Caray, Caray!

Or is it "The Golden Woman with the Regular Gun"?

Recap by Rgv Chick and Julie!

Estela threatens Laura that if she continues with the idea that she is El Dorado and if she places that idea in Ryan's head, she'll be sorry. Estela storms out of the restroom as Genesis comes in to look for Laura. Laura breezes past Genesis, saying they'll catch up later.

Playing with the Mexican and US flags on his desk, Danilow tells Horacio that he's bummed that they're making all of this money from the private concerts, but don't get to keep any of it because they have to give it all to gangsters. He is fed up. Horacio reminds him that Asdrúbal is keeping the money for now, and they need to pay Marcelino; eventually they'll get their money back.

Danilow has a great idea: they can get Estela to tell them who El Dorado is, and get their money back from him. Horacio warns him that he always gets into a mess because he doesn't think things through. Danilow accuses Horacio of not knowing how to "smell the business" (giggle). Horacio replies, "What I smell is that they're going to shoot us." Danilow asks Horacio to get Marcelino to give them a couple more days.

Laura calls Chava from outside Ryan's apartment. She insists that she is sure (about Estela being El Dorito). Laura has sent Chava a photo of the lock on Ryan's door and wants his advice on how to pick/bust it. Chava asks why she didn't call him to come help her, and suggests that she look for a hidden key. (You'd think she would have tried that first.) She remembers where Ryan keeps his extra key and finds it. Once she is inside, Chava urges her to get out, but she won't turn back now.

Laura finds a photo of Ryan and Estela. She tells Chava that it is the same photo that they found in the box, except this photo was taken from the front. She thinks the photo in the box was taken by Pedro Carrillo's goon while he was surveilling Ryan and Estela. Chava nervously says that every secret agent needs a partner, so he'll come join her. Laura tells him there's no need; Estela is busy amusing herself with Ryan.

In Morgana's apartment, Danilow questions why she is exercising. She says she has to get into shape for her return to the stage. (Was she out of shape before?) He is grumpy, so she goes for a bath. Alone, Danilow looks at the latest social media postings showing Ryan and Estela together at Horacio Palencia's event. The first article says that La Regia was supposed to sing, but didn't. The next photo shows Laura at the same event, looking unhappy. Dani mutters that he and Laura are not finished yet, especially if she is carrying his baby.

Chava calls Laura to say that he is on his way. Laura continues snooping, and finds Estela's small blue case under a chair. She opens it and pulls out the pistol just as she hears the door open. Laura raises the pistol and points it at the door as Estela walks in with Ryan behind her. Instead of screaming "eek!" and acting afraid as usual, Estela merely asks, "what are you doing here?" Ryan tells Laura to put the gun down. Laura lowers the gun and says she doesn't want any problems. Ryan reminds her that trespassing can lead to problems. Why is she here? Laura explains that she came looking for proof that Estela is making fools of them. Ever since she appeared, El Dorado has been close, because Estela IS El Dorado. Ryan looks at her in disbelief as Laura tells him that Estela's kidnap and subsequent escape were lies. She repeats that Estela is El Dorado.

(Mexican version only) LetMe is on the phone with a crank caller who is telling her that America is for Americans. She needs to take her kids and go back to Mexico. When LetMe hangs up, Maria asks her what they said, but LetMe doesn't tell her.

Erasmo introduces Tadeo to Martin, who will be Tadeo's partner on a long drive to New York. Erasmo suggests that Martin go home and rest up for tomorrow. Martin leaves.

When Tadeo worries about the length of the trip, Erasmo reminds Tadeo that he had said that he wanted to go far away. Erasmo wonders if Tadeo is having second thoughts. Tadeo explains that he isn't really running away from music or himself. When Erasmo asks what he is running from, Tadeo confesses that he likes men... he is gay. Erasmo tells him that parents can sense things about their children, and he had already sensed that Tadeo is gay. Erasmo advises Tadeo that it isn't a matter of it being good or bad, and he can't interfere with Tadeo's feelings, but Erasmo will need time to get used to the idea. He gives Tadeo a comforting hug, and Tadeo looks relieved.

Laura wonders if Ryan thinks she is making it all up. How can he doubt her? She accuses Ryan of thinking that she's retaliating against Estela for causing problems between them, but Ryan doesn't think their relationship has anything to do with this. Laura urges him to think about everything; if he does, he will see the truth.

Estela admonishes Laura for thinking that she could actually kidnap herself, escape, and throw herself in a grave. She was unconscious in that grave; who makes themselves faint just for fun? She says Laura is making this up because she is hurt; it's not Estela's fault that she just happened to appear on the day of their wedding. When Estela swears to Ryan that she is not lying, Laura assures him that she is. She dares Estela to look into Ryan's eyes and swear that she isn't El Dorado. (If Laura thinks Estela is El D, why does she think Estela would be incapable of lying to Ryan's face?)

Ryan ignores this challenge and pleads with Laura not to repeat the mistake she made with him when they first met; she shouldn't say things that aren't true. (Estela looks smug.) Dismayed, Laura tells Ryan that she's warned him and has tried to look out for him, but it's not worth it any more. Laura walks out.

Joe has rescued Mercy from the police station and taken her home. He says she was lucky that the doctor at the police station noticed the bad state she was in and spoke up for her. Mercy admits that she has a problem, but she blames it on the situation with Ryan, missing Paloma, and seeing that the company she built with Walter sinking so quickly. Joe doesn't think anyone will judge her if she jumps ship. He and Ryan need her whole and strong. Mercy admits that she has missed Joe's care and compassion. She thinks about the fights they've had lately, and blames them and her bad mood on the return of Estela. Joe urges Mercy to give herself an opportunity to get to know Estela. There's a lot that Mercy doesn't know about her, and Walter didn't know either... or did Walter know about Ryan's relationship with Estela at all? Mercy responds that Walter didn't find out about Estela until after she disappeared.

Estela expresses regret that she has harmed Ryan's marriage to Estela. She says Ryan's baby is very important, and perhaps she should stay away until Ryan finds out if the baby is his. Ryan says he'd really be hurt if the baby turned out to be Danilo's. Estela says it hurts her to see Ryan suffer. It must be really painful to know that the woman he loves was with someone else. (¡GONG!) Estela adds that she should change the subject because she knows it's upsetting to him! Then she tries to get frisky with him. Ryan scoots away from her and asks if she's sure El D doesn't know about this place. She's SURE. She asks if he wouldn't like to go to bed. He says yes, and lets her kiss him; but he doesn't return the kiss. He says "goodnight" and goes to bed alone.

(Mexican version only) Joe again urges Mercy to give Estela a chance, and to think about everything Estela went through. Mercy remembers...

Mercy walks into the bedroom as Walter reposes in bed. She tells him that Pedro Carrillo is lurking around Furia looking to get in. He is down on his luck. Walter scoffs that Pedro's bark is worse than his bite, so she shouldn't worry. Mercy tells him that may be so, but his daughter DOES bite and reminds him what she did to Ryan. Walter dismisses her statement: "That's life. You never know who you are dealing with." Mercy thinks that there must have been a reason why she never really wanted to meet Estela, especially now that she suspects Estela was after Ryan for revenge. Walter wants to meet with Pedro, but Mercy doesn't want him to. She offers to meet with Pedro herself (I'll just BET!). After Walter wonders why she would want to meet with Pedro, she assures him it's only to make sure Pedro doesn't get close to any of the Cabreras.

As Mercy walks out of the bedroom, Walter receives a text message, "You wife has a lover."

(Not in Mexican version) Laura and Chavalin tell an incredulous Rosario what Laura has figured out about Estela. Rosario thinks Laura has spent too much time talking to Estela (and letting Estela get into Laura's head).

Next morning, at a bistro, Estela says this place reminds her of a restaurant in Little Italy. Ryan recalls the restaurant and that they always ordered the same thing. He does not want to lose sight of her, especially since she made her debut last night. If El Dorado comes close to Estela, he will have to deal Ryan.

Estela is disappointed that Ryan didn't invite her there just to be close to her, and chides him for only wanting to catch El Dorado to get things cleaned up at Furia and reconcile with Laura. She knows he loves Laura. Ryan explains that he has to be on good terms with Laura; she is the mother of his child. However, he cannot forget everything he and Estela lived together. He cares about Estela and wants to try to reestablish their relationship.

(Saaay WHAT?! This is a total 180 from how he was the night before! Is she as suspicious as we are?)

Surprised, Estela leans over to kiss Ryan, and he reciprocates. She is so excited she wants to give him a surprise at her apartment that night and assures him he will love it! As she starts to leave, Ryan tells her he worries that she is out and about alone. She reassures him (what happened to her timid-as-a-mouse routine?) and tells him she can take care of herself. She doesn't want him to follow her, as that will ruin the surprise.

Danilow walks into Laura's home. In his uniquely obnoxious way, Danilow says he's here to cheer her up since Ryan has gotten back with Estela. He opens a jewelry box with a substantial gold bracelet. Laura ignores the bracelet and asks Dani how and when he is going to clean up Furia now that he owns it. Danilow evades the question and wonders what it is that she wants. Laura retorts that she doesn't want what is in front of her; even when he drugged her he couldn't have all of her (cuz she thought he was Ryan). She asks him to leave. Danilow wants to see Paloma first. He says it's one thing if Laura hates him, but he and Paloma get along well.

As Laura tries to get Danilow to leave, Natividad calls Dani to say that there might be an opportunity to snatch Estela. Danilow tells Natividad to wait for him. He warns Laura that he will return to finish their conversation later. He hurriedly kisses her cheek, and I think I see Ariadne Diaz fighting hard to stifle a smile.

Asdrubal paces anxiously in his cell, then takes a phone from his shoe. (A shoe phone? I am having severe flashbacks of Maxwell Smart right now.)

Sorry about that, Chief!

He gets the "not in service" message and becomes agitated. He listens to a radio report about Ryan, who swore to love Regia and is now going back to his old girlfriend Estela Carrillo. As the radio host with the glass-breaking voice continues telling Laura's life story, a guard advises PonyBoy that he has a visitor; and the sight of this visitor will change his mood.

Joe is using his laptop on the couch when Mercy comes in chattering a mile a minute. (Not in a frenzied way, just in an uncharacteristically cheerful way.) She admits that she is dependent on the pills, and maybe Ryan got that from her and it wasn't Steve's fault. Joe tells her not to worry about it and just follow the doctor's orders. He gets up to make a sandwich (with cheese, please!), and Mercy intercepts a call from Lindsay. Lindsay (who appears to be calling from a restaurant, like, not from the lobby or coatroom, but from her table whilst eating) greets Mercy with a snide, "from lover to secretary." Linds needs Joe to care for the children while she is out of town. Mercy wonders how she can ask that after refusing to let Joe see the children. Isn't he a "bad example"? Lindsay informs Mercy that Joe has been visiting the children, and wonders if Joe is not confiding in Mercy because he is getting tired of her. Mercy snaps back that she will give Joe the message.

Danilow stands in front of an apartment door, with Natividad right behind him. Danilow is wearing his very goldest goldy-gold jacket. He asks Natividad if he is certain that Estela is there. Natividad confirms it and asks Danilow if he came alone. After Danilow affirms that he is alone, Natividad pulls out his gun and tells Danilow he is ready. Danilow tries to open the door, but it is locked; Natividad suggests that Dani use his belt buckle to pick the lock. As Danilow turns his attention to his belt, Natividad hits the secret knockout switch on Danilow's head with his pistol, and it's snoozeville for Danilow.

Laura is waiting for PonyBun in the visitors' area. She hesitates before sitting down. PonyBoy sits reluctantly. He expresses surprise to have a visit from her. Laura smirks and asks if El Dorado didn't tell him that "he'd" been found out. Asdrúbal smiles wickedly and asks if she liked El Dorado. Isn't he handsome? Laura flippantly retorts that El Dorado is not her type. El Dorado is more PonyBoy's type. Laura brandishes the letters she found and assumes Asdrúbal wrote them; she now knows why he and El Dorado wanted to separate her and Ryan: because Estela is El Dorado.

Asdrúbal claims that Estela can't be El Dorado because everyone knows that El Dorado and Pedro Carrillo hated one other. Laura counters that it wouldn't be the first time a father and daughter hated each other, especially when her father forbade the relationship. Pedro Carrillo never expected them to fall in love, did he? Asdrúbal laughs and suggests that Laura should be a writer instead of a singer. Laura says she'd start her novel with the letters from a hitman who fell in love with his boss's daughter. Laura picks up one of the letters and starts reading: "I would never dare to send you a letter such as this. You would probably make fun of me. When your father hired me to follow you..." [more]

(Mexican version only) Joe is back on the couch looking at places for his and Mercy's trip. He asks Mercy which she prefers. Mercy, however, is not looking at what Joe is showing her; instead she looks at an email account she doesn't recognize as the one he usually uses, and asks Joe about it. After Joe explains that is a secure account he uses for his clients, he receives a phone call and walks away to answer it. While he is away, curious Mercy starts looking through his email until she finds one sent to Walter that reads, "Your wife has a lover."

Laura continues to read from the letter, "I always knew I was invisible to you, especially when you started seeing that idiot who took everything from me." Laura notes that all the letters are dated, and the last one was just a few days before Estela "disappeared." She teases him for being so corny, and asks whether they became lovers before or after Ryan. Everything makes sense to Laura now; Estela needed him out of the way, and he is now in prison as El Dorado to protect her. Asdrúbal warns Laura that if she is there to get him to confirm her rubbish, she is wasting her time.

Laura is curious as to why Estela wanted her at Furia and asks Asdrúbal if she wanted to use her as a scapegoat in case things went awry at Furia. Asdrúbal suggests that there is her answer... if Estela were actually El Dorado. Asdrúbal asks that she leave the letters since there is nothing else to read. Laura gives him a pitying look and calls him a fool: he is there locked up day and night, while Estela is with Ryan just as she was three years ago.

In a large home somewhere, Danilow sits tied to a chair with a bandana over his eyes. After Natividad shakes him and tells him to wake up, Danilow scolds him for being a traitor. Natividad mocks him for being like all the Cabreras. Nati confesses that Walter pretended to hire him to take care of the ranch, but in reality he was his father's hitman. Danilow demands to know who El Dorado is.

Natividad calls for "Chula." This gets Dani's interest, and Nati reminisces that Walter had a weakness for women too. The blond woman who handed the knife to Ryan several weeks/months ago (not to be confused with the blond woman in the white dress in the opening credits) stands behind Danilow. Natividad leaves. Chula unties Danilow and pulls him up. Danilow tries to flirt with her even as she drags him out of the room.

Chula takes Danilow into a large office and warns that she'll be watching with cameras. She unties him and takes off the bandana covering his eyes. He sees someone wearing a hat, sitting in a big chair facing away from him. He cries out, "Dad!" and pauses then says, "Whatever it is, just pop it out! Show your face once and for all! So much protection... so much scheming in being my godfather! You saved my life several times, and furthermore, you let many of my slipups pass." He stares as the person in the chair just sits there mysteriously and asks, "Hey, whose body is taking your place at the cemetery?" He waits a moment, but when there is no reaction, he starts yelling, "You are the most stubborn of the stubborn, show me your face!" As he finishes yelling (and the dramatic music gets louder), the person swivels the chair to face him and it's... Estela Carrillo!!!

(Everyone act surprised, as if they never considered this possibility. There should be screaming, gnashing of teeth, rending of garments, dramatic swooning. If anyone has a fireplace, please throw your brandy glass at it.)

Um... so... yay for girl power?

And now for a steamy scene with nudity: Asdrúbal is in the prison shower when another prisoner comes in and announces that they've found a guard who will let them sneak out in a garbage truck. They just have to pay him off. Asdrúbal's got money, right? Asdrúbal wearily replies that everyone has to pay their own way. The other prisoner sneers that he will then get Asdrúbal out of prison feet-first. He shows off his knife (where was he hiding it? He's nekkid!), he tells Asdrúbal that he will be known as the one who killed El Dorado.

Back to Danilo, whose tiny brain cannot process the data in front of him. Estela has to explain it to him with apples. He can't believe that she controls all of this and has all these people working for her. Estela smirks and responds, "Because of boobs like you, I invented El Dorado. He's a ghost, so that I can be respected in this world of machos where it is thought that a woman can't have them (makes a gesture of carrying testicles) better placed than you all do. It worked. If anyone saw El Dorado, what would they do? They would bow, waiting for my orders." Danilow assumes, "And that way you evaded the law, so that they wouldn't know they were after a woman." Estela claps and says, "Very good, now you're understanding how the business is." (At Sea World, he would be given a sardine.)

Asdrúbal continues to fight the prisoner until he pins him against the wall and asks who sent him to kill him. When the prisoner doesn't respond, Asdrúbal slits his throat, then walks away.

Danilow wonders, "OK, so you passed yourself off as a dude. But why did you want me to launder money?" Estela replies that in doing so, she was able to protect other interests. Danilow figures it out, "Ryan! I would take care of the dirty work while he remained clean." Dani proposes that since he did such a great job posing as El D, they should form a partnership. Estela impatiently says that Furia is for her alone, and will launder money only for her. Ryan must remain clear of all of this.

Danilow comes back with, "Well, no such luck because Ryan and his peeps are up to their ears in this." (He reaches for her ear and caresses her hair. She tolerates his touch coldly.) Estela tells him to make everything that ties Ryan to the laundering disappear. Danilow says he will do it only if she gives back the money she stole from Marcelino. Estela smiles.

At the ranch, Rosario seems to have accepted Laura's claim that Estela is El D. She thinks she must be very dangerous, to have turned against her own father. Laura explains that Estela's father treated her badly. Chava adds that she may have even had her father killed. Laura insists that they need to find the proof to unmask Estela so Ryan can see who she really is. Chava repeats Milton's question, "What better place is there to hide than in plain sight?" Laura really doesn't think that is the question Milton wanted to ask her; she thinks it was something more concrete.

As Laura is thinking, Genesis walks in and tells Laura they need to meet with a sponsor. Laura admits that she had forgotten, so Genesis offers to help her get dressed with makeup and all.

Estela informs Danilow that she is the one who sets conditions. He is lucky she doesn't kill him. When she reiterates that she wants Ryan cleared of the money laundering, Danilow asks again that she return Marcelino's money. Estela mocks him because she knows he will screw this up as he always does, but she offers to let him keep the "El Dorado" name. Danilow reminds her that he set up his own laundering business. She laughs; that was Nestor's idea. She gives him two days to bring her everything that ties Ryan to the laundering business. Asdrúbal told her everything.

Danilow wonders what will happen if he doesn't comply. Estela says he's being watched, so he should not even consider defying her. Danilow questions why, if she didn't want to hurt Ryan, she didn't target another company; then figures she wanted revenge. He asks who she was punishing... his father?... but then dismisses the thought because his father is dead. When he determines it's Mercy she wants to punish, Chula jabs him with a syringe. Estela tells Chula to take him away.

Laura, Genesis, and Nina prepare for La Regia's meeting with their sponsor. Laura sings her praises (not literally) for MetroPCS. Nina records a message from La Regia that she will post all over social media.

At night, Estela greets Ryan in her apartment. He tells her she looks beautiful. The Estela he knew is back... the one who would drive him crazy. Since the first day he saw her, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. No other woman even comes close to her.

Estela is ecstatic and, showing him the apartment, tells him that everything is for him and asks if he likes what she did... he nods. She asks him if he remembers the night she offered him a drink and he wouldn't take it until she offered to take a drink so he could drink from her mouth. Ryan remembers and tells her she then showed him all about love. Estela confides that she dreamed of marrying him just as they had planned. She thought about it every day she was held captive. Then she wanted to meet his mother so she could tell her she was going to steal her son and travel the world. She had also planned a surprise - a trip to Rio de Janeiro where she would take him to a small island.

As Estela embraces Ryan, she asks him if he would go away with her and leave everything behind. Ryan pushes her away and gives her a cold look.

Next time: Laura gives Estela the finger - the ring finger, that is!

Labels: Estela