Friday, April 29, 2016
Pasión y poder, Gran Final, Part 1: Ep. 135, Thursday, April 28, 2016: Franco's VERY Hostile Takeover. (Say goodnight, Marintia! Say goodbye, Mr. Turtle!)
Part 1 of this Jumbo Gran Final is brought to you by NovelaMaven, by the letter "A" and by Argentina.
Eladio isn't even tempted
Erick, still smarting from his parents' fury upon their discovery that he was behind the baby's kidnapping, has shown up at GLA with a proposal to sell out Arturo. Eladio sends him packing:
No trato con asesinos, con secuestradores, ni con cobardes...
(I don't deal with killers or kidnappers – nor with cowards.)
... and Erick fits the profile. Let him to go back to his father, ask his forgiveness and beg him to take him back because Erick is one chimp who can't survive on his own.
¡Estoy harta! (Imagine how WE feel, toots!)
Marintia screams at Franco that she is sick and tired of being his Back Street Girl. He needs to take care of the Gabriela problem now.
They cooked the books, Dad!
David tells his father that the expenses in the Riviera Maya budget are fraudulent – the suppliers don't even exist. He suspects that Franco is in cahoots with the accountant. Eladio finds it hard to understand why Franco would steal from his own company. And the personal betrayal that would involve is simply unfathomable.
One thing leads to another
Franco won't be pressured by the likes of Marintia. Oh yeah? Well if he even thinks about pushing her out of the game, she'll tell Eladio everything. THWAPP! She smacks him in the face. SLAM! He hits her back with enough force to knock her down to the floor.
Nah, Franco wouldn't do that ... would he?
David explains that Franco has signed an authorization for every single fake (apócrifo) expense. As bad as it looks, David still hopes that Franco isn't directly involved. So does Eladio, who reflects, once David has walked away, that he won't forgive a betrayal.
Um, you don't look too good...
Franco snaps his fingers at Marintia and tells her to get up. When she ignores him, he crouches down beside her. She lies unmoving. He touches the back of her head and then looks wide-eyed at his fingers now sticky with blood. The doorbell rings. We hear the baby crying from another room.
A Field Trip for Marcos
Eladio asks Callao to take Marcos out of the office and put him someplace isolated. He is not to talk to anyone until he gives the word.
Do you smell something funny?
Oh no! The super (el conserje) is at the door to Marintia's apartment. He needs to get in because there's a gas leak. If Franco won't open, he'll have to call the fire department. Gah! "Just a minute," says Franco as he hastily drags Marintia's very dead looking body out of sight. The baby is still crying.
Caridad goes on the offensive. The very offensive.
Eladio asks Caridad where Franco is and then gets angry when she makes excuses for his absence. She, in turn, gets shrill and accusatory, blaming Eladio for Franco's character.
Pedro continues his rounds
Now that Marintia's body is no longer lying in the middle of the living room, Franco opens the door for the super. Only it's not the super at all but – yup, you guessed it – TOTIM [The Only Thug in Mexico]. Pedro muscles his way in and demands his money. Sure thing, agrees Franco nervously, though he has no cash on hand. Then he excuses himself to check on his
son, who is wailing at this point. Left alone, Pedro ambles over to pour himself a drink ... and then he notices a pair of feet in hot pink heels. A closer look reveals they are attached to a still warm pink body hidden behind the couch.
I just wanted to make it up to him!
Caridad continues to accuse Eladio of neglecting her boy. Finally she admits that she just wants to compensate Franco for all the years she couldn't be with him. Eladio says covering for him isn't the way to show her love. She enabled his relationship with Marintia right from the start... and that's not going to end well.
"Did you talk to Gaby?" she asks with a worried look. Eladio narrows his eyes. "What does Gabriela have to do with this?" Caridad babbles a stream of meaningless denials and makes a hasty retreat. It is obvious to Eladio that she is hiding something. As soon as she leaves, he phones Gaby and asks her to call him back.
The Scream
Maybe Mateo can sense the evil in the air. Or maybe his diaper just needs changing. Whatever it is, the kid just keeps screaming. Franco holds him and strokes his hair gently as he negotiates with Pedro. The thug agrees to help him with his problemón, but it will cost him plenty.
A swindler, an abuser...
The conclusion seems inescapable: both Marcos and Franco are implicated in the Riviera Maya fraud. David admits to his father that he can't look at Franco as a brother anymore, especially after he hit Gabriela.
Whoa. "What did you just say???"
... and a killer
"It was an accident," says Franco. Pedro isn't interested in how it happened and the police won't care either. Just then Caridad calls to say he's needed at a board meeting and that David said something to Eladio that put him in a bad mood.
Pedro agrees to take the body to a building nearby. They can decide what to do with it later. The kid is still screaming.
Slow down, Arturo!
Arturo is so excited about the house, his choice of the perfect lot, the decor, even the art... Julia is less than thrilled that he is leaving her out of the process. And frankly, if she can't be part of the decisions about the house, then she doesn't want it.
So she can be returned to her owner if she ends up in the lost property office in the netherworld, I guess
Pedro places Franco's GLA badge in Marintia's dead hand and then begins to roll up her body in a rug. He smirks appreciatively at his handiwork.
Sorry. Gotta run.
Arturo doesn't seem to understand why Julia is upset about the house. Did Eladio put her up to it? She swears he had nothing to do with it. But she can't discuss it now because there's somewhere she has to be. Where? A meeting at GLA.
"She went to Argentina."
Franco enters Eladio's office with the screaming kid, who gets passed from son to father and is finally carried away by Caridad. Franco claims that Marintia left for Argentina, thus abandoning him and Mateo. Eladio listens with deceptive calm so Franco feels emboldened to continue:
"I think I'm going to have to get divorced from Gabriela so I don't do to her what you did to Julia. I can't ask her to take care of my lover's child."
Eladio replies that his decision is a little late. "Gabriela wants to divorce you for other reasons – and I'd like to hear them."
Franco begins to whine about Gaby's jealousy when WHAPP!!! Eladio catches him off-guard with a well-placed punch in the chops!
"Coward! I know you hit Gabriela!"
Gaby and David enter the office in time to hear Franco's pusillanimous admission that yes, he did strike her because she made him lose control, but she's exaggerating.
Gaby steps forward and puts the lie to his words:
"That's not true. And that's not the only reason I want to divorce him: he sold my parents' factory and never gave me the money he was paid. And to top it all off (para colmo), I found out that Marintia is his lover and he has a child with her."
Nina sets Regina free to follow her heart
Regina is looking wistfully at old photos of herself and David. She has just learned that David is going to Australia. And it hurts. Nina surprises her daughter with the revelation that Daniela knew how Regina and David felt about each other. And now Nina wants Regina to know that she will support her, whatever she decides to do.
SHUT UP!!!!
When Franco tries to justify himself, Eladio roars him into silence. Just as it's getting interesting, Caridad interrupts to say the board meeting is about to start.
Déjà vu all over again
Erick shows up drunk on Consuelo's doorstep and demands to see his son. She asks him to come back when he's sober. He lunges at her and grabs her by the throat. She tells him to calm down – she'll get the child. As soon as she steps out of the room, she picks up the phone...
Busted
Petra tells Regina she has finally agreed to go out with Obdulio. After all, love has a way of breaking through even when you try to hide it. Take David – "he still yearns for you (suspira por usted)."
By the way, has Regina decided on the menu for her wedding? Neither woman notices that Obdulio has just led Jorge into the foyer, well within earshot. Regina looks at the photos of her and David and says: "Please, I don't want to talk about the wedding. No weddings, now!"
Jorge, evidently unembarrassed by his much-too-tight peach shirt unbuttoned to expose more than anyone wants to see of his chihuahua chest, pipes up:
"And why does it bother you so much to talk about the wedding?"
Really busted
Loathsome Erick pounces on Consuelo, throws her down on the couch and begins to unbuckle his belt. She screams and tries desperately to fight him off. Suddenly the door opens and three police officers rush in. Erick pulls out a knife. One of the cops pulls out a gun and orders him to drop his weapon.
Regina admits that she doesn't love the poor Turtle enough to marry him.
Idiot down!
Instead of dropping his knife, Erick grabs one of the cops around the neck. One of his partners has a clear shot and takes it. We see Erick lying on the floor as Consuelo looks on in horror. Has he gone to Argentina too?
The guy messes around with your sister and you still love him?
Regina is so sorry. The Turtle Boy is mad! He pulls the ring right off Regina's finger. [You can't blame him. He's probably still making payments on it.] Harrumph! Now she has her freedom! He storms out, leaving Regina in tears.
The Coup
The GLA board meeting has already begun when Franco walks in and announces that he is now the majority shareholder in the corporation. From now on, he's the one calling the shots. Julia immediately rises and cedes her shares to Eladio so he can maintain his majority. David does the same. But Franco expected as much – he has bought enough stock to maintain a tiny edge over the three combined. And as the new majority shareholder and president, he asks for Eladio's resignation.
Not so lucky
Humberto loses big at the poker table. He starts to moan and clutch his chest. Is he going to Argentina too?
Why? Because I can.
Franco is doing this because he can. "You didn't recognize me as your son when you should have."
"You had my support," says Eladio. "You were my right-hand man."
"I don't care about that," retorts Franco. "I wanted to be your only son – your favorite! But now that doesn't interest me. All I want is your power. And you know what – now I've got it."
Apparently, Erick did not go to Argentina
Arturo and Nina arrive at the police station where Erick is being treated for a bullet wound.
Did that little twit just call me "Eladio"?
"The pupil has surpassed the teacher," Franco declares smugly. (El alumno superó al maestro.) David slams his fist on the table and shouts that he will defend with his life what belongs to his father.
Caridad enters with an urgent message for Julia: her father has taken ill. Eladio tells Rueda that the meeting is adjourned. When Franco objects, Eladio thunders at him for the second time to SHUT UP! "I'm still the president. And when I say it's over, it's over!"
Eladio dismisses the other board members. Julia leaves to check on Humberto. Eladio, now alone with Franco, gives him one final chance to reconsider what he is doing. If he does that, Eladio will try to forget his incredibly stupid actions and will not retaliate against him.
Franco stares at his father impassively. "When you come back, your business will be mine. Officially. So be very careful about what you do, Eladio."
Eladio looks coolly at the son who has just declared war on him. "Good. Don't say I didn't warn you. You haven't learned quite enough. You still don't know who your father is. No, Franco, you still don't know."
Rescue me!
Arturo confronts Erick in the treatment room at the police station. "How could you do that to Consuelo? Or even worse, how could you try to hurt your child?" Erick shrugs. "You raised me. It's your fault." Arturo tells him to take responsibility for what he's done. This time he's going to end up in prison.
"Prison?" repeats Erick with horror. "You can't let them put me in prison, dad! You have to help me! You have to get me out of here! And I'm hurt!"
Erick is wearing an elaborate sling, but apparently his injury is minor – the bullet just grazed his arm. He won't be going to Argentina any time soon. But his father isn't going to rescue him. Not this time. As much as it hurts him to say so, Erick was asking for it. (Tú te lo buscaste.)
Busted, Senior Version
Julia and Eladio are back in her apartment. Humberto is better. (Apparently he's not going to Argentina today either.) Julia is clearly worried about Eladio. He doesn't deserve Franco's betrayal, she assures him. Eladio is comforted by her words. He thanks her. They embrace carefully, tenderly. They are very close to a kiss when Nurse Martín breaks the spell with his ill-timed entry.
Julia asks the nurse what happened to her father. "He was playing poker," says Martín. Julia stares at Eladio in disbelief. He shrugs slightly.
Tough Love
Erick hugs Nina and begs her to get him out of there. She refuses. "That's not the way to help you." Through her tears, she tells him he is being transferred to prison the following day. "Now you're going to learn to face the consequences of your actions."
Erick immediately turns on her and tells her to get out. "Damn you and damn my whole family! I don't need you!"
"I feel pity for you," Nina replies. "Despite what you say, I'm not going to stop loving you. I'll never stop loving you."
Julia confronts Humberto with his lies
"You told me you were going to the home to visit your friends and you were really gambling! Where did you get the money?"
Power Trip
Franco orders Caridad to clear out Eladio's office. When Justino arrives looking for David, Franco tells him he's fired. When Caridad questions him, he wags his index finger in her direction: she's fired too.
I repeat: Where did you get the money?
Franco gave him the money, says Humberto, to get him off his back. Julia turns to Eladio, who has just entered the old man's bedroom. Does he know where Franco would have gotten the money to give to her father? "It's obvious," says Eladio: "He used the money he got for Gabriela's factory, which he sold without her permission."
Humberto feigns surprise and outrage: "That bastard sold my granddaughter's inheritance?" But Eladio sees through him. He gets so angry that he grabs the old man by his sweater. Julia's presence saves the old man from any further physical attack, but she is just as disgusted with Humberto as Eladio is. She warns him: "No more lies!"
Get out or I'll throw you out!
Franco orders his mother to get out. When she just stands there whimpering, he grabs her and tries to push her out. Just then, David enters and orders him to let go of her. Franco looks at him calmly and asks: "What are you doing in my office?"
"I'm only here to let you know that you're going to pay for everything you've done, Franco. For everything."
Franco, apparently untroubled by the threat, doesn't see how that can possibly happen.
"I do," says David with a knowing smile.
As soon as David has left the office, Franco picks up a framed photo of Eladio and lets it drop to the floor. The glass shatters.
¡Sí se puede!
Gaby meets Agustín for coffee (and cookies). She tells him about Franco's coup at GLA. The sad thing is there's nothing they can do about it.
Agustín disagrees: Yo creo que sí se puede. (I think something can be done.) He smiles slyly.
Grease under Pressure
In a vacant warehouse somewhere in the city, Eladio tells the sweat-bathed, tremulous Marcos that he has two choices: Either he tells him how he defrauded GLA or he is going to find out who Eladio Gómez Luna really is. (And maybe win a trip to Argentina?)
"Franco... Franco planned everything! I just followed his orders. He forced me. I knew it was wrong, but he made me do it."
Eladio wants proof. Marcos promises to provide it.
Going to Australia isn't like going to Argentina, but still...
Regina surprises David in his office. She has heard about his travel plans, she tells him.
"I didn't think that would matter to you."
"David, please listen to me."
"It's not a good time to talk. I have a lot of problems here at work..."
"I understand that you don't want to talk to me. I'm sorry for bothering you. I just came to tell you that..."
Regina's eyes well up with tears. David stares at her uncomprehendingly.
Here ends of Part 1 of the Gran Final. Now Mauricio picks up the story with Part 2 (episode 136) and Urban Anthropologist follows with Part 3 (episode 137). We'd like to keep the conversation in one place, so Mauricio and I are closing our posts to comments.
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