Thursday, March 31, 2016
El Hotel de los Secretos #45, 3/30/16: Sweet Sorrowful Achlys! Has Anybody Not Cried In This Episode?
A closer look
Isabel is in the garden throwing a hissy fit and whinging that all the people she loves have lied to her, including Julio. He lied about Cecilia Gaytán. “I didn’t lie to you”, he protests, “I just didn’t give explanations I had no obligation to give. Besides, did you forget that you married someone else?”. Bullseye!
A panicked Ángela grabs a lamp and attempts to chase the person who delivered the letter. Needless to say, it is an exercise in futility. Meanwhile, her son groans and travails in pain until he manages to stand on his puny chicken legs. Why is this boy left on his own? Didn’t somebody try to kill him like 2 episodes ago?
Alfredo barges into Diego’s office, guns blazing: “I want my papers, Diego! My land titles (los títulos de mis tierras), the sketches of the boundaries (los bosquejos de las colindancias). My deeds (mis escrituras)!”. As executor (albacea) of the will, his mother, Doña Elisa, had no legal right to cede the lands to anyone! Wow! Sudden poverty is doing wonders for Fredito’s spherical sources of courage and babies! And speaking of babies, Alfredo points out that a handsome male Vergara baby sleeps in his room. This was the condition for Alfredo to inherit his lands and he fulfilled it. He demands that the documents be delivered to him ASAP and leaves. The irony isn’t lost on Diego. The mustached vulture has a fit of horselaughs.
Isabel interrupts her mother’s pre-dinner nap. She wants to talk and it can’t wait. Teresa looks like death warmed over. Stealing other people’s babies really takes it out of you. She asks Isabel to give her a few minutes. Isabel picks up the book her mother was reading and finds this hand-written biblical inscription in the last page: “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil. Teresa Langre”. (Langre is Teresa Alarcón’s maiden name). A wee bit later, when Teresa is presentable and ready to talk, she opens the dividing doors and finds nobody in her room. Isabel had left.
Ayala is at the hospital, following Matilde around like a lovesick puppy, as she examines her patients. Gabriel, Natalia’s blind brother, wonders if Violeta is back from her ranch. She had told him she was helping her family sow beans. Oh her family is sowing alright, just not beans. Anyhoo, Ayala finally gets Matilde’s attention: He grandly announces that the country is suffering from an epidemic of syphilis. She assumes he is one of the victims and pulls him aside to quizz him about his symptoms. He corrects her misconception and declares that the motherland needs her services: She must ensure that the country’s prostitutes (pécoras) are healthy.
Ángela invites herself into Don Lupe’s room. She needs to talk and she is so distraught that she declines her favorite tipple. She tells Lupe that her husband, Pablo, the man people think is the father of Andrés, didn’t die up North fighting the Federales. He is very much alive and kicking! Lupe needs brandy-spiked tea after this confession.
In the Vergaras’ bedroom, Sofía is in the mood for a round of slap-and-tickle but when the baby rudely interrupts with his crying, she starts bawling as well. Too bad she can’t stack blankets on this one too. Cow!
In the village cantina, Cecilia is listening to Violeta’s sad song and tearing up. A plastered patron stumbles outside the cantina, sniffling and singing along. A furtive gloved hand looks ready to put him out of his misery, if not for Ayala’s propitious appearance. Neither the inebriated fellow nor the ex-detective realized how close they came to being face-to-face with the Werewolf Gold Knife Slasher.
Sofía heads to Dr. Vicario’s room and begs him to drug her out of her rocker again. Meanwhile, Alfredo is cradling the baby in his arms and sharing ornithology trivia with him. He also shows him the polar star that guides lost sailors in stormy seas. He breaks down in tears as he advises his little boy to always choose a fixed point (punto fijo) to guide him through the turmoils of life.
Ángela recounts her story with Pablo Salinas. They got together when she was pregnant with Andrés. Pablo knew that Don Rómulo had impregnated her but he didn’t care. He vowed to raise the child as his own. All he asked for in return was that Ángela learn to love him one day, but she never could. Hmmm, this story reminds me of someone, I wonder who. Ángela was unable to reciprocate her husband’s feelings and, little by little, the love he felt for her turned into hatred. Pablo threatened to tell Doña Teresa and Andrés the truth. Ángela pleaded with him not to hurt Andrés, after all, Pablo loved the boy and was a devoted father to him. They finally came to an agreement: Pablo would disappear from their lives in exchange for a substantial sum of money that he would receive from Don Rómulo. Everyone thought Pablo was dead and the secret was safe. However, years later, Pablo reemerged and started blackmailing Ángela with yearly letters, demanding a payoff. Ángela never told Rómulo about Pablo’s extortion; she preferred to deal personally with the problem that she generated. Pablo’s yearly payoffs are the reason why Ángela could never afford to leave the Gran Hotel. This year, it is going to be very difficult to come up with Pablo’s hush money because of all the expenses incurred due to the health crisis of Andrés. Don Lupe offers to help Ángela with the money but she declines. She has some items she can sell for quick cash. All she wants is that Lupe accompany her to deliver the payoff. She can’t deal with Pablo alone, not this year anyway. Don Lupe puts a protective hand on her shoulder: “You are not alone, Doña Ángela. Never again!”. Awww, these two!
Felipe is walking in the dark scary forest. It’s a lovely night to get stabbed. Instead, he gets kidnapped by Jorge Arenas and his gang.
Andrés tells Julio that Teresa tried to kill Belén and his baby. He admits that his roommate was right all along: The Alarcóns are not who they pretend to be. They destroy everything they touch. Andrés makes Julio promise to look for Belén in the village.
Dr. Vicario installed a drugged-up Sofía in her mother’s bed. He demands that Teresa stop her constant pressuring of Sofía: “If you push your daughter one centimeter more, she will break in your hands!”. Teresa is offended by the Doc’s impudence. He tries to cajole her into allowing Sofía to go to rehab, but she says no, no, no. Teresa won’t permit that her daughter become the talk of the season (la comidilla de la temporada) nor will she expose her family to the mockery and rejection of their social circle. Teresa can’t afford to look weak or appear to be crumbling because the birds of prey (aves de rapiña) will swoop in to take everything before she even hits the ground! Dr. Vicario reaches for her hand in an attempt to comfort her but she steps back and explodes in self-righteous outrage. Teresa is not some naive young girl in need of a savior! She doesn’t need someone to hold her hand and fix her life nor does she seek a replacement to fill the space that Rómulo left. She kicks the Doc out, proclaiming that there is no emotional vacuum to fill because she is the only person that she'll ever need. She slams the door after him and sobs uncontrollably. Dr. Vicario broke a thug down.
In a cave somewhere, Felipe is tied up like a deboned leg of lamb ready for roasting. Jorge Arenas and his gang debate what to do with him. They need to gain entrance to the Gran Hotel to “wait for the man of the president”. Me thinks George Sand and her peeps are planning something against Don Javier Góngora, the presidential advisor, who is due to attend the independence centennial celebrations at the Gran Manicomio. The gangsters accept to do business with Felipe but they need something in return.
In the cantina, Cecilia, her “nieces”, Melibea and Violeta are bonding over pulque and male dissing.
In the Montejos’ bedroom, Isabel is weeping, either because of the engraved pendant she discovered earlier or because there is mustached vulture sleeping in her bed, I can’t tell for sure. Diego wakes up and consoles her. She hugs him then she passionately kisses him. What are you doing, woman? He is practically devouring her face and sweeping her tears with his bushy mustache. She is now lying on top of him and their game of tonsil-tennis is in full swing. My eyes! My eyes! As it turns out, this was just a disturbing fantasy. Ay, Isabel, qué demonios were you thinking? How do I un-see this horror now? Oh no! Diego wakes up for real and the earlier fantasy scene is reproduced. However, this time, Isabel rejects her husband’s impetuous advances and locks herself in the bathroom. A frustrated Diego starts blubbering. Isabel broke a thug down.
Back at the cantina, the working girls are drowning their boy troubles in more pulque. Violeta starts bawling. Seriously, who hasn’t cried in this episode? Cecilia tells her that she won’t know what romantic problems are until the day she offers a man her bosoms as a pillow, her legs as a blanket and her heart as a house, only to see him chuck it all into the rubbish dump and leave without so much as a goodbye. The ingrate to whom Cecilia was alluding walks in precisely at this moment. Julio is accompanied by Jacinto. I don’t know when these two became drinking buddies but ni modo, moving on. Detective Dagoberto Suárez, the short dumb arm of the law, is drunk as a skunk and indignated that Genaro wants to charge him for the hooch and the ho. Genaro informs him that Ayala is in charge of the census of prostitutes. Cecilia overhears their conversation and enquires about the census (censo) they mentioned. A patron offends her. Julio intervenes. It’s a bar brawl! Fight! Fight! Fight! Genaro invites bets. Man, this cantina is a hoot and a half!
Benjamín sees Ángela leaving Lupe’s room. He is shocked and angered.
The fistfight is still underway. Cecilia scolds Julio for letting the rich girl convert him into her passing fancy (capricho). Because of Isabel, he has a lot of bottled-up rage and he is throwing his life away. Julio doesn’t want to hear it. Take your advice and bouncing bazooms elsewhere, lady.
Don Benjamín is in his room. He removes his cherished pocket watch and proceeds to peeling away the layers of his uniform. He lifts his undershirt to reveal a barbed wire cilice wrapped around his bloodied belly. He carefully removes it and washes it in a small basin. He then ceremoniously places it in a box and looks out the window. His penitent expression mirrors the religious image on his wall of Jesus Christ wearing a crown of thorns. Don Relojito has always looked dodgy to me but I would have never imagined the spiked garter! Yikes! The Gran Manicomio is crawling with creeps and nutjobs.
A case in point is Ángela sneaking into Rómulo’s office to retrieve the sapphire necklace. If she had the key to the desk cabinet and the necklace belonged to her, why didn’t she keep it in her room? The necklace is no longer in its box. Ángela is impactada. Ha! That’s what happens when you leave your boinking rewards unattended, dummy! The lights are suddenly turned on: “Qué demonios are you doing here, Ángela?”, asks Teresa. Tee hee hee. Busted!
A quote from the capítulo
"Aunque pase por el más oscuro de los valles, no temeré peligro alguno.” *
* The quote hand-written in Teresa’s book is an extract of Psalm 23:4: “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil (danger).”
Your viewing vocabulario
(these definitions are context-specific, unless otherwise indicated)
entrego urgente = urgent delivery.
títulos (de tierra) = land titles.
bosquejo = sketch, draft, outline, croquis.
colindancia = adjoining boundary.
escrituras = deeds.
albacea = executor.
pécora = prostitute. (can also mean “sheep”).
punto fijo = fixed point.
comidilla = “ser la comidilla de [insert place or social circle]” means to be the talk of [insert place or social circle], to be on everyone’s lips, to be the favorite topic of gossip and/or derision.
temporada = season.
ave de rapiña = bird of prey, vulture.
censo = census.
capricho = whim, passing fancy.
Thank you for the pleasure of your company. Please join us again for the next capítulo. We’ll be saving you a seat!
Labels: hotel
What an emotional rollercoaster for our characters! I still haven't recovered from Garrido's sudden "crossing to a better life"! There goes my theory that he'll spell Diego's demise. Goodbye Idiot Goon Number One! We hardly knew ye!
And qué tal with Don Benjamín's spiked cilice? I'm speechless. I have no speech!
Enjoy the recap and the discussion. Thank you for stopping by! :)
"broke a thug down."
OMG Nandicta! Hysterical. Have a crazy work day coupled with crummy storms to deal with, but you turned my sour face to a huge smile. Great recap.
I can't even on that Benjy reveal, but it goes with that self-righteous attitude.
I too almost went nuts with the Isa/Diego makeout untiul Isa/Diego 2.0 appeared. I think that was her TRYING to think if she could carry out what she feels she should be doing with the hubs, but thankfully, she couldn't. Can I say he is one sloppy, clumsy, forceful lover? What does that say about Belen and Cristina? Yuck...As far as his tears...oh Boo friggin' Hoo.
We sure are putting a lot of emphasis on the local call girls. Now Ayala is using this whole census thing to meet-cute with his crush. Where is this all leading anyway?
I just KNEW Teresa would go on that rant about appearances when the Doc was giving her the what for on Sophia, who by the way needs to just be dealt with and fast. Because it always about Teresa and how it looks for Teresa. Again, Boo friggin' Hoo. (And I'm still wondering if the Doc still has a reason for hanging in this place.)
Lupe and Angela....awwwwwww. So did not see Andres' step-daddy alive story coming. Good lord, let's just keep bringing in those secrets. Too bad the Full Moon killer didn't get him, that would have solved her problem. When's a good TN serial killer when you need one...Better not have something happen to Lupe in this extortion meet up.
Daisynjay
"Sofía is in the mood for a round of slap-and-tickle"
"Dr. Vicario broke a thug down"
Well done scene of Benny and the cilice
Come on now Isabel, admit it, Diego makes your motor run
Oh Benny, no wonder you are angry all the time. The thing I thought about was a Catholic sect, Opus Dei, self punishment, mortification of the flesh, usually self-flagellation.
Is it full-moon?
How many more secrets are there?
Two big reveals and one in the making... this novela is spoiling us for the future.
I love how Ayala is smitten with Matilde. She is not a great beauty and he is old enough to be her father but he is attracted to her intelligence, pro-activity, and sense of purpose.
Isabel isn't tough enough to bite the bullet of having to exercise marital duties with Diego. I can't figure out why she married him in the first place.
Diego's laughter when Alfredo exited his office didn't go unnoticed. Eventually Alfredo will learn of the deception with the babies and I hope he doesn't lose his mind. I'm surprised he isn't insane with Elise for a madre and Teresa for a suegra.
The cilice is pointing to Benjamin as being the Full Moon Murderer, based on the current appearance of these things in literature and film. Isela Vega (Helloisa in MIVAC) wore one in her Mujeres Asesinas episode.
- "Stealing other people’s babies really takes it out of you."
- "Detective Dagoberto Suárez, the short dumb arm of the law"
- "That’s what happens when you leave your boinking rewards unattended, dummy!"
What will happen when Alfredo finds out that #2 isn't his baby (and not even his FIRST fake baby)? Seeing him with the baby last night, I think he might love the boy no matter what he finds out... but if Belen comes back to claim him, will Alfredo give him up? Or will Sofia OD, leaving Alfredo to marry Belen? (Feel free to laugh.) This is a real mess.
She has been trying very hard to like him. She voluntarily went to bed with him; she gave him a try. But she was obviously unhappy and disgusted after their first time in bed.
I think she is trying to psych herself up to be with him. Unfortunately, the hot and sensitive version of Diego that she's practicing with in her imagination disappears when she opens her eyes and looks at the impatient oaf who actually sleeps in her bed.
More hints point to Benjy in that he would have known Angela's ex which would explain why the killer went after some half-dead coughing dude. Though doesn't explain the others unless he thinks he is some messenger of God to eliminate sinners...very much the atypical character from literature in these cases.
Only head scratcher though for me--and I would have to see the replay of the killer moving in on his intended victim --but those feet seemed rather small to me for a man the height and weight of Benjy.
Daisynjay
And perhaps he's punishing himself for his impure thoughts?
But is he the cliche self-mortifying killer out of, say, Da Vinci, or is that another blood red herring?
Are we going to meet Benji's son eventually? I hope he's worth the wait.
(Ooh ooh... maybe there's a connection between Benjamin's son and Jorge Arenas.)
In a cave somewhere, Felipe is tied up like a deboned leg of lamb ready for roasting.
and this:
...the short dumb arm of the law"
And always amazed by your flawless, idiomatic English. Multi-lingual and a snazzy writer to boot. Sure works for me.
The surprises just keep coming. How long can the writers keep this up?
Thanks Nandicta, for filling in so flawlessly, and Vivi, enjoy your well-earned time off and trip!
The fantasy was just wishful thinking about how she'd like things to be. We are seeing her fantasize about being attracted to him, finding him irresistible, because then everything would be effortless and fun and she could have a happy marriage. Life would be so much easier then.
But all of that sensible, practical logic evaporates when the real Diego is in her face. Then all she wants to do is wash!
In other words, she wants Fantasy Diego. That guy's hot. Unfortunately, that's not the guy she married and no amount of trying or pretending can change that. Real Diego is yucky and she's turned off as soon as he touches her.
If Isabel is confused, it's because she hasn't accepted that we don't get to decide who we're attracted to. (Which is pretty ironic considering that she didn't choose to be attracted to Julio.) Maybe Matilde can talk some sense into her. They're overdue for a long talk anyway.
I knew Benjamin was the killer, I feel certain that his deviancy points to that direction in the story.
I hope Belen surfaces and talks to Ayala. She can point to the grave of the man that Diego killed, plus the dead baby in it. This will probably be how Isabel gets out from being married to him.
I was so confused about the scene with Benjamin. I am not religious and I had no idea what that thing was on his stomach or why someone would willingly wear something like that.
But the other reason I was confused was because at first, when he took off his jacket, I noticed his... um... man-boobs. I thought we were in for a bizarre and possibly pixelated reveal of a very different kind. (It would have been an astonishing turn for a TN of this type.) They weren't extraordinary or anything, but they were so noticeable that for a moment I thought we were supposed to notice. Especially when he started pulling up his shirt.
Regarding the questions raised about the cilice by J and Anon@2:47, as JudyB rightly pointed out, this is an old religious practice of (I would guess mostly Catholic) clergymen and consists in wearing coarse uncomfortable undergarments as a way of showing repentance. I first read about it in Molière's Tartuffe, where the title character is a hypocrite that feigns religious devotion but wears his cilice inside out. The cilice in question was made of coarse animal hair. As for cilices made with spiked metal, just like Julie and Anon@2:15, I read about them in Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code". I don't recall another example of metal cilices until this episode of EHDLS. UA kindly shared links with more information about cilices, including an episode of "Mujeres Asesinas", where a character used one.
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