Caray, Caray!

Hey beautiful peeps! Sorry this and Monday's recap took this long. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

I am truly disgusted at the Aranza rape storyline. It's just a desperate cry for ratings. The whole character seems to have been added as an afterthought. At first, she was Pato's best friend whose parents were middle-class professional who worked hard to pay her tuition at IP (that's what she told Pato in the early episodes). Then she suddenly became stalker-ish with Pedro and started showing up to school with different personalities. Then we are made to wonder if she is a hooker then this nonsense! Oh well...

The one thing I liked about this episode was the conversation between Kiko and Salma. I hope this is the beginning of a friendship and not some other forced romance. Can't a girl and a guy just be friends in a TN?

Enjoy the discussion! Catch you later :)
 

Thanks!
Enjoyed so much that I wanted more!

I wonder exactly how ''original'' was this ''original'' story before the ratings drop and the ''pegazones'' they had t start making. (patches)

At what point they started changing their ''original ideas'' for what they think will be more appealing to the audience that already hates everything in it.

I am going to have to mention Marjorie, now that we now that she is coming to play superhero and save this mess. At least Betty went to the ''Acapulco'' location (that was actually mazatlán) and since they said they had plans to go tape in South Korea, who will they take, or will it actually be Korea, or just another chinese looking place in México? Jajaja!

I think people should get together and stop watching this as soon as Marjorie shows up, at least for a day, just to scare them into thinking that even she is not able to do anything!!

It will be like putting a band aid to someone whose head had been chopped off, jajaja!

I am sure they will not use the old trick of having Monroe enter a room and once inside she has Marjorie's face because they already did that in Mujer de madera (Edith González/Ana Patricia Rojo). God, how will the switcheroo take place? this is more interesting that the whole novela so far!!
 

Sorry,

''enjoyed it so much that I wanted more'' meaning the recap, not the episode, ok?
 

Thank you, Pablo! Your assessment is spot on and the info you provided about filming locations is very interesting. Do you think they'll still film in South Korea, given the resounding failure of this show? Honestly, who authorized this stinking pile of manure, to begin with? Original story, my eye! I'm seeing recycled bits and pieces of PEAM and MCET everywhere. At least these two shows had a charismatic lead (leads in the case of MCET) and they were remakes of other TNs, so there was an overarching storyline to stick to. SdA is just a bunch of nonsense thrown together pell-mell, without any concern for continuity or coherence.

Thanks for explaining to us that "Elmer Homero" (El mero mero) joke from "La Familia P.Luche", because Ricardo said it again in this episode, just in case we missed his saying it a couple of episodes ago. The recycled tired joke was recycled once again, so we can "not laugh" at it, once again.

"I think people should get together and stop watching this as soon as Marjorie shows up, at least for a day, just to scare them into thinking that even she is not able to do anything! It will be like putting a band aid to someone whose head had been chopped off, jajaja!" :D I'm keeping my fingers crossed! I really really really want De Sousa's addition to the show to make it an even bigger flop than it already is. Nothing personal against De Sousa; I don't know her and I've never seen her in anything before to form any opinion about her, good or bad. I just want Osorio to crash and burn so he can take full responsibility for this train wreck, instead of laying the blame solely at Betty Monroe's feet.
 

Thanks, Nandicta! Well said, all of it. Well, if Osorio is blaming Betty Monroe for the lack of popularity of this mess, is it any wonder all the characters are blaming the wrong people for their problems? Logical cause and effect has no place in the Osorioverse. I hope Monroe gets hired next by another producer and that show is a RAGING SUCCESS. There are lots of problems here, but her looks and acting are not among them.

Ricardo apparently has no grasp of the concept of "secret". Why doesn't he put a full-page ad in the newspaper and all over Facelook that he's a secret agent and he's looking for La Sombra?

I think the reality of the difficulty of getting around and doing things in a wheelchair in D.F. would be quite enough. No need to make every bystander go out of their way to be cruel. That turns it cartoony and diminishes the impact of the storyline, imo.
 

Hello, everybody!
Adriana Noel here, back from an impromptu holiday. I only got back a couple of days ago and I'm still trying to unpack, do the laundry etc etc etc... I swear I'm more tired that I was before leaving.

Nandicta, thank you so much for your continuos hard work, trying to keep this mess of a story interesting with your awesome writing. Thank you, also, for filling in for me last week, I'll cover this Friday and the next, this way you can get some much deserved rest.
Pablo and Jarifa, thank you both, too, for your witty recaps the past couple of weeks. I've read bits and pieces when I got the chance, but travelling with a 7 month-old takes ALL of your time and then some.
I'm going to try to catch up by watching the last couple of shows as soon as my daughter falls asleep, if I don't doze off before her.
What I did get is that Espe and Ric are engaged and Marjorie de Sousa is about to join the show? As a new character or a Esperanza recast??? I actually like Betty Monroe, she's one of the few redeeming things about this story, so QTH?
 

Thank you, Nandicta, for your great recap.



 

Thanks also for Monday's recap, which I just caught up with. Amen to your frustrations with Aranza was made to deal with a horrifying situation. She had time to call Pato, for Pato to call everyone, for Pedro to get there, and she still didn't manage to get someplace safer? No place was open? No taxis? Scream and wake up all the neighbors? Call the police? Nothing? I am firmly of the belief that rape is the fault of no one but the rapist, but that doesn't mean you have to make it any easier for him when you have the option not to. Get the hell away if you've got all that time.

Speaking of rapists, why is no one addressing Adrian's lack of consent in this whole pregnancy debacle? Like it's really sweet that Kristel and her dad and her sister and grandma are all closer now and whatnot, but Salma still did a REALLY BAD THING. Someone address that! But at least Princesa Confundida is getting some snoozling over it, which is the important thing.
 

Julia, I so agree that nobody is making Adrián's lack of consent a big enough deal. If the sexes were switched it sure would be a big deal. Salma is just a privileged brat and is only sorry because she got caught by the pregnancy. It was her fault pure and simple.
 

Nandicta, I just read the summary you posted this afternoon and made a comment there. Excellent as always.

This summary was also smart and sassy.

"I think playing the blame game after the fact is an exercise in futility" was my favorite.

Your comments on the lack of accessibility and moreover, the lack of empathy showed by the bus passengers toward Kiko were spot on. Unfortunately, it is sadly not uncommon. A friend of mine often gets honked at by motorists if he is not fast enough crossing a street or impedes pedestrian foot traffic simply as his wheelchair is not as fast as people would like. The theory behind saying people with disabilities is that people always come first. Apparently, not in some quarters. Sadly.

And Nandicta, it did appear that Aranza's character was confusing initially. Who is she really, who is she and should we like her were things I kept asking myself. And now, she has been used and abused in the worst possible way. Was her violation really necessary?

I'm totally confused as to why Betty Monroe is being thrown under the bus (the bus that Kiko was unsuccessfully able to board apparently)...She is clearly one of the best actors/characters here. I agree with all of your comments Julia especially "Logical cause and effect has no place in the Osorioverse". Betty is a gem and deserves far better than being blamed for this not being a success.

If this is a failure, it is clearly the writing. All of the children's storylines (IMHO) are far more interesting the premise of Ricardo and Esperanza. Ricardo's secret agent persona is ridiculous...

Pablo, is Marjorie actually taking Betty's place? They did the shower switch scene with Pedro Fernandez and David Zepada recently so anything is possible.

I am on the fence about Marjorie so will have to wait and see how this plays out. I agree that Osorio brought all of this on himself. Almost all the cast is great (except for Kristel, sorry) and he had the tools to craft something special, but couldn't.

Welcome back Adriana Noel!

Great comments all.

Diana
 

Thank you Julia, Adriana, Jarifa and Diana for stopping by!

Julia, your wry humor and astute observations are always a joy to read! Agree with every single thing you said, especially the missed opportunity to do a PSA about what constitutes consent and what doesn't in situations where alcohol is involved. There is a world of difference between someone agreeing to sex when they are slightly tipsy and someone being subjected to sex when they are in an advanced state of inebriation. As Jarifa rightly pointed out, had the situation been reversed and Adrián had been the one to have sex with a passed out Salma, he'd be jailed for rape.

Welcome back, Adriana! We missed you on the Patio! Glad you had an enjoyable vacation. All you need now is a second vacation to recover from the exhaustion generated by the first vacation! Have fun catching up! (Word of advice: Just skip this Monday's episode! It is gratuitously violent and pretty upsetting)

 

Last and certainly not least, Diana, you are a gem! Your comments are always so insightful, sweet and thoughtful! I love reading your impressions because you have a talent for discovering beauty in this ocean of irritating nonsense! I don't usually like teenage shows (not even when I was a teenager) but I agree that the performances of the younger cast keep me interested despite the abysmal writing and bad directing. The notable exceptions are Kristel, Virgilio (can't seem to warm up to him for some reason) and that mega-annoying Paulo Rey.

I'm sorry that your friend had to experience the insensitivity of some motorists, some people can be colossal arseholes but usually, not every single person one encounters that day is gonna act in such a despicable way. One of my dearest friends and a former classmate has a severe disability and uses a motorized wheelchair but he is a real trooper, has a great outlook on life and is one of the funnest people I've ever had the privilege to know. After class, somebody hangs his small backpack on the handles of his wheelchair before he heads out to take the Tube home. People are generally very kind to him, not solely because of his disability but because he is a sweet, smiling, joking guy, it's impossible not to warm up to him. Anyhoo, one day, somebody on the Tube stole my friend's backpack. It had his university notebooks and a little money but really, what kind of a monster would nick a backpack off the back of a defenseless person's wheelchair? I think even a professional pickpocket would feel too bad about doing such a cruel thing. We were more upset about this incident than my friend himself was, because all in all, and despite a few exceptions, people are generally very considerate towards him. The issue of accessibility ramps is the strict minimum that local authorities can do to facilitate access for hard-working citizens who are an upstanding part of the community and deserve to be able to move around their cities without losing their dignity or being subjected to mistreatment. I like that SdA discussed this issue but it would've been more realistic to see some of the bus passengers protest the bus driver's despicable behavior towards Kiko. Alternatively, Erasmo could (and should) have threatened to report the bus driver because public transportation is run entirely or partly by the city (in most cities in my part of the world anyway. I don't know how things work in the Western Hemisphere). No City Council would tolerate discrimination or denial of a public service against a citizen.