Caray, Caray!

Hello, everybody! I'm going to keep this short and to the point, feel free to add details that I've missed and you think add to the overall plot. 

We start with the cat-fight between Kristel and Aranza. They are, indeed, fighting over bland Pedro, but who am I to judge?
The quarrel is interrupted by Pato, coming out of the toilet and reminding her two amigas that this is HER day and they should stop making a mess out of it.
Kristel almost starts weeping, apologizes to both Pato and Aranza and leaves. Aranza tries to defend herself, with the classic "She started it", but Pato bluntly asks if fighting over Pedro is something that Ara should focus on now, with everything else that is going on in her life. Touché!

Barbara Santillana informs Felix that she will take over for Silvana and no, she doesn't need his incompetent help to do the job, he's less likely to screw up things better in an administrative capacity. What she needs is a good educator, someone who knows about academics and is an excellent teacher. My mind goes straight to Esperanza, but then Barbara says another name: Cristina Velez Valderama - and here is how I suppose we'll be getting introduced to Marjorie de Sousa. Not even in the cast yet and she's already replacing my lovely Esperanza (oh, yeah, and I saw her in the credits, too, third position, with the mention Protagonista Invitada - whatever that means).

The scene switches to a child's room, a little girl - we see a picture of her with her mother (Marjorie), we hear her recorded voice saying how much she loves mom and we see a woman enter the room. No face for now, though, and I really don't get the mystery.



Erasmo is still bumped, thinking about Kiko's surgery, when a nasty barrio loan shark (is there any other kind?) comes to see him with a proposition that Erasmo can't refuse: he will give him the money he needs by tomorrow, but Erasmo will have to pay back a huge (50%) interest. DON'T do it, Erasmo!
But he does!
He then goes home and tells his siblings that he got the money for the surgery. Estrella and Kiko are very happy. Later, when Estrella wants to find out how Erasmo got the cash, he first tries to evade the questioning and then says that it was Luca. Estrella is not totally buying it.

Tracy is prepping to become La Faux Sombra, with Anastasia watching from a hidden spot and filming the whole thing. Ernie calls her to make sure that everything is set for their plan. 

Mario and Silvana fight about the mess she's made. Of course she finds a way to blame him and her mother for everything that has happened. He won't pay for a lawyer, so she'll have to make do with an appointed on. Oh, the horror!

Back at Pato's party, Kristel is now fighting with Pedro, because he says that he loves her, but he's with Aranza. Why is Aranza living at his house and what is their relationship? Pedro assures her that she is the apple of his eyes, not Ara, but Kristel is not convinced by his words.

It's cake time. Pato blows the candles of her cute pato cake, with family and friends gathered around, singing Happy Birthday. She wishes for Adrian to get well, her mom to have a wonderful wedding and ... she looks lovingly at Luca, who is standing next to her. But then, when she goes to the bathroom to clean the frosting off her face, Faux Sombra shows up and grabs her, pointing a gun to her head. Panic all around!
Ricardo draws his gun, but Faux Sombra threatens to kill Pato if he moves, so he puts the weapon down.
This is Ernie's long awaited moment to shine. He steps in front of the crowd, challenging Faux Sombra to kill him and let Pato go. Oh, so brave of him! While the others urge him to be prudent, he goes on with his hero routine, offering himself instead of his beloved daughter.
Faux Sombra accepts, therefor sending a bullet in the decor and another one in Ernie's arm. Lucky shut, huh, Tracy?
Everyone starts shouting, as Tracy runs away. Ricardo, instead of following his number one arch enemy, stays behind to tend to his number two arch enemy's arm wound. So stupid!
Anastasia has it all on tape and goes after Tracy. She catches up to her as Tracy is getting into the getaway van and taking off her mask. She wants to ask something, but Tracy doesn't have the time to chat now.
Pato is in shock, she can't believe that Ernie would do this for her.
Espe is very upset and Ric is furious, like always, that the bastard got away, AGAIN. They have a lead, La Sombra was seen leaving in a white van. 
Kristel receives a call from her dad, informing her that Silvana is in jail. And the good news keep coming, huh?

At the same time, Silvana is taking her mug shots and of course that she's not happy, because the lightning is not OK, she's not wearing make-up, that is not her good angle, etc...
She might still think this is a joke, until she ends up in a jail cell, with some "friendly" inmates, who immediately decide her nickname -"guera" - there has to be one in every jail, and inform her that she'll be sleeping on the floor, or else...
In her twisted, narcissistic mind, Silvana still blames Mario for everything.

Back at home, Esperanza and Pedro are talking about what happened at the party. Espe is crying - if something were to happen to her daughter, she would die.
Ric is at the agency, screaming at everybody and throwing a hissy fit, like he does when La Sombra escapes right from under his nose (which is always).

Ernie is now at the hospital, with a bandage on his right arm. He and Tracy talk on the phone about their successful plan. Only problem - she almost killed him!! Good job, none the less. Tracy tells Ernie that Anastasia saw everything. Maybe he should have paid her off when he had the chance.
Later on Pato and Luca come to see him in his room. He puts on the perfect act, while smiling mischievously to himself and PatoLuca buy the whole thing. Pato is so grateful, that she finally calls him papa and hugs him dearly. Luca is thankful, too, and they both hug daddy dearest, while kissing, which is all kinds of incestuous, but I think because they don't actually share any blood, this is supposed to be OK.

Kristel is at home, talking with Mario and Margarita about their family problems. Kristel is feeling extra-sorry for herself tonight. Her sister is pregnant, her mother is in jail and her best-friend almost got shot, and all these things happening to other people somehow make her the victim. The one thing that actually happens directly to her is being loved by two cute, honest guys and not being able to decide which one she loves most. Oh, the tragedy...

Tracy visits Ernie in his hospital room. They are both worried about Anastasia. He wants to leave the bed, so Tracy pulls out his perfusion (ouch!). They agree to continue their partnership. Next step is to kill Ricardo.

The next day, Adrian wakes up in a bad mood at the rehab center. The jolly doctor (are we sure she's not on something, too?) tries to convince him to have breakfast, but Adrian pouts and whines.
His baby mamma, Salma, is not feeling better, either. She refuses to go to school and Mario tries to convince her using niceties. Thank God that Margarita is there, too, telling Salma to get up, get cleaned, get dressed and off to school, or else... Mario informs her that Silvana is in jail.

Espe, Ric and the kids are all together. Espe tells Ric that she loves him very much, but he absolutely has to stop La Sombra. For once, Ric doesn't scream back when someone kind of points out at his incompetence.
At the same time the real Sombra is furious to know that there is a copy-cat out there, trying to tarnish his reputation and steal the spot light. He orders his minions to find the fake asap.

Anastasia comes to visit Ernie, to blackmail him, of course. At first he tries to play it cool, but he quickly loses his temper and almost strangles Anastasia to death. When she shows him the video of the attack, explaining that she uploaded the whole thing online, he almost has a heart attack. But she only made public the actual attack, not the part where Tracy talks to him or takes off her mask. What does she want? Money, of course, but also an apartment and a job at his company.
The girl knows how to negotiate!

At school Tracy and Espe shortly quarrel about Ric. Tracy promises that they will never be happy together, but Espe assures her that there is nothing that she can do to harm them (oh, dear, this can't end well). Barbara shows up, calling Tracy in her office to talk.
Tracy quits (off screen) and as she leaves Barbara's office, she asks Ric, who is waiting to get in, to allow her to spend time with the kids. He agrees, after all she is their mother.

Salma is reluctant to get to class, so Espe promises to stand by her, helping her catch up on her classes, too. Kristel, still acting like she is the main victim here, wipes away some tears, as she goes to her own class. This girl...
As soon as she gets to class, the others start to mock Salma, but Espe promptly shuts them down. Salma slaps Astrid, for telling the whole world that she was pregnant. Then she tells everybody how bad she feels, how awful her situation is and how she's done an irreparable mistake. I feel bad for her, but when I remember that she single-handedly provoked this...

At the rehab center, Adrian is still being difficult with the nice doctor. At first he says that he doesn't have anybody outside, but then he remembers Estrella.
At the same time, she is calling Luca to thank him for the money. But Luca didn't do anything, so Estrella realizes that Erasmo lied to her.

Ricardo is meeting with Barbara, she is talking to all the teachers, now that she's taking over. During their meeting, she calls the secretary several times and urges her to track down Cristina Velez Valderama (saying all her names every time will get old fast). Ric asks what is going on and Barbara explains that she needs an expert's help with the school and CVV has a PHD in pedagogy and is very good at her job. If only she hadn't lived such a tragedy...

And we're back to the little girl room from the beginning of the episode. Marjorie - our expert teacher, is blocking all calls from Palacios, while holding the little girl's picture.

Later on Ricardo and a blind folded Esperanza arrive at an apartment. When she is allowed to see where they are, Espe realizes that this will be their new home and is super happy - the place has four bedrooms, is close to school and Espe gets to decorate it. Yey!

(I hate this type of surprise, when I move to a new place, I want to be included in the decision making. What if the closet space is not big enough? What if the kitchen is too small? Men never look at the kind of things a woman always notices. )

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