Thursday, October 24, 2019

Cuna de Lobos, Capítulo 3 Wed. 10/23/19: "Monsters" --OR-- "Ay (EYE), There's The Rub"

And we continue with our twisted tale:

At Catalina's house, Gélica notices a spot of blood on Catalina's blouse. Catalina sees her staring at it and tells her that she stained it but doesn't remember how. She adds that Gélica is to throw it away because she will never be able to get the stain out. Gélica looks oddly upset as she leaves the room with the blouse in hand.

Luis is at his place (his home away from where his wife and child live) when he hears on TV that Vasco the forensic pathologist was found dead with a bullet wound to the head at the forensic facility where he worked. Luis springs into action and takes the folder from Vasco from its hiding place. Leonora is knocking at his door.

José Carlos is arrested still in his drugged stupor. The press is there to cover this event marked by alcohol, drugs and violence since he is the son of the famous businessman the late Carlos Larios.

Leonora has arrived with a box of files for Luis. She watches the coverage of José Carlos's arrest as Luis quickly sorts through the box's contents. Luis gets busy shredding. Leonora asks if he doesn't need them anymore. As we see that the files have to do with Catalina Creel, Luis says he no longer needs them.

Alejandro visits with his mother Catalina. She talks about how much she misses Carlos and also about how they need to get busy to honor his memory. She brings up Leonora who she likes and who is an educated young woman who almost reminds her of herself when she was that age. Alejandro reminds her that this is only a business deal as far as he is concerned. Catalina thinks that business can also be pleasurable. She encourages him to enjoy himself and to impress Leonora. She urges him to invite Leonora over so they can meet her. She must have a weakness somewhere . . .

Francisco calls and Alejandro leaves. Francisco is in his car with Ámbar and has news of José Carlos's arrest. It won't be as easy as just paying the damages this time. José Carlos hit some girl who is on her way to the hospital. Francisco and Ámbar are on their way to help him out. Catalina tells them they have no need to do that because she is going to handle this personally. Francisco thinks it will be better if he talks to the lawyers but Catalina insists that she is the first person to see José Carlos. After he hangs up, Ámbar tells him he needs to be looking out for his nephew. He needs a lawyer and Francisco is a lawyer. Francisco insists that Catalina will take care of it. Ámbar wonders why he always defends Catalina. Francisco reasons that after dealing with José Carlos for years, Catalina is the only one who can solve the problem.

Luis expresses his condolences to Ignacio Vasco's widow. She tells him that her husband was very nervous lately but he never told her a thing. She wants to know who killed him. Luis promises to follow the latest in the investigation but the expression on his face says that might not happen.

Leonora interrupts Alejandro as he watches his brother's arrest on TV. She wants to check on him with his brother being arrested. He thinks that the news services enjoy broadcasting the tragedy of others. She knows all about that since she works for a newspaper. Alejandro says he knows the drill. His brother will spend a few days in jail, his mother will bail him out and pay for all of the damages, there will be a few peaceful days and then the cycle will repeat itself again. Alejandro and Leonora flirt and he invites her to supper tonight at his house. Leonor would prefer something more casual. Alejandro agrees and says he will come up with something for them to do. Miguel calls out for him.

At the ministerio público, a detective is getting a statement from José Carlos when Diego and Catalina arrive effectively cutting it short. When Catalina is alone with her stepson, she lets him have it. He went too far this time hitting that girl and sending her to the hospital. He insists that he is innocent but cannot remember anything beyond meeting the girl at the disco. Catalina, knowing how to press his buttons, says she will get Francisco to talk to the judge and get him to place him back in the rehab facility. José Carlos loses it. The police subdue him and drag him away as he proclaims his innocence.

Catalina and Diego face the press as they leave the ministerio público. They have nothing to say. Once inside of their vehicle, Catalina tells Diego to put out a public statement so she won't be hounded like this again. She asks about the woman from the hotel. Diego says they have no worries because she will follow their directions.

Alejandro and Miguel discuss Lalo's birthday party that is happening tonight. They had plans to go but now Alejandro is saying he cannot make it because of having to have supper with his mother. Miguel is not sure if he believes him and asks him out right if he is having supper with him mother or with his new friend the reporter. They then get into an argument with Alejandro accusing Miguel of not being able to keep things compartamentalized. Miguel tells Alejandro to bring her to the birthday party since he wants to meet her. It will help. Alejandro is not so sure.

Diego and Catalina arrive at her house. He gets a video from Julius, who is working with more people now, about the discovery of a very good diamond deposit in Africa. He shows Catalina who then asks Diego to track down the origin of some photos that were sent to Carlos on the night of his death. She wants all calls and messages traced. She declines to tell Diego the subject of the photos when he asks but he promises to take care of it within her time frame of "today".

Francisco comes by to ask if Catalina talked to José Carlos. She starts out by telling him that this time José Carlos did something very serious and he needs to be taught a lesson and take responsibility for what he did. Francisco reminds her that he was in no condition to know what he was doing. She also is not happy about the bad publicity. Yes, she is thinking of letting him cool his heels in jail for a few days. She is sick of him always getting away with everything. Alejandro looks disturbed hearing these responses. He tries to explain that José Carlos is an addict in need of professional help. Well, she isn't about to be like Carlos who always felt sorry for him. She needs Francisco to back her up on this. He reluctantly agrees when she also asks him to make sure Ámbar stays out of it. She is the kind of weak woman that will just make matters worse. Clearly looking disturbed by what he just heard, Francisco kisses Catalina on her cheek and leaves.

Ámbar is at the jail to visit her nephew bringing food and chocolate. He is only interested in getting bailed out. Ámbar tells him that Francisco is taking care of it all. She asks him what happened. As he repeats that he doesn't remember anything not even know he got to the hotel room, he does start to remember. He remembers kissing a girl, being beaten up by a couple of guys and seeing Diego's face looking down at him as he was on the floor. He realizes that he was set up.

Alejandro and Leonora arrive at Lalo's birthday party. She meets Alejandro's "favorite" friend Miguel.

Gélica asks Catalina if she wants something to eat. No, Catalina doesn't want anything. Gélica tells her how terrible she feels for José Carlos. Catalina says Fernando is taking care of his defense. Gélica also doesn't like the way he is being described on TV. He may have his problems but being violent???? With that, Catalina slowly turns her head and asks if she is serious. Gélica comes to José Carlos's defense saying he was only a child and it was an accident. Catalina's cold stare continues. Gélica excuses herself and leaves.

Catalina remembers that fateful day when she was having sex with Francisco and José Carlos saw them. After Francisco reminded her that he told her so, she put on a robe and went after her stepson. She told the "damn brat" not to go hiding on her. As she grabbed on to his arm, she had no idea that he had his bow and arrow with him and she ended up getting jabbed with an arrow in her eye as he dropped his bow and pivoted to get away from her to continue running down the hall. She sat down, pulled the arrow out and screamed. In the present, one tear falls from Catalina's one good eye.

José Carlos tries to tell the detective that he was set up by his stepmother Catalina Creel but nobody is buying his tale. He is dragged screaming back to his cell.

Back at the party, Alejandro and Miguel make sure that Leonora is entertained. Feeling a bit threatened, Miguel goes off alone and starts to flirt with a guy.

José Carlos starts to go into withdrawal in his jail cell.

Alejandro and Leonora flirt some more but not enough for Alejandro to not notice what Miguel is up to. When Miguel and the guy disappear together, Alejandro tells Leonora that the has to make an international business call and excuses himself. Alejandro walks in on Miguel and the guy in another room. There is nothing going on but Alejandro tells the guy to get out. Alejandro wants to know what Miguel is doing anyway. Miguel explains that he wants Alejandro and that he misses him. He had no plans of doing anything with the guy. He just wanted to see how Alejandro would react. As Miguel tries to get a kiss, Alejandro pushes him back reminding him there are lots of people around. Miguel wonders if it is all of the people Alejandro is concerned with or Leonora. He accuses Alejandro of only being concerned about her. He can see that she is falling for Alejandro already. He also thinks that Alejandro is falling in love with her. Alejandro is upset because he feels like Miguel is constantly making them put their love to the test. Alejandro says Miguel knew what the situation was and he agreed to it. Miguel nods in agreement but blurts out that he just can't do it. It just hurts seeing him with Leonora. As all of this is going down, a bored Leonora is walking around the apartment and starting to open doors to unknown rooms. Someone sees her and directs her to the bathroom. Miguel apologizes and asks for a kiss but he doesn't get one as Alejandro pushes him away and leaves.

Alejandro takes Leonora home but there is no sex on the schedule for a first or second date with her. They both admit to liking each other. That is why she says she is not inviting him in. They kiss.

The next morning, José Carlos is bailed out.

Gélica has news for Catalina at breakfast: Alejandro slept in his own bed last night even though he was late in getting home. Their conversation is cut short with the arrival of a jubilant José Carlos. Catalina is furious and demands to know who bailed him out. He says it was someone who cares for him but hates her. She is surprised he is back. She expected him to go into hiding in Miami as he is used to doing. He states not this time because she set him up. He says it all has to do with her enforcer Diego. He wonders if he hit the girl he found in the bathroom. She blames his comments on being under the influence. José Carlos says not this time, he is clear headed. Catalina follows him and says she cannot believe he would ever accuse her of something like that after ALL SHE HAS BEEN THROUGH. DOESN'T HE REMEMBER? He turns and asks: DOES HE REMEMBER? SHE HAS MADE HIM FEEL GUILTY HIS WHOLE LIFE. SHE HAS MADE HIM PAY THE ULTIMATE PRICE AND HE IS STILL PAYING. Gélica breaks up the conversation informing Catalina that Francisco has arrived.

Catalina is angry that Ámbar stuck her nose in her business bailing out José Carlos. Francisco said he could do nothing about it because Ámbar just wanted to help. Catalina thinks that is just great because now he is free to overdose on drugs. He insists his wife would do nothing to hurt José Carlos. Catalina even suspects it was Ámbar who sent Carlos the photos. Since he knows nothing about them, she has to explain how they were texted to Carlos the night he died. So, yes, Carlos knew about the two of them. Francisco doesn't think that Ámbar knows about them because she couldn't take it. Catalina thinks that the photos were the cause of the heart attack that killed Carlos. Alejandro arrives and Francisco leaves.

Catalina talks about missing Carlos. She wants to know all about his date with Leonora. He admits it is going well but also has a favor to ask of her for a friend of Leonora's who is a reporter. She agrees.

Luis gets his job back and is told it was due to the intervention of Catalina Creel. Luis promises to behave himself.

José Carlos asks Gélica what happened the day of the ACCIDENT since he remembers very little. He has some images but he doesn't know if it was what he really saw or if it is from what he was told that happened. Gélica says he was in his baby brother's room with his bow and arrow pointing it at Alejandro in his crib. Catalina saw it and got really scared. She started to pull José Carlos out of his brother's room and as she did she got stuck in the eye with the arrow. José Carlos hoped she would have remembered something different but it has always been he who was responsible.

Ámbar is aggravated with Catalina's reaction and is telling Francisco all about it. She told Gloria (José Carlos's mother) she would take care of José Carlos her whole life. And no matter what Catalina wants, she would bail him out again so he wouldn't have to spend another night in jail. She feels like he is the child they never had. He just wants to forget about it it all and get to work. Ámbar has other ideas and wants him to stay at home for some "frisky" time with her.

Alejandro and Leonora are outside the house when José Carlos comes out and greets them. Alejandro sarcastically says his brother is back from his vacation in jail. José Carlos proclaims his innocence telling them his set up theory. That just makes Alejandro laugh. José Carlos says he is going because his insecure little brother likes to make him look bad in front of women. As he leaves, Alejandro goes after him. They get into a fight. Alejandro tells him to stay away from Leonora. José Carlos asks if he is using her to get the inheritance. He won't be telling her, because even though they all think he is disgusting, he is not a monster. Alejandro has enough with the demons he already has.

Francisco is now at work and thinks back to having sex with Ámbar and her asking if he loved her. He said he did. She then told him she would kill herself if he ever left her. Catalina comes into his office all apologetic about how she treated him earlier. He is still upset about Carlos knowing about them before he died and the possibility of Ámbar finding out about them. He thinks it is better that he  just quit. She suggests that they break up. As a matter of fact, she is going to Acapulco this weekend; put some distance between them but then again he could come along like that time they went together alone way back when and made love on the beach . . . Francisco grabs her and insists he wants to be with her and suddenly they are all over each other on the desk.  Catalina balances herself by putting her hand on a photo of Francisco with his brother Carlos.

Fin


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Comments:
A fun epsiode! I hope I got all of the names right. More mañana.
 

Jarifa: "Monsters" --OR-- "Ay (EYE), There's The Rub" Oh no – you didn’t. Oh yes – you did!! One of the best titles. Ever!

Every recap is an intriguing short story in and of itself. You are such a marvelous story teller. You paint the picture vividly with bright light and wonderful wit.

"In the present, one tear falls from Catalina's one good eye". So, am I actually the monster? I felt nothing at all for her.

Miguel "can see that she is falling for Alejandro already. He also thinks that Alejandro is falling in love with her.”. I believe Miguel is right in that Leonora is smitten. Alejandro, not quite yet. Leonora is quite persistent and a bit pushy, perhaps a byproduct of being a reporter. Not feeling the character/actress.

Miguel surely realizes he is in a no win situation. He should leave while he has a shred of pride intact.

Gélica lied about how the “accident” happened. Is that what Cat told her or does she know the truth? I sense she cares about José Carlos and I think she must believe what she told him. Thankfully, he also has Ámbar as a champion. He now knows he was set up. What is he going to do about it??

And Luis needs to rekindle his courage. I winced at him destroying the info on Cat. But I understand he is afraid for his son.

What I found interesting was that in that in Cat's eyes, Francisco is strong. To me, he is weak, succumbing to her every need and whim. Rather than claiming her as his own, he had an affair, cheating with his brother's wife. And now cheating on Cat with his own wife. It seems that Carlos was the "real" man. He had business savvy and real power. Although blind to the affair, Francisco seems far weaker and dependent.

Jarifa, thank you for another sensational recap!

Diana
 

Jarifa,thank for that wonderful recap of this dark story.

Francisco is the object of desire of two women???? Really???? Porque???
 

Gracias, Jarifa. Love the title and the comment about "her one good eye."

Luis destroyed the file because the accusation about the blow to the head came to the fore in the investigation about Orozco's death. There is obviously another copy of that report that was in someone else's hands or in Orozco's file. Luis knows that Catalina is capable of anything and he couldn't be caught with a copy of that report in his possession.

If that copy is in honest police hands, Catalina really has something to worry about.

As to what happened with Jose Carlos' arrow, I have the feeling there will be another flashback later with the full truth.

More after caffeine.
 

So, now we know why in part José Carlos is like he is. The nightmare of a stepmother continually blaming him for accidentally blinding her in one eye and never ever ever letting him forget it. She certainly is a master of wielding her “victim” status for whatever purpose. How utterly horrible but so in keeping with her character!

Diana, ITA about Leonora. For me she is just sort of blah at the present time. I hope they develop the character better soon. Good observation about Fernando really being the weak one. I had not thought of him that way but now when I think of that last scene, you are so right.

Susanlynn, excellent question about Fernando. Is it his personality? Talent in the bedroom?? Thanks for the giggle.

Urban, I cannot wait to see what really happened in the “accident”.

Now, I am off to make some café.

 

Jarifa,well,whatever the attraction is, it isn't evident just looking at him !😏😗😒
 

Thanks, Jarifa. Love the title and the recap is another example of your awesome talent.

I'm so glad J-Carlos has Ambar to look out for him. And Diana, I agree that Gélica doesn't know the entire truth about what happened when Cat was de-eyed.

Susanlynn, "Francisco is the object of desire of two women???? Really???? Porque???" DITTOOO!!



 

Francisco is definitely weak and Catalina knows how to exploit that. I wonder what she has on Diego to keep him doing her bidding.

Regarding the flashback to Jose Carlos and the arrow, we got that from Gelica, who did not witness the incident. She got that from Catalina at some point. What version of this was told to Carlos? To Ambar?

Where is a police inspector when we need one?

Catalina must have a phenomenal memory to be able to tell so many lies to so many people for so long.
 

Diana: Catalina will get her Karma in the end.

UA: Keeping my fingers crossed Catalina's downfall will be more interesting unlike Paola's in "LU".

I do agree with you that you cannot FOOL all of the people for so long because one of these days, somebody's going to figure out the truth.

 

I like Leonora, but i like her with Jose Carlos. Alejandro to me is not that attractive and i do picture him gay. Wish he would man up a little and face his relationship with Miguel. Yes Leonora is smitten and i cringed at the kiss with Alejandro but felt some chemistry with Jose Carlos. Catalina is indeed very confident and calculating that i admire her but not her homicidal tendency.
 

Loved your excellent recap, Jarifa! I had missed your wonderful talent and storytelling ability. Maybe Catalina likes Francisco because she can control him. That seems to be very important to her--that everyone does exactly what she wants them to do. I can't say I'm warming up to any of the characters yet--not even supposedly simpatico ones like Leonor and Luis.
 

I hope this is enough motivation for Jose Carlos to fully rehabilitate himself. And hopefully Catalina won't kill him off.

Re: La Usurpadora remake, I thought Paola was just an exaggerated psycho and her death served no justice. She was no mastermind of anything and at times was plain ridiculous to watch. Nora Gaxiola from ECDLP was a better character.
 

Great recap, Jarifa!

I'm betting that Catalina told Gélica her own made up version of the event that caused her to lose her eye. It seems like JC was too young to remember/understand what he saw. I might have to watch again but did he actually see Francisco from where he was standing? I'm surprised he remembered what happened after the club and that he remembered seeing Diego. He didn't, however, mention Diego and pointed the finger right and only at Catalina.

Honestly I think both Alejandro and JC are clearly problematic for any woman in different ways but maybe JC has more of a chance of turning his life around. In the real world you can't "fix" homosexuality despite the cruel methods that are out there to attempt to do so. Maybe it's just me but I didn't like Miguel's "on to the next attitude". Alejandro is obviously hoping he doesn't have to be in that situation forever if he is the one to succeed first. But I get that Miguel is frustrated.

It was frustrating to see Luis destroy the report but understandable. Catalina has already given him a taste of what she could do to his son. It's a risky situation.

I agree that Francisco is a coward. He is trapped between two women.
 

Thanks JARIFA. Great recap of a disturbing, depressing episode. So much evil and so many sad, tortured characters. Ambar and José Carlos are both being cruelly victimized by Catalina. Francisco is being used; but he clearly is enjoying the ride.

The ugliness of this is just overwhelming for me. The shot of Francisco's sweaty face after making love to his wife, the cold grayness of every episode,the easy, way too easy snaring of Leonora, the grief of the pathologist's wife, the blackmailing of Luis is just draining.

So many lambs being led to the slaughter. Not to mention the scenes of the exploitation of the workers panning for diamonds to support this evil empire.

This is a powerful, masterfully produced story. But it is depressing for me. I applaud all the recappers. You're made of stronger stuff than I am for sure.

The upside is that this will wrap up in 25 episodes.

Love the recaps, but have very mixed feelings about the show.
 

Base on her experience I think Leonora could be JC's savior. She has the experience and the patience needed to understand his situation. Once she knows more about this den of wolves she will really understand how he became the way he is.

I wonder whether we will ever know about how Catalina became the evil viper she is.
 

Well, I don't know. At least Paola had a backstory, but maybe Catalina will turn out to have one too.
 

@ Urban
Exactly i feel Leonora is a better fit for Juan Carlos. I like them together and like that they are not automatically smitten with each other and that it will be a process. Alejandro this episode really put me off, not liking him. I completely understood Miguel and in a way support what he did even though it didn't get the reaction he wanted.
 

RgvChick, “ . . . when Cat was de-eyed.” What a fabulous way of putting it!

Steve, I fully expect Catalina will get hers in the end.

Ana, I lost a lot of respect for Alejandro after finding out he is willing to go along with his mother’s plan.

SpanProf, I hadn’t thought about it much but I have to agree that having control over everybody seems to be Catalina’s preferred method of operation and Francisco is clearly in thrall to her. That last scene was something else.

Anon, I, too, hope José Carlos can stay strong in the face of his stepmother and in the face of his addictions to overcome the control of both over his life.

TF, Francisco deserves to end up all alone for trying to eat his cake and have it too. I think Ámbar has known about him and Catalina and that is why she unleashed her clingy behavior on him to make him feel guilty.

JudyB, thanks for reading and visiting the patio even though this show is not of your liking. Yes! 25 episodes make a novela much easier to take if it isn’t one that you particularly like. I think the next one up is a remake of “Rubí”.

Urban, I am really hoping we get a backstory on Catalina. I also want to know why Carlos basically wrote her off in the will and why he didn’t value her work in their jewelry business more than he did.

 

Jarifa, I am not trusting most of what Catalina says to anyone else in the story. She may be giving herself more credit than she deserves to take for the business. I hope we find out the truth.

My last comments yesterday didn't get much reaction due to the timing, but for some reason I can't post from my cell phone. It's 2019 and if Alejandro was willing to propose a business deal for a sham marriage of five years' duration in exchange for a generous cash settlement I think Catalina would approve. This doesn't mean that it's foolproof because human nature being what it is something can always go wrong.
 

Urban, I do not know if this will help or not but on my phone I have to click on and use the “web version” of the blog (the link is at the very bottom of the page) in order to post. What just normally pops up on my phone doesn’t ‘work.
 

Testing one two three from my seat at the Met..

 

BRAVO!
 





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