Caray, Caray!

reina-sur2

I'll do a brief recap tonight.
 

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LA REINA DEL SUR - LUNES

Galicia, España

Siso Pernas is following what looks like a truck from U-Haul España in an SUV. His brother is driving. They spot a car following. Siso “¡Hostia! [He says this a lot. It’s a Spanish curse word for the communion waver.] It’s Flores and another cop. Siso is furious because they just got the drugs from Zurdo Villa – presumably what’s in the truck.

Somehow they trick Flores (surprise, surprise). They get the drop on him. It appears they have burned the other cop alive and then torture Flores. Awful, just awful. I hate to even type it. They put a rat on his stomach and then cover it with a metal jar that they heat. Giggling, Siso tells Flores the rat will have nowhere to go but down. Siso is a complete sadist.

Stonefaced Oleg tells Lupo he won’t be delivering Teresa to where they’re staying; he’ll meet with her alone.

Jimena comes home and argues with her mother. When Virginia slaps her a gun falls out of her purse. Virgina calls Carmen who hurriedly leaves Epifanio’s house.

Alejandro works on Bebita and wins her over with childhood memories.

Batman arrives at the temporary safe house in Culiacán with Sofía, but only after she tries to trick him once more.

Teresa has had Lupo drive her to the house where she lived with El Güero. One José comes out and greets her by name. He says he’s a gardener and caretaker. Teresa wanders around, amazed. Nothing has changed from the day she left. The CD with the same song we heard at the beginning of LRDS Uno plays. There’s a sheet that’s covering some photos of Pancho Villa.

Batman jokes with Sofía, telling her she’s Alice and they are in Wonderland.

Smug Alejandro tells Epifanio that the murder weapon was put in Jimena’s purse. He says he killed two birds with one stone. [Presumably frightening Carmen into staying out of their hair.]

Jimena tells Carmen, rightly, that this whole thing is her fault with her obsession to be first lady. She tells her granny she doesn’t love Epifanio and neither Virginia nor she herself matter to Carmen. Carmen doesn’t deny this. She wants to meet this boyfriend who alibis her.

Jonathan and Willy talk about the ruined data. Willy says he’ll go se Manuela.

José, who has pretended he doesn’t know who owns Teresa’s old house, calls the house of Zurdo Villa and tells some guy about Teresa. Zurdo is beating some guy with a whip and making him walk over, I think, broken glass. Zurdo is overjoyed when he hears about Teresa.

Willy brings flowers for Manuela’s mother, but she’s not there. Sergio says she’s at work and he doesn’t know where that is. He pretends to shoot Willy in the back, after he’s gone, with Pote’s pistol.

Lupo arrives at the safe house. Sofía calls him a liar when he says he hasn’t been with her mother. She can smell her mother’s perfume.

Teresa tells Oleg about the visit to her old house. He’s not best pleased. She has figured out that the owner is Zurdo. She tells Oleg she left him a clue. So they need to get ready for tonight.
 

Thanks, novelera, for the excellent recap of quite a disturbing and dark episode. They really pulled out all the stops between the burning alive, rat munching and whipping while walking on broken glass as well as Batman threatening to decapitate the cat to keep Sofía in line. It all was so obnoxiously colorful but probably a good move to remind the viewer how dangerous and ugly this story really is. Teresa’s house having been maintained by crazy Zurdo almost like a shrine was another particularly creepy aspect of the episode.

It is good that Francesco is at least not with Teresa for the present. She makes bad decisions around him like going to her old house. Oleg has every right to be upset with her. She needs to get her head in the game and off of Francesco.

At least Flores is out of the picture.

Sofía recognizing her mother’s perfume was a nice touch.

So, Alejandro is going to try to pin Father Anselmo’s death on Carmen, Virginia or Ximena?
 

reina-sur2

Thanks, Jarifa. I lean more toward Alejandro using the planted gun to keep Carmen under control than actually trying to pin it on those women. Epifanio is a jerk, but I doubt he'd want his granddaughter in prison for life.
 

reina-sur2

Thanks very much, novelera, for a fine recap of a rather gross episode. Yes, I suppose the writers wanted to remind us that Siso and Zurdo are sick and despicable, but ya basta!.

I enjoyed Sofia's giving Batman a scare by seeming to have escaped, but to my surprise, Batman did her one better. He claimed that since Sofia had escaped, they didn't need the cat any more and so they could kill it. That immediately brought Sofia out of her hiding place. One point for Batman.

Sofia did have one small triumph by rightly accusing Lupo of lying when he said he hadn't been with her mother. The proof: she smelled her mother's perfume on him.
 

This morning, I am wondering if Zurdo having bought and preserved Teresa’s house and adding his own tribute to Pancho, is his way of creating what he hopes will be a love nest for the two of them.
 

REINA 2

I also wonder where Sofía will end up being held and how long it will be before Teresa gets her street smarts back re “Francesco”.

So many ?????
 

La Reina 2

thanks so much for the wonderful recap novelera!

yep, Siso sure loves his work, and Flores with his smokey car holding up his badge as if they will all give up.

I don't remember Teresa confiding in Lupo about Zurdo, as he cautions her about him, why would she, Lupo is just a business man, right? and supposedly going back to Italy.

Jimena was dressed nicer than the person that killed the Padre, and if she was with her boyfriend it wasn't Alex, as he was busy.

the only way I see Epi becoming president is if he is the only candidate.

and Willy asking Manuela about the encrypted data in her safe deposit box, that should work.

 

POQUITO: NICKNAME EDITION

I really like Javi & Madona as a couple, but he's told so many lies that now I cringe every time they come on. I have to mute the sound.

I'm getting a kick out of Fonsi and his fascination with Lety, though. He seems to think she's quite a neat package. Hooolaaa Chuuulaaaa.

Incidentally, Fonsi introduced himself to Lety as "Alfonso," so maybe whoever his parents were did not in fact share the popular culture tastes of Dona Gregoria. The other cousin's name is listed as "Wisin," which may be a diminutive of Luis? (I still can't tell if they're brothers or cousins to each other, but they're both cousins of Elvis and call Dona G "tia.")

I thought Don Paco was calling Dona G "joya" and "joyita" (little jewel), but my subtitles say "Goya" and "Goyita," so I guess that's a nickname as well. Why is he so hot for her, anyway? Do they have a history?

Lalo (short for Eduardo) calls himself "Yayo" when he's talking to himself. Probably a childhood nickname based on one of his sibs' inability to pronounce his name.
 

reina-sur-2

Thanks, Novelera.

I am totally creeped out by Zurdo maintaining Teresa’s old home with El Guero. Is this the end of Flores? Somehow I see him surviving.

I’m not ready to give up on Carmen. I thought she cared about her granddaughters. I guess we’ll see.

I vote that the murderer of Padre Anselmo is female. I believe I saw the perpetrator wearing capri pants.
 

reina-sur2

I'm also in agreement that the person who killed Padre Anselmo could be female. They showed those not-really-male pants twice, once when the shot was fired and again at Alejandro's place when he/she dropped off the gun. They even showed the killer's fanny, not a male looking fanny.

But, wild speculation here, wasn't some mention made of Alejandro having a secret. I thought the "mi amor" who was hiding in another room when Bebita came by was a male lover. But could the person be male-to-female trans-sexual? It's something he definitely wants to keep from his macho dad.

Niecie, I am OVER Carmen. I think she was halfway in love with the priest. And, as her granddaughter told her mother, Virginia, at least now the priest won't be able to manipulate Carmen any more. Hearing about the gun, bad granny immediately started to accuse Jimena of offing the person who mattered most in the world to her.
 

Poquito

Anita, I didn't catch those. Oy vey.

Personally, I hate nicknames.

BTW, since I don't have time to do two full recaps per day, Poquito will be discussed without them unless someone else volunteers to do them. unfortunately, there is also evidence of slicing and dicing on this series.
 

Goya and Goyita ARE actually nicknames for Gregoria. Seems that most of these nicknames come from what would be a little kid's pronunciation of the actual names.
 

reina-sur2

I'll do a recap of tonight's episode. It will probably be posted quite late.
 

reina-sur2
La Reina del Sur2 - Martes - Parte 1 de 2

Batman leads Teresa and her group into a room. He explains that this is the club's backroom, and there's also an office. I was surprised to see Batman doing this, but then I realized that he was operating under Epifanio's orders to give Teresa whatever she needed to infiltrate Zurdo Villa's operation. Batman then leaves, and Teresa tells the others that she'll explain later why she has chosen to have their headquarters at a strip club. Now, they need to know that she has to be at the restaurant at 9, and Zurdo will arrive after her. She then goes into more detail about her plan, but we don't hear what she says, except for the fact that NOBODY can find out about this.

Alejandro enters the building where many people are at work on Epifanio's campaign. He doesn't like what he sees and tells everyone to stop wasting time on memes and funny videos. This is not what the campaign needs. Danilo, who apparently is a chief strategist, is upset. He tells Alejandro that his (Danilo's) strategies have always worked, and this one was designed to make it seem that Carmen is totally crazy. Alejandro tells him that the sudden appearance of Epifanio's wife will soon be taken care of.

Teresa enters a restaurant. The maitre d' assures her that the restaurant is open, takes her to a table, and gives her a menu. Her group is watching her from their new headquarters and making sure that their equipment works so that she can be seen and heard. A few minutes later, Zurdo Villa arrives. He brings her a bottle of the best tequila and introduces himself as Nazario Beltran, better known as Zurdo Villa. He tells her he saw her once, 20 years ago, when she was with el Güero. He knows that she wouldn't have noticed him then. But when Epifanio Vargas went to jail, his cartel became less active, and that provided an opportunity. Teresa observes to Zurdo that "Epifanio changed both of our lives."

In Mexico City, Carmen, Virginia, and Jimena are all upset about the gun that fell out of Jimena's bag, and about the crowd that has gathered outside. Suddenly Epifanio arrives. He says to Jimena, "You did kill the priest, right?" She emphatically denies this, but he continues to act as if she's guilty. She gets even more upset and picks up the gun. [Dumb move, Jimena. Haven't you heard about fingerprints?] Sirens are heard as the police arrive. Carmen pleads with Epifanio to help them. He tells them to hide the gun, and they hide it under a chair's cushion. [Duh!] He assures Carmen that he'll take care of this. He tries to discourage the police from coming into the house, but the cop in charge says they have a search warrant and they have to search the house.

Meanwhile, Teresa is telling Zurdo that she has been happily living in Italy with her daughter, but her enemies found her. One in particular, Siso Pernas. Zurdo gives her a blank look. She tells him not to play dumb. "If you're as important as you say you are, you have to know who Siso Pernas is." She continues by saying that she's in Mexico to make sure that Epifanio Vargas doesn't become president. Zurdo is delighted. They toast to Epifanio's downfall.

The police find the gun hidden under the chair cushion. The cop in charge tells his men to take it to ballistics. He also wants to fingerprint the people in the room. When Jimena objects, he wants to put handcuffs on her. Epifanio convinces him not to do that to this innocent girl, nor to lead her out into the mob waiting outside. The cop agrees and says he'll take her out via the back door. [My guess is that all this has been arranged ahead of time by either Epifanio or Alejandro.] Carmen then pleads with Epifanio to help them. Epifanio agrees, but in return he wants two favors: Carmen should recant what she has said about being his wife, and she should give him a divorce.
 

reina-sur2
La Reina del Sur2 - Martes - Parte 2 de 3

Lupo and Sofia are on a small boat. He points out a house and tells her that's where she'll be staying. The house is on an island, so there's no way she can escape, he says. "You haven't seen me swim," replies Sofia. "If you're a dolphin, maybe," Lupo answers. They exit the boat and enter the house. He tells her that there will be no keys, she can come and go as she pleases. He also tells her that her mother is not the only one who uses the perfume Sofia smelled on him. His phone rings. He leaves the house to take the call, which is from Alejandro. Lupo reports that the Zurdo plan has begun. Alejandro is pleased. He tells Lupo that Teresa has to woo Zurdo, sleep with him, do whatever it takes, as long as she winds up by killing him.

Back at the restaurant, Zurdo tells Teresa that they have a friend in common, Sanchez Godoy. One of Zurdo's men enters and brings Zurdo a briefcase. Zurdo opens it and starts fiddling with various things that are inside. Teresa's team watches all this uneasily. Oleg gives Anton an order to get the men ready to get Teresa out of there alive. The team then finds that they've lost audio and video and are cut off from the restaurant. Zurdo informs Teresa that he has deactivated every recording and listening device in the area. Teresa informs Zurdo that in 5 minutes, she's going to walk out the door. Zurdo tells Teresa that he bought her old house so he'd stop being an invisible nobody to her.

Lupo asks Sofia if she's hungry. She says she's not, but she wants paints, crayons, etc. etc.--everything she'll need for making a mural on the wall. Lupo reminds her that requests should be accompanied by "please." She then makes a very "proper" request.

Manuela returns home and finds Sergio lost in a VR video game. She pulls the headset off him and asks what Willy wanted when he came by. Sergio tells her that Willy just asked about her new job. He brought flowers for grandma. Manuela rushes to the flowers. Sergio assures her that he's already checked them out. There's no camera, no microphones, nothing. Manuela nonetheless tears the bouquet apart. Sergio tells her that his video game teaches many things, and suggests that she learn it. Sergio gets a call from "Esteban" (i.e., Jonathan) saying he'll meet him after school the next day.

Willy tells Jonathan that he has to find out if Sergio knows what KIRA is. Jonathan assures him that he'll find out, even if he has to drug Sergio to do so. Willy says he wonders whether he was wrong to make an appointment with Sheldon for the next day to ask about Manuela and about KIRA.

We see a group of armed, helmetted troops covertly entering the building where the restaurant is. Teresa is telling Zurdo that she was moved to see her house. Zurdo tells her he's throwing a welcome party for her tomorrow. Teresa tells him she has a prior commitment and can't accept. Zurdo tells her he won't take no for an answer and hope she'll change her mind. There will be a driver outside her hotel tomorrow.

Veva's father is telling her that she can do better than Epifanio Vargas. Vargas is interested only in power. He uses people and drops them. Her father also tells her that she's smarter than her brother, who has chosen to be Epifanio's lapdog.
 

reina-sur2
La Reina del Sur2 - Martes - Parte 3 de 3

Epifanio congratulates Alejandro. Everything has worked out. Now Alejandro has to deal with Jimena. He assures Epifanio that he'll take care of it.

Teresa has left the restaurant, apparently without the troops having been involved or seen. She tells her team that Zurdo thinks she's not going to his party. She plans to let him suffer a bit, but tomorrow morning she'll call and let him know she'll come. "Operation Trojan Horse" (la operación caballo de Troya) begins.

Willy comes to see his boss. "Why are you still here?" the boss asks him. Willy asks him "Who is KIRA? What does KIRA mean?" The boss claims not to know what Willy is talking about. Willy says it's a code name, but how is it related to Teresa Mendoza? The boss hands him some papers. "That's your severance. The DEA has been more than generous," says the boss. "I'm not done," says Willy. "Yes you are," replies the boss. [And so too is the episode.]

NOTE: By the time I realized that I'd need a 3rd part, I had already posted "parte 1 de 2." I decided not to delete it just to change "2" to "3."
 

Juanita, than you for the outstanding recap. This episode was so loaded with details and dialogue. You sure did it justice.

Didn’t anyone ever tell Teresa the old mob advice that when you take a table in a restaurant you always make sure you sit with your back against the wall so you are exposed on only three out of four sides? I had to think of that when Teresa was sitting waiting for Zurdo and was fully exposed.

As Manuela kept looking out of the window, I was wondering who she was expecting to see.

At least Sofía has the run of an island.

So, Willy is on his own but I can guess he won’t be letting “KIRA” go unsolved or Teresa alone anytime soon.

Zurdo proved himself to be no fool when he jammed all the signals.

Looking forward to tonight.

 

reina-sur2

Thank you, Juanita.

Even from the episode before, I was thinking, don't anybody touch the gun, don't put your fingerprints on it. And here goes Jimena. I thought she was the smartest one in the house, but I guess, the pressure caused her to make an error. Still, I think she would be the one to figure out that Epifanio set her up. To think about it, the set up is obviously done in relation to Epifanio's campaign. It is either his enemies or his friends. His enemies did not have time to make all the connections and do it, his friends, on the other hand, benefited in several ways. Got rid of padre, got rid of Carmen. I think Jimena will understand that she was set up by her own grandfather.
 

POQUITO:

It's nice to see Julieta finally getting a little vinegar, although catfights over men do not interest me EN ABSOLUTO.
 

Poquito

I agree, especially because Elvis isn't worth fighting over. He's a spoiled mama's boy.
 

La Reina 2

thanks so much for the recap Juanita, you even got Zurdo's real name!

so Zurdo had a crush on Teresa way back when he was just one of Epi's boys, and when he heard of Teresa becoming La Reina, he put together his own cartel, to be her equal, so she would notice him.

it took me a while to get their meeting, but I guess Teresa tipped him to her staying in that hotel by dropping the name with the caretaker of her old house.

looks like Jimena was set up, and the ladies are STILL standing around the gun when Epi arrives, say isn't that cop the one that got Batman out of jail after Morgana died, and made that whole scene go away, he was going to arrest them all till Jimena talked, ok so they sneaked out the back, but their cars are all out front.

tough day for Epi, he's going to bed, same for Alex, but wait he has changed his clothes and is going somewhere, baseball cap for stealth.

Jarifa- I think on Manuela looking out the window, she was gazing at the spot Willy and Jonathan were parked when she got home.

 

reina-sur2

Many thanks, Jarifa, Lucio, and deb, for your terrific comments. Interesting point, Jarifa, about where Teresa sits. It's possible that the wall is also the wall of her team's headquarters, and that if she sat with her back to it, they'd have somewhat less visibility into the room. Just a wild guess. Another wild guess: she wants to give the impression of being assured, perhaps naively assured, so Zurda's suspicions won't be raised, and so she doesn't make an issue of where she sits. I too love it that Sofia has the run of the island. Given her resourcefulness, this should prove interesting. And with his jamming all the communication devices, Zurdo has certainly shown himself to be a match for Teresa and her team.

Lucio, I found Jimena's lack of savvy about the gun and the whole situation surprising and disappointing. I think/hope you're right that she will (soon?) understand that she was set up by her grandfather.

deb, good point about the cars being out front. As for the cop, I didn't recognize him, but I'm not good with faces. I bet you're right. The only thing that seemed pretty clear to me was that the whole business, including the appearance of the police, Epi's attempt to keep them from entering the house, the "discovery" of the gun, and the threat of putting handcuffs on Jimena was all a put-up job designed to make Carmen desperate enough to do what Epi wants. BTW, I loved your remark about Alejandro going out with "baseball cap for stealth."
 

POQUITO
Pt. 1 - Some musings on what went on Tuesday night.
Javier I really enjoyed the scheme Azu and Violeta cooked up for Javier, declaring they were both pregnant by him. His desperation was clearly visible. At least he was man enough to confess to not only the two girls in question, but to his dad. I surmise he wanted his dad to pull some strings and get him safely out of this jam. Antonio tells the girls he'll take care of the situation, but he wants them packed up and out of the house. They tell him they are NOT pregnant by anyone. They just wanted to teach Javi a lesson for two-timing them.

As an added satisfying twist, it was a surprise to have Antonio come back and tell the girls he'd changed his mind and was NOT going to tell Javier anything for the time being. He needed to learn a lesson. I saw that Violet was not altogether on board with the decision.

Elvis He sure is a suave operator. I'm surprised that he and Julie had been in a relationship for 10 years! Surely he could have gotten her wedded and/or bedded sooner than that. So he comes up at the very end of his "paseo" with a plea to get back together again. She demurs, but agrees to be friends again.

Meanwhile Elena is distraught at having seen them go off together on their "paseo" and back home again, at the point where Elvis is being his most ardent with Julie and moving in for a kiss which looks as though she might accept, Elena runs in to break it up. Have no idea where this is going. I think Elena confessed to her father that she's been in love with Elvis and when Francisco talks to Elvis about perhaps having feelings for Elena, Elvis swears he's never thought of her as anything but Julie's little sister (and 10 years ago, probably was).

At Gregoria's birthday celebration, Elvis manages to take some of the thunder out of her party by offering Julie a ring. She didn't want to accept it, but finally did, declaring to all they were just friends again. Nevertheless, I saw Julie was wearing it in the last scenes.
 

POQUITO
Pt. 2 - Some musing on what when on Tuesday night
Elton What a hilarious finish to this subterfuge by Eddie that his grandmother and the butler were his parents. Elton now knows the truth. Eddie swears his interest in Madonna is sincere, but when he learned she didn't like rich boys, he started posing as a poor boy. Elton has given Eddie 48 hours (negotiated up from 24) for Eddie to tell Madonna who he really is or he tells her.

Catalina After she lets on to her mother that the whole overdose act was intended to make Antonio come to his senses about her and change his mind about how he's behaving, it all kind of backfires. She calls her hot doc and tells him she's moving out, to the displeasure of all her children, especially Vivi. She comes to his place with her single suitcase. He welcomes her and is elated to hear she's going to file for divorce and then, only THEN, can they start their happy life together. (In the back of her mind, Catty worries about what Lupe told her that all she will get in alimony is a portion of Antonio's salary as a taxi driver).

Maury the Doc then immediately leaves for some important conference and tells Catty to make herself at home. She's a bit put out when he calls and says he'll be delayed returning any time soon by the conference. It looks as though Catty has traded one absent, newly un-rich husband for an absent, rich doctor-lover, who as I recall, is still married, but was waiting for Catty to make the first move. I wonder where his wifey is and because it seems as if he's already separated and living alone.

Julieta Her business is suffering from Catalina/Lety's undercutting by underpricing their "upscale" merchandise and grand opening with champagne and advertising. She confronts Catty and tells her she knows she only came to that location to spy on her and keep her husband away from her. Catty denies it and as much as Julie says she's NOT involved with Catty's husband, Catty refuses to believe it.

Later on, in desperation, Julie calls Antonio to see if he won't call off the dog of his wife. They agree to meet later on. All I can remember now, is that she and Antonio ran into each other and Francisco comes upon them and interferes with their conversation, reminding Antonio he was to stay away from Julie. I think that's why they decide to meet somewhere off premises.

Viviana Will she or won't she. So far she won't, at least not with Johnny Green. He's probably gotten fed up with getting postponed so much that when he sees Beto swinging Vivi up in his arms and dancing around in the restaurant, he calls it quits.
 

POQUITO:

Anita, I love the name "Catty." Suits her.

I am "up to my nose" with Vivi. She insists that everything is Antonio's fault, even though if she's been paying any attention all her life she ought to know how her mother behaves.

Johnny tossed two tickets to the beach on her dresser and challenged her to go on the trip WITHOUT CHECKING WITH BETO FIRST. (Weren't they just AT the beach? Whatevs.) He says otherwise they're through.
 

POQUITO
Blue, I forgot about that challenge. Johnny kept insisting Beto HAD to be more than a friend because she was always going to him first. She did sort of toy with him that, yes, he was more than a friend...because he was her BFF. I think any potential boyfriend would be a bit put off by that. Most of the time, BFF, the ones you tell all your most intimate secrets, are the same sex.
 

reina-sur2

Fantastic recap, Juanita! So well done and with plenty of drama.

When Zurdo Villa talked about when he first fixated on Teresa, I remembered that scene where El Güero helped Teresa out of the plane at Epifanio Vargas’ ranch. There were several guys milling around. Batman was there for sure, El Gato Fierros, and Ratas. But there were others. I could easily imagine Zurdo seeing Teresa just then for the first time.

Deb, you beat me to the punch. I recognized that crooked cop who came with the “search warrant” from when he got Batman out of jail and then met with him back at the house where Sofía was being held captive in D.F. I even saw several looks between he and Epifanio and he seemed to be smirking.

Alejandro is just completely beneath contempt. He comes, from what we’ve seen, from a good family. I think Gov. Big Ed is not all bad. He certainly has no use for his son. Probably a good judge of character. This guy is willing to do anything for power, certainly included killing a priest. That plot to completely throw a young woman, one who is studying journalism and has dreams, under the bus is SO awful. And he even seems to have factored in a female assassin in case there were any cameras to see who entered the priest’s home. Carmen, Virginia, and Jimena were completely terrified.

Big Ed the Governor of Sinaloa was happy to see Bebita, but she didn’t approve of his rant about Alejandro. It almost appeared she left. I suspect that, when Carmen folds and says she and Epifanio were never married (I guess the divorce will be secret), Bebita will take the old fraud back.

Lupo got a very pained look on his face when Alejandro, with his usual lack of feelings for anyone except himself, said that Teresa needed to do anything, including bedding Zurdo, to bring him down.

I kind of found the whole restaurant scene confusing. I thought it was the hotel restaurant she dropped the hint about. And I thought the Mendoza HQ setup was elsewhere. But someone here said it was right behind the restaurant. And, what restaurant in a hotel has no other customers? And how did they get that fantastic electronic system set up so fast? Oh well. Telenovela electronics ain't like MY electronics.
 

Poquito

They're really slicing and dicing this one. I haven't seen a beach scene yet. As to Johnny objecting to a male BFF, that is so ridiculous. In the US -- where he is from -- having a beset friend of the opposite sex is so normal.

And how long has it been since we've seen the Solanos' dog?
 

reina-sur2

Thanks very much, novelera, for your insightful comments. You're right: Telenovela electronics ain't like your electronic--or mine. Actually, it's part of a conglomerate that includes Telenovela Airlines and Telenovela Medicine. I think that explains everything, right?

Well, perhaps not everything. I too am still somewhat confused about the relationship between the restaurant and Team Teresa's headquarters. Perhaps things will become clearer tonight. Or not.
 

reina-sur2

I've usually been doing Tuesday recaps, but I won't be able to for the next four weeks. I've got events to attend every Tuesday in June, as well as one event on Thursday, June 27. I'm hoping to be able to swap days with other recappers, or perhaps someone who hasn't done a recap yet will be willing to take one or more of the Tuesdays in June? Pretty please?
 

POQUITO:

The Solanos have a dog?????
 

Poquito

He's in the opening episode and I think the second. He looks like a Weimaraner and his name is Philemon.
 

LA REINA DEL SUR 2 Wed. 5/29/19 #27

Part 1

Tomorrow has arrived and party preparation is in full swing at Zurdo’s place. He is particularly interested in the microphone being connected and ready to use. He sings softly to himself. His Colombian associate Godoy arrives. Zurdo has no idea yet if Teresa is coming or not but is happy to see Godoy. He also warns Godoy off of putting the moves on Teresa. Godoy says no problem because he respects him and Teresa too much. Godoy says that he also did what Zurdo asked him and the shipment will arrive tomorrow. Zurdo tells him Lencho will be taking care of that. Godoy is surprised Zurdo is turning that important job over to Lencho but Zurdo says today Teresa is more important.

Back at Teresa control central, Paloma and Rocío are making breakfast. They have come up with the novel idea of going with Teresa to Zurdo’s because they do not want her to have to go alone. Teresa ask if they are nuts. No way. It is too dangerous. She reminds them that they are in Mexico because they had to FLEE from Spain. They insist they have always helped each other so they also want to support Sofía. Teresa emphasizes the danger they are all in and has to remind Paloma that she is pregnant. Rocío still wants to go.

Back at Zurdo’s, he talks with his head security guy to make sure that any kind of electronic surveillance or communications equipment will be identified. He doesn’t want Teresa being tracked. There are sixty security men spread over the property. Zurdo wants any infiltration to be met with lead (bullets). Godoy overhears and jokes about filling them with lead or tequila? They laugh. Zurdo sends his security guy to go pick up Teresa. Zurdo tells Godoy about his plan. Godoy asks if it is because he doesn’t trust Teresa. No, Zurdo doesn’t trust his own shadow because when the sun moves, it changes . . .

Back at Teresa control central, Teresa, Ray, Oleg and the gang are at the meeting. Oleg informs Teresa that they need to put a tracking device on her person that will give them video and sound. Ray says she has to be the one to wear the device. How can she wear it without it being seen? Sheila volunteers her necklace as the perfect vehicle for the tracking device. Teresa hopes it works, or they will all be dead.

 

LA REINA 2 Wed. Part 2

At the lake house, Francesco arrives after an early morning boat run. Sofía has made chilaquiles for them for breakfast. She talks about how her mom taught her how to cook chilaquiles, to read before she went to school because her mom said you could learn everything from books. She knows now why her mom taught her how to defend herself. She misses María Dantes, not Teresa Mendoza. Francesco says some day Teresa will explain it all to her. There are always two versions to everything. Sofía only sees it in terms of life and death. Francesco says her mother must have had some powerful reason to do it. Sofía says just like that powerful reason he will have some day to kill her when “they” tell him to do it. Francesco looks stricken for a second. She wants Francesco to tell her why she was kidnapped. Was it for money? Who is his boss? She says she isn’t stupid and suspects that she was kidnapped to make her mother do something. Francesco, now very serious, says supposing she is correct, he can’t tell her. Sofía sees him defending her mother because he had something going on with her. Her woman’s intuition tells her so. Francesco proclaims her a child. She informs him that a man doesn’t smell of a woman’s perfume unless he has been hugging and kissing her. Sofía leaves the room saying that she was not insinuating anything but was demonstrating to him that she is no longer a child.

Before leaving for the hotel to get ready for the party, Teresa gives Sheila her instructions before she leaves with Ahmed. Sheila is to get all of the information she can out of Batman about Sofía; like where she is and who is taking care of her. Sheila says just leave it up to her. No man can resist her. He won’t be the first “toad” she has taken to bed to get information. Seriously, Sheila says they will save her daughter. It turns out that both Conejo and Rocío are going with her to Zurdo’s. Teresa warns them that they cannot back out once they are at the ranch. They are both set to help Teresa. Conejo jokes about the Trojan horse and she and Teresa have to explain it to Rocío who has no idea what they are talking about.

At the police station, Alejandro has come to spring Ximena. He has arranged for her release as long as she doesn’t leave the city. He assures her that this situation will all resolve itself in time. She wants to thank him. She is told to thank her grandfather. When she is gone, Alejandro pays off the police officer who staged the arrest for Epifanio.
 

LA REINA 2 Wed. Part 3

At the hotel as they are getting ready for the party, Rocío asks Conejo if she knew her father. Conejo says did she ever; he was so very handsome. As a matter of fact, he was just as much of a scoundrel as he was handsome. Next, Conejo apologizes for what she said. Rocío says no problem. Her grandmother is the only person who ever had anything good to say about her father. Teresa comes out all dressed up in a green and gold dress. The tracking device has been incorporated into the necklace. She tries it out with Oleg and his crew back at control center and it works. Zurdo’s car arrives with his security guy driving. He is upset that Tersa has a man in her group. She explains that she goes nowhere without her body guard and after a phone call he is allowed to accompany Teresa. They all get into the SUV: the Trojan horse. As the vehicle continues on its way, Oleg and his men are able to follow it. It is quiet in the vehicle as the driver watches them in the rear view mirror.

At the club part of “control central”, Sheila is talking to Batman. She is wondering what would happen if Zurdo were to find out that this place was only a front for their operations, Batman assures her that is not going to happen. She asks who his boss is. He tells her to ask Teresa. He assures her that none of “those names “ is associated with the business, so who would suspect anything unless somebody had a “loose tongue”. Sheila turns on the raunchy sex talk and tells him she has a loose tongue, but for other things . . . She is physically all over him. She compliments him on his manliness and tells him that in Spain Mexican men are famous for being so “macho”. He assures her it is a reality. After she is with a Mexican guy, she won’t want to go back to Spain. Sheila talks about being the queen of pole dancing and that leads to a double entendre on her part. The mood is broken when she asks about his marital status and finds out that his family was murdered.

The party is in full swing at Zurdo’s complete with music and a pig on a spit when Teresa and company arrive. Rocío excuses herself to use the bathroom. The security guy/driver makes a remark about how pretty Teresa’s necklace is. Teresa and Conejo exchange glances on that remark. Teresa and Conejo are soon met by a waiter to serves them tequila. Teresa tells Conejo how proud she is of this part of the country that she is from. She grew up listening to this music, being in this atmosphere, eating this food.

On her way to the bathroom, Rocío runs into Godoy. He clearly likes what he sees and is happy to know she is “of age”. They flirt.
 

LA REINA 2 Wed. Part 4

At the Zurdo’s shindig, he makes an announcement to everyone that the guest of honor has arrived. Everyone applauds. He welcomes Teresa to his place. He explains how he and Teresa have only met twice but how he feels that they have known each other their whole lives. For that reason he wrote a song just for her. He hopes she likes it and applauds but if she doesn’t she can do what she likes ha! ha! He has named the song “Mujer de negro” (Woman in Black). The tuba and trumpets do the intro and Zurdo sings! He has written her a love song. Teresa smiles. He comes off the stage to sing to her up close and personal.

Oleg, Ray and Paloma watch the performance back at control central. Paloma is impressed by the act. She thinks it is fun. Oleg tells her Zurdo is a much more dangerous murderer than what she could imagine.

Zurdo grabs Teresa and they dance as he sings on. At the end of the song, everyone applauds.

Back at the club, Batman is really getting into it with Sheila. He usually doesn’t like to talk so much but she gives him confidence. The flirting goes on. Maybe Culiacán doesn’t need her but Batman does . . .and he is clearly into what she is. . . .

When Carmen, Virginia and Ximena come home, Epifanio is there to take credit and receive gratitude for Ximena’s release and also to get Carmen’s signature on the divorce papers.

Back at the fiesta, Zurdo makes a toast to the queen of queens, the goddess of Olympus, the most beautiful flower ever from this land: Teresa Mendoza “La Reina del Sur”.

At control central, Paloma is having a good time watching Zurdo. Ray declares him a clown and asks if she likes him or what? Oleg adds that a clown with a machine gun is not a clown.
 

LA REINA 2 Wed. Part 5

After using the bathroom, Rocio finds Godoy is still with her flirting all the way. He guesses she is from Spain and came in the company of Teresa Mendoza herself! He tells her some good memories he had of Teresa in Spain and helping her celebrate her birthday. He also remembers a boyfriend of hers a Teo Alfa. . . Rocío finishes the name Aljarafe and informs him he is dead. He asks if she was at that birthday party. She says nope. She was way too little. Well, he doesn’t see her as a little child now . . . They finally go outside with him asking how the Spaniards say their “z’s”.

Outside, Conejo is telling Zurdo what a good singer he is. Zurdo asks Teresa if she likes the party he planned for her. Teresa says she sure does and that she was just telling Conejo about how long it had been since she was at one of these Mexican blow-outs. She thanks him. Godoy arrives on the scene with Rocío and Teresa greets him. Zurdo then announces that he has a “first” surprise for Teresa. The control center crew is still watching as Zurdo talks about this abandoned house and how he bought it but now the time has come to return it to its rightful owner. He extends the deed and keys to Teresa. Everyone applauds. Teresa is no longer smiling. She says she cannot accept it. She doesn’t like those kind of favors. Zurdo asks in exchange for what? He is getting upset.Noticing Zurdo’s displeasure, Godoy jumps in and tries to explain Teresa’s reaction as her “being in shock” from the gift she is being given. Zurdo starts to chuckle and Teresa plays along as Godoy hands her the deed and keys. Suddenly Teresa is thanking Zurdo for such a gigantic gift. She just cannot believe it. Zurdo is looking good in front of his guests and feeling good. She exchanges a glance with Godoy.

Finally, Carmen signs the divorce papers but asks when Epifanio came up with this plan to get her to sign. Was it before or after he killed Father Anselmo? He disavows any involvement. She acknowledges that he won. He tells her to have a good life or at least not one that is so “messed” up.

Back at control central, Ray is carefully managing the signal so the don’t get blocked if something changes. Paloma leaves to get some fresh air and is told she can just go out back and must be careful nobody sees her. Suddenly, Ray and Oleg notice they are not seeing Zurdo. Godoy gives Teresa a heads up about Zurdo and how careful she and everybody else needs to be in dealing with Him.She asks if he has done any deals with Zurdo He has had couple of big ones. There is a big cocaine delivery coming through tomorrow night as a matter of fact. Oleg and Ray locate the delivery site on a map. It is on the Pacific coast not too far away. Oleg is happy with the info. Ray wants to know what he is thinking. Oleg isn’t saying.

As Zurdo is talking to his guests, his security guy comes to tell him that their detection system has tracked a signal coming from inside his property.

FIN
 

REina 2

This was a really fun episode tonight. More mañana.
 

reina-sur2

Wow! Thanks VERY much, Jarifa, for this splendid recap! Reading it I feel as if I'm watching the episode again.

I'm a bit nervous about the driver who brought Teresa and the others to the party. Teresa kept touching her necklace and the driver kept watching her do so in the rear view mirror. You mentioned that he complimented her on how attractive the necklace is, and it's possible that it was the beauty of the necklace that made him watch Teresa fingering it. But as I was watching him watch her, I had an uneasy feeling. And then, at the very end of the episode, Zurdo is informed that a signal has been detected. Someone from the party is sending out a signal. That made me worry again about the driver and his noticing Teresa's attention to her necklace.

Another puzzling thing was when Alejandro went to bring Jimena back from jail. She puts out her hand to shake his, but he doesn't shake it. I found that a bit odd. A little later, the crooked cop puts out his hand to shake Alejandro's after saying what a good job he and Epifanio did in the phony arrest scene. Again, Alejandro doesn't shake the guy's extended hand. I don't understand the reason for Alejandro's odd behavior.

On a lighter note, at one point, Conejo talks about the Trojan Horse and Homer, and Rocio gives her a blank look. Conejo bemoans the decline in education in Spain: "These days, if one speaks of Homer, people think only of Homer Simpson." Yup.
 

POQUITO:

Oh, right, Philemon! He gave Antonio his dog biscuit on his birthday.

We haven't seen Rocio for a while either, although I know she's around somewhere.
 

Her scenes have been cut,
 

It's very frustrating to try to follow the action when characters keep referring to events we haven't seen. Grrrrr.
 

La Reina 2

wow, what a first class recap Jarifa! loved it!

urban dictionary says Lencho is another name for Larry.

interesting how everyone "has to remind Paloma that she is pregnant", and she seems to be attracted to bad boys, (oh no, shades of Mariana from Sin Senos)

ah yes the big party, I remember the last one when the Feds showed up in helicopters, supposedly because of all the fireworks, and they escaped on motorcycles/horses.

didn't see Anton around, but Tesa told him not to speak so no one would pick up on his accent.

Sofia is a jewel, telling Lupo to button up his shirt, I think when Lupo said there are 2 sides to every story she implied that Teo won't be telling his.

ok, the office / strip joint is one place and the hotel where Teresa is staying is another.

and what is that, Alex not shaking hands?

I see Zurdo was serving the best tequila, Kate's brand "Honor".

not sure how the magic necklace works, but I think it's when Oleg wants the gps location that a signal was detected.

 

REINA 2

Juanita, this was such an enjoyable episode to recap. It is probably my favorite so far. Good point about Alejandro clearly not shaking the hands of two people. There has to be something to it. That security guy/driver also had me nervous from the drive over to Zurdo’s on. Conejo’s comment on current education was spot on no matter where you live these days,

deb, yes, Sofía was a “jewel” with Francesco. She showed a whole new pensive side.I found it interesting that she has thought of Francesco possibly killing her in the future since that thought had crossed my mind. Sofía is so beyond her years. Who knows what Epifanio us capable of ordering. I am impressed you noticed the tequila brand. Smart marketing! Thanks for the info on “Lencho” coming from Lorenzo.

I have to say I laughed out loud with Sheila and Batman. This novela has everything going for it.
 

reina-sur2

LOVED your recap, Jarifa. So vivid and complete.

I wondered at first if Sofía might have put some drug in Lupo’s chilaquiles and be able to make an escape in the boat. I guess I thought maybe he’d spent the night there, rather than arrive in a boat. Guess this was because Sofía had prepared enough chilaquiles for two. From what that really intelligent Sofía said and Lupo’s expression, I’m thinking it’s probably true that Epifanio Vargas plans to kill both Sofía and her mother when he’s President.

I loved Sheila bragging to Teresa about her skills with men and talk of how good she’d been working at Yamila. I know prostitution is an awful life, but it appeared that the woman at Yamila had some agency and at least comfortable apartments in which to live.

Teresa was genuinely happy at the party, at least at first. The music, the tequila, the food. For a few minutes she seemed to forget the mission and just be happy to be back home.

Wow! I was melting in my seat when Faustino Sánchez Godoy was pouring on the charm with Rocío. Even with the slight ick factor of his being so much older than the girl. I’ve had a sweet tooth for that guy since Reina Uno. I’ve seen him in other novelas, La Mariposa for one, and that paisa Colombian accent is put on for the role and not his natural one.

I doubt we’ve seen the last of Carmen. I believe she’ll get her revenge.

I also noticed the weird aversion to shaking hands by Alejandro. Germophobe? Or something else? I’m pretty sure we’ll find out what it is since they made such a point of it.

I don’t think Oleg wanting a GPS location had anything to do with the discovery of the signal on Teresa’s necklace. IIRC the GPS Oleg wanted was the place where the big drugs shipment is to arrive on the Pacific coast. I'm speculating that Oleg may plan to interfere with that, or seize the drugs. This would be to further Epifanio’s plan to mess with Zurdo.
 

novelera, I had thought that maybe Francesco had spent the night at the lake house and had been up and out early. It is hard for me to believe he would leave Sofía alone overnight. It would not surprise me if in the future Sofía might tamper with Francesco’s food. I like that idea! I loved the early party scenes before it all got weird.
 

La Reina 2

I skimmed through some of the scenes.

from the opening scene they show, it appears Teresa's gang in living in a big house on a hill, where they are cooking, plotting, etc, but wait, the driver picks them up at what looks like a Hotel, where it looks like they had rooms, got dressed, makeup, etc.

it doesn't actually show Lupo arriving in the morning by boat, just the camera shot skimming the water, but, there was no boat at the dock, I was kind of thinking Lupo was just getting up as to why he hadn't finished buttoning his shirt.

I think Faustino mentioned Playa Altata, the place of the delivery, so Ray brought up a giant google map for Oleg, but just before that Oleg wanted an exact location of Zurdo's place, and Ray was fumbling around so they wouldn't be able to triangulate the signal.

 

REINA 2

Thanks, deb.
 

general

I have Latino Channels on my DirecTV lineup, mostly to be able to get the East Coast feed of Telemundo. I would get both on Univisión in a normal channel lineup, but for Telemundo, unless I sign up for the Latino package, I only get the West Coast Telemundo offering.

Anyway I have quite a few movie channels as well. I enjoy tuning into Cine Nostálgica for an oldie with Vicente Fernández once in a while. They remind me of Roy Rogers movies of my childhood. Horses, big hats, and a singing hero. Extremely corny.

I usually skim the casts before watching anything to see if there's any actors I'd recognize. Last night they were showing a 1986 movie with Humberto Zurita. He played kind of a cad who was after his friend's wife. He sounded the same. He had TONS of black, shaggy hair, a beard and a moustache. He was so slender. He still is, but he looked like he had a 26 inch waist when he was that age.
 

General

novelera, it is always interesting seeing what cable/satellite tv services offer around the country. An Humberto Zurita sighting! How fun!
 

reina-sur2

Thank you, Jarifa.

They should be careful with the information from Sanchez Godoy about the drug shipment. Why would he reveal this info just like that. The last time we saw him doing it was to Veronica, trying to set a trap for her. And it would have worked if Flores got his way, but Willy suspected it was a trap and canceled the raid.
 

Reina-sur-2

Juanita and Jarifa, thanks a bunch for Tuesday & Wednesday. It's been non-stop action and I appreciate every detail.

Godoy is one happy go lucky narco. Always upbeat, but smarter than he seems. Good going getting Teresa not to set off Zurdo.

Zurdo seemed almost human last night in front of Teresa.

Sheila and Batman flirting. Too funny. Surely he knows she's up to more than his bod.