Tuesday, May 17, 2016
El Hotel de los Secretos #78, 5/17/16: The Truth is Finally Told!
We open with Ayala on the phone confirming the real identity of Diego. He is a Colombian who has been a fugitive from the law for 6 years named Juan Camilo Angarita. Ayala explains that Diego is a very dangerous murderous man, who was running from the police. Romulo saved him because he was a member of the Masonic Lodge and was trying to help out of good faith. The problem is that Ayala doesn’t know if Romulo actually knew that Diego/Juan Camilo Angarita was a murderer. The part he can’t figure out is if Diego/Juan murdered Romulo himself or if it was truly Teresa who murdered Romulo.
Labels: hotel
FYI- It looks like tomorrow Uni is showing soccer/football which will preempt Yago and Hotel. There will be no show tomorrow. Bummer! But that means Uni will have to show the full 2-hour finale of Hotel on Friday. Yay!
Well, folks we are down to the wire. I don't know about that last scene though. I can't see Belen purposefully jumping to her death. There was water in the background of the expendable dude, so could that bluff be surrounded by water and she jumped in? I swear she's like the energizer bunny, just keeps coming back. It almost seems like MEH to have her go that way. I want a real sit down and people ranting about all she did, etc.
Still wondering if Teresa is our red herring. Sophia is being sidelines somewhat and just still wondering if therein lies our big twist surprise. Maybe it's me wanting a big twist at the end.
So here comes the revolution. Celebrations and revolutions don't mix well, so I'm seeing several characters maybe not making it out alive? I felt bad for the workers though, now I don't know if I want the fire because darn, those people are out of a job. Maybe they can turn the place into something for the "poor" folks?
Did CeCe seal her doom by staying? Ok, I'm a sap and still want Manuela and Flippy to either ride off or have one major goodbye lip lock.
So we come down to Diego and the Doc someplace separate from the Hotel? We know Diego goes down, but I worry about the Doc too. Do it well Doc. For the patio.
This may be a tough two hour viewing on Friday, but realistic. Bittersweet that's it's ending, but it's been a perfect length TN and not a dull moment along the way.
"Gulmaro is in deep doo-doo"
"and there she is with the baby looking like Harriet Nelson"
I lost count. How many lives has Belen used up so far?
I can't like Felipe try as I might.
But this recap was very clear, flowed well, covered all the developments, and was entertaining to boot. Like tofie (we often pick the same lines)I loved:
Andres comes to the suite that he and Belen share and there she is with the baby looking like Harriet Nelson, Mother of the Year.
And actually Belen was a good mother. But quite a demon in every other respect.
I also agree with Daisynjay (Hey! How about those Cavaliers!!!!????) that this telenovela was the perfect length, superbly done, with not a slow or boring moment. I'll miss the shows on Thursday and Friday but look forward to watching them when I return home next week.
Cynthia, this was excellent. I hope you will consider becoming a regular recapper now. This vineyard needs more willing workers!
I woke up and watched the episode early. I couldn't resist! (Cynthia- I made a few small edits, like about the blackmail letter, here and there. I hope you don't mind.)
Love how you noted how good Belen is with the baby. She was very affectionate with her babies. But, I get creeped out by her "you and me against the world" talk with the babies. It just seems to me like I'm seeing an early version of Elisa and Alfredo. What looks like love can easily turn into possessiveness and using your kids as extensions of yourself, and that's the path I saw Belen going with those kids. They were always a means to an end.
Belen saw that the jig was up and that the police had entrapped her. She wasn't going to jail. I can see her deciding death was better than ending up in jail for life (or executed). Olegario had washed his hands of her, so she no longer had a wealthy protector, and now she knew Andres knew the truth.
The question is, who shot Bulmaro? It didn't look like it was the cops, who were the ones who sent him on this mission to entrap Belen and who were in a totally different part of the canyon. Was it Oleg or one of his people, who didn't want the connection between Bulmaro and his partners to be made by the police?
Sounds like Cecilia had some good advice for Felipe but also I am so glad Jorge/Manuela would have nothing to do with Felipe.
Nice to see the Revolution gearing up to add some more background to frame the novela in time and place.
It looked like Belén had a long tough fall. Even if it were into water it could be bad news due to the impact. I am hoping she is dead and gone and they don't try use the "dead but not really" trick they used already with Andrés. Once was enough.
I was a bit confused by the safe thing. I thought what was happening was that Teresa took the safe into town, where she had someone bust it open. The things she was given (which looked like a knife and the letter from Romulo) I thought were the contents from the safe. She wanted to break into the safe before Ayala returned to do the same thing. The fires were just torches in town to light the way. She didn't try to burn anything. Although, you would think she'd just burn that damn letter already, so that she wouldn't be in danger of anyone reading it. I'm glad she didn't because I want to know what it says!
Nena was warning Teresa about throwing the party when there were revolts nearby, but Teresa was flippant. The government has been putting down these kinds of revolts for years. The rich can easily control the poor, with money and power. The Federal army itself is made up of the poor! Let them eat cake! Well, we see how that worked out for Marie Antoinette...
Glad that Violeta and Gabriel are on a fast train out of Mexico and on to Europe, and out of harm's way. Maybe they'll be some excellent medical advances in Europe that will help Gabriel regain his sight. Wish they had taken Natalia with them too.
Even if the water is deep that's a very long fall. We don't know if Belen can swim if she even hits the water the right way. But somebody will have to check whether she survives this one.
As much as I suspected her from the beginning I want to see Diego pay for what he did to her. We only heard her tell Andres about it and he has no reason anymore to believe anything she has ever said.
Felipe is still the slacker he was in the opening episode. Being with Jorge/Manuela won't change that. He may be in love with her but he still has no concept of responsibility.
Diego and his mother will pay. Unless we're told otherwise she is responsible for him becoming the monster that he is.
Still wondering about the doctor. I hope he doesn't turn out to be evil.
Damn, am I going to miss this series when it's over!
Daisynjay: "Do it well Doc. For the patio." Amen!!
Vivi: "who shot Bulmaro?" I say it was Katia from Yago. Poor thing didn't get to do much on her own show last night.
Belen was an excellent character. So was Sofia and, in my opinion, Felipe. It is hard enough to accept that people can be incorrigible in real life. It's not any easier to accept that in fiction, when the writers can transform people at will. So, bravo to them for resisting the urge, even if the outcome is sad. (We don't know if it's sad for Felipe yet, but it's not looking good. And Sofia appears to be a lost cause.)
But I think that, no matter how things turn out, Dr. Vicario will be the best character at all. He's been keeping us all guessing right up to the very end!
Victoria didn't look very happy in that one brief scene. Serving an eccentric woman isn't as much fun when funds are limited and there's less opportunity for mischief.
I must be the only one that has never given up on Felipe, kind of like a mom, who always has hope their black sheep child will finally grow up. He & Jorge are off to the revolution.
The Doc is our most interesting character now, can't wait until we hear his story. Love Juan Ferrera, he was fantastic in Pas'ion.
All the actors have done a superb job in this novela. A shame it won't get the recognition it deserves.
I apologize for not weighing in and commenting after each episode is recapped. I've truly savored each and every word posted by our stalwart Hotel team and the clarifying comments that followed. I would merely be repetitious.
This has been a truly fine production. I'm going to watch it again as long as it's on Xfinity to savor it without those pesky commercials and 1-hr. limits.
My only big queja about the story is Diego's characterization. He was so intelligent, astute, manipulative, conniving and in control of running a complicated turn-of-the century hotel and ruining several women along the way with his overactive libido. I'm actually disappointed he's turned into a simpering, crazed, mama's boy. I would have preferred to see him go out in a blaze of gunfire after being cornered. Even a public suicide when cornered would have satisfied me.
As for Belen, I tend to agree she was the most complex character of the show and for her to take the "easy" way out was less satisfying than if Oleg had gone ahead and shot her, too, wounding her fatally and dying later--the same scenario as Benjamin. Just have Benjy die some other way.
Speaking of Benjy, I was surprised Doc. Vic didn't find the cilice he would normally be wearing when he was trying to save Benjy's life. One would think a doctor would expose his chest to work on him. But that's just me getting into the weeds.
Sofia played out the role of a disturbed woman perfectly, sometimes a little too perfectly. I would have loved to see her happy somewhere, but some women whether they are turn-of-the century women or not (of either one, 1900 and 2000) are trapped by customs and laws. They did not always get to be happy. Even Jorge/Manuela is in truth, trapped, and can only be happy and free pretending to be a man.
Andres won my heart. I knew nothing of Carlos Rivera before this started and someone mentioned this is his first acting role. That surprised me. He was so at ease on screen. When I looked him up, he's had prior experience in short appearances in telenovelas, but he also has been on the stage in important roles in several musicals, namely the Lion King and Mama Mia, of course melding acting and singing. I hope we get to see more of him as an actor.
I can't think of anyone else right now who would have fitted the role of Julio any better, but I couldn't get excited by this lean, almost emaciated Erik with the constant whisker stubble. Julio (and Cristina) were educated and their parents were, or at least their mother was, propelling them into the middle class. If he had first shown up with currently popular beards, such as Ole's or Ignacio's then shaved to get employment at the Hotel, it would have seemed more realistic. He did show up in working-class clothing, though, so I shouldn't express opinions on facial hairstyles unless I've studied them more closely.
I'm not sure what the purpose was to have Isabel always show up with messy hair. It was not becoming, but it did differentiate her from her stiff upper lip mother. Maybe it was to soften her personality, make her seem somewhat more vulnerable and independent, at the same time, from the rest of the Alarcons. I absolutely loved the way they dressed her, though. And how she moved. She floated.
I think the production crew took a lot of time and care to dress them in the proper period style and use peiod furnishings. They are to be commended. However, the phones and the cars were a little too modern for 1904 (or was it 1906). Small things, though.
As I said. this is just me getting into the weeds. Overall, it was a wonderful telenovela. I'm going to miss it, too.
Thank you again for the wonderful job the recappers did and dedicated commenters who encouraged intelligent discussion and above all, the speculation. That was the fun part.
I admire her for what she went through publicly with breast cancer a few years ago.
Daisynjay: I so agree with you about Belen jumping. I had a WTQ?! moment. It was out of character. She’s a fighter. She fought tooth and nail to get that baby back and then two days later jumps off a cliff. It’s more her style to try to escape.
It looked like Teresa had the knife that Sofia used to kill Bea. I figured she somehow got the safe open. Vivi: I’m with you—why didn’t she burn the letter, but so glad she didn’t so we can finally (maybe) find out what it says, for crying out loud.
Vivi: I, too, wondered who would get the baby. They would both make good fathers. Also, are you sure it’s been two years since the start of the action? The baby looks too young. Even if the action started at the end of 1908.
Did you notice the look on Andres’ face when the nieces came to get Nat? It was such a look of regret.
Also Mati’s face when Isa was holding the baby. Priceless.
The hotel's parties are always so eventful. I'm sure the big 100th anniversary one will be a BLAST!
I am still wondering about Dr. V. Who the heck is this dude? I know he is out to get revenge for Clara, but was he dating her or was he her father. Did I miss something?
Nanette- Doc Vic has been using Isa and Julio as bait for while now, in order to draw out crazy Diego.
Just how bad a person am I for hoping Belen hit a few bushes and such and broke her fall just enough for her to linger a bit before the end?
Poisoning Violetta and forcing the abortion/miscarriage, sacrificing Fulgencia, and attempting to fatally frame Andres, plus the insufferable way she treated any and all "below" her when she had two pesos to rub together, no, a quick clean passing just isn't very satisfying.
Given what he'd been blind to before, hard to accept Andres suddenly getting it about her when he did, but those who saw subtle signs of doubt were apparently more perceptive than I and I guess it wasn't as sudden as it seemed to me.
Where are Jorge/Manuela's brothers and brothers in arms. Did I miss their escape or release?
I can't make the timeline work from October 1908 to September 1910 either. Odd that they would be so precise with the month of the wedding/birth and the historical date of the anniversary.
Chris in FL
So did Olegario managed to silence the witness, or will there be a dying declaration? As best I could see, he had only ratted out Belen, omitting Oleg's part.
Chris in FL
I don't believe Belen is dead. I think she'll try again to claim her child. Sofia will interfere in some way, they will struggle, and then they'll BOTH die.
Naturally, this will happen at the big fiesta. There will be a mishap with the fireworks, and that's what will burn down the hotel.
That's my prediction for the day. :)
Yes. Judy! Hot damn those Cavs last night. But Hotel still took priority. I flipped over during commercials.
Can I say I was a tad disappointed that Violetta went away as a singer, not as a student of medicine, but at least she's away and may she have a bright future. Maybe her ability to earn and sing will get her to seek a further education herself.
And honestly with Teresa, I was waiting for her final line being "let them eat cake". What a ridiculous snob.
Thanks ever so much to Cathyx, Julie, Jardinera and Vivi for their last recaps and for all the entertaining, witty and informative recaps they delighted us with over the course of this excellent telenovela. I was always in a mad rush to catch up to the group and I carried the habit until the very last week despite my best intentions. However, let me assure you, dear ladies, that I read and savored each one of your recaps, even though I didn't always get a chance to show my appreciation. Thank you to each one of you for your great dedication! (I haven't forgotten our dear Princess Juju but we still have a chance to read one last EHDLS recap from her on Thursday).
Belén's olympic dive was awesome! Some viewers may feel cheated but I loved it and I believe it is in line with her character's psyche. This gal was adamant she would never go back to the miserable and humiliating life of simple folks, can you imagine just how desperate she would feel at the prospect of finishing her years in jail or getting hanged for murder? Belén was greedy, feisty, manipulative and self-assertive but she was also cowardly. She was a bully who only tormented and victimized those weaker than her. She dodged responsibility for all her evil deeds by lying, manipulating, bullying, fleeing and this time was no exception. Belén wanted to escape her responsibility yet again but she could not resort to any of her usual devious stratagems, so she chose to plunge to her death in an act of ultimate cowardice. Though we might want to wait until Thursday to make sure the wily one is not only merely dead but really most sincerely dead!
We are almost sure that good old Dr. Vicario's beef with Diego is related to his dead daughter. Moreover, there isn't any lingering doubt that the Doc is using Isabel as a tethered goat in his revenge plan. My guess is that he is trying to push Diego to kill Isabel in public, in order to have him caught red-handed. However, this theory wouldn't make much sense unless we find out why the Doc doesn't just alert the authorities that fugitive Juan Camilo WhatsHisName is in the vicinity. Maybe by putting Isabel in harm's way the Doc plans to get back at the Alarcóns for granting safe haven to his murderous ex-son-in-law. Or maybe it turns out the Doc has always hated the Alarcóns' guts for a reason yet to be revealed, just like good old Don Relojito who acted like the sweet family majordomo but harbored murderous hatred about every single Alarcón. Oh well, we'll find out in a couple of episodes! ¡Qué emoción!
I thought the person who shot Bulmaro looked like Oleg. There was a very quick camera shot of the person with the gun, and to me it looked like Oleg.
I will guess that Teresa wasn't the one who killed Romulo, but she's covering for Sofia who did, by not denying to Isabel that it was Sofia.
Yes, Doc Vic is an interesting character, now we know that Clara is his daughter and he's revenging her death. By bringing Diego back to the hotel, he's luring him in to have him killed.
Belen said right before she jumped that she would never go to jail. So I'm sure she's dead because we also know that Andres will remarry, so she needs to be dead for that. But who will take the baby? I say Alfredo should, he's the only one who's expressed any real parental love to the baby besides Belen.
I am so blown away at how cruel Teresa is. I am re-watching the episode with the wedding, "Dos Nacimientos". In this episode where Belen gives birth to baby #1, Teresa has the midwife leave before she is finished with the job even though the midwife said that Belen could bleed to death. So Teresa just gives the midwife extra money and leaves Belen, presumably, hoping that she will bleed to death, locked in the room. I am of the opinion she did kill Romulo. Her uncaring attitude about "the poor can just kill each other" in her conversation with Nena was just nasty.
I appreciate idealism and naivete in a young person up to a point, but Andres strikes me as quite a bit too old and too experienced (having been exposed to so many kinds of people while working at the hotel) to be so innocent. He grew up among Alarcons, for Pete's sake!
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