Caray, Caray!

First of all, I want to thank Diva for taking on the leadership for both DQTQTQ and then for allowing me to drag her kicking and screaming into this mess. Mea culpa.

Eli-Thank you for jumping in there and with such wit and style. I can't tell you how many times in real life something has happened and I've thought "Oh the F*ckery!"

Lila-You are a pro. Special kudos to you. First time recapper AND it's with this dreck. Any recapping from now on will be a piece of cake.

I am excited that the team is sticking together for La Sombra del Pasado.

Finally many thanks to each and every commenter who stopped by. On a show like this, your support was SO appreciated. The patio has been an absolute blast and I feel really privileged to share it with fun folks like y'all.


Let's cuss and discuss (™Emeraldrose).
Cuss:

• There were some genuinely GOOD scenes in this episode, which made me cuss because so much of our time was wasted with Meatball, his wife and the Juan Garza garbage.
• I really would have rather had more cutting mid stream and had the FULL fin than the shredded version we got tonight.
• Really? You call those anvils? "Anvils were pebbles"(™Carvivlie)
• Not enough Mariano...who he was talking to the other day?

Some scenes will be covered more than others and as usual some will be combined.

Esme is in a swivet. Pablo said he would bring the kids back in two hours and it's been two AND A HALF hours. Jarocha tells her to calm down. The kids are with Pablo and he loves them. He wouldn't let anyone hurt them. Esme doesn't think Jarocha gets it. Lo is manipulative and Esme is worried about what the woman could be planting in Pablito's head. Little Virginia doesn't think her grandmother is going to let Pablito come back. "You know how she is." She tells the grown ups. Good thing she's got TWO grandmothers. Carlos agrees--Lo and Blanca. Virginia corrects herself. Oh, then yeah. I've got three abuelas: Blanca and "the other one". Virgina explains that Lo told Virginia not to kiss her because she was black. The adults are taken aback. As am I.

Lo fires Dorila. Dorila quits first...and tells the old bat she's going to be left all alone.

Virgina continues her tale. The good thing is her grandma Dorila told the witch...er...abuela NOT to mistreat Virginia. "Grandma Dorila?" Carlos asks. Yup. She says she's your mom. Dona Rita told her.

Carlos Horacio had a wonderful dream. He dreamed the dirty beggar lady was his mamá. Could that be possible? Is she my mom? Victor Garabato cries.

Esme has gone to the MN Mansion to get Pablito, but he refuses to leave. He wants to stay with Mamá Lorenza. He tells Esme she's bad and dangerous. That's why they call her LA GATA! (Insert Cat Flash.)

Lo is upstairs cursing the maldita Gata. The boy is hers. ONLY HERS!!

Esme explains that yes, they always called her the Gata. She never told them about her origins, but yes, Jarocha called her Gata as a term of endearment as did Rita (she's forgotten episodes 1-30 I guess.) The way Pablito said it though really hurts her. He still insists he doesn't want to go with Esme. Pablito wants to stay with Mamá Lorenza.

Mamá Lo is upstairs talking to Augie's spirit. He's congratulating her on her master manipulations. She insists she really was depressed. Augie misses her. He's waiting for her to join him in hell. She thinks she's getting a second chance with her grandson at her side.

Said grandson is still refusing to leave. He wants to stay with Mamá Lorenza and Esme tells him that Lo is not his mamá, but his grandmother. Esme also tells Pablo he's partly to blame since he can't seem to find the nerve to stand up to his mother.

He immediately proves her wrong and goes up stairs and yells at Lorenza for turning his son against Esme. When she does that, she hurts him--her own son!! HE'S LEAVING FOREVER!!

Pablo arrives at the MN mansion. Esme is upset. In the short time that Pablito was with Lo, she managed to turn him against Esme. Pablo assures Esme that little Pablito does love Esme. He's just confused. Pablo is going to fix this right now. Where is Pablito? When Pablo and Pablito come back downstairs, the child will give Esme all the love she deserves.

Meanwhile, Fer informs Fela that he, Osorio and Pedro finally have the proof they need to put Lo away. She won't be a nightmare for them anymore. (I wonder if Esme regrets not letting him press charges 10 years ago when Lo was caught trying to leave the twins at the top of a garbage heap to be eaten by rats.) They are with the judge right now. It's just a matter of hours.

Carlos confronts Dorila. He wants to know why she didn't tell him sooner. They could have been together all this time. Dorila says she was ashamed. It still hurts to see him. She was forced to leave him. No one forced her to treat him so badly, though. Now seeing her granddaughter Virginia she thinks she's paying for what she did. (We've been screwed out of a good story, though. WHO forced her to give up the child?) Carlos is not holding a grudge. He missed having a mother, but he wants to try to have a relationship with Dorila. Virginia will learn to love her as a grandmother, especially now that she only has one.

Pablo has brought his son downstairs and boy this kid has a whopper of a story. Apparently, he saw Esme kissing Rogelio. Esme is cheating on his father with Rogelio Aceves. Mother and Father carefully question him. He is unable to give a description and finally cracks under their interrogation (I'm being hyperbolic.) He confesses that he was told to tell this lie by Lo.

Edgar HatBro Suarez MD asks if Gisela has taken the money out of the safe. She has. They struggle. He falls and hits his head. QEPD Edgar HatBro Suarez MD. Gisela is on her way to a faraway tropical island.

The doctor informs Carlitos that Virginia is a good candidate for a surgery that will allow her to see and that she did not inherit her mother's disease.

Esme tells Pablito that she's hurt that he would believe what Lo said. Pablito tells her he just wants his parents together, but he loves his grandmother, too. He doesn't want her to die. Pablo tells him she won't. Pablito loves his mother. He asks his mom to forgive him. Leti comes in and asks if anyone loves her (really? Little black sack dress and boots?) Her father picks her up and hugs her. He adores her, too! Group hug! Family suffering over!

Carlos and Virgina talk about the operation. It's her decision. She thinks it would be nice to see colors, flowers and the grass where they play. Carlos wants her to remember there's a small chance the operation won't work. She understands. The worst that can happen is she stays blind. But she would like to see so her mom would be happy (sintiera feliz) and see the world through her daughter's eyes. Carlos tells her her mother had a special way of seeing things and saw more than anyone. Virginia will have the operation. She wants her father to be there with a picture of her mother as soon as they take off the bandage. She's never been able to imagine her mother. Carlos tells her that's the first thing she'll see (*sniffle*)

Pablo and family have a new house...

And WTF Lo is in jail? (Whiplash) She's accosted and robbed by the obligatory jail bullies.

Fer, Osorio and crew explain that she called her sons and they didn't answer. You reap what you sow. Now they are just waiting for officials from the country to which she was being deported.

Carlos Horacio and Victor Garabato visit a dying Ines. (Ok. Full disclosure. As well done as this scene was, I really felt like it was too long. Maybe it didn't feel that way in the original uncut version.) So Carlos Horacio notices that the nice lady finally looks at peace and not sad. She says she is at peace. Garabato wants her to rest, but she says there's plenty of time for that. She tells Carlos Horacio that he helped her cleanse herself of all the bad she did. Victor explains to him that the nice lady saved his life. He's about to explain to him that Ines is his mother, but she stops him and says she's the beggar from La Ciduded Encontrada. Flashbacks. Carlos Horacio tells her about his dream that she was his mom. Ines tells him dreams are nice aren't they? She tells him to fulfill his dreams and not to let anyone take his dreams from him. Flashbacks. Don't let anyone tell him he can't do it. Believe in something bigger than himself. She always found it hard to believe in God, but he should. He's going to be a very happy person. She tells him to fall in love. Flashbacks. Make mistakes and learn from them. Always try to be happy. She tells him she loves him. Victor Garabato stays and tells her he loves her (Te amo) and she says she loves him too. Carlos Horacio climbs up and gives her a kiss and says "Thank you for everything mamá." Ines slips away. (Why couldn't we get this kind of quality all along?)

A straight-jacketed Gisela mumbles about hating la Gata and purifying herself. No disfigurement. I am not happy.

Esme explains to Pablo that Gisela is in a psych ward. I sort of feel that we missed something interesting. Mariano and Pablo haz sads. Their mother was a lot of things (racist, classist, loud, manipulative, abusive) but she was still their mother and now she's locked up outside the country where they can't even visit her. Their parents lived to do evil, but they were still their parents. Esme tells Pablo he has her and their children and Pablo reminds Mariano that he will always be there for him.

Lo is in a maximum security prison which allows mascara and eye-liner. She's sounding a little loony herself asking for Pablo and saying she doesn't deserve all this. She is La Gran Señora Martinez Negrete. Flashback to her interpretive dance (™Diva) Maldita Gata was stronger....The love of that maldita gata....Augustin...Augustin...even you don't come to visit me...I miss you...you damn ghost...I don't want to be alone... (exterior shot of same prison where they held Fer.)

WARNING: I will not do this scene justice. I just bawled when it aired and I might lose it again watching.
A suddenly sighted Dr Javier is getting ready to remove Virginia's bandages. She's a little nervous. A lot of people came to see her, but the doctor only let one person come in. She asks him not to tell her. She wants to see if she recognizes him. The bandages come off. The doctor warns her it might be blurry at first. He counts to three 1...2...2 1/2...2 3/4....tres. She blinks and turns to Carlos. We see Viginia's picture in his hands. She quietly says "papá" and the theme song starts up and so do my tears. Let me gather myself again before I continue. She asks him to come closer because she wants to be sure. She touches his face. She confirms it's him. He thanks the doctor. Pierre Louis is good at crying. He shows Virginia the picture of her mother "Mi señorita bonita número uno." Virginia takes the picture, kisses it, hugs it and says "mamá" Flashback to Virginia Sr. on her death bed. This one scene has made the pain of this show worth it. I mean, I hate that Virgina Sr. died. That was dumb, but at least she gets a nod at the fin and I can be happy knowing that her daughter did not inherit the have a baby and die disease.

Aaaand then we descend into stupid.

• Willy (? Crap I cannot remember Hots-car's name) finds a baby.
• Garabato tells his boyz about his life once he found out Carlos Horacio was on the way. He worked hard. Sometimes he wanted to quit. blah blah blah.
• Flashback to 45 seconds ago when Willy found the baby. Willy asked Dam to ask him to help with the adoption.
• Rita is reading the cards.
• Jarocha is going to have quadruplets.
• More Barrio Boyz. We've come so far! Flashbacks!
• Rey gets caught. 'Cause we really gave a damn.
• Barrio Boyz again. We've got nothing holding us back!

Whiplash cut to a wedding. Pablo and Esme are renewing their vows.
Pablo: I'll go first. I'm afraid of failing you. I'm afraid of being there for you and then later not being there. I want you to hear this with my own voice (sound better in Spanish.) You are the love of my life. I love you and everything I feel for you I can't express in words, but I promise to spend the rest of my life finding the words to express it one day. You are my muse and the dueña de me vida. I love you.

Esme: Pablo. I love you. And I'm going to spend the rest of my life telling you so you'll never lack from my lips the most beautiful phrase ever invented "I love you"

The priest reminds Pabs to kiss her. Esme thanks Rita for being like a mom to her and pimping her out to Meatball. Pablo thanks Jarocha for protecting Esme all those times. And it kind of fizzles into congrats, hugs and flashbacks.

One last view of Mariano.

Hugs
♪y vas a ver....♪

The Fin flashes on the screen, but don't blink because you might miss it. They go right to credits.

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