Caray, Caray!

Great work, Sandie.

Raquel has really lost it. Either that or she has never watched a single episode of La ley y la orden because she should have called the police upon discovery of the gun. Now her fingerprints are all over the stock and it's in her possession. This is disastrous, especially because it will be compounded by her rage at Damian in the hospital.

This could also make Santiago and the near-adult children suspicious of her.

More later.
 

Thanks Sandie!

If that was the gun used to kill Carolina and Andres is the murderer then Raquel just got her fingerprints all over it. I guess if she wanted so desperately to find more evidence of the affair then she found it. That picture obviously set her off even more.

It's clear as day that Carolina wasn't Damian's only affair. Although we don't know the details it's obvious to me that he was involved with Gabriela as well. But the fact that he had an affair with his sister in law is crazy. He had no shame.

I don't think the kids will be happy when they find out that Santiago and Raquel are more or less in a relationship. These kissing scenes aren't there for nothing in my opinion.

Nico's new boss seems like bad news. He better be careful.
 

I have not seen this episode, but I saw some comments on Twitter and I have said it before, I believed that Damian had cheated on Raquel before because he was too smooth going after Carolina. He had not a thought of doubt about going after her. We see Carolina have episodes of guilt and doubt, of what she is doing to her husband and family but we see none of that with Damian. That's because Carolina wasn't his first time at the rodeo.
 

Oh, Sandie--you synthesized all the elements into one great read. Thank you.
This phrase is sidebar-worthy, "Raquel is trying to turn Dam on but, his burner is off." It was probably the only place I had the opportunity to laugh out loud.

So I think we have another mystery emerging. Did Nando (Godoy) misinterpret the 911 call to Laura on purpose or is that what the police believe actually happened?

Did anyone say Dam called AFTER Caro was shot? I only heard Antonio telling Santi that they survived the accident and that Caro had been shot and Dam had been hit on the head with the shovel after--but not necessarily in the sequence that Dam was aware Caro had been shot. He is heard using the word "herida" in regards to Caro, which does not indicate being shot, just being hurt/injured/wounded.

Of course this tn has Raq picking up the gun and putting it in her purse. Who is going to believe her that she found it in Andres' office. True, they will find the two offices ransacked, but he would have carefully wiped it clean and her fingerprints are all over it. To be determined--is it the 9mm gun that killed Caro? If so, that would make it too obvious that Andres is the killer. If he is, he'll be finding a way to avoid suspicion.

Questions--why would Raq have taken the gun at all. Was she planning on using it? Is she afraid of something? We knew she was distraught, but taking the gun makes no sense right now.

 

Let's also think about Andres' and possible motives.

1. He wants Raq for himself and maybe getting Dam out of the way would make the way clear for him--despite her repeated rejections of him.
2. Dam got too close to finding out about his flour-stealing and money diverting--or already had and he had to get rid of Dam. Caro was collateral damage.
3. Was he able to use any of the video he got from the catering business office against Dam? Tried to blackmail him and it didn't work? Seems to me once the lovebirds got their cabana, they didn't need to use the catering office table.
4. He's desperate to stay on the good side of Miriam.
5. He's ready, willing and able to destroy Cintia.
6. He doesn't like Santi.
7. He has that secret he and Mike and holding over Lola.
8. He's just a nasty character. Thankfully we don't see too much of him.
 

Sandie, I thought this was your best recap to date. It was wry, witty and extremely thoughtful and insightful. Beyond stellar.

"the kids are just Chilin", " Raquel is trying to turn Dam on but, his burner is off", and "she lies that she went out for a glass of Dam…water I mean" sparkled among many.

"(of course he can’t he has a rat in the station)" perfectly stated.

The writing could not be better. Taut, suspenseful, intriguingly designed to make us digest, process and most of all, to wonder.

Until last night, Santi as a suspect was barely on my radar. Granted, Raquel is far more the emotional of the two, but he has seemed almost too calm. He has pained looks and expressions but is he indeed suffering silently or as the result of his actions?

If Raquel was the murderer, I don't think she would have raged, so raw and utterly wounded. UA, I think she was crazed too and she has no idea what her actions and out of control emotions are doing to make her appear suspicious and guilty. If she did? I really think she is beyond caring! Anita, her taking the gun does make no sense at all but I think in Raq's twisted mind it made perfect sense. I imagine she planned to waive it in Damian's face. I hope that is all she was planning.

“mom is dead; I don’t know what to do with Benji, and Juan….” Lola also shows her soft underbelly with sadness and a desperate fear.

Mia realizes Carol is attracted to Dam but assesses no guilt to her father, does she? Despite her self loathing and self mutilation, I do believe there is a dark spot in Mia's heart. I have not discounted her as a suspect.

I thought Caro was much more emotionally invested in the relationship than Damian. However, seeing him almost shrinking from Raq's touch (just as Caro was doing with Santi), leaving no doubt where he wanted to be, he does seem to be beyond besotted with Caro. I do believe he has cheated before as you also noted Anon 207.

TF, yes, I also do not think the children will be happy if Raq and Santi decide to pursue a romance. How could they be together when every kiss is a reminder of the torment of their spouse's infidelity? How can they escape the past if it is before them every day??

"it’s a kiss of loss, desperation, and desolation" was perfect Sandie. Thank you. Truly exceptional.

Diana

 

Anita: Andres is my #1 Suspect!
 

Anita, I think your list of Andres' motives is spot-on. All can apply. As to the first one I think he gets off on stealing in all ways and for this reason I think the idea of raping Raquel is what gets his motor running. He is already stealing other things that are not his and what is the ultimate theft to someone like him than a woman's favors?

I know next to nothing about firearms so I can't say whether Andres' pistol is a 9mm or anything else. I'll bet it's not registered, though.
 

Thanks Sandie for the excellent recap.

Aside from the incompetence of the hospital staff in protecting a gravely ill patient, Raquel is lucky that Miriam did not see her violent shaking, one could say attacking, Damian. Miriam would have had her arrested for battery. The 'crack detectives' would have found the gun and arrested her. Raquel is both unhinged and lucky. But not sure how long her luck will hold out. Santiago should rethink his relationship with her for his children's sake (and his own).
 

Sandie, thanks for a very fine, very expressive recap. I didn't watch the episode, so appreciated being able to catch up. Hard to say which person makes me the saddest.
 

Thank you Sandie. Now that Raquel has found the photo of the pregnant Carolina, I suppose we will have to watch how Damien does remote fathering of the child in the next episodes.
 

THE ACCIDENT AND INVESTIGATION INTO CAROLINA RIVAS’ MURDER - SO FAR
* – The car Damian was driving with Carolina looked like it was hit from behind and run off the road where it tumbled and wrecked. The two were both seen inside the car, unconscious.
* – Santiago gives some tough bald guy an envelope with money and tells him to keep his mouth closed—this takes place after we see the car crash.
* – Damian survives the crash, but is in a coma. His mother Miriam assumes someone planned this “accident.” She asks her lawyer to investigate. She believes someone has been trying to kidnap Damian. She also reveals to Raq that Damian had a lover and was with him. She quickly accuses Santiago. She decides it was Raq and Santi who were having the affair and Caro and Dam did what they did because they felt betrayed.
* – We see a woman running through a field bordered by trees. Is it Carolina running for her life or the later-appearing prostitute who posed as Carolina to the authorities, until she was unmasked by Santiago?
* – Santiago states to Godoy that Caro told him she went to see her brother, but Vicente tells Godoy he hasn’t seen her in a year and a half, then changes his story during Santiago’s visit.
* – Antonio and Laura find a muddy shoe by the river and it is one of Caro’s Red Shoes.
* – Nico/Lola find a sweater in Vicente’s shack that they know belonged to their mother and Nico hears that Caro was seen in town with another man—an elegant man.
* – The body found buried down by the river in a shallow grave a short distance away from the scene of the accident IS Carolina. Who buried her and why?
* – Caro had been shot twice, once in the heart and once in her lungs. They found no gun, but know it was a 9mm. She was 8 weeks pregnant. The detectives find a shovel with blood on it belonging to Damian on Carolina’s body. They surmise he could have been hit with it either inside or outside the car and was used to bury Carolina.
* – A toll booth security camera shows a black car in the lane next to Dam & Caro. She looks and seems to recognize the person driving. The black car pulls away first.
* – Carolina’s unborn child was tested for DNA. Tonio and Nando get the results from a third officer. Nando goes to Santi’s house to tell him the child was his, according to the results, but Santi doesn’t see the document
* – Dam is actually conscious after the accident. He made the 911 call for help. Caro is unconscious, bleeding and hurt. Nando and Tonio listen to the call. They each have different interpretations of the call. Tonio’s is neutral—Caro was shot and Dam was hit on the head with the shovel—not making any distinction as to what happened first. Nando tells Laura that Dam was awake and aware that Caro had been shot.
* – Raquel finds a gun in Andrés’ office in a box. She takes it. Is it the murder weapon?
 

Hope this helps keep things straight for awhile. I surmise that if Raquel WERE the murderer, she wouldn't want Dam to wake up, but she has been so insistent on his waking up so she can tell him off.

I forgot to add that re the DNA test on the unborn child, it's Tonio that reads the results out loud, although the officer who brought the document must also know the results and if Tonio was lying, would he have corrected him?
 

Anita: Twists after twists in the murder mystery.
 

Anita, great list.

Others have pointed out that Carolina seemed more invested in the relationship with Damian than he was in her. Therefore, if Benjamin is Damian's why have we never seen her take care of him or even hold him?
 

Thanks Sandie! I'm recently recovering from a harsh cold. I hope it gets better soon cause it's annoying the heck out of me.

I would play the Becker's childhood game but then again some people had terrible childhoods but still grew to be amazing. This is a "Tell the damn truth" game. Seriously if we have issues try to be a man/girl enough to admit them. We can work to provide a solution but we cannot ever construct permanent good relationships with lies. It would suck to learn it from you but it sucks more learning it from everyone else. There's 7 billion of us on Planet Caray(not really but there should be a Planet Caray someday!). In our native language course we recently had a discussion on whether to tell personal truths to children or to keep silent. When most of them applied for the first choice my faith in humanity got restored!

I've had a personal situation as well when my parents separated(They were not married).After a while Dad found a new woman. Naturally it caused great commotion and instability in the family as I struggled to accept Dad's new girlfriend with my mild outburst tendencies but atleast He told us about her. My mother initially hated her as expected but after a while they were capable of sharing a cup of coffee together. Dad split up with her soon but he also found someone new. I go along with her better. She doesn't dig into me and I not unto her. She's like a good friend to me and we can tell each-other anything.

 

Urban-- we haven't gotten there yet in the story. Tres anos antes, she's just gotten pregnant. Epoca actual, she's dead.
 

Count--thanks for sharing some truths about human nature. It's a mystery why we can almost immediately know when we can talk to someone and soon be able to trust them.
 

Anita, thank you for the list which refreshed my memory on several points.

I am not clear on the shooting. I apologize if it is readily apparent, but...Caro was unconscious after the crash as we saw Damian calling the police. So did she end up running for her life only to be shot or was she shot in the car and later dragged to the shallow grave? Damian was hit in the head in the car, correct?

Raquel is a rage that doesn't appear to be subsiding. It's seeming less likely she killed Caro because I doubt that level of intensity could be sustained had she ended Caro's life. But I wouldn't bet my life on it.

Count, appreciate your comments, especially where you noted some people have overcome tragic childhoods but ended up "good" in spite of it.

Diana
 

Thanks Sandie.This was abit explosive.

I don't blame her for goin in there grabin his half dead butt.I think the man Is twisted.I wish he would wakeup. I told Y'all he's a coward he don't want to come out of that coma. He knows he has Stepped in it and don't want to face the music. Raquel has clearly lost it.
She never should have touched that gun
A picture of Carol naked and pregnant.
She was nsaty in her deception.And had the nerve to get jealous of the man's
Wife being with her own husband.That always gets me pist off when I see the
Misstress get her knickers in a knot.
What the hell right does she have getting jealous? she's not his wife she's just a slut that comes between them, and he's helping her do it.RATS!

I wonder if she'll show that picture to santi.He really did deserve better.
That was just nasty of her.Just nasty.
Mia got it right.

I don't think Raquel killed the knocked up Misstress. But whoever did they really had Some hatred going on inside. And They did not want her to be found or Didn't care if wild the animals found her first.

Thank you Sandie.
 

Thank you, thank you Sandie for your talent, time and care of your astounding recap.

Anita, Hats off to you too for the helpful lists.

I think UA was referring to Benji, whose DNA has not been done. I, too, thought it odd she didn’t look like she doted on Ben if it was her love child w Dam.

Actual epoca, she was preggers again, but police state it was Santi’s.

What caused Mia’s cutting? My op is that she knew about her dad’s affairs and took it as a rejection personally. Capable of being murderer, remember her contorted evil face when destroying that guy’s car? Very vengeful.

Also, my radar went up when Santi told police “you know I am incapable of murder.”

Beware when people claim they are incapable of doing anything. Because, yes sir, you are and were capable. Anyone sane or otherwise is capable of number of things one would never believe themselves capable of doing. Ya know, crimes of heart, passion and jealousies.

My bet is Mia or Santi.
 

Hehe, Nina, I am with you 100%!!

Damien is a coward and he don’t wanna come out of that coma. Then I thought, maybe he is out of the coma and knows he messed royally doesn’t want to face the consequences.

It is better for him to stay or pretend he still is in coma.

I understand Raquel, but she should not have taken gun.

Police is a super duper joke.

 

Thank you Patio peeps for stopping by and commenting on this TN. It is at times frustrating but it keeps us captivated. GG is an awesome writer and sometimes what seems very obvious will turn not to be. We have been handed many clues, way too many, some will turn out to be red herrings and some will turn out to fizzle out and yet others that remain subtle will turn out to be the clues we should have paid attention too. I am not convinced that Andres is the murderer too obvious, but he may be right? Raquel she is too emotional, does not seem to have known about the affair, every evidence of the affair seems to throw her deeper into the depression, disbelief, and derailment that her life has become.

Who has something to gain from Carolina's death? or Damian's death?
-Vicente - the cabin, his house
-Andres - Money and freedom, the things he has done thus far can send him to jail
-Santi -vengeance
-Mia - I don't think she would be able to, also why would she kill her father
-Juan - He is a lunatic so he may want Carol dead to stay with Lola
-Cinthia - depends on when she was out of rehab

There may be other suspects but this tn is not done giving us twists and turns. So looking forward to the coming episodes.

 

TF: completely agree that the kids would not be pleased about a Raquel and Damian Relationship. It is way too early and not a good idea.
Anon 207: yes Damian is absolutely a dog he has no trepidation about cheating on Raquel. We have said it here before he loves the danger.
Anita: The Gun plot is absolute nonsense. Raquel is completely insane for taking it. To what end? And as far of your list of Andres' motives...very convincing. I still think GG is luring us in that direction, but it may be that he did not do it, it is almost too easy.
Diana: I agree that Raquel would not have raged so much had she been the murderer, unless she is just covering her tracks....not sure here, I don't think she did but this is the type of twist that GG would throw our way
Nina: awesome comment and I do agree with you of all the characters one of my least favorite is Carolina, what right does she have to get jealous of Raquel. I like that Mia is on to her.
 

I don't think santi did it.Now mia she
Is troubling. I could see her doin that. Boppin her daddy on the head with the shovel and Then dragging the Misstress out and Half ass burying her in a shallow hole Sounds like an angry young woman to me.What about cynthia?
Are we sure she was in the hospital?
Rehabin?

The police Incompetent boobs.

 

Andres could easily have hired someone to do it.

I hate the idea that either Raquel or Santiago is responsible. Where would that leave their children?

I am wondering about Cinthia. She may say she needs money to help Raquel but having seen what an addict does to a family I'm not counting on it.
 

It would be interesting to talley Who thinks who did the murder deed.
 

UA: I'm going to ROFLOL if this has a political conspiracy in the murder.
 

Leticia-- "I think UA was referring to Benji, whose DNA has not been done. I, too, thought it odd she didn’t look like she doted on Ben if it was her love child w Dam."

I WAS referring to Benji. We have never seen Caro pregnant with Benji--until the photo Raq found. The FIRST time we see Benji is in Lola's arms and Caro is already missing/dead. We DID see the baby car seat in the red car that belonged to Caro--when Santi went out to the gas-quick mart to see it.

How do I know this? I went back and watched the very first episode yesterday. I'll tell you all about it later on.
 

Diana--I'll get to your questions, too. Got some answers.
 

Nina--Cinthia didn't show up until after the accident. Raquel thought she was still in Argentina with a boyfriend. She said it didn't work out and now she is there to help out her sister. However, she COULD have showed up a few days earlier, but how would she have known about Carolina and Damian and plotted the exact timing of the accident to catch them on the highway getting away for a couple of days (that's what we heard Dam saying to Caro--just give me a couple of days of love....ugghhh.)

Leticia--Now that you bring up Mia. I do remember how vengeance was powerful and sweet. I'd forgotten what a thrill she got out of "murdering" Joaquin's father's car.
 

Mia definitely could be on the suspect list because of her hatred of Carolina, but I doubt she would endanger her own father. She did get a kick out of wrecking Joaquin's father's car, but I doubt that she would have killed Joaquin. What she was looking for is the aftermath when Joaquin gets consequenced for being careless with it.

Which does show forethought and planning capability.

Here is an article on Cutting, which I hope can help us understand her.
 

Raquel is going more and more into a rage because she's finding out something new about Damian every day:

Damian had an affair with Carolina for 3 years

Damian bought Carolina a house

Damian may or may not be the father of Carolina's youngest child

Damian had pictures of pregnant Carolina

Damian, in professing his love for Carolina, called Raquel & the twins "Obstacles"


Santiago can rationalize that Carolina was a fortune hunter & Damian could provide her the luxuries he couldn't.

Raquel doesn't have that excuse. As far as we can see and as far as she's concerned, she's been a good, loving & loyal wife. We've seen them disagree lately, but IMO that's being provoked by Damian to justify being with Carolina.
 

Diana--Re The Runaway Figure--Yes Damian was hit on the head with the shovel, either inside the car or outside, according to the police. What is not clear, yet, is whether Carolina was shot in the car or outside the car.

One shoe was found muddied, by the river not far from the shallow grave. It could have come off while she was being dragged, already shot to death.

She also might have only been wounded by the first shot to the lungs and started running. She could have lost the shoe, stumbled, got tired and the murderer caught up with her and shot her in the heart. We haven’t heard about any bloody trail, so my guess is that she was either shot in the car and dragged out or she was shot at the location of her grave.

I was surprised the CSI team didn’t do a better job of sweeping the area. Then I remembered a police officer (maybe Nando) saying there had been flooding in the area and that’s why they might have missed something. He and Laura went back and found the shoe. Then the CSI team went back and did find the body.

I’m convinced that the woman we saw running in the field was the prostitute—a red herring for us—but who knows? The Shadow Knows—and that would be GG.
 

Anon207--You are dead to rights. Still, finger pointing is still possible. I dearly hope they don't introduce any new characters who could be suspects. That would be so unfair. Unfair, too, is leaving us with all these family members along with Juan being tangential. We can't leave out Nando and Laura either. No one else stands out but no one else is exonerated yet except Benji and maybe Jovita.
 

I wonder why the Feds don't take over the investigation. They're there to minimize shoddy police work, local corruption and nausea journalism and also to cover the tracks. These guys are everywhere to the point that everyone calls them "annoying assholes" else but not they're not here SMH. Also they could easily flip Laura a middle finger.
 

but they're not here*
 

I'm sure some rich capitalisto is taking heavy financial losses from this scandal either by lost stock value or fall from tourism. Would that piss him off enough to call the Feds around for a cup of coffee?
 

Altough the FBI don't deal with cases like these though. What would be most appropriate is to call the State detectives to weed out the weak and start doing some real work!
 

Thanks, Sandie. Late to the party but I enjoyed your recap a lot.

All the comments keep me on my toes. So many things I've forgotten (or didn't realize in the first place), like Juan attending Caro's burial and Santi handing a bald guy money.

I'm scratching Raquel off my list of suspects. She's too shocked by all she keeps discovering. Caro at the least had the decency, involuntarily or not, to show Santi she was no longer into him - by avoiding his touch and making herself scarce around him. Damian, on the other hand, gave Caro no real reason to suspect he wasn't happy with her.
 

Thank you so much Anita! I appreciate your eye for details and your sharp memory that brings them immediately to mind.

I suspect that before this is over we will see exactly how Caro was killed. Frankly, I'm dreading it. I know I'm repeating myself but while what she and Damian did was treacherous, wrong and beyond hurtful (especially to their families), being murdered the way she was gives me chills. I feel her retribution was far too terrible and merciless.

Diana
 

Thing is, Damian wasn't necessarily UNhappy with Raquel. He just found somebody he liked better, who could give him that thrill and excitement Raquel couldn't. Where he went wrong is he was greedy & tried to keep both of them instead of choosing to be with one or the other and that never ends well.
 

I'm pretty sure that after it all ends Raquel will release an exotic comedy flick going by the name " 50 Shades of Carolina" starring The Rock as Damian and Michelle Pheifer as Carolina in the afterlife . She'll win billions!
 

in the possible*

Dam ,The Dwayne stars as a vegetable trapped in limbo confused that he lost his earlier form. While searching for a peeler to return his form he finds his beloved Caro now trapped in the form of Michelle Pheifer. How will the two regain their lives? Or will they live forever even if that means losing themselves forever to a torrent of horse manure ?
 

Count, have you seen Michelle Pfeiffer lately?

BTW, when have we ever seen a novela where the police work was truly adequate?

I don't see how Damian could have been hit on the head while still in the car; it wasn't a convertible.

Just an alert: I had internet outage for a few hours today so tonight's article will either be late or will be bare bones (by my standards).
 

Take you time, UA. We have plenty to chew on right here.
 

Well, it may not mean anything, but now I recall that Cintia did go to the hospital first and looked in on Dam. We saw her there. THEN she went to her sister's house. We all wondered at the time if she had had anything to do with Damian. Based on the previews, we're in for an answer.
 

It's going to be bare bones with little dialogue because I've also had a headache on and off today. However, it should be enough to provide plenty to gnaw on after tonight's episode ends.
 

Diane, "I feel her retribution was far too terrible and merciless".I actually
Think she got off to easy.She deserves to suffer just like that coward damian
Layin up there pretending to be in a coma.

Raquel thought she had a good friend. Someone She thought she could trust. The way she would be with Raquel like they were Bffs. Knowing just A few minutes earlier she was in bed with her husband or later on that She'd be with him again.Yeah that heffa should
have stayed here and suffered.
That person that killed her didn't do us any favors by takin her out before
She had a chance to answer for her nasty indiscretions. Her kockiness was
Was just amazing. She didn't give a dam about nobody but her dam boy.Yeah she Got off waaaay to easy. "Fall into
Temptation",they fell hard into lust.I
To would like to see how she died, she
Knew that person too.
 

Looking forward to it AU. I hope you feel better. Headaches are bitches. You think they're going away and they're just lurking waiting to start up again.
 

Oooh, I see, Anita. You are right ben was not around in the very beginning, so those pics were of when she was pregnant the first time. Got it! And thank you.