Tuesday, February 16, 2016

El Hotel de los Secretos #16, 2/15/16 Monday: Truth and Consequences

"We all have a right to our secrets," is Dr. Lazaro's cryptic explanation for getting Isabel and Mati out of the hotel. Chauffeur Jacinto points out that they are being followed, not at all discreetly, by Diego's incompetent henchman, Garrido. "Let's see if we can lose him," Dr L says.

They go to to the local Walgreen's. Jacinto waits outside, and Garrido watches Jacinto. Mati and Isabel go inside with the doctor. Isabel slips out the back to go to the police station; Mati strikes up a contentious and mostly one-sided conversation with the pharmacist.

At the police station, Ayala is telling Julio that he'd make a good detective when Isabela bursts in and demands the truth. "Are you a fugitive from justice?"

Julio replies, "don't be so quick to judge me. It's more complicated than it looks."

Ayala interjects that truth is subjective. One can be a fugitive without being a criminal. Julio should explain, but this is not the place - it's best if Julio and Isa aren't seen together here. "I know the perfect place," Isabel says.

At the pharmacy, Mati lectures the pharmacist about who-knows-what (I didn't catch any of it, but she was quite excited about it). Dr. Laz leaves her there and tells Jacinto they're going to the cantina. Garrido trails behind, looking a little confused that Isabel is nowhere to be seen.

Isabel and Julio go to... I think this the carpentry place where Pascual's family used to have their shop. It's all cleared out now, with no sign of life. Isabel is telling Julio that this place was all decked out before. He notices her bruise and is upset that she took such a chance. "But I did it for you!" she declares.

At the hotel, Angela tells the staff that Benjamin's gone away, and Andres is in charge. There's a sarcastic comment from one guy; Natalia jumps to Andre's defense. A maid congratulates Belen, but Belen is dismissive: "that just means more work."

Andres meets with Diego to ask for a salary increase. He's getting married, after all, and his pay isn't going to be enough. Diego angrily mocks Andres for getting ideas "reading" and replies that this hotel needs men who aren't above honest work; they don't need stupid anarchistic propaganda. "Let's pretend this never happened," he advises Andres.

Julio apologizes to Isabel for the way he's treated her recently. "I don't need your apologies," she says generously. Julio proceeds to tell "the whole truth," and we see it in a flashback:

It looks like a mining community. Julio's mom is teaching a roomful of adults how to read. They're working on words that begin with the letter "M" and one of them is "mine" (or maybe it was "mineral"). Julio interrupts the class with a letter from Cristina. Mom looks sad: Cristina has gotten a job at the Grand Hotel, and in a few years she'll have saved up enough to go to Europe.

A man shows up, yelling. "The gringos are shooting!" There's a dispute over pay. Stuff is on fire everywhere. Julio dodges bullets to look for Papa. He finds him in an industrial building which, like everything else, is on fire. One of the gringos threatens Julio with a gun, but is shot dead - by Papa, who has defended Julio with his very last breath. Papa dies while Julio is arrested. Julio is dragged away as Papa's body is surrounded by flames.

In an upstairs hallway, Andres promises Belen he'll find a way to get more money. "Don't call me 'Chatita,'" is all an irritated Belen can reply. Sofia comes out of her room and scolds Andres for being out of uniform. After Andres takes off, Sofia tells Belen that it's time to clean up Diego's bedroom - right now.

In the pueblo, Garrido intently watches Jacinto, who is only waiting outside the cantina. Inside, the Doctor is seeing to Violeta, who's doing much better now. Ew, I think Meli is trying to flirt with him! The Doctor takes Meli aside.

Violeta stands on the bed to wave out the window at Jacinto. Jacinto sees her, but turns away.

The Doctor gives Meli some money for Violeta's care. He wants her to eat well, and not work. Meli is confused by his generosity. The doctor answers, "when or if the time comes, we'll talk."

Sofi snoops in Diego's outer room while Belen cleans the bedroom. Belen notices; Sofi closes the bedroom door "so you won't be distracted." Belen peeps through the door as Sofi rifles through all of Diego's drawers and shelves.

Sofi gives up the search and tries to play it cool as she makes her way through the lobby - where she runs into Elisa, who breaks the ice with an explanation for her treachery: "someday you'll understand that when you're protecting the future of your child, ANY strategy is acceptable." Sofi doesn't get much chance to react to that, though, when a clerk informs them that Alfredo took off on a train a couple of hours ago. (Yes! Alfraidy ran away, bravely ran away...) Both women are stunned.

Elisa goes to her room and gushes to Victoria: "At last my Alfredo is manning up." (I guess she assumes he took the job in the city, which he probably did, but we don't know that for sure yet. He could be on his way to join he French Foreign Legion for all we know.)

Julio concludes his story (which included no mention of a brothel) to Isabel: "Now no one knows me better than you do." Isa thanks him for telling the truth. Now she has some truth of her own to tell him. She shows him the two cameos. "One was for me, and the other was for Diego's lover - Cristina."

"I'm gonna KILL him!" Julio explodes. Isa tries to calm him. "Diego will pay," she promises. They leave the carpentry house, hand-in-hand.

Dr. Lazaro and Jacinto wander around the market. "In many ways, this pueblo reminds me of Spain," the doctor says. Jacinto is distracted. The doctor tells him that the pregnant girl is fine. "What do I care?" the boy replies. Garrido continues to follow at an indiscreet distance.

Ayala receives another telegram. There's been another death! That's three deaths, three full moons. He wants to sent telegrams to all the neighboring police stations.

The doctor retrieves Mati from the now-traumatized pharmacist. The doctor is getting a little worried that Isabel hasn't come back yet.

Isabel is walking ahead of Julio. Behind her, Julio repeatedly reaches for her, then pulls back. Finally he pulls out his harmonica and plays. Loudly. She is charmed.

It's dark. Teresa sips tea and Felipe whines that he wants brandy. She informs him of his upcoming nuptials. He doesn't take the news well, but she tells him it's time he faced the consequences of his actions. (Again.) Felipe protests: the girl's father is very rude. He didn't even knock. "If she winds up pregnant, no door will hide it," Teresa snaps. "I'm going to throw the wedding of your dreams," she promises her nervous son. "Now go get your brandy!"

Isabel finally takes her leave of Julio. She repeats, "trust me, Diego will pay!"

At the hotel, Garrido is apologetic. Enraged, Diego throws him out. Belen arrives and he greets her like the plague: "What the hell do you want?" She tells him about the strange incident with Sofia. She looked through all of his stuff but didn't find anything. Diego rubs Belen's belly and says "thanks for the info." He adds that what Belen's looking for, she can find in his bedroom - not his office. He marches her to the office door and nuzzles her neck before kicking her out.

Back in the village, Isabel gets Jacinto and co. to leave without her. Jacinto is very nervous about this plan. Isabel assures the gang that the detective will drive her home.

Angela finds a glum Andres in the hallway and tries to talk to him about his bad day. He doesn't want to discuss it with her.

Diego meets with Teresa to complain that Sofi was snooping through her stuff. "Well, what do you expect - you just threw her husband out into the street," Teresa exclaims. She gives another lecture about consequences. Diego is unmoved: she doesn't know his secrets, but he knows hers! He has the advantage, so she'd better get her family in order.

Julio finds Andres outside. Andres bums a cigarette and, much like Isabel a few weeks ago, is quickly revealed as a nonsmoker. Julio tries to get Andres to talk.

Andres: It's the same problem as usual.
Julio: Belen.
Andres: What? No! I mean my mother. Why does everyone think Belen is my problem?

Julio points out that Angela supports Andres in everything he does. Andres reluctantly agrees. Julio shares his own frustration: he's tired of depending on other people.

In Isabel's room, Mati models one of Isa's gowns in the mirror when a maid knocks to ask if Isa wants anything. Mati jumps into bed, turns out the light, and pulls the covers over her head. She pretends to be exhausted, unwilling to come to the door, and just wanting to sleep.

Diego passes In the hallway. The maid tells him that Isa's in her room, but shouldn't be disturbed as she's sleeping. After the maid leaves, Diego uses his key and lets himself in. He stands there like a creep while Mati pulls the covers around her.

Meanwhile, back at the village police station, Ayala is showing Dagoberto a "radius" on the map when Isabel bursts in for the second time that day. "The Grand Hotel is the hiding place of a killer - and his name is Diego Montejo!"

Next time: Sofi gets an eyeful, and begs mom to kick Diego out for being a pig.

Labels:


Comments:
What had happened was, my energy peaked a little after 9 (dessert, sugar rush) and then I kinda crashed before I could do the recap. I'm working on it now.
 

Good, because I want to discuss 1908's etiquette for pretentious ''rich'' women who drink tea standing up outside their hotels wearing fur, jajajaja!
I am telling you! This is funnier than DIRTY GRANDPA!
 

(Recap is done now)

Pablo: I didn't see DIRTY GRANDPA, but this is darned funny. Teresa is always lecturing people about consequences. It seems to me that it's just a matter of time before her own consequences catch up with her. We still don't know her secret(s), but she's been letting people blackmail her for a long time.

If she thinks the blackmail IS the consequence, then she hasn't been exposed to enough fiction. The problem with blackmail, at last in fiction, is that it's only an intermediate consequence. The truth always comes out and then there's more hell to pay.
 

Those secrets gotta be something Huuuge, 'cause I see Diego getting bolder and bolder, yesterday he almost slapped her. Really? Why is she allowing that? Doe she want him for herself, but instead she rather have him as a son in law? This is crazy...

I don't know if it's too soon to jump the shark, but those memories of mama teacher and papa killed by the gringos, for me are not more than fillers to complete the 40 minutes plus commercials. Do we really need the backstory?
 

Thank you, Julie, for another great recap! Diego = Creep on his voyeur venture into Isabel's room.,

Pablo, sure agree on Diego. He has become quite bold. Cannot wait until Ayala appears on the scene again with some pointed questions for him.

I liked the flashback. For me, it helped round out Julio's character as well as his sister's. I also liked that Isabel insisted on staying on her own to talk to Ayala.
 

Does Julio's explanation to Isabel conflict with the story he told Ayala? Because he sure left all of that stuff out of what he told Isabel.

I'm not sure Diego was planning on being a voyeur. I think the reason he went into Isabel's room was to see if she was really there. I think he's been waiting for her to come home from the pharmacy and he was surprised when the maid said she was in her room.
 

Hulu doesn't have this episode up yet. I hope they do by this pm when I get back from work.
 

Julie, he might not have been planning it, but he ended up looking "voyeurish".
 

This is a great retelling Julie. Thank you

"Julio concludes his story (which included no mention of a brothel)"

"indiscreet distance"

"Alfraidy ran away"

Diego lost his subtlety with Teresa

I welcome the backstory

Well I suspect, with Julio's omission he was a boytoy, we'll deal with that later

So, I wonder when the good Doc will call in all these favors?

Exciting as sneaking about is for Isabel, when it's over, what will she do for entertainment?

 

Fabulous, Julie! Thank you. On a phone and gotta run.

I also enjoyed the back story on Julio, Chris and their family. Helps me understand them more. And now we know there is a mom waiting who must be worried sick about her two kids. Julio's story does not conflict with what he told Ayala. Now we know how he got into the hands of the Federales and accused of murder before he escaped them and hid in a brothel.

Just for clarification, the new murder isn't new. It happened 3 months ago in a nearby town. Now Ayala is investigating back to see if any other murders match the MO and if there is a pattern with the locations.
 

Madhilda was lecturing the pharmacist about the imperant need to carry condoms, due to the outbreak of sifilis in the hotel, I suppose, where else? So, she was asking him to make sure he ordered the condoms made out of lamb intestines, because the rubber ones were being used to fix bicycle tires and the ones made out of linen were too scratchy. How did she know? Dont ask me, she is the one from the CITY, jajaja

She said that Mexico has more prostitues than Partis so the odds are pretty bad for married women. I am sure your husband is not honest, told the woman custome, who ran away horrified!
 

Pablo- Matilde is also a medical student, that's how she's so well versed in stds.
 

Thanks for explaining Mati's lecture to the pharmacist, Pablo. I did hear the mention of prostitutes and syphilis but had no idea how it all fit together. LOL. Now the poor pharmacist will have a great story he won't be able to tell his wife when he gets home.

I also noticed, but ignored, an inane exchange between Dagoberto and Ayala, I think about the name "Serapio," during the telegram scene.

And thank you Vivi for explaining about the telegram and the third (or actually, third ago) murder. I thought it was "new" as in "new to Ayala."

Will there be (or have been) a fourth (or four months ago) murder? What the hell is going on Puebla?

And why can't Diego find a competent henchman??
 

Oh and what I found really interesting in this episode was how the doctor seems to be lining up a baby for Sofia. Does he know that Teresa already has plans for Belen's child? At any rate it doesn't hurt to have a backup.
 

I thought the exchange between Diego and Belen was interesting. He basically told her that Sofia wouldn't find anything in incriminating in his room anyway, because he doesn't leave traces (of his misdeeds) behind-- while he pats her pregnant belly menacingly. That to me was a veiled threat about that baby and it possibly causing him future problems.
 

Oh well... I thought Mati was studying Law, but hey, who cares about those little things now, right? Specially when some other things make NO SENSE AT ALL!!!

Anyway, Dagoberto was making fun of the name Serapio because he thinks it does't suits him. What name does, anyway, if parents dont have a crystal ball to see how the person will be when they grow up, but well, Ayala told him it was both the name of a very miracolus saint and his grandpa, so beat that, Daggy boy! Besides, that was the name Bugs Bunny had in Mexico too... Serapio el conejo de la suerte.
 

Diego wanted Belen gone and still does and she is trying to prove worthy of remaining with the outside possibility Diego will change his mind. She's a fool with a fatal streak.
 

Julie- No, the doc has no idea about Teresa and her plans with Belen. He has asked no questions about the baby ruse, and has not made himself a nuisance to Teresa by poking into her business. He does as he's asked and keeps his mouth shut (while listening). I felt his concern for Violeta was genuine, but if he also sees a way to help both Violeta with a baby she can't keep, and Sofia with a baby she desperately needs, then I don't see it coming from an evil/bad place. I still feel he's a good guy.

The exchange between Teresa and Diego was interesting. I was leaning more towards his hold over her (getting her approval to become the manager and Isabel's husband) being about secrets they shared. But now it seems like it's just straight up blackmail on his part to keep quiet about HER secrets. We know she will throw any of her kids under the bus in a heartbeat, of it means keeping her scandal-free and ahead of everyone else (position and wealth). We've seen her do it with all three of her kids.
 

So the secret Cristine referred to and the one Diego did, one and the same?
 

That's the question that comes to my mind too, Tofie. Or maybe Teresa has multiple secrets.
 

Is a secret still a secret when more people besides you know about it?

 

I thought Cristine left home to work at the hotel but last night it seems she left, then took a position at the hotel and once she saved money head to Europe. To do what? Travel or university or was she running from something. She was not dirt poor and obviously literate in a place where that is frowned upon.
 

I think Teresa has multiple secrets. Or maybe one big master secret that has spawned a bunch of subsidiary secrets. But that doesn't mean that Diego knows all of them. It could be that he knows just enough.

And I see Lazaro as a good guy too, totally. I don't know what he's up to or why he's there, but he is going out of his way to avoid needless damage to others. Now it could still turn out that he's really evil, I suppose, but we've seen nothing to support that.

Throwing Garrido off Isabel's trail was a bit beyond the call of duty for an ordinary doctor minding his own business, though. It suggests that he really is being cautious about Diego, yes?
 

Tofie- Yes, it seems Cristina had a bit of determined wanderlust about her. A young woman, leaving home all alone, to find work to pay for her way to Europe-- her dream. Meanwhile, Julio seemed just fine staying close to home. Their mom a teacher (teaching poor adults to read), and their dad looked like he had a higher level position at the plant (not a peon), but also an activist, and a great shot. They looked middle class to me. Definitely Cris and Julio were raised with a liberal household (also explains how Cris was not discouraged to use her left hand, as Urban pointed out in the 1st epi), and received some education. Cris wasn't working to survive; she was working to fulfill a dream. All these things would have definitely made her more bold and not as easily intimidated as the other maids.
 

Pablo: I say it's a secret as long as it's kept from the person(s) you want to hide it from. A lot of people could know about it before it gets that far. Think of the "secret" of planning a surprise party, where everyone knows about it EXCEPT for the guest of honor.
 

Julie- And thanks for the funny exchange between Julio and Andres. I laughed out loud when Andres asked why everyone thinks his problem is Belen. Poor baby.
 

This is the saint, who was disemboweled by the Muslims, who Ayala was named after: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serapion_of_Algiers

 

Julie, thanks so very much for your recap.

The Quaint Chemist's Shop (Walgreens):

Was Mati trying to buy a condoms for herself? If the hotel has an epidemic of STDs, do we expect to see Belen & Dee Eggo with STDs? I commend telenovelas for the realism that Hollywood seems to lack, namely that sex leads to pregnancy, but usually it does not lead to STDs. The Original of Victoria (Ruffo & Ochmann) had a promiscuous woman die of AIDS. But they took that out in the remake.

Shud we interpret that the Pharmacist lied about not stocking condoms as an immoral product? Ha, I guess Mati had nothing better to do than to strike up her argument -- or she planning to fornicate at the hotel? With whom would she develop a relationship?

Interestingly the casus belli for Julio was evil Americans using Nazi-styled pistols to kill workers on strike. Was this a tad of Mexican anti-Americanism or is it faithful history?

"He notices her bruise and is upset"
I thought she was trying to get him to touch her neck. However I suppose it is possible that they will have a romance como Dios manda, waiting for marriage before canoodling -- doubtful in a telenovela though.

Didn't Andres reproach De Eggo: "My salary is sposed to be 2 pesos a week, but you deduct 20 centavos from it"?

Do you really think that Meli-Malicious will spend any of the doctor's money on Violeta? I can see her buying marijuana with it.

I thought Al Fraido had gone off on a train to please his mother, gone to take up that civil service job. But was it to go somewhere else, not where his mama wanted? Al Fraido is no Dagwood Bumstead, trying to join the French Foreign Legion when all is a disaster in his life, being kicked out of the recruiting center: "Come back when you're 20 years younger."

The full moon murders thus far are a tangent plot with no connection to the rest of it -- how will this connect?

As to Mother Teresa being blackmailed by De Eggo with knowledge of her skeletons in the closet, isn't that what got Cristina killed? De Eggo is on thin ice.

I thought that Mati was intentionally playing the role of Isa Bell to fool people into thinking Isa Bell was not out fooling around.
IMHO, De Eggo was having erotic intentions on Isa Bell, with the common idea in telenovelas that fornication is OK & to be expected when you beez engaged. It will be a hoot if he gets in bed with Mati. Enrique Torres has used this ploy, in Muneca Brava the (wrong) woman in bed turned out to be a visiting nun! who screamed when the protag slipped into what he thought was fair-game girl bed.


 

CRISTINA IN EUROPE

Now I am wondering where this telenovela is supposed to be taking place. The original Gran Hotel was made in Spain. I took it from the letter that Cristina was writing from Europe & needing money to return to Mexico per that letter. If so, then the Gran Hotel we are seeing would be in Spain, not Mexico. Have we been told what country the Hotel is in? Could it be Spain?
 

I got the impression that Julio told Isabela everything (including the brothel stuff) since he said "now you know me better than anyone." I figured they just left it out since it would have been a waste of time seeing as how we already saw it all a few episodes ago.

Diego is so creepy sometimes. I was hoping he would try to get close to Mati in the bed and she would punch him in the face...
 

It's definitely set in Mexico since they mention Porfirio Diaz being president and the trains all go to Mexican cities. I do find it odd that they never actually say Mexico or Mexico City - it's always "this country" or "the capital." I don't know if they're doing that on purpose.
 

Julie--I have to be out the rest of the day, but I'm reading your recap. Your throw great stuff at us. If someone else has mentioned it already, I thought it was hysterical that what Matilde wanted to know about were condoms--to give to the "women" in the pueblo so they wouldn't contract veneral disease (specifically syphilis). Yes, she was annoyed (buying time) that he didn't stock them. No wonder Doc Laz wanted to leave. The conversation was getting pretty intimate.

I like the way Julio and Isabel are working their way toward each other slowly, but I wish he would put the harmonica away. It's actually intrusive. I guess I should be glad Isabel likes it!
 

This fictitious hotel (Mexico don-t have that kind of buildings except for the Chapultepec castle) is supposedly in Puebla, 1908.

Teresa wont kill Diego because she needshim, so much that she tolerates his mistakes over and over again.

And speaking of Chapultepec, there was am incident against USA where the gringos were defeated, 1840s, if I remember correctly...
 

Enoch- Yes. We have clearly been in Mexico this whole time, with many references to Porfirio Diaz being the president and the rising protests to his long rule.
 

Enoch, there is at least one connection between the full moon murders and the hotel: the gold knife from the hotel, the tip of which was broken off in one victim's body.

Plus, the murders are keeping Ayala near the hotel for now, and Ayala is teaching stuff to Dagoberto. It'll be handy if Ayala is around when all the hotel's secrets come to light - and if he's not around, maybe Dagoberto will have learned how to do his job by then.
 

Who is the Werewolf?

I will go out on a limb with a wild guess: Sophia!

The supposed murder of Cristina apparently doesn't fit the modus operandi of the full-moon murderer.
 

We still don't know for sure that Cris is dead. No body, no murder (that we can confirm).
 

Tyhanks so much Julie. Fantastic!!

I really enjoyed the flashback myself as it rather cemented for me, as Enoch and Vivi pointed out, the true historical back drop to this time period. Since this is imagined to take place 1910's, that being the period of the localized civil wars and period of the Diaz to presidency, the possible links to who is siding with whom may lead to a definite play in our story. How very Russian. Dostoeyevsky would be proud.

Silver mines were a particular hotbed of still prevalent outside ownership--either Spain or even the US. the uprisings were mainly to try and nationalize much of the land and industries. so it would make sense for Julio to be sympathetic to the workers, while we may have Diego on the take with the type of investors that were in ownership of the best lands and businesses. The foreign speaking shooters would be the merceraries hired by the landowners and wealthy businessmen to take down the rebels. I can see Diego in league with that group who if this is early in the struggle were still holding strong.

That smile on Alfredo's face. He's up to something and I don't think it's going to the capital to take that job. But in this show...who knows.

I dislike Belen more and more with every episode. Wish Andres wasn't so blind to her. Frankly, I don't quite get the attraction, unless he likes her "free spirit".

Can't help but think the doc's comment about "reminds me of Spain" is a clue. Ok. everything's a clue, but that seemed to stick out as one of those to file away for future reference.

Teresa's dark secret-- I'm going to take a stab and say she offed the hubby.

Daisynjay
 

There are three dead girls, all killed on a full moon, one month/full moon apart from each other.

1) The girl Ayala just found out about, killed three full moons ago. We know nothing about her.
2) Girl recently found in the river, killed two full moons ago. Thought to be Cris at first, because that's when Cris disappeared. We know nothing about her.
3) Ximena, killed 1 full moon ago and dumped in the dry well. Local prostitute, killed with knife from the hotel, Felipe was her customer.

Cris is still just missing at this point.
 

Daisynajy- Yep. Either killed him, stole her kids' inheritance after he died, or both. But if she had already killed once, don't see why she wouldn't just bump off Diego and be done with it.
 

Thanks Julie for the great recap. There always a treat.

I was thinking before that the doctor might be ingratiating himself with the Alarcons for evil reasons. Then he went to see Violeta and acted genuinely concerned. I'm going to put him in the good guy category. I also think--like others have mentioned before--that he may have been doctoring Cris and decided to come to the hotel to see what is going on. Cris may also have knowledge regarding the murders.

I'm confused about the carpentry place. When we first saw it, it looked like it was out in the country yet Julio and Isa were able to go there and back to town. Granted Isa was gone for awhile. I'm wondering where it's located in relation to the town/hotel.

I always thought that Julio was more than a peasant because Isa thought he was the son of a rich man at the beginning of the TN so he couldn't have had a "lower class" accent.

This TN is spoiling me. It's up there with Amor Bravio as being the best I've seen. Don't know how I'll go back to the business as usual TN.

Nanette
 

Enoch - Cristina was saving up for a trip to GO to Europe.

The knife is really our only clue to the murders, and it's not a very good clue. So right now it's hard for me to get excited about trying to figure out who the killer is. Until we have more information, we're really just throwing names around.

But someone did say, a couple of weeks ago, that Jimena (the first victim we knew about) looked like Cristina. And the corpse last week fit Cristina's "general description," insofar as they could tell what that victim looked like at all, she having been dead for so long. But it looks like the killer likes to kill women of a particular physical appearance.

I don't remember if the said last week's victim was a prostitute, but if so, the fact that Cristina was doing business with the cantina guy means that she might have been mistaken for a prostitute herself. (And if this is about prostitutes, we're going to end up back at the brothel with Julio's old girlfriend, aren't we?)

Regardless of the prostitution angle, we seem to have a serial killer who goes for women who kinda look like Cristina in the moonlight. Possibly the killer went for Cristina too, and she just barely escaped with her life. Perhaps Diego had nothing to do with her disappearance at all - but was sweating over Pascual's blackmail because he knew there were things that made him look guilty.

I don't know if any of this brings us closer to a motive or a suspect. I don't think it does. But it does give us a few things to look out for if more victims turn up.
 

Nanette- I think the carpentry workshop is closer to town than the hotel. They always have to drive from the hotel to get anywhere in town. The workshop is likely fairly walking distance from the center of town.
 

CRISTINA & EUROPE

2 possibilities:

1) I misunderstood C's letter & Cristina had been saving to go to Europe. But how does that fit into the story, & one wonders if a young girl would plan to go to Europe alone?

2) The script writer goofed in adapting a telenovela made in Spain to a Mexican situation.

As to the possibility of De Eggo getting into bed with Mati, I recall that Enrique Torres used that ploy (wrong person in bed) in at least 3 of his telenovelas (Perla Negra, Muneca Brava, & Amarte Asi). The nun in MB was the funniest. In Amarte Asi it was the butler in male protag's bed (Mauricio Ochmann), who was sneaking out from the mansion & wanted his blond evil novia to think he telling the truth on telling her he was tired & wanted to go to sleep -- he actually snuck out to get with Margarita the cinderella in the story. Evil novia, Carla Peterson, still had ganas for Mauricio & snuck into his bed to discover David the butler there, faking to be Mauricio.
 

One of the things I noticed was on the table in the carpentry workshop the first time Isabel went there was a little vase with flowers. Very feminine touch. Of course, as Isa mentioned, all the things that showed that someone was living there, are all gone now. Cris is still my #1 choice for the mystery person who was living there, and who knocked Isa out. In any case, I wonder where that person has gone now? Maybe they should go back to Pascaul's abandoned house...
 

Julie: like your theories about the serial killer.

Vivi: thanks.

Have been meaning to comment about how, even though she enters into all the capers Isa is involved with, I feel sorry for Matilde. She's come to visit her friend who can't seem to manage to spend any quality time with her. And when she does spend time with her, she's mooning over Julio.
 

Not sure how it's a goof, Enoch. Europe would have seemed like a place of progress and liberalism to a bold, educated and independent middle-class young woman from Mexico-- as we are learning Cris was/is. Just like Isabel and Matilde being medical students, it's meant to say something about her personality which set her apart from other women of her age in that society.
 

Since the earlier murdered girls were found further away, and the last murder victim found close to the hotel and killed by a hotel knife, it could be that the murderer was traveling TO the hotel and killing girls along the way (just for kicks). Maybe he's IN the hotel right now, among the guests (that Ayala wasn't allowed to interview).
 

So... the thing is that instead of buying condoms because theyre so hard to find, someone is killing aaaaaalllll the prostis? Hes never gonna finish if keep doing it once a month...
 

Cristina does not appear to have been a serial killer's victim. But he may have made an unsuccessful attack and she sustained the wound trying to get away, or something like that. I am only suggesting this because if there's any connection at all between the murders and her disappearance, the physical resemblance could be it.

Not only do the other murders not seem to have any connection to the hotel (or Teresa), except for Jimena and the gold knife; we don't even know if Cristina's disappearance is connected to the hotel. It sure looks that way, and it suits Teresa to have her gone; but there are countless ways to run into trouble around that place. And I'm skeptical that Teresa would have given Diego or anyone the green light to actually kill someone. That's not her style. Consequences, you know. It'd be more like Teresa to discredit Cristina in some way so that no one would believe anything she said. Or pay her off to disappear on her own (to Europe, perhaps).

Vivi's thoughts on a traveling killer make sense to me. We've met precious few of the hotel's guests so far, and are there are any recent employees besides Julio? I don't think there are.

Maybe Garrido has a secret night life that we don't know about. (He has to be good at SOMETHING, right?)
 

Are we all going crazy trying to figure this out or what??!!! Hello, Televisa and Univision...THIS is the way to engage an audience.

Anyhoo--we now know there is another girl, all seem to be similiar in looks, hard to tell details by the light of a full moon, but at least can pick up a person away from town or the hotel. But to be enticed away from the residence, they would have to either KNOW the murderer or it would be someone they would be willing to meet up with, or had business with.

Vivi, I can see Teresa needing a male around to help her gain her ill-gotten gains. During this period, I don't see a woman being able to orchestrate or be more powerful than she appears as the figure-head of a hotel. She has no respect for her daughter's education, feeling it is so much bother and more important to be home, married and guarantee an inheritance. Even as a woman, she believes a man is the means to her ends. Diego is her willing accomplice, but I think she's realizing she may have created a monster.

Ok...here's me again reaching. Doc talks of familiarity of Spain, and Cristina wanted to save money to go to Europe. Now, I love me my doctor, so did Cristina know the doctor and he had encouraged her travels or possible desire to leave for an education. She didn't show up, or contact him, and so he came to find her? He keeps talking he has secrets too. Could he even know what happened to Cristina, or knows where she is, but he's keeping that secret until the truth of what is going around that hotel comes out...told you. Me again playing Hercule Poirot.

Daisynjay
 

If the murder was traveling and is now in the Hotel, then it is the doctor. He is the only one who know for sure if the prostitute has syphilis or not. After all, he is the one with the cotton swabs...
 

Pablo- There are guests checking into the hotel all the time. We just haven't met them yet. Plus, Teresa made it clear to Ayala that he could not question any of her guests.

Not sure what syphilis has to do with the murders, but the other two victims have not been confirmed to be prostitutes at this point.
 

Vivi, do you realize the implications of your astute observation:

"Since the earlier murdered girls were found further away, and the last murder victim found close to the hotel and killed by a hotel knife, it could be that the murderer was traveling TO the hotel and killing girls along the way (just for kicks). Maybe he's IN the hotel right now, among the guests"

YOU ARE POINTING TO LAZARO! Is he a Jack the Ripper doc?
 

Thanks so much, Julie! I always enjoy your witty commentary.

If the murderer is someone who was traveling TO the hotel, Elise and her henchie are on the list, no? Who knows what their motivations would be, but what are anyone else's?

If Ayala is pretending to follow Teresa's orders, I'm sure it is only to make things easier for himself and because so far he hasn't seen a good reason to interview any of the guests. I think he does what he wants and he certainly isn't going to not investigate just because she said not to. She may see herself as an authority figure, but I'm sure he doesn't. Not above anything involving a criminal investigation, anyway.
 

Julia - The murderer had to be in or very near the hotel the night Jimena was killed. I don't see how Elisa and her henchie can be suspects, because they didn't arrive at the hotel till after Jimena's murder.

Ayala and Dagoberto were marking up a map at the end of the episode last night, so we should soon see if there's an interesting geographic pattern.
 

I'm loving all the interesting murder theories. Keep 'em coming!
 

I liked hearing Julio's backstory. It tells me that he's a nice loving family guy who got caught up in something that he didn't start and was completely innocent of what he was accused of. Now I feel better about him having a relationship with Isabel.

So far the doc seems like he's a good guy, but there are so many unanswered questions surrounding him that I could see him turn out to be bad. But usually something slips that makes us question if he is really a good guy, and so far nothing has slipped. So I'm betting on him being aboveboard.
 

LOL "from the hotel," not hospital. (Yeah, mental hospital).
 

I wonder what is up with Julio's mother now. Is she still back in the hometown teaching people to read? In the beginning, he made it sound like he and his mother were still close, and she hadn't heard from Cristina so he went to look. But if he fled the brothel to head to the Gran Manicomio, rather than having been at home, was he also only communicating with Mama by mail? Do they still write?

I think anyone in the hotel could get the key to the knife cabinet; it would just take more scheming for some than for others. Every holder of a key has to sleep sometimes. Things can be "borrowed" without permission.
 

Also, why is Julio so skinny? Wasn't brothel woman feeding him? Or was she just working him that hard?
 

Julia, I don't think Julio is skinny, I think he looks just right. But men in those days were actually a lot skinnier. They didn't have fast food, and they walked everywhere and did a ton of manual labor.
 

Well, the rest of them aren't...but I guess only the star of the show has to go to extremes to get the right look for the period.
 

The lock for the knives might not be too hard to pick if someone knows what they're doing. It's not just a cliche that old locks could be picked with bobby-pins.

To complicate things a bit, the person who originally took the knife might not even be the murderer.

Oh! Oh! Oh! I just thought of something.

Cristina was supposedly assisting (knowingly or not) in the theft of shipments to the hotel. If one of those shipments happened to be a set of gold knives, there could be an entire set (of six?) gold knives in... uh... Cantina Guy's possession, which opens the door to anyone who would steal from him. Or he could have resold the knives to someone else.

That expands the list of suspects quite a bit, and also means the hotel staff/guests aren't necessarily involved at all.
 

Yes, there are endless possibilities. And we have to remember, we are on episode #16 out of 80. So we probably aren't even close to having enough clues to solve any of the mysteries yet.
 

But we're going to try anyway! I'm putting Alfredo out there as the murderer. Because I've watched too much Agatha Christie and it's always someone you don't suspect. Not that he killed Cristina because she's (hiding in the abandoned house, hanging out in Spain, holed up in a convent for now, dead and buried, etc.), but Elisa turned her weak son into a serial killer. Why not? He's on the train to go kill again and that's why he's happy. He'll be back.

As long as he doesn't get Matilde. I like her, but if she was suppossed to pretend to be Isabel asleep in the bed, then why wear her jammies? Not like anyone could see it, which is a shame because those pajamas are nicer than anything I'll ever own.

Kelly
 

Maybe Matilde thought the same thing about the pajamas and just wanted to wear them! Although I also like Matilde's men's-style (at the time) pajamas.
 

Julia- LOL about the madame working Julio hard. It doesn't look like she let him out of bed very often.
 





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