Caray, Caray!

"CITA A CIEGOS":

I'll be intrigued by this Telenovela at 1:00 PM CST on September 7th.
 

MARIANA

Mon.


Ignacio had not very good episodes: getting strong-armed to attend Marcia’s bday party, rescuing the kid with fire riding on his back 2X (after seeing the nightmare of his childhood), realizing that the love of his life is a Montenegro (which was probably the worst of the three.) On the other hand, at least he has a better lay of the land.

Hey, Yadira finally got some stitches.

I watched the old Hitchcock movie Rebecca again this weekend and the heroine in that one was so like Mariana. Both are unbelievable characters and not necessarily in a good way because of their naïveté that borders on stupidity IMHO.





 

MARIANA

Re Monday's episode(s): This TN sure is silly, but fun. I just hope it doesn't go on forever because I'm afraid that if I keep shutting down my brain to watch the fun, at some point I might not be able to start it back up again.

I really felt bad, for about a millisecond, for the poor engineer who has feelings for Marcia; she blows him off worse than Halcón does her.

In a way I was happy to see the kid (I've forgotten his name already) burn the house down. It's about five telenovelas overdue! These crazy people light candles everywhere and all the time. I'm surprised half of Mexico hasn't burned down.

And bad guy Cumache has a conscience? After killing off who knows how many people, leaving a baby to die on a hillside, etc., he wants to get weepy and sorry?

Actually, it's hard to comment on this TN. It's really so goofy, definitely a circus, that it's hard to pick it apart or even make fun of. The writers and Mejia have already done it for us.

Andy
 

MARIANA

Jarifa, IgHalcón did have a heck of a day and he sure does get around, doesn't he? He seems to "just happen" to be everywhere Mariana is. I wasn't impressed with his reaction to finding out that she was a Montenegro. What happened to all the luurve he has for her? Yeah, they just met, but they are already telling each other that they they are "el amor de mi vida!"

Hurray for Yadira getting stitches! Such a beautiful face and now having to live with that scar, pobrecita.

Andy, I do enjoy reading your comments. Yes, this is one silly TN. I still haven't gotten used to all the darkness; heck! even the store is dark and gloomy!

Gonzalito is the kid's name and I was amazed that he slept as long as he did in that fire...and he came out of unscathed...no smoke inhalation...NADA! And IgHalcón hada beam fall on him and the blanket was on fire when he came out, but not one burn on that gorgeous body!

That poor engineer whose name I haven't gotten because they keep referring to him as "ingeniero" sure has patience and determination. I wonder how long he has been taking all those put downs but Marcia...another "pobrecito."

And "And bad guy Cumache has a conscience?" Yeah, the guy has killed and bullied without batting an eye, yet he runs to tell Lucrecia about her thought-to-be-dead son! QTH???
 

MARIANA

After kvetching and complaining about the stupidity of this the other day, I now realize that Stupid is just what I need. I can't rouse myself to care about any of this silly characters, and what a relief that is! Normally I'm one of those ooey-gooey empaths who not only get all in a muddle about real life problems of others, but also become anguished over the challenges of fictitious characters. As a result, right now MEDICOS is killing me. I'm tied up in miserable knots. But MARIANA...no problem. I was all ho-hum as Gonzalito snoozed away in his flaming choza, and only mildly annoyed when people kept running around and screaming but not actually going in to find the kid. Figured heroic Halcón would show up eventually. And he did. Took him an unbelievably long time to actually exit the place, but again-- he did.

And Cumache--sorry, the faces he makes just make me laugh. And that's a good thing. And while Yadira has been badly injured, she still looks good and who knows, with Camillo tenderly caring for her, maybe his little snit over Mariana can be transferred to this Sadder but Wiser Tribesgal. Hey, just call me a hopeless Matchmaker!
 

MARIANA


Andy, your comment about Mejía actually having done the work for us already was so funny but true. At least we know what we have gotten into.

RgvChick, I am hoping that by the end somehow Yadira gets plastic surgery. I was happy the doctor mentioned it which could mean it is in the plot.

JudyB, as far as I am concerned, this seems like a novela from another time and planet for the reasons you gave. I will consider it as just another step in my telenovela education. I never saw anything like LQNPA and now this. Two on the old hacienda in a row. The doctor and Yadira would be a good match.

Tues.
Another slap delivered by the slapster In chief to a THIRD female of his household. We cannot forget the fourth that he locked up. Why do they stay and take the abuse? $$$$$$? At least, Mariana and Marcia have marketable skills. They all should gang up on him an let him have it.
We sure didn’t know if Ignacio was going or coming or coming or going.
Some interesting game changing info is out and starting to circulate.
More entertainment on the horizon.




 

MARIANA

I was happy to see Halcón and the engineer getting along so well. Too bad they had their little differences at the beginning, but now they seem to be buddies. The engineer was so friendly and he seemed in such a good mood. I wonder what happened?

Omigod! I'm so upset! Mariana is going to die now, right?

Chachi does crazy a little too over the top.

Andy
 

MARIANA

Clearly I missed an exciting episode. I have a bi-polar DVR who occasionally just decides to skip recording a show. No rhyme or reason to it that I can see. Will look forward to catching up on the drama later. If ANDY is worried, it must be dire!!!!!!
 

MARIANA

Judy, you did miss an interesting episode—

- Marcia bribed Montiel into keeping on Halcón...by sleeping with him, but she made it clear that It was a one time thing.

- Doc confronted Mariana about his feelings and asked her about Halcón so she told him not to get his hopes up with her and admitted being in love with Hal. They ended with a hug which Chachi witnessed. Chachi of. Oírse went off the deep end and when at home tore into Mariana, grabbed a knife and stabbed her in her (upper left) chest.

- Montiel went to see Hal and apologized for going through his things. They agreed that under other circumstances they would probably be good buddies.

- Yadira and doc’s bro has a nice talk. Yadira thinks she is being punished for some unforgiveable things she has done. He told her about Mary Magdalene and that God would forgive her too.

Me thinks Yadira and doc’s bro may end up together :-)
 

MARIANA

Yikes, I really did miss a blockbuster of an episode. Perhaps my DVR "knows" what a wuss I am and decided to spare me the carnage. Oh well, I'm sure there will be more to come. Thanks Rgv Chick.
 

MARIANA

Wed.

The apple didn’t fall far from the tree in the case of Chachi and María Lola. Yikes!

I have to admit I was disappointed when María Lola saved Chachi from the crocs.

Atilio sure got around leaving both María Lola and Lucrecia pregnant. What a piece of work!

Atilio would rather see Mariana dead than with another man.

Every time Atilio looks at Mariana, all I can say to myself is EWWWWWWW! He is so creepy. César Évora is excellent in this role.

Of course, Ignacio’s blood had to be the ONLY one to save Mariana!

Was César Ëvora ever a leading man in his younger days or was he always a villain or the “good friend”?
 

MARIANA

Ah, JARIFA, what have we become!? Yes...throw that annoying Chachi to the crocodiles. Alas that would have been very distressing to Maria Lola, who seems to have a deep fondness for her "lirio", although Lord knows, the crazy violent Chachi seems to take after both Mom and Pop. Atilo was certainly busy ravaging the local "hembra". And it's rather satisfying that he thinks his only male offspring, which surely he wanted most of all, appears to have been killed. Of course by now all signs are that it's our gorgeous Halcón, so this story is getting very Oedipal indeed.

I'm sure Cesar Evora must have had some leading galán roles. He was quite handsome in his much slimmer youth, and has always had the most wonderful voice, which he uses very effectively. He played a very wicked, but very funny villain in Al Diablo con los Guapos. And as a last second leading older galán in a telenovela where the other guy left after a contract dispute. Can't remember the title but William Levy was in it and Maite Perrón played a top model, even though she was short and well nourished (not tall and gaunt as most runway models are).

URBAN might know. She watched telenovelas back in the 90's whereas I'm only a Johnny come lately.

I must say the drama and shrieking seem never-ending in this one. Especially in the Montenegro household. But the food looks good.
 

MARIANA

Jarifa, "Atilio sure got around leaving both María Lola and Lucrecia pregnant. What a piece of work!" Good grief, talk about a loose cannon! What puzzles me is why Atilio would want to be rid of a male child vs. a female child. Doesn't that go against the (male) grain? And ITA that Cesar Evora is making a darned good (and quite handsome) villain. Great acting!

BTW, Cesar hasn't had a protag role since 2007 when he starred in "Mundo de Fieras" where he also happened to play the part of the main antagonist. I have no clue about this TN but I'm assuming they were twins???? Other TNs where he was the protag are Si Dios Me Quita La Vida (1995), Luz Clarita (1997), Laberintos de Pasión (2000), Entre el Amor y el Odio (2002) and La Madrastra (2005)

JudyB, "the crazy violent Chachi seems to take after both Mom and Pop" Uh-huh, clash of the titanic crazies!

 

MARIANA

Atilio wanted to feed Chachi to the crocs? No wonder the poor girl is crazy, with a father like that. And a mother like María Lola.

Yadira is such a beauty, scars or no scars, and Juan Pablo, the seminarian, is such a goofball. Only in a silly telenovela could this be a possibility. Not only is she gorgeous, but she's nice and she's not arrogant. Only in a silly telenovela would there not be almost all the single men in town, and a few married men, lined up to court her.

But it's just another part of this TN that makes me laugh. Marcia is another. Always after Halcón and dropping the towel, sheet, whatever. And Halcón is just not interested, which also makes me laugh, because Marcia had it right, they are both single. At least the engineer showed some sense, AND kept his word.

Why do people work so hard to make themselves, ourselves, so unhappy? Maybe Marcia does have it right   :-)

Andy
 

MARIANA

Rgv Chickie, Atilio gave Cumache the boy born to Lucrecia for Cumache to kill. He couldn't abide the idea of a bastard born to a cantinera being known as the son of Atilio Montenegro. Wouldn't want the Montenegro family name sullied, you know. Cumache left the baby on a hillside to die. María Lola rescued him and gave him to the Lugo-Navarros who raised him.
Crazy María Lola recently told this to Cumache who now knows that Atilio's son was rescued, and is the lone surviving Lugo-Navarro that Atilio wants killed. Atilio doesn't know this and Cumache is afraid to tell him.

I think that's right. I really need a score card or a family tree for these people. I'm still not exactly sure where Mariana comes from. Her mother is Elisa, of course, because she is the spitting image. But who's the daddy?

I think I need to lie down for a minute. Or maybe longer.

Andy
 

MARIANA

JudyB, 'Atilo was certainly busy ravaging the local "hembra"'

I'm not sure he's stopped. He drops in on Lucrecia from time to time for a little afternoon delight.
She says she is in love with him, and has been since forever. Easy to see why, he's such a nice guy.

Andy
 

MARIANA

Ah yes, ANDY. You do indeed have a point. Our cozy, cuddly Atilo does drop by to ravage Lucrecia frequently for old times sake. Sentimental fool that he is. And I love that Lucrecia's only complaint is that he never knocks before bounding in the door and slinging her on the bed. Manners DO count, even if you're being treated like dirt.

And I agree also that Yadira is such a beauty, the scars don't count for much. But boy, the local lads are sure gossiping about her friendship with the seminarian. I guess even in the cantina, the social strata matters. Oh well.

Anyway, I'm still finding this silly, overacted story a great relief from everyday reality. I have to fast forward through most of MEDICOS, it's so distressing. But MARIANA is like a big, delicious chocolate soda. Goes down smooth and leaves me in a pleasant state of sugar-induced stupor.

RGV CHICK...Good to see you here, amiga. This one is definitely a lark. Just what we need to get through the dark days to come.
 

MARIANA

" I think I need to lie down for a minute. Or maybe longer."
This is always a good manner in which to approach watching any Meh-ía telenvoela. :-)

"Our cozy, cuddly Atilo does drop by to ravage Lucrecia frequently for old times sake. Sentimental fool that he is. "
Oh the snark, Judy! LOL

I have been remiss in keeping up with this show. Que lastima, no? ;-)
Lots of library books came available from my HOLDS and I've spent more time reading, these past couple weeks.

I caught some of MDLN a couple days ago, where Yadira had gauze(?) on her face but on my small TV screen in the kitchen, it looked like shaving cream. Mejía always delivers on the circo factor.

Judy - was that Maite Perrone/Wm Levy telenovela with Cesar Evora our Triunfo de Horror (Amor)?
Evora played a decent guy in CS '93, IIRC. Maybe I'm remembering that wrong...it was a long time ago. And I was mostly focused on Eduardo Palomo(QEPD). :-)
 

MARIANA

Thurs.

Lots of new info.

So, Elisa never loved Atilio. That makes his twisted love for Mariana even sicker.

Chachi still hasn’t gotten the message. I still have hopes for her ending up in the croc’s lair.

They did a good job making the old goats like spring chickens in the flashbacks.

Miguelina used her head in biting El Cumache on the mouth. Too bad she didn’t do more damage.

Most disgusting scene was El Cumache asking Atilio for Miguelina as if she were a side of beef.

El Cumache won the lottery with those photos. Will he be smart enough to use them to his own greatest benefit? I would think not.

I love anytime Isidro throws those bones!

The good thing about 2 capítulos a day is that the action moves much more quickly for the viewer.




 

MARIANA

Another yikes! episode. Yes, JARIFA, el Cumache asking for Miguelina as if she were a side of beef was horrible. Even more horrible was Atilo handing her over like she was a side of beef. Not that she knows that yet. Very gag-worthy.

I think I was even more freaked out by the scene of Atilo burying Elise by the Amor Amor Amor Tree where Mariana and el Halcón meet. I guess that explains why those fluorescent flowers are so abundant. Mercy. A lot of delicate fertilizer down there.

Must say Chachi was doing an impressive I'm-just-as-crazy-as-Maria-Lola in her scenes. Wild eyes and equally wild hair. But still savvy enough to try and manipulate the good doc.

DORIS...Yes, Triunfo de Amor. The best part of those recaps was always their mention of Sweet William Levy rowing his boat at the close of each episode. We had some very snarky people writing at that time. Glad you have a lot of books to read. I'm saving money by not getting my hair cut and colored but have ended up buying a lot of books on Kindle instead. Didn't grow up with TV so it has never become the non-stop habit that it is with my husband. Other than watching some telenovelas and PBS news, I'm done.

Well, it's getting dark earlier and I'm getting older every day. Must be time to head up to the shower and at least THINK about going to bed. G'night All.
 

MARIANA

I got to watch the show early today, fútbol preempted MCET so the DVR wasn't busy recording that show.

MDLN cracks me up, I keep laughing out loud without meaning to. Today it began with Atilio in the stable, talking to himself and a horse. When he described how he himself was going to kill the last remaining Lugo-Navarro it looked like he scared poor horsie, who had a wild look in his eye.

Next up was more confusion re who was who in the Lugo-Navarro/Montenegro story. If I got it right, and please correct me if I didn't get it right, Isabel was going to marry José Antonio Lugo-Navarro, the brother of José Ignacio Lugo-Navarro who married Elisa.
Sheesh! Mejía really could have made this all a little easier for those of us who don't do crossword puzzles.

I still wonder if Isabel really doesn't have a clue what happened to her fiance.
And later how they killed all the Lugo-Navarros, burned down the hacienda, and then... what? Nobody cared that much?

And now some romantic pairings. Cumache and side-of-beef Miguelina; Doc and Chachi; Seminarian and hot stuff Yadira.
What could possibly go wrong?

The Cumache/Miguelina bit is disgusting, but it's also confusing. In LQNPA people on the hacienda would ask Rogelio for permission to date someone else who worked there, which I found somewhat offensive, but this is way beyond even that. How can Atilio give Miguelina to Cumache?
If we find the conversation disgusting, what is yet to come?

Andy
 

MARIANA

JudyB, I hadn’t thought about “delicate fertilizer” and the “fluorescent flowers.” Ewwww. I seem to be using that expression a lot lately in this novela. Atilio gets worse with each episode drunkenly drawn to Mariana’s bedroom and giving Miguelina to El Cumache. That, his total control over the “company” town as well as his “family” and their total isolation from the rest of civilization seem anachronistic to me.

Andy, it is starting to look like Rogelio ruled over a veritable paradise compared to this hell hole. Yes, that whole Lugo-Navarro-Montenegro story was a mess “for those of us who don’t do crosswords”. Add me to that list.

Another disgusting moment was Atilio beating the horse. I would love to see Atilio’s anvil be a fatal horse trampling by that very horse. It would be quite poetic! Should we be so lucky????

Almost show time! Gotta get that cup of coffee.
 

MARIANA

Friday

We are really chugging along.

The good: the sketch; cheeky Iggy reminding Atilio that Marcia could invite him over since she says she also owns the place; Mariana’s promise to leave the hacienda forever if her father opposes her relationship with Iggy; the customers at the cantina supporting Yadira; Paty Navidad getting to sing; comment between Iggy and Lucrecia that at his age he could be her son; Iggy wailing under the banyan tree over his situation; Atilio wailing In the rain over the problem he caused himself with Isabel chanting “Mariana no es tu hija” over and over again and reminding him exactly what happened and how she has had it with keeping the whole mess a secret.

The bad: Miguelina now feeling pressured about El Cumache because of Mariana and the photos.


Best scene: Isidro in the constrictor’s grip. For a second, I thought I was watching that great classic from 1997 “Anaconda”.
 

MARIANA

Wow, this was quite an episode!

Just a quick couple of comments now because I have to go back to read the closed captioning some more. I didn't get everything the first time, and it's a complicated mess.
But it does look like Atilio the Hun is even worse than I thought.

But why did he not just let the python/serpent/whatever drag Isidro under instead of rescuing him in exchange for silence?

At this point I believe Isabel still doesn't know everything about Atilio's treachery.

Wow!

Andy
 

MARIANA

ANDY...Yes, I'm sure Isabel doesn't realize that Atilio arranged for her fiancé to be murdered. She's a peacekeeper for sure, but she wouldn't stick around knowing that. Nor would she let Mariana remain, if she knew Atilio engineered the deadly attack on Elise and her swain.

And ANDY...I'm not sure you got the news that our ANITA suddenly passed away this week. She was very much a part of our daytime shows and she kept up with your funny recaps of Mañana Será Un Dia Mejor. She was subbing for our Medico's recapper Friday and became very sick while doing so. She finished the recap...a double episode...and it was her usual tour de force of wit and detail. But she was so ill and exhausted that she took naps between writing up each segment. And a few days later she was hospitalized and died. We are all shocked and saddened. Rgv Chick put up a tribute to her on the Home Page and it has been nice to see all the people we haven't heard from in a while checking in and remembering Anita and all she did for this site. It was somehow fitting, but also poignant, that perhaps her last act was writing one more recap for CarayCaray and helping out another exhausted recapper whose family member was hospitalized.

As always, the absolute repetitive nonsense and silliness of the Mariana de la Noche show is somehow a distraction from this shock and sadness. The human mind is very strange indeed in how it copes.
 

OT

Judy, thank you, I did not know about Anita. I just posted something at the remembrance page.

Bummer.

Andy
 

MARIANA

I finally got to watch all of Friday’s episodes. Yep, quite an episode indeed! So did Isabel say, “No es tu hija!” enough times? LOL JudyB, I gotta agree about over-dramatization. If they exaggerated the make-up and started singing, this could make for a pretty good opera.

OK, so this is what I gather so far—

Mariana: parents - Elisa and Jose Ignacio Lugo-Navarro, but Atilio married Elisa despite knowing that the baby was not his.

Halcón/Iggy: parents - Atilio the Hun (thanks, Andy) and Lucrecia, the cantinera

Chachi: parents - Atilio the Hun and María Lola

Isabel and Atilio are siblings but Marcia is their step-sister

Did I get that right?

Andy, thanks for explaining about Atilio giving up his son. So he didn’t want a child with the cantinera, but he accepted a child from María Lola?? Have they said what María Lola was way back when...was she a maid? A nanny?

Has anyone noticed that there is ALWAYS a full moon?
 

MARIANA

I wrote this Saturday and came here to post it but then read JudyB's note about Anita's passing and was just too bummed out to bother with this. Instead I went to the remembrance page.

Rgv Chickie, I don't know what María Lola was like back when, and I too wonder why Atilio accepted Chachi as his daughter but now seems not to care for her, and treats María Lola like (just another) crazy woman.

I hadn't thought about the moon, but I think you're right, it's always full.
Has Halcón given "Luna" as his last name or what? I don't recall but Marcia gave him a charm on a chain, a falcon and moon.
Too many questions.



OK, like many families, the Montenegro family has a skeleton or two in the closet.

Elisa, the love of Atilio's life, was actually in love with José Ignacio Lugo-Navarro, who knocked her up. Ailio was not one to give up. He persisted and persisted, even knowing she was carrying José Ignacio's baby, because Elisa told him straight out and never lied, until Elisa eventually married him. (WHY did Elisa marry him when she was carrying José Ignacio L-N's baby? Would he not marry her? Why was she at the Lugo-Navarro hacienda that night? Still a lot of questions, but I'm not sure this is the sort of TN that will have everything answered in time.)

Sometime soon after Elisa gave birth to Mariana, Atilio and henchmen attacked the Lugo-Navarro hacienda killing just about everybody and burning down the house.
Isidro seems to have been there, watching, turning his head left and right and going "Tsk, tsk!" Whatever.

Atilio himself shoots the love of his life and secretly buries her in front of the tree in the phantasmagorical glade, and he has Cumache take baby Mariana from dead Elisa's arms to be raised as Atilio's own natural daughter. (Why does he want to do that?)
Mariana grows up to look just like her mother, Elisa, and unfortunately Atilio's fatherly love becomes less and less fatherly.

The only one to escape from the massacre is a young boy who runs and hides in the forest. Atilio vows to hunt him down and kill him so that not one Lugo-Navarro will remain alive. Neither the boy nor Atilio realize that the boy is Atilio's own son with Lucrecia, Ignacio Lugo-Navaro, aka our hero El Halcón.

Somehow or another, Atilio also has a daughter with Loca María Lola, named Caridad, "Chachi".

And somehow I'm beginning to feel better about my own family. We're not so bad, really...

Andy
 

MARIANA

You two (RGV CHICK, ANDY) are making me smile this morning. Thanks. It seems like there is always a full moon in Mejia's telenovelas. Mejia seems like a full moon guy period. He certainly has a unique approach to entertainment.

When we have flashbacks, Maria Lola always seems to have been crazy. Which makes the coupling of her with Atilio the Hun even more sinister.

At least, as far as we know, el Cumache, hasn't launched any spawn. I'd hate to see that gene pool continued.