Wednesday, September 18, 2019

La Usurpadora - Capitulo 3 - Attempted Murder on the Bora Bora Express

Manuel delivers the news of his failure over the phone to Paola. Surprisingly calmly (for her), she orders him to finish the deed and gets off the phone. Gonzalo though gets the brunt of her anger and craziness, as she has a spectacular meltdown, complete with screams and plate smashing. Eventually Gonzalo throws her into the pool to cool off. Good choice, we were tired of all the screaming as well. 



Gema and Carlos wake up together. Must be a doctor recommended stress relieve: when your wife is shot by an assassin…. 


Nava, with Pedro’s help, executes a very slick infiltration into the presidential mansion, and spends some time rummaging through Paola’s closet before being caught by Juana and having to exit. 


Teresa is practicing her boxing moves on a punching bag, which suddenly appeared in the middle of their hallway, when Manuel comes out to lament that Paola trusted them and they betrayed her. Teresa thinks he is ridiculous and sounds like an enamored teenager. She wants to know if he at least found the sniper. Manuel did not – he tried calling him, but the sniper did not pick up. What’s a guy to do… Teresa is furious – everything she needs to do herself. Did Manuel at least get their money? Nope, he did not – they haven’t completed the job yet, he says. That’s not what Teresa wants to hear.


A bit later Manuel is getting ready to go to work and complains to Teresa about their situation and not being able to do anything with Nava firmly planted at the house. (These two have a strange relationship. Did you notice how curiously she was eyeing him while helping him with his tie and asking for a kiss on the cheek? A kiss he, incidentally, refused, due to her being all sweaty. Manuel better be careful - Teresa looks like a close rival for Paola's Crazy Queen title) 


Nava and Pedro (the investigator boy) are still reviewing their evidence. Pedro notices that the sniper entered as a valet, but exited in a suit – a great find! What Pedro doesn’t notice is that Manuel was eavesdropping at the door. 


Gonzalo goes to see his arms dealing partner, who is not too thrilled Gonzalo got involved with Paola. The partner wants to “take care”, i.e. off Paola, but Gonzalo says he will resolve the situation. Guns are drawn. The partner does not seem to believe that Gonzalo will take care of anything, but Gonzalo says he is a pragmatic man and knows what’s best for him. He will disarm the bomb that is Paola. 


Carlos continues to negotiate with the transportistas. Meanwhile, amid these protests, Paulina arrives home as Paola, accompanied by her nurse Monse. Monse became a friend of sorts while at the hospital and seems to be a sensible kind woman. She was sent home with Paulina to continue monitoring her recovery. Everyone welcomes Paulina home, except for Emilio, who is acting out in an angsty teenager way. Paulina finally gets a moment alone with Manuel and tries to get him to tell her where Paola is and when she is coming back. Manuel asks her for some patience and, when he doesn’t get very far with this request, threatens her mother again. That does the trick. They are interrupted again by Arcadia, who has just the most keen sense of timing. She came to stay with them for a while and “take care” of Paulina. When she finds out Paulina is not about to throw her out (and, by the looks of it, is shocked by that development), she excitedly leaves to go about her business and leave Paulina to rest. (So what happened to all this taking care she was going to do?)


Carlos comes to wish Paulina good night and decides to leave the doors of their joint bedrooms open, just in case she needs something. (Side-note: how does anyone get any privacy there with those semi-transparent window panes on the doors?) Also, still no hint of suspicion that anything is wrong with Paola on his part. Beginning to really worry for Mexico with such a perceptive man at the helm... 


Next morning Paola is going about her regular crazy person business, and is in the middle of leaving a conciliatory message for Gonzalo, when a group of assassins arrive for her. After a brief cat and mouse game, she narrowly escapes the kill by hiding in a large ottoman. 


Paulina is very distressed about her situation and finds comfort in Monte, to whom she ends up telling the whole truth: she is Paulina Doria and not the First Lady of Mexico. She proves it by showing Monse a youtube video of herself attempting to save the orphanage. Together they come up with a plan: Monse will help Paulina escape from the house, and Paulina will go to the embassy to try and return to Colombia. (It is a little bit curious that Monse, who doesn’t know Paola or Paulina at all, but knows that she just suffered a big trauma, immediately believes her and gets on board with that plan, but that makes our story go by faster, so we’ll just roll with it for now.)


Paola prepared a nice spread and is waiting for Gonzalo to arrive. When he does, she apologizes for her reaction, but says nothing about the assassination attempt. Gonzalo tells Paola that he has a whole plan in motion to escape together to Tuscany and live happily everafter. He has a pilot on standby and just needs for Paola to finish the job in Mexico (kill Paulina that is). Paola says she is on it, and that she loves Gonzalo. 


Meanwhile Nava is questioning Carlos and Gema. He thinks it’s unlikely that a professional sniper would shoot a wrong person, so the hit could have been for Paola – perhaps ordered by her lover. Not too strange, given she and Carlos lived separate lives, and Carlos has a mistress as well. Gema tries to protest, but Nava says that they haven’t met yesterday. 


Nava then goes to see an old friend – a married police contact and a former flame. They meet at a motel and make great use of this location to steam up some windows, after she gives him the info he came for and tells him that she, too, thinks a professional sniper wouldn’t have failed if the target was the President.  


Manuel and Teresa have arrived at the sniper’s mom’s house to finish the job. Manuel enters the house under false pretenses, injects something to knock the lady out and, when the sniper arrives, tried to overpower him with another syringe. Manuel is not much of a fighter though and is about to lose this one, but thankfully for him, Teresa appears with a gun and finishes the job, but not before getting the money back from the sniper. 


Nava and Pedro have a new lead: the sniper changed the suitcases between leaving the hotel and being caught on one of the street cameras. They are wondering where he did that. 


Back at the house everyone, including Paulina, are having dessert. Piedad is shocked that Paola is eating sweets, but Monse covers for her, explaining she needs to regain strength. Later Nava comes to see Paulina and is surprised she is telling him “usted”. Paulina quickly corrects herself. Nava wants to know about her lover. Paulina has no idea what he is talking about and is saved by Monse again. Nava leaves and next on her visitor’s list is the President. She ushers him out quickly, as it is time to put the escape plan in motion. 


At the same time Emilio is at the bar getting really drunk and carrying a gun he got from a friend. He is becoming increasingly paranoid that someone will shoot him. This seems like a disaster waiting to happen. 


Paola and Gonzalo share a passionate night, after which she asks him to tell her about Tuscany. What will their life there be like? As Gonzalo waxes poetic about Italy, he suddenly realizes he is having trouble standing on his feet. Another moment later he understands that Paola slipped something in his wine, this realization coming just a second before she pulls a gun on him. (So I guess Paola suspects it was Gonzalo, who was behind the attempt on her life…) 


Paulina escapes from the house and is putting a black cloak on to walk to the embassy undetected, when she notices a commotion nearby. It turns out that Emilio has evaded his security and was walking home past the tent camp, where the protesters are staying. While he is doing that, omnipresent Pascual and what looks to be the only security guy employed at the presidential mansion, as we see him there day and night, frantically try out the “Find Friends” function on their screens to figure out where Emilio is. Some of the protesters recognize Emilio walking by and want to talk to him, but he takes it as a sign of aggression and pulls a gun on them. Paulina is hiding in the nearby bushes and looks on at this unstable situation. 

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Comments:
Reading your recaps is such a treat Ria. And first of all...Love your title and your shoutout to the fabulous Agatha Cristie. So clever...

As were these quips:

Eventually Gonzalo throws her in the pool to cool off. Good choice, we were tired of all the screaming as well.

Must be a doctor recommended stress relieve: when your wife is shot by an assassin....

and

Also, still no hint of suspicion that anything is wrong with Paola on his part. Beginning to really worry for Mexico with such a perceptive man at the helm...

El Presidente does just seem to be a rather well-meaning but befuddled doofus. Gema, his lover is the smart one. And Nava, well, he's great at steaming up motel windows with his police contacts.

Paola seems to have a very strong sense of self-preservation. She certainly turned the tables on Gonzalo very effectively. Guess the arms dealer was more naive than his mistress. Interesting switch.

Well so far this story is great and the recaps are even better. Thanks so much Ria.
 

What I love about your recaps Ria is they are the right length. Not too long, not too short. And very well written. Thanks for a great job ...
 

Ria, thanks. The recap was wonderful and the title perfect!

Since Pascual warned Nava about slipping up again, would they please tell us already how he slipped up in the first place enough to lose his badge.

Curiosity: since even Nava knows that both Carlos and his wife have lovers, I wonder who cheated first: Carlos or Paola.

When Paulina addressed Nava as “usted”, he jumped on it and asked since when was he “usted”. I do not think he is not about to forgot that.

Paulina is pretty chipper for a recent gun shot victim, but hey, this is a novela.

Emilio with a gun is an unfortunate combination.

Gonzalo told his associate he would “deactivate” that “time bomb” Paola. Looks like she may beat him to the punch.

Should be a good one tonight.


 

Good morning everyone!

Ria, this was sensational! Soaked in every word eagerly.

"Beginning to really worry for Mexico with such a perceptive man at the helm..." was my favorite line of many.

"Gema and Carlos wake up together. Must be a doctor recommended stress relieve" was close behind.

"Teresa looks like a close rival for Paola's Crazy Queen title and "Paola is going about her regular crazy person business" were irrefutable statements that they are real madwomen. It would be interesting for them to go up against each other.

"Gonzalo says he is a pragmatic man and knows what’s best for him. He will disarm the bomb that is Paola". Color me cynical.

It didn't register that Paola thought Gonzo had betrayed her. I thought he was standing up to his partner saying to leave her alone and couldn't figure out why she hadn't told him. "Paola seems to have a very strong sense of self-preservation. She certainly turned the tables on Gonzalo very effectively. Guess the arms dealer was more naive than his mistress" was very insightful Judy.

"Emilio with a gun is an unfortunate combination" was spot on Jarifa!

Ria, thank you for another excellent recap. Off to a busy day....

Diana

 

Ria, you are really knocking this out of the park! Thank you for taking this on; we really appreciate it and SO happy that you returned to Caray. It was a pretty good episode. Despite the fact that it was a bit choppy (IMO), you made perfect sense of it all, Ria; and the sides were spot on!

JudyB, ITA agree with your perceptions about el presidente. I'm disappointed that they made him look so inept, but with his looks, I can't help but be mesmerized by him :-) I probably have that look that Monse had when he came out in his robe LOL

Jarifa, there are so many questions about the back stories! I hopeo we get some clues before this short fast-paced TN is over.

Diana, I was a bit confused too; I had to watch it again just so it could register that Paola had turned the tables on Gonzo (ooh that reminded me of Gonzo from Trapper John :-) Anywho, so Nava found that small bottle of something in the drawer. Could that be the same thing Paola used on Gonzo?
 

Ria: I went ROFLOL at your reference to Carlos' stress relieving medicine by knocking up Gema inside Los Pinos. That house must be very huge for a lot of the stress relief LOL.

RGV Chick: Emilio needs to be placed in a MENTAL INSTITUTION: that kid is going to get somebody hurt down the road.

Diana: How in the Hell was Crazy, Whacky Paola managing to turn the tables on Gonzo the Idiot ?


Jarifa: Nava loves getting the information out of his police contact by steaming up the windows alright....

Judy: Not shocked the Sniper & his Mommy got whacked! It was inevitable. Teresa is one freaking PSYCHOPATH & I could've sworn I've seen her in a previous Telenovela before several years back because she looks so familiar.

Gema might be President down the road because she's very, very SMART LOL.




 

Good morning, all.

Thank you, Ria, for giving me something fun to read with my Cheerios.I love your sense of humor.

Carlos does nothing for me...meh. ..but Nava is pretty clever and interesting .

Wow..I was shocked that Paola was so coldhearted. It appeared that she was quite enthralled by Gonzo, but...it looks like everyone is expendable in her book. Paola is a survivor with no moral compass.And that other boxing dog loving woman...another stone cold woman.
 

Susanlynn, if we could combine Carlos's looks with Nava's personality...wowsers! TN Novio candidate for sure.

And just a tidbit of info on term/phrases discussed--

I grew up hearing "Que carajo(a)" but it wasn't really a "bad" word. It was used when someone would be sly/sneaky and take advantage of a situation. So my translation for it would "You sneak!" BUT I can see where it could also be used as "Crap/Dammit!" It just depends on the situation and the intonation. In this TN, if it were actually a bad/vulgar word, it would have been censored like other stuff that they are censoring.

In regards to the "yogurt" line. My mama would always tell me "Te corre la sangre como melaza." ("Your blood runs like molasses" meaning that I always took my time to do/react---like in chores or other situations.) I'm taking "tienes yogurt en la sangre" to mean basically the same thing.





 

Ria--Just settling down to a good read. Thank you tanto, tanto.

I guess it's pretty clear now (also from anon's comment) that Paola is bi-polar, big time.

RGV--I thought they DID bleep out Carajo. Will have to listen more carefully now!
 

Hi everyone! Busy morning today and just now coming over to chat. Hope everybody’s Thursday is going smoothly!

JudyB - thanks! And spot on regarding Paola’s self-preservation instinct. That was mesmerizing to watch - how quickly she shifted gears, no processing - straight into action mode: make some spiked food/drinks and wait for him to get home. No sign of any ptsd from the attack a few hours ago.

Hugo - I am glad the recap length and content work and thanks!

Jarifa - yes, Paulina is another chipper compartmentalizer. Though she is alternating between happy and crying, so maybe that’s her version of ptsd. Either way, as you say, we’ll roll with it :)

Diana - Thanks. And I, too, thought Gonzalo was defending Paola, and at first thought that it was Gonzalo’s partner who sent in assassins. But Gonzalo did have that line of “disarming” Paola. Is it possible he changed his mind and decided to kill her or did his partner go rogue? Or is it someone else? Hope we find out!

Rgv Chick - thanks and thank you for the explanation on some of the words!! Super helpful and good to know. Looks like you grew up speaking or hearing Spanish? That’s very cool!
Also, agree and I, too, thought it was getting a bit choppy yesterday - maybe we are seeing a bit of a product of condensing it all into a short series. Still, a great episode.

Steve - yes, Gema seems like she is much better suited for the presidency!

Susanlynn - agreed on Paola. Very sudden turn of events and very cold indeed. I didn’t expect that either. Was thinking she will just throw another tantrum, though who knows - it may still be coming.

Anita - you are so welcome and thank you too for the comments! :)


 

Ria--You don't disappoint. Terrific recap. When the end credits came on, I said Carajo to myself, wishing there were still one more hour.

It's probable that Gonzo's "business" associate didn't listen to him and decided to take care of the Crazy Queen. I think Gonzo was looking forward to a life in Tuscany. The food is probably better than Timbuktu and more likely has indoor plumbing. (Well, the Timbuktu of our imagination and dichos anyway. It looks pretty arid. However, it was important in its heyday as a trading stop between 1300-1500 AD, but went downhill after that.)
 

Thank you, Ria. Loving this TN and your marvelous recaps. Before finding this blog I would watch TNs by myself, see something funny/sad/outrageous and quickly turn to comment on it ... But no one was there! (My husband would be in another room attached to his sports programs.) So I got spoiled by all the great recaps and funny/insightful/interesting comments and if a TN is NOT being recapped, I quickly lose interest. And it's not about learning Spanish, as I am fluent in English and Spanish! So, again, thank you for recapping.

Steve - the actress (Sandra Echeverria) playing the twins was the protagonist years back in La Fuerza del Destino, which also starred (One-Expression) Gabriel Soto and (a very wooden) David Zepeda. Her acting is much improved.

A Total Lurker

 

Anita - you had me laughing out loud at your cuisine and amenities comparison in Timbuktu! Too funny. But yes, Gonzo may very well be innocent of this, now he just needs to convince her majesty if so.

A Total Lurker - hi!! So nice to virtually meet you and really excited you are coming out to comment. Hope to see a lot more of you in the weeks to come! I definitely know what you mean when you mention it is more fun to watch and discuss novelas as a group. I am the same way and when I am excited about a book or a show, I really need to talk to someone about it. This site is fantastic for doing just that. It’s an amazing group of people who make watching any novela a lot of fun. So welcome again!
I also definitely agree with you about Sandra’s acting - she is really impressing me so far and has come a long way since LFDD. I watched it too and had to laugh at your descriptions of the characters of Soto and Zepeda (Zepeda was Ivan I think, and forgetting who Soto was). Very fitting though!

 

Another perfect recap, Ria! Again thank you for doing it. It makes the tn much easier to watch. It looks as if Paola is stranded now that she has killed? Gonzo. Will she become the head of the arms smuggling ring? She has the personality for it. I'm willing to bet that Paulina will resolve the transport workers' strike. Btw, I don't think it will take him very long to discover that she's not Paola. I liked that actor very much on EvA la trailera. Was Emilio only out drinking? Was the gun purchase only because he's paranoid about getting shot by assassins? Will this gun come into play later? Possibly to save someone? So much suspense!
 

for Nava to discover she's not Paola, that is.
 

Span Prof: I agree with you on Nava figuring out that she's really Paulina based on her mannerisms & actions. It's only a matter of time before she's busted.

Big question is whether she'll end up being put in a mental institution ?
 

Steve: Nah, a mental institution would be boring.

 

SpanProf - so much suspense indeed!! Highly entertaining. We’ll see what tonight brings.Paulina resolving the strike would mimic a similar story line in the original LU - would be interesting to see!

Just a note to everyone too - this evening I will put a discussion page for tomorrow’s episode and our very own Princess Juju has LU recaps on Thursdays! She will post her recap in the comments and I will move it to the main body (likely later tomorrow after I am home from work). Look forward to it!!! And thank you Princess Juju.
 

Ria your recapping skills are surperb.
Just like some other recappers.

That Manuel guy is a coward, or he has
Coward tendencies. If his weird lady
Accomplice had not interfeared sniper
Guy would have gotten him. The woman
Has no problem puttin A bullet in his
Head. Cold blooded. I'm almost sure she'll be dead in The end.

So, did the first lady of hell kill her little minion? We'll see tonight.
I could see her poisoning him, and a
Bullet to the head. The woman is a twist sister. Literally. He knows how crazy she is,is sex that good. It will
Get him killed. Some men are so stupid
Some not all. Some.

If given a Chance Paulina could maybe probably Help Emilio grow up. Poor kid
His step mom don't give a dam and dad
Is doin his chief-of-staff. What a wonderful family.

Ok gotta go dinners callin. 2 hours &
50 minutes to go.


 

Just a reminder--PJJ is on the west coast, so us Eastern Time denizens, hold your horses and don't get anxious if you're not seeing a recap at 10:30 pm EDT (Ha!)
 

Thanks, Nina. Manuel was definitely saved by Teresa, just in the nick of time too. She must know he is not very capable at this gangsta stuff, but keeps sending him in to do the deed.

Anita - thanks for the heads up on PJJ's time zone!
 

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