Caray, Caray!

Right to new business: After Mateo came home late, without lovin’ on his mind, Diana brings him some breakfast in bed in the morning. But he pushes it aside and wants to take a shower – with no funny business. Since he’s in a novela, he doesn’t know that he can just lock the door to keep stray people out. Diana hurls the tray.

In his own room, Fausto is having an intimate moment with his hat of the day, when Diana rushes in and wants some 20 minute lovin’ while Mat’s in the shower. Fausto gives her the bum’s rush. He’s mad about what Mac said re Diana having a lover, and plus I don’t think him getting caught with Diana could possibly help his “Look at me, I’m making changes” campaign. Diana says if he can’t give her what she needs, she’ll just have to go elsewhere. Fausto assures her, “Te mato” if she does.

Abi rushed off from Diego on her horse, saying he would have to catch her if he wanted to talk things over. She mistakenly believes she’s lost him at the cenote, but he knew she would go there. He wants to know why she has been so serious, ever since leaving the hospital. “It’s Mat, right? Do you really think he will divorce in order to marry you?” Abi doesn’t think so, and then breaks his heart by telling him she is confused, she thinks they jumped the gun, and bottom line, she doesn’t want to marry him or Mateo. Poor Diego, with his usual lack of dignity, asks, “What did I do wrong? Tell me so I can fix it.” But it’s not to be, and with both of them in tears, Abi rides off.

Meanwhile, at Mac’s house, Fausto is literally dragging Mac around by the hair and she is screaming. Fausto wants to know what she said about him and Diana. She clarifies that she only said Diana had a lover, but not that it was him. It was hard to get the exact dialogue with the screams from Mac, shouts from Fausto and the background music that tends to drone out conversation, but  the gist was that Mac would never betray him, she’s the only one who cares for him, and don’t forget I can get you in trouble with the gun. Fausto calls her bluff, saying if you were going to do that, you would’ve by now. Why haven’t you? “Because I love you!” Mac breaks down, saying Diana gets a pearl necklace, but all she gets is desprecio. Jeez, this has been going on for 25 years now. Fausto says, “Tell me what you want,” and all she wants is his love.  “Ámame,” she pleads. “Um, anything but that,” he says. She insists, and he asks, “Would you do anything for me? Would you kill for me?” “Without hesitation,” she replies, without hesitation. “Then let’s go to hell together,” says he. They embrace and kiss passionately.

Diana is in a room with a man who just got out of the shower, who I assumed was Mat. But it’s Lucio! After she was rejected by Mat and Fausto, it looks like she really scraped the bottom of the barrel and went to Lucio’s house. “The door was open,” she says. He’s not upset by any means that she is there. She wants to know if he really likes her, and he says “Oh yeah.” He’s very into her, fer sure. She needed to hear that so bad, and now that she got some masculine props, she can go. She says, “It was a pleasure seeing you,” emphasis on ‘seeing’ and when I look up from my note-taking, Lucio is re-wrapping his towel about himself! Darn the fact that this show is airing first in the U.S. and I have no resources to review this scene again. For my recapping integrity, of course. I looked up Alejandro Ávila on the Internet the other day, and it said he is 51. What a living endorsement to eating right and doing exercise! But I digress. Before Diana can take her leave, Lucio offers the jewelry box. She declines, assuming it’s a baratija (cheap thing, trinket) but he opens it to reveal a beautiful diamond bracelet. The thing seems to exert physical force on Diana, jerking her back into the room. She wants to know where he got the money for it. That’s always the first thing I ask, too, when somebody gives me a present. He says that now that he and Fausto are socios he’s got money, and adds without embarrassment that his son’s stepdad is rich and gives Max money, which Max shares with him. The bracelet even has a certificate of “au, authe, authen-tenicity.” Diana ignores the display of bumpkin-ism in favor of the diamonds. He clasps it about her wrist and is rewarded with their first kiss. I can’t believe he’s doing so well with this chick. She leaves, and he muses to himself, “Ya se me hizo con la guerita.” (It’s on with Blondie)

Diana is back at the Hacienda proper, at a patio table with Mat. He asks about the bracelet, and Diana says it was Mia’s. Smooth. Well, he doesn’t really care one way or another, that was just an opener to discuss what he really wants: divorce. Mat tries to use reverse-reverse psychology  on Diana, saying, “Remember what you said before, that you didn’t want to force me to be with you? I’d like to invoke that now.” And she’s like, “Oh, that’s off the table.” doorMat is always a day late and a dollar short, for getting into love (Abi) and for getting out of it (Diana). Diana asks him, “Don’t you even care about your child?” and then starts a shrew routine, saying this is all because of what a servant says, why do you listen to someone of the serving class? If you divorce me, forget about seeing your kid! Then Mat makes my jaw drop by actually, truly saying something intelligent and coherent: “The way we’re acting now is our problem. This is what we’ll be. It’s no good. As far as seeing my child, you’ll obey whatever decree the judge hands down, and you might just end up with no custody at all if you don’t reign yourself in. If you want war, you’ll have it!” He stalks off. Wow!

Shortly after this, Mat is standing in the kitchen and who comes in except Abi? They pass the time of day with banal pleasantries such as “You still love me, don’t you, and isn’t it fine weather we’re having?” “Yes, I love you and will never love anybody else, but I’m tired of this affair and I’m leaving. I don’t know, it may rain in the afternoon.” Abi leaves. I guess she forgot about a glass of water, or a snack, or whatever the reason was she came to the kitchen in the first place.

Max’s uncle Porfirio, back at home now, cries out, “Shut the curtains!” Max does, and then asks his recovering, bandaged uncle for a small favor. Will he buy him the Enramada? Uncle wants to know why, and Max is straight with him, saying it’s for his dad, not Rich Dad but Poor Dad. It’s the place Max was born, and he can’t obtain it without the help of his uncle. And besides, it’s an investment. At this point Uncle cuts him off and declares, “Ya, ya, yada, yada, I’ll do it. The lawyer will handle it.” Gee, that was easy. It looks like it’s really cool to have a rich, generous uncle.

The twins are together, dressed in matching boring blouses. Ximena is laying into Daniela about going to Real de San Andrés and initiating the search for Dr. Pat. Dani defends herself, saying ‘I told you I was going to.’ Ximena plunges a figurative knife into Dani’s heart, saying, “Com. Barragan called me with the results, and Pat is happily married with children. He doesn’t live in that city, he has moved on. And surely you aren’t so selfish that you’ll go breaking up a family, so I guess that is that.” Dani is distraught, says she has lost him, then. Xi has to be even more cruel by pointing out that you can’t lose what was never yours, because Pat was HER husband, not Dani’s.

Coincidentally, Dr. Pat is meeting with the aforementioned Com. Barragan. Pat lets Barragan know that in spite of what Ximena (who was really Daniela) said, all she really wanted was to hurt him. He called her, and she was brutal, wishing Pat only unhappiness for the rest of his life, never forgiving him. Barragan is surprised, because obviously he had quite a different impression of the Ximena he met (Daniela) than what Pat had with real Ximena on the phone. They agree that if Xi ever makes more contact, Barragan will say that Pat has left the building and then some. Poor Daniela! Xi told her Pat has moved on, and if she does follow up directly with Barragan he’ll tell her the same. How will she be able to get around this? Barragan switches gears and wants to ask Pat about Renata and Pablo. Pat is eloquent and dignified in stating that her past is not incumbent upon him and his concern is the present and the future. Furthermore, this is a police station, not a broken hearts club, and he’ll thank Barragan to stay out of his personal life.

Ren is telling ex-Crazy Connie that Barragan was mean to her. She verbally recaps their conversation and the false charges he raised against her. Connie gets up-in-arms, what with her desire to protect her daughter having been tapped into. Although she does tell Ren that she should have stood up to Barragan herself. “Mom, he didn’t let me talk.”

Diana is in Fausto’s study, crying, and Lucio comes in. He offers his hombro (now clothed) for her to cry on. She unloads about Mat wanting a divorce. The way Lucio talks, there is no disguising his humble class/origins. He tells her, “No chille (don’t cry like a baby, bawl)” and “es Ud. mucha hembra para ese potrillo (ur a whole lotta female for that little horse).” It’s like the way he’s always telling Violet she’s so “chula.” Nonetheless, his patter is hot enough to get another liplock from Diana. Then Julio walks in and snaps, “Diana!” The lovers spring apart, and Diana slaps Lucio, shouting, “How dare you!” Lucio high-tails it out of the study, and Diana tries to do an injured lady routine with Julio, who’s having none of it. Did Diana forget that Julio knows the real her? She tells him how Mat wants a divorce, and Julio (correctly) blames her for blowing it. He’s like, “Look at how you’re acting. With a peon, for Pete’s sake? What if Mat or Fausto had come in?” Good point. And he reminds her that his interests are at stake, too. She chooses now to show off her new bracelet and tries to make Lucio out to be more than a simple peon. He’s the capataz, socio, etc. And she is lonely and despised around here. Julio asks her why she must play with fire, and then he does some character assessment, saying she just can’t live without a man, can she? That last bit helped me understand why Diana was acting as she was. It surprised me that she was crying versus scheming, and explains what her game is with Lucio. In spite of her other flaws, she still has basic human feelings inside. Somewhere. Deep down.

Diego is meeting with Padre Tomás to call off the wedding. Tomás assures Diego things will get better in time. No they won’t. You’ll meet somebody else. There is nobody else. You start seeing things differently. Nothing will change until I die. Diego has it bad. He only musters a smile when Padre asks after Domingo, his ‘son.’

Now Mat is with the Padre, saying he has troubles. Diego has been practically his only friend, but he can’t turn to Diego. Padre fairly rubs his hands together, warming up for fresh gossip. “I’m your friend. You can tell me.” Mat rambles on about growing up without a dad. He was scared of Fausto, and only warmed to him as an adult. And that was more out of duty for all Fausto did for him rather than love. Well, at least you had a good mom. Yeah, she was okay. She did all the basic motherly things, but I know she’s always been hiding a secret from me so I don’t fully trust her. There’s a barrier between us. She won’t talk about my dad. Padre says, “Be careful opening some doors that you then can’t shut.” QTH? I thought he would be more of a proponent of honesty.  Mateo changes the subject to his failed marriage, and Padre misses the mark again by saying Mat needs to save his marriage. Mat goes off on one of his posturing bends about how much he loves Abi. That’s so annoying. I mean, I guess he’s always “all in,” but since he’s always wrong at first, and then right, but waxes poetically with equal strength about both, it tires. If he flips back, all the posturing would be for naught again.

Fausto and Mac, after all the hair pulling is done, seemed to have hit the sack, and we’re treated to them cuddled up afterwards, talking. Mac is so easily satisfied with a crumb of Fausto’s attention. Her asks her what she’s thinking, and she needs to confess something: it was Lucio who shot at you and caused your accident. Oh that? Fausto knows all about it and remembers fondly how he shot Lucio in the chest, and how they both tried to kill each other, but then it came time to make peace. They had a good time. Fausto literally says that. “Nos divertimos.” Each to his own, I suppose. It must be hard to be so macho! Then Mac utterly and completely throws Benito under the bus, by telling Fausto that Lucio had a devoted accomplice in all the murderous shenanigans, someone who hates him and wants to see him dead. That person is Benito. Once again, Fausto is amused, respecting the fact that Benito must not be such a coward after all. And hopefully he isn’t all that fond of living. Thanks, Mac.

Benito’s horrible, bad day is getting worse at the Enramada, and Diego is having a rough go of it, as well. Diego is confronting Benito about the missing payment, grabbing him by the front of the shirt. “Why? Why? WHY?” Diego demands, shoving the bank papers at Benito. He just came from the bank and knows the payment was not made. “You have royally screwed up everything we have achieved the last years.” Benito feels awful of course, and said he was trying to work things out. Diego says he should have told him so he could have helped work it out. What happened anyway? Benito tells the story about fighting with Lucio, although Lucio, inexplicably, has denied taking the money. They’re McScrewed.

Enter ex-crazy Connie into Barragan’s office. She is there to confront him for the shoddy treatment of her daughter. Oh yeah? Well you were shoddy to Pablo. Thus begins a rather intense showdown. Barragan is so bitter and so determined to see things one way, his way. You thought Pablo wasn’t good enough, so you killed him. Connie says she knows there’s no reason to try to soften her words, so she’ll speak plainly. It’s true that she didn’t want a peon for her daughter. She dreamed of a virgin bride at a white wedding, a grandchild born in wedlock, not a sordid, secret affair with an illegimate child. So you killed Pablo because he didn’t fit in to your lifestyle. Barragan, sit down and shut up! Connie admits that she failed Renata. Her strict upbringing kicked in, and the situation with Ren changed all her hopes and dreams of a respectable life for her daughter. She decided to fight against the union, because she was sure Ren could never be happy with Pablo. But now she knows she was wrong. Barragan finally seems to be listening. But no, he tells Connie that she must accept that Bruno killed Pablo. Now hold on Barragan, says Connie. I own that he tried a couple of times, but I feel in heart that he was never successful. OK, let me take that to the bank. Connie says, look, I don’t want to convince you, I just want you to listen to my daughter, she knows all the details and can tell you better than I can. Barragan says he’ll think about it, and Connie ups the ante by asking him to in the name of their granddaughter, Abi.

Speaking of Abi, Ren is asking her what is wrong. Abi doesn’t want to add to Ren’s problems. Is it about Diego? Yes, Abi says, it turns out there are as many problems with him as with Mat. Grandma’s not on board (neither hers nor Diego’s), Mat and Diego fought over her, she doesn’t love Diego (a minor detail), and well, she has ended it with Diego.

Back at the police station, Connie takes a new tack: “Pablo wasn’t innocent in all of this. He hid the relationship until it was too late. I have faults, Pablo does, and so do you. For example, where the hell were you while all this was going down? Pablo obviously could have used your guidance. Neither of us knew how to achieve our children’s happiness.” Nicely played, Connie! Barragan is effectively crushed, and the scene, as well as the episode, ends.

Avances: Fausto and Lucio get possession of the Enramada. Ren says Fausto has betrayed her (that didn’t last long) and gives him packing orders to leave the Hacienda.