Caray, Caray!

Um, so...what happened to impulsive, live-for-the moment Sara? Padre V was *right there*!

And Bruno is an idiot.

If I may, I'll be back in a sec with a short and out of order ramble-cap.
 

#128 Monday 12/21 Highlights Parte 1
Most of the episode was folks in SG wondering “Where’s Antonio” in SG and folks in Progreso exclaiming “We have to tell everyone where you are!”
So the most pertinent plot points are…

Anto and Sara talk a lot. Mainly she wants him to fully understand that being with her could cause a rift with his family. Anto is firm. He wants Sara.

Anto tells Sara he’s going to be going back to the DF. He has to take care of some things. Namely, end his relationship with Isa once and for all. He wants to marry Sara. He even wants to ask Padre V to marry them right now. Yes!! Do it!! Aw man! Sara starts talking sense. They decide to wait until Anto has taken care of Isa and the planta.

Then they talk about El Molcajete. Anto gets a little Cheo-esque and Sara calls him on his BS. No, she won’t quit working. She is independent and El Molcajete is her thing. Her identity is not wrapped up in being Anto’s woman. Anto agrees. He likes that she is independent, but he wants to help her buy El Molcajete so she can be free from debt with Pedro Arango. Sara has to tell him that she is in pretty steep debt. Pedro is giving her the loan for the repairs. Sara accepts Anto’s help, but only after they’ve gotten married. Which won’t be this episode even though Padre V is right out there in the living room grumble grumble.

Isa calls Nat and screeches about la tipa esa and Anto. Isa is going to make him come crawling back to her. She is going to make Anto BEG to be with her. She’ll do whatever is takes (I’m thinking about that audit. Are y’all thinking about that audit?)

Bruno convinces Laura to meet him. In public. They smooch. In public. Nelson sees them and knows Bruno is playing with fire.

Then the two love birds head to a public restaurant. Javi sees them and knows Bruno is playing with fire. He tries to warn Bruno, but Bruno is adamant that he will get Laura away from and divorced from Pedro. Bruno and Laura are dispuesto a todo. Uy, that does not sound good.

Sebas seemed affected by the gotas. Thank heaven he got a call about Anto’s escape. Titina is foiled again. Her friend makes an offhand comment about the gotas causing Sebas harm. Uh oh.

Yeah. Sebas didn’t look too good. He’s on the way to Progreso with Fidel and Anto’s dad.

Nelson calls Sebas. He has something to tell him. It is indirectly related to the plant. I’m not sure why Nelson thinks Sebas needs to know Bruno and Laura are going behind Pedro’s back. What am I missing?

Anto and Sara tell Merce and Padre V they are going to get married. Padre V looks apoplectic.

Fin

(I’m sure I missed some important stuff. Feel free to fill in.)
 

Thanks, Sara! With you back, all is right with the world.

Denise
 

*sniff* Awww..thank you Denise! I haven't had time for much more than lurking.
 

Sara! glad to have you commenting again and thanks for the recap

ok so
Nelson has told Fidel and Sebas and Tonio and Nacho and Rafa and Pepe and pretty much everybody by this point that Pedro is the head of the saqueadores so he probably thinks that Sebas or Fidel could warn Bruno away from Laura or to be less obvious or protect him or something. I'm optimistic, I think Nelson is trying to prevent Bruno being killed

I wasn't any more convinced than Laura by Bruno's repeated its okays
 

oh and Tonio knows Pedro is shady and wants to get ProtaSara out of business with him to protect her from Pedro at any cost, that's why he appeared Cheo-like in his wanting Sara to quit El Molcahete
 

Yay! So nice to have a Sara recap. Gracias, amiga.

ITA with Sneaky. Tonio wasn't really serious about Sara not working. He's just trying to get her away from Pedro, now that he knows he's a mob boss. Same with Nelson freaking out about Bruno and Laura. It was REALLY dumb and dangerous of them kiss and go out in public!

Sara- Yep. This audit, and Eduardo's poor health, is totally what is will use to try to twist Tonio's arm. It's not for nothing that Ed keeps looking like he's about to have a stroke or heart attack.
 

What Isa will use to twist Tonio's arm...
 

Thanks everyone! I cringed the whole time Bruno and Laura were together. I kept waiting for them to get caught.

Extra thanks for the insight into Anto's thinking. Nelson still hasn't told anyone about Pedro wanting Sara harmed, right? That's something that needs to be brought out...y ya.
 

Sara- No, Nelson (and Pepe) still hasn't said anything about the D.F. informant and Pedro wanting to harm Sara, their anonymous note, and the likely link to the restaurant explosion. It's driving me batty that they haven't mentioned it!
 

I'm with you guys, I can't figure out why they haven't said anything yet about the blowing up ProtaSara's restaurant plot

But
I thought it was so funny when Chelo was writing down all that Natalia was saying to Isa and then tells her that she's his muse. They're not letting him write his own lines on that telenovela he's on are they?
 

Tuesday, #129, 12/22/15 Recap:
Tonio announces to Padre Vicente and Merce that he’s asked for Sara’s hand, and she accepted. Merce is pleased. Padre, not so much. He demands to speak to Tonio alone. Despite being weak and woozy, and Padre’s mean mug and skepticism, Tonio doesn’t waver. Padre does ask some real pertinent questions like, does Tonio intend to come back to San Gaspar to live there FOREVER? And if not, what are his plans for where he’ll work and where he and Sara will live? That’s all TBD, but Tonio is absolutely sure that 1) he’s coming back, and 2) he’s marrying Sara.

Eduardo and Fidel pick up Sebas, who is also woozy, and feverish from the Love Potion #9 Titina secretly fed him. The head to Progreso to retrieve runaway Tonio. Tonio announces to the three of them that he and Sara are getting married as soon as he comes back from D.F. Eduardo also gets woozy, and basically tells Tonio they’ll talk when he’s back to his senses. Tonio tells him he’s never been so sane and sure in his life. Sara gets a bad feeling when Tonio leaves…which means, WE get a bad feeling too.

Padre puts an ad out to find a replacement coach for Los Alados. The guys don’t like it at all and want to put a stop to it. The Bishop is pleased, and wants to talk to Padre.

Simon has decided to go on a low calorie diet to get in shape for the rocket committee and the rocket launch. Edwina decides to feed Simon like a prince, in order to bolster his spirits before the rocket committee arrives. Yeah, you see the conflict. Edwina’s first offering is chuilaquiles with chorizo AND bacon! Yum! Simon can’t resist.

Isabel sees Titina leaving Sebas’ hotel room late at night. Titina pretends she’s leaving after a hot night of monkey sex. Isa calls Natalia, of course, and reports this. Nat calls Sebas and pretends she’s just had hot monkey sex with Chelo.

Titina’s mom catches her coming home late and decides to send her to a spiritual retreat. Sebas and we will get a break from her for a few days. Sebas finds the flask from the Love Potion #9 in his room, and Nelson tells him what it’s for. Nelson also tells him that Bruno is having a thing with Laura Arango, and they need to warn him since they know Pedro is such a dangerous man. Pedro returns early and startles Laura. Luckily, she has the very legit alibi that she was at the grocery store, and the bags to prove it. Pedro demands proof that she missed him. Blech!

Isa calls Ric and asks him for help with interpreting the audit when it’s complete. She’s sure there’s something fishy, and she will use it to subjugate Tonio.

Tonio tells Ema his intentions to marry Sara. She alternates between ignoring him and insulting Sara. The next day, the whole family make their way to D.F. Tonio calls Sara from the S.G. airport. Again, Sara gets a bad feeling. While they all wait for the plane, Ema tells Tonio that he HAS to marry Isabel, to save his father. Isa’s father is going to do an audit of the business, and he will find that Tonio’s dad has embezzled funds. Cara impactada de Antonio.

 

Thanks, Vivi!

I loved your "Love Potion #9." Ha ha.

Okay, this is the first time I realized that Simón is planning to lift off WITH the cohete. So he's an astronaut also? Or am I missing something here?

Denise
 

Denise- Way back when Simon's wife was alive, he was accepted into the French space program and was supposed to be the Mexican astronaut on a shuttle launch. But then his wife got sick, and he forfeited his place on the shuttle to be with her, and then she died, and with her his dream of going into space. So yeah, he's qualified (or was) to go into space.
 

I enjoy this blog's recaps of "La Vecina". My wife and I, who live in Florida with English as our primary language, are big fans of the show and often watch the show together. I've been using the show to improve my Spanish language skills. I record the show and then watch the video, listen to the audio, and read the Spanish closed captioning. I play, stop, rewind, and fast forward through the recording to understand the dialog and storyline and to help translate and explain the storyline for my wife.
 

Hey Carlos in FL (to distinguish you from Carlos in TX who is a regular recapper and commenter). Welcome! I hope you (and your wife) will comment more often. I'm so glad you are enjoying both the show and the recaps. It's a cute little show, and we have a small, but loyal, band here.
 

Here's a saying that jumped out at me this episode. Simon says it when he's talking to Merce on the phone when she tells him Tonio asked Sara to marry him.

"Del plato a la boca se cae la sopa." (Between the plate and the mouth, the soup may spill.) The English version is: "There's many a slip twixt cup and lip."

Lots can go wrong between intent and action, is the meaning. Yeah, I have a bad feeling about Tonio keeping his promise to Sara any time soon.


 

Hey Carlos, how nice to have you and yours on our patio!

Vivi - yeah, I heard Simón say that too. Then Merce says that she thinks "Este arroz ya se coció" (This is a done deal.) and Simón replies "Del dicho al hecho hay un buen trecho." (Many a slip...). It was kind of a battle of the dichos, ha ha.

Denise

 

Denise- Yes. I loved that little back and forth between Merce and Simon. Battle of the Dichos. Ha!
 

Muchas gracias, Vivi. I love your recaps. This line was wonderful...

"Despite being weak and woozy, and Padre’s mean mug and skepticism, Tonio doesn’t waver."

Ema. Oy what a pain in the tuchis. Talk about a suegra from hell.

Carlos in FL- welcome! I hope we'll hear from you more. La Vecina is a hidden gem, isn't it?
 

Happy Holidays, La Vecina Peeps!

No show today and yesterday was a tame episode. The biggest developments were that: the Bishop wants to promote Padre Vicente, now that he's given up that sinful futbol, and send him to head some fancy Catholic school in the U.S., since his English is so good; Tonio is back in D.F. and recovering in his parents' house; and Pedro has sent Ric back to D.F. to keep an eye on things and Tonio there; Pedro convinces Sara and Rosa not to keep such a close eye on his men as they repair the Molcajete kitchen; Sebas has to tell Bruno the whole truth about Pedro in order to convince him to keep his distance from Laura; Pedro wants Anselmo back on watch Laura duty.
 

Thanks, Vivi :-)

(I think that school was in London.)


Denise
 

Thanks, Denise. That's right.
 

Thank you all for the recaps and comments over the last 2 weeks. I've been so behind, but what a pleasure getting caught up!
 

Friday recap on its way.

Denise
 

La Vecina, Friday, 12/25 Part 1

We see Laura receiving the devastating message that Bruno doesn’t think they should continue to see each other. He doesn’t explain that he is trying to protect her.

Sebas tries to reach Antonio through a call to Ema. Bad choice as Ema cuts him off by saying that Antonio doesn’t need to bother himself with Conatrol San Gaspar anymore. She hangs up on Sebas. He then gets a call from Nacho and he tells the latter that it was necessary to let Bruno in on Pedro’s nefarious extracurricular life in order to protect him and Laura.

Slick Ric enters his apartment “muy alterado”(nervous/upset) as he receives a call from Isabel. They agree that it will be more convenient for hatching an evil plan against Anto now that Ric is coming back to the D.F..

Natalia wakes up in Marcelo’s bed completely disoriented. She’s wearing Chelo’s teeshirt. Chelo waltzes in the room with a tray of food for her. She asks why she has this shirt on and Chelo tells her that he put it on her so that she would be more comfy. She is scandalized, but Chelo assures her that he is a complete gentleman and that he would never take advantage of her inebriated condition.
“But,” he begins to fabricate,”you told me that I am the love of your life and that you can’t live without me.” (!) He sets out her clothes so that she can get dressed.

Sebas asks Marina to see to the air conditioning as it’s on the fritz again. She leaves and Ric approaches the open door of the office. He hears Sebas tell Anto that he, Ric, is returning to the D.F., and he wonders out loud to Anto if maybe Ric isn’t the informant after all. No, no, it can only be him, they decide. Ric is “impactado.” Back in his office, Ric fusses and fumes about what he should do next. Should he inform Arango that these guys are on to him? “No, no, no – mejor ni le muevo.”(Better leave well enough alone.) Pedro might decide to snuff Ric out to better cover his own tracks if he knows.

El padre Vicente gets out of a taxi in front of his church in San Gasp to be greeted by his team of Alados (minus Bruno) carrying a banner and chanting “Without Vicente Granados there is no Alados.” They remind Vicente that participating in the sport has redeemed several of the Alados who would otherwise be leading a life of moral dissipation.

Bruno gets a call informing him that Pedro is forcing “Rogelio” to sign on the dotted line – or else. Bruno is just realizing how evil and dangerous Pedro really is.

Pedro is telling Anselmo that said Rogelio is not going to back out of anything. Anselmo mentions that Rogelio is appealing for help to the Asociación de Agricultores (Bruno’s informal union). Pedro comments that the damned Asociación is becoming a rock in his shoe.
Laura enters as Pedro thought bubbles – “One more from that ‘infeliz’ and he’s toast.”
Sebas calls Anto again to tell him about how he had to let Bruno know exactly why Pedro is so dangerous. Anto tells him that he was right to do that since people can do crazy things when they’re in love. He hangs because his Dad just walked into his room. His Dad reassures him that he can handle the whole auditor investigation, that Guillermo will understand and that the family just needs to tighten their belts a bit.

Quintín hands Fidel a newspaper where the advertisement for the new trainer for the Alados appears. Fidel is “sorprendido.”

The members of the Alados team are all threatening to quit if Vicente doesn’t agree to train them again. Fidel walks up and states that Vicente is just quitting because he feels guilty about losing – even using “trampas” (cheating).

The Bishop concludes a conversation with the school in England where they say they are ready to receive el Padre Vicente immediately as their Vice-Principal.
The sacristán questions the bishop’s decision, rewarding Vicente for his poor choices instead of reprimanding him. The bishop reminds him that he was supposed to be studying English, but he never bothered to do this. Would he like to be sent to the Islas Marías where they speak Spanish? The sacristán declines.


 

La Vecina, Friday Part 2

Rafa and Sebas rehash the Slick Ric and the Bruno/Pedro situations.

Fidel is asserting that Vicente is just making up this story about quitting so that the guys will beg him to come back. He says that cheaters never prosper, and Vicente says “Look who’s talking.” Then up walks a super hot buffed fellow, a Moisés Muñoz, who greets the padre warmly and says he’s the person who spoke to Vicente about the trainer’s position.

Theme song. Doo doo dee doo ... la que me pone de buenas... :-)

Guillermos is back in town and at Isa’s apartment. She catches him up on the attack on Antonio etc.. She tells things “a su manera”(her version). She says that Antonio’s parents have treated her so well and that they have never mentioned stopping the audit. Nooooo, that’s totally separate from her relationship with Antonio. (What is she “tramando” here?)

Moisés tells Vicente that perhaps this is not a good time (since the Alados are still chanting about how they will play for no one but Vicente). Vicente says no, no, come right in. The guys will get out of the way. But the guys say they don’t care if Vicente brings in El Piojo or that other famous futbolista himself, and they actually chase the padre and the new trainer all the way into the church.

Bruno is trying to counsel Rogelio who has signed under pressure for a loan with Pedro. The loan has similar usurious terms to those on Sara’s loan. Could Bruno please help him negotiate with Arango?

El Padre convinces a reluctant Moisés to follow him outside to try to reason with the protesting futbolistas again.
Aaaaaannnd they come back in again because the team is still acting very “bravos” (agressive). Perhaps a little later.

At the station, Fidel informs Quintín of el Padre’s decision. Fidel is impacted by the prospect of competing without his “other half,” his counterpart.
“Isn’t there some way to change his mind?” Quintín asks.
Fidel starts to get an idea. He sends Quintín for some markers and cardboard.

Merce runs into Roque who ends up telling her about Cheo’s financial troubles and how this is the reason why Cheo was looking to borrow money from Pedro. Merce tells Roque it would be better to advise Cheo to stop committing so many “burradas”(dumb things), instead of being his wing man on these escapades. They part on good terms.

Isabel has Guillermo eating at her table and also eating out of her hand. Guillermo receives a call from Eduardo who wishes to speak to him before the audit takes place. Isabel has convinced her father that it’s okay to proceed with the audit, so Guillermo cuts Eduardo off, saying that they will speak, but only after the audit.

Sara drives up to the church to find the protesters loudly proclaiming their allegiance to Vicente only. She calls Javi aside and tells him about the bishop’s offer of the vice principalship of the school in England.

Sebas greets Nacho and Leila who have just returned from signing papers putting all of Nacho’s worldly goods into Laila’s name. When Sebas questions the wisdom of doing this, Leila cuts him off saying that Nacho’s possessions are safe with her because, well, she cares a lot about him. Nacho is clueless that she means that she loves him. He gets some papers that he has prepared for Sebas; he gives these to him and asks about Slick Ric. They both wonder if they were wrong to suspect him of being the D.F. informant.

Sara calls her Mom to tell her that she arrived safely to San Gasp and to tell her about the protest going on at the church. Merce tells Sara about Cheo’s deep financial troubles and how he is trying to borrow $2,000,000 pesos from Pedro Arango.

Cheo is greeting Pedro in the office of the used car lot. How are things? Does Pedro want to look at a car? No... Pedro’s phone rings. It’s Elías. Bruno has just shown up at Pedro’s house. Pedro’s face changes to Evil Pedro. Elías is to watch and report anything untoward. Back to Cheo. He needs a loan of 2 million pesos.


 

La Vecina, Friday Part 3

Bruno tells Laura that he is not there to see her. He needs to see her husband about a business matter. But why is he so cold and distant, Laura wants to know.
“Like you said, our relationship is not going to work. It’s way too complicated,” he tells her. Elías knocks on the door. Bruno opens and exits, telling Laura to not forget to tell her husband that he would like to speak to him. (Good cover, Bruno.)

Sara is saying goodbye to her Mom on the phone when Fidel and Quintín show up at the church sporting posters proclaiming that Vicente must stay “al mando” (in charge of) los Alados.

Elías tries to pry more information out of Laura, but she fends him off, skilled now from plenty of practice. When he leaves, she tortures herself with questions about why Bruno would treat her this way. How did she offend him? It’s better anyway. If Elías showed up so quickly after Bruno’s arrival, it must be because she is being watched.

We see Bruno driving and cursing Pedro’s name.
“I only hope you will understand, Laura. You don’t know how it hurts me to cause you to suffer.”

Elías calls Pedro and tells him Bruno’s visit was a false alarm.
Pedro offers Cheo a loan with his usual astronomical interest rate. Cheo is shocked. He could never pay it off.
Well, there is one other possibility. What if Cheo could manage the sale of Pedro’s fledgling sprinkler business. Cheo looks happy and hopeful at the prospect. (He doesn’t know that once you’ve sold your soul to this devil, all hope is lost.)

Fidel convinces the protesting futbolistas to change tactics. They start singing their support for Vicente instead. Vicente waxes nostalgic as he explains his love for the sport and for his team to Moisés. Hmmm. Vicente thinks he hears Fidel’s voice among those of the singers.

Pedro explains to Cheo that with the base pay plus commission, he could conceivably pay off his debt in just one year. Cheo says, ”When do we start?”

El Padre explains to Moisés that Fidel is the toughest competitor that he will ever face. “No worries,” says the new guy, “As long as the players follow my instructions, the Jaibolera will stay right where it is.”
There is pounding at the door. Vicente opens to see Fidel who looks very serious.
“I’m sure you’re here to see that I’m really leaving,” states Vicente.
“You’re wrong,” says Fidel, and he holds up the poster he has made which says, “There is no ‘Alados’ without Vicente Granados.”

Cue the music.


 

Gracias, Denise!

"Then up walks a super hot buffed fellow...." Oh, hello! I hope he doesn't go away soon :D He could always assistant-coach for the Padre, right?

"He doesn’t know that once you’ve sold your soul to this devil, all hope is lost." Well put :( And we already know Cheo's not great with fine print.
 

Thanks, Denise! I'm still at my parents and haven't seen the episode yet. Looking forward to seeing the hot buff guy. :)

I forgot to mention something interesting from the last episode. We finally found out how Bruno is related to Simon. Bruno's parents worked for Simon on his huerta and they both died in an accident when Bruno was six. Simon basically adopted him after that.
 

Vivi, that's right! I think other shows have made me suspicious...I started to wonder why they were telling us the story about Simon and Bruno just now, when it's been sort of a lingering question from the beginning.
 

Could Pedro be behind Bruno's parents' accident somehow?
 

Seems plausible to me. Everybody keeps going on and on about how "old" Pedro is, and he's clearly been up to no good for quite a while now.
 

Thanks for commenting,Diva and Vivi :-)

Yes! We finally learned how Simón and Bruno are related. Wow, I wonder if there will be a tie-in to Pedro.

Denise
 

Denise, thanks for the recap! I'm still reading it and I'll be back in a sec to thank you more thoroughly. I just wanted to share that the soccer hottie is a real life soccer hottie (Moises Munoz):

http://www.e-consulta.com/nota/2015-08-27/espectaculos/debuta-el-portero-del-america-moises-munoz-en-telenovela-la-vecina
 

Duh. You already had the name...I was just trying to say that he's a soccer player and not an actor.

I'm an idiot.
 

"Guillermo receives a call from Eduardo who wishes to speak to him before the audit takes place. Isabel has convinced her father that it’s okay to proceed with the audit, so Guillermo cuts Eduardo off, saying that they will speak, but only after the audit."

Most frustrating scene of the whole episode.

Thank you again, Denise for providing a recap during the holidays. You're the best.
 

Sara- Thanks for the info on Moises. I would definitely like to see him in soccer shorts.
 

Sara - I caught his name, but I didn't know he was a real soccer star!

Denise
 

Sara, thanks for the article! I guess that explains why he looks like he means business.

My first thought on seeing him was "cute" then "fit" and then I caught the speculative gleam in the Padre's eye and though "Oh, wouldn't that be a great final 'trick' for the Padre to play...he leaves, but this guy gets the Alados whipped into shape and they kick the Artilleros' butts!" I don't want Padre Vicente to leave, but I would like to see what Moises can do with them :D