Caray, Caray!

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Thanks, Urban! For this wonderfully detailed recap, and all your others.

There was no escaping or covering up this one. Ursula is for sure in jail for pulling the trigger on Dan. And she's got NO money to buy protection in prison for herself, since it all goes to Almita. The only thing I would have wished is to see her scrubbing Granny's toilet in prison, alongside crippled Josefa.

So glad Max didn't die, but his near death sure taught MD a final lesson.

Claudio is living the perfect punishment.

I wish we had found out if Max was able to get Nayeli out of jail. I have faith that he did, especially after Corina had managed to get Aldo locked up, perhaps that helped it come to light that HE was the thief, not Nayeli.

Jacinto deserves to be in jail, but I have faith that Ivana will make sure he never works in another clothing factory in Mexico ever again. Would have been nice if he'd gotten kneecapped with a stray bullet, like Arango, but, oh well!

I would have liked to see Honoria BEGGING MD and her family for forgiveness. I have no doubt that she, Fermin (Most Improved Player), and Jenny are going to love that baby to death. Perhaps not the most emotionally balanced household, but one filled with love for that child.

Ivana di NOT deserve to get Isela's baby, but again, that kid will be loved and pampered. Damn, even Tia Susy couldn't resist!

Very glad that Orlando came to his senses (finally!) and decided to make Doris his priority.

Wish we had seen Adrian and Corina together, since there was some hinting there towards the end.
 

I'm assuming the grave site at the end was Julian's. But it could have been Alma's or Rodolfo's. I sure as heck don't think it was Dan's. :)
 

So much left unanswered.

I believe Ursula ultimately ended up killing herself. She killed her favorite child and there was no way she was going to go to prison or go live in the vecindad. Jacinto could've have made Daniel's death out to be a suicide because it was a shot to the chest and Maria Dolores would've told what happened.

Diff to read the recap.
 

Incredible work UA and thank you for every entry. Stellar

That was really disappointing after an awesome 121 episodes. Was this edited? Why in the world would MD go with Dan even after she knew he deceived her again and why was she shocked to hear Dan wanted Max killed? She believed that fool to the very end. I hoped she would try to find Max but she only did that after her deal with Dan didn't work out because Ursula shot him.

Why waste so much time on a love scene between Orlando and Doris and not tell us something of Leo and Clara? Jacinto runs free, Ursula kills Dan as her punishment, Claudio giving sponge baths and Ivana rewarded with Isela's child? Well at least there was no white wedding at the end.

MD says she never believed Max would abandon her as she entered the hospital room. Liar!

 

Did Ivana get Iselita? Because it looked like the baby was dressed in blue. We also don't know when Ivana got the baby...did she get it right after everything happened or when Almita was 3 years old? If Ivana got the baby when Max, Maria Dolores and Almita were leaving the cemetery she did not get Isela's baby.

Sad that Isela was crying at the end when Claudio was massaging her.
 

Tofie- I think MD went with Dan just to stick it to Ursula AND most importantly to get the deeds to her mom's house back. It was all part of a plan. Note how she first got Dan to take her to her baby. Then she convinced him to let the baby stay with HER family. The next step was getting her mom's house back. She was playing him from the second she left the prison to get everything she and her family wanted and needed back-- her freedom, her baby, her house.
 

Anon207- True. That might have been another baby 3 years into the future. They didn't really make it clear when the time jump was happening. In that case, who has Iselita?
 

I'm assuming that the grave site was Alma's. Wasn't Rudolfo cremated?

Ursula probably did off herself because she killed Daniel and now was flat broke. Poverty was worse than death to her. Still I would have preferred to see her clean Abuela's toilet before she offed herself in solitary.

The questions about Ivana are valid. I think she and Gerry bought the baby stuff after knowing that Isela was going to have a girl and I think that Ivana would have preferred a girl. Probably to have the chance to correct the horrors of her own childhood.

The cemetery scene was the last thing so the time jump could have been there. I'll have more to say tomorrow. Right now working on #47 of Poder.
 

They needed one more episode of wrap up so we could see everyone's 3 years into the future.

Clara and Leo are easy to figure out-- they're both in college. Leo studying accounting, and Clara studying law. Perhaps abroad studying. They both made their hopes for the future clear, so that wouldn't be a big surprise/reveal.
 

In addition to being raped, MD witnessed three people being shot to death in front of her (Julian, Marcia, Dan). I hope she got some serious therapy.
 

Maybe Vivi she wanted to confront Ursula and would expect at some point she would but not before she found out about Max. She was gobsmacked to learn Dan wanted Max killed and why I say right till the end she never believed what he was capable of until too late. Why when she just learned he lied about having her released and that Max had been kidnapped? Surely she considered Dan was involved somehow.
 

Hello Everyone and thank you Urban for your efforts!

While the writer of this novela is the same one as Para Volver a Amar, which I hear had the same sort of full circle but not nearly complete nor tied up with a bow ending, there were rumors at the time YNCELH finished that it was cut by two weeks to make way for Que Te Perdone Dios which was already a month or two behind in Mexico because it premiered first in the states hence the semi-rushed ending.

Either way, I believe a lot of wrapped up and as far as Ursula goes, I also believe suicide. Ironically, the way she lost 2 of her family members was probably the only way she was going to go after killing the ONLY thing she ever cared about. Even if she went to jail, I doubt it lasted more than a week. She had nothing to live for and would for sure have the guts to chose when she left this world and not the other way around.

As far as the grave, I thought it was Julian's. While maybe not the first time she went, MD did mention more than once that she would go visit Julian's grave as soon as she got out of jail. Maybe Max was visiting Alma as MD caught up with Julian.

If Corina is any indiction, Nayeli for sure got out. I think the writers gave us enough clues about what happened with expicially saying so. This was never a novela to show every single little detail, they always gave us enough without beating us over the head with exposition heavy dialogue.
 

Two more weeks of episodes would have made sense for all our unanswered questions, but if it was a ratings success I don't understand why they cut it.

Reminder that Hector was murdered by Daniel; it wasn't suicide although she tried to drive him to it. Only Maleny was a suicide and she was no loss to Ursula. I don't think Danny-Boy committed suicide either. He stepped in front of Maria Dolores believing that it would prevent Ursula shooting. He just wasn't fast enough.

More tomorrow.
 

Assumed endings:

Nayeli: out of jail, with her kids

Clara & Leo: in college

Claudio: taking care of Isela & Iselita, away from max & Leo who don't really rock with him anymore

Ursula: suicide

Arango: had probably squirreled away some money from the Santibanez fortune; left town

Jacinto: probably ended up in jail eventually; Maria Dolores & Ivana testified against him

Doris & Orlando: married

Esperanza: living with Max, Maria Dolores & Almita

Josefa: the new boss on the block. Even Granny serves her now.

Honoria, Fermin & Jenny: raising Julian Jr.

Maria Dolores: gone are the mousy cardigans, frumpy dresses & silly Mary Janes. Maria Dolores had on a red power dress at the cemetery, which I think symbolizes her becoming powerful in general. No more poor, weepy victim for her.
 

Thank you for the great recap Urban! You got the final moments of the finale perfectly. I like how you mentioned MD's stare towards Ursula, I loved that smile she through at her when she went there.

I liked that we didn't get to see who's tomb it was but I'm just as sure as Vivi that it wasn't Daniel's.

I only would have liked to see Ursula dealing with prison and her extended family: the cockroaches. I'm sure Max helped Nayeli and that she was protected by the Abuela for the time she had left there.

Marcia's death was so gory but did you get that flashback to Marta during it? That was horrible.

I think Leo and Clara were fine by the end, after he saved her from the guy at that party, that was his moment to make up for all the times he failed her while he was upset.

I didn't get as upset as the patio when MD went into rage at Max and got to mention the telenovela's name because I only had a moment to react, there was so much going on with Josefa and other characters and then she learned the truth about Marta, saved the Abuela and got Marcia indirectly killed, got Nayeli protection with that, got out of jail and used Daniel to get her daugher back from Ivana, took her to her family, got in Ursula's face and told her to get out of her house and got Daniel indirectly killed by his mother. I mean, by the time MD learned about Max's abduction I was like, okay. I mean, I don't think the writers wanted people to hate her, as I saw in some comments, I think they wanted her to go a little nuts (for her) in this finale and I think in Mexico and viewers from other countries who watched it online it worked because people were cheering her on at that point.

If the end seemed a little rush, it's because it WAS. The finished shooting at 2 pm that sunday and then they started editing and got the episode up on air by 8 pm. They shot all Saturday night and several of the actors were on call all night and morning. Then at 7 pm on Sunday they started to arrive to the finale watching party with the press and after the finale they went to the afterparty with the Televisa executives. On Monday morning the main actors went to Hoy to do the post finale special interviews and I think Gabriel Soto must have been happy he spent half of the finale in a coma because Adriana Louvier looked SO tired. Their schedule was crazy.

I wish Uni had access to those specials because the finale event was so emotive, you could tell the whole cast was very tight. Eleané and Jesús were so cute (they got together in real life as well), Macaria was lovely and gave very emotive words in all interviews, Giselle González and Gabriel Soto also gave lovely speeches, Adriana Louvier could barely get a few words out because she was crying non stop and Azela Robinson led the cheers for Giselle, the leads, the cast and the production team. There were many hugs.

Jarocha




 

Anon207- One more prediction for the future..

Maria Dolores and Doris have a successful, high-end clothing company, which creates clothes for women of all sizes. They are giving Vera Duval a run for their money.
 

Oh, Jarocha! Thank you for telling us how much more crazy this crazy ride ended in Mexico.

Part of the problem here was probably the split into three parts, allowing too much time to dwell on stuff like MD losing it about Max's supposed abandonment. This was meant to be watched as one non-stop roller coaster ride, and instead Uni threw in a bunch of long stop lights.
 

I think the show was cut two weeks before its originally planned finale date because the tapings got too close to the airing of the episodes. Telenovelas usually use an earpiece called "apuntador" from which a person behind the scenes is telling the actors their lines so that they can finnish shooting on time. Sometimes the actors come on set with new scenes added and they barely read them once before shooting. The producer and directors of YNCELH decided that they wouldn't use the apuntador and that all scenes had to be done by memory, while that was great for the acting that we ended seeing it also meant that production got delayed alot because the shooting took more time than planned. That's why the finale finished filming the same day it aired.

Jarocha
 

Claudio deserved his punishment!

At least he's taking care of Isela!


 

Yes, Doris & Maria Dolores started their company, back with Bustamante money and Ivana pitched a fit, until Gerry & Susana reminded Ivana that Maria Dolores could've denounced her for her role in the baby snatching.

The Bustamantes and the Duvals never spoke again.
 

I cannot thank you enough for this UA. You have more than just a way with words, I can't even begin to describe it.

Fun Fact: the actress who played Josefa's daughter Martha was Lizzie in La Malquerida (whom I remember the patio objected to her dying as a means of Alejandra ending up with German, thank God she didn't die there.)

Did anyone notice Jacinto was standing under a chandelier? Wouldn't it have been awesome for Satan and her spawn to accidentally blast at it in the midst of a tussle over the gun and have it unintentionally stun him from above?

I thought it was Daniel's grave but with a sub-par reason; he "saved" MD's life.

I don't think it would have been too much to have shown Uglie with her fab hairstyle from the beginning pushing Hoe's wheelchair in jail or as Hoe is hauling herself forward, have Uglie being chased by inmates in the background.

More later.

-Encaje Rojo
 

I suppose this is the best moment to mention that this story is based on a woman from real life that Caridad Bravo Adams interviewed in prison and decided to write a story about. That's why this story was so bleak. This was always a story about corruption and the power of the rich, Ms. Adams wanted people to pay attention to these women's stories to see how many were victims of the perversity of others and the power of money and a crooked system. It's pretty sad that sixty years later we still have a system that so often allows innocents to be victims of injustice.

Jarocha
 

Even after Claudio saved Max's life, from his little speech it sounded like neither Max or Leo really have too much to do with him. That's why I think Claudio ended up with Iselita. She is his daughter, after all and he could have a fresh start with Iselita.

I think Claudio probably DID leave town but took Isela and Iselita with him after Orlando told him he couldn't take care of Isela anymore.
 

But do we know that Claudio had custody of Iselita? Would Max and Leo have allowed that? What he did and later failed to do caused so much pain he should not have been allowed to raise that child.
 

I don't think Max and Leo would have objected to Claud raising their sister. Whatever his other failings, they and Alma admitted he was a good father. If he's not raising Iselita, it's by choice.
 

Iselita is the key. If either Claud or Ivana is raising her, then there are ties with Max and Leo (and therefore MD and Clara), because they cared about their baby sister and aren't going to not have contact with her.
 

Taking care of Iselita and Isela too much for Claudio or anyone to do alone so don't think Claudio had the child.

Encaje Rojo, first I thought it was Max's grave then immediately thought it was Dan's, perverse as that is, it is the grave site of Almita's father, and then to make that go down so I could sleep last night settled on Rudolfo's.

Justifiably MD wanted revenge on Ursula and so did Daniel so both showing up at her house believable. One reason Dan wanted to give everything to Almita/Maleny was to stick it to Ursula. It was sickening to me, MD and Dan strolled into the house and both Dan and MD had the same screw you Ursula look on their face as they stood facing her arm in arm. Even after Ursula accidentally shot Dan MD nearly threw herself on him but Ursula got there first.

 

The difference now is that Claudio doesn't have Alma. She had to have been a great mother for Max and Leo to have so much respect for women.
 

It didn't seem to me that MD was intending to throw herself on Dan. She was worried that someone had just been shot. Notice she did NOT take his hand when he reached out for her and said she was the only woman he had ever loved. Her face did not soften. She just looked horrors and like she was going to be sick. Just like she did when Jo shot Marcia. MD never displayed any emotion for Dan this episode other that disgust, and then horror at his death. Pretending to be a willing half of a couple with Dan in front of Ursula was just to stick it to her.
 

Horrified not horrors.
 

She couldn't take his hand because Ursula was laying on him with a gun nearby.

She did show emotion when Ursula was a tattle tale and said that Dan killed Max. It wasn't because Max may be dead but because she couldn't believe Dan tricked her again and she fell for it.
 

You really think she cares so little for Max that upon hearing he's been ordered murdered by the people she's standing in front of wouldn't elicit a gut reaction from MD (at that point the police hadn't told them about the shootout and they all thought they were dealing with a standard kidnapping that Claud was off negotiating)?
 

YNCELH Final Remarks

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good (including the great):

Performances by all actors were great. We had lots of previously atypical characters portrayed realistically by a truly excellent cast. We should watch for Eleana Puelle and Jesús Carús, who have great potential. Great casting job on them as the younger sibs of the leads.

The music was excellent, including some noir-type music similar to the soundtrack of Body Heat.

The writing was mostly excellent except somewhere past the middle where suspense happened at the expense of character development.

Karmageddons of Maleny, Hosefa, Isela, Marcia, Claudio, and Monterubio all appropriate.


The Bad:

Actors mumbling or talking too fast, especially when the music volume was relatively high. Flavio Medina was the worst offender with Azela Robinson being the next, but half the time it wasn't their fault.

Some scenes too short, so they were blink-and-you'll-miss-it. I hate this trend.

No punishment for Ivana and nothing that told us she got therapy.

Ambiguity of final scene in the cemetery. The first time I watched my jaw hit the floor. The second time I watched I realized that in the hospital scene Leo would have been standing right outside the door and thus heard the flatline signal. This was a production trick to make us jump to conclusions.

Also, in the scene where Claudio came to see Isela and Orlando told him how difficult it all was that if Max were dead everyone in the room would have known that and said something.


The Ugly:

No Karmageddons for Arango, Jacinto, Victor, and Úrsula. We were cheated of the satisfaction of seeing them get what was coming to them.

If Max, Maria Dolores, and Almita are alive and well two or three years later, we can probably assume that Úrsula is dead because they couldn't feel happy or safe if she's still alive. I'd like to think that MD backed out slowly while Jacinto was still in shock and Úrsula offed herself a few minutes later.

Jacinto should be in prison.
Arango and Victor should have been disbarred and imprisoned.
 

Even without knowing if Ursula ended in jail or offer herself (she swore she'd never go back to a miserable life), we did see her anvil. She lost the two things she loved most in the world, and one by her own hand-- all her money and her son.
 

Offed. Not offer. Tablet auto-corrected doesn't like that word, apparently.
 

No, she didn't want Max hurt for sure, but it never occurred to her Dan might do this, thus the surprise. It doesn't have to be an either/or. That is what got MD into most of this mess. Underestimating how low Dan would go right till the end. Usurla she would believe capable but for some reason it was a shock to learn Dan did it and there she stood beside him and why she way overestimated her capability to play him. Throughout he was always one step ahead of MD. How many times did she think she had this only to be shocked when he just popped up with the same demand.
 

To be fair, no one (other than Ivana and Gerry, who told Claud, who didn't tell Leo) seemed to suspect that the Santibanez were behind the kidnapping. Note that no one said this to MD when they told her about the kidnapping. Rich people get kidnapped for ransom in Mexico often, so it wouldn't necessarily have anything to do with their known enemies. Should they have suspected it? Maybe. But even Claud didn't automatically guess it until Ivana called him, and he had just been threatened by Monterribio that Max's life was on the line.
 

I would have preferred to see Ursula in the prison first, but I guess you can't have everything.
 

"I'd like to think that MD backed out slowly while Jacinto was still in shock" MD was again in a situation similar to the one in prison when Josefa shot Marcia and had to wonder if the gun would be turned on her.

UA, I appreciate in your afterward "I'm not sure if what I saw was a prediction of the future, a wish, or a mirage. I hate that" No other character confirmed Max survived, our only sighting at the grave site so I considered it only a wish/mirage of MD's and the departed, Max.

Why didn't MD burst into flames as she entered the hospital room to see Max with a lie on her lips? Did she really believe she never lost faith in him or be able to convince him so?

 

The ending sort of reminds of me Mentir Para Vivir's ending where the male protagonist was shot and then the next shot was female protagonist and her daughter crying when her "grandmother" telling her they had to go.

After that the next scene was both of the male and female protagonists, dressed in white, approaching each other on a bridge. They meet in the middle and kiss and then FIN flashes across the screen.

There wasn't a confirmation he died but how they were dressed and the solo setting made it seem like it was the female protagonist's wish he did or maybe they met in the afterlife.

YNCELH sort of had the same ending. Happy if you think he survived, sad if you thought he didn't but it could go either way. I like to think it was MD FINALLY FINALLY realizing what she had found in Max instead of regretting not trusting Max until it was too late.
 

I don't believe Max died. I think the other characters would've been like "Sorry Max died" to Claudio. I also think Claudio would've been too devastated to go visit Orlando/Doris/Isela if Max had died. Plus I think Maria Dolores' monologue was a thank you to her dad, because it was the murder of her dad that lead her to meeting Max in the first place.

I believe Claudio ended up with Iselita because:

1) There was no reason to bar Claudio from assuming care of his daughter. The law would've been on his side had Honoria or Orlando challenged Claudio. Plus, whatever his failings were as a man, even Max, Leo and Alma knew Claudio had been a good dad.

2) I think Iselita is wherever Isela is, and I think Claudio has Isela. I believe Claudio was massaging Isela for her circulation and I don't think he would've been doing that if he weren't somewhat involved in her care. Claudio has the money and the means to have help to take care of Isela and Iselita; Orlando didn't and admitted as much.

3) I don't think Claudio or Max or Maria Dolores would've allowed Ivana to adopt Iselita because of her role in the snatching of Almita. They wouldn't have wanted Ivana anywhere near Iselita.

4) But, we know Max & Maria Dolores aren't raising Iselita because they would've raised Iselita & Almita as sisters and only Almita was with Maria Dolores & Max at the end. They wouldn't have left Iselita home.

5) Leo likely isn't raising Iselita because he's too young and he's probably in college.

6) The only other candidates to raise Iselita would be Honoria & Fermin and they'd be glad to do it but on the other hand, they're probably busy helping Jenny to raise Julian Jr. I don't think they'd let Claudio take Isela but keep Iselita.

There's no reason for Iselita NOT to be with Claudio. She's the daughter of the woman he loves most. He can pour the love he CAN'T give to Isela into their daughter.
 

Thank you for the recap Urban.

I think that there are many ways the ending can be interpreted. I wish the viewers had gotten to see all the appropriate anvils for the villains. Overall i thought this telenovela was sad and somewhat bleak, but i loved it. I usually hate open endings but this one kind of fits the premise, more so because of problem the production had completing the novela.

I'm happy Orlando-Doris got their happy ending, and Claudio's punishment is sufficient for me as it is.

I'm not sure about how the plot line of MD and Max ended. I would like to believe they had an happy ending or maybe met each other again in the after life.

Elorej
 

I don't think there's any reason to believe that the scene at the end was a hallucination. We heard both Max and MD's thoughts about their relationship, and it was clear that they had moved on in life, together.

It was clear from what we saw and what Claudio said that he's the one giving Isela full-time care. But they didn't make it clear what happened with Iselita. But as I said before, if he's not raising Iselita, it would be his choice and not because others have prevented it.
 

Alfie, I had forgotten about the ending of MPV. The white clothes didn't mean that to me at the time because LQLVMR hadn't happened yet. I know I must have missed other novelas where this meant that the characters were dead and in heaven. Since the scene was clear rather than hazy or foggy (unless I'm not remembering it correctly) I assumed that they had their FPS.

However, since YNCELH had to be told in the present and Dashiell is off to help Dominick when needed I had to have him speculate on what happened after and this was the best solution I could think of. Max and MD were not dressed in white and I didn't like that they weren't actually speaking. During LSdP we thought of Regina's red dress in the credits as evidence of her freedom and life, so that is possibly what the red dress symbolizes here for MD.

However, when I viewed this the second time and started writing a few things jumped out at me that I mentioned in the Final Remarks post. Those confirmed to me that Max survived. However, I am wondering how many people came away from this with the thought that he didn't just because he and MD weren't actually speaking in the cemetery. I'm annoyed with this although this wasn't as bad as what the producers of LQLVMR did to us in that finale.
 

Rewatching, I saw a huge ring on MD's hand never seen before so perhaps Max is alive. Also, Almita reached for Max's hand, had he died she would not know who he was. I'm grasping at anything.
 

What happened in the finale of LQLVMR? From what I read no one liked that finale at all?
 

Ursula never would've gone to prison because she wouldn't have been able to control her situation behind bars:


Maria Dolores would be the administrator of the Santibanez fortune; no way would MD have helped Ursula knowing that Ursula ordered Max killed & was the mastermind behind stealing her baby.

Ursula would've had no legal help because she had no money.

Ursula would've had no protection behind bars because she had no money & it would've become known she was behind Maria Dolores' treatment & the plan to get rid of Granny.

Without Daniel & the money and the prospect of prison, Ursula would've taken control and killed herself in the very spot Maleny & Hector died, before the police got there. There would've been no one to stop her; Maria Dolores would've run to call the police/ambulance and Jacinto would've gotten the heck up out of there.


 

No way Ursula kills herself. Likely she looked up Arango, and Ursula and Jacinto could point the finger at MD. Ursula killed Dan by accident when MD attacked her for evicting her mother.
 

Superalfie, in LQLVMR the finale scene was very cliffhangerish. In the end, José Luis died from the explosion and Alejandro survived it. The final scene is JL's funeral and Montserrat just is there for a couple minutes by his casket then when she is walking out of the church Alejandro appears with nothing but a broken arm then they walk out together and that's it.
 

Both Arango and Jacinto were done with Ursula and had no reason or incentive (love or money) to help her after Dan was dead.
 

Yes, but all have nothing if Almita gets everything as Dan promised MD. Usurla has always been able to spin a workable deal that on it's surface appeals. Arango, Jacinto, Victor, and Úrsula all win if Arango withdraws his support of Dan's claim to Hector's estate and/or Victor as legal representative fights any claim by MD. The four live happily ever after constantly looking over their shoulder at the other.
 

Neither Arango nor Jacinto would've lifted a finger to help Ursula; she had no money. They both knew she had no money. Upon Daniel's death, Almita/Maria Dolores had the money. Arango knew that beforehand because he and Victor witnessed Daniel signing over the estate to her.

Jacinto was only working for Ursula because she promised to get him back into Vera Duval after they give Almita to Ivana in exchange for 1/2 of Vera Duval:

If Maria Dolores is strolling in the house with Daniel & he's telling Ursula that he, MD & Maleny Jr. are going to be a happy little family, that means Ivana doesn't have the baby.

That means Ursula doesn't have 1/2 of Vera Duval.

That means Ursula can't deliver what she promised to Jacinto. Add to that, Daniel told Ursula that the money & house was all HIS and he signed it over to Maleny Jr. ...Ursula had no money. So why would Jacinto help Ursula?

I don't know which character said it but they said Ursula would rather die than return to be poor again. IMO Ursula killed herself before the cops showed up because she knew she lost the money and she killed her son.

*Maria Dolores was looking like the rich society lady she has become at the end of the program.
 

Ursula said it herself in an early flashback to Hector's alleged suicide. It was a fake-out for the moment intended to make him take the gun from her and kill himself instead. I think Arango made a reference to her attitude much later. Danny-Boy wasn't present in either of those scenes but he may have been aware of this.
 

There's no incentive for Arango to help Ursula; she betrayed him and he's the one who told Daniel about the true wishes of Hector's will. He knew Ursula had no money and would be left penniless at the end (especially when he saw Daniel sign over the estate to Maleny/Almita).

There's no incentive for Victor to help Ursula; he knows she has no money and he bills by the hour.

There's no incentive for Jacinto to help Ursula; she promised to get him into Vera Duval after she gets 50% controlling interest for giving Ivana the baby. If Maria Dolores is strolling in the house with Daniel telling Ursula they're forming a happy little family with the baby, that means Ursula DOESN'T have control of Vera Duval and can't get Jacinto back in. That, with the revelation that all the money is Daniel's, not Ursula's, means Ursula can't do anything for Jacinto.

Ursula was left alone & broke in the end. She wouldn't have allowed herself to go to prison or go live in the hood.




 

Urban, Jardinera, Vivi, Hellashelle, JdesdeNYC, and Countx, thanks for all the stellar recaps of this complex tale. Bravo! I couldn't always watch, but your vivid storytelling and breakdown of all the lies and half-truths helped me keep up.

Enjoying all the comments. Shocked that I have come full circle on Josefa. She's done absolutely horrible dark things, but I got so much satisfaction out her exacting revenge these last two episodes. Funny how all of us have a view on what the future holds for the remaining living. After a stint as the baddest bada$$ in the prision, I see Josefa finding God and reading books in her old age in prison. Maybe Honoria and the priest become regular visitors.

MD and Max's ending was so rushed. I'm happy for them, but didn't like that Max was pretty much inactive these last episodes.

Killing Dan was the worst thing that could happened to Ursula. I would've loved to have had a chance to see her powerless since she so loved giving orders.

I'm glad that Orlando and Doris are happy together, but Doris had so much bounce at the start of the TN and Orlando is too staid. Hopefully Doris will get the bounce back in her hair and she'll shake him up.

I wanted to see MD with more suppressed anger (because of course punching Ivana in the gut in front of the baby wouldn't have been a good thing) with Ivana, but I guess MD was just too relieved to finally get Almita back. I also would've liked Ivana to start a foundation for orphans and street kids, or last least hook Gerry up with a nice guy. She stayed "me, me, me" to the end.
 

Niecie, I agree. I would have liked to have seen more repentance for Ivana because she is such a damaged soul.

I had not expected that this late in the story we'd get another piece of pond scum like Monterubio. I was past caring who would deliver his fate, but Hosefa was actually the logical choice. I think she had hit a point where she didn't care what would finally happen to her because she had lost everything that mattered and had nothing to look forward to. However, she brought a lot of that on herself.
 

Well this was a classic "fill in the blanks" finale.

If Max and Claudio did survive then much of the reconstructions posted above make sense.

But alternate endings are possible based on what we actually saw:

Max did not survive. The whole scene at the cemetery were illusions of Maria Delores. (The fact that the little girl held Max hand when they were leaving is just part of MD's illusion that Max is still with them). She went to visit Max's gave not Julian's. She goes weekly.

As far as the Claudio scene at Isela's bedside, well that too was his ghost. His punishment is not hell but taking care for Isela for eternity!

At least we know Daniel died.

Now let's get ready for the secrets of the Grand Hotel.
 

I was glad that Maria Dolores told Ivana to shut her mouth about what she would've done because if she wanted to do it, she would have.

This is the main reason why I don't think Ivana has Isela's baby because there's no way Max would've let Ivana raise his baby sister, not after conspiring to snatch Almita and finding 50-11 excuses not to come to the trial, not to tell the police etc.
 

Which means we still don't know who has Isela's baby. They could have taken five more seconds to tell us.
 

Wow. I just saw the finale and...wow.

Thank you Urban, for your stellar wrap up of this crazy adventure! It was quite a trap.

This TN was amazing. Tight and well executed. But, that being said, WTH?! Thank you for everyone who offered some insight into the oddly abrupt and, imo, unsatisfying endings because I was shocked. Soooo many questions about this TN and the choices the team made about the characterizations and plot points. It was ok and I want to love it, but I was a little disappointed.

I guess I'm a little MD like in that I kept holding out hope for her. When she and Dan were in the car, I was praying that she'd get out, go into the house and tell them that she didn't have much time because Dan was in the car, that she needed to know what happened to Max, that she had used Dan to get out of prison, get her daughter and get a definitive answer about Max before deciding what to do next.

Even when that didn't happen, I still hoped that when I saw her go into the house with Dan, that she was luring both him and Ursula into trap and was going to pull a gun on them or trap them in a cellar or something to get a confession of all of their crimes, but nope, nothing of the sort.

And even when THAT didn't happen, I was hoping for at least a bedside breakdown next to Max's prone body. An apology about having no faith in him and a promise to do better in the future, recognition for his awesomeness and a real vow to love, honor and cherish him in the future.

And I'm with everyone else who would've liked to have seen what happened to Leo and Clara, Orlando and Doris, Fermin, Honoria and Jenny, Esperanza, Nayeli and Corina, even Arango and Jacinto. And, of course, Ursula. I'm really surprised they left the picture of that anvil out. Of all the ones that we did get, they gave us Ivana's?! And it was weird. The suddenly euphoric Susan, the mystery baby (Iselita? Adopted?). Just...huh? Ok, if you say so...

BTW, the birthdate on the grave looked to be 1959, so I'm not sure who was supposed to be in the grave, because I think that's too young for Espy, Chelo, Honoria or Fermin and too old for everyone else.
 

Not trap, ride. "It was quite a ride."

(Man, if that's a Freudian slip, I'm more annoying with this finale than I thought!)
 

I'm still thinking it was Alma's grave and they were there while Max parked the car or something.

For MD to have gone into the Santibanez snake pit with a pistol would have been immensely foolish. She has no experience handling firearms and could have been in a position to be framed for anything that happened. Again. That would have been more than dumb, particularly with Danny-Boy there. She used him right back.

Max would never have heard her rant about his perceived betrayal, so no apology required and no begging forgiveness. With the Santibanez wolf pack dead they had nothing more to fear.
 

Did we ever find out what was in Josefa's handbag? Was it Monterubio's testicles?

 

Urban, in the past, I have praised your work many times over and I praise it again. Beautifully done.

Hellashelle, I second every one of your comments. No need for me to repeat.

It was very upsetting to watch what had happened to Marta; very upsetting.

As I struggled to stay awake and when things started moving so quickly from the point Maria Dolores is met by Daniel outside the prison, I almost could not believe what was happening. For me, it was a "Gone With the Wind" ending. I think I found myself staring at the screen a full minute trying to comprehend the ending.

When I read "Gone With the Wind", I remember thinking that the author had brought me to hell and back for "Frankly, I don't give a damn, Scarlett". I couldn't believe it. I came to this late, so I can only imagine how others feel who were with this from the beginning.

It didn't look like a dream state at the end and I sure hope it wasn't, but gosh darn, I HATE it that the possibility exists. It also made no sense to me whatsoever that the writers (who seemed to be so very clear about the characters trajectory) treated the Ivana character the way they did at the end. Even more unbelievable was Tia Susana SMILING?! Since when?!

I wish we had a link to the programs that Jarocha mentions above where the cast were present and questions were asked and answered.

Thank you again, Urban.

Kind regards,
Fatima
 

MD went into the mansion to get her mom's house deed back. She told Dan (and us) that's what she wanted. And while there, she got the chance to stick it to Ursula a bit and turn mother and son against each other. And it worked spectacularly well! The result, though she surely did not plan/expect for one of them to off the other, was perfect.
 

I was under the impression that Ivana ended up with Iselita. Although it's obvious that Doris was a very noble character I just didn't see her raising the child with Orlando. She may have been the better choice to raise Iselita but we all knew that Ivana wanted a child and had every intention of keeping her promise to MD that she would return Almita to her even if she came off a tad bit reluctant to do so at the end. And I think Orlando not having that responsibility was a way to close that chapter in his life and dedicate himself to Doris.
 

You know what, Urban? I am going to go with your supposition that it was Alma's grave. If the birth date was 1959, that would put the individual in their mid-50s which would make it believable that it was Alma. I am going to believe that and that will work for me!

Gobluefan, I think it was money Josefa was clutching. She wouldn't need or want the severed testicles, but in spite of all of her posturing, Josefa knew she would need more than bravado to survive prison. Those pesos would carry some weight.

Fatima
 

Actually, I was thinking about the pistol in the office. Somehow, I figured that pistol and that office would be the means and the place of death for that entire family. You're right though, that MD still has no experience handling firearms and after Julian and Marcia, who knows how she reacts to them now. But that would've made it so satisfying to see her be sure and calm with it. To see the marked difference between the hysterical and terrified bride that held the gun on Dan and failed to pull the trigger be replaced by a calm and reassured MD without trembling hands or tears in her eyes. It would have been nice to hear her tell them that for once she's not caught completely off guard, that she knows all about Max. In an ideal world, she would have gotten the truth about Max, gone to the house, stolen their gun, then gone someplace else. If she were really serious about getting things together and making people pay, she may have gotten Ivana's help, since Duval owes her so much. Then she could've gone somewhere - her old shop, a property of Ivana's maybe, if she was somewhere it made sense for her to be and wheedled the confession out of them. Then she could say "I was there because my old boss gave me use of the place to recuperate after jail. They followed me. They're always following me. They brought their gun to kill me."

Sometimes it's not important who hears it, it's important that you say it. But seriously, I think the audience deserved to hear it. I think many people have expressed that it doesn't bother us that MD fears the Santibanez - that makes sense. It's more that with or without the Santibanez, she doesn't have faith in Max or their union. Whether or not they're there, I think a lot of people wanted to see her stop cowering, freaking out and then making hasty decisions that threw Max under the bus time and again. I know I did.
 

Does anyone know if the audience in Mexico saw the same bizarre finale? If so, what was the general take on the fate of well everybody except Daniel?
 

Anon 2:16---Yes I believe they did. I saw the spoiler of Daniel's death and it was the same with no indication of what happened to Ursula afterwards.
 

Anon2:16- See Jarocha's comment above for a take on what Mexicans thought of the finale. She might come back and give some additional insight. Yes, it was the same finale.

I didn't find the Hoy interviews from the finale, but I found a blog that detailed some of the interesting facts that came from that interview with the cast. I translated some of them to English:

-The telenovela was done from memory/no prompters (Jarocha mentioned this). The actors were given their scenes for the next day each evening and had to memorize it by the next morning.
-The director Eric Morales, and the producer Giselle González, were very demanding and had the actors redo scenes until they felt they got the quality they wanted.
-They filmed 15-20 scenes a day.
-There was very little time between when an episode was filmed and when it was aired.
-The rape scene was done in one take.
- Azela Robinson (Josefa) was supposed to play Tia Susana. Just 8 hours before filming her first scene, she was asked to play Josefa.
-Josefa only had 2-3 changes of wardrobe, total.
-Rosa María Bianchi (Ursula) was originally to play Josefa, and last minute was asked to play Ursula.
-This was the first time Sophie Alexander (Maleny) played a character who committed suicide, and it took her days to recover emotionally and physically from that scene.
-Sonia Franco gained 52 kilos to play the role of Ivana.
-Cecilia Toussaint (Honoria) marked her return to telenovelas after a 16 year absence with this telenovela.
-Luz María Jerez (Alma) had never played a person dying from cancer before, and the experience moved her greatly.
-Gabriel Soto was the dance pupil of Macaria (Esperanza) early in his career on Bailando por un Sueño (Mexico’s Dancing with the Stars).
-Macaria (Esperanza) was originally supposed to play Ursula, and it was changed last minute. This was hard for her to accept, because she’s more used to (and likes) playing villains than good guys.
-Juan Carlos Colombo (Fermin) identified with his character having a chronic illness (alcoholism) because he has a chronic lung condition.
-This is the first telenovela headed by Giselle González as the sole executive producer.

 

Thank you for this information, Vivi!

I may be wrong but I read when the first casting news was coming up that Blanca Guerra who played Alfonsina in Abismo de Pasion was cast as Ursula but was unable to commit because she wanted to take some rest before beginning a play she was doing.

It's not impossible to imagine Macaria as Ursula though. She was frightening in El Precio de Tu Amor, another gem from Ernesto Alonso. She pretty much manipulated and pushed Sandra, the other main villains to commit horrible crimes not that she wouldn't do them herself when Sandra was too scared.

Now Azela RObinson as Tia Susana would have been a waste as her character was not as important, nor juicy to be worthy of her talents.

Maria Rosa Bianchi as Josefa would;ve been fine. She was just as vile as Josefa albeit a lot classier about how she went about things.
 

This is the same stuff I saw online, except I had to watch it all n one sitting. Exhausting. Seems like they could have extended things just a bit and give us a little breather. They didn't need to fill in all the squares since we seem to be pretty good at that. I like waht everyone is coming up with. I'm for Max being alive, because Good God if he's not after everything he's been through. Even if he finds out MD lost faith in him for a bit, he'd still forgive. With lots of therapy for the both of them, of course.

I'm for Ursula killing herself. No way would she want to suffer in jail with Josefa knowing she killed the only person she's ever loved (-ish). Jacinto probably tried to steal as much as he could before the cops got there, but he was too slow so know he's in jail. Arango was embezzling from Daniel and now lives in a shack by the beach making a pittance from fishing. He's miserable and curses Ursula every day. Victor is still defending lowlifes. And Ivana better be praising every god around that she isn't in jail too. It doesn't help to be sorry and remorseful AFTER all the bad stuff has happened and is getting resolved. That helps no one.

But Doris will finally get some nookie from Orlando, and that's all that really matters.

Kelly
 

Superalfie- The first time I saw Macaria was in Un Gancho al Corazon (my tn watching doesn't go that far back), and she was TERRIFYING as the cold blooded mother of the heroine. The next role I saw her in was as the snobby/bitchy suegra of the galan in Amorcito Corazon. So it was quite a shock to see her playing nicer than nice Esperanza (and now playing the lovely Fatima on Lichita).
 

Superalfie- Blanca Guerra might have been in some of the original casting, but the changes they were talking about in the interview were last minute, as in the day before filming started. From the shuffle, it seems that whoever was supposed to play Esperanza originally is the one who dropped out, and they shuffled Macaria, Azela and and Rosa Maria to fill in the three heavy roles, and brought in the other actress last minute to play Susana.
 

I think 52 kilos translates to 110+ pounds. Wow!

Hmm. Azela Robinson was originally to play Susana, but got shifted to Josefa, who was originally supposed to be played by Rosa Maria Bianchi, who got shifted to Ursula, who was supposed to be played by Macaria.

I wonder who was originally supposed to play Esperanza?

I know on American soaps, a character is only supposed to be a day player but they turn in such a wonderful performance that a character is written around them. For example, the character of Todd Manning on the defunct One Life To Life was originally supposed to be "Frat Boy #1" but he gave such a good performance as Frat Boy #1 that they created the Todd Manning character for him and had his character be one of the long lost family members of the main family on the show.

The Susana character may have turned out totally different had Azela Robinson stayed in the role.
 

It's so hard to imagine anyone playing anyone else, especially Josefa. I trust your review Vivi, but it's hard to imagine Esperanza being as great a pile of low-class horrifying awfulness as Azela was. I look forward to seeing them in something else!

Kelly
 

Thanks, Vivi!

Macaria's transformations are amazing to watch. Another actress as versatile as her is Leticia Calderon. Seeing her as a protagonist and then as Tia Carlota or worse Isadora is something to behold.

Regardless of the interpretation of the ending, YNCELH had an out of the norm ending that I greatly appreciated.

It was the one thing about QA that I disliked, the sickly sweet wedding and something that LM did perfectly. Not an open ending but not an overly saccharine ending either.
 

Anon207- It might have been pounds and not kilos. I think the writer used pounds, but when the actress was speaking about putting on weight she said kilos. They had a quote from her about the challenges of both putting on and taking off the weight and how she did not feel comfortable with the weight.
 

Kelly- Esperanza (Macaria) was supposed to be Ursula. Ursula (Rosa Maria) was supposed to be Josefa.
 

Whoops. But still hard to see elegantly psychotic Ursula as gritty Josefa. But I'm sure these actors could've done it. Kudos to all of them.

Kelly
 

Here are some great photos of Macaria from circa 1970, sporting a look and hairstyle very similar to Fabiola/Isela.

Photo1: http://www.galeriepolaris.com/images/380_full.jpg
Photo 2: http://tinyurl.com/zcfc534
Photo 3: http://tinyurl.com/js8yxjq

 

Urban, my dear absolutely splendid recap U
My darling are a gifted story teller, as are all the recapers. This story was good as far as the plots, and twists and turns go, the actors were brilliant. I just wish there weren't so many loose ends left to guess about.
When claudio was rubbing isela's arm, I was
Hoping she'd open her eyes. Looked like her eyelid moved. I would have liked to have seen where espy & clara lived, and what was
Ursys fate. And (tweedle dumb & dumber) arango&jacinto. I Imagine that was julians
Grave MD put the rose on.

This was a very sad story. But a very good
Story. But I never want to see another one
Like it again. The bad guys got the upper hand all The way through it, and towards the end, well There was Not much of a happy ending for the good guys.

Hey I thought hosefe held that gun under the
Chin of the warden marcia, I'll have to look at
That scene again. Anyway she died well. And
So did daniel. Congratulations to all the actors.
Good performance. Congratulations.
 

She did walk in that hospital room and lie, she did give up on max. And
She said the name of the show." I'll
Never trust a man again". She gave
Up and she was gonna use danny to
Get what was taken from her. She
Was done. O well she realized she was wrong. See all these loose ends.
 

As I said in another discussion this was a grueling novela to recap. Every other one by this network will seem easy by comparison (at least from my current viewpoint).

The original casting presents interesting choices and I think this novela has had quite an effect on the actors as well. I'm glad to hear that the rape scene was done in one take because I can't imagine what this does to an actress' mind to have to do multiple takes of this.
 

Now I would like to see her In something else without all the kilos ( weight). Shes an attractive lady with the weight. And also the young lady that played doris, I think shes pretty too.
When the show first started her hair was very
Pretty then it went flat. But she had those
Pretty eyes. I'd like to see her in something
Else too.
 

I really hated the two-toned hair thing on Doris. At times it really looked cheap.

I hope Sonia Franco was able to lose the weight after they wrapped this series. I also hope it doesn't create future problems in losing weight again.
 

I finally made it here! I couldn't watch until this pm and then when I was done, there were 88 comments already. But I read every one of them before I started writing mine.

First, thank you UA great job as usual, and I'm going to be missing your Monday recaps on the next one.

Thanks Vivi and Jarocha for the info about this TN. All very interesting.

I guess I'm in the minority about whether Max survived or not. My take away was that he didn't and he was his ghost who is still looking out for MD and Almita. But if the writers say that he did live, then I will be happy. But I think it was left intentionally vague.

I don't actually care what happened to Ursula. Her reasons for living have both died, and worse, because of her own actions, so she will live the rest of her life in her own kind of hell.

I'm with you Kelly, Doris finally getting some of that nice man, yahoooo. And she doesn't have to take care of Isela or the baby either.

The actress playing Ivana gained all that weight for her role? That is some serious dedication.
 

Urban, at the risk of stating the obvious- what a spectacular recap. A fitting way to end this amazing novela.

SO... hasta donde llegamos??

When I first saw this ending, like many of you, I felt gypped that we weren't privy to Ursula's karmageddon. No one had gotten the better of the woman throughout the entire novela, that it would have been nice to see her having lost everything when it counted.

Upon second viewing, however, I am more okay with this open-ending for one simple reason.
There is no 'out' for Ursula this time. This is 'endgame' for her, and she lost completely- children (both dead, the most precious of which by her own hand), money (Dan has everything and seeing as she killed Dan, it now goes to right to Almita), social standing and perhaps her freedom (she killed her own son, as ballistics would prove, and could also easily be exposed as the mastermind behind the kidnapping and attempted murders of Max and Claudio), prestige and power (she can't influence anyone anymore), even her toadies have deserted her (Arango has left, Jacinto has no more reason to stick around). Thus, whatever awaited the woman, it can't be good, as there's nothing for her- no way out (that I can see, anyway). Leaving it ambiguous leaves it to our imagination, which I am fine with as long as all of the options are ones that she fully deserves!

Still, my dream ending for Ursula would have been akin to the one that befell the antagonist in that great movie "The Shawshank Redemption", the evil Warden Norton (played by Bob Gunton). In that, Warden Norton has this delicious moment of recognition that all is lost and that he is readily SCREWED. We see that realization dawn on him as we hear police sirens grow nearer, then the police knocking ever more insistently on the door to the office we have locked him in. We see him get his gun from behind his wall safe and point it at the door as the authorities grow more insistent, then, at the last minute, he raises his head and points the gun under his chin. The camera then zooms to the outside of his office as he hear a gunshot.

THAT... would have been PERFECT for Ursula.

But we can't have everything! This is still a novela for the ages, fully deserving of all the awards it got (most recently, our of the 8 awards for telenovelas given out at the Premios Bravo, it won 7. Awards were given to Giselle Gonzales (best telenovela), Louvier, Soto, Medina, Robinson, and Bianchi. Only Alejandro Camacho lost for Best First Actor to Ignacio Lopez Tarson in 'La Malquerida'

Also, the final episode of YNCELH proved to be a ratings bonanza in the US, it was watched by over 3 million people, far and away beating all other telenovelas (PyP, the next most watched, had more than 500 000 LESS). Pretty impressive for a novela in the 10 o'clock slot. Nice to know people still have some accounting for taste and quality!

Anyways, it was a terrific ride. Thanks, everyone! Look forward to seeing you all on the patio for EHDLS!! :-)
 

Stevey, well said! Maybe the writers didn't show her ending because whatever they would've showed would've probably not been enough. There's nothing worse than the things we thing about in our imagination, especially for this women. So many times we're disappointed witht he endings they have for these villains unless you count Danilo from LM or Isadora form AB who had PERFECT endings.

IMHO, Ursula killing Dan was the WORST thing that could ever happen to this woman, and she said it to Arango. "The things I care about are my son and my money, in that order!" when Dan got out of jail. I don't even thing she'd have the willpower to even fight a legal battle or try to bribe anyone or even try to get out of jail (if she didn't commit suicide beforehand).

All she did for her son, and in the end he betrayed her and then SHE killed him, that has got to haunt her for all eternity.
 

I missed the show last night

What is the worst thing Ursula did? I think it was destroying Maleny to protect Dan.

What is the worst thing Josefa did? I think it was destroying Isela in the process of her revenge.

What is the worst thing Claudio did? Here is where I start struggling cause this guy is royally bad. Forget about the dozens of lives he destroyed doing favors for his cronies, he was ok with destroying the life of his irreproachable adult son Max and to the end he was whining about exile and what he lost, nothing about what he took from others.

 

I'm not sure that Claudio has a long track record of doing things like this, but this one example had a domino effect on many lives in a way that was unforeseeable, as the dominoes didn't begin falling until ten years later (or something like that).

Ursula and Josefa's sins against their children had foreseeable results and were carried out over periods of years.

I don't know that this is comparable, but I still feel cheated that we didn't see Ursula suffer for her sins.
 

Kelly, the actress who plaued Esperanza, Macaria, was one of the highlights for her meanness and callowness in 2014's "Por Siempre Mi Amor." She was so mean and awful to her daughter and grandkids the recappers and followers of that tn called her "Abuela Meany." The actress totally had it in her to play a villana. I actually did a double take when this tn started that the actress playing Esperanza was kind and loving since she was so mean in PSMA.

Vivi, thank you for those Macaria pics. She was gorgeous and that is the exact haircut the actress who played Isela had.
 

I've never watched a TN that had Macaria in it, so I have a hard time picturing her playing a mean person, lol.
 

JdesdeNYC- OMG. How could I not mentioned that role Macaria played in Por Siempre. Yeah, that makes three horrible people I've seen her play. Seeing her play nice Esperanza was a total surprise. It would have been interesting to see her version of Ursula.
 

Thank you Dashiell for your excellent contribution to explaining this novela to us. I'm looking forward to your occasional appearance with Dominick over on PyP.

I finally got to see the Fin. Thankfully there weren't any white dress weddings and a half-filled cathedral panning all the happy couples and their babies.

The post-conclusion analyses here were wonderful and right on point. I do agree that we all needed to know what really happened to Iselita and not some ambiguous conclusion we had to make for ourselves.

I assumed (rightly or wrongly) when I saw a baby in Ivana's arms it was Iselita. Susana being so attentive didn't ring true at all, nor Gerry being right there with Ivana. But, Claudio, by Isela's bedside and never referencing her daughter didn't ring true either. If he had her, you'd think he'd say something (to the audience)like we will always be close to you--or actually showing the baby nearby. That's what led me to believe Ivana got Isela's baby. Claudio might have been ok with it being that way, since he mentions having to disappear for awhile (didn't he?) and Doris and Chelito having told him how Isela tears up whenever they put the baby near her (tn logic?). I don't think Max and Leo would have wanted the baby to go with Claudio, even if they were the ones who wanted to be distanced from him. Leo had forgiven him and I think Max would have felt some forgiveness for saving his life, so I think it was more Claudio wanting to remove himself from the aftermath of his actions.

Speaking of Claudio saving Max's life in the shoot-out. I was sure that Claudio was dead after taking several bullets in the back, while Max's one bullet to the shoulder was fatal. That didn't ring true. It wasn't clear if Claudio was wearing a bullet-proof vest. He did tell the detective that whatever happened, save Max and it didn't matter what happened to him. I would have been ok with Claudio dying, but that would have left Max, Leo, Orlando and Doris with Isela and the baby.

Ursula realizing what she had done was enough for me, too. The camera lingered so long on her anguish, we didn't really need anything more about her--although I have to admit, I'd have enjoyed seeing her in prison with Josefa and Abuela.

Thanks for the tid-bits on the cast interviews. I thought Gabriel was going to be on Sal y Pimienta. I saved it but it was mostly about El Chapo, Sean Penn and Kate del Castillo.

This was such an intense, different, not very happy novela that by the time we got to the very end, nothing surprised me. I was suckered into thinking Max was a goner in the hospital and MD and Almita were mourning at his tomb. Along with many of you, if he turned up as MD's thoughtful, well spoken Ghost, I was ok with it!

It was very interesting to learn that Caridad Bravo Adams based her story on a true one. Now, as I begin to sort things out I can see them from a different point of view.

It was also interesting to learn about the last minute switches in the women's roles. Now, no one can say anyone else would have been perfect for the role. It sort of reminds me of ENDA, where Leticia Calderon was slated for Macarena's role and Victoria Ruffo was cast as Carlota. Only a prior engagement kept Victoria from accepting the long-running villana role. Now we wouldn't be able to consider either one in the other role.

Thank you to the team of recappers--cathyx, Urban, Jardinera, Vivi, Hellashelle and JdesdeNY. You have done a sterling job of recapping this incredibly complex story and making it interesting for all of us in this wonderful community.
 

Hi, everyone

I just wanted to say thank you to Urban and all the recappers for the wonderful job they've done on YoNO. This had to have been one of the most difficult novelas to recap - it was nonstop action from beginning to end nervermind the dark story it told.

This novela had the best male galan I've ever seen and the worst female protagonist I've ever seen. When I saw this originally, I read on the Latin blogs that the Mexican audience complained vociferously about MD's character(behavior). She was just such a frustrating heroine to watch. However, in her defense anyone would look bad next to Max - he was just perfect in every sense.

One other point I'd like to mention, in Mexico they showed an extra episode at the end that the U.S. audience didn't get to see. It was a prologue (about an hour long) that basically gave the back story to all of the characters and really fills in the blanks and lets you see what led to the behaviors of the characters(for example why Susana and Ivanas' relationship was so twisted). It's a shame they didn't air it here. You can find it on some of the novela websites online(i don't want to give names because it might target them for elimination).

Again, thanks for letting me relive this great rollercoaster ride.
 

When I was watching this finale, I actually applauded the fact that Max died. Not because I'm a cold heartless person, but because it was an ending that went so well with this show; completely unexpected and atypical. So I'm going with the assumption that Max's appearance at the end was his ghost, and not actually him being alive. Nothing leading up to that last scene would have us believe that he lived.
 

cathyx, as the days go by I also think Max died. Hard for me to believe Max lived and accepted MD's rejection and total lack of faith in him, choosing Dan's offer instead. The first thing out of her mouth as she entered the hospital room was a lie. Did she not rip Max's vows to little pieces?

If she maintains she never lost faith in Max she has no cause for apology because she believed Dan was a better horse to ride. To be fair people change allegiances all the time if something not working and the commitment not there. With Dan MD was with her daughter, her mother given her home back, she'd live on easy street in a big ole house and daughters future secured, this delivered in one day. Only thing outstanding was divorcing Max and changing the child's name to Maleny or perhaps Espy. Unfortunately Dan died and returning to Max plan B and why would Max accept being plan B after MD burned that bridge? I do understand she would feel guilty, likely really sorry, Max was kidnapped and given a death sentence by the man she chose to get what she wanted but a deal with the devil is a deal with the devil so live with it.

 

Tofie, while I agree with you about MD telling Max that she never lost faith in him, that obviously wasn't true, I don't agree with the rest. I don't think she ever had any intention of ending up with Dan, no matter what happened.
But I do think that if Max actually lived and actually knew about her deal with Dan, that he would still forgive her when she explains why she did what she did. His love for her was unending.
 

For me Max is the best galan I've ever seen and ideally he would forgive, however I hate to think of him as a fool and for MD he has been one. He was committed and she was not. Guess the argument could be made if chivalry not dead and a ship going down I see Max sacrificing himself so MD, her child and family would live. It just bothers me she did the deciding then pretended she didn't once she realized the boat still afloat.
 

I also don't think MD had ANY intention of living with Dan and making a life with him. She wanted her freedom, her daughter, her home. Period. And she was going to use Dan to get those things and then get the hell out of there/get rid of him somehow. She went with taking care of the immediate, urgent needs and decided to do whatever she could to take care of those.
 

I don't think MD planned to live with Dan happily ever after but she really didn't have a plan on how she would deal with him and told Nayeli. Based on her track record dealing with Dan she was overly optimistic if she thought he would be easy to ditch. Wanting to be rid of him someday was really wishing for the impossible so she would likely be trapped with him forever, she had to know that. Hope is not a strategy.
 

All of this happened in one day. No, she didn't have a long-term strategy yet. But she did pretty well with just a few hours. The biggest win was getting her baby, and convincing Dan that the baby should stay with her family. Even if she had been stuck with Dan for a while, I think she would have felt it was worth it if Almita was safe and far away from Dan/Ursula with Espy and Clara. THAT was her biggest priority.
 

I agree Vivi, MD made the right choice for expediency and achieved a bunch knowing the risk and accepted the worst case. Had Dan not died she may have wished she waited a bit more before ditching Max or go beg Max for help again once she realized Dan may never step in front of a bus. But if expedience mattered most she could have saved herself and everyone else a bunch of grief and went back to Dan much earlier, then try to shake him.
 

Vivi made a good point I always forget about, this always happens in one day. So many things would happen in any given episode that sometimes it was hard to keep track how long it had been because the tn gave no breaks.

The episode where MD chased Jacinto, was almost run over, got kidnapped, got a surprise baby outing and told everyone Julian was the baby daddy all happened in the span of a couple of hrs.

While watching the second to last episode, so much had happened that when Nayeli said but Max married you this morning, why would he leave you? I was like oh crap, it has only been a couple of hours.

But I will agree that Max is one of the beast galans, and a lot of the time MD didn't make the best decisions in regard to him but looking at Max I wonder if he was a fool for MD because he needed someone to save and that was MD. This certainly was a weird dynamic between them.

A part of me wished MD, at least by the finale, to have trusted Max and realized he was in trouble while still plan to take down Daniel and reclaim her life.
 

Thank you to all the recappers. Cookie
 

You're welcome, Cookie.
 

I think expedience mattered only to MD because her trial was almost over, her main witness hadn't showed up, her daughter was at the hands of her rapist and her lawyer/husband had told her to get another lawyer. Using Daniel was a last resort at a breaking point. She had been harrassed for months by the Santibañez, raped by Daniel, physically and emotionally abused and sexually harrassed in prison and it seemed like all the evil people were winning by just using their power. It wasn't just Max' quitting who broke her but everything she had been through and she lost hope of ever getting out in the legal and rightful way.

Jarocha
 

Re: ending scene at cemetery

On Hulu episode, my understanding and/or translation of the verb tenses during MD's ending scene statement is that Max has not died but lives. If someone like Jarocha or with great Spanish ability, would be willing to go back and listen again, to the last couple of minutes, would be greatly appreciated.


At who's grave site they are at, I couldn't tell.



 

Thanks to all of the recappers for YNCELH, who with their individual writing style, have KNOCKED THE RECAPS OUT OF THE BALLPARK. IMHO

Over the length of this novela, I have faithfully read each and everyone of the RECAPS and corresponding comments; so I feel qualified to write IMHO that they have been written with such great dedication, style, and timeliness.


MY THANKS TO ALL.

I hope the patio stays around for "Hotel",


Urban I'd love to see you recap for this novela de época if there is a slot left.