Caray, Caray!

Thanks J! Great recap.

Two clarifications. Adrian does not know about the revenge plan. All he knows is that Isela is investigating her sister's case. Orly did NOT take the money. One of the last scenes was Isela telling a surprised Josefa that Orly had left town (assuming he took the money) and then Josefa digging that money out of her mattress, happy that it will be all hers now, and people with think Orly took it. Then she goes to hide it in her special box above her armoire and finds that the letters and things from Marta are missing, and she tears out of her house gunning for Isela.
 

Awesome blossom, JdesdeNYC! Special thanks for pericazo; I have to shake my head because I can't believe I'm learning how to say "a hit of drugs" in Spanish!

Well I've been whining and whining about getting Max and MD scenes and now I feel...disappointed? They were cute scenes (especially the bird proposal; I've never seen that one before!) but I was hoping they'd talk about more than the wedding. I wanted to hear something like the discussion Max had with Alma about the baby, some discussion of how everything with Dan is going to affect them. I'm definitely disappointed that MD backed off of telling Max about Isela yet again. I was hoping she'd say "ok, maybe after breakfast" or something. If they were going to nix it entirely again, I would've liked something about how much Max looks up to his dad and more of an attempt from MD with Max gently shutting, but firmly shutting her down. Do these people not want us to root for the heroine?

Also shocked by Julian and Honoria's discussion of his sex life. I know others have brought it up in the past few days, but the Fermin/Julian convo doesn't exactly surprise me, them being father and son and Fermin having been all up in J's love life from the beginning. The mother/son dynamic is a bit more surprising to me, though Hon did point out that they've been pretty frank his whole life. And it does make a lot of sense that they'd be more open about his body, she having been his caretaker his entire life. Anyone, it still must've been embarrassing for Julian, esp since Jenny's doing the research. Glad to see he's getting jealous of the idea of Jenny and Adrian.

Ivana, Ivana, Ivana...sigh.
 

Glad to see MD and Max have some romantic time. Max tried to surprise MD by kidnapping her and taking her away to the nice hotel. And MD surprised him by knowing about his surprise, and proposing to him at the gazebo the same way her father proposed to her mother, with the little fortune telling bird.

Yeah, with Dan getting out of jail soon, we know that bad luck MD and Max scoffed at is about to come raining down on them. Looks like the writers gave our two main characters a bit of a happy reprieve during the holidays, but after New Year's, the caca will hit the fan.
 

Hellashelle- Thanks for the reminder about Hon and Firmin tickling Julian's jealousy bone by telling him Jenny was spending new year's with Adrian and his family. Their conspiring is cute, but I still don't think it will get Jenny out of the friend zone.
 

Vivi - Yeah, I suppose I shouldn't be disappointed; they were adorable scenes. Plus, it's unusual and refreshing to see a TN give a couple that kind of leeway. I didn't think we'd see M&M sans clothes again unless there was a honeymoon episode.

I'm hoping eventually Julian will change his tune as regards Jenny, but they could easily play his melancholy as jealous/sadness about the fact that they can have a relationship and can have kids and he doesn't think he can.

Interested to see what Josefa does about Isela taking the letters (also, "letters" plural? What other letters might she be hiding, I wonder...)
 

Thanks JdesdeNYC.

I must admit that I expected Julian to say that the reason he didn't want to have intimate relations with anyone was because he didn't want to pass on the gene for his disease.

I worry that Dan's first destination when he gets out will be MD.
 

I wanted to point out that although we might not see it, MD and Max obviously spend time with each other talking about stuff, because he immediately remembers that the bird thing was how MD's dad proposed to Espy and knew the deep meaning of it for MD. We have never seen them talk about this, so obviously it happened off camera. I just think this tn is too full of storylines for them to waste showing MD and Max bonding and talking about mundane things. So if we see Max telling MD to get to a doctor, it's got to mean something. Just like Claudio's fake ED led to him and Alma getting examined and Alma getting diagnosed with cancer. These writers don't waste time of trivialities.
 

Thanks, JdesdeNYC. Fine recap.

Julian is still stuck on MD. Unless he can convince me he's not settling for Jenny cause the clock is ticking, I want Jenny to move on with Adrian.

Orly leaving town. That's a twist I didn't expect.
 

Hellashella, good recap. Hohum goings on.
That situation with ursy and Ivana talking up
Stealing MD's baby is gettin boring, I don't
Blame you for ff>>>ing. Theres a lot more of
Theses scenes need to be ff>>>ed. Maybe
This week will be better than last week. We
Can only hope.
Mals words are wasted on the wicked witch.
And Im just really fed up with ivana. Gerry
Should just pack up and leave town, let her
Fall on her large but and learn a lesson. I can
Not feel sorry for her when shes plottin with
That hellion to steal someones child.
 

Gracias, JdesdeNYC.

I was going to make a comment about the Isela/Claudio situation but I will hold it until tonight's discussion lest it sound too much like a spoiler.

Cathyx, I agree with you about Julian. He would not want to pass on that gene if that could be avoided. It also makes me wonder whether he would have feelings of inadequacy at being unable to play ball or do other similar things with a child. Mentally he's more together than many of the other characters but this could be the thing that would ultimately break him.
 

In case she doesn't get on the blog to day, just want to let everyone know that Adriana Noel is fine and so are her family and friends.
 

Thank you so much for the recap JDESDENYC.

Agree the number of characters, all of which can impact in a big way the story, dilutes any romance and I'm ok with that. Hellashelle said something Thursday that got me thinking, we really don't know Max (like for instance Julian) and certainly nothing much about the relationship between he and MD. We've been privy to more of Fermin and Honoria's relationship than MD and Max's. Max represents a cartoon galan, nearly perfect, but I don't see why there is a relationship with this particular damsel and other than a bird performing a card trick, not much reciprocity. When we got the shot of MD and Max the next morning I wondered how the hell did that happen.
 

That's a great relief, Vivi. Terrorism is perhaps the largest human evil today.
 

Vivi, thanks for letting us know Adriana Noel and her family are okay.
 

Vivi makes a good point, and that little tidbit about MD's parents's proposal does drive it home, I'm just a sucker for wanting those sap-happy moments, especially with the main couple. I know, I know, it's a personal thing and if I'm honest, a lot of it has to do with wanting to be able to defend MD and her love for Max with all kinds of irrefutable evidence. I think I'm being a bit lazy, not wanting to fill in the gaps.

I do recognize this is a pet peeve of mine: I'm pretty much always complaining that TNs don't back up the grand love with the "why" part. We as an audience are just supposed to take for granted that they are deeply in love and that's that. This TN is definitely one of the best I've ever seen, and, as Vivi pointed out, it's very tight with its scenes, not a lot of fluff. But somehow it annoys me that we get all of these finely crafted characters with complex relationships and tons of nuance, but the main couple doesn't really get the same attention. Part of it is up to the actor, definitely, and some of them can tell you so much with 3 seconds and one look, but there's just a part of me that wants the moments M&M have to really dive deep, to justify MD's waffling on telling Max the truth, to fill the the sketch of Max's character. Sigh. Pay me no mind, you guys, I don't know why this bugs me the way it does.
 

Oops! Vivi, I didn't thank you for keeping us up to date on our Paris-based Patio peep, Adriana! Thank you!
 

JdNYC--
Excellent recap, especially under the duress of the weekend's news aimed straight at our collective hearts. We all love Paris and Parisians. Vivi, thanks for letting us know that Adriana and her family are ok.

I got the impression Hosefa hadn't given Orly all the money in the first place. He must have returned what she gave him off camera, so we don't know. I only wish it had been Orlando's intention all along to reunite with Doris, but wanted to keep *the story* real in case Doris fell into one of Hosefa's interrogations. But, whatever works. I didn't catch that it was papers missing from Hosefa's hiding place. That makes more sense to me than her stash of money.

Hellashelle, could it be that our expectations are primed for a Big Romance? Tns like the ones we are used to seeing by Televisa rope us in by being advertised as Big Romances. In reality, YoNo is anything but a Big Romance (despite seeing M&M in the end credit).

There are many little love stories, and Max and MD's is just one of them. This is, to my way of thinking, a story of about relationships and the changing nature of them, regardless of the country of origin. I kind of like this format. I don't have to put my whole heart into one Big Basket and watch the leads being kept apart by villians, misunderstandings or amnesia for most of the tn. (Remember Un Refugio, despite it being an excellent production.)

We do root for a couple when they stay together and are supportive for the whole run, even if they are kept apart for a lot of the time (Pasion). I see Max & MD as sort of a mini-Ricardo & Camila. (And didn't she keep some secrets from El Antillano, as well?)

My only beef about MD right now is she's still torturing herself over keeping a secret, but what a dilemma. Do you hurt your intended and by extension, his whole family, or do you risk not telling, and suffer the consequences (in her head) for having promised said intended never to withhold anything ever again. My, my. That would be an easy one for me. I'd withhold the information and risk the consequences. The truth will probably come out by some other mouth or not at all (which is what MD is hoping--if Ise keeps her word that it's ended). Of course if and when that secret is out through someone else, it will still hurt Max & Co. But then those old tropes come up about--not wanting to be the last to know, or did you think I couldn't handle the truth, or I was just trying to protect you. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to see how it all plays out.

As gringo would say, Must See TV.
 

Continued--sort of--Daniel kept his big secret on his identity on Amor Bravio. It almost cost him his life and his love. But there was more to it and neatly explained as to why he kept it hidden for so long from Camila.
 

Anita - oh absolutely. I am definitely primed for a Big Romance when I watch any TN (if it's not a narco). I think we discussed this on another post too, how this one is billed as a TN, but is really just a drama. For this one in particular, I am definitely missing that focus. While I still think this is one of the best TNs I have ever seen and I love that it's complex and involved, I feel a little robbed. But you're right, it's my own fault for being ready for the Grand Amor and one that is as well developed as the rest of the TN, when the show's really about relationships. Honestly, it's more about Isela and the Santibanez than anyone else.
 

Anita - YES! Camila and Daniel are one of my fave TN couple (Possibly, my actual fave. I admit to watching several of their scenes on youtube to soothe my M&M blues). See, there they devoted plenty of time to Daniel's wrestling with telling Camila the truth. He talked it over with friends and had asides to himself and we had weeks of him weighing the pros and cons about it. Through it all, it was clear he loved Camila and she loved him. It was perfect for a sappy fan like me :)
 

Camila and Dan remain my favorite tn couple for that reason. I saw the rerun of Pasion, and get why people liked that couple because they also worked together for a good part of that tn, again with the heroine struggling with telling the galan the whole truth, just like Dan struggled with telling Camila the whole truth in Amor Bravio. But this tale is NOT a romance, and so M&M are not getting center stage like the couples in Amor Bravio and Pasion did. That's the trade off for a rich, interesting, and often unexpected story.

Anita- I would eat my hat if Orlando took any of the money. Claudio gave her three stacks of money, she took three stacks of money out of her mattress, and was shocked that Orly had left town.
 

Hellashelle- I watched those Camila and Dan scenes on YouTube for a LONG time after the tn ended. Now that you remind me of them, I might have to check them out again. :)
 

PS: I meant I think we discussed this on another post too, how this one is billed as a romance, but is really a drama.

I think the writing team is top notch, but I still think they missed a number of opportunities to give us that romance without sacrificing the topsy-turvy thrill ride they've taken us on so far. But I think that's what I was getting at on Friday when I said "I think it makes more sense if I don't think of it as a romance, just a drama." It really does.

Vivi - good to know it's not just me :) I never saw Pasion, but if it's anything like AB, then it sounds like my kind of TN.

 

Vivi, I didn't mean to imply Orly took any of the money. I mean Josefa didn't give him all the money. But if you say she did, I'll go with that.
 

Anita- Well, Claudio might have very well pulled out more stacks of money and given them to Josefa off camera. But we only ever saw him handle three, which is what she later had. I was actually shocked she brought the money to Orly at all. I thought she'd just use it to hire someone to knock him off.