Caray, Caray!

Refrito: Diego, Mateo and Abigail sit at a card table in jail. Since that isn’t awkward enough on its own, Diego starts to blather on about Abi giving him another chance and marrying him again. He seems to catch a bit of the emoting virus from Mat’s proximity, but Mat leaves and he calms down. Abi shuts him down on the marriage plans. He needs to have a life first, preferably out of jail. He says the marriage will help him get custody of Domingo. Poor Nieves. He used the same line on her. Abi offers to talk to Fausto because he’s so good and helpful, and Diego says no in the usual manner.

Helena connects the dots about Fausto getting a girl pregnant, and then that girl giving birth to Diego, which would make Fausto the father of Diego. Fausto cannot see the logic in that and won’t have Helena spreading it all around town, either. She is playing with fire these days. Will she make it to the end of the novela?

They continue speaking, and Helena is bound and determined to fill in the blanks and cross the T’s on her death warrant. She needles Fausto about having slept with his own son’s wife. Fausto doesn’t get why he has to keep repeating that he ended it when he found out they were dating. Doesn’t that remove any weirdness or impropriety from the situation? No Fausto, even if it were true. Now Helena dots one more i by mentioning the anonymous letter accusing him of being the father of Diana’s babies, and saying that Diana said he has continued pursuing her. Fausto says Di has done a good job of manipulating Helena, and he is right. For now.

Speaking of Diana, she takes from her jewelry box the bracelet that Lucio gave her, and flashes back to him making love to her ankle after she fell from the horse. And I mean making love in the former sense of the phrase, “to woo, to court.” But I will say this, he didn’t get a lot of bang for his buck with that bracelet. And by bang, I mean…

Teodora and Max have run into each other at the market. Even though the last thing I saw between them was her telling him to go away forever, he goes down on one knee and proposes! She is happy, clearly still in love with him, but who should materialize in the background but evil Lucio with a warning glare. She rebuffs him once again. Poor Max! Poor Teodora!

Simona explains to Toño that Violeta has been helping with the bills, because with Simona’s blackmail payment it’s hard to make it to the end of the month. Now Toño should help out. No thank you, Señora. He continues in this vein, saying how he was used as slave labor in the market while Freddy went to school, and that Freddy was Simona’s only son. Just when he’s reaching his jerk-ness zenith, they start talking about the anónimo that says that Freddy was murdered. Toño comments that if it's true, they likely have been living side-by-side with the murderer these last years. That's a spooky thought for both of them.

Lucio continues his stroll of havoc through the market, and comes upon Violeta, singing a voz en cuello, even though she affirms that she only sings when she’s alone, like in the center of the market. He takes her hands, says they’re too fine for selling fruit. This has been going on a long time, Lucio flirting with Violeta. I have wondered if she will fall for it, having been so affection-starved by Marcelino. Of course, Lucio is doing it just to rattle Marcelino’s cage. But it’s happened so many times now that it ought to lead somewhere. Kind of like Chekhov’s gun at this point. She laments that she has tried to get other employment, but Marcelino has closed all doors to her. Lucio knows a place that would hire her!

Julian-o is kissing Eduviges on the couch, and she is sorry that she couldn’t get her sister to sign the check for him. He leans on her (figuratively), saying it’s going to hurt the business if he doesn’t get that money. Edu promises that once they are married, he’ll be the man of the house and make all the decisions for them. He points out that in order to so that, he’ll need power of attorney. She will sign anything he puts in front of her. Once they’re married. Doh! And Epifenia comes in.

Motor is walking with Juanita. He’s not upset about Eduviges in the least. It’s the Lucio/Teodora situation that is bothering him. Juanita correctly warns him that Lucio is a dangerous man and not to tangle with him. Motor asks about Max’s intentions toward Teodora, and does a Diego-style kiss of the fingers promising that he will hurt Max if Max hurts Teo.

Epifenia would like to be alone with Julian-o. Now, last week I had a spot of trouble with my cable service, and this week I got two weather warnings! Dialogue was not audible as I was warned of severe weather in counties far, far away. Anyway, Epifenia gives Julian-o the check and they start kissing on the couch, too. Con men have to be so bold, and are always risking it all. What on Earth would Julian-o say if Eduviges walked back in?

Mat and Abi are sitting at Body of Water, and he asks what Diego said in jail. I love how she points out that if he wanted to know, he shouldn’t have left. They chat about things, and Abi begins to defend Fausto, saying he’s definitely not the father of Diana’s twins. Mat says, whatever. He’s going to divorce Di once the twins are born, and wants Abi around when that happens. She won’t commit, and I thought he was going to start up with his insults for a third time. It’s Diego, right? What do you feel for him? She walks off.

Fausto is having a drink with himself in the Cantina, when he sees Max at the bar. Fausto flashes back to Mac saying Max surely knows about Fausto’s misdeeds via Lucio. Fausto initiates a conversation by saying that Lucio is like a brother to him. Max calls that BS right away, and then proceeds to say the exact things to confirm Fausto’s suspicions that Max is behind the anónimos, even though Max isn’t. He says, "You’re a hypocrite! My dad has told me all about the things you’ve done, and had him do. I’m dying, but I won’t leave this world until I avenge him of you!”

Nobody is patronizing the Secret Casino. Julio and The Hand blame Lucio, but Lucio says people will come back when Fausto comes back. And to entice Fausto back, why not hire a singer!! Oh my goodness, he wants Violeta to sing here! That will really get Marcelino’s goat. I hope we get to see that. Julio isn’t into it, but Lucio would take it as a personal favor, and he never forgets a favor. Julio accepts on those terms. The Hand seems less than pleased, but why would anyone care about that?

Abi runs into Max and he says he’s sorry for the loss of her vineyards. “Oh that? That’s okay!” she says brightly. Man, I envy her unflagging optimism in life. I hope if I ever lose my life’s investment I can be as chipper. Of course I have worked, scraped and saved for the things I have. Does that make a difference? Max invites her to chemotherapy, and she accepts.

Renata is at the Center for Blind Children, being blind, with the children. And Ex-Crazy Con is there, too. It’s heartbreaking to see the real blind children, but at the same time it’s heartwarming to see them shown as they are and give them some recognition for the challenges they face. My heart goes out to them, and it seems like things would be even harder in places with few economic resources. So this center really is a good thing. Thank you, O Fausto! Now Ren reveals that she will leave her blindness behind, and go through an operation again. How nice that she, of all of them, have that option. Connie is like, “But what if it fails?” And I’m like, “So what? Nothing would be any worse than it is currently. Why would the risk of failure be a factor in this case?” Things can only get better. What could possibly go wrong? From here on out, it’s going to be smooth sailing. Oh yeah, and nobody must know about the operation.

Max is with Abi, getting his chemo. The camera angle is pretty strange, and we end up with a giant Timberland boot in our face. He is humbled by his illness, that’s for sure. He also indulges in some poor little rich boy wallowing. It seems his peasant mom jumped at the chance of having Zarazua money, and then stuck Max in boarding schools. Now he has renounced everything to be with Lucio, but Lucio won’t renounce his lifestyle for Max. Max wanted to save Lucio, but Lucio does not want to be saved. Abi tries to be encouraging. She gets it, because her mom is a real doozy, too. Max segues into apologizing, again, for the times he was a dope to Abi. From there he segues into saying that he has fallen in love with someone who let him down. Someone who was harmed by his dad. Abi knows it’s Teodora, and it looks like she will take the case. I’m actually glad that she can straighten this one out.

And now for the seducing of Lucio, by Fausto. Fausto opens with, “I saw Max at the Cantina last night.” Lucio gets all mother hen-ish, worried about Max drinking with his fragile health. Fausto is indulgent, saying he knows how much Lucio loves Max. But Lucio can’t control Max. And Max has done something that has affected Fausto, so there’s a problem. It’s the letters, and Fausto knows that Lucio suspects Max is behind them, too. “He is going to destroy us,” says Fausto. And like a good manager, he asks, “What do you think is a good solution?” That line reminded me so much of people from my last job, trainers, managers, always asking, “How do you think you did?” and with that you’re supposed to completely buy in to your own demise (read: bad review). Ha! Lucio is buying, though. He will talk to Max. But it could be Macaria you know. But no, Fausto is convinced that since Mac got a letter, too, then she can’t be the sender. Usually Fausto is a little more astute than this, but it looks like Mac has fooled him for the moment. And there is the problem of Barragan trying to arrest Fausto for the murder of Padre Francisco. “We can kill him!” offers Lucio, like an employee trying to show a good attitude and teamwork. And again, like a good manager or manipulator, Fausto gives the idea credence, saying it’s a good idea, but then there would be someone else investigating that murder and things would snowball. By not summarily dismissing the idea, he makes Lucio feel listened to. Now that Fausto has buttered Lucio up, he tackles a harder question: why did Lucio tell Helena about Gerardo’s death? Lucio was angry about getting duped out of the Enramada. Fausto explains that Lucio is like a brother to him, and everything else that Fausto has is his, just not the Enramada. They are deep into the male bonding, and Lucio swears that he will give his life without question on Fausto’s command. Fausto immediately cashes in on that, saying that if he goes to jail, Lucio is going to have to speak up, take the blame for all of Fausto’s crimes, and go to jail in his place. He will have to clear Fausto’s name. Lucio is hesitant. Why is he hesitating? Why wouldn’t somebody just be all over that offer? Fausto says all is forgiven with Max, but the damage is still done, and Lucio must answer for it. I’m sure right now Lucio is wondering how will he get Violeta that casino gig from jail? And then this is where the other weather advisory kicked in, right in the middle of this intense scene! Grrr! My husband was able to lip-read one phrase, which was Fausto saying “Te doy mi palabra,” followed by another finger kiss. Tornado warning over, I hear Lucio asking, “But what if you betray me? I won’t be able to do anything from jail.” Fausto shows documents related to a foreign bank account with $2,000,000 USD  in it. Should Lucio really believe in those documents, after the Enramada debacle? Well, he does. And then he puts a very savvy spin on all of this, and actually makes a good deal for himself. He says that Fausto must personally see to Max, making sure Max gets the best care and attention, and if Max dies, for any reason, then Lucio will announce to all the world the crimes of Fausto. And he will be believed, so Fausto can come join him in jail. So all in all, Lucio is sacrificing himself not so much for Fausto as for Max. And we know that Lucio would do anything for his son, and that he deserves to be in jail, so I think as far as deals go, Lucio did okay for himself.

Avances: Mac is in bed with Fausto? That’s wrong, on so many levels.