Caray, Caray!

Silvana

I'll put up a recap of tonight's episode tomorrow morning.
 

SILVANA SIN LANA - JUEVES - Parte 1 de 2

The episode opens with Majo and Andrés arguing. He's really freaked by her having sent a somewhat off-color message that she'd meant to send to Vicente. Andrés asks whether she's been unfaithful to him. He also tells her that he doesn't know whether she's still lying to him.

At Stella's, the scene is total chaos. Jennifer's baby is crying, the kids are running wild, and Jennifer is running through a month's worth of food in a couple of days. Dominique tells Poncho he has to talk to Stella.

At Manuel's dinner table, Stella wants to know why Jorge and Vicente are remodeling one of the rooms in Chivis' house. Pedrito tells her about Jorge and Vicente spying on Angie and Majo through a hole in the wall.

Dominique and Poncho arrive outside the Fish Market. Dominique continues to insist that they have to tell Stella to get rid of Jennifer. As they're talking, Stella arrives, and with much prodding, Poncho confesses that Jennifer isn't his novia and they have to get her and her kids out of the house. Stella tries to guilt-trip them. ¡Qué malas personas son! You want to throw that poor woman and her three children out on the street? Stella says she won't do that. Bottom line: she's happy living with Manuel in his house. She regards Poncho as Jennifer's novio no matter what he says, and if Jennifer goes out on the street, the novio goes, too.

Manuel and Chivis talk in his office. He tells her he's glad that she has forgiven his sons. She tells him that they are fine young men. She's impressed that they have taken responsibility and apologized (por dar la cara y ofrecernos disculpas). The conversation moves to the previous evening, when she went out on the balcony to water the geraniums. Stella was on Manuel's balcony. "She told me that she was living with you, that you were going to move to a larger house, and the two of you were getting married." Manuel tells her not to pay attention to Stella, who makes things up. He explains why Stella is staying in his house. He adds, "If I were going to make such important decisions, I'd tell you first." "Me? Why me?" asks Chivis. "You know why," he replies. "Don't play dumb." They talk indirectly for a while, after which he says, "Although you speak Russian and I speak Chinese, we're going to understand each other."

Jorge tries to talk with Angie, but she doesn't want to speak to him. He asks what he can do to make her forgive him, and she says there's nothing he can do. She's quite adamant [which is a polite way of saying something a good deal stronger].

Angie leaves and Trini comes downstairs. She tells Jorge she'd like to ask him a question, but she wants him to tell her the truth. He says he will. She asks him to swear that he will. And raise his right hand while he does so. Finally, she comes out with it: "while you were making those little holes (hueguitos) here and there, did you perhaps put one in my bedroom, too?" [In your dreams, Trini]

Lupita asks Angie why Jorge is around so much. Angie explains that their mother has asked him to paint the walls as part of a remodeling of their bedroom. Lupita says that Angie must be happy, since she's so fond of Jorge. Angie tells her that no, she's not fond of Jorge. "But you liked him last week," replies Lupita. "Yes, but I don't like him now." "Well, perhaps next week you'll like him again."

Lupita goes next door to see Pedrito. In her discussion with Pedrito, she seems well aware of the spying issue, and aware too that no one in her family has told her about it. She and Pedrito horse around playfully on his bed, when suddenly both of them stop. Each has a Meaningful Look on his/her face.
 

SILVANA SIN LANA - JUEVES - Parte 2 de 2

Vicente brings another can of paint to Jorge at Chivis' house. He then goes upstairs to measure the dimensions of the room to be remodelled. He discovers Majo there, and the two of them have Yet Another Conversation involving the phrase "I'm engaged to be married." This time, in response, Vicente tells her that marriage is like a submarine: it floats, but it's designed to sink (el matrimonio es como un submarino: flota, pero está diseñado para hundirse).

In a discussion with Manuel, Stella sides with Lucha. She tells Manuel that bad things have happened since Chivis and her family moved in. Manuel protests, but Stella tells him that Chivis is taking advantage of his good nature.

Lupita says she wants to tell Angie about a very serious problem, but Angie has to promise not to tell anyone. She also has to close her eyes. Lupita then tells her, "I have the same problem as you. I'm in love with the boy next door."

At Stella's, Jennifer has been washing her family's clothes in the dishwasher in the kitchen. Both Poncho and Dominique try to encourage her to leave. Dominique offers to help her find another place. But Jennifer tells them she has spoken with Stella, and "I can stay here with my kids for a month if I need to." Poncho and Dominique exchange horrified looks [again].

Stella comes to see Chivis. She tells her that she thinks her daughters are in danger. "If someone were spying on my family and I were the mother, I'd move." [hint hint] She also gives Chivis the financial information concerning the big banquet. "With all the money you'll make from this banquet, you can buy a bigger house." [hint hint]

Manuel and Stella are talking. Pedrito comes in and tells Manuel he'd like to talk to him hombre a hombre about their neighbors. He wants the talk to be just between the two of them, moving his head in Stella's direction to indicate that he doesn't want to include her. He and Manuel go to another room. Pedrito announces that he's in love. He's felt butterflies in his stomach. He thought that stuff was just in the movies, but he looked into Lupita's eyes, and she looked into his, and...he's in love.

Trini comes somewhat surreptitiously to see Don Benito (since Margarita doesn't want her there). She tells him that Chivis has bought a washing machine but not a dryer, so perhaps she can still bring the clothes to Don Benito's to dry, and they can talk. Margarita sees them, and Trini hastily leaves.

Jorge asks Vicente for advice about what he can say to get Angie to forgive him. Vicente suggests he go back to Margarita. Jorge rejects this and tells Vicente he was thinking of sending a letter. Vicente approves. Women like letters.

Jorge receives a text message from Margarita asking him to come right away. He does. She accuses him of having lied to her when he said he wasn't breaking up with her because of someone else. Don Benito has told her about Jorge's spying on Angie. "Can you explain to me why you did this?" she asks. Fed up, Jorge replies: Angie me encanta. Me gusta mucho. ¿Contenta? End of episode.
 

Silvana. Thanks, Juanita! Off to a teaching seminar. Will comment later!
 

Thank you , Juanita! I'm out of town and missed this one.

How ... why ... Would Jennifer wash clothes in a dishwasher???

Trini has no clue how much wet laundry weighs, if she thinks she will haul it to Benito's dryer. Clearly she has no clue
about anything. (~rolls eyes~)
 

Silvana

What, doris? Don't you always wash your clothes in the dishwasher?? :-) What Jennifer said is that she doesn't use the washing machine because it shrinks the clothes, and she doesn't use the bathtub because she's using that to soak her underwear.

Good point about the weight of wet clothes. And you're right, Trini's pretty clueless about everything (except, perhaps, how to get people to do things for her).
 

Silvana

Thanks, Juanita. You nailed it again! I loved, loved, loved Jorge telling the delusional Margarita that, yes, Angie is the one who he cares about. She had the nerve to tell him to come over “urgently” so that she could upbraid him about having told her he did not break off with her because of someone else. She couldn’t get it through her head that he was trying to let her down easy.

I suppose they’re going with Majo and Vicente ending up together. But he surely is callous in his attitudes about women. His advice to Jorge: if Angie is not coming around, go back to Margarita. Women are interchangeable to him. It sort of seems like he’s more interested in the conquest of Majo than who she is as a person. He’s very cynical.

Trini still wears sunglasses and a scarf to disguise herself when walking around in what she perceives as a naco neighborhood. I’m sure Benito or the boy who works at the bakery will be drafted into schlepping the wet clothes. Although they did give a hint last night that she wants the laundry gig to keep going so as to have an opportunity to spend time with Benito. He forgave her far too quickly in my opinion.

They often emphasize the Spanish heritage of Don Benito. Last night when speaking with Trini about Chivis having obtained a washer but needed more funds for the dryer, he used an interesting reference. He told her that El Escorial wasn’t built in a day. El Escorial is the historical residence of the King of Spain that functions as a monastery, basilica and royal palace. It’s about 28 miles from Madrid and is enormous. I did not visit the place when I was in Spain, but googling its image showed its size.

I must say the actor portraying Stella is doing a fabulous job. We keep seeing her coarseness in comparison with the elegant Silvana over and over. I got a kick out of her leopard patterned luggage when she was on Manuel’s doorstep. She constantly chews gum. In her zeal to denigrate Silvana she gets in the middle of a discussion between Manuel and his daughter, oblivious to his annoyance.

I enjoy seeing Maritza’s facial expressions when Stella goes through one of her routines. It was pretty funny when she called Stella on her games. “If she and Manuel are moving into a bigger house soon, then why does she, Chivis, need to move to get away from the dangerous boys.”
 

Silvana

Angie is right. Spying at someone in their bedroom is not something that can take a quick apology and then immediate forgiveness. It's more of a "you need to suffer a very long while trying to earn back my trust and if you come near me in the meantime I'm going to mace you until you're blind" thing. Chivis should at least be monitoring those buys while they are in the girls room. At least Vicente. He's a jerk and Jorge needs to ignore him. I don't like Andres and Luchita together (still an ethical problem), but Andres deserves better than someone who would cheat on him with Vicente.

I missed a couple episodes. Is Jennifer the woman Poncho was dancing with in the club? Do we know why she's such a terrible mother, letting her kids toss cereal and everything else all over the floor? Get the tent and let the hoodlums sleep outside.

Kelly
 

Silvana

Wow, novelera, what terrific comments! I agree with everything you said. And yes, Vicente does seem shallow and callous toward women, but in my mind that makes him an appropriate match for Majo!

I've been pleased with most of the actors in this novela. One we haven't said much about but who impressed me a lot last night is the boy who plays Pedrito (Santiago Torres). I thought in the scene with Lupita and again in the man-to-man scene with Manuel, his facial expressions and his actions conveyed a wonderful mix of emotions.

Thanks for explaining the reference to El Escorial. I confess it went right by me last night.
 

Silvana

Kelly, yes, Jennifer is the woman he was dancing at the club with. They showed him waking up in her bed the next morning horrified at the sight of her. And the kids were standing at the foot of the bed as well.

She then came to visit him once and he and Dominique managed to get rid of her that time. A few episodes later she appeared saying she'd been evicted for non-payment of three months' rent. Her complete invasion of their space and allowing her children to destroy everything is meant to be funny. It leaves me cold.
 

Silvana. Excellent recap as usual, Juanita, with some very perceptive comments. I particularly liked "which is a polite way of saying something a good deal stronger," "In your dreams, Trini," and "hint, hint." Novelera: Great remark about Vicente's callousness--at least with women. I assume he'll have an apotheosis at some point and change his ways. I think both Majo and Andrés are at least subconsciously looking for an excuse to break off their engagement. I thought I detected a few bits of sexism in last night's episode--for example, when Angie explains to Lupita why Jorge is painting their bedroom and a few of Manuel's remarks at the dinner table.
 

Kelly - you are so right. Once trust is broken it has to be earned back. Better that Jorge have to earn it if this show is imparting any life lessons to the young people watching it.

So far, there has been good parenting on both sides.

IMO, Vicente's biggest problem is his raging jovencito testosterone hormones.
 

SILVANA

Vicente is definitely veering into the 'creep' realm for me.
I also don't really understand how Majo wriggled out of the rude text to Andres dilemma. They were talking too fast for me.
 

Silvana

Jude Gray, I think Majo wriggled out of the problem by saying that it was just a game, she was trying to talk dirty to Andrés. She went on to say that she still wanted to be a virgin until marriage, and so she thought she'd try to spice things up a bit with the dirty talk. She then also was able to put Andrés on the defensive a bit by seeming to be very hurt when he asked whether she was cheating on him.
 

Silvana

Juanita, your comment reminded me of a jaw-dropping moment for me last night. In the 21st Century it's pretty hard to imagine an early 20's couple dating for three years and she's still a virgin.
 

Silvana

Interesting point, novelera. I wonder whether that's true in most of the Spanish-speaking world that watches Telemundo.
 

Silvana. Chivis seems to have found her niche. She's very good at marketing and delivering seafood products to restaurants, banquets, weddings, etc. Otoh, even without the sexual harassment, she didn't seem cut out for secretarial work, especially with such mean co-workers. I wonder if Chivis' and Angie's conversation about what Ch. would do if Antonio Jose returned is some kind of foreshadowing?
 

Silvana

Yes, SpanProf, Chivis does seem to have found her niche. And I'm almost positive that your suggestion/question about the return of Antonio José is foreshadowing. I mean, there's only so long that the plot can depend almost exclusively on Stella to keep Chivis and Manuel apart.

I came to this site today hoping that someone had offered a recap, or at least a brief list of things that happened in last night's episode. You've made a start, SpanProf, but I think I'll add to the list.

Jorge explains to Margarita that the reason he didn't tell her about Angie is that he didn't want to hurt her feelings.

Majo gets a phone call from Vicente. He asks why she's going to marry that boring guy. He tells her that he'll be waiting in his van if she feels like joining him.

Stella does a loud, one-person love-making scene to give Chivis (whose bed is on the other side of the wall) the impression that Stella and Manuel are sleeping together and are having a fine old time.

Majo does come out to Vicente's van. However, Lucha overheard Vicente's end of the phone conversation, and she comes out, knocks on the van's window, and accuses Majo yet again of being unfaithful to Andrés. She also give Majo an ultimatum: Either you tell him or I will.

Stella continues to try to get into Lucha's good graces (and is pretty successful at doing so). This time, I almost liked Stella, who told Lucha that she's always taking care of everyone else, but she should think of herself. She advises Lucha that when she goes to the university tomorrow, she should wear the sexy jeans that Stella bought her. Stella also gives her a pair of earrings. (I have to admit, Lucha looked very attractive in the new outfit.)

In Manuel's office the next day, Chivis asks him to please be more quiet in his lovemaking. He makes it clear that he is not sleeping with Stella in his house. Moreover, for days he's been thinking of someone else. Just as he says this, in walk Poncho and Dominique. Chivis leaves and P & D plead with Manuel to send Stella back to her house, so that Jennifer and her wild kids will leave. They tell Manuel that they think Stella is taking advantage of the situation to stay with him.

Stella tells Chivis that Majo was in Vicente's van last night. I think her primary motivation for telling her is to get her to move.

Manuel talks to Stella about Jennifer. Stella claims that everyone is happy. Manuel says that's odd, because P & D have just asked him for help.

Vicente follow Majo into Don Benito's bakery. When no one is in the store, Vicente kisses Majo...and of course in walks Trini, who faints.
 

Silvana. Excellent succinct recap, Juanita. I hesitated to comment any further between Saturday morning aerobics and the Hy-Vee wine taste, because I thought I would be stepping on someone else's recap. I have a very hard time trying to summarize while watching, so I usually just get down a few high points. Excellent observation on Stella and Lucha. Stella was probably right on about Lucha taking on too much responsibility when her mother died, and it is time for her to start living her own life! Again, MJ almost seems to want Andres to break up with her. Stella's love-making sound effects were kind of funny in a very vulgar way. Given all her other lies, I was a little surprised that Chivis was so easily fooled. Also, Trini's [no doubt fake] fainting scene was sort of funny too.
 

Silvana

Thanks, Juanita and SpanProf for your recaps/comments. We don't have a full complement of recappers, so I wouldn't worry about putting something up amounting to stepping on someone's toes. I'll continue to recap Mondays and one other day, depending on my book club schedule.

Thursday night at the Friends of the Library group we had a good discussion of The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan. It's a tome and not all of us made it all the way through. But the discussion was stimulating. I mentioned that I'd liked 2 or 3 of her books more than VOA, especially The Bonesetter's Daughter. End of digression!

I don't plan on really lengthy recaps because this novela hasn't really captured my imagination.

OK, Stella WAS endearing in the scene with Lucha. Maybe they'll continue to be friends after she and Manuel split up. I have a hard time envisioning Stella falling for the [to me at least] rather unattractive Poncho. But I doubt they'll leave her with no man at the end.

Please! Jennifer tosses a diaper full of baby-poo at one of her "roommates". And Stella is a pretty rotten friend. She told them that, if Jennifer moves out as her excuse for bedding at Manuel's house, she'll kick both of her friends out. Nice!

Margarita, how can anyone miss you when you won't go away? This girl is definitely in training to be an adult villana who drugs the galán and pretends they slept together!

Yes, Stella's motive for telling Chivis about Majo and Vicente could have been to convince her to move away. It could also just be plain old spite, causing Chivis pain and/or worry. In any case, Majo is busted two times over!
 

TELEMUNDO...

"La Fan" (in production, LA and Miami) written by Marcela Citterio (Reina de corazones), directed by Miguel Varoni.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_fan

"La Dona" (in production) (modern day version)
Aracely Arámbula, Rebecca Jones, Danna Paola, David Chocarro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Do%C3%B1a_(telenovela)

"El Chema" (soon)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5730624/

day lineup,
olympics next week then beginning Monday 22nd,

"Bella Calamidades" / "Imperio" / "Tormenta de Pasiones"

 

Silvana

Thanks Juanita and novelera for the recaps! I might be able to do Fridays starting next week.

Majo is really playing with fire, isn't she? She voluntarily got into Vicente's van and she was definitely kissing him back. I really hope she and Andres break up soon.

The letter Jorge wrote to Angie seemed to make her smile a little. She still shouldn't forgive him for a while though.

I have to admit, Stella genuinely seemed concerned for Lucia. And Andres did notice Lucia's new earrings (another present from Stella).

Ughhhhh Margarita. That's all I can say about her.
 

Silvana

Wow, J, that would be terrific if you could do Friday recaps!! So then we'd have novelera doing Mondays, my doing Tuesdays, and you doing Fridays. Novelera has also been doing Thursdays when her book club schedule permits, and I've occasionally done Thursdays when she can't. One way or another, we're getting closer to having everything covered.

Again, many thanks, J. I'm really looking forward to your recaps!
 

SILVANA

Majo and Vicente seem made for each other.
I was also very surprised to hear that she's been together with Andres for three years and they haven't had sex...so much so that I thought I must have mis-translated! Andres must be quite a fuddyduddy and very old-fashioned if he is truly appalled by a somewhat racy text. He's a young man in 2016, after all! Lucha seems pretty stern ...maybe they'd be ideal for one another. And where does Andres live? When we see hm at home on his phone it looks to me more like a five star resort than a student teacher's accommodation! I'm guessing h has family money...that'd explain why Majo doesn't want to lose him (although she's sure acting like she does!) and why Trini swooned when she saw Majo kissing el vecino in the bakery. Andres is ideal grandson-in-law (is that a thing??) material.

I do feel sorry for Margarita. Horrible to be in that situation, especially as a teen. It must seem to her now that life was pretty perfect before La Casa de Fresas came onto the scene.

Jennifer can't leave soon enough for me. Ugh this whole storyline is old hat and boring.

I've noticed that Mañuel's family has the typical big 'everyone seated and eating pastries while pouring orange juice from a pitcher' telenovela family breakfasts every morning. Who eats like that every day?! Nobody I know, especially not with kids. And if you work a a fish market, wouldn't you have to be up at ohgawdthirty on work days? Hour or two before school kids probably. Ahh the magic of television.