Caray, Caray!

Thanks to all the boggers and especially to CathyX, AdrianaNoel, Urban Anthropologist, and Martai, and Julia for recapping throughout this long vigil. Your dedication never fails to amaze me. A good time was had by all here, if not on the set. I enjoyed working with this group, but I will not be continuing on with the next tn in this time spot.
============

I for one am not sad to see this one end. Maybe if I were fifty or sixty years younger things might be different.....

Hope to see the bloggers and recappers on other tns Loonyvision presents us. Cao for now!
 

Thank you Jardinera, I'm not sad that this one ended either. But I doubt I would have enjoyed it even if I were younger.

How did they make Isabela's face look so fat too?
 

Great job, Jardinera, except you forgot to mention that Fanny, Sr came down again to check out the situation!

Cathyx, there are brilliantly-designed prosthetics for things like this now. There are several movies like Shallow Hal that use them ver effectively.

Comments to follow in a minute in several posts due to size limitations.
 

The Great and the Good

Great performances by

-- Jorge Salinas
-- Silvia Navarro
-- Pablo Montero
-- Mayrin Villanueva
-- Fabiola Campomanes
-- The kids
-- Siete – we need more pets!

Plot points/character traits:

-- Ana doing a Pygmalion job on herself by learning English, higher math, child psychology, etc.
-- Lascurain family having social consciousness
-- Diego's detective work
-- Ana's twin girls even the gender ratio of the family. However, would Luz feel displaced by them?
-- The twin daughters of the soccer player attracting the attention of the Lascurain twin boys. Cute even if age-inappropriate (plus those girls looked older than Alex and Guille)
Laura dragged off by security guards (see Unresolved)
Arquímedes stealing all of Hissabruja's remaining money (see Unresolved)
 

The Bad and the Ugly

– Adrian Uribe: How were we supposed to think this guy was a player when Pablo Montero was in the cast?

Plot points/character traits:

-- Isabela breaking the fourth wall. This worked in scenes where she was alone, but not in the ones where someone else was within earshot.
-- Ana's screeching. She should have been upgrading her behavior to match all the other knowledge she worked on.
-- Romance plots for anyone younger than Alicia
-- Sudden death of Tamara, which was done for convenience. Personally, I think that Juan Pablo Gil (León) is being promoted as a future galán (considering he looks like a cross between the young Al Pacino and Alejandro Fernández) so this had to free León up to be able to romance Fanny, who will be a future Reina.
-- Baptism in a stadium. Too showy and egotistical for this family. This must have been a promotional opportunity to give seats away to viewers and boost ratings.
-- Ana imagining herself and Fernando as elderly. Unnecessary, not cute, and not funny. The one good thing in it was that she didn't imagine them having more children.
-- Kids entering danger zone to rescue Siete. That's a job for adults and Diego should have enforced that. He recognized the sound of a bazooka, so he should have known that Hissabully was capable of anything. In fact, they should have involved the police.
-- Isabruja's Karmageddon (complete discussion below because it deserves its own section)


What didn't make sense (the producer or writers' fault):

– Diego's absence through the middle of the story
– Angel's arrival as replacement for Diego
– Soledad encouraging Angel to pursue Ana
– Bruno being a virgin with a stutter
– Bruno's affair with Beatriz
– Childish love-talk for mature characters
– Late reveal of the Chicago secret, which truncates the remaining story elements
– Pyjamas on people who are actively getting it on. Completely ridiculous. If you don't want to show that people get naked at all, don't put scenes that would normally involve it in the program in the first place.
– Cousins suddenly appearing out of the woodwork (that group must have needed promotion)
– The romance of Nick and Jenny suddenly going bust (original Mexican audience probably didn't approve of this pairing)
– Failure of Ana, Johnny, and Jen to find a way to protect Chicago employees from Doroteo or to just send the video to the police without warning (or was Diego the only character with the brains to plan something like this?)
 

The Incomprehensible

– Isabela having an MBA from Harvard and still wanting to marry money
– Enfrique having an MBA from Harvard and being unable to run a company
– Seven kids and no sibling rivalry. Can that really happen?
– Nando getting it on with Ximena when she was the cause of his accident after humiliating him at the party
– No attempt at getting a restraining order against Zerobela despite the fact that it would have been practically ineffective. However, its existence could have been used against her later on.
– David (or whatever his name was) turning up at the last minute to claim Aurora unless Zerobela put him up to it in order to bleed them dry or otherwise make them miserable.
– Hissabela going to the dance school to find out what Enrique might have said to Fernando. She should have waited and then denied everything. It never occurred to her that someone would find it suspect that she went there.
– Arquímedes' willingness to go along with Hissabitch's murder schemes, unless he is a total sociopath or was deliberately foiled them.


Missed Opportunities

-- Diego living on the same floor as Enrique should have put him in a position to discover Hissabela committing adultery. However, that might have prevented Fernando from finding out about her emotional abuse of Sebas.
-- Doroteo's arrest should have led to a seizure of his assets, including the building Hissabully lived in. That should have put her in a forced search for an apartment, leading to difficulties for her because nobody would want to rent to her. But maybe that would have been to early in the story.


The Unresolved or Unexplained

-- Estefania's death scene: Why was the family photo three feet away from her on the floor and nowhere near where it should have been? Were the producer and/or the writers thinking of the possibility that she had been murdered before she could die of this mysterious illness?
-- Whereabouts of the cute ferret (whom I think escaped during the fumigation and found his way back to neighbors who were his real family).
How Johnny got out of the deal with the loan shark... or did he ever get the money at all?
-- Whether Johnny bought Ana's half of the green house or she just gave it to Jen and him
-- What happened to the other bride when they left her stranded? How did she get home? They could at least have let her take out a cell phone. She could have reported the driver and Arquímedes for kidnapping, which would have led to Hissabela being arrested.
-- Due to the motive for his revenge, someone should have figured out that it was Enrique who tried to kill Nick in the hospital. Fernando could have had that light-bulb moment when Hissabela told him the connexion between Enrique and Señor Rojas of the badly-made tin cans.
-- What happened to Laura after being grabbed by security at the wedding?
-- Where is Arquímedes and why is he still running around loose? Could he have helped foil Zerobela's attempts at killing Ana by deliberately picking up the wrong bride? Would he have wrecked the cake if there hadn't been an accident? Was that part of his master plan to keep her sufficiently upset to not notice that he stole all her money?
 

This sounds totally insane, Isabelas master plan was to kidnap the dog? Seriously?!
 

Serious Fail: Isabela's Karmageddon

In the words of Bulldog on Frasier, “This is it! This is total BS!”

I realize that Osorio wouldn't have wanted to finish La Tarantula off as he did Vanessa in PEAM. However I found this unsatisfying because Hissabela was still running around scott-free. She needed to be incarcerated; manicomio or prison no importa. Fernando was far too generous. She got away with the following crimes:

-- Attempt on Ana's life (the stairs; saved by Bruno)
-- Injuring Sebas (tripping him, leading to a torn tendon)
-- Attempted kidnapping of Ana (en route to church) with intent to kill
-- Attempted murder of Ana and whatever collateral damage at the wedding (bazooka)
-- Attempted poisoning of entire wedding guest list (rat poison in the cake)
-- Cyberspying of Ana's and Fernando's e-mail accounts (and whatever else)
-- Kidnapping and extortion (Siete), including the mental cruelty inflicted on the children*


*Except for this item, none of this was even found out. If Ana and Fernando had filed charges against her for kidnapping and extortion someone could have forced a confession out of her about all the rest and she'd be locked up for a long time.

Diego recognized the sound of the bazooka. Why didn't he or Johnny call security or the police?

It is not surprising that nobody would hire her for a job after the scandal at the civil ceremony wedding. It's not even surprising that nobody would hire her when she got fat. But this wasn't enough because despite not having any money, she was still free to cause trouble.

Does anyone think that Fernando would have insisted on incarceration if he knew that entire list? I'm not sure, but Ana definitely would have.
 

Eli, I think there was something else involved. I seriously think that Hissabela planned to kill Fernando during that last kiss she demanded. She would think that this would thoroughly destroy Ana and all the kids.

It never seemed to occur to her that she wouldn't escape that crime scene unless she also intended to kill Ana.
 

Urban, I enjoyed the Gran Final & that Fernando & Ana including the 10 KIDS (I'm one of 14 kids).

However, the producers should've let Isa go to prison instead of making her fat: I couldn't even look at her when they showed her as 300 pounds.

Whatever happened to Ana's best friend from their stripping days?
 

Thanks so much for thi finale recap, Jardinera!! we all got through this !! I guess I had looser expectations of the novela from the get go so i was not as annoyed with the unresolved issues and other facts as some of you were.
I totally agree on most of them, esp Fernando being so soft on Hissabella to let her just go after all she put them through.
I agree that with the 'final real kiss' she really meant to do something to Fernando that they all would suffer through.

I think the bringing DN to see her humilliate d in her zoo job was over the top. she deserved jail and whatever else, but that was not fair for DN either.

I did love the way they told Fernando about the pregnancy, the birth of the clonas and the last 10 minutes of the show after Hissa scene at the zoo were over.

I loved the fact that this was a family show (for the most part), i could not help but laugh at some of the comedy stuff, even if some other scenes were too circussy, so all in all i enjoyed it.

thanks to all who shared these blogs with us and hope to see you all again in whatever JS or SN do next. I would even watch Mayrin Villanueva in a villain role. She definitely has some talent for that. and hopefully they give her a true/natural villain. Like Leti calderon was given later in her career.
 

Months later…… (YAWN!) Perfect Jardinera. And thanks for all.

Actually months before too (YAWN!). What a waste of some very good actors' talent. Usually "el fin" is interesting even if the TN is not, but not in this case. I'm actually looking forward to the new one in this timeslot (the only time I can watch). It can't be worse, right ?
 

I liked it, it was really funny. but I really liked the love thing that was going on between Ana and Fernando,that was really nice and it was kind of corny and I'm glad it's over,. cause I'm kinda looking forward to the other one. but I would love to see Jorge & Sylvia in another one that's kinda serious. a really good love story. it's been fun people, looking forward to the next one.
 

Tk so much Jar, ESPECIALLY since 10 min into the Final !maldita Comcrap aka Comcast! went down, TV & Computer & didn't get itself together 'til 12:30AM. I missed it all. Comcrap & televisa don't recognize each other, so I'm out of luck unless Youtube comes through.

Soooo1 Jar, your recap is so appreciated. I think the finals are repeated on Sun maybe.

Any ideas anyone?

Anyway, our sweet couple & family do not harm anyone, Isa does it to herself. I would love to see her at 300#.
 

Also unresolved:
Whatever happened to the guy that raped Edith? Who was his big-shot father?

Isabela's "master plan" was not kidnapping Siete. She wanted to take the baby girls, but the opportunity never came. She was complaining that they (the family) didn't put them (the clonas) down for a second. She was hiding to grab them, but happened to sneak into where the dog was, so took him instead.
 

Jardinera,

I did enjoy your recap, as always. Many thanks to you and to all of the recappers. It's a tremendous responsibility that you take on, on behalf of the group, and you all carry it out extremely well, with good humor and creativity.

I am ready for this novela to end, but enjoyed many dimensions of it. The child actors were generally exceptional and the adults, good in their own right, interacted with them well. I am a sucker for family moments, and there were many, many good ones in this novela.

It was, however too long and really lost momentum by the end. I was satisfied with Isabela's end because of the symmetry with the Lascurian view: Ana said that love prevails and Isabela is left with the love because she can 't express it and doesn't value it.

I loved UA's note about Johnny. Who needs Adrian Uribe when they have Pablo Montero? And, his departure began the loose plot ends and odd comings and goings. (Glad to see little Sarai in the final production numbers!)

As for sibling rivalry, I did hate to see little Luz displaced by the equally adorable younger sibs. However, she has bonded with her brothers as time passed. On a more serious note, I have known lots of families of 7-10 children (in my generation, large families were very common among Roman Catholic people) and in general there was little sibling rivalry among the children. The individual parental attention was always scarce and therefore there wasn't much to fight about. This family had additional reasons to stick together: the children really were traumatized by their mother's death and the entry of Isabela into the fray. However, as adults, large families have sibling issues just like everyone else -- jealousy over different kinds of success, etc. That is, at least, my observation.

Good luck to all in finding new novelas and other forms of entertainment. I am itching to get outside this spring (if the warm weather ever comes and stays in Ohio) while I wait for something truly tempting to arrive. Hasta pronto.
And thanks again!
 

Mati, Least the 10 kids are happy together!
 

i would say that's what i am taking with me from here... the focus on the 'simple things' like the whole family playing with the large beach ball in the backyard (this scene is in Fernando's memories during their talk in the jail cell) and the hangman game the family played in the end... not a lot of expense, but it does bring the family together, like a good weekly board game night could. But when there are 10 kids, you need more than 1 board game. or a game with teams.

also Ana's 'cancelo! cancelo! cancelo!' signal... very good way to spook away bad thoughts.

and to tell those you love that you love them every chance you get. as cheesy as that sounds, most people love to be reminded/acknowledged.
 

Ok about the show tomorrow. my brighthouse programming says the first hour (12 n to 1pm est) is a one hour 'the origin' show, not sure if it is repeated first few eps because it says the 'protagonistas' speak about the novela (so it could be one of the 'aftershows' they did in Mex). the next two hours (1pm to 3pm est) seem to be a repeat of the last two or three eps. so hopefully those who missed them can have another chance at it.

and i will give ACT at least a week. even though i probably won't watch regularly. it is easier at this time (summer) for me to watch a 10pm show semi-regularly than a 7pm show regularly since sundown is later and i want to go exercise outdoors.
 

Thank you, Jardinera for another great recap which was just one of the many great recaps you wrote for the length of the novela.

Loved the Siete caper with him blindfolded in his carrier and Isabella falling in the trap: in a hole in the ground. The kids came up with a good plot complete with a net! Somehow it was so appropriate that she finally ended up in a pile of elephant dung and not just shoveling it.

I loved the reflections of the characters on life and the all around happy ending of a very fun novela.

I enjoyed the recaps and the comments of the bloggers/commenters. Hope to "see" you soon on another blog. I cannot wait for ACT on Monday! Should be good: there was a pig in the previews.
.
Jarifa
 

SOOOOOOO many thanks to you Jardinera and all our recappers. It's been a fun ride even when the show had us perplexed.

Can't say I was a fan of Isa's anvil. She pulled some serious shenanigans and totally meant to hurt not just adults, but the children as well. And to imply her just losing her looks and being poor was enough, no not so much. And honestly, with her degree, there was no excuse for not having a decent job. Just played for laughs I guess, but was very off. Mar did lay the farewell to her son very well though.

One lesson learned, no matter who's starring, I think I need to swear off Osorio TN's in the near future.

Wish everyone the best and sure to see y'all around Caray!

Daisynjay
 

OOps. I mean to say that Isabela is left WITHOUT love because she doesn't value it or express it -- unlike the very happy and united Lascurain clan.

Marta - Cancelo, cancelo, cancelo is something great to take away! I agree.
 

I think Edith's butterfly in her neck would look fine and match with her hair color if she took off the rest of the tatoos (the skulls, the pawprints and the bird wings... just leave the butterfly in the neck).
 

Thank you, Jardinera, for your faithful recapping. I realize the amount of time this job requires, and I appreciate you and everyone who put forth the effort. You all did an excellent job.

I watched MCET to help me with my Spanish, which it did. Yet, even though I watched the last two episodes, I admit I bailed on watching it nightly a couple of months ago. I found it a little too ridiculous for my taste. I do plan, however, to take the advice of the Caray bloggers and watch Amor Real, produced by Carla Estrada, next. I suspect I will enjoy that one much more than MCET.

I must say, the makeup department's work on 300 lb. Isabruja was fabulous.

And for the blog-spot record,the tn writers never developed my four favorite characters: Diego, Natalia, Lenin, and Edith. They could have been really interesting characters with some extra dimension to their story lines.

Best to you all!
 

Thanks Jardine rate for consistently delivering.

US thanks for your comments too, with one this long there was much I had forgotten.

I have a real appreciation for Martin and for me the favorite actor followed closely by JS.

I was OK with Isabella anvil and confident should she ever try anything with anyone she'll meet with the same failure.

I also liked the Ana & Fernando senior moment.

See ya'll around
 

Ecuador Bound

Amor Real is my VERY favorite novela.

Carla Estrada producer, the best, Fernando Colunga, hunkisimo, see my avatar & imagine him in the 1800's.
 

Will catch up soon on reading recap and comments but just wanted to pay my respects to all.
I'll miss all the smart, witty, and enjoyable recaps I read each and every day. I'll miss good looking, macho studman, JS; adorable Luz; and the vivacious, funny twins; and super sleuth Diego. I'll even miss Isabruja with her totally unsuccessful escapades against Ana and Fer.
 

Daisynjay, I'm with you. No more Osorio or Mejia.
 

I had no problem with Isa becoming fat because she had been eating massive amount of snacks for the last month of the show (with no evidence of exercise). Isa becoming fat is a direct consequence of her actions. She laughed at Ana for gaining weight and put down Ana Lopez for being fat. But we're supposed to feel sorry for her and mad at the writers for showing her gaining 100 pounds after she laughed at other people's weight and we saw her studding her face & not exercising?

Isa only being able to get the pooper scooper job at the zoo is another direct consequence of her actions. Her having a Harvard degree means nothing if all of Mexico City had heard about her shenanigans with the Lascurains & being fired from La Costena. There was nothing to indicate she was incompetent at her job. However no other company is going to want to hire someone who makes a spectacle of themselves. It's not a good look for the company.

Isa being alone & unloved is another direct consequence of her actions. The one Lascurain child who liked Isa, she called an ugly brat to her face last night. She pushed Yolanda away repeatedly. She dumped her child off on Fernando & only saw him when convenient. She was nasty to people. Isa rejected love, she can't be surprised when she has no love in return.

But, as Yolanda learned, it's never too late to repent. Yolanda decided to change her ways. Now she has new friends & I'm sure a new family in the Lascurains who would never turn her away b/c she is DN's grandmother. If Isabela ever showed Fernando that she wanted to change, he'd give her another chance at La Costena for DN's sake. DN was young enough for Isa to decide to become a better mother to him. But Isa has got to make that choice: do I continue to sit in this dump stuffing my face with snacks blaming others for my misfortunes or do I make a chance& decide to love & accept love? Isa realized at the end nobody loved her...everyone else had the happiness she may never get.
 

EB

I am so happy to hear you will watch 'Amor Real' next. That's my all-time favorite novela; and there aren't many other novelas that come close to its perfection. It also ranked Number 1 on the recommended list by Viewerville during the summer, 5 out of 5 stars. I think the quality of the uploaded novelas has recently been upgraded and improved on both Youtube and DailyMotion by Angelanna_66. She uploads everything Fernando Colunga as one of his most ardent fans. No spoiler, but I look forward to watching the wedding scenes and wedding night again for the umpteen time along with watching the novela again. Pasión and Alborada are almost equally as good. Hope you will watch the full, not condensed versions, as all three are 100 episodes or so. Easy watching.

I will miss all the great recappers that took on the tremendous task of recapping this novela and truly hope to see everybody on another one in the near future.

AN Belated congratulations on your pregnancy. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers over the spring and Sumner and hope you will keep us posted as to how things go.

Maybe we need to have just a gossip / Viewerville news / info page.

 

And let me just add, none of the characters laughed at Isabela's weight gain (Manuela laughed when she fell in the poop). None of the looked down on Isa for being fat. Not even the children, not even Alicia, whom she'd called an ugly brat earlier in the episode. They were shocked but no one put her down. Fernando was concerned about her condition.

There was something Isabela said at the nursing home to Yolanda. She told Yolanda that Yolanda had always called her fat. (I'm pretty sure I heard this correctly).

Isabela may have felt unloved as a child for being called fat by her mother, and thus subconsciously became fat on purpose to make the outside match the inside.

But again, Isa has got to make a choice. She needs to start with making things right with Yolanda & DN and then apologizing to Los Lascurain including and especially to Ana, for making their lives miserable.

Will she do it? We don't know. The last we see of Isa she has laid her head down on the table with snack residue on her lips.
 

Forgot, Corazón Salvaje '93 is just as good as the novelas de época by Carla Estrada.

The top novelas 5.0 out of 5.0 stars, not in any specific order

1) Amor Real
2) Alborada
3) Pasión
4) Corazón Salvaje 1993

Urban
It would be great, if possible, to start a write-in campaign to get Televisa to produce another TRULY GOOD Novela de Época (Not Mejia, not Osorio, not Rosy Ocampo, etc.. ). Would this be possible? Would they pay any attention to such.?

'Romana' and 'Azul Tequila' will be my next ones to watch after I finish re-watching the delightfully wicked and redeemed 'Teresa' -- Ending #1. Couldn't resist watching Sebastián Rulli again. I think this is his best novela to date.

 

Variopinta and EB

I'm with you Variopinta, your Avatar is from Mañana es Para Siempre (I can tell by the unique way FC ties his ties in that novela) and my Avatar is FC from Pasión, the romantic pirate on his ship looking for the love of his life.

I really appreciate how Carla Estrada entwines such a romantic love story without falling prey to stupid side plots / filler.

 

This comment has been removed by the author.
 

Cathyx

Salvador Mejía is producing "Lo Imperdonable" with Ana Brenda Contreras and Iván Sánchez. Sorry for them.

Why does Televisa keep going back to producers w who have had such major floops???
 

Victoria, re: your comments about Rulli.

Have you given a look to 'Contra Viento y Marea'?? It's one of my absolute favorites (my tastes are weird, though... the other two would be 'Pecados Ajenos' and 'Amarte es mi pecado'. It (CVYM) was his first role as main male protagonist, or 'galan', and he's- not only striking (of course)- but quite good as well, in a fantastic and (to me, at least) remarkably underrated novela.

The rest of the cast is stellar, too- the Marlene Favela is his romantic lead, and then there's also Alexis Ayala, Alberto Estrella, Adriana Fonseca, the wonderful Beatriz Sheridan (Damiana in Amor Real, amongst other roles) in supporting roles, and Azela Robinson chewing up the scenery as the deliciously villainous Apolonia Rudell de Serano.

If you're a fan of Rulli and a fan of novelas, I highly recommend you check it out, if you can- it's a great novela!!!

Best wishes to you and to all! :-)
 

Stevey

Yes Rulli was absolutly great in CVyM, produced by Nicandro Díaz González. Also liked Azala Robinson, as always. Haven't watched 'Rubí' or 'Un Gancho' yet.

Out of all the younger male actors, it's my opinion that SR is headed to be as good as FC. At one time during 'Teresa', I thought maybe Daniel Arenas would be on track also, but after the flops of 'LG' and 'CI', I scratched that thought. So who knows who will fill the ranks after the tried, true, dependable FC and his colleagues.

In re-watching 'Teresa', I'm reminded of your propensity for dark characters and stories and think Teresa definitely falls squarely in that mold, which makes her redemption all that greater (Original ending).
 

Yes Victoria, I noticed that. I will not be going near that one.
 

to those listing novelas de epoca, don't forget Amor Gitano with Mau Islas and Mariana Seoane (villain in Hasta el fin del mundo. That is great as well. Also has Alejandro Camacho (from Abismo) and Nailea Norvid. they both are great as the villains there.
 

Marta

And I loved MI in 'Los Plateados' and 'El Manantial' which is why I refused to watch LSdP.
 

Cathyx

But Teresa's redemption was so great at the end that I cried for hours and for days afterwards when I heard MAS's theme song ADVAP.

Although some thought that one of the other alternate endings was more appropriate, I loved the romantic ending that was selected, perfect ending!!

I'm enjoying watching Teresa's character, flaws, and finagling much more the second go around. So I guess I should watch LQNPA again also.
 

Hissabela certainly did not deserve love. She used others' ability to love against them and I can think of no worse crime short of murder.

Which she intended to commit.

In the "alternativos" file they had the bazooka work when she intended it. WTF would they have done after that scene?
 

Urban
and what was up with the Diego : Isabruja ending? Where did that come from.
 

Victoria, I didn't like Teresa either, I quit that one part way through. I clearly am not his target audience.
 

Part 1 o 2

What an ending! I loved it! It was heartfelt, emotional and touching. After such a long journey, so much love and caring and a beautiful family she was rewarded with the greatest honor. I loved how that scene was described, in such vivid detail. I felt I was there, sharing the jubilee and excitement. Estefania deserved to join the ranks of the Olympian gods. Thank you UA for such a wonderful conclusion to this story.

Ok, now about the novella. I enjoyed it. It had its moments. I would be tempted to edit out the stuff that made me cringe and had my head doing a 360. I had never seen a novella that actually turned me off to the characters that were allegedly the “good guys”. Scene to go:

Everything to do with Nic

Everything to do with Johnny

Everything that made me feel like I was watching a spectacle and not a family’s story

Everything to do with Bruno and Beatriz

Everything to do with Bruno and Manuela. Something that could have been endearing done totally wrong.

Everything to do with Leon and Fanny. Again, it could have been endearing. It just seemed so contrived. We are led to believe that Leon did a 180, but did he? Or did he just do a 360? I liked their romance, but not the way he behaved and treated her.

Everything to do with Tamara. I said it then, I’ll say it now. I hate it when a novella conveniently kills off a character so that another character can get in on with yet another character. Leon was married. He wooed Fannie, he was not sincere. Effectively he committed adultery. This would have been so easy to fix by having him been honest with Fannie and then they could have worked together to resolve it.

Everything to do with Angel and Magda. I asked myself various time “Why are they in this?”. It would have been ok if Angel would have stayed in the sideline as the family doctor. I liked him until the moment when he clichéd himself to death and fell for the lead.

Everything to do with the Dos Mujeres Un Camino Jr. plot. Away the Xi/Edith/Nando love antiangle. Again, their stories individually were good and needed to be explored further. But to have crated this monstrosity of a love relationship between them was just bad. And Nando, great mind, good heart no sense.

Everything to do with Enrique. Too intense for this kind of story. Parents had not rushed to the TV to keep their kids from watching some of his scenes since what’s her name had that wardrobe malfunction at the super bowl.

Everything to do with Laura. Yet another wannabe villainess whose greatest threat was attacking Fannie with an electric clipper.

Everything to do with Baby Daddy David and the interrupted adoption

Some of Isabela’s antics. She was the one character that I appreciated. Many fairytales tell of stepmothers and other women that are the antagonists. This could have worked wonders for this story. And her final villainous act trying to kidnap the twin baby girls devolved and she ended up kidnapping a dog… yes folks! A daaawg! To my liking, almost 85% of what went on with Isabela was ruined and reduced to skits from the Road Runner and Benny Hill.

 

Part 2 of 3 (did not fit, sorry

Everything stupid. I will not even try a list here. I know I will leave out stuff. Stuff that comes to mind as I write this: Fernando not charging Isa with what she did in the hotel. Characters not finding out just how much Isa did, Ana not going to the police with the video, characters not calling police on various occasions when it seemed like the obvious thing to do, the competency of Fernando’s bodyguards.

Everything Zeus. This just hurt. I only purpose I saw for him being there was to show us how to sexually harass a coworker.

Everything Mau and Diego Nicolas. OK, I see Viewerville aiming their many sized balls at me. I liked the characters. More adorable you could not get. What I did not like was the actors selected to play them. These actors were too “European”, that is, light skinned and light colored hair and eyes. This is not a typical Mexican and much less in the case of Mau since both his parents had brown hair and brown eyes. When I first saw Mau and his parent my thought was “Is he adopted?” This is part of the Mexican TV (or entertainment in general) culture that I don’t like because it berates real people. Lead actors always are fair skinned while the maids and “lower class” people have darker skin. This seems discriminatory and provides the wrong message that people of darker skin are worth less.

Everything else I loved. It had its emotional and sentimental moments. It had moments when I wished I was part of the Lascurain clan. It had moments where I loved the chemistry between Fernando and Ana.

Isabela’s fate:

This was unique. In most novellas that I see the fate of the villainous character is jail, madness, disfigurement, destitution or death. And whatever fate it is, it is imposed upon the character. Like many, I too believe that she should have gotten jail time for everything that she did and tried to do; however, for some reason the writers decided to have her getaway with everything.

Still her punishment was unique among the novellas that I have seen because this is something that she did to herself. At the end both her mom and Fernando and Ana had basically moved on without holding a grudge. This was a priceless gift that they offered her: A chance to be part of something and to be loved. The Isa that I saw at the end when she went to the Lascurain home was a totally different Isa. Even she acknowledged it by saying “I am not the same person I was”. This was clearly a cry for help, a reaching out. And Ana and Fernando did reach out. They offered her a new beginning. But what happened? Is rejected this. Just as she rejected the opportunity to be loved when her own mom reached out to her. She destituted (made up word here) and disfigured herself. She created her own hell and incarcerated herself with her inability to receive the opportunity that was offered to her. That, to me, had great depth as far as punishment goes. She will be a prisoner of this the rest of her life, unless she somehow realizes what she has in front of her and reaches out, but by the way she was portrayed in the last scenes I doubt that this would ever be an option. This goes far beyond the comical undertones of the novella in general and specifically of her character.


 

Part 3 of 3

Final notes:

I liked Manuela’s classical dress, but those shoes! OMG #GagMeWithaGreenBaloney!

I’m with the group that liked Ana’s hair at the wedding.

Fannie’s hair piece: Reminded me of Ophelia’s hair. That would be Ophelia of the Addam’s family, Morticia’s sister.

The super Las Vegas baptism was beyond words. This is just another example how commercialism and the need for profits just ruin a story.

It was an honor and privilege to interact with all of you. You all are the kind of people that I would like to call “friend”. Between the recappers and the commenters we were able to turn crap into gold and to me it seemed that about 65% of this novella was just that. Thank you all for sharing this experience. A big Lascurain hug for all of you!

For those in the Chicago area and who would be curious to see how I am in Real Life, I will be at the Museum of Science and Industry on April 4 at the Robot Block Party. Just look for ChiBots.

Take care and God bless each and every one of you.

 

Victoria Gomez:

"...when I heard MAS's theme song ADVAP."

Can you repeat that in English please... or Spanish :-)
 

I think that Fernando and Ana's forgiveness of Hissabela was far too saintly and not realistic. When we remember the time jumps between her evil deeds we realize that they could never trust her in the future.

I also have issues with their not knowing half the things she did. Was this meant to make them look like fools?
 

Salvador :

MAS = Marco Antonio Solís is a famous Mexican composer, singer, and record producer .

ADVAP = "A Dónde Vamos a Parar" sung by Marcos Antonio Solís throughout the telenovela 'Teresa' -- a real tearjerker of a song. Nominated for the 2011 Latin Grammy!

 

Looks like I can see the final today.
El origen at noon EST & El fin at 1:00

 

Add to things that didn't make sense:
Why have the whole family in camouflage and then have Fanny wearing those huge red rubber rain boots?
 

Teresa was produced by Jose Alberto Castro ( La
Malquerida, La Que No Podia Amar), not Salvador Mejia.
 

Similar to Sofia Castro's character on PSMA: she ended up in the barrio & dirt poor!

On this Gran Final: Fanny may have been spoiled, but she did warm up to Ana in the end!
 

I'm watching the Gran Final again right now!


 

Fanny was Team Ana way back from the time Luz spoke, not just at the end.
 

Urban: all your comments about what the show left undone and what made no sense were spot on! This part 2 fin dragged on beyond what would have been appropriate by about 2 evenings' worth. And for sure it lost me with the baptismal "show". We like to stay within the fantasy rather than be jerked out and back in again as they did by inviting kids and moms off the street to fill the stadium. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

I will not watch another of this guy's crap shows for all the cucarachas in Mexico. He was an idiot with more financing than brains and this production proved it. In fact, he and Sr. Mejia are second to none in this category.
 

Got to watch El fin today, Comcrap cooperated. I would say this novela was not bad, just too damn long!, filled with a lot of unnecessary crap. You do wonder why some of these people were even there.

Laura? why?

I thought everyone did a good job, just director problems, like the screams from Ana were just stupid, except at birth. The dog is a fine actor, anyone know if that is the same dog, Popeye, from Familia con suerte?

I want to say thank you, gracias, merci,grazie to all the recappers & to the commenters that added so much.

Love you amigos! see you on the next one
 

Why the double standards? Why are women allowed to slap men? If Nando were to have slapped Edith, he would be labeled an abuser. I lost all respect for Edith when she abused Nando. I hope these novelas stop allowing double standards. We need to stand up for abused men. Allowing women to hit men is not equality.
 

I just compared photos of Siete and Popeye and I don't think they're the same dog. They do look related, though. I think Popeye was a little larger.

 

Thanks Victoria :-)

" He was an idiot with more financing than brains and this production proved it."

Does anyone know how successful this novella was in Mexico?

Although we all bashed Osorio, if this was a successful novella then he gave the people what they wanted which does nothing for my faith in humanity.

Is there going to be a discussion on the special that aired Sunday?

 

I agree that what we saw in the last 3 hours of the show they could have condensed into 1.
time jump after the wedding to the morning Fernando is hauled away for the San Luis accident. Go ahead and leave Hissa keeping him from arriving JUST IN TIME to the birth... then go from the scene after birth with the twin girls dressed in pink right to the Isa arriving at her apt real fat... then the last 10 minutes with the family's speeches. Skip the entire christening and the Siete kidnapping... totally unneccessary. Up to the birth and the finale itself (last 10 mins) was cute... but the rest of the last hour... YAWN!!!
Cyberhug to all and to all a good nite...
Long live families, laughing out loud, hugging your loved ones and telling them you love them every day... CHEERS!!
 

Salvador, there are things about the 'El Origen' special that just did not connect well... just to mention one... Diego was around before Fanny Sr died and even a few days after, then got mad at Fernando and just walked away on him and the kids?? That just doesn't match with the Diego we knew who cared deeply about his nieces and nephews...
 

I liked the part where they showed the ghost of Fernando's 1st wife in the end!
 

Telenovela bodas enjoy

http://www.peopleenespanol.com/gallery/bodas-memorables-de-telenovelas-maria-la-del-barrio-corazon-salvaje-thalia-william-levy-maite-perroni-fernando-colunga?stitched#851716_851821
 

i believe Isa"Bella" being the nar·cis·sis·tic person she is, received the ultimate punishment when she ballooned to 300pls. some one who loves her self so much wakes up every morning and sees a fat cow in the mirror.. I think she ate her self to death because she couldn't deal with living anymore.

in the first ,second episode, Ana was very feisty and scrappy then by the last episode she had become a princess and adored by everyone. once she quit Chicago though, the story lost its edge..
Silvia Navarro in this roll was adorable though.
 

Had I been a writer on this show I would definitely have had Ana protest the idea of not sending Isabully to jail for anything short of 10 years.

"Fernando, she was cruel to the children, she waited x months to come after us at our [civil ceremony] wedding, then waited another 10 months to chase after you on your business trip and to do this to Siete and the kids. We can never trust her to leave us alone; we'll always be looking over our shoulder. She needs to be locked up and when she gets out she can't be allowed to live anywhere near us."
 

i can see that point... but i also see that they always portrayed Fernando fairly compassionate toward others not as fortunate, and i don't mean only in the bank account.
He told Ana words to that effect (when they learned from Fanny at their honeymoon that Isa had taken DN with her... he asked Ana to be a bit compassionate. that they had each other, that they were together and happy, etc).

Also, when they recovered Siete and left Isa in the hole, Ana told Isa some words of wisdom she had learned by then... 'every attempt you have made to separate us and make us miserable has backfired on you, it has made us stronger and got us closer together as a family.

and i guess that is the main message Osorio wanted to leave the audience with... not so much vengeance as 'everyone gets their due (or as we say 'you sow what you reap')
 

I suppose that's why the writers kept Ana and Fernando in the dark about half the things Isabruja did. But since Ana was all about protecting the kids when Fernando married Isabully early in the story, I can't see her changing her stance on that. Especially with three babies in the house and after the attempted murder of Siete.

While Isabitch was looking to murder Siete because he had her number it was also just as much about how the children love him and how much his death would hurt them.
 

OT: i saw the 2nd 2-hr ep of Capitan Camacho last night on mundofox... so far so good... great acting by the young man that plays the young role Zurita will pick up later... great story. with Humberto Zurita, Vanessa Bauche, Leonardo Daniel.
 

UA, if i have not said it before ITA with your lists... just would add Ana's shouting to the ugly... can do without that. more poetry and less shouting please.
 

I heard this was a very popular and successful novela. I guess it would've been, if they are doing a musical road show about it.

Fernando did not send Isabella to jail because he didn't want Diego Nicolas to know that HE was the one who sent his mother to jail. But Fernando also didn't have the information that Viewerville had, such as:

Isabela was the one who maimed Sebastian

Isabela was planning on kidnapping the clonas.

I think had Fernando known THAT, he would've sent Isabela to jail, whether DN existed or not. And he should've sent her to jail for spraying him with that stuff in the eye.

It's sad to say but I don't think Isabela probably lived too much longer after we last saw her in the dark apartment filled with snacks. That was probably the last time the Lascurains saw her, too. She either ate herself to death or did away with herself.
 

I didn't add Pablo (the character, not PM) to the ugly list, but should have. I know why they cast this actor, but I think Alicia deserved better.

Anon207, I agree with you, including about the possibility that she committed suicide after the word "Fin" crossed the screen.
 

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I also agree with Urban that it's highly likely Isa ate herself to death.
 

Late to the party - again! Thanks to all the recappers. Such a lot of work, beautiful retelling, loads of nifty snark. (My favorite part...) Also to all the commenters, what a clever bunch, and so enjoyable. Sorry I have been mainly a lurker but you all have been so much more entertaining than the show itself.

I was one of - one? - who liked Johnny from the beginning.

Always wondered what happened to poor little Srta. Sarai. Another story line we could have done without.

LOVED Mayrin in this novela and I'm guessing she had a ball playing the part. She certainly was a good sport, taking everything they dished out.

Again, thank you to all.
 

Emilia--I just caught your name posted here. I've still got your beanie, but only wore it to keep the chill off my head this winter. I found I didn't need it for Quiero Amarte and La Sombra.

As for Srta. Sarai--I wish she had come back to the story early on. I thought she was better than several of the Lascurain children.

Been reviewing El Tal recaps and comments. They are hilarious the second time around--even without the pictures. You and Mike certainly added a major slice of the fun.

How are you doing? And Mike? Trips? Miss the two of you very much.

Urban et al. You guys braved a lot of nonsense and made it fun for everyone reading your recaps.
 

I’m late to the party (having issues with the internet at home). Real quick: Overall, did not care for the finale. Loved the last scene. The old Ana/Fer scene was fun, but went on too long—as did the video sent to Fer re: Siete. Loved the timing of Fanny, in her camouflage, rolling down the hill, stopping at the same time as she brought the binoculars to her face. For some reason, I got a kick out of that. Loved seeing Sarai at the World’s Most Ostentatious Baptism. Guess, as long as the Luscarains have forgiven her, Isa has the potential to be redeemed “off the page”.

Re: the special on Sunday. Very disappointed they didn’t just use clips from the show for the parts of the story we did see before. Didn’t like that they changed events in some cases.

Salvador: Flaco has made the same comment about skin color.
 

It was amazing how Alicia matured before our eyes.
 

HI Anita, Mike and I are doing fine. We have two little grandchildren now - both redheads.

We were laughing about El Talisman just the other day. It is our yardstick by which we measure all other 'bad' telenovelas. Nothing has come close, but then we didn't watch Corona de Lagrimas!
 

Ive been on vacation with no time to comment but I want to say

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

To all of the amazing recappers and commenters!!!!!! Without you wonderful people I would not be watching TNs.
 

I don't remember saying that 'Teresa' was produced by Mejí because I know that Anguelique Boyer (Teresa) started dating the executive producer of 'Teresa', José Alberto Castro, during filming.

What I said was that I didnt want to watch 'Lo Imperdonable' because that is being produced by Mejía who has had a series of flops.

Also I said that in view of the redemption that Teresa went through, it might be good to re-watch JS in LQNPA as he plays a very bitter, lonely, heartbroken man and at the of the novela, his anvil is justified.
 

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Thanks everybody for the recaps and the comments. Without you all, it wouldn't have been the same.

I've been checking out the episode descriptions for the original Spanish series that this TN was based on, Ana y los Siete, and I've found some interesting differences.

In the Spanish version, Fernando had 4 girls and 3 boys, 17 to 5 years old. The middle child, Sebastian in the Mexican version, was a girl.

All of the children did a silence strike to get Ana back.

The kids wanted David (Diego) and Alexia (Isa) to have a romance because they didn't want their father to marry her.

Tony (Johnny) died in episode 35, and his heart was donated to Lucia (Luz).

Sharon (Jennifer) was pregnant with Tony's baby. Ana made the contract with Chicago to help with her medical expenses.

Ana had an accident and got amnesia.

David (Diego) abandoned Ana and returned to Argentina. When he returned, he brought an adolescent.

Ana married David (Diego) in episode 62. By episode 68, he was unfaithful.

There were false rumors about Nando being gay.

Don Nicolas married somebody named Carmen, not Sharon (Jennifer). And Sharon found love again.

After Alexia (Isabella), Fernando had a romance with Silvia, the daughter of an old friend of Don Nicholas.

Ana had a baby and wasn't sure whether the father was David or Fernando, so there was a paternity test.

Ana and the baby were leaving on a jet plane, when she created a disturbance and was taken to jail, where Fernando also happened to be.

The series ended with a boda, Fernando and Ana getting married in church.

I hope I got everything right. My translation from Spanish is always suspect.
 

Aleta

That sounds so much more interesting than what Osorio feed us. while I don't wish anybody's death, I would be jumping for joy when they knocked Johnny off.