inquiring trio, but the shock and awe was effective in diverting them from trying to ascertain further information.
I must admit I am confused by Maria's attempted seduction. Was she simply toying with JL trying to get him to join forces with her? Maria may want to rethink her strategy. I do not believe she has many friends, or actually, any friends. Her only ally, Adolfo, appears to be keeping close tabs on her disguise. Is he (gasp) thinking Maria may betray him? I have to say this for her. Along with Graciela, she is relatively fearless. Even knowing Pedro is alive does not deter her from her course. Are we SURE she is not Graciela's daughter?
Speaking of Graciela, will she return now that Fabiola is incarcerated?
UA, I am up working so couldn't wait to read this. A wonderful recounting.
Diana
I think she is trying to seduce JL into killing Monserrat because she failed to do so. Remember she's tried three times and failed.
She also has a need to feel superior to Monserrat because Alejandro "jilted" her for Monse. She never had a chance with him and refuses to see it.
Great episode that left many questions.
How did Rosario expect to stay in JL's house by telling him to his face she would be working against him? That was very shortsighted on her part if she really wanted to stay with Laurito.
How long will Graciela be gone on her solo trip? Did not take long for Fabiola to hit the bottle after finding out that her mommy dearest was having a fine old time on her money without her.
Why is Padre Anselmo being given drugs he evidently is avoiding?
How long will Ezequiel be sleeping in the guest room?
What is that crazy BM up to?
Jarifa
I couldn't figure out what Maria hoped to gain with her Montse impersonation either, but I was creeped out that after all this time, she is still rummaging in her underwear drawers.
So the padre has both hands and, apparently, all his marbles. Wow.
I wonder how far Graciela will get.
I feel the need to mention my favorite part of this episode, at the very beginning, after Graciela says she's going on a trip, Carlota giddily says to herself "I've finally gotten rid of her!"
There is just too much too say and think about, so I will save it for the morning.
We have turned another tide, I believe as we have our wonderful Padre back. I loved the close up of the hands.
Thank Urban, thank you SO much!
Fatima
This may be the best recap you have ever written.
Please accept this (virtual) offering of flowers and take a bow.
You caught so much action in one capitulo—more happened tonight than in an average week—and you got it all, wrote it beautifully and made the episode come alive.
So it seems that EZ told the partial truth. We know that he is much worse than he made himself seem tonight. He has been keeping Anselmo drugged all these years? God grief, that cannot be good for his aging brain.
I do not see how EZ can be redeemed or rehabilitated.
Alejandro and Co's plan for kidnapping Montserrat is idiotic. Way to get yourself arrested, again, Alejandro. It's a bloody good thing you are so pretty!
Thanks again, Urban. This was a superb effort and I am sure it took many hours of work to create.
More tomorrow.
Elna June
Diana, I am in complete agreement with you regarding the JL/Rosario/Montserrat scenes. I believe that JL actually had the right to tell Laurito about the baby, after all JL is the baby's father, something that both Rosario and Montserrat seem to be more than willing to ignore. Rosario was out of line. Further, Rosario could have packed and left without involving Laurito. Montserrat should have kept her big trap shut. Any psychologist or counselor will warn against bad-mouthing a spouse in front of the kids. It's extremely harmful to the child. But Montserrat is a dunce. Maybe her pants are so tight that there is no circulation going to her brain.
I have to admit old EZ is a smoothy. He admitted just enough to allay suspicion, but not enough to really harm his relationship with Carlota.
1. Montse has not said thing to him yet so JL should have spoken to her first before mentioning it
2. Montse , JL and Laurito and his child are not one big happy family and not going to live together. Once Alec recovers his name they will be together.
Montse can say whatever she wants seeing how JL treats her and her mother in law. Glad Laurito was there to see the scene now he can see truly see him as he is. Not just some guy who buys him presents or plays futbol with him. Good for Rosario not taking his crap! Of course she would be on her son's side after knowing what JL has done so far. Did you expect her to be on JL's side?
The JL and Maria scene was hilarious. He was breathing so heavy I thought he had asthma.
Too many things to comment on this early in the morning (4 am EST) so I'll wait until tomorrow.
Just please let Ale get the money back. I thought for sure that Fabs would transfer it back into her account once she found out that Gracie left without her.
Was MDJL only asking Fabs about the will because he is scared that if Ale gets his name back, he will loose Monse? Couldn't read his look or this question to Fabs.
Awesome recap! Thanks for all the hard work, and for including all those great screen shots. The recap flowed, and was so entertaining to read.
The scene that made me LOL was when BM walked into the Mendoza/Basurto house and told Manuela to tell Graciela that la Senora Maria Zamudio was there. HA! BM thinks she's a lady. What a joke.
The scene that creeped me out was MDA trying to seduce "Montse" aka, BM. All that heavy breathing and panting was not attractive. It was kind of gross. But maybe I found it gross because I knew he was talking to BM, and I can't stand her. Also, I might not like MDA, but I wouldn't even want him to sleep with BM.
I actually kind of felt bad for Fabby. She doesn't care about the money. She just wanted her mother. This just further proves to me that she might not be Gracie's bio daughter. So once again, I turn to the theory I have held from the beginning. BM is Gracie and Benny's daughter.
Alert! Alert! Alert!
We have a Padre A sighting. I am so glad to see the Padre alive. But I also wonder what conditions he's been living in. Why would he spit out those pills? Is he being drugged? At least he seems to be alert enough to know not to take the pills. I just hope that EZ told the truth, and takes Padre A back to Aguazul. And speaking of EZ. Man is he sneaky. Telling only what made him look like the Good Guy. Notice he failed to mention that he paid off an employee at the morgue in exchange for a human hand. Hmm.
Off to bed...hasta pronto!
I don't think paying off the morgue employee even qualifies as a sin in this case. EZ did it to convince Pedro he had killed the padre; nobody was killed for that hand. Carlota knows that Pedro is bad news and wouldn't hold that against him.
His sick relationship with Maria is a completely different story, though, and Carlota will have to find out about that. Which will be very ugly and worse so if Gracie is there to gloat over it.
This was a hard episode for me to watch because I don't do well when watching the children suffer for the stupidities of the adults. I thought there were times MDJL had hit the pond scum level, but if there is one lower than that...yep he's right in there. My heart melted with the little guy and his Uncle Dim.
I say good for Rosario, she's one feisty mother protecting her cubs, but it increases my worry for her. I don't know where JL's brain would go in his attempt to ruin Ale's life so he "wins" Monse back. And I agree, that scene with Maria was hardly romantic if that was how he thought he was seducing his wife. Gees...
As for Maria, she's just looking for her next cohort in crime. She doesn't think she can count on Adolfo anymore, EZ is out of the loop, so she thinks JL will help her get what she wants. Maybe those two do deserve each other.
The whole Padre reveal was kind of ruined for me since we all kind of figured that out some time ago. But it is good to have him back and I'll be interested to see how he figures into the plot now (besides probably marrying people again.)
If it wasn't for his stupid relationship with Maria, I think EZ could have been redeemable as someone who did what he had to stay undercover. So will he also "out" Adolfo in an attempt to save his own scalp?
Not holding out much hope for Fabs. Rather tragic figure after all--the product of greed, machinations and too many secrets. And having another bad hair day.
Frankly, we have quite a growing list of those who need to get various levels of comeuppance in this tale. Going to an interesting set of Ultimates.
Daisynjay
Glad to see Padre A. back!
Best to you and everyone!
Julia R.
Loved all the pictures as well. And the observation that José Luis had come to resemble Pedro Medina in his dealings with others.
Scorpion's Nest...wonderful description of Adolpho's apartment.
Haven't seen this yet but grieving for poor lost Fabiola. What could be worse than a cold-blooded betrayal by one's mother? Oh my.
Thanks Urban. We are all the beneficiaries of your hard work and dedication to this blogsite.
I watch each episode twice:
-- First time I take notes, on which I make decisions about which dialogue is more important. I also get the screen grabs then.
-- Second time I do the actual writing while pausing as necessary.
I typically read these through at least three times before publication:
-- First for fact
-- Second for spelling and punctuation
-- Third to see if I need to break up sentences. Noir narration should be short, punchy sentences, like the dialogue.
Now, if only the site would obey my wishes about photo placement I'd be a lot happier.
This entire process used to take 7 hours and change (in three sessions) but I've cut it back to 6. Now you all know why I like Mondays for it!
Poor Carlota,she is such a gullible swan,she believes everything EZ spews out of his mouth..This will end bad for her.Hopefully how that the Padre is safe and sound his life wont be at risk anymore though he will still have to eat the BS of Adolfo and EZ..
And EZ is reminding me of Francis Underwood from House of Cards ,both use underhanded tactics to achieve their political positions,both are cruel but Frank has an equally cruel wife,unlike EZ's gullible swan.its unsure if Frank even loves his wife or he is just using her for power but its quite an interesting relationship,,
It was pretty silly for Rosie to think she could go off on JL about reuniting her son and Monse at all cost, and expect him to allow her to stay in his house. It was pretty inevitable that he would throw her out (remember how Ale threw her out when he thought she had gone against his orders and helped Monse contact JL). It's just a shame that the whole ugly thing had to happen in front of a child. Shame on all the adults for that.
Even drunk, horny, and apparently in respiratory distress, JL is still turned off by Maria. She should just give up trying to seduce JL and Ale and move on to another tactic. Which it looks like she might do tomorrow.
EZ is very smooth. Well played. But won't it be a problem for him when Padre reveals EZ has kept him drugged up all these years?
And once again, I am in awe. And that goes for all our recappers. The dedication you all show to entertain and help us through these shows never ceases to amaze. My sincerest thanks.
Daisynjay
The level of work and talent displayed by our recappers just boggles one's mind. Truly, I don't think there is any other such place where we such talent on a daily basis.
My sincerest thank yous to all of you.
Fatima
A Humble Reader
So many miserable people. So many miserable lives that have lost so much.
Fatima
Member, Crackpot Theorists™
I am thinking of the work places rules that were given to me at my current place of employ which strictly forbids this kind of thing. No, I am not in a federal government position, but we have some pretty strict rules in places with regard to touching of others. Even I was a bit taken aback when I first saw them.
So, you are saying that in a real life situation this would not have raised an eyebrow and would have been deemed "OK"?
I am asking you honestly coming from what I know to be my own workplace rules. Personally, I think he could have expressed his compassion verbally given his obvious conflict of interest with the prisoner, Fabiola.
Fatima
You get this for free, folks. They put in all that work for the love of good writing and the love of this blog.
I laughed when they showed the closeup of his hands first before panning up to his face. They were still there and holding a rosary to boot!
So he kept a couple of hundred pills buried under his mattress. Since he's been there 7 years, where's the other 2300 or so?
Plus I am glad that JL threw out that witch Rosario. Now she can fly off on her escoba to keep the old padre company, just like in the old days.
Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into writing the recaps. I enjoy your writing style so much and appreciate all the work you put into helping those of us who don't understand some of the more obscure or barely used Spanish words or phrases.
Also, thank you so much for downloading the recaps in such a timely manner. I don't know how you do it, unless you see the episodes re Mexican broadcast.
I also love your screen shots and wish I knew how you do them.
You certainly did justice to Amelia's deconstruction of Graciela's delusional make-believe life to Fabiola's unbelieving ears.
Not that I felt any pity for Fabs. Maybe facing jail and the poorhouse she can begin to admit that her sorry life has not always been someone else's fault. Only then can she begin to heal.
I was sorry to hear that she wished she'd been aborted. Padre Anselmo would have a few things to say about that.
Bring on the Padre!
This visitor [Maria] barged in knowing she was about as welcome as a case of anthrax.
He leaned into the wig, too drunk to realize that it wasn't real hair.
Kudos to JL. He hit near rock bottom being a perfect a$$ in front of Laurito. But, in a drunk, breathy, depressed stupor, he still won't boink Maria. But I don't know what it says about a police chief when an amateur can so easily break into his house.
Yay, Padre Anselmo is back. EZ kept him for a rainy day. I too wonder how EZ can claim to Carlota that he protected the Padre when in fact they kept the poor man doped up all this time.
Isn't this the third time Maria purchased a blond wig? If she ever goes to trial, the wig sellers can provide circumstantial evidence.
1) She didn't abort Ale after she was violated even though she had the chance to do so while in jail; she gave Ale to his grandfather to raise even though she could have kept him jail with her for a time.
2) She came to look for her son the minute she was released from jail.
3) She didn't want him to feel embarrassed regarding her humble upbringing; and she didn’t want for him to know that he was the product of such a terrible violation. After telling Monse and him the truth, she did everything she could to care for them and show them a mother’s love. Plus, she saw the defect in her own son's character when he kicked Monse out of the hacienda for something she knew Monse didn't do.
4) She stayed with Monse and Laurito and cared for them like a mother should during Ale’s time in a coma (my mother-in-law certainly wouldn’t have done that).
5) She didn’t stand in the way when Monse married MDJL even though she was opposed to the marriage.
She only wants her son and daughter-in-law’s happiness because she has seen the dark side of MDJL and knows her son and Monse love each other deeply and truly: not like the obsessive love MDJL feels for Monse or only the gratitude that Monse felt for MDJL when she married him.
Yes! Excellent!
Which REALLY makes us wonder a) how many millions Lauro had (especially given how many we think we know Benjamin had) b) where is the money and c) where did it go to result in Lauro losing it all (other than the offshore accounts proposed by Urban)??!!
It boggles the mind to think of how Graciela has treated her husband, children, and extended family.
Fatima
Member, Crackpot Theorists™
Perhaps this is why he let things go to heck in a hand basket? One wonders if he ever, at any point, tried to stop the decline?
Fatima
Member, Crackpot Theorists™
Thanks to all recappers as I really enjoy reading your recaps to see how much of the dialogue I understood.
Speaking of dialogue I totally missed what Adolfo said during his very short scene as I was dreamily staring at Ferdinando. LOL! I had to wait and read what he said here. Fofito, what do you have planned? I hope it works out better than his assination attempt on Pedro.
So I watch the show with the CCs in Spanish. The CCs showed Gracie's real name as Laurencia Jimenez. Am I the only one who saw this?
Gracie got the heck out of Aguazul. There is no shame in her game. No shame in Maria's game either. She proves over and over again that she is willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants.
JL is officially dead to me. How do you kick Laurito's grandma out of the house when you know how much he loves her. Why would turn the child against you? He truly is mad!
Caryn
But MDJL put his anger above Laurito's love for his Abuelita. Again he is playing with a child's sentiment which is atrocious.
-- It was during the day
-- JL was sober
-- He was not pleased that Maria tried this trick
Had he been sober in last night's episode he may have known better that Monse wouldn't try to vamp him in view of what else has been going on.
As for whether he was acting inappropriately in the jail cell, he caught himself. He also extricated himself from the situation. True, knowing Fabiola before has affected his reactions a little, but in the end he was a total pro in how he handled it.
Amelia and Padre Anselmo need to double-team him.
As to the bank accounts of Admiral Mendoza and Benjamin Almonte 40+ years ago, we don't know how much difference there was. What we can assume is that the Admiral's family had a higher social standing. We also don't know how long Dimitrio's gambling problem had been going on or even what Gracie has been spending money on.
I still think there is a numbered bank account somewhere (like in the Cayman Islands) where all the money lost from the Mendoza estate and all she got from Almonte during his lifetime is (less Dim's gambling debts).
She got real uppity real fast and it came back to bite her in the culo. She continually treated JL like crap, as Vivi in particular has mentioned, but did not expect any repercussions. Good riddance to that campesina!
All of the things that Laurito said that she does she can still do or they can get the bodyguard Nava to pitch in.
As far as Maria and JL, I say go for it JL. You are not getting any from Montse, so love the BSC one you are with. Nothing wrong with role playing either. Having Maria as an f**& buddy could keep him from hitting the bottle so much as well.
Padre A is back! Yay! Hope we hear more of what happened to him these past 7 years.
JL just keeps sinking deeper and deeper into that dark place. I don't understand how he seems so normal around everyone, except Montse and family. I wasn't surprised at either JL or Rosario last night, Rosario's goal is to get Montse and Ale back together, but I think she forgot that the house now belongs to JL. Her anger at him didn't give her time to pause and think what the consequences would be. And JL has probably been waiting for the perfect moment to get her out of the house. Laurito didn't hear the argument between them, but by the time he came out of the shower, he got caught in the cross fire. Poor little guy. JL should have contained his aggresiveness for his godson's sake.
As for Maria, I don't understand what kind of game she is playing. She certainly hasn't outgrown stealing Montse's underwear. Yuck!
Maricruz
You and I have agreed from early on that Gracie probably has Lauro's money stashed somewhere offshore.
Graciela's relationship to money is completely obsessive and compulsive. She has to have it, has †o have it now, and nothing will stand in her way in obtaining it.
She is ADDICTED tothe idea of having money.
Shudder.
EJ
She seems to have gotten the very mistaken notion that because other men paid for her favors that she is worth the highest price possible. It's also a one-upwomanship game she's playing with Monserrat that she refuses to realize she will always lose.
Alejandro will never want her sexually thanks to their family history and he would be an even bigger fool to be tempted now. If she attempts to lure him to her place he should not go alone.
She lured JL to the hotel so he would kill them both and that failed. What she wants to do now is to get Monserrat to ditch Alejandro because she thinks that will give her a new opportunity.
She won't stop until someone kills her.
The recap is amazing, as always. In fact, I always read it first before watching the episode because your commentary and writing style enhance my experience of the show. Thank you for that!
The screen shots are amazing!
On another note, I hope Ezequiel redeems himself somehow. I believes he loves Carlota in his weird, twisted way, and they are cute together. Others may disagree with me, but I want Ezequiel to pull out of the mess he has made.
Happy Padre is alive and back.
Completely agree w/EJ that the kidnap Montse idea from some of the most inept characters in this tn was just dumb.
I keep hoping JL will hit his head and see Angelica, like Ale saw Lauro, and come back to himself.
Felt not a bit of sympathy for
Rosario as she deserved what she got. Wish the actress could find a way to stop crying thru every scene.
I don't see why they were so angry that JL told Laurito abt the pregnancy. He had every right to say something. It is a happy event in his eyes.
EZ murdered Robledo so there is no redemption coming.
The Padre still being alive makes no sense to me. Some story lines are just stupid.
Felt bad for Fabs. Even I didn't think Graciela would run out on her after all her crying about the injustice of it all.
Great news to hear the Padre is still alive, but not so great that EZ used this reveal to hide his nefarious activities.
I like the way information is doled out to us in small pieces, like wringing out a wet towel a few drops at a time. The writers are keeping us on the edge.
They need to do that as we approach the Ultimas Semanas.
Has it occurred to anyone (meaning the characters) that Maria could have any number of STD's from her years of hooking?
Another reason I did not want Ale to sleep with BM.
Also, reason for Fina not to sleep with Adolfo. Who knows if he has been using protection every time he boinks BM.
I still don't understand this idea that this tn is selling, that a man can keep a woman prisoner if she is his wife (Ale, Pedro, JL). But as soon as she turns out to be someone else's wife, *puff*, she's free to go live with that other guy. How about she can be free as long as SHE wants to be free, and no one, not even your husband, has a right to hold you prisoner. It's just idiotic.
Not to mention that Pedro's whole deal was based on the deception he used to marry Nadia in the first place. She should have gotten an annulment during Year One.
Vivi...In Amor Real, Antonio (JL here) did take the leading lady prisoner and nearly especially her.
Well, back to unpacking and doing laundry while I await last nights recap.
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