Caray, Caray!

Sorry this was so late.

Due to the length Blogger shrank our type and I can't fix it. You may need to adjust your view to 110% or 125% to read this.

I dearly hope that Univision doesn't do another 3-hour finale if only for this reason.
 

Sorry this was so late.

Comments were disabled for the two earlier hours in order to keep the discussion in one thread. This three-hour thing should never happen again.
 

Thank you very much for the recap of the Gran Final for "Pasion y Poder" UA!

Here's my Dead Pool Body Count as of last night:

1.) Susanna Montenegro: Arturo's 1st wife & Miguel's mother

2.) Schmidt

3.) Caridad's abusive husband

4.) Julia's mother

5.) Maribel: We hardly knew you!

6.) Gisela Fuentes

7.) Montserrat Moret

8.) Gaby's parents

9.) The witness, who got paid off by Arturo

10.) Daniela Montenegro Perez: GOODBYE FELICIA: She was never going to change (gas-lighting Regina & bullying Miguel & Connie)

11.) Marinita: When the law enforcement authorities opened up the rug & it showed her decomposing body...GROSS!

12.) Peter Ashmore: Good Riddance

13.) Arturo Montenegro: WOW! I never saw that coming at all.

 

NovelaMaven, Mauricio and Urban, thank you all for your stirring, emotional and witty recaps.

"Caridad goes on the offensive. The very offensive", "TOTIM [The Only Thug in Mexico]", and "So she can be returned to her owner if she ends up in the lost property office in the netherworld, I guess" were excellent NovelaMaven.

I particularly loved your musings on Erick "Has he gone to Argentina too?", Humberto who ”…loses big at the poker table. He starts to moan and clutch his chest. Is he going to Argentina, too?" and the hapless Marcos "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?" were marvelous.

Mauricio, I especially enjoyed "Over at Julia’s small, but independent apartment", "Arturo arrives and wants to take her out for breakfast at IHOP where they can talk about her “dream home” and their plans together" and "He tells her that he wants to go to Timbuktu where he can meet up with Joshua and join the “We Were Dumped By Regina Montenegro” club. Francisco will end up joining the club, although he wasn’t dumped by Regina, and the three will form a boy band called “The Three Amigos”" were magnificent.

UA, you shone throughout but "It could have been Franco's handsome face that bothered them or perhaps it was his extreme arrogance", "They kissed under the California sun. It had been a long night's journey into day" and your speculation on Pedro "Perhaps he disappeared into the injustice system" were among my many favorites.

An incredible summary all. Thank you.

I thought surely Julia would perish and that the families would come together in reconciliation and peace. It never occurred to me that Arturo would die.

The penalties were harsh, deserved or not.

I smiled when Regina and David were hugging and clearly glowing in love. For a moment, their foolishness and transgressions were forgiven as they glowed, clearly in love and happy.

I was pleased that Erick repented. Although too late, it served to give Nina peace and spared her losing another child. I was happy Consuelo forgave Erick but was not surprised to see Miguel do so. He is a man without rancor who hopefully will be rich in love and friendship. A generous soul.

I wish we'd seen a little more Gaby and Augustin (of all the scenes, they had to take the shears to them?)

I thought the last few minutes fell rather flat. Julia had but days of freedom and independence. Well, perhaps they will find it together.

Thank you to all the wonderful recappers for never failing to provide thoughtful and insightful summaries. The patio has been wonderful and the comments fun and always intelligent.

I'm not watching Yago but hope to be back thereafter at the 9:00 hour.

Diana
 

NovelaMaven, Mauricio, and UA,

Thanks so much for providing us with this wonderful tag team account of last night's final. Each unique signature style was excellently showcased giving us this last glimpse of these two privileged families locked in a ridiculous conflict which unfortunately doomed both. Well done guys.

UA,

"...you were the only man in my life."

Nina spoke this in private with Arturo's corpse. Does this at least and at last settle the question of her loyalty and faithfulness as a wife to Arturo?

Carlos
 

Carlos, I stopped questioning whether she was faithful a while back. However, that is not always synonymous with love.

Without knowing about Julia she still didn't seem to trust him because if you remember the scenes at the foundation gala early in the story she rushed to his side the second any other woman tried to address him. This is a display of narcissistic insecurity.

BTW, was there an unusual number of commercials airing during the finale? I was disturbed to see how many scenes were deleted out of the middle.
 

Thanks, Cynderella, Urban Anthropologist, AuntyAnn, NovelaMaven, Mauricio! Getting your PyP recaps these months has been a joy. All your recaps are must-reads for me.

NovelaMaven, Mauricio, Urban -– What a treat to have you three teaming up for the gran final in your sparkling individual styles. Squee! Loved it all, especially "Argentina too," "small, but independent apartment," and DD-isms. Thanks for this splashy end.

I'm pretty happy with the ending. Mauricio, thanks for the clipped scenes. I wished they hadn't cut the one with Augie and Gaby.

Likes:

Eladio deciding to raise his grandkid, taking him from Caridad (for good, I hope). Wished they had shown some of Mateo’s life with gramps. The poor fellow cried so much last night. Would've been great to see him finally smiling.

Erick stabbing Ashmore several times (11 thrusts?, wow). Very disturbing, but riveting scene.

No wedding, not even Consuelo’s and Miguel’s

Eladio and Julia meeting again and reconciling on the beach

Erick and Franco in prison, suffering. Something tells me Franco will wind up trying to get Eladio to help him. Either that, or he'll go even more nuts.

Augie adopting Diego even before hooking up with Gaby

Dislikes:

Consuelo going overboard reassuring imprisoned Erick that he would always be Erick Jr.’s dad. Miguel did well keeping silent there.

Arturo, as he lay dying saying something about his endless love for Julia, before he asked Eladio to look after his kids.

Okay by me:

David and Regina back together
 

Niecie: I liked the "She went to Argentina" comment regarding Marinita (who got whacked by Franco).

I'm assuming Marcos got beat up by Callao & was exiled to Australia or maybe the Philippines.


 

Diana, that hostage scene was a shocker. Those five minutes took me an hour to write up and it was the hardest part of this to rewatch.

I was also wondering whether Julia was going to end up dead; both men would have been devastated and Eladio might have killed Franco and gone mad. Instead Arturo got not the anvil some have wanted to deal him but an operatic death saving the lives of the woman he loved and the rival who also loved her. I didn't see this one coming either.

It also occurred to me that Arturo's death was part of Nina's Karmageddon, but I truly believe her overall punishment was too harsh. Losing one child (Erick) would have been enough.

Niecie, I completely agree with your comment about Consuelo's forgiveness. That was ridiculous. I was also disappointed that she didn't change the child's name. While I agree with Nina's line about not concealing the truth when the time comes he should not have to live with a name associated with murder.

On that note, a while back I had to do business with another ad agency on the West Coast where my contact was a fellow named David Berkowitz. I remember saying "Would you repeat that?" and he laughed and said that he was 10 years old during the Summer of Sam. It would have been very declassee of me to ask whether it prevented him getting dates.
 

Wow, thank all the recappers a hundred, million, bazillion times

NovelaMaven, love, love your heading lead in's and wit

"Or maybe his diaper just needs changing"

"Has he gone to Argentina too?"

Mauricio, your asides always a delight

"Julia’s small, but independent apartment"

"Justino FINALLY served a purpose"

UA, your alter ego perspective incredible

"If laughter is the best medicine I am ready"

They threw me off and I didn't expect Art to die but guess if you kill Dani so David and Regina can be together you gotta kill Art to free Julia up.

Eric - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, uh, uh what comes after 8

Franco - buy me a tiara and we'll talk

Ashmore - my dental hygienist never said I could die using a tooth brush incorrectly

Julia - they're all liars, even the travel agent lied, China Town ain't in China and The Tenderloin ain't a restaurant

Humberto - two day stubble isn't sexy

Mateo - eat your heart out Victoria Ruffo

David - I know, I know but if she breaks up with me again I'll date Nina

Jorge - can I have my turtle back

Eladio - wasn't hard to find a woman walking in circles, talking to herself, and gesticulating wildly

Art - I'll never pull that self sacrifice crap again


 

UA: Purple Lips living in the Montenegro mansion alone was pretty much a forgone conclusion considering that Miguel already moved out a long time ago (I'm hoping he & Connie get out of DF as soon as possible) & Regina moving to Australia with David.

Eladio reminds me of Santino from "Amores Verdaderos": who was one of the Bad Boys in that TN, involved in illegal schemes, etc.,

 

Tofie: How did you like my Dead Pool Body Count from this TN ?
 

This is my first comment to thank all of you wonderful and kind recappers. I watched the last 2 hours, my first viewing ever. I followed through your recaps. I am amazed that I can skip watching because I know you are here to help. I learned that I wouldn't able to survive watching this show because I have a bald spot where I use to have hair so thank you. So Eladio got away with murder*Gisela ect) but I am not sorry about Arturo he annoyed me to no end. Franco is somebody's bride and Erick is minus 2 digits karma was busy. Caridad is an idiot. Gaby is dumb. David and Gina are boring ect....
Romy
 

First and foremost, thank you ever so much to NovelaMaven, Mauricio and Urban Anthropologist respectively for Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of this mammoth and oh-so-satisfying finale! Second, much appreciation and admiration to the entire recap team for sharing their time and talent with us all these months. Last and certainly not least, many thanks to this patio of wonderful people who welcomed me into this community and made me feel like part of the gang from Day 1. I learnt so much from all of you, even in our friendly disagreements. Thank you all and see you in the Yago Patio!

Well, friends, Romans, countrymen, it looks like Eladio got his anvil, after all! :D What an emotional roller-coaster this gran final was! Completely different to anything I might have expected! I had many theories in mind but none of them materialized: Eladio dies, Julia dies, a catastrophe kills everyone, each couple goes back to their initial spouse, everyone breaks up and starts over on their own,... I imagined a variety of scenari and the writers still managed to surprise me! That's a point in their favor. I also really really really appreciated the absence of weddings in this finale! I did not want Arturo to die and did not see it coming (I thought Franc would kill Eladio or at least injure him). However, now that I had time to assimilate Arturo's untimely demise for a woman who strung him along, gave him false hopes and lead him to destroy his family for a mirage, I think that I'm OK with everything that was done in the finale, if only for the shock factor. The death by puñetazo (a blow with a fist), the death by cepillazo (a blow with a toothbrush) and the death by balazo (bullet shot) were unexpected but rather entertaining. Franco's boardroom antics, Juladio's badass team against Humberto, Juladio's interrupted kiss, Franco's runteldat secret-unravelling moment to Julia, Eladio's roughing up of Marcos, the shenanigans of Pedro The Two-Timing Thug and that epic ending shot with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background were my favorite moments. I loved the music they used at the end, it was a variation of the main theme and I have been humming it ever since I saw the final the first time, about three weeks ago. I wish I could get my hands on the soundtrack of this TN. It was the bomb!

to be continued
 

continued

Was this novela a hot ratchet drama mess? Yes! Did it get me completely hooked and played with my emotions big time? Yes! Did I love every moment of it, including the moments that pi$$ed me the heck off? Absolutely! Despite its many shortcomings, I faithfully tuned in to see what our messy characters were up to. I laughed, I cried, I raged, I qué-the-hell'ed... It was a wild ride and I enjoyed every second of it (except the fast-forwardable WTFs)! Eladio, Nina, Humberto, Callao, Gisela, Franco and Erick, in this order, were the characters that kept me coming for more. The vehicle may not have been perfect, but in my opinion, this has been Colunga's best performance. This was the role of his career, as far as I'm concerned. He did have a wobbly start but, once he settled in Eladio's skin, boy was he spectacular! He was just magnetic. Stole almost every scene he was in. I just couldn't take my eyes off of him. We got to see glimpses of Eladio's gangster self in the finale and it made me wonder just how great it would've been if the writers let Eladio get more evil after Julia spent that night with Arturo. This is one of my biggest gripes with the writers: I feel like they robbed me of my villain.

The second thing I disliked was how they ruined pretty much every single female character in this TN. The only women with a bit of character and with their ovaries firmly in place were Nina, the supposed "villana", and Petra, the supposed "buffoon" of this story. The rest were either dumb hoes or waffling opportunistic morons with zero will, zero consistency, zero personality, zero flavor, zero entertainment value

Still, I believe that the thing that I can't forgive the writers for was the WTF Family and their filler nonsense! They were privvy to a bunch of secrets that they only discussed amongst themselves. Justino's "revelation" in the finale was useless because the GLs Father and Son were already onto the padded bills which had Franco's signature. So really, the guy served zero purpose in this story. And don't get me started on Clara and her corn-selling, her shoe-selling, her "pos this and pos that". Ugh! But the most annoying member of the WTF gang was, hands down, Maribel, who was walking around crying and dying for the best part of the first 25 episodes.

Anyhoodles, I am happy to let everything slide, because I feel that, all in all, I had a wonderful time watching this show. I discovered some captivating and quote-worthy characters and I saw a cliché-busting TN. All in all, I was very entertained by PyP and, obvio the experience was enhanced by the fun we had on the Patio.

Cheers everyone! You are the best! :)
 

Thank you, thank you, thank you - NovelaMaven, Mauricio, and Urban, respectively. What a great final recap for this tn.

I really liked the fact that it did not end with a cliche wedding (single, double, triple or otherwise) - kudos, writers!

Tofie . . . . priceless!

Alternate ending (with a time jump, of course): David goes to Australia where he meets a beautiful new girl and gets gobsmacked and immediately falls in love. Julia decides to include Australia in her world journey and wants to meet up with David to catch up, but before she finds him she meets a smooth, handsome boat captain who moves "her tapete" and they start a wonderful, easy, guilt-free relationship. Captain Gorgeous (actor??) takes her to dinner, but asks if its okay if his niece joins them, as he is her only relative and she is dying to introduce her new boyfriend. His niece calls him and asks if its okay for her to invite her college professor who just recently got married and he and his wife don't know too many people in Australia, so the Cap says, of course! At the nice restaurant, the Captain and Julia are enjoying a drink when he says, "Ah, here is my niece!" Up walks the young lady with David in tow. Julia and David look at each other and start laughing. The niece goes, "Uncle, here comes my professor and his wife." They all look up to see Eladio walk up with an elegant, beautiful age-appropriate woman at his side. The Niece, the Uncle and the sophisticated woman cannot understand what the joke is - as Eladio, Julia and David stare at each other and collapse in laughter!

Tina (all-time lurker)
 

I watched the ending live when it broadcast in Mexico, and wondered when I watched parts of it last night if I remembered wrong about when scenes I didn't see happened.

I mostly liked the ending but Arturo dying was a terrible waste. I wasn't a fan of his, but I found his death unnecessary and unsatisfying. It would have been better if they had continued being rivals, but in a friendlier, more mature manner.

Of all novelas that could have used a wedding, this to me was it. We know Julia didn't happily marry Eladio. We know their honeymoon was terrible. We had to watch her smooching Arturo during the latter third to finally get a kiss with Eladio in the finale. A wedding, this time a happy one, fully in love, would have been far more satisfying to see.

-Annie
 

-- Tofie: Cheers for giving the fans what they clamored for all these weeks! What a treat to have a special list of zingy soundbites in honor of the gran final. I laughed my head off! :D
 

Romy: Gisela HAD IT COMING. I never liked her.

Nandicta: Liked that David & Regina will be running the merged company.

Tofie: Franco becoming the other prisoners' "Princess Babe"!

Kirby: Clara's preggers: YES!
 

thanks UA, Novelamaven, and Mauricio for a grand finale recap. Thanks also to all our faithful, devoted, hardworking recappers for guiding us through this wild ride.

Yikes...poor Art...that was a surprise .

Tofie..I really appreciated your signature list making skilz. You took me right down Memory Lane... I got mistyeyed recalling all those lists you provided us with for PSMA.Excellent way to wrap up the madness with a synopsis of these characters!

Steve..thanks for your list of folks who did not quite make it to the finale.

I felt bad for poor Jorge. I guess this good guy did finish last. ..or dodged a bullet depnding how you feel about wishywashy Reg. I'd like to think that he was a good loser and let Reg keep the turtle and that Dave was a good winner and did it no harm. Hopefully, chicks are already lining up for a sweet guy like Jorge.

Er...repenting???....the beatdown beat the nasty right out of him?

No more Assmore...fine with me.

At the memorial service, did I spy a pregnant Clara ?

Augie finally got his reward for being the go to guy for everyone! Hub is also always putting out fires for everyone in our family, so I know tgat trype of guy.I am happy and relieved that Augue let that sidehair grow so that it no longer looks like he is wearing a bike helmet made of hair ...better wedding photos.

It's been real everyone. Hope to see you soon. I will give Yago a try, and I am looking forward to seeing Angie and Rulli soon.

In the meantime, I will be watching and reading Outlander.
 

P.S. The more I think about the writers killing off Art, the madder I get . Because Art died, Julia never had to make a big girl decision. She just ended up with the survivor. I do not like this convenient out for Julia and Eladio wins by default. Boo
 

Did anyone else notice that it seemed the last scene with Julia and Eladio did not seem to be filmed together by FC and SG? The very last moment with the kiss does seem to be them together but when they are talking to each other, the shot either focuses solely on FC or SG, then the slipping on the ring only the hands. They seem to be talking to stand ins. Especially when FC is talking the woman appears to be shorter and SG seems to match him quite well in height, also the hair does not match up. In his talking scenes the actress seem to have her hair pulled forward in front of her shoulders because we don't see the luscious locks SG has and when they focus on her talking scenes her hair is clearly flowing nicely behind her back. But another tell is when Julia first sees Eladio on the beach behind her is what looks like a father wearing red with a kid. Then when the shot pulls away at the end showing them kissing, for the first time showing them together in one shot (which I hope is finally really FC and SG together in that shot), behind Julia is a woman now with her beach set up, looking like shes waving off a towel in the wind or something, but not the same background when they first spot each other. I wonder if there were some last minute rewrites to the dialogue and FC and SG were not available anymore at the same time, but luckily the final shot kiss does look like its really both the actors there. :)
Sorry if I'm being weird, its just been bothering me, and I was curious if anyone else noticed or if I'm just crazy and grieving the end of the story ;). The focus of the camera on only one of them at a time is throwing me off. Either way I have enjoyed this novela and the performances of all the actors very much!
Thank you for this site and to all the recappers!!!
Cara
 

Kirby: Clara's preggers: YES!
Yaaa for Justino. Can't blame the boy.
 

I can't say it any better than all you have said, so just Thank You recappers for making this the one I will never forget.

What a ride.

kj
 

-- Steve: Thank you for compiling the list of the dead. Now that we have all seen the finale, I can reveal to you that the ending of the old version of PyP (1988) would have been to your and Kirbo's liking: Mayhem, destruction and a much higher bodycount! In the old version, Eladio was a regulation villain from the get-go. He was evil, ruthless, sadistic and he committed a lot of murders. The old version Julia (named Ana Laura, I think) hated him and rejected him from start to finish. He and Nina became lovers and formed an alliance against Julia and Arturo. They even ordered Miguel's murder! The ending consisted in Eladio planting a bomb in a discotheque where Julia, Arturo, their children, their friends and associates were celebrating something. At first, it looks that Eladio decided to commit suicide and take everybody down with him in a blazing inferno. The bomb explodes, people are shown fleeing but the viewers don't know who survived and who didn't. However, the last scene shows a car pulling up in a poor neighborhood, that looks like the one where Eladio grew up. There is a shot of the bottom of a car door opening, a man's foot in tailored pants and leather shoes , then Eladio's evil laugh! Muahahahahahaha! The end. I must confess that I imagined this ending for our new version of PyP. The way it played out in my head (A black sedan driving away. Callao's piercing eyes in the rearview mirror, then in the backseat we see a mouthspray and Eladio's powerful manpaws reaching for it), makes me favor this unusual and violent ending to the romantic one we got.

-- Sunsanlynn: Ash-more is Ash-no-more! Tee hee! (I know, it's lame but I couldn't help it!) :D
 

-- Susanlynn: Your comment about Julia's pattern of not making a decision continuing to the bitter end is one of the reasons why I feel that Eladio got his anvil! Good luck living with Princess Confundida and her mood swings, pal! She never actually "picked" Eladio. She never forgave him or she never decided to be with him out of love and loyalty. He's there, he worships her, he built her a mansion, he offers her a life of luxury, he puts up with her bull... And the other sap who had similar attributes was gunned down trying to save her infuriatingly confused behind! Franco's bullet made the final decision for her and Eladio had to look for her around the world and find her for her to declare that she "decided" to start over with him! :D
 

If you could steal something (some things) and/or burn something (some things), in terms of the accessories we were shown over the course of this TN, what would you choose?

I would steal: Eladio's suits, Julia's wardrobe, Eladio's books about Ancient Egypt and Nina's collection of MAC matte lipsticks.

I would burn: Regina's fake ponytail, David's vests, Clara's Andrea catalogue, Ashmore's ties and Nina's (earlier) slutwear.
 

Nandicta. Yeah ..that. And poor Julia is never going to get that Barbie dream house . She was so excited when Art dusted off those 25 year old blueprints and spread them out on the table in her teeny, tiny independent apartment!(thanks, Mauricio..I like the way you think, hombre).

Gee, I am going to miss all you guys. Who is going to give Yago a go ?
 

Ah, but you must admit that Nina's slutwear was amusing to comment on!

I wasn't yet watching novelas in the 80s but I know that FPS (Felices para siempre) was not a rule. However considering who played Eladio in the '88 version that ending does make sense.
 

Nandicta.. I would definitely steal Julia's dresses , heels, and jewelry . My friend once wore one of those fake ponytails to a New Years Eve party...I would send it to her.

So...if you HAD TO end up with one of these guys, who would it be ?
 

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good:

Cast was top-notch and not just because they are ratings bait. All performances were excellent, with nothing lacking. Among the secondary cast members, Gerardo Albarrán did an excellent job as El Callao with minimal dialogue and his menacing presence. The actors who played the psychiatrists were perfect in their portrayals (see Writing, below for the However).

Costuming and set design were excellent and appropriate to the story. There were certainly enough Crimes of Fashion to amuse.

Great location shooting and cinematography. Good choice for Ashmore's office building in New York and excellent midtown locations.

The music was excellent, as usual. Televisa almost never misses with this.

Product placement, which normally annoys me, was appropriate to this series. I'm sure Caesar's Palace, Fiesta Americana Hotels, the auto manufacturer of Franco's yellow car (What company was that?), and the other tourist spots were happy to be represented.
 

The Bad:

The Writing of this tale suffered greatly, possibly due to viewer behavior and demand. The rehabbing of Eladio was highly unrealistic and had a domino effect on development of the other lead characters. If not for past typecasting this character should have remained as despicable as he was in the opening episode. Had he been portrayed instead by Sergio Sendel we would have had the implied intended story.

Nina's narcissism should have been a little more obvious for the benefit of viewers who don't know anyone like this. She was toned down along with Eladio, which made the young lovebirds' conflict ridiculous and artificial. “I can't be happy with you because your mom is boinking my dad” would make sense if Regina and David were 12, not 24. It was too contrived a reason to keep them apart and inconsistent with their characters' other traits of independence.

Had the cast been actors of lesser ability and the dialogue of lesser quality, this series would have become unwatchable.

While it is a good thing to be seeing mental health professionals in novelas – and it seems to be a growing trend – in the real world they usually meet with far more resistance and have little or no success with domestic abusers, especially when the behavior is long-term. While Eladio's description of his family of origin fits the profile, curing him at the age of 50 after long-term abuse of his wife is not realistic at all. If this had been done with a younger character with only a 5-year history of such behavior it could have been believable. This element of the story is a dangerous deception, also because Eladio got away with essentially stealing 25 years of Julia's life.

Julia should have walked away without looking back instead of reuniting with him at the end, not just for the abuse but also because of the long-term deception about Franco's origins.

The nepotism of casting the young actress who played Clara in this series and the characters in her orbit also affected the story by possibly taking away from a usual Televisa character group, namely servants. With Televisa's history of showing numerous servants in households like the two in this story we're all scratching our heads at seeing only one female house servant in mansions with many rooms.

While there was a good representation of what modern social media can do, the attitudes of the “mature” characters needed work. Nina's 1950s mindset about marrying for money (her daughters) and a son inheriting the entire family fortune through the paternal line (Erick) was insanely out of date. This may have been an element of this character's thinking in the 1988 version, but we've come a long way since then. Nobody with this kind of money leaves it all to the oldest son anymore. Julia's story could have been written for True Confessions: “I Raised My Husband's Bastard Child for 20 Years and Didn't Know It.” Nobody would believe such a thing today.

Another main problem with the writing (not unique to this series) is the perceived need to keep see-sawing on the actions and attitudes of the characters, especially in the last dozen episodes. This is obviously intended to maintain a high level of suspense, but it hurts the already-stretched credibility of the story. In series like this there is nothing worse than inconsistencies in characters whom we have to believe capable of functioning in everyday life.
 

The Ugly

I guess those of us who loved the 1993 Corazón Salvaje shouldn't cringe at the incestuous connexion between Regina and Daniela through David. I was waiting for Daniela to also boink Franco, which could have been entertaining. However, I came to realize that it wasn't going to happen because he wouldn't have been able to control her as he did Gabriela.

In all seriousness, such a story element is more acceptable in a novela de epoca in eras in which people had fewer new people in their lives than today.

The Ugly American stereotype still rears its head here with Ashmore. While Fabián Pizzorno did a good job and didn't make a truly stupid cliché out of this character, why did he have to be from the US (not to mention my home city)? At least they spared us having to see Daniela boink him.

The violence got nastier toward the end, but was that because this program was competing with a narco story with raining bullets and geysers of blood? Is this an attempt to get more male viewers? Or is it a statement that violence is the new order and romance is passé?
 

Question : Dave's really RED a vest...what's up with that? Did he join a barber shop quartet? Does he moonlight as a valet? What?
 

I just heard that SNL is planning to cut down on commercials (it is crammed with them which is why I usually record the show) and use product placement in the show . That should be very interesting
 

-- UA: We did have fun mocking those crazy outfits, not to mention the garish hair flowers and that weird chain contraption she used to put on her head! :D It would take several of your excellent "Crime of Fashion" installments to do Nina's (earlier) retina-burning wardrobe choices justice!

-- Susanlynn: I'm definitely in for Yago. Back in 2010-2011, every woman in my immediate environment was obsessed with the Turkish series Ezel and crazy about the guy playing him. I think I'm the only one of my family and work circle who didn't watch that show and escaped Ezel-mania. So, obvio (Ay, I miss Eladio, already!), this makes me very curious to check out Yago. I just hope that Iván Sánchez has the charisma and elegance that made the Turkish actor who played Ezel a superstar and a heartthrob in every country where the series was broadcast. If not, then I'll have to make do with Flavio Medina. I love me a good villain and this guy never disappoints. Manuel Ojeda is in Yago as well (Francisco in Alborada) and he plays a decent baddie. If you don't like Yago, then I'll see you in the Tres Veces Ana patio. I don't think I'm going to like it (I saw the original with Lucero and I don't think this version will beat it, at least in my book), but I need to practice my Spanish and I'm on the recap team for that slot, so I'll hang around and hope to God the TN doesn't exceed 100 episodes.

Have a great weekend, everyone! See you next week for the gran estreno of Yago! :)
 

-- Susanlynn: If I had to, I would go with my sexy beast Eladio! Obvio! If only for that one noche de pasión that El Güero Castro denied us. Months of misery and the only ones that got nookie in this TN were MontZorrat, Chimp Boy, Franquita and the Mouthbreather! Ugh!
 

-- UA: Thank you for sharing your detailed assessment of the series with us. I wholeheartedly agree with everything except your point of view on Nina's turnaround. I personally enjoyed her story arc, even if it may seem unrealistic.

I'm divided about Eladio's redemption because, as I said before, I would've really liked him to go back to being evil once his year of happy marital illusion crashed and burned. I enjoyed the first 50-60 episodes when I liked Eladio and sided with him, despite his lies and manipulations. I liked the dichotomy of my feeling guilty for rooting for a guy whose wicked side was nourished by years of rejection and desamor (lack of love). He was rejected by the people that one expects to receive love from, under normal circumstances. His father didn't love him, his mother didn't love him, his mentor (Arturo's dad) and his friend (Arturo) ended up rejecting him, the woman he loved didn't love him, the mistresses he had didn't love him (they were paid one way or another for their services),... So the guy wasn't a mustache-twirling villain, committing villainies for the heck of it. There wer a set of circumstances that imprisoned him in an evil circle of hatred, obsession and possessiveness and he didn't seem to be able to escape from it. However, when I discussed this with a friend of mine, she told me that I always complain that TNs are predictable and now that I was given an opportunity to watch something different, I'm complaining again! That sorta shut me right up! :D That's why I said that, overall, and despite a few disappointments, I enjoyed PyP for breaking the mould. A lot of the plot devices are artificial but I never expect TNs to be realistic so I kinda give the writers a pass. Over the course of the past months, I made up my own version of PyP in my head, starring our excellent cast. And let me tell you, my version of PyP is a blast! :D

A million times yes for your assessment of the producer's new squeeze eating up precious airtime that should've gone to other characters. I wanted to see more of Callao, Simona, Efraín, Pedro The Two-Timing Thug, even Humberto's nurse was more interesting (that line he had, when he tattle-taled on Humberto to Julia and Eladio was just priceless!) than Clara and the WTFs!

Oh well, this was a great ride and your insights were always a great read, even when we didn't see eye to eye. I learnt a great deal from you, UA! Many thanks for sharing your writing and knowledge with us! Much appreciated, indeed! :)


 

-- UA: Just two little details, that I would add to the list of "the Good" that the writers provided in this series:

1) Tons of quotable lines! One of my favorites from the finale was Eladio's: "Acabo de decir se acabó. Y cuando digo se acabó, ¡se acabó!" ("I just said it's over, and when I say it's over, it's over!"). I need to incorporate this and the two-finger dismissal wave to my brush-off routine!

2) The fact that Franco discovers that his mother is alive and that he is Caridad's son then she reveals to him that Eladio is his real father and he confronts Eladio about it all in ONE episode! I will forever be grateful to the writers for unveiling 4 life-altering truths in a single episode, in the middle of the run of this TN! That was ground-breaking!
 

Thank you Mauricio, NovelaMaven, and UA for your work on the finale recap. It's been a while since I've come to comment here and it looks like apparently I'm making a habit of just commenting on finale episodes. I'll try to change that and come back more often again.

Overall I liked this finale. I would've settled for a 2 hour finale but whatever. It was still enjoyable to me. I know it wasn't real but I'd really like to know how the writers came up with the idea of a character dying with a fatal punch in the face. How does that happen? LOL

Once again, I think I may have been rooting for the secondary characters more so than the main ones. Although I wasn't surprised that Eladio and Julia ended up together (again), their love story wasn't that exciting. It didn't seem like there was much of a love story on either end: Eladio/Julia and Arturo/Julia or even Arturo/Nina. Julia divorced Eladio for nothing. Maybe they did need time apart but again I did not really see anything that warranted a reconciliation. So, the couple that I was rooting for was Agustin and Gabriela.

I too thought it was strange that Consuelo forgave Erick and told him he'd always be the father of Erick Jr. I understand she had a good heart but she may have been too forgiving. Erick was going to spend the rest of his life in prison and wouldn't be able to develop a relationship with his son. I wouldn't think as Erick Jr got older that he'd be going every so often to visit his biological father in prison. If Consuelo married Miguel he would be a true father to Erick Jr.

I was okay with Regina and David ending up together. And I was satisfied with Franco's ending as well. I'll be watching Yago so I will be sure to remember to stop by here.
 

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Urban and NovelaMaven- Thank you so much for the wonderful recaps.

I had prepared myself for Eladio's death at the end, but was surprised when instead it was Arturo who was killed off. I didn't see that one coming. How sad, especially for the family, who were starting to move on with their lives after Daniela's death, when six months later, they lose another family member.

As for the anvils, I thought they were satisfying, both Erick and Franco deserved a prison term. However, Erick's fingers being cut off was unnecessary. I could have done without that. I also could have done without Ashmore's stabbing- very gruesome.

Glad to see that Agustin became a father through adoption and that he and Gaby would be together. I wish we would have seen more of them, instead of the filler that we had to endure.

I was disappointed and upset with Univision that they left out some things from their version of the finale. Surely, they could have fit everything in. They had three hours to fit it all in. It's so frustrating when they chop things up.

About Eladio, although I loved seeing Marcos squirm at the warehouse, that scene just showed that his "bad boy" side is still in there somewhere and makes you think if he really has reformed.

Overall, this was a nice little show, and now that it's gone, I will miss it.
 

Thank you NovelaMaven, Mauricio and Urban Anthropologist for these terrific recaps! I enjoyed reading them all. I love all of your different styles of writing and will definitely miss all of the recaps from the rest of the team as well.

I'm very satisfied with the finale although I wish Arturo had survived. I don't think he deserved that and neither did Nina and Regina. I'm still confused as to why Eladio started of almost as bad as Franco got. Remember how he treated the Rat? How he kept Julia prisoner? And Arturo was the honorable guy but then he became sleezy and desperate. Both men made mistakes but Arturo didn't deserve such a tragic ending.

I will also miss this show. Don't plan on watching Yago but I've said that before and then I end up ranting about the terrible finale for Lo imperdonable. I also agree that I hope there isn't a 3 hour finale for another TN ever again.
 

Thanks NovelaMaven, Mauricio, and Urban for your wonderful triple recap. Thanks as well to Cynderella, Aunty Ann and any other recappers throughout P & P. I dropped out of regular viewing somewhere along the way and came back for the last few days. Your recaps helped me keep up with the essentials as well as being most entertaining.

After Art and Eladio managed a mini-reconciliation and a friendly rivalry, I would be ok with Arturo surviving. His was a dramatic and great death scene, however. Erick and Franco's sufferings in prison seemed to be standard payback. I think Humberto's downfall was truly satisfying.
 

UA,

I completely agree with you about the quality of the acting in this TN. It was superb. Although I despised Arturo almost from the get go, I thought that Jorge Salinas was excellent in his portrayal of this unsympathetic character. Marlene Favela knocked it out of the park although I'd much preferred that we'd gotten the conniving femme fatale that we were initially promised. I would have also liked to have seen more ambiguity with Eladio. More of that bad boy potential that he displayed in that scene with Marcos and Callao. And it was very disappointing that the gold Zippo didn't get some meaningful action.

As for the writing, I align more with Nandicta. The writers certainly kept me guessing throughout and the dialogue at times was extraordinary and memorable.

I watched tonight's show and was gratified to see that Marlene Favela's analysis of Nina paralleled my own:

"You know, she never was evil, because her only sin was to love, maybe she was vain and perhaps manipulative, but her great motivation was her family and her love for her husband. She never robbed, never betrayed, never was unfaithful."

This is pretty much how I saw her. She did marginalize Miguel, but I still contend that she took her cue for that from Arturo (who all but admitted to him that he blamed his existence for depriving him of his happiness). She may have favored Dani over Regina and coddled, over-protected, and enabled Erick but I saw genuine affection between her and Regina from the beginning. Of course opinions vary.

Carlos
 

What I think happened was that the ratings were not what the network wanted and they determined or decided that it was due to viewers' reluctance to see Fernando Colunga as a villain. So they decided to rehab him and degrade Arturo's character.

This also degraded Julia because what woman would stay with and fall in love with a man who stole 25 years of her life?

I hope that this is a lesson to Televisa to think about how they cast people and to not typecast in the future.
 

Thank you Novela, Mauricio and UA for the wonderful wrap up. I'm both sad to see PyP end but also relieved, I don't think I could bear to see Julia drag Eladio or Arturo through anymore head games. Cold as it may sound, Art dying was my favorite moment. I loathed him and found him to be the most stunted character. He never grew as a person, laying on the steps dying he was still...oh Julia...look at my grand dying love gesture for you. I was so glad when he shut up and died. That was the best thing that happened to Nina. She was free of that arrogant selfish a-hole. I disagree she was a narcissist, Nina was able to have friendships, she was able to have empathy and remorse. Her desire to reach out to others through foundation does not jive with a narcissistic view. I believe she loved Art with all her heart and soul. He didn't deserve it.

Erick repenting was great, and very real. You have to lose everything and hit rock bottom to realize what matters and look at yourself and how you got there. I could have done without Con and her idiotic speech. She wins for the most stupid victim. I can't believe Miguel agreed to that visit.

David/Regina, I got his incredulous reaction when she came to tell him she loved him. Those words meant nothing in the past when she never put action behind them. It was good to see her grovel a bit.

Caridud losing Franco and her grandson was appropriate...she isn't fit to have a puppy.

Poor Franco, he had a hard fall. I expected Assmore to exact a revenge on him in prison, but Erick finished it before it got that far. Ass got what he deserved.

I'm bummed Eladio and Julia didn't have a grand reunion complete with wedding and hotladio honeymoon. Those of us rooting for this
couple were robbed of a more romantic ending. Still my guy got the girl, the grand company and a new chance at real true love.

I thought this was a top notch tn. It went against the grain of the usual tn formulas and the protagonist/antagonist actually took on other characteristics that were not the norm. It kept me on the edge of my seat, always guessing and frustrated at times..which was good.

I agree that this was Colunga's finest work and it sounds like the cast really knows they did something unique and spectacular with this tn.
 

Thanks for the fantastic recaps NovelaMaven, Mauricio, and UA. You all did a great job with this 3 hour extravaganza. I will miss you all as well as Cynderella and AuntyAnn. I don't think I'll be viewing Yago but will try to stop by and "see" those watching.

ITA w/Mauricio regarding being vexed about Uni editing stuff out. Why bother to give us 3 hours and then have the nerve to edit anything out. And the fact that a scene with Gaby and Auggie was cut...just boo Uni boo.

Carlos, I too saw Marlene Favela's interview (thanks so much for confirming what I heard) and agreed with her assessment of her character. I felt badly that Nina's really did love Art so much because he was not worthy of her love. Though the writers were hit and miss, their development of Nina (the lack of true villainy not withstanding) was a treat. And one of the nice surprising in this tn.

tofie, thanks for your list!

Like others, Art's death took me completely by surprise. Even as he died, as Delilah63 noted, he was still a jerk - I'm doing this for you Julia. Gag me.

UA, yes to your assessment of the writers regarding Colunga/Eladio and Julia. I know its tn and fantasy but such a change after 25 years is nothing short of miraculous. And as Mauricio noted, the treatment of Marcos would lead you to believe that Eladio hadn't really changed just buried his crazy.
 

When I saw that the total content was exactly two and a half hours I subtracted about eight minutes for credits and refritos and figured that the remaining ad time would be premium-priced; it usually is for finales. The missing scenes took away the satisfaction for us to see Humberto's downfall. His abuse of his wife and daughters and theft of part of Gabriela's inheritance earned him his fate. I agree with Eladio that death would have been too easy for him. I'll bet that this was Julia's last visit as well. Long overdue.

Nina was a narcissist. Don't forget how she tried pushing Regina into marrying Joshua after it was obvious that he would have cheated on her with Daniela. She openly hated Miguel and Consuelo. I'll never forget her saying to Consuelo "If you weren't pregnant with Erick's child I would do you in". And trying to seduce a new car out of Arturo in the opening episode only three months after he had already bought her one? Por favor.

What happened was that Nina had a wake-up call that started with the kidnapping of the baby and continued with Daniela's death. I don't know how common this might be but it didn't happen for the narcissists I have known, including my own mother.

As to Arturo's last words, it wasn't like Eladio didn't know how he felt about her. It was a noble sacrifice because he could have easily allowed Franco to kill Eladio, but he didn't.

Finally, the whole domino effect of the rehabbing of Eladio and the death of Arturo adds another degradation to the relationship of Regina and David:

1. David was attracted to Regina from the outset
2. David had a fling with Daniela in Cancun, then she dumped him
3. David and Regina got together and lived together for about six months
4. Regina broke up with David over the possibility of Arturo and Julia together (dumbest reason to break up with a guy)
5. David is seduced back into a relationship with Daniela and stays in it out of guilt over her drug problem
6. Eventual reconciliation of Regina and David after Daniela's death. Both get over their parents' possible relationship
7. Franco murders Arturo.

There is way too much baggage there.
 

NovelaMaven, Mauricio and UA, thanks for this Herculean three hour translation effort. Each section was a joy to read, kissed with your talented individual styles. Thanks to all of you and the others who spent valuable time recapping PyP, AuntieAnn, Cynderella, and Nandicta. You have brought such fun and joy to our little PyP!

NovelaMaven, "Jorge, evidently unembarrassed by his much-too-tight peach shirt unbuttoned to expose more than anyone wants to see of his chihuahua chest," What a well crafted image. You have an enormous talent for comedy, thanks for sharing!

Mauricio, "Over at Julia’s small, but independent apartment," I loved your repetition of this, it is so Julia, verbalizing her independence, but emotionally taunting both her suitors from beginning to end. I'll miss PyP, but not Julia.

UA, I read where a gladiator grave yard was recently uncovered in Ephesus, how fitting that you chose a photograph of the Library of Celsus in this great ancient gladiator city, a favorite place of mine. In a way, PyP was an old fashioned story of gladiators, wth Arturo losing in the end. What a shame, he didn't deserve to die!

Again, thanks to all our recappers for sharing your talent, you have made the Patio a delightful, respectful place of conversation each day.

I wish I had the time to comment on more of the novela, I only have time for one character, Nina. There has been much Patio disagreement on Señora Montenegro, but from the beginning I knew that she truly loved her children and her husband. There is a difference in someone who makes human mistakes in rearing their family and a narcissist who is incapable of love or sacrifice. All Nina's children loved her dearly and she loved them in return, we saw that every day in every way, words, deeds and the truest, body language. Of course, her devotion to Arturo was wasted, but despite that, she revered him even after death, that was truly touching. Seeing her speak at her newly formed foundation with photographs of both Daniela and Arturo (after all he put her through) spoke volumes of her character. Nina's Patio table was a tough place, but I knew I was where I needed to be. Carlos, as always, thanks for the drinks! Nandicta, Delilah, tofie thanks for the companionship!

"Hasta Pronto" Patio friends, looking forward to a future novela that is "must see tv." Perhaps next time we'll have more agreement and less, "agree to disagree!"

"Next!" .....

Sandy
 

Urban, Mauricio, and NovelaMaven- This recap was spectacular! I loved all your individual styles and takes on the action.

All in all, I was satisfied with this finale. Anvils were sufficiently heavy and satisfying. Though I didn't feel Art deserved to die, someone needed to be taken out of the Art, Nina, Julia, Eladio toxic circle, and Art was the best choice.

I stopped watching this tn somewhere in the middle for two reasons: 1) It seemed to get stuck in a rut of rinse repeat stupid behavior of the characters, and 2) The women were so poorly written.

Urban- I agree that the Nina we first met was a narcissist. Just like Eladio was an abusive, murderous control freak. The writers decided at some point to completely change their characters (and sweep Eladio's crimes under the rug). It wasn't consistent or very realistic, but I'm happy for the sake of the remaining/surviving children that Nina and Eladio were rehabbed.
 

"that she truly loved her children and her husband. There is a difference in someone who makes human mistakes in rearing their family"

Having firsthand experience, I can not disagree more. Nina had an 'equals' synbiotic relationship with two of her children, openly hated one, and tolerated the other.
 

Karmageddon Score Card


Erick: 12 out of 10

Erick's end was an improvement over what I had in mind originally. Beautifully ironic that he got the medical problem he faked to try to get Miguel put in prison.


Franco, Ashmore, Caridad, Marintia: 10 out of 10

– Franco's power play and the murder of Arturo made him fall lower than we ever expected.
– Assmore died at the hands of someone he fleeced.
– Caridad lost both her son and grandchild due to her duplicity with her son's women.
– Marintia should have known better about Franco. Her death was the result of abuse that would have likely continued if she had lived.

Good work.


Humberto: 9 out of 10

Seeing him unshaven said quite a lot. However I wish the staff would have been a little nastier to him. And what “therapy” was he talking about?


Daniela: 6 out of 10

Death was excessive but due to other factors necessary for the reunion of David and Regina. Daniela was also a walking PSA from the moment we saw her binge-drinking. She should have had a wake-up call with the hotel incident where the guy with her nearly died. However, since the others caved to her plea not to tell her parents, she sank further. I would have preferred to see her lose her beauty to drug use, which would have been the perfect punishment for pursuing Regina's boyfriends throughout their teen years and beyond.


Nina: 6 out of 10

Two deaths and a living death (Erick) was excessive. Erick ending up in prison and his subsequent degradation would have been adequate along with a degraded Daniela (see above).


Marcos: 5 out of 10

We weren't told this, but we can assume that he got the pink slip after Eladio verbally intimidated him in the same place he beat the crap out of Aldo early in the story.


Angeles: 0 out of 10

She went in with Franco on his scheme after being terminated from GM so we can only hope she ended up out of work and broke. The zero score is due to lack of information.


Arturo: No score

No score for Arturo's fate, as it was not punishment but sacrifice. If anything it is a serious loss to his surviving children and part of Erick's Karmageddon.
 

Nina has been over criticized here. At some point you lose your credibility when you slam hair, makeup, lipstick, body shape, clothes, walk, voice and then repeatedly say someone looks like a hooker, slut or bruja. Sorry, this is just too much.....

 

There's just no way we commenters can do justice to the tremendous amount of work you three put into this finale (and I hope that Aunty Anne, Cynderella and Nandicta realize how much I have enjoyed their recaps along the way). But pulling off this "herculean" (thanks Sandy) effort for the finale is just amazing. And I salute you all.

As others have said, no need for a byline. You each have such a distinctive style of writing and viewpoint. Your recaps are always a delight. But for totally different reasons.

Let's begin with UA. "When all is said and Dunne". Oh my, love your alter ego and every prologue and postscript. So much wisdom and at the same time sorrow. I was especially struck by DD's ending statement, something to the effect that "as you know I am not a forgiving person". I have read your thoughts on forgiveness before and an struck by the irony of your ability to recap telenovelas which ultimately preach forgiveness as the road to happiness and peace. Your care, your detail, the exquisite photo illustrations were all a gift to us. And Lord knows you generated a lot of discussion with your strongly held position on the character of Nina. Talk about "chispas"!

Two of my favorite lines from this recap were [little Mateo] "who cried loud enough to be heard over the orchestra at the Metropolitan Opera."

and

[Erick] "continued to cry until the tears overtook his voice."

Wonderful writing. And of course your love of opera comes through in almost every recap. You put your heart and soul into each one UA. You passionately defend your point of view and don't give an inch. Your operatic personality really fits the tenor and vibrancy of these stories. Thanks for all you give and have given to this CarayCaray site and this crazy mixed bag of a patio.
 

An now part 2 and our own world-weary, tongue firmly in cheek Mauricio. Best way to showcase the tone...

[whatever]
Weren't we all feeling that way by the end of this? Amen.

Julia's small but independent department
Wonderful refrain throughout the recap, had us laughing even as we reeled from all the drama of this jam-packed finale

also loved this:
[Artur] he'll leave before he says something stupid [not that he didn't already]

or this:
Arturo's not shaking in his dress shoes over that. (loved the detail of the dress shoes, man did we see a lot of fine suits and ties in this one!)

and Julia's inevitable waffling:
[oy vey, here we go again with this]
she doesn't know [no surprise there]

Yes, for me Julia was the best-dressed most annoying character ever. But as a hopeless romantic (and tedious proponent of forgiveness, sorry UA) I was happy that she and Eladio ended up together in the final moments. No point in having a wicked character redeemed unless you get to enjoy That redemption with lots of good lovin'. She suffered for 20 some years, why not have some delicious 20 years more? Living well, and amorously, is the best revenge.)

Mauricio, thank you. You were funny throughout and your arch tone was a relief from some of the intensity of this.
 

And now part 3 with NovelaMaven. As most of you know, I'm a hopeless fangirl of her humor and her ability to weave a recap of disparate scenes together with an overarching theme and wit.

So we begin with shades of Sesame Street and Good-bye Argentina.

"Brought to you by the letter 'A'. Oh my, so many memories of parking my kids in front of Sesame Street while I tried to pull together dinner at what all moms know is the Arsenic Hour, the time when tired hungry kids and mothers fall apart. And then Argentina Anvils for so many of the hapless characters in this. Unforgettable image. Just a delight.

But there were others:

Caridad goes on the offensive. The very offensive.

[Jorge] much-too-tight peach shirt unbuttoned to expose more than anyone wants to see of his chihuahua chest. and

pulls the ring right off of Regina's finger [you can't blame him. He's probably still making payments on it.]

And countless more, but I'm just exhausted for some reason. And you all must be too.

What I want to say about all of you is that you bring a dedication and professionalism to this site that is truly amazing. And we are the careless, often unappreciative recipients of your hard work. So eager to advance our own points of view that we don't take the time to honor your truly extraordinary work. Kudos to one and all. You shine.



 

And tofie, I would be remiss if I didn't mention your hilarious list. Of course people were clamoring for it. My favorite was:

"Buy me a tiara and we'll talk".

I hate the prison sadism scenes, but you really made me laugh with that one.

All of our commenters have been fun as well. "I can't even..." and "must see TV", Steve's exclamation points, Nandicta's insider info and translations, side trips into Outlander territory, Carlos and UA's tussles over Nina's character, endless discussions over what constitutes character and whether to hold parents completely responsible for how children turn out (I loved the...was it Kirbo's quote about parents being 100% responsible when children are young, children themselves being 100% responsible when adults)

All in all, an unforgettable experience with both recaps and patio. Gracias.
 

Thanks, JudyB.

I don't know whether Mr Dunne was an opera fan, but the comparison fit the situation. After reading his first novel I wish I had met him.

Novelas are the spoken operas of television. As I've said many times they have much in common with opera and the music in these series serves a similar purpose. If Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, Tchaikovsky, and Beethoven have been reincarnated, they're composing music for novelas and movies.

As to the issue of forgiveness, it is overpreached in these stories. In this one I'd say that Consuelo in particular should have never forgiven Erick and Julia should have never forgiven Eladio. I also don't think Miguel forgave Erick; his facial expressions during the prison visit said that to me. He was enduring this visit because Consuelo wanted to go.

Notice that nobody forgave Franco.

Question about Franco: Does anybody suspect that he faked madness?
 

Delilah, Karen, and Sandy,

I'm sure that it's no surprise that I'm in total agreement with you about Nina (as apparently is Marlene Favela, the actress playing the role).

UA,

As for Nina's insistence that Regina go through with that wedding to Joshua, she would not have been the first parent to get involved with what appears to her to be irreversible wedding plans. I have a very close friend who once was beside himself that his daughter had decided to back out of the elaborate wedding that had been planned for months. The Co‑Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown Houston was reserved, the Archbishop of the diocese had been booked to officiate, the reception was to have been at the River Oaks Country Club, and the creme de la creme of Houston was invited, and this selfish thoughtless girl had the nerve to get cold feet at the last minute... Yikes.

In one of my rare counseling triumphs I suggested that despite the inconvenience and embarrassment, he and his wife might embrace her brave decision to cancel the wedding rather than enter a doomed marriage. Amazingly he recognized the wisdom of this and later so did his lovely socialite wife. They both thanked me effusively later. Even though his wife had been voted one of the 10 Best-Dressed Women in Houston (by whoever votes such things) I don't think that either could be labeled as narcissists. They were just caught up in preparations that seemed unstoppable.

As for:

"...a man who stole 25 years of her life?"

Or did she sell him 25 years of her life?

Carlos
 

Well I thought Eladio forgave Franco. He reached out to him (literally) in that prison visit and said that he would not abandon him. But then when Franco refused to acknowledge him, Eladio left. But honestly, we don't know if he ever came back. Franco clearly had second thoughts and cried out for his father after all.

And Caridad tried to reach out to Franco also. But was completely rebuffed. As always. And no second thoughts afterwards.

My sense, were Eladio a real person and not just a character in a story, is that he would carry regret all his life for his mistakes with Franco and would seek in some way to spare him some of the horrors of his prison existence.


But they say the greatest sin is ingratitude and Franco's unforgiving resentment and ingratitude are what led to all his nefarious deeds and his downfall. So, like all of us, I think, he carried the seeds of his own destruction in his character. For which we must give him the respect of holding him 100% accountable.

As a postscript, UA, I wish you could have met Dominick Dunne also. I think you would have had a marvelous friendship, shared viewpoints and ironic humor at the trivialities of the rich and under-enployed. And if he didn't like opera, you could have educated him. We've certainly all benefited from your sensitivity to music and your love of the Met.


 

Franco was just as ungrateful a brat as Erick in the end. Of all the younger characters in this story he could not appreciate his own luck at being raised in a moneyed household with the favor of its master and all the advantages he might not otherwise had.

I suppose it was Eladio's Karmageddon to see what he made of this young man and to have to live with the knowledge that he might have died except for the actions of his long-time rival. Although they didn't show this we all know he had to have gone to his shrink the first chance he got. We'll never know whether he ever made another effort to help Franco, but the last shot we had of Franco said that perhaps he didn't.

The reason I ask everyone to wonder whether his madness was faked is that he didn't look crazy when he walked around with the smirk after double-dealing and he didn't look crazy in his dealings. Maybe the crazy act was all about the risk of having to plead insanity if he ended up killing anyone.
 

Guess I'm just dense, because I didn't even "get" that Franco was faking madness. He just seemed angry and out of control, but insane...no, not at all. His planning of a takeover was just too meticulous for it to be insanity.
 

Carlos, I don't think Julia sold herself; Humberto sold her in exchange for his own maintenance and the payment of his gambling debts. She married Eladio out of spite, which was immensely foolish and an impulse move attributable to youthful ignorance. I also think she had no clue what she was taking on at the time. For many women in her situation the abuse began after the wedding.

I'm actually going to the Live in HD broadcast of Elektra but I have other thoughts about the writing of this series to share later.
 

I liked Eladio through this whole train wreck. He was more of a 'personality' than almost anyone. He had traits which were consistent from beginning to end.

Eladio changed in his overall 'Good/Bad' ratio, but the basic man never changed. The tie, the gold Zippo, and his one chance ultimatums.

It was just like him in the last scene with Franco, to reach out then when Franco repudiated him to turn on his heel and leave. Whether he heard Franco's subsequent screams or not is inconsequential.
"You get this one chance and that is my O N L Y fripping offer.
________________...?
OK, your decision, goodbye."

It was great. I never really cared for Colunga before, Salinas was my favorite after MCET. But I agree this has to be the best work FC has done by far.

It is hard to say how much it is due to the material he was given and how much to him, but one helluva show. Like winning with an interception, you still won.
 

Phone is dying but I want to give a huge thanks to you all for this recap effort. I loved all of it.

The Argentina comment - OMG LOL!
Filling in the missing edited hour and the detailed conversation to help fill in the blanks (for me) were absolutely wonderful.

Not sure what I will watch next? I love Camino, but im iffy on Yago and the replacement for hotel (which i dont watch) but i looked forward to reading recaps in the future from all of you who continue to contribute. AuntyA, UrbanA, Mauricio, Cynderella, Nandicta, etc. Sorry if im leaving out a name its all i can think of right now. Special shout out to my Anita on Camino who singlehandedly holds down that page on her own with minor help from a few of us.

Many thanks!
 

My thoughts on Erick and Franco:

As best I can tell with what we were presented with Franco is that he is one of those rare soulless sociopaths and that there was nothing that anyone could have done to salvage this miscreant. Eladio may not have set the best example but David grew up in the same environment and wasn't similarly damaged.

As for poor Erick, he is intellectually and emotionally stunted and the severe head injury (aggravated by Miguel's vicious assault) certainly didn't improve his situation. I concede that the over-protection and coddling that Nina is responsible for was in a large part responsible for the ultimate sad results but he was likely a formidable project from birth. The fact that Arturo didn't present as a suitable male role model and authoritarian was likely equally damaging.

Carlos
 

I must send a shout out to my friend judyb whose comments and thank yous I love to read as much as the recaps. You , my dear, are a kind and gernerous spirit. To alter Dorothy Parker's words " If you have something nice to say about someone, sit next to judyb." P.S. I especially loved "living well and amorously is the best revenge" Jamie and Claire and I agree.

Adios to my old friends and my new friends. Hope that we can all enjoy and stew about a novela again soon.
 

Thank you so much Cynderella, Urban Anthropologist, AuntyAnn, NovelaMaven, Mauricio for the great recaps.

I complained a lot about a lot of estupidez in this novela but now that it is over, thankfully, I can say I sort of liked it. Just so much repetition was the problem. Way too many capitulos.

I liked the way it ended, but the beach scene should have been meses despues. I was afraid Eladio was going to be the one killed.

I wanted to call protective services for poor Mateo, what on earth did they do to that poor baby to get him to cry so much?

See you at Yago
 

PyP teammates, it's been a joy working with you. Mauricio, It was so generous of you to take on the thankless job of leading our team. You carried it out with tact and kindness and unwavering patience. Thank you, my friend.

What I liked best about this team of recappers was the diversity of point of view. I'm sure I've said before that these novelas often act as a kind of Rorschach test. Our interpretation of a given image depends at least in part on what we bring to it. And when we engage in ... well ... lively debate here, we are each working from an image and premise that is uniquely ours.

Dear Readers,

I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate you, whether you comment or not. It's such a pleasure to know that someone is actually out there and willing to spend a little time reading what we have written.

And the close, careful readers – oh my! Diana, JudyB, Carlos, tofie, Mauricio, Delilah, Niecie, Karen, just to name a few – you truly make my heart sing! Your comments are real acts of generosity. I know it takes time to craft your lovely words of encouragement. Thank you.

To everyone commenting here – those I've named as well as Urban, Sandy, Nandicta, Vivi, Kirby, Lily, TF, La Paloma, Susanlynn, Annie, Tina, Romy, Steve (forgive me if I've overlooked anyone) – you have added so much to my/our enjoyment of this show. Thank you so much.
 

Ah Variopinta...I was in agony over that poor child. What did they do to make him cry so much?...why separate him from his actual mother, that's what. You could tell she was slightly off-stage and he kept reaching frantically for her as he recoiled visibly (and audibly!) from every adult actor who tried to hold him.

In addition, he may have been hungry and tired. And sick of the whole crazy filming schedule which I understand is grueling.

In Alborada, Colunga was obviously a great favorite of the little tyke who played his son. The child reached eagerly for him, even though he seemed quite uninterested in Lucero, his putative mother.

But frankly, I have a rather low opinion of these moms who turn over their hapless children to the rigors of filming a telenovela. It clearly is never the decision or wish of the little ones!

And gosh, Susanlynn, thanks for the props. I can actually be a raging bitch at times. But I try not to put it in writing.
 

Thanks to the recap team for the masterful recap. Each was done in your own witty style.

I didn't think that Eladio never really suffered as much as some of the other characters. He was presented as such an evil person in the first half of the novela, and then was rehabbed so much that he was almost saintly at the end.

And, I never understood why he was always spritzing the breath spray and flicking his Zippo lighter in his office. As far as we know, he doesn't smoke.

What would be interesting would be a new telenovela as a sequel to this.
 

That poor baby crying nearly broke my heart (and my ears). But it made it even more noticeable that the little tyke playing Erick Jr. was very comfortable snuggled up against the Miguel actor on his lap in his last scene.
 

Nina was not a narcissist. Vain and manipulative, yes. Narcissistic? No. Arturo & Erick were the narcissists in the Montenegro family, not Nina. Nina never hated or disliked Regina. The only kid she hated was Miguel and she got those cues from ARTURO.

Miguel told Nina they were a good business team, so IMO Miguel and Nina are running Grupo Montenegro and Eladio turned over the reins of Gomez Luna y Associates to David & Regina equally. If Miguel is running GM, he would not be leaving town with Connie & EJ; there would be no reason to. Plus, now that Connie is on good terms with Nina, she probably wants EJ to know his grandmother. Connie is big on family because she didn't grow up with one...she wouldn't deprive her son of that.

I think it was subtly implied Erick will commit suicide one day with Nina's pills.

Arturo had to die for Julia & Eladio to be together just like Daniela had to die for David & Regina to be together, because Arturo & Daniela never would've gone away.

Arturo realized Julia did not love him, but truth be told Arturo did not love Julia either. He loved the IDEA of Julia. And we've seen in recent weeks that Arturo was dismissive of flesh & blood Julia's ideas, hopes & dreams. The last irk I had with Arturo was when he was upset that Julia banded together with Eladio against Franco. He felt if Julia truly loved him, he would've let Eladio fail & Franco prevail (funny since it was Franco who killed him).

But Eladio was ALWAYS going to be part of Julia's life because she shares a child with Eladio. Part of why Julia says she stayed with Eladio for as long as she did was for David's inheritance. That's why she was so upset at Eladio giving equal shares to Franco, because the legacy of Gomez Luna y Associates was for DAVID. No way would Julia have let Franco destroy Eladio's legacy because that was her CHILD's legacy.

Erick grew up in prison after he learned Arturo was killed. He didn't have Arturo anymore to compare himself to for good or bad; he had to become his own man. Silly of Franco to think Erick, the son of the man he killed, would help him. Nina should enjoy her remaining time with Erick because he will OD on those pills when the pain gets too bad.

I wonder how the new Eladio/Julia marriage will work out. Caridad will still be in the picture because of Mateo, and if Eladio is raising Mateo, then JULIA will be involved in the raising of Mateo. Gaby is still Julia's niece & will see Mateo whenever she visits Julia & Eladio, unless she never visits them. Mateo is always going to be a reminder of Franco unless CARIDAD is raising Mateo and Eladio is providing financial support for him.

It took the death of Arturo to finally change Erick, but I think Franco is rotten to the core and will never change. Franco would've ended up in prison for life whether he was raised by Eladio, Caridad or Gisela.




 

Carlos, I had no idea you were in Houston! I am Texas native, born and raised a few hours from the border. After a foolish impulsive short lived marriage to my high school sweetheart, I divorced and moved to Houston where I met my current husband. Due to a job transfer we relocated some years later to Portland. I always loved River Oaks and West U.

On the subject of parents and marriages, my parents forbid my oldest brother from backing out of his wedding on the eve of the big day. My parents were not rich by any means nor were her parents. My parents said he'd had enough time to figure out his heart and save her the embarrassment and them the money. He went through with it..he's miserable to this day but he's had time to divorce her it's been 40 + years.

Julia was abused and I don't sweep that under the rug, but Julia has to own her choices and youth can't always be the excuse for her or Art for the mistakes each made. Art was a cheating punk, Julia has always needed a man so not having Art she snatched Eladio to punish Art. Julia set her own destiny in motion by using one man to hurt another and she repeated this pattern until one died. Nina was the better heroine (that hurts me to say). Nina truly turned her life around and showed real strength of character in the face of adversities. She didn't deserve Arts treatment and losing Dani and Erick to such terrible circumstances was more than enough punishment. Opinions will differ but I think the writers were beyond heavy handed with her.
 

I for one am glad this is over. It was a nice wintertime diversion.
This TN and all you recappers and commenters will be unforgettable.
I understand that my take on fictitious stories is not for everyone, and I do not care.
I have been courteous to everyone and attempted to be funny sometimes.
After this gut wrenching ending I will not be watching another show until fall.

The warm blue saltwater and hot black asphalt and those other Florida things call,
and boat and auto racing are real adventures not make believe.
The days are getting longer again, and there is only so much time in a day.

This TN has been great, and this little group has made a silk purse from a sow's ear.
Our Pulitzer Prize worthy recappers are the best and can keep even
someone with my attention span interested.

Thank You everyone. Goodbye
Kirby Johnson, AKA Kirbo, Rural Anthropologist
 

Anon207..I had the same thought as you did when Nina gave that bottle of pulls to Er. I thought that she had a telling look on her face.

I, too, cringed at that poor little boy crying in every scene. Poor little soul.
 

Omg! How could I leave your name out of my comment NovelaMaven? Your witty recaps are always so fun to read! Blame it on rushing to type before my phone died.
 

When I look at this TN (and many others) from beginning to end, I see it more as a rough draft than as a finished product. It starts with one conception of its protagonists and their backgrounds and then and gradually gives way to another as it titrates and tinkers, taking ratings and audience response into account and also taking advantage of unforeseen dimensions and modulations added by the actors themselves. If it were a piece of writing, it would be revised into a coherent whole. If it were a play, we'd be seeing the off-off-Broadway version that might scarcely be recognizable as the polished piece on the Great White Way.

TNs are a lot like serial television in this sense. Have you ever followed a favorite show over the years and then been astonished to see how different it is from the pilot or the first season? Well TNs take that whole cycle and accelerate it: we get the equivalent of 11 years of MASH in a few months.

My strategy for enjoying this shows is simply to accept the premise of the moment. If the writers are clearly distancing themselves from earlier characterizations, I can go along with that and enjoy it. I don't hold them to the literal truth of "the first draft."

Does that make sense to anyone?
 

Now that i can type a little about the show, i will but just a lil because you all have said it all.

That first hour was packed with so much going on i could keep up!

Art dying...did not see that coming.

Not sure if anyone else said this, but was anyone else hoping that Franco had just shot Julia already. I was yelling at the TV "will just shoot her in the head and get it over with, damn!"

I'm glad she ended up with Eladio in the end, but she had gotten on my nerves so bad (and Susanna was 70 percent of the reason i watched this TN) that i just didnt care anymore.


 

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OMG Kendra – how could I leave YOU out? :-) And I see Gobluefan, Variopinta and Anon207 have also joined us. I'm sure our dear Gringo (the nice one) will be along shortly. Thank you all for coming along for the ride!
 

NovelaMaven- Makes sense to me! Especially since I saw the beginning and then the end, it was clear that the writers tinkered with some of these characters to fit a new vision for where they wanted the story to go. In the end, it worked out.
 

Thanks, Vivi. That makes me feel better. :-) And yes, it DID work out. I didn't like this show very much at first and really had to force myself to stick with it. The changes definitely made it much stronger. In the end, it became a favorite of mine.
 

A VERY BIG thank you Urban--Mauricio and NovelaMaven. You guys rock!

I must say that I am totally overwhelmed with this three hour final and all of the comments. I am only half way done with the comments of part one and so I probably will be reading and posting comments through Monday 5/2/16. I do want to read everyone's and some are quite lengthy so I will be busy off and on for quite a while, at leas all through the weekend and probably into Monday.
Just a few thoughts for now, but I know that I'm not as great a writer as many of you guys are.

I enjoyed the ending. I get involved in the moment and almost become a part of it
and so I am partial to PyP just the way it is. --- Nandicta I read your rendering of the previous version and don't think that I would have liked it. Maybe if I had seen that one, I would have wrapped myself around it but as it is in the here and now, I REALLY--REALLY liked this one. For the most part I ended up a happy camper.

I am pretty much easy going and don't get into the movie critic mode as you do Urban but I did enjoy your good--bad and the ugly comment.

Nandicta---Sorry that you disliked many of the story's characters. I thought that everyone had their part and I liked them all. Many on the patio thought that Clara was a waste but I thought it was nice for Consuelo to have a friend that she could confide in. I enjoyed the Clara and Justino parts but I will join the crowd that wanted more of Agustin and Gaby. Also I would have liked a little more of Gisela. That actress is a hoot, I like her.

No one saw Art's sudden death coming, I didn't either but I think it was best as he would never have been able to face life without Julia. He probably loved Nina early on but when Julia re-entered his life, he became obsessed with her. Thinking about in retrospect it was best for him. Would he have lost his mind or become a hopeless
drunk without Julia? Maybe so.

I sure didn't get/understand Marintia's death. Hot tempered Franco gives her a punch in the face and she's finished. Que? A black eye? yes.---A broken nose? yes.
Maybe even a fractured jaw but death??? I kept asking myself what happened? I thought that she was just knocked out but when she didn't get up I thought that I blinked and missed her hitting her head on the table when she fell. I couldn't figure it out.

Also I missed why Erick lost two fingers. Did he piss off the main prison dude? Well
as I said that I was overwhelmed. Maybe it's in part two---I'm not there yet. Maybe tonight

Did Franco take over the Co for a short time? That's probably in part two also. On to that tonight?

Steve thank you for the dead pool list. I appreciated it but have to admit that I had forgotten Schmidt. Who was he?

Tofie---your list is priceless.
Julia--Even the travel agent lied. Chinatown isn't in China.
Mateo--Eat your heart out Victoria Ruffo.
Jorge--can I have my turtle back?
Eladio and Art were both a riot---Yes Tofie, this list is priceless.

I'm done for now. No more must see tv for me.
the gringo
 

Honestly, the show didn't start getting good until Montserrat got killed. That, IMO, was the turning point.

Arturo could not be a true good & deserving protagonist because:

A) he cheated on Julia with Susana, producing Miguel

B) he ran up on Julia, while still married to Susana (pregnant with Miguel), to beg her not to marry Eladio. Whether Julia married Eladio or not, HE was still married to Susana. Was he planning on leaving Susana/Miguel for Julia?

C) he ignored Miguel after marrying Nina, allowing his new wife to ignore & mistreat his child with Susana, because he couldn't be with Julia.

D) He continually interfered in a man's marriage while throwing his own in the trash can

E) he ignored his own children but made sure he was Johnny on the spot with Julia, even til the end.

The only way Julia & Arturo could've worked is if people rooted against Eladio & Nina. Problem for the story was Fernando Colungo was too likeable as Eladio and Marlene Favela was too likeable as Nina. The Julia character was too weak and unlikeable, and Arturo ignoring his children and tossing aside his wife for no reason could not be overcome.

I always wonder if the real reason Julia could never really commit to Arturo this go around was the fact Arturo cheated on her with Susana, was up in her grill 2 minutes after Susana died, and tossed aside his wife of 25 years to be with her. Somewhere in Julia's mind had to be the thought that if Arturo was quick to cheat on the love of his life Julia with Susana, quick to declare his love for Julia while he was married to Susana, and quick to dump Nina ...that he might end up doing the same thing to her...AGAIN.

While Eladio did cheat on Julia with Caridad & Montserrat, he never left Julia for Caridad & Montserrat.
 

"I sure didn't get/understand Marintia's death. Hot tempered Franco gives her a punch in the face and she's finished. Que?"

gringo, I think we have to assume she hit her head on a hard piece of furniture like the corner of a table. Sorry if that wasn't clear in the recap. :-(
 

Novela every word you said made sense, and I wholeheartedly agree. That is the beauty of these tn's there is a journey with the characters we choose to go on when we watch. I loved that the outcome on this was unpredictable. It was favorite of mine. I try not too analyze too deeply, I put myself in the writers hands, I'm no writer or movie critic, so if I'm enthralled and entertained than it's a success in my book.


 

novelamaven...I think that we all watch these shows through our own little lens..our own circumstances, experiences, and opinions. I am a fairly pragmatic person and could not abide all the bad decisions or inaction of most of these characters, most of whom were there own worst enemies. Hey!! What you are doing is not working ...so...do something else...be a problem solver...maker a decision...bad decision...how about making another decision! Julia drove me nuts...all the time . Proactive much?

I am currently watching the televised version of the 8 volume Outlander series which I loved and devoured in frantic big bites last summer after watching the first season. Since reading all the books, the way that the TV show has changed the story and characters is driving me crazy. Sometimes, the way writers twist and turn the storyline and characters is frustrating.
 

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gringo and NovelaMaven,

"a punch in the face and she's finished. Que?"

"...we have to assume she hit her head on a hard piece of furniture..."

A blow to the head like that has the potential to be fatal in and of itself. Boxers who are trained and accustomed to taking punishing blows to the head have perished in the boxing ring from just such a punch. Such a blow could sufficiently injure the brain enough to result in death, or sever the spinal cord, or rupture a latent cerebral aneurysm.

Carlos
 

Susanlynn...thats exactly why I refuse to read the books AFTER the movie or show comes out. Frustating changes.
 

Very late to the wrap party. Caught this on repeat while in the hotel last night. Thanks to UA,Mauricio and NM for sending us off with style. And thanks to our whole recap team.

Can't say I enjoyed the end much but it was a plus being able to fast forward through some. Art's death was the writer's cop out to resolve story lines and to me, make sure Colunga got the girl no matter how forced it seemed. And she gets to help raise another poor child connected to Eladio 'so past. Maybe they get it right this time?? If not they sure know some good docs for the poor boy to work with.

Rest was somewhat predictable. Did like the two idiots having to suffer in jail. Did not care for Consuelo jumping through hoops on the baby front with Erick, but TN'S also push that forgiveness factor even when it seems too much.

Everyone else....Meh. Random non rich family never made sense except to hit home how less screwed up the working class is versus the rich.

Will give Yago a try Monday. Thanks all for a fun time.

DAISYNJAY

 

To: NovellaMaven, Mauricio, Urban A. You guys are amazing. Thank you for parts 1,2,3, They were exquisitely
Recapped.

This was indeed a sad, heartbreaking, troubling story of two not so different families. Heres my spin on some of these people.

Arturo: Now when I first started watching him, I thought, well heres the good guy, but then that thought flew the coop slowly but surely. The manipulation, the lies, the buying witesses to protect a son he didn't give any time to raising, left that to his wife who put him on a pedestal over her stepson. He did not care enough even put forth any kind of effort to help this young grew into a responsible adult. Was not their for daniella, that poor kid wasn't even sure dad loved her. Of coures he did twards the end but it was to late then. Babygirl died.
What Im saying it seems that arturo was trying to do the past over and he wssn't going to let anyone get in his way, including his wife his children, nor his ex's husband. He was able to tell himself he was doing the right thing, but all
The mentle and emotional brake down it caused was to much of a high price. A daughter's life, a wife's love, a sons life ruined, and last his own life. Just when he was gettin it together he ran out of time. I to did not see that death coming. I hated that cuz nina wanted another chance with him. Just wasn't to be. Did these two parents own up to
The mistakes they made raising their kids? Rather they did or not, they (kids)were accountable for there own mistakes. you have to have a good beginning if you're gonna to have a chance at a good ending but mom and dad just weren't there.

Nina: I love the way she turned out. She became the mother she should have been to miguel, and he let her know how he felt, which started to unfold at the board meeting. I think they make a good mother/son Duo. Both of these parents seem to have ran out of the time that would have allowed them to make up for the mistakes they made with their children and each other, but they did make an effort towards the end and I really like that about them. I just wish arturo didn't have to die. But there are consequences to ones actions. And then erick wished his father would die. Be carefull what you wish for.

Eladio: This guy was really out there in the beginning. WOW!!! He was scary. I was wishing he would die. But he did an about face. He changed for the better. But it took awhile for the change to make an appearence. For most of the show he was just plain scary crazy. I was surprised to see him talkin to a shrink. But it helped. I wish arturo would have gottin some help in letting go of the past. But that would have defeated the purpose of the passion that was in the power that these people had to screw up their lives and entertain us. Did that sound as bad to y'all as it did to me? Wow! I need to rest, Ive had a hard workweek.

Julia: poor confused, put upon, misunderstood easy to manipulate julia. She went through the entire show being confused and misunderstood. well she was lied to and mistreated by manipulative men her whole life. First her father then she went from her father to arturo, then she went to eladio who beat and raped her and it just went on and on. and then she got fed up and Brave and decided to move to her own independent apartment. Aren't yall glad she got out of that stupor.
For the most part I liked the ending. I don't have the time or the energy to comment on the other characters in this
Tale of woes and victories. But these actors really did a wonderful job of bringing these characters to life. This was a good show. I wish there was a spinoff then we could see what happens to Eric and Nina and caridad and little Mateo, and watch Gabby by some miracle get pregnant for agustin and they have a really big happy family. No spinoff.

Thank you guys. You really brung it in the recappin department. kudos to you all. You're rockstars that write.☆★☆★☆★☆★☆
 

I haven't said it yet, but thanks to the rest of this team (Mauricio, NovelaaMaven, Cynderella, and AuntyAnn). You've all been amazing. I'm going to chill for a while until one or more of these actors has a new series.

I don't think this one was too long; 137 episodes is normally right for this number of characters. The degrading of Arturo, Julia, Regina, and David was the main reason this seemed too long because of all the repetitions of indecision.

A repetition of mine: Please, Univision, don't make 3-hour finales a new habit. This particular one was exhausting in more ways than one. I watched all three hours twice to be able to write up the last one.

As editing went, we didn't lose much from this compared to other series where they had scissors in hand. I think we lost 25% of MIVAC and almost half of PSMA.

BTW, that crying child disturbed me also. I don't want to know what has to happen for a child to be crying that much on a shooting set like this. As for what happened to the character, we know that Eladio and Julia would be raising him. I got the impression at the end that Eladio was deciding on early retirement from the business.

When Nina handed Erick the pill bottle I also got the vibe that he might decide to check out if the pain became too severe. As to Franco asking him for help? Supremely arrogant, indeed. He knew that Erick had betrayed Arturo, but how could Erick ever be stupid enough to trust Franco after this? Well....

Also had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach the last time Regina hugged Arturo. They had finally reconciled after their (absurd) conflict about their relationships and because it took that long I knew somehow that something bad would happen.
 

My thoughts of this TN:

Eladio & Julia: I'm happy they reconciled in the end. I'm also assuming they stayed in San Francisco, CA!

Regina & David: Drama, drama, drama. I did enjoy Michelle Renaud's performance though.

Whoever said that it took Daniela's death for them to get back together (similar to Lupe's death leading Paco & Buji Madam Ripoli to get back together on Hasta Fin Del Mundo).

Connie & Miguel: Glad they've got peace & stability now raising Jr., I did not like what Connie said about Erick always being the kid's father.

Clara & Justino: Their wedding & honeymoon was beautiful!

Purple Lips: At first, I HATED her for how she mistreated Miguel (the male version of Julia) by insulting, abusing him & worse.

Karma came back to bite Purple Lips very hard with the deaths of Daniela & Arturo including Erick going to prison!

In the end, I was happy to see Purple Lips apologizing to Miguel & becoming a mother to him :)
 

Enjoyed reading all the comments. PyP was must-see TV for me, but I never found a character to root for. I liked Nina's spunk and love/protectiveness of her family. But I couldn't get past that an adult woman would be mean to her 4-year-old stepson and get her own kids to treat him like an outsider as he grew up. Art was off at work, so his was indifference/regret, not downright cruelty. Nina's apology, 20+ years later, was accepted by Miguel and their relationship took a 360 turn for the better. But Nina had to hit rock bottom, losing Dani, to get there.

At first it was nice seeing Altair in a good girl role for a change, but then her character never went anywhere. She was even still opening her door without looking through the peephole. :D

Franco only cared about himself and showing he was a better man than Eladio. He must be in shock in prison to shut out Caridad and Eladio, instead of manipulating them for protection money. He did seem to change his mind about Eladio, but too late. He seems like a candidate for suicide too.

After her brilliant performance in Yo No Creo en Los Hombres, Fabiola Guajardo must've felt let down by Gaby's do-nothingness. Gaby stayed stuck in denial far too long. Would've been more interested if she'd been on Franco's trail, checking his phone, etc. And she should've gone to visit her dad's shoe business and thanked his employees. She lucked up with Augie.

In the PyP interview show Friday, Alejandro Nones was asked which woman did Erick love: Montserrat or Consuelo. He thought a bit and said the only woman Erick really loved was his mom. So true, despite his betrayals.

Arturo was my favorite character. Didn't root for him, but this complex character was riveting to watch. Jorge Salinas is an actor with 1001 faces. I could watch him all day. Other characters I never FFWed through: Eladio, Nina, Franco, Erick.
 

I love Jorge Salinas for his depth as well as his mature sex appeal. If you haven't seen LQNPA, try to find it. It's a stellar performance by him as an anti-hero protagonist with shades of Heathcliff and Maxim DeWinter. I want to see him in a noir mystery novela as a private eye with a trenchcoat, fedora, shoulder holster, and vintage car.

BTW, in real life he has six children... four different mothers.

I'm going to check for the video of the wrap show because I think AN got it mostly on the money. However, I don't think Erick had a whole lot of respect for Nina because of the family betrayal of the kidnapping and fleecing.

Next weekend we can discuss future trends in novelas. I will not be recapping for a little while because this series was draining. For me it overlapped with YNCELH for a few weeks and then when we had two weeks of triple and double episodes that was a bit stressful. This finale has wiped me out for a little while. The deleted prison scenes highlighted by Mauricio were shocking, indeed, along with Arturo's operatic death scene.
 

Why did Regina have to grovel and apologize when Dave is the one who slept with her sister? This show sucks! What happened to Frank Smith? Where is the Mateo? Julia has to raise Eladio's grandchild too? Who wrote this?
 

Cynderella, members of the writing team of this series had previously worked on Teresa, La Que No Podia Amar, Por Siempre Mi Amor, Mundo de Fieras, La Malquerida, Imperdonable, and Corona de Lagrimas.

Those titles should help explain some of the character and plot elements of this series.

When we last saw the baby Eladio took him away from Caridad and said he will raise him. If we buy the final shot before the Fin Julia will raise him along with Eladio. I can barely believe that one.

Frank Smith died under mysterious circumstances and no details were ever provided about this. I've brought this up before but something else came into it during the last week:

When Julia met Eladio he was working for Arturo's father and not in an executive position. Since these characters can't be more than 50 years old in the opening episode, how much time would Eladio have needed to start his company and become wealthy enough to bail Humberto out of his gambling debts and build that gilded-cage mansion for Julia? I very strongly doubt that there was adequate time for Eladio to inherit whatever Smith (or Schmidt, and there's another story in the name thing) left him as well as make enough money to accomplish that. He had to have gotten money from Arturo's father (remember the speculation about whether Eladio and Arturo were brothers and didn't know it?) or embezzled it from the company before he was terminated.

As for Regina apologizing, that is a sad result of being the child of a narcissist. She was always third in Nina's favor (behind Daniela and Ape Child, in that order), and children of narcissists often apologize for their very existence. I still do it and I'm much older than Regina.
 

Regina needed to grovel because David wouldn't have slept with Daniela had Regina not dumped him for no good reason. He wouldn't have slept with Daniela because he would've still been with Regina. She dumped him too often on silly whims and David needed to be sure her wanting to get back with him wasn't another silly whim. This is what happens when you prove yourself to be flaky & shaky. Nina is not to blame for Regina not being committed to David and constantly dumping him (or Jorge).

Realistically, DAVID shouldn't have taken Regina back at all. He should've hit her with a "Frankly my dear I don't give a damn" and gone off to Australia.

Frank Smith mentored Eladio & died. The only person making hay about how Frank Smith died was Arturo, it probably would've factored in more if they continued with the Eladio we were first presented.


 

There's something I noticed about regina's left ring finger, looked like she was wearing a wedding set. Did they get married somewhere that we missed? Did anyboby else notice the rings? Cuz he didn't want to marry her yet. Because of her flakyismness. Maybe I'll go back and check that scene again.
 

As You guys knows, I am/was Pasion y Poder's biggest fan. I said that it would probably take me pretty much the whole weekend to get through the three episodes and all of the comments amongst other weekend things. I'm finally finished with this great story and to think, I almost didn't watch it. Thank you Susana Gonzales
for bringing me in.

What a team---Cynderella, AuntyAnn, Nandicta filling in when need and the final three. I can't believe the run we have had. I'm laughing at myself because I was so excited and anxious to get into this last recap that when I saw Urban's recap right up front and on top, I jumped on it. Dummy me, I thought that all three recaps were divided up into one and it was the one that Urban had on top. When I finished, I knew that something was wrong as Urban is always so thorough. When I was done reading it I had many questions as important things seemed to be missing. Que? Good Grief, my big mistake.

NovelaMaven---Part one. Fabulous as always in your own fabulous style.
LOL---Erick is one chimp that can't survive on his own.

Maybe Mateo can sense the evil in the air or maybe his diaper just needs changing.
Whatever it is, the kid just keeps screaming. --- Little Mateo sure has a good set of lungs. Maybe a singer one day?

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. --- True.

A field trip for Marcos.

LOL---Idiot Down! Really great Novela.--- I know that it isn't funny being shot but the idiot did go down. Pulling a knife with three cops there, yes that's idiot no doubt about it.

Mauricio---A great job as well. Thank you for the whole novela. Saturday mornings were always to look forward to.

A double thank you for filling us in on Uni's deleted scenes.

LOL---Marcos will testify after he can go home and get a clean pair of pants.

They start playing pass the chimp.

If you are in prison, I don't think that you want to cry like a baby, it just doesn't look good. --- Right Mauricio crying is on the no no list.

Franco's five minutes of fame---It wasn't much more than that was it. He had planned his big move for so long and his big smiles soon faded. Chimp Boy & Chump Boy.

Franco tells Caridad that now is her chance to raise a child. (Uh-oh poor Mateo)

Humberto will have to face purgatory. Yes Mauricio, it was purgatory to him.

The shrink asks her what she plans on doing now? She doesn't know. (no surprise there)

Mauricio---These were only some of your great lines---you were on fire with this your last PyP recap.

Nina---I didn't notice a ring at the end. If you did, it was a good catch. I only saw the lug not washer temporary ring.

Nina in PyP---I can't remember a kind word that she ever spoke to Regina, Consuelo or Miguel early on. Those early episodes brought on the harsh name of bruja by me. I admit however that Nina changed toward the end, with that change starting to take place when she knew that her divorce would become a reality. As Nina changed, she softened and became a more likeable person to me anyway and by the novela's end or near the end I too had changed and became a team Nina member although not a loud one

I loved this novela story immensely and am quite sad that it's finished. My withdrawals have already started.

the gringo





 

I think it was part of Arturo's arrogance and jealousy (of Eladio's close relationship with Arturo's father) that led him to accuse Eladio of wicked shenanigans with both his (Arts) father and Schmidt. Maybe Schmidt helped Eladio make a tremendous killing in investments that instantly converted him into a millionaire but Arturo was too hard-headed to believe that "el pobreton de Eladio" could EVER come close to having what Art had by legitimate means. Hating him as he did for daring to aspire to be with Julia, I wouldn't put it past Arturo to run around and "throw shade" to ruin Eladio's reputation in the business world and relationship with Arturo's father just because. We saw how sneaky he was and what a liar he was in speaking to Julia about things Eladio supposedly said about her. Arturo was certainly not as upstanding as he would have people believe.

Nick
 

Gringo: if I recall, the only person, who was friendly to Miguel was Regina.

In one of the earlier episodes, Miguel celebrated his birthday with Regina & David. Very sad because he had no friends!
 

NovelaMaven, Mauricio & Urban,
The finale recap was excellent. With your three writing styles we got the best of both worlds, plus our world on the patio. Thank you for all of your hard work. As I watched the marathon 3-hour final, I knew the task at hand would not be easy, but I knew it was in good hands. I also want to thank our other team member Cynderella for all of her contributions on Monday nights. You always had me LOL!!!

I have been watching novelas for years and I can honestly say that this one was unusual. It did not follow the typical formula and for that I am grateful. I was not sure how to feel about Eladio at first, but I did end up cheering him on and I am happy that he ended up with Julia in the end, even though she annoyed me. Besides being confused all the time she also neglected to tell the whole truth at times. I don't want to go into it because I don't want to start ranting.

Anyway, I too was not expecting Arturo's death. I guess he had to die because he knew that Julia did not love him and he was not going back to Nina (even though she might have taken him back)so he would not have a happily ever after. And if he's not going to have a happily ever after he might as well die. I guess that's how the writers saw it.

I was also a fan of Auggie and Gaby. I wish we could have seen a little more of them as a couple. I did like the fact that Auggie adopted the little boy and gave Gaby time after her separation from Franco before they got together.

I always knew that David and Regina would get back together, so that didn't bother me. What did was Regina being wishy-washy and breaking up with David for stupid reasons. I am glad that the subject of her sleeping with Jorge never came up between her and David. If it had I would have been pissed. David would not have had any right to be asking that after going back and sleeping with Dani. Besides, they were no longer a couple, so it wasn't like Regina was cheating with Jorge.

I loved all the comments and recapping this story. I am not planning on watching Yago. Even though I like Ivan Sanchez (who can forget those towel scenes from Imperdonable, I am still re-winding and looking for that stabbing scar) I need a break.

Thanks again to the recapping team. You all were awesome!
Hasta Pronto!
 

AuntyAnn: I'll be watching "Yago" starting tonight!

I'm also having PyP withdrawals already!
 

A belated but heartfelt gracias to UA, NovelaMaven and Mauricio for this one.

I watched the first week or so of this show and then dropped off due to life getting in the way, but came back for the last few weeks. Susanlynn already touched on my major issue with it, which apparently was a bigger issue than I thought--Eladio's rehabbing, such as it was, being a cascade event. Or perhaps a candle in the dark, since his getting to adult and crap while none of the other adults usually did (except perhaps Agustin, panda hair and all) on any sort of regular basis. His favorite-son status seemed less earned and more default, which admittedly bugged me like crazy.

What amazes me is the fact that someone spoiled me on the ending on Twitter a couple of weeks back and, while I was a little pissed, I was more disappointed. It just figured that Fernando Colunga would end up with the girl in the end (I know he's played consistent bad guys before, but AFAIK it's relatively rare), and after watching it all go down...he didn't earn her, not really. He just outlasted the competition, literally. It wasn't as weirdly bleak as how I remember Mujeres engañadas ending from its Uni run way back when, but it just felt off.
 

Finally got to see the finale. Thank you so much NobelaMaven, Mauricio and UA!!

Surprised like everyone else that Art died.

I didn't like the beach ending. Maybe if it was prefaced that a time jump had taken place of like 2 years. Also, I would rather had it been Julia going to look for Eladio. Making an active choice. Agree Art dying was making the decision for her.

Am I the only one worried for the other prisoners with Franco? He may be down now but I have no doubt that he will wreck havoc.

Poor Altair Jarabo had a thankless role.

Otherwise I was pretty satisfied with the ending.
 

Carvivile: Altair Jarbao's role as Connie was underwhelming due to her weakness & incompetence including being pushed around by everyone.

I did love the beach ending with Eladio & Julia!
 

Stev,e, the beach ending felt like it came out of nowhere. I need more build up because it seemed glued on late.
 

Carvivile: I loved Marlene Favela as Purple Lips, where I at first, despised the character, then later warmed up to pulling for all the way in the last several episodes.

I'm glad she made amends to Miguel, Regina, Connie.