Caray, Caray!

Good stuff, Hellashelle.

This thing is tense right up to the end.

Very fitting that Hosefa becomes the neighborhood punching bag. In earlier times and other places she would have been stoned to death. If she were to get her hands on Isela's baby I could see a sequel in which she tries to pervert that child into another vendetta with Leo as the target, since she failed to kill him herself.

Will anyone ever find that out?
 

This is really good Hellashelle thank you

"but since she’s a miserable excuse for a human being, happiness doesn’t change her expression or even her gait"

“Max betrayed me!” (…what?!)

Ok, first the awesome. Loved the Josefa beatdown, goodness I was elbowing so I could get in a kick. Not awesome, awesome but how the show directs all these horrible things coming together, one not processed before the other falls, incredibly well done.

Clara poor Clara.

Never really occurred to me at the start of the show the pivotal event MD would ultimately have for mistrust in men would be delivered by the galan. Well, the galan doesn't know that and may never but Max is now at the top of MD's crap list and I'm certain a revenge minded MD will get her pound of flesh from him too. I hand it to the writers and producers they fooled me again. For a long time I didn't buy MD's commitment to the relationship, you know hiding stuff, lying and general mistrust of him, but bought it when she married Max only to believe he is the lowest of the low that very evening. It didn't take much. Did she not lie to a weeping, pleading Max and the man still didn't believe her his faith in her so strong? Too bad the faith wasn't reciprocal. Max set himself up for this however when he inserted himself between MD and Dan and it was enough to keep them apart awhile.

 

Thanks so much Hellashelle! For this wonderful recap, and all your other masterpieces.

I loved the neighbor mob beatdown of Josefa. Wish they had gotten some more licks in before Orly and the Barrio Boys rescued her. I guess in the final episode we will both see how she takes down Monterrubio (and Abuela, and maybe Marcia?), and her downfall. It better be good.

MD disappointed me. I know she heard from Max's own mouth that he was done. But as you pointed out Tofie, when he heard her dumping him and claiming Julian as her baby-daddy from her own mouth, he never believed it. He did have an angry, frustrated crying fit in the privacy of his own home, and that's all I expected from MD here. She will eat some major crow when she finds out he was kidnapped.

I do wonder what kind of revenge she has in mind, and who she's going after in the prison.

Not liking Clara's determination to get money, no matter what!
 

I'm more than disappointed but because of my own expectations of MD. I thought she was in and am wrong. At what point does an honest committed man like Max give up on a woman that has little faith in him. I take into account her duress but a partnership is in it together. He married her so if things didn't go their way legally his next step was to go for custody of her daughter. Don't know what else he could have done absent be kidnapped, pistol whipped and perhaps dead. How does MD just brush this one off if he is alive after she returned to her ex, the same man that ordered his execution? Remaining is the fact she believes in Dan's sick ability to secure her release, live happily ever after with her child financially secure, more than Max so why should he trust anything she says.
 

I don't think she trusts Dan either, or plans to live with him as his mujer. But she knows he'll do whatever it takes to get her out of there if she can play him long enough.
 

Thanks, Hellashelle. Terrific recap.

I wanted this TN to end with me being glad MD and Max are together (assuming that happens). But now I'm going to feel Max could've done better than MD. She does take a licking and keep on ticking, I'll say that for her. But didn't she just get angry with Max and stalk off from him, and later have to apologize cause she didn't give him a chance to tell her that his mother died? Now she's giving up on him without thinking through the possibilities. And how is she -- alone -- going to summon the cunning all of a sudden to take on Dan and the corrupt prison?

Doris's annoyance at Corina was wrong but so realistic.
 

Hi all. Oh Tofie, I have to agree with that whole comment. I foolishly had hope. I foolishly thought that we were about to see a payoff for all these months of her waffling. When Max was saying what he said (which wasn't that bad - "you should get another lawyer. I've done all I can do." - AT GUNPOINT no less!) and MD responded by saying "what are you talking about? you're the one that's always telling me to have faith!" I thought we'd finally see her pick up her part of this package and carry him through, hold the faith and assume he was having an attack of doubt. I mean, it's been LESS THAN 24 HOURS since she got that phone call! Barely 24 hours since they got married! He didn't say he didn't love her, that he regretted their relationship, that he was giving up on their love - he just talked lawyer stuff and basically said "I think you'd be better off without me as a lawyer. WTH, MD?!!! How can Nayeli and Corina, who would've brained you when you got to prison, but ended up giving you the benefit of the doubt, have more faith than you? Corina and Nayeli, who Max is/was helping for free for you. I mean, seriously?! I can't understand why whoever wrote this wanted to present her this way, but I am just smh. She might be the worst heroine in TN history.

Once this is over, can we get a weekend topic about horrible protags? Cuz this is ridiculous.
 

Operative word is "if" and she's not been successful so far. Perhaps I should have said more a sure thing instead of trust but she believes in his ability more than she trust Max and willing to paint Max a skunk to justify going with the surer play.

It didn't take much for her to bail on the relationship. I guess she believes Dan will get her out, keep Ursula at bay, Ivana at bay, allow her freedom to be all she can be and raise their daughter in a stable home. There are a lot of moving parts in that plan, Nayeli said as much. This she chose over Max.
 

I know Maria Dolores is putting a lot more faith & trust in Daniel right now, who just the other day taunted her in prison, than Max, who never has.

I don't trust men. Dan, who tricked her with a fake civil wedding to get her pants, stood her up at the altar of the fake church wedding, tried to evict her & her family, raped her, led the police on a chase to hold her hostage, went to attack her on her wedding day...leading to her friend getting killed, conspired with his mom and & ex-wife to steal her baby, had her kept in jail indefinitley so they could steal said baby, grabbed said baby, taunted her with said baby

vs

Max, who has gotten stabbed, burned, kidnapped, tirelessly worked to get her & her friends out of prison...

She doesn't trust men...because Max failed her ONE time.

Maria Dolores, bye. Your wedding vows are worthless. You didn't mean them. Not a fresh 48 hours after saying them, you don't trust men even though EVERYONE is acting funny about where Max's whereabouts are.

Maria Dolores might as well ride into the sunset with Daniel & Lil Maleny. She has more trust in Daniel than she ever has or ever will in Max.
 

Perverse as it sounds MD has never gotten over Dan and with all the wishing in the world, including all her family and friends loving and appreciating Max, she never loved Max, he was convenient and when he stumbles he becomes a liability. Great point Anon207 the wedding vows are worthless and she didn't mean a word.

I don't mind the resolute MD and wanting to kick ass and take names but she is doing this because she is pissed at Max. Max the best galan I have seen in forever. Talk about revenge, her running to Dan is sure gonna leave a scar on Max. Heaven help Max had he actually forsaken her.
 

I think someone needs to call the writers to task over stuff like this because they are providing suspense and twists at the characters' expense.

Also the original story was written in 1954.

As to a Weekend topic I don't know if we can do them now under the reduction of this blog. If we get permission for it then we may have to agree to police the comments made to our own topics.
 

perhaps the galan in the 1954 version was not so gallant and why for me at least Max's and MD's relationship always seemed off. Not from his end but hers.
 

I don't know that she trusts Dan, but I think she believes in his corrupt nature and corruption in general than in the system's rules, which she knows Max will play by. She's (more or less) played by them her whole life. Max always has as well. It's gotten her in prison and been the wall Max runs up against with her case because the Santibanez don't give the rules any mind.

I would be able to swallow this whole thing much easier if the show played up this option more. It just pains my soul that instead of having her declare that something has happened to Max and she'll make a deal with the devil to get out of prison and find out what it is, instead of just having her find out that Max has been kidnapped and having her do this because taking her daughter AND going after the man she loves is the final, final straw, instead of taking that route, the show has gone this way. Why?

Seriously, why? I seriously don't get it. Can anyone explain the reasoning to me?

 

There were no telenovelas yet and I don't think this one had a radio treatment. Here is the synopsis of the 1991 version.
 

hellashelle- I can't explain it, and I would prefer your option much better, because I do believe she is making this deal with Dan just to get out of there and get her daughter. Adding the extra goal of getting out to find out what the heck has happened to Max (knowing SOMETHING must have happened), would have been perfect. But for some reason the writers wanted us to see MD doubting Max one last time and playing into the title of the tn. But Max SO doesn't deserve that.
 

Whatever MD's flaws, I'm just so happy to FINALLY have a galan I can root for. A true galan! It's so rare.
 

I don't know where people get that MD is "running" to Dan because she has more trust in him than she has in Max when she clearly told Nayeli that she does NOT trust Dan, that he has no morals and that she is just using him to try and secure her freedom. She does not want to be with him, she's simply trying to get the hell out of jail and right now Dan seems to be her only option. I don't know that I'd make a different choice if I were in her shoes, think about it:

She's been in jail for at least six months, the person that she felt had the key to her freedom refused to show up and testify, her child has been taken from her and the one person that believed she would be okay has told her that's she's a lost cause. I'd freak out too! And she has no idea what's going on at home with her mother and the eviction but she is aware that there's money issues, at that point I'd do whatever it took to get back home to my loved ones too!

Having said that I do feel that Max is the one that's more invested in the relationship and that MD is not a great lead, and to that I say #byeMD
 

I think we see both MaryPain and Clara at their wits end, and both of them are making deals with the devil to get them out of their predicaments.

Neither one of them trust the people around them to help get them out of their situations, so they're going to get themselves out.

But, just like Ivana, they are little chum swimming in a sea of sharks and they will get eaten up and spit out.

Speaking of Ivana, she's taking her sweet little time about telling anyone about the Santibanez' scheme.
 

I just hate Max loves a woman that doesn't really love him back equally, never did. I could live with Hellashelle's option as well
 

Eli- I 100% agree with you on all fronts. MD doesn't trust Dan. She just knows he's obsessed enough with her, and plays dirty enough, to get her the heck out of jail, when it's looking pretty damn sure she's about to be convicted.
 

I don't think people think that Maria Dolores trusts Dan, but she trusts him more than she trusts Max.

From the beginning of this story, Maria Dolores would deal with Dan again and again and again. But the one time Max lets her down, it's "I don't trust men, let me call Dan & accept his offer."

Max has been hospitalized twice on account of Maria Dolores, risked his family's approval, agreed to raise another man's baby as his own and stayed faithful and true to Maria Dolores while she was in prison. He's even working to get her prison friends* out of jail and brought a judge down to the prison yard to legally marry her.

Not even 48 hours after this, she gets a call from Max saying "Get another lawyer" and immediately jumps to "I don't trust men?" She never trusted Max to begin with.

My dream ending would be Max declaring his love for Maria Dolores but realizing he can never trust HER, so he's going to leave town with Leo & Claudio for a fresh start. Then after watching Max leave, Maria Dolores says "I don't trust men" and the camera turns to Ivana, who also says "I don't trust men, either". And they walk away with little Almita and discuss how to merge Maria Dolores' website fashions with Vera Duval. The end.
 

Well, MD can't trust Max (as fas she knows) with this because he very plainly told her "I CAN'T HELP YOU" and so there's Dan, whom she hates but who is saying "I can help you, and you can be with your baby" and yeah, MD knows that Dan is dirty as hell but can get things done because apparently the justice system in this novela is crap and money and power are the only things that matter, and having a combo of the two really might secure her freedom.


 

She doesn't trust Danny-Boy. She's looking to get even with him although she doesn't have a plan. Not a good way to begin, but her life is in danger as well. Her first priority is to get the hell out of there.
 

But she turned to Dan. She could have given one more shot to hook up with Max before disregarding her wedding vows and move on to another man.
 

The second (last?) day of the hearing in tomorrow, and she might get convicted, Max has basically said he'll be a no show. I understand her making a split decision to make a deal with Dan, just to get the hell out. The only thing I don't understand is her assumption that Max has betrayed her and something else isn't going on to prevent him from being there for her.
 

Split second..
 

*LOL at Corina ending up back in jail.
 

The only thing I don't understand is her assumption that Max has betrayed her and something else isn't going on to prevent him from being there for her. - Vivi

Yes!! This is the part I don't get either. I liked her first reaction to Max's phone call (well, better than this anyway): she told Nayeli Max was giving up, that it was all too much, that he was tired of fighting. Ok, all understandable. The follow up we would want to see, though, is her realizing that maybe now she needs to put on her big girl pants and be the strong one. We've had some flashes of her saying "I'd like to be there for Max, but now, when all he's expressed to her is doubt in his ability to win her case, which is understandable, now she's gone with "he's betrayed me"? In what way? Because he's doubting himself? Because he doesn't think he can win for you? Because he's advising you to get other help?

At no point did he say he was giving up on her. He didn't even advise her to give up on her case, just advised getting other legal counsel. I'm so pissed at her! How DARE she?! This is her worst betrayal ever and it's not even about running to Dan for me: I think the worst part is that instead of assuming that Max is just doubting his abilities and lost in a fog of self-doubt and recriminations over now getting Ivana to testify, MD's just assumed that Max has abandoned her and her/their daughter (idiot that I am, I'm still holding out hope that Ursula messed with the test results). I'm so mad at MD right now! All of that time thinking about those loving moments with Max - how about thinking about all of the times you've let him down, shown ZERO faith, lied to him and hurt him and he's STILL been rock solid and in your corner. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

If I were Nayeli or Corina, I'd slap her and tell her sus cuatro verdades.
 

Just wait till Espy finds out how MD flipped on Max so easily, that will kill her.
 

Max never said he didn't love her. He just said GET ANOTHER LAWYER, I'M DONE.

Again, this man has been hospitalized TWICE because of dealing with her AND everyone is acting funny and evasive about his whereabouts.

Maria Dolores' first thoughts were "Oh no, Max betrayed me*, let me take Dan up on his offer."

not

"What's going on with Max? He's never like this. Nobody will tell me anything about Max. This is very serious. Maybe he's depressed over Alma. Let me call up Dan, take him up on his offer & find out what's up with Max."

That's why people are upset at Maria Dolores. Nobody thinks she trusts Dan but she has more faith in him than her husband and that's not cool.

This whole chain of events was set into motion with Maria Dolores' LIE that Julian was the father. Had she told Max the truth from the beginning, he would've married her immediately, had her kept safe (and Espy & Clara, too) at Bustamante Manor & registered Almita as his child. It would've been that much harder for the Santibanez' to get at Maria Dolores.

I realize Isela ran & told Ursula & Em that Maria Dolores was pregnant, but had she told Max the truth about it, things could've gone a lot differently. MD had no faith in Max at that point (even though they were engaged), so she dragged Julian into her mess.

So Maria Dolores turning to Dan is very much in character. It's not out of left field. But it's frustrating because she just doesn't learn (and probably never will).
 

This is making me wonder whether the writers want us to hate her or at least become frustrated enough to not care about what happens to her. A constant theme of this series is that life isn't fair:

-- Rudolfo (MD's father) is murdered in the premiere
-- Esperanza becomes chronically ill
-- MD is betrayed multiple times by Danny-Boy culminating in the rape, the pregnancy, the false murder charge, possible incarceration for life (slated to be a short period of time), and two murder attempts on the man she does love
-- MD's family is evicted by Ursula using a deed she did not legally possess
-- Maleny was gaslit by her own mother into suicide
-- Ursula covered up that Danny-Boy was the one who murdered his own father
-- Honoria blames MD for Julian's death
-- Ivana tries to get MD's baby, then fails to testify about the accidental shooting
-- Hosefa gets away with abusing Isela for two decades including pimping her out for her own revenge plot that has nothing to do with her
-- Hosefa does her best to destroy MD's rep
-- Multiple people bribe and blackmail to cover up their own past and current sins, using MD as a pawn in a deadly chess game.

This list is incomplete, but I think you see the trend.
 

No, it's not out of character. That's why it's so sad - what happened to character development? What happened to growth? We've all accepted that this isn't a love story, it's a drama, but does that mean they have to massacre the potential love story within it?

How has MD not asked someone to go to his house or apartment to talk to him face to face? How did she go from "you're the one that's always telling me to keep the faith" to "he's betrayed me!" in like 8 hours? Does she not realize he MARRIED her, a woman who's been in prison for months, who killed her "best friend" (yes, accidentally), who could have shot Dan but DIDN'T, whose bills he's covered, whose friends he's representing, whose child-product of rape- he's claiming as his own. After all of that, when he just married her YESTERDAY MORNING-

Ugh. I hate to say it, but I can't even.

I don't understand it and I don't understand why the writers made this choice. Thumbs down.
 

UA - yup. I had a moment in the middle of this series where I wasn't sure I could handle all the crap they were slinging at the heroes. Vivi's words convinced me to hold on, because this is a top quality TN, but lord have mercy, where is the payoff?! In two episodes, after pulling this, I'm not sure they can convince me that the happy ending (if there's something even close to a happy ending) is satisfying.

Isela's life was miserable and though she wasn't a good person, her coma is also just sad. I can shrug at that though, but the fact that Orlando is now basically dedicating his life to her while Doris basically has to beg him for under-the-sheets time, is just "wha-? Really?" WHY?

Alma dies - WHY?

Ivana's been running around with MD's kid and just not testifying like lah-di-dah and she's just getting away with that? - WHY?

Julian's life was pretty miserable and then MD shot him and he died - WHY?

Even if we could swallow down all of this, why not at the very least give us a romantic spoonful of sugar for the aftertaste. But no - spoonful of castor oil instead. Poisoned castor oil.


 

I'm frustrated with MD but what will really send me over the edge is if she gets to speak with Max again, after she realizes how wrong about him she is, and he forgives her, again. Have some self respect Max.

Same reason docile Doris just accepts the crumbs Orlando throws her way.

Or Orlando allowing Isela to humiliate him again and again yet he goes for more.

Perhaps it's about self respect and power in relationships, illustrated by the sick struggle between Dan and MD for supremacy in theirs.
 

Man, what a Tank ending that would be, if Max gets out of this, discovers MD's betrayal and is just like "you know what? Forget it. I'm done. I'm out of here. Kid's not mine? You can have custody. Kid is mine? Shared custody with the stipulation that you don't speak to me anymore. I don't want to here anything else that comes out of your mouth. Ever. Peace."
 

Hellashelle--Great final swan song for you--with everything is still up in the air. Thank you for all the hours of entertainment you've given us on this tn.

Now, is Max dead? What was that kidnapper waiting for? It's been hours, unless they aren't taking orders from Danny-Boy, but Ursula. It seems as though asking for ransom was their own idea. Meanwhile, doesn't Ursus want Claudio dead, too? Maybe she knows he'll figure out where the kidnappers are and she gets her two birds with one stone. Please, let something go wrong.

Yes, indeedy, who is Josefa aiming to get....Ursula? Now that would be a pretty picture. She did say to Ursula this would be the last time she speaks to her. Maybe she didn't mean that she, Josefa, was going to disappear, rather Ursula was going to die.

I've written of MD. May she eat crow AND crow droppings. I now only care about those two babies and who they will be growing up with.

If this wasn't a love story (which it wasn't), then the director and producer either didn't know themselves or deceived us royally with their intro, showing Max and MD approaching each other and kissing--every night.

Can't believe we have to wait until Monday for El Fin--and I can't watch with you. Won't be able to check back in until Wednesday, Waaah.

 

But, that's reality, too. Some people's characters DON'T develop. Josefa hasn't developed, if anything she's gotten worse. Ivana hasn't progressed, neither has Susana. Neither did Isela. It's life. Some people don't grow & learn from their experiences. But, some people have, like Fermin.


 

Well, Max did say she should get another lawyer, and with her trial happening right now, she was a bit desperate to make something happen. She's learned from Dan/Ursula/Josefa how to use people to get what she wants, and what she wants is to get out of jail and be with her kid. As long as it doesn't mean actually trusting Dan to do what he says he's going to do, then she can deal with the Max thing later. The baby is the priority.

That said, Max deserves better and he should definitely call me. I promise not to get him hospitalized/kidnapped/jailed.

Kelly
 

Thank you Hellashelle, and thank you for all the recaps for this TN. You've always done a marvelous job with them.

I hated this episode, and I hate that they are going to cram so much in one last hour. How dare they?

Please writers, don't make this ending like the ending of "Gone Girl'. If you've read the book, (not just watched the movie only), then you know what I mean.
 

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Been so angry I almost forgot all the great acting and scene's last night. Josefa walking bloodied to her apartment holding one of her shoes incredible.

Really, the whole sequence beginning as Clara spoke to MD and the knock on the door to begin the eviction, Isela and her child's arrival, shouting and beatdown, the quiet gathering in Ari's apartment after and everyone moving the furniture from the courtyard to Orlando's shop.

I hope Corina finds out what happen to Max and can save MD from herself.
 

Tofie- There wasn't a bit of filler. Just bam, bam, BAM! The writers just kept the hits coming, right after another. And every actor was still on their A game. These last few episodes must have been exhausting, even for Fabiola/Isela, who gets to lie in bed with no lines.
 

I know MD is making a deal with Dan just for her baby's sake and doesn't trust him one bit. But it would've been nice if the writers had shown her worried about Max, like "were all the problems too much for him and he finally collapsed with a nervous breakdown?" or "since he was carjacked and held at gunpoint before, maybe it happened again?"
 

Yeah Vivi, I kept trying to catch it all, like Jenny escaping into the apartment with the child and what was Fermin doing. People cleaning Espy's home out as Clara stood there and on the street the police are firing in the air to break up vigilante justice.
 

She doesn't know he was kidnapped on their first wedding day because that's when she shot Julian, right?
 

They didn't get Max, he got out of the car but they did stop Claudio, Alma and Leo and feigned a robbery attempt to cover. I think either Leo or Claudio put it together now Max has been kidnapped the earlier robbery was actually an attempt to nab Max earlier.
 

No she's doesn't know. Max and his family kept it between them, and Julian's death overshadowed it.
 

That's true. Max might not even know about the other attempt.
 

So I'm assuming there is no episode tonight since there's one hour left and the finale is on Monday.

It seems like there is way too much to finalize still to be able to do it all in one hour.
 

Cathyx- No idea what they'll do tonight. Urban says the finale is actually longer than two hours, so they could stretch it to 3 episodes, with lots of repeat the last two night. Who knows?!
 

MD seems to thrive on being a "victim". She will never be happy.
 

Hellashelle lovin the recap. Thank you for the
Fire you put into it.
It would have been great if MD would have had this kind of drive if when she got raped.
But as she said, she was very trusting. She
Just trusted the wrong person, and made a
Few bad choices herself. But it seems she has learned a few things. But shes really pissed. Sometimes angerblinds you to things
And maybe shes no longer blind.
I hope we don't get a rerun tonite.
 

For those who watched this on TV, did it start early? Did it have limited commercials? It doesn't sound like anything was cut.
 

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Urban- Thursday's episode did not start early. Hopefully they will limit commercials on Monday so that they get all the rest in.
 

Looks like they are splitting the finale into three parts. If you watched or recorded Friday's episode, you might have been confused and thought it was a rerun as I did. The new stuff starts about 13 minutes in. Repeat, Friday's episode was (mostly) new!
 

OK. At least I know where to begin. This is my project for today until it's done because I will have a two-hour episode of Poder on Tuesday.