Monday, July 11, 2016

Tres Veces Ana - # 36, In which Valentin is the winner in every scene



As we settle in for another episode of TVA all bright eyed and bushy tailed (and hoping to remain that way for the duration of the episode), Llora and Leonor are on their way to visit Tin. Llora was convinced by Leonor to go there to show the latter where Llora’s novio lives. In reality we remember that Ramiro has painted quite a picture to Leonor on the variety of collages in Tin’s living room. This time we are spared the back-and-forth of ‘I am thirsty, won’t you invite me in?’ and ‘But I am in a hurry, let’s drink water at the restaurant’ and we actually see Tin opening the door and letting Llora and Leonor in. 


He seems to have cleaned up (and by the way his apartment looked when Ramiro broke in, Tin must have stayed up all night cleaning) – place looks semi-decent, no weird pictures on the walls and no alcohol. Leonor makes a remark about absence of both of these things (no photos of anyone and no booze) and is told he doesn’t really drink and as for the pictures, he is waiting for Llora to gift him a photo of her beautiful puffy-eyed self to put on the wall. Leonor is not impressed by any of this. (Tin, I must say, is more sly than he looks or behaves.)

Meanwhile Remedios is starting her morning right with some vitamin C and is squeezing OJ. Sole and Ana Lu come by asking for directions. Sole is off to see the boutique owner, who needs a seamstress, and Ana Lu is coming with her. Ana Lu runs to shower and says she won’t be but a minute. With her out of the room, Sole frets to Rem that she is deathly terrified that one of the women in this fancy boutique would recognize Ana Lu. She doesn’t want Ana Lu to go with her. Rem feels compassion for Sole’s tough situation. Sole points out that Rem promised to keep her secret, and Rem confirms she is a woman of her word. So if Sole wants to go alone, she should, and Rem will think something up to explain it to Ana Lu. Sole happily skips away, and we are starting to think that, along with the money, the thieves stole a good portion of Rem’s common sense and good judgment.
Abue is taking tea with her friend, the cardiologist’s wife, whose name I still cannot learn. The friend and the cardiologist wanted to come to Costa Paraiso for the funeral, but couldn’t find tickets in time. Abue and friend philosophize some on the topic of love and loss, and talk about poor Mariano. The topic of conversation quickly changes in the more positive direction once Ana Le comes in. Ana Le says she is there to pick up some things and she is really living with Tio these days to keep him company and not leave him alone. Abue and friend think Ana Le is strong and decisive and Llora is wonderful too. 

Sole shows up to Viridiana’s, who is hesitant to hire without references and so she gives her a little test – can she stitch out a flower she asks. Sole looks at it a couple times and decides that she can.
At the hostel, meanwhile, Rem and Ana Lu (who by the way looks not at all upset by Sole’s ditching her) reminisce about Santi and wonder if he, too, is looking at the night sky. We’ve yet to see proof this episode that Santi is still alive and so venture a guess that he is not gazing at the sky all starry eyed at this very moment. As if she heard our skepticism, Ana Lu says is afraid he met his past life in Costa Paraiso and will never return. Rem is much more optimistic – he chose to stay Santiago Garcia, so he will return. 

Ana Lu reminisces about their night on the beach and, with that out of the way, goes back to find Sole unsuccessfully trying to thread the needle to start on her flower. They both exchange not very well crafted lies on their respective whereabouts and reasons for actions – Sole really did want Ana Lu to come to the boutique, but Rem needed her more, and Ana Lu, in turn, really did spend the whole day at the gym. 

At the casa Tio, Mariano and Ana Le are having breakfast. She worries about him eating well and almost gets up to make him a more filling breakfast (“make” might be a synonym in this case for threaten the cook until the latter prepares another meal). Mariano wants to know how she slept. Turns out she slept very well, loves his house and would love to stay there forever. We bet you would, Ana Le. 

She then ponders on wouldn’t it have been marvelous if, after the parents’ accident, Tio and Abue divided the two remaining sisters – Llora to stay with Abue and Ana Le with Tio. No-no, says Mariano, es imposible, because he would have never taken such a burden as a little girl on himself. Ana Le doesn’t give up. Well, she says, you’ve spent your life taking care of us, and you’ve never married because of us. He is quick to dispel this myth as well (it is really not Ana Le’s morning it seems) – he never married because he never met a woman such as Jenny, who he could marry, have family and be happy with for the rest of his life. Well, you don’t know that would’ve been true, spits out Ana Le and quickly corrects her tone. 

He will fall in love again she says, but he doesn’t think so. Ana Le doesn’t think she can fall in love either after Marcelo’s death. Tio thinks she is a young girl and should not say so. Ana Le offers a sacrifice of never marrying again to keep him company. This would have been a good moment for Tio to ask if she is a bit coo coo, and instead he tells her he loves her. We must now concur that it was good call to not let Ana Le live with him as a child. If they had, she and Tio might already have had two children with three ears and 45 fingers between the two of them. 

We cut to Viridiana, who is convinced by her friend to show up at the mass for Jennifer to offer the condolences. And meanwhile at the entrance to the church, Inaki directs traffic, segregates everyone into important and less important people and makes sure they understand him by asking everyone: “Do YOU understand?” 

Ramiro shows up as well and runs into his father, who is becoming stranger each time we see him. Seriously, who is this dude and are we in for a last minute revelation that Ramiro was picked up on the street as a baby and is Mariano’s illegitimate son, making him Llora’s cousin? I can’t find another reason this “father” would behave so annoyingly harshly with his own son.  

Viridiana is at the church, offers condolences and tells Mariano that this is the moment to put their personal quibbles aside. Viridiana, we have news for you, for Mariano they were always aside, and you are the only one getting upset about this every episode and trying our nerves. She does give Mariano a hug though. Ana Le is not happy at all with that development and returns to her seat wishing she had a snake in her purse to slide over to where Viridiana is sitting. 

Tio is out the door to make a call to Ernestina and Llora, but Ernestina is already in the doorway, apologizing for tardiness and telling him they were waiting on Tin. And – drumroll! – who is wheeled in by Llora, but Tin himself!! He is introduced as Valentin Padilla, Llora’s novio. Tio looks like he is silently blowing a gasket as we break for a commercial. 

We rejoin with Sole and her return visit to Viridiana’s boutique with her finished flower stitching. Viridiana (who is at the church) is not there and Sole wants to wait. The boutique’s worker asks to see the stitching and is admiring the fine work. 

Back at the dramatic mass, Valentin is introduced to Mariano and both pretend to not know each other. Valentin says Llora mentioned many good things about Mariano, and Llora corroborates that statement. Valentin offers condolences and says that in moments like this people say that God knows why he does things, but Tin doesn’t think it’s always true – look at them both, they are not bad people, but Tin is in the wheelchair and Mariano almost got the happiness he wanted and it was ripped right out of his hands. Mariano looks perturbed and asks everyone to come inside for the mass. Valentin asks Mariano to push his chair and the latter agrees, though we suspect without the pleasure he claimed fulfilling this request would give him. 

Elsewhere Orlando is out of bed and hopping on one leg with the other one still in the cast. His new guardian angel Evaristo comes to check up on him and asks how this hotel is working out for him. Orlando complains that he is tired of being locked in. What do you know – Ev is there to tell him that his luck is changing. Ev is ready for Orlando to contact Ramiro again, and this time Ramiro will give Orlando all the money he promised, which Orlando can keep. The only thing Orlando needs to do is to follow Ev’s instructions exactly. 

Ramiro is only JUST coming inside the church – that was a slow climb up the stairs! He receives a text from Orlando/Ev. 

Ana Lu is at the rehearsal and suddenly sees Santi standing in the doorway and loses her concentration. Anibal, who did not have many reasons to be happy with her lately, is again annoyed.
The mass is over. Leonor debriefs with Ramiro on the visit to Tin’s apartment. Ramiro also thinks that Tin must have spent the whole night cleaning the place, but it seems that Ramiro is losing another ally. Leonor thinks Tin is a good guy and he makes Llora happy. Ramiro is blinded by jealousy. Ramiro rejects that conjecture and says he will find out what Tin is hiding. 

People are finally starting to leave church. Ramiro’s dad stops him from approaching Llora and Tin and offers a gem of wisdom that this boy is perfect for Llora. Ramiro offers condolences to Mariano and ignores Ana Le, who is outraged. Ramiro is, in turn, ignored by Ernestina, so no love lost anywhere. 

Remedios is entering her house with Susi and while they chat, Santi appears in the doorway, changes his mind and leaves. (What’s with the ghost games, Santi and the episode’s directors?) 

Much awaited conversation between Valentin and Mariano is very anti-climactic. Mariano won’t let him hurt Llora. Valentin didn’t even know she is related to Mariano when he met her. Mariano isn’t buying it, Valentin doesn’t care. Tin just wants to be happy and after everything Mariano stole from him, can he please leave him this possibility of starting over again with Llora. Mariano looks semi-convinced. 

Maribel is jealous of Ana Lu’s solo number and Javier offers an alternative of putting on a number with him. She agrees and they kiss. 

Rem and Ana Lu are having a heart-to-heart. Rem tells her that Sole loves her very much. Ana Lu, though, feels Sole distant at times. Rem lectures on being able to forgive the parents. Sole shows up, who got tired of waiting for Viridiana and came home, after leaving the stitching and her phone number. Turns out she should’ve kept on waiting, because while Viridiana was impressed with Sole’s work, her employee misplaced the phone number.

Mariano is again remembering the scene of Tin pointing a gun at him in his own office. Tin is asking Mariano to stop the wedding of Gina and Ramiro. Ana Le interrupts the memories and comes in to bring a glass of wine and to ask Mariano to love her more than anyone else. Later Ana Le is having a nightmare about Marcelo coming back to kill her and screams for her uncle to come console her.
Santi is back at (some) hotel and is remembering last meeting with Evaristo, who apparently caught up with him after we’ve seen those two last at the cemetery. Evaristo said he is returning to Mexico and Santi should do the same. He also gave him an envelope with something that, according to Ev, Marcelo Salvaterra should know. 

We don’t quite find out what it was that Ev put in the envelope, but must have something to do with Chana’s prediction that Ramiro and Marcelo will become enemies, because next scene is Ramiro’s money hand-off to Orlando. Orlando shows up with Ev and is introduced as Ev’s grandson. Ramiro asks if Orlando was Gina’s brother and Orlando has a dumb expression on his face. Ramiro doesn’t notice it. Ev and Orlando play a little bargaining game and Ramiro finally gives up the money, for Ana Lu’s photo sight unseen and still in the envelope. Ramiro continues to score no points, doesn’t he? Orlando is sent to wait in the car and Ramiro stays with Ev for a chat. 

That scene is cut short as well and the next one we see is Ramiro and Inaki meeting again in the morning and Inaki asking for a ride. Very coincidentally outside the apartment they run into Santiago/Marcelo. Ramiro is shocked.

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Comments:
Excellent recap, Ria! " . . . two children with three ears and 45 fingers between the two of them." was my favorite.

I think that the woman talking to Ernestina was Miranda.

Ana Leticia was at her creepy best with uncle Mariano. I could not believe that she was lying on the couch curled all around him and he allowed it! Every so often/couple of episodes uncle Mariano gives a look like he is uncomfortable or surprised with what Ana Leticia said or did to him but he always catches himself and then reacts to her as if she were three years old. Then she needed her uncle to come comfort her because she had a terrible nightmare. Give me a break! Guess those are the kinds of dreams you have when you are a murderer. This whole incesty storyline is so nasty but so well done.

Santiago was at his sulky skulky best when he appeared just long enough at Ana Lucía's practice to ruin it for her and give Maribel reason for a nice big smirk when she messed up; then at Remedios' just long enough to give her the feeling that someone was behind her. What was that all about? A trip down memory lane?

Interesting that Orlando is now calling Evaristo "gramps" and Evaristo is now calling Orlando" grandson". Maybe that is how Evaristo calls all of his thugs and thugs in the making.

Another good one!
 

By the way, thanks!
 

Fab recap Ria. Yeah, and I giggled at the Children of AnaMar line too. That was priceless.

So again, more secrets. So Tin had pulled a gun on dear Uncle, and he still says nothing about this so Llora cuts free from this dude? Maybe not at the funeral, but Llora trusts him and he could open his mouth and tell her he has reservations and would prefer they don't go out. Or tell the other brain dead adults around the girl. Lord knows Llora listens to anyone and will act accordingly.

And AnaLe does continue the creepy. I have to keep reminding myself that unfortunately, this family looks at these two girls like they are still the tragic 8-10 year olds running around. I think Mariano really does see himself as a father figure so in that context, he will hug and care for the girls. We just know that for AnaLe, it's a whole different ball game. Her nightmare fed into the whole concept these girls need almost childlike care. Which they don't....she and Llora need a good psychiatrist.

I'm starting to wonder what the heck the use of Maribel is really, besides being the worst BFF ever. Are we getting these snarky vibes from her as setup that she is going to go fully to the dark side at some point? Otherwise, really sick of her smirks and non-plot.

Have to say, I so enjoy the Evarista moments. One of the best TN villians ever. I shouldn't enjoy his moments so much, but he's so smooth. Right out of a Film Noir movie of the 50's.


 

Daisynjay, you are so right about Evaristo being right out of film noir. The last time I saw Eric del Castillo he was a priest in LQLVMR. He was good in that but perfect in this!
 

Gracias, Ria. This was excellent.

For a minute I thought the boutique employee would ditch Soledad's work, but it looks like Soledad will end up working there and possibly running into Ernestina.

Love that Ramiro finally saw Marcelo, but I'm still perplexed that he didn't open that envelope to check out the photo. I think he's been scammed.

Please don't let Ana Lucia be pregnant.

As for AnaMeMeMe, I doubt she would ever want to get pregnant at all. She would have her eggs harvested and use a surrogate, trick one of her sisters into having the baby for her via medical assistance, or refuse outright, then have her tubes tied. She is not of maternal stock and knows it. I also doubt she'd want to lose her figure.
 

Thanks so much, Ria! I got caught up in a phone call last night, and did get the chance to watch the episode. I just knew the Val scene was a fake-out and that he'd gotten rid of all the evidence. So no even Leonor doesn't believe Ramiro. The guy can't catch a break!

What is Ev up to? How will Ramiro and SantMarc become enemies? This is giving me a headache. Eric del Castillo is obviously having a ball playing this role, but Ev's ability to be the puppet master of all is getting on my nerves. Next we'll learn that he was hired 40 years ago to fool Ernestina into believing her novio had cheated on her. Seriously, the guy (or his kids/grandkids) are everywhere.

I cannot believe that after knowing Ramiro his whole life, Mariano so easily believed he was trash, based on nothing he'd seen himself, and practically beat him up to get him out of Ana Llora's life. But then he sees she's dating a guy he knows conned him for money, held a gun to him at one point, obviously hates him, and has demonstrated to him in the past that he's a bit unhinged, and he lets it slide?! Unbelievable!
 

You're so right, Vivi.

How did Valentin get that place cleaned up even if he was up all night? If he doesn't work, what income maintains him? I'm not completely convinced that he's paralyzed and we know nothing about his parents. Him tearing up the check in the previous episode makes no sense if he is actually poor and existing on money collected on the street when he plays the oboe in public.

Ramiro's father is a garden-variety novela toxic father who is trying to control him long past any point where it is even remotely appropriate. He sees women as toys and to him Ana Llorona is broken while AnaMeMeMe is whole. He doesn't see past the outer package. He must have been a lousy husband.
 

Great recap Ria!

I'm actually getting tired of Ev. He is in practically every other scene now. Also, every plan works out perfectly for him. He knew that Ram would be suspicious of why he was with Orlando and concocted the Abuelo story. Also, he knew Ram wouldn't be quick to give him money so he planned a little tete a tete with Orlando that worked perfectly. I'm tired of him spinning everyone's wheels with nothing coming back to bite him.

Ram should have stolen some things from Val's apt bec then Val wouldn't have known it was Ram who broke in. I'm sure that's why he cleaned up the place immediately, knowing Ram would rat him out.

Lost a lot of respect for Remedios.
 

This comment has been removed by the author.
 

Typo- I meant to say I didn't get to see the episode.

Urban- In the flashback to Val and Gina speaking in the park, when he told her his bright idea about becoming a professional oboe player as a means to earning money, they mentioned that his father had died and that he/they had already burned through the inheritance Val got. In a previous flashback (the first one Val had about Gina), she implied that his family's wealth had not been as much as she had expected. That was when she complained about him not taking her out to eat or giving her the life she had expected, and she scoffed at him talking about how hard he was working for Mariano's company. So his father IS dead, as he told Ernestina. And he did come from money, although not super rich. I'm guessing mom cut him out of her life when she saw what a fool he'd made of himself for money-grubbing Gina.
 

Thanks, Ria! Wowie wow wow. For once, I picked the right night to watch!

So, TWO big reveals in one episode - Valentin and Mariano, then Santiago and Ramiro.

I'm dying to see if Mariano warns Llora about Valentin and tells her not to see him. He sure was emphatic about not wanting her to be with Ramiro, but Ramiro never pulled a gun on Mariano!

AnaLet chose an interesting dress to wear to a memorial mass. Y'know, just because it's black doesn't mean it's appropriate. I'd hate to see what she'd wear to a wedding.

Viridiana's employee is the woman in my nightmares when I'm unemployed. This is Soledad's life and this woman has carelessly mislaid her contact info! Argh!! I assume that it will all be sorted out quickly enough. Eventually AnaLu will go to the boutique to see her mother, and Viridiana will be so confused!
 

Does anyone think that the woman living at the pension (can't remember her name) could be Valentin's mother?
 

Anon- That's a great theory! It would be a great way to tie her into the rest of the story.
 

Thank you Ria for your great recapping. As I get into this novella more and more I am sickened by “Bad Seed’s” throwing herself at her uncle and his allowing it. I guess the other characters in this novella think this is normal behavior between uncle and niece? She is just slithering all over him….it’s such a creepy, incestuous looking, situation. And her nightmares…..she’s screaming for her uncle to come and comfort her. She’s a grown woman. If you have a nightmare, you wake up, go to the bathroom, get a drink of water, and go back to sleep. You don’t bother anyone with your nightmares unless you are a child. I had a nightmare when I was visiting my 83 year old mother. I was sleeping in the next room from her and she heard me making noises, so she came and woke me up. I felt embarrassed that I had woken her up. Anyway, I did hear Ana Le say that she was going to accompany her uncle and she was going to stay with him forever. Did I understand that right? No niece in her right mind wants to live with her uncle forever. It’s sick!
 

Cynthia, what scares me about Ana Leticia is that she still thinks she's being subtle. Just imagine how gross it will be when she decides to be more aggressive.
 

Thanks all!

Oh, Jarifa, thanks for the Abue's friend's name. One more I will try to not forget!!

Daisynjay - so true about Evaristo - a fabulous villain! And I, too, was very surprised to say the least about Mariano's mild reaction to Tin.

Urban - too funny about Ana Let and her future babies, and likely so true based on what've seen of her so far!

Carvivlie - I kept thinking the same thing during Ramiro's break-in scene, or take some pictures at least! What are these smart phones for? He didn't even look around long enough to see Gina's photo - just came in, saw a collage of Llora and left. Then answered the phone right outside of the apartments.

Vivi - I am trying to figure out too how they would become enemies. Ev has something up his sleeve! But you are also so very right, Mariano knew Ramiro all his life (as did his own father) and yet both distrust him and Mariano believes a gun pointing con-artist over Ramiro. So if the trend holds, Ramiro will believe whatever Ev told him.

Julie - ohhh this boutique saleswoman who "helped" Sole is indeed every job hunter's nightmare. But I was already impressed she actually passed on the good work, like Urban, I was half expecting her not to do it.

Anon - very interesting theory! Though Rem did say that she never had children, but a possibility of spinning in a supposedly dead child always exists!

Cynthia - Ana Le's creepy lusting after her uncle is indeed very weird! Let's see where this creepy story line goes
 

Ria- I don't think Anon meant Remedios. She's talking about the random lady in Rem's boarding house who stays in her room moping/crying most of the time. I believe she also sings for Anibal's acrobat group's performances. She was upset that the framed picture of her dead husband was taken during the robery, and she's also mentioned being estranged from her child/children.
 

Oh yes, I think Sneaky dubbed her "Judy" because she was judgemental.
 

Vivi- Yes you are right, I was referring to her. I just can't for the life of me remember her name
 

Oh then yes, would be totally possible and might liven up her story line indeed!
 

Her name is Nerina.
 

Thanks, Ria. My fave: Sole happily skips away, and we are starting to think that, along with the money, the thieves stole a good portion of Rem’s common sense and good judgment. - lol

It'll be interesting to see what Mariano does about Valentin. The trouble is Mariano thinks Ana Laura's lack of a leg puts her out of the running (pun not intended) for a man to love her. Will he think that it would be altruistic to let his niece date Valentin even though he's nuts because a man in a wheelchair is the only type that would want her? One of the reasons he buys that Ramiro is after her money is because he can't see himself falling in love with a less than perfect body.

Valentin sure is quick cleaning up a mess. I kept thinking he took Leonor and Ana Laura to an alternate apartment.
 

Ria- yes it would definitely liven up her story.

Vivi- Thank you
 

Good point Niecie about how Mariano, and others, view AnaLlora only through her disability.
 

Thank you Ria. It was great and so funny. I loved two parts mentioned. The children from kin relations and Remedios losing her good sense.
It is stupid that tio prefers Val to Ramiro, but that is how it is in real life. Yes, he must think he really loves Laura because he is in wheelchair himself. How
dare Mariano, makes me mad when he thinks Laura is less than. Vivi you are so right about Ev, he probably has a story regarding Abu.
Leticia
 

Sorry Ria, didn't get to see the episode until very late yesterday and totally missed your well-written recap. Like Julie, I was horrified at that saleswoman misplacing Soledad's phone number. Stirred up all kinds of anxieties for me. Can never decide if working on my Spanish is worth all the emotional angst (well, guess there's no other kind, but...) that I feel watching this cliffhanger stories. Oh well, maybe I need to stick to the Saturday morning cartoons!
 

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