Caray, Caray!

MARIANA

Oh, no! This ends tomorrow. i am looking forward to the gran final.

I missed most of first hour.

So much posturing and declaring today! We need ACTION!

Highlights:

El Cumache with a conscience telling the truth from the bell tower ringing the bell for emphasis when he confesses to killing Padre Pedro

Always Lola with her monkey

Iván getting his fatal surprise


Hmmmm . . . the grass at Atilio's looked too green and perfect like astro turf.

So who cares if Iggy goes after Atlio because he is his father. What difference does that make when Atilio gave him a death sentence at birth?

Run, Cumache run.

Good the Cumache story is over.

Pikes and torches (figuratively because it is day and not night which would have been much better) coming for Atilio! Yay!


 

alborada

Just chiming in to say that Alborada has been the best plague viewing of anything. I've watched very little of Netflix recently because I always find myself settling down to watch another 2 hours (skipping all the commercials thanks to my DVR). It's actually just as enjoyable as the first time I saw it. And I occasionally get surprised by something I had forgotten.
 

MARIANA

Jarifa, you’re commentary on the second hour is spot on. You didn’t miss much in the first hour—
*a lot of Cumache feeing guilty while draining the bottle;
*useless attempts to get Atilio to give info on where Mariana is;
*Villa’s body was found and there was a brief funeral.
*Atilio drinking and going to try to force himself on Mariana (Elisa) while Yadira yelled at him to stop because his feelings for Mariana are forbidden. Then he blurted out to Mariana (Elisa) that he didn’t want to have to to kill her again.
*Lola found her monkey while looking for Mariana and she bumped into Ati as he was leaving the area and he told her to stay away;
*Isabel finally realizing that Ati can’t love anyone so she left for good...and ended up living with Lucrecia and family.
*Iggy bumping into MaLola in the jungle while looking for Mariana. He thanked her for saving him when he was a baby and told her she was part of his family.

So Cumache hung out his dirty laundry but only those which Atilio and Marcia ordered him to do; he failed to mention the numerous times he tried to kill Lola.

I think I’ll end up being more excited that Lola found her monkey than when Mariana is found.


 

MARIANA


RgvChick,

"I think I’ll end up being more excited that Lola found her monkey than when Mariana is found." Yes! ITA i wonder how it was for Patricia Reyes Spíndola having to work with a monkey. She seems to like difficult roles. I read somewhere that when she had her part in "Fear the Walking Dead"playing Rubén Blade's charactr's wife, she learned her part phonetically because she didn't know English. Somehow I think dealing with a "diaperless" monkey(complete with long nails, teeth, a prehensile tail and unparalleled agility) would be worse.





 

RGV Chick: Not shocked about Ivan getting whacked like that. It's implied Creepy Atilio had it done.

Carol & the lackeys got arrested when they tried to remove the body.

Jarifa: Looking forward to seeing the Gran Final. Big question is whether Atilio & Marcia's anvils will be good ?

Lola & her Monkey pal was LOL. Meanwhile Creepy Atilio trying to rape Mariana was disturbing.


 

I'll wait to post my full analysis on the Gran Final sometime this afternoon.

 

MARIANA

Well, this is it!

The last time to see the magical glade and the ever full moon . . . Is today!
Wow, what a gross close up of El Cumache with his tongue bulging out of his mouth.
Rats! Carol got arrested.
Does Yadira have to be threatened yet one more time? Yawn.
Why didn’t Camilo take the rope off Yadira’s neck instead of just loosening it?
Ha! Atilio is in pain trying to carry Mariana like a sack of potatoes.
Iggy should have thrown a rock and lit up Atilio with his torch.
Finally Mariana DOES something.
Looks like Atilio went round the bend permanently.
More than an hour left. They should have ended it five minutes ago.
Looks like Atilio and Marcia will live on for one more hour of havoc! They should have left Atilio to drown.
Broken glass! Oh, no! We know who that is.
A time jump! I always like those.
All is going well so we have to have at least one more disaster.
Where is Marcia? Skulking everywnere! Someone ahould have their eyes open but they don’t per isual.
Uh oh! Mariana has a baaaad feeling.
Atilio is back, too? They should have let him DIE. (2nd time I had to say that in one entry, They couldn’t stop while they were ahead) BORING!
Great! Atilio killed Marcia. That opens up the plot for a big church wedding, right?
We could still have 38 minutes of relative happiness but I have a feeling that the writers will mess this up even more than it is.
How long is this death scene going to go on for? Are the writers counting the minutes/seconds it is using up?
Guess Atilio is the only loose end. Writers, cut that end off already!
Nobody arrested Atlio the disappearing invisible man so he can now put the baby in jeopardy ONE MORE TIME? Guess that is what Mari and Iggy get for saving him.
How many times have they used the “baby in jeopardy” plot?
Lola is really decked out!
Doubleteaming Atilio!
Atilo left his gun . . .
Atilio is cornered like the rat he is! . .. at the top of the waterfall!
Yay! El comandante is on the scene. Iggy tries to save Atilio but he can’t . FINALLY Atlio is over and out.
Some time later . . . A church/indigenous wedding in the enchanted glade under the banyan tree. It is a night time ceremony and the flowers are glowing. Everyone is there but the monkey.

A happy ending.

It was great fun watching this with you guys. I don’t think I would have stuck with it on my own.

I just looked at the next novela in this time slot and will be skipping that one.


 

Jarifa, loved your running commentary! They really streeeetched this out, didn't they?

Atilio repenting while hanging over the cliff was just SO out of character. And I kept thinking ....hmmm this is supposed to be an undeveloped wild jungle, but they have a very nice guard on that cliff? Que...???

So all the villains died and we end with a happily ever after wedding...and Baby Iggy is what...a two (maybe three) year old?? That was quite a bit of a time jump and they waited that long to get married?

Woohoo, Isabel gets a boyfriend...finally!

Good gawd, Yadira's dress was more revealing than those she wore at the casino...and Juan Pablo didn't complain!
 

Jarifa: Thank you for your insights of this Telenovela (which I watched 16 years ago). It was fun, now my personal thoughts:
1.) Psycho Marcia & Iggy having one final kiss before she finally kicked the bucket: THANK GOD.

2.) Creepy Atilio threatening the Baby & Isabel, who pleaded with her psycho brother not to kill anyone else.

3.) Iggy & Mariana double-teamed Creepy Atilio at the waterfall. What could possibly go wrong ?

4.) Creepy Atilio goes Bippity, Boppity SPLAT after falling over the waterfall to his death.

5.) Lola, Isidro & the Police Commander all watch the entire thing go down.

6.) Crazy, Whacky Chachi & Engineer Dude are back in town. I should also note that Isabel & Daddy Peralta (from "Hasta El Fin Del Mundo") meet face-to-face earlier in the Gran Final.

7.) I see they cleaned up Psycho Marcia's body for the last rites, which JP performed. Mariana speaks to the Psycho's dead body & forgives her (I wouldn't have forgiven that Psycho).

8.) Church/indigenous wedding for Iggy & Mariana was AWESOME.

9.) I did laugh at Jarifa's comment "Everyone was there but the monkey".

10.) Isabel & Daddy Peralta, Crazy Whacky Chachi & Engineer Dude, Camilo & Yadhira & everyone else attended the wedding.

11.) I think JP & Isidro were co-officiants at the wedding of Iggy & Mariana.

12.) Happily ever after for Iggy & Mariana.
 

RGV Chick: I noticed Yadhira's revealing dress at the wedding too: looked like she was itching to shed her clothes & make babies with Camilo on the spot LOL.


 

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MARIANA

Jarifa, thank you so much for sticking to this. I can't believe I stuck with this till the end; your running commentary and Andy's comments kept me hanging on. Thank you to both of you. And like you, Jarifa, I'm skipping the next one.


 

"MARIANA":

RGV Chick: I'm NOT watching the next Telenovela either.
 

MARIANA

Jarifa, thank you very, very much for your commentaries! They made watching this crazy novela bearable. It certainly was fun early on, but it got crazier and crazier as time went on. I'm glad I watched, but it was a struggle at times and I probably would have dropped out half-way through if it weren't for your summaries and comments, and those of Rgv Chick and Steve, too.

I have been recording this and watching later and the last two days' worth are recorded but not yet watched. I did manage to see the last 45 minutes or so of today's show, because I couldn't help myself, I just had to see the ending.

One question, did they actually recover Atilio's body? If not then I suspect he was out there somewhere with new henchmen, scheming and plotting.

Just kidding, we had a nice time lapse so no worries. So many odd things in this novela, some good, some bad. Yadira was excellent eye candy but the show didn't do her right. Some of what she wore was great, some was a tiny bit tacky and distracted from her genuine beauty. Also, she needed better direction or something. There were multiple times when she was standing with Camilo and didn't seem at ease, just seemed at a loss, as if she was thinking "What I am I supposed to be doing here other than looking beautiful and in love with Camilo?"

A minor thing to be sure, but Yadira was, at least for me, a large part of why I watched this.


Again, my thanks to Jarifa and the rest of the crew on this constantly sinking ship.

More later after I attend to some (self-inflicted) computer problems (I need to learn to leave well enough alone), and get a chance to watch all of the last two days.

Andy (on a different computer)
 

MARIANA

RgvChick, this was clearly one of those that benefited from being watched in a group. All in all it ended up being an interesting watch with some memorable characters (Isidro/Lola), “cabalmente”, some really bad cgi, the magical glade and the ever present full moon. To be honest, I did’t think I’d finish this one either.

Steve, “whacky Chachi” and “Psycho Marcia” said it all. Yes! the priest and Isidro were “co-celebrants” . I kept trying to think of that term this morning and it never came to me. Thanks for that and your comments.

Andy, happily our “constantly sinking ship” managed to limp into port and we were able to hop off before it launched itself again on the sea of novelas . . . Sorry to hear that your fave Yadira was not handled to show her off at her best consistently. Those directors! Looking forward to your thoughts on the gran final.



 

"MARIANA":

Andy: Pretty sure Creepy Atilio is DEAD considering the Police Commnander & Co., watched the whole thing, so it's safe to say he sent some backup to recover the body.

Jarifa: I liked Yadhira & her outfits. I'm glad to see that Isabel & Daddy Peralta (from "Hasta El Fin Del Mundo") got together: I was like YESSS!


 

MARIANA

I don't know what to say about this crazy novela and the finale. Yadira looks good in white and she was nicely pushed up?

In fact, everybody looked good in the last two hours. Lucrecia looked better than ever before, especially when she was telling off Atilio. Isabel looked very nice, Mariana too. Again, everybody looked good. I was thinking that they must have taken a couple of days off at the spa, and then put the makeup people to work overtime on the cast.

From beginning to end this novela was quite crazy. I give high marks to César Évora, he had a tough role but he played it straight and well. And, of course, his character was as nutty as a fruitcake, but that was hidden for most of the run.

After him, kudos to Patricia Reyes Spíndola who played María Lola, and to her monkey, too. I had to go to Wikipedia to see the name of the actress at the page for Mariana. She has had quite a career and has her own page with a very long list of movies and novelas.

The finale, as usual, was dragged out too long. This novela, even more than most, used so many coincidences and people being in exactly the right place at the right time. It never stopped.
Marcia, with a dirty face, was there just as Atilio was going to shoot Iggy. Of course this woman who was ready a couple of times to kill Iggy rather than lose him to Mariana was willing to get between them and take a bullet for ol' Iggy. Meh.

Cumache's contrition just struck me as strange and unbelievable. Ditto Iván's demise and Atilio's last minutes.

Jarifa, I think you got it just right, "It was great fun watching this with you guys. I don’t think I would have stuck with it on my own."

My thanks to everyone who had things to say here, those comments and summaries made it easier and much, much more fun.

Andy
 

MARIANA

I had never seen MdlN before and I did miss some of the early episodes of this airing so it took me a while to get what the story was about. The finale wasn’t too bad. A lot of telenovelas have a lot of crazy things happening in the plot (especially towards the end) and this one was no exception.

I may have missed some things so I was certainly wondering what happened to Marcia before she stealthily showed back up hiding behinds plants, breaking pots etc lol but I wasn’t too surprised by what she did that ended her life.

Mexico (and other countries who’ve aired their own original telenovelas) may not have the same budget in the film and TV industry that the US does so to me it really doesn’t matter what year a telenovela was made, the CGI is always a little questionable. Off the top of my head I can think of a couple other waterfall deaths in telenovelas and Atilio’s was a little comical to say the least. He was still calling Mariana “Elisa” right up to the very end.

I guess it was nice to see Chachi change and become a better, mature person. And she seemed to accept ML as her mom finally. And she did find herself a hunk as did Isabel. And of course who didn’t ship Camilo and Yadira. They were technically my favorite couple in this story.


 

Andy, Cumache in the bell tower made me think of The Hunchback of Notre Dame even though it really wasn’t like him at all. So much didn’t make sense! Guess it is never too late to repent!!!

TJ, you know I had the same question about Marica’s whereabouts. I kept thinking I had missed something like I must have had a phone call. . . This novela is really old, from 2003. Good to hear from you!