Saturday, October 26, 2019

Cuna de Lobos, Capítulo 5 Fri. 10/25/19: Ambar's One Way Ticket--OR--Catalina and the Cost of Leadership

We pick up with Catalina waking up in an empty bed the next morning. She finds Francisco trying to contact Ambar on his phone and suggests he go back home. Evidently Ambar is trying to get his attention since she wants him to feel guilty and is being successful. An irritated Francisco admits that he feels guilty and is worried Ambar might talk to his nephews. Even more he wonders how Catalina can be so cut and dried about it  all.

As they leave Catalina's house, Alejandro wants to take Leonor to his jewelry  business to show her around and return the ring.  She wants to go to the Rodolfo Lazar lecture. He is a famous photographer and she wanted to meet him but now all of the tickets are sold out. Alejandro thinks that his mother with her influence could get her a meeting with Lazar. As they are talking,  José Carlos comes out agitated looking for the car keys. Alejandro tells him they are where they always are: in the car and tells him he cannot drive in the state he is in. José Carlos gets in anyway. Leonor jumps in the passenger seat and  tells him he does not have the right to put the lives of others at risk and that only he is the one who is responsible for the situation he is in and how to fix it. That gives José Carlos something to think about.

Back in Acapulco, Francisco and Catalina are both making calls trying to find out what happened to Ambar. Nobody has heard from her. Catalina pledges her help to find Ambar because this does involve her and Francisco. 

When Francisco leaves, Catalina goes quietly to the utility room to chick on Ambar. She is lying quietly on the floor where Catalina left her.  Catalina rips the duct tape off her mouth and is shocked when Ambar makes a noise and awakens. She starts to scream for Catalina to get her out of there so Catalina quickly exits and locks the door behind her. 

Francisco is back home in Mexico City and calls Catalina to tell  her that Ambar didn't take anything but the car so he is going to give that information to the police.  As Catalina is talking to him she is rooting around Ambar's car  in Acapulco and tells Francisco not to contact the police.  Diego can handle it.  Catalina finds what she wants: Ambar's medication. She wonders aloud  if maybe Ambar overdosed on her medication.  Francisco doesn't think so. Catalina hopes not and tells him to let his nephews know what is going on. 

Alejandro accompanies Leonora to work and she shows him her "super office": her desk in the midst of a sea of desks. He sees a handout with information about Lazar on it. Yes, he is her idol. Alejandro gets a call. He has to go in to work. His aunt has been missing since last night. One of Leonora's co-workers excitedly runs over to find out what is going on between Leonora and Alejandro. 

Back in Acapulco in the utility room, Ambar is begging for Catalina to just let her go. She admits that Catalina already has what she wanted the most: Francisco. Catalina has no idea what she is going to do with Ambar. Ambar goes on talking saying she didn't slepe with Catalina's husband and she didn't kill Carlos.  Catalina tells her that she started this whole mess with her jealousy. Catalina adits she might be selfish but Ambar is crazy. That is why her husband looked for another woman's bed, her bed.  Ambar is sick. She goes on to explain that the problem with being the "victim" is that people expect you to do crazy things. 

Back at the jewelry office, Francisco is discussing Ambar's disappearance with his nephews. José Carlos says they all knew that his aunt was not well but he wants to know what made her lose control and leave. Francisco says she was imagining things saying that he was their mother's lover.  She was getting really bad and following him all of the time.  Alejandro tells Francisco to calm down because Diego is out looking for her. That is news to José Carlos.  Why not the police? He answers his own question sarcastically:  the family has to avoid any kind of scandal.  José Carlos decides to just do the easy thing and call Ambar. Catalina picks up on the other end but says nothing. José Carlos starts to talk and Francisco takes over. Catalina hangs up. 

Ambar begs for her life but Catalina cannot take the risk.  She tells Ambar that she caused Carlos's death and almost killed her. If she loves Francisco so much why not let him be happy? Ambar asks with a crazy murderer ??? and is answered with a slap across the face.  Catalina decides she needs another dose of her medication and  stuffs Ambar's mouth full of her medication and makes her swallow it all.

Catalina texts José Carlos on Ambar's phone and pretending to be Ambar explains that she  just needs a little time alone to decide what she wants to do. Also, she doesn't want Francisco to come looking for her.  After hearing that, José Carlos asks Francisco if he would like to tell them the truth. Why doesn't Francisco tell them who his lover is. Francisco insists he doesn't have a lover.  José Carlos looks like he doesn't believe him.

Alejandro goes to his office where Miguel is waiting for him. He is there to get a job. He has some ideas on how to add a more modern and sophisticated touch to  the Gothier jewelry business that already has class, a high level of distinction and tradition. He hands a proposal to Alejandro. Alejandro likes Miguel's idea a lot. Miguel goes in for a kiss but Alejandro tells him not here at the office. A frustrated  Miguel asks then where already?  He misses him. Alejandro says they can get together tonight.  Miguel adds only if his girlfriend will allow it.  He goes on how much he needs Alejandro and how he is driving him crazy. Alejandro says to show him. As they start to nuzzle, José Carlos barges in. He excuses himself and leaves. Alejandro explains to Miguel that is exactly what he was warning him about.

Alejandro goes after José Carlos where he tries to convince him that  he didn't see what he saw. With a smile, José Carlos says he has no problem with the way things are. It is just  that Alejandro shouldn't be doing those things  at the office. That is for him to do.  Francisco comes by wondering about Ambar. José Carlos tells him to leave her alone  since that is what she asked him to do via the text message. That is not so easy.

Francisco calls Catalina. He feels guilty. She says she does, too, because if it weren't for her planning their trip his little wife would be safe and sound at home. He wants to talk to Diego so he can race the text messages. Catalina sees the text message to José Carlos as a way for Ambar to punish Francisco. Any woman would do the same. Francisco is worried if she talks. Catalina is sure she won't. Catalina offers to come back if he needs her. No, he doesn't. They will keep each other updated on the situation. 

Catalina goes back to the utility room and looks at Ambar unconscious or dead on the floor. 

Diego talks to Julius in Africa. He is not pleased because Julius promised to send maps and the satellite location of the new diamond deposit and nothing has arrived.  If he does not get those items, Julius can forget about them and the money. They have until noon tomorrow.  Diego gets a call from Catalina. She needs him at Esmeralda (Emerald) in Acapulco NOW. He hurries off and runs into José Carlos.  Diego asks José Carlos if his job is to listen behind closed doors. José Carlos says you can hear some interesting things but he has a question for Diego. He asks Diego for the name of the girl he hired to set him up. Diego doesn't know what he is talking about. José Carlos doesn't agree and is just putting him on notice that he is going to investigate and find out. 

Leonora and Luis play with his son Matías. They make it clear that Leonora is Luis's friend but not his girlfriend.  ice cream, popcorn and fun are on the menu.

José Carlos is out at the disco. He picks up a girl. They end up having sex. She wants to top it off with some cocaine. José Carlos refuses to partake and leaves. 

As Leonora holds a sleeping Matías, Luis says how he really needed an evening like they just had. It coms up that Luis doesn't like Alejandro the son of Catalina Creel at all. They put Matías to bed. He  explains that Alejandro is not the man for Leonora. He says she needs a man who can tell how she is doing by just looking at her eyes, someone who will love her forever, and who won't change her. Luis adds that he doesn't want her to get the wrong idea. She knows and says that she loves her friend Luis a lot. She leaves.  

At home, Alejandro finds it necessary to tell José Carlos that what he saw at the office wasn't what he saw one more time. José Carlos shrugs and says it wasn't anything. Alejandro has  to go on and explain that he is really very much in love with Leonora. Looking a bit incredulous, José Carlos remarks that was a little fast, wasn't it? Alejandro agrees and adds that he also wanted to make it clear that it has nothing to do with his father's will.  José Carlos does have something to say about it all. If it were Alejandro's choice, he would never pick Leonora or any woman for that matter because he likes men. He is his mother's puppet.  When Alejandro starts to disagree, José Carlos says as his older brother, even though they never have been like real brothers, it  is his duty to advise him. He has only one life. he needs to enjoy it and forget about appearances. Yes,  he is an addict. He admits to screwing things up everyday but at least he doesn't deny who he is. Times have changed. He can come out of the closet and be happy.

José Carlos calls Miguel who is siting drinking a beer at home. He leaves a message that he needs to talk to him because he needs the two of them to be okay together.  he loves him.

Leonora is sleepless in her bed.  She thinks back at what Luis told her about what the man who loves her should be like.

José Carlos looks at Leonora's picture online And thinks about what she told him about how he was the only one responsible for his behavior and how to fix it.

Alejandro goes to see Miguel. They are happy to see each other.

José Carlos looks at another photo of Leonora online.  He goes to message her and then stops.

Diego arrives in Acapulco telling Catalina that  he came as quickly as he could. She takes him to the utility room and shows him Ambar.  She orders him to get rid of her. He warns Catalina  that it is dangerous. She doesn't care what he has to do. He takes Ambar and puts her in the back of a SUV.

We see a woman in heels carrying a gun in silhouette as she climbs the stairs inside a house. The door opens to a bedroom where Catalina is sleeping with Francisco. Catalina awakens and sees that the woman is Ambar. Francisco  awakens. Ambar points the gun at Catalina who tells her no. Francisco asks what she is doing. Ambar says she is only doing what she should have done a long time ago. She shoots them both. Francisco awakens from his nightmare with a jolt. He gets a phone call from Catalina who cannot sleep worrying about Ambar. He tells her about the text message she sent to José Carlos.  No, Francisco did not try to contact her. Catalina talks about the shock Ambar  must have hd finding out that the man who she was with for more than 20 years didn't love her. She wonders if she would try to take her life and if Francisco could deal with that.

Diego stops off at a junk yard  surrounded by a chain link fence.

Catalina adds they should continue on with their lives and when Amber has mourned the end of her marriage she might just come back.

Diego starts to work on the lock on the chain keeping the gate closed and guard dogs run up to meet him. He then is startled by a young guy with a gun who wants to know what he is doing. Diego says he is looking form Mr. Cosme. He is informed that Mr. Cosme is dead.  The guy wants t know if they can do business.   Diego explains that the car is hot and he needs to get rid of it. The guy tells him this is the wrong place for that.  Diego changes the guys mind with a wad of cash and the SUV is crushed.

Catalina tells Gélica that Ambar has disappeared and that is why she has come home early. Gélica wants to know how that happened.  Catalina says it seems that she had an argument with Francisco and since the poor thing is not well she just left.

José Carlos is tearing his room apart. Catalina hears the noise and asks what he is doing. She knows he is going through withdrawal and wants to call the clinic or Francisco.  He wants to just be left alone.  She thinks he is reacting that way because of Ambar missing,  too. Catalina shows him a "text from Ambar" saying she was done with Francisco and was leaving to start a new life far away. José Carlos says Ambar said before that she  needed time to think about things. Catalina concludes that she thought about them and came to a decision. She tells him not to use Ambar as an excuse to use drugs and Gélica to get someone to clean his mess.

Catalina explains to Alejandro that she had to come back early because of the Ambar situation and his uncle. Ambar is mentally ill.  Catalina hopes she is locked up forever in an insane asylum. It would be the best thing for her and José Carlos.  She asks how things are going with Leonora. He says yesterday they visited each other's work places. He is not see he is in love with her. She thinks that will come with time. He asks if she knows the photographer that Leonora was interested in.  he explains how much Leonora admires him and would love to meet him. She will do what she can. She also insists that they go out for dinner tonight with Leonora. Thinking of Miguel, Alejandro says he cannot go but Catalina insists that they will be going out to dinner tonight with Leonora.  She is his priority.  He needs to pick her up at 8:00.

Diego tells Catalina about his earlier talk with Julius. She promises Diego that the first shipment coming from the new deposit will be his.  One always has to reward loyalty. He thanks her and leaves with a smile.

Francisco finally makes a phone call to the police to report Ambar as a missing person.

Left by herself, Catalina thinks about how compassion, sadness and feelings are things that one cannot afford.  People like her need to forge on ahead whatever it takes because they are the leaders who mark the path. Anything else is just foolishness. 

Labels:


Comments:
Is there any chance Ámbar escaped the crusher and slipped out of the SUV while Diego was talking to the junk yard guy? I can hope, right?

Catalina’s little riff on “leadership” at the end was something else.

Diego sure was excited by his diamond reward for being a loyal fixer. Here is hoping the deal goes through as planned and that Catalina keeps him employed and alive. I do not trust her with anyone except herself.

After one week, this is setting up quite well.


 

Great work, Jarifa.

The writers at Televisa are obviously James Bond fans; the car crush was in Goldfinger and was arranged by Oddjob.

I have the feeling that Catalina is setting Diego up somehow. He knows too much.

Since JC now knows that his little brother is more gay than bi they should be contesting Carlos' will. The should call Vega y Asociados. JC should lose the man-bun.

At least someone is having nightmares about what's going on.
 

Wow, JARIFA...Another chilling episode but you covered it well. Thank you. All the scenes with Ambar were so sad, lying on the cold cement floor all night, injured and bound up, than awakened with a ripped off tape gag, pleading for her life while her husband's cruel mistress stuffs a deadly amount of medication down her throat. What a sad, miserable way to end one's life.

The crushed car was sobering; and I don't doubt that now Diego's days are numbered as well. But it was interesting to see such glee light up his face when Catalina told him the first profits from the newly discovered bed of diamonds would be his.

This is a scary, awful show and yet I can't look away. Interesting how easily we are hooked on viewing the darkness of the human soul.

Thanks for the very thorough and detailed recap. I certainly hope that Francisco and Catalina are haunted by nightmares every night. But "its just a story". Whew.
 

Sorry...forgot to mention your excellent title. Just perfect,.
 

Excellent and extremely thorough recap, Jarifa! I don't see how Ambar could possibly still be alive, but I suppose anything is possible in tn land. Maybe Francisco's nightmare was prophetic? Anyway, 3 down! (apparently). I wonder how many corpses there will be in the next 4 weeks. Even by the standards of serial killers Catalina seems to getting out of hand.
 

A sage and wonderful summary Jarifa.

Your writing always conveys the events truthfully, insightfully and realistically. Your summaries are completely enthralling.

"He says she needs a man who can tell how she is doing by just looking at her eyes, someone who will love her forever, and who won't change her". At first glance, Luis, Leonora and Matias would seem a loving family (Luis' inconvenient wife aside of course). Yet logic is often displaced by the heart as emotions often rule, having a life of their own.

"Catalina decides she needs another dose of her medication and stuffs Ambar's mouth full of her medication and makes her swallow it all". A vile, violent scene.

"Ambar begs for her life". Like Judy, Calalina's savage cruelty, her ignoring Ambar's pleas and her barbaric treatment were almost impossible to watch. Yes, an unfathomably horrible way to die.

That said, I'm glad you mentioned the slight possibility Ambar might be alive. There seemed to be lingering shots of the car and I thought for a second she might be able to escape. I fear the writers are toying with us.

I have a feeling José Carlos will be a force to be reckoned with. Francisco continues to be purely pathetic.

Jarifa, just marvelous. Thank you thank you!

Diana
 

"I wonder how many corpses there will be in the next 4 weeks".

SpanProf, I was wondering the same thing. That said, this is a fairly small cast so the killings need to be finite for a while, especially if no new characters are introduced! :)

Diana
 

Both Dragon and this show have too much darkness and violence for me.

UA...I agree about the manbun...no . However, the actor is very handsome . I hope that he has a happy ending. He seems so damaged and vulnerable . I feel sorry for him....despite the bad manbun decision.
 

Urban, thanks for the Bond movie “Goldfinger” plot comparison. You have a very good memory. Giving Diego that first diamond shipment as a reward seemed out of character for Catalina. His reaction almost said as much.

JudyB, I agree that this is a dark one but it is so well done. I cannot imagine what the next 20 episodes will hold with so much action having been stuffed into the first 5 already.

SpanProf, Catalina is sure on a roll. At this pace of killing, she will be the only one left at the end.

Diana, nobody checked to make sure Ámbar was dead when they put her in the back of that SUV. There is so much that is implausible in this novela already that I wouldn’t be surprised if Ámbar slithered out of that SUV and crawled off somewhere to recover and regroup. Her return would be a suitable surprise for Catalina at a later date. Well, we will know soon enough.

Susanlynn, I hate man buns. The actor could be a cutie with the right haircut or even a pony tail.


 

Jarifa..I like long hair on men (Tarzan, Silly on Dr.Quinn) and on Jose , but I don't like when he puts it in that weird bun. There is a contestant on The Voice who looks like Jose and who always wears the manbun. I am hoping that both guys just let their hair down.
 

Silly???....that was supposed to be Sully....I typed Sully...thank you autocorrect ...you are so helpful.
 

Susanlynn, exactly. Sometimes less (fuss) is more.
 

Long hair on men? Yup.

Man bun? Nopis.

I think we are in unanimous agreement...:)

Diana
 

Diana, you bet!
 

I miss long hair on Sebastian Rulli.
 

This could have been such a different kind of novela: Super-wealthy business head suspects one of his sons is gay, and the other too much of a playboy. (in this tn drug and alcohol addict would be too harsh). His wife is a flirt but not an adulterer. He makes a will saying that the person who marries and has a child first will own the company. But he's not worried about that happening anytime soon because he keeps in shape by a lot of skiing. Of course, in the next scene he dies in a ridiculous skiing accident. (I believe something similar happened in the Auntie Mame movie). Alejandro marries Miguel and they set about finding an appropriate surrogate so that Alejandro will become a father first. Juan Carlos tries to clean up his ways and become a more hardworking lawyer so that he can attract a respectable young woman. Hilarity ensues. Both brothers end up happily married with lively and time-consuming infants. And it turns out not to matter who won, because the winner gladly splits the company with his brother. They and their spouses also hire the same nanny to take care of both babies, a wise-cracking and smart woman.
 

There could be one like that somewhere down the road, but this story would never have been remade that way. I won't cite examples of what has been done in the past with other remakes but what would this story be without the super-evil Catalina?

Just to let everyone know I have a bit of a cold and tomorrow's recap could be a little late. It also won't have as many screen grabs as the first two because that takes a lot of time. I am going to try to limit screen grabs to about three dozen per recap from here on.
 

Well, anyway, that's my kind of novela--the cute and funny kind. Mi marido tiene mas familia is about as far as I happily go with a little bit of serious conflict and issues. :)
 

I see. My favorites are the serious ones and the novelas de epoca. I thought this one would have to be remade in an earlier period, like the 1950s. However, the current technologies are working for this story and I can't wait to see what they do with DNA.
 

Yes indeed! DNA and cell phones. Script writers often have to twist themselves into knots to find creative ways to lose a cell phone or not to be able to extract dna (or vice versa).
 

UA..Do you think that we will ever get another novela de epocha like Alborada or Amor Real? They are my favorites. Perhaps those types of telenovelas have become too expensive to produce. Que lastima. I miss the wonderful team of Carla Estrada and Monica Miguel.
 

I also kind of prefer novelas like El Bienamado, in which the main character might be creepy and evil, but whose daughter the museum director, and the local MD, who was recovering from the tragic loss of his wife and child, are quite sympathetic.
 

Jarifa, your recap is sensational as always; thank you!

I too am hoping that Ambar made it out of the vehicle. She survived the drowning and a hard blow to the head; surely she can survive taking swallowing all those pills...and that's if she actually swallowed all the pills. Like, Diana, I noticed the lingering shots of the car...so there is always hopeos.

SpanProf, I think I would prefer your adaptation for this dark novela.
 

SpanProf, it looks like you and I were the only ones who watched “El Bienamado”.

RgvChick, I think Ámbar is smarter than what they gave her credit for so maybe she was able to avoid swallowing all of the pills and play dead.
 

Wow..you guys are often right in your predictions, but by cannot believe Ambar actually surviving all that abuse and crawling out of the car before it is crushed. That seems impossible but would be so awesome if she one day appears to Catalina and whispers in her ear , "I'm back!"
 

I think she's dead, considering her role in Carlos learning the truth and the fact that she concluded that Catalina murdered him. Catalina doesn't take chances in such situations.
 





<< Home

Newer›  ‹Older

© Caray, Caray! 2006-2022. Duplication of this material for use on any other site is strictly prohibited.

Protected by Copyscape Online Plagiarism Finder