Caray, Caray!

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reina3

I'll put up a short recap later tonight.
 

reina 3 Ep. #15 p. 1 of 2

As the episode begins, we see Nacho Duarte and Bebita talking. They're both clearly delighted to see each other again. The scene then shifts to Epifanio talking with Delio. Delio tells him that Nacho Duarte is an important, well-known journalist. Epi says "No one asked for your opinion, I'll do what I have to." The scene then shifts back to Nacho and Bebita. They kiss. Oops--Epifanio's henchman has a camera with a huge telephoto lens and is taking photos. When they move from kissing to undressing, he contacts his men and tells them to move in on Nacho and Bebita, NOW!

The scene shifts to Colombia. We see Faustino's car driving through the forest on a very winding road. They arrive at a house. Faustino carries the wounded Rocio into the house. Faustino says the house is his and Batman's. They used to store their stuff there. Sofia is trying to process what has happened. Faustino tells her, "They set up a trap and we fell for it."

Nacho and Bebita are undressed and about to have sex when there's a loud knock at the door. Men are yelling for her to open the door. Lina delays as much as possible and then, seeing that Bebita is dressed, she opens the door. Five or six armed men enter. They tell Lina that it's an emergency, they've come for the First Lady. They see Bebita and tell her that she has to come with them at once.

Meanwhile, in London, Oleg and Teresa have arrived near the casino. They see people being frisked as they enter the casino, so Teresa gives Oleg her gun and he hides his and hers in a convenient tree.

Inside the casino, Fedor, who is working as a waiter, tells the loan shark "Wait for my signal. Be careful. They're always watching the patrons." Fedor then goes upstairs, finds two decks of cards, and memorizes them.

Back in Mexico, Nacho has apparently emerged from Lina's apartment unseen. He foolishly heads for his car (he clearly hasn't watched enough crime shows). He gets into the car and, sure enough, there's a guy in the back who points a pistol at Nacho's head and tells him to drive.

In London, Oleg and Teresa enter the casino. They eventually find Fedor. Oleg says he can pay Fedor's debt. Fedor pleads with him to keep out of this. We also see that the load shark has been winning bigtime, and that has aroused the suspicions of a woman who apparently owns the casino. She talks to a man, who says, "Maybe he's just lucky." She then sees Fedor talking to Oleg and Teresa. The woman says, "Or maybe it's something else."

Back in Colombia, we see Charlie arguing with an Interpol guy. The guy is angry that Charlie again had Faustino Sanchez Godoy but lost him. Charlie tells him, "I don't care about Sanchez Godoy. Our only priority is Teresa Mendoza." We also see Padre Gonzo talking to Ernie, very unhappy that one of Sofia's sisters was shot. Ernie tells him that that's not important.

Elsewhere in Colombia, we see Sofia very upset, thinking that Mateo was just using her to get information, and that he didn't really like her. Paloma tries to comfort her.

Faustino announces that Rocio is in bad shape. They have to get the bullet out. He says he once helped some guys do this. He tells Paloma and Sofia to sterilize some knives and get rags out of the truck in case they're needed.

Back in the London casino, Fedor explains to Oleg and Teresa that the loan shark is working with him. "I'm helping him win." Oleg tells Fedor, "We have money. Let's just pay him and leave." Fedor says no, "If I try to leave before my shift is over, his guys will get me." He asks Oleg to trust him. Meanwhile, the woman who runs the casino asks where the waiter (i.e., Fedor) is.
 

reina3 Ep. 15 p. 2 of 2

Faustino is preparing to remove the bullet. Sofia tells him, "I'll do it. My fingers are smaller. I know how to do it." Rocio screams in pain, but Sofia succeeds in removing the bullet. Faustino says that he knows Rocio needs a doctor and antibiotics, but no one can leave the house.

Oleg can only think about doing something to help Fedor. Teresa takes Fedor's side. "We don't know how many men are guarding him. There are at least three people, and we don't even have a gun."

Fedor again goes upstairs and tries to memorize another deck. But this time, the casino woman and man find him.

Back in Mexico, Epifanio talks to Bebita, He pretends to be sympathetic and concerned. "Did you notice anything strange?" he asks her. We then see him talk on the phone to the guy who has Nacho. Epi tells him, "Don't touch his face. Anything from the neck down is fine. And don't let him know who is behind this."

Teresa sees that the loan shark has been taken somewhere. She and Oleg follow. Oleg again says he has to get Fedor out. A guy comes along and asks what Teresa and Oleg are doing there. Teresa knocks him out and takes his gun.

Although Epi gave instructions that Nacho shouldn't know who is behind his capture, we suddenly see Epi confronting the tied-up Nacho. They exchange words and insults. At one point, Nacho asks, "How can you do this to Genoveva?" A furious Epifanio tells him never to say Genoveva's name again, adding "She's just a tramp who will sleep with anyone." Finally Nacho says, "OK, take out your gun and kill me." Epi protests, "I'm not an assassin." He then tells the guy holding Nacho to show what they have planned for him. We see a photo of Nacho and his two sons. He pleads, "They have nothing to do with this." Epi says, "Being your kids is enough for me."

Oleg and Teresa continue to look for Fedor. They hear people talking. We see Fedor and the loan shark, tied up, being questioned by the woman who runs the casino. She asks how many times Fedor cheated her, and she finally says, "Once, twice, it doesn't matter. I hired you, and you stole from me. No one steals from my casino! Get rid of them," she says, "and make sure they won't be found." Oleg and Teresa make their move. There's a shoot out. Though they're all shooting pistols, the guns seem to contain a huge number of bullets. No one has to reload. Finally, Teresa and Oleg seem to win. They untie Fedor, remove the hoods from his head and the loan shark's, and leave with Fedor (but not the loan shark). And with that, the episode ends.
 

reina3

Gracias, Juanita. All the deets I needed. ITA Nacho hasn't watched enough crime shows.

Yep, Sofia has experience removing bullets from flesh with her fingers. In R2 she did the honors on Lupo. Little Ray is watching all of this in silence. In time hopefully he'll forget.

I laughed at Teresa saying the tequila at the club was lousy.
 

reina3

Busy day, Juanita. I wanted to compliment you on your recap, but didn't have time to do more than read it. Terrific details! I appreciated "not watching enough crime shows".

Epi has two hencies. Delio is the one who gave Pablo the money. He seems to more of a political guy than a straight up thug. But the guy whose name none of us seem to be able to come up with is remorseless. He has that scar on his cheek as well. He could at least have let Bebita and Nacho "finish" before rushing in!

The young woman playing Sofia has been good all the way. Her grief in believing Mateo didn't care for her was very touching. As far as I'm concerned, this relationship never had a chance. I hope the writers don't rekindle it. Mateo is a kid from the streets, who's never even had enough money for a cell phone. Sofia has had a pretty luxurious life, even when Batman had her captive to control Teresa. And Mateo is completely devoted to Padre G, who would raise hell if Mateo had anything more to do with Sofia.

Well, they did it again. Telenovela medicine, or lack thereof, is very predictable. Someone gets shot and less than an hour later they have a dangerous fever. Sofia's love for her sisters is real. Hope Faustino can figure a way out of this pickle.

Fedor told Oleg he couldn't just leave. Once the loan shark figured out how much he could make with Fedor's brilliant mind, he was never going to settle for one big score. Just paying the 55K would never satisfy him. Did he get shot? There was such a hail of bullets I couldn't keep track. I hope so.

This is just speculation, but Epi's wanting Nacho's face intact and showing him pictures of his children brought something to mind for me. Maybe he's planning to threaten his children to get Nacho to start backing his candidacy and doing puff pieces.

I keep questioning myself over and over about this novela and the earlier ones. I loathe Ernie and Charlie, but aren't they supposed to be on the side of the law? Teresa and Oleg worked together building a big drug organization. Why don't I judge them more?

Again, thanks for the terrific recap, Juanita.
 

reina3

Thanks so much, Niecie in MD and novelera, for your very interesting comments. Niecie, I'm so glad you mentioned Sofia's performing a similar service for Lupo. My brain just refused to come up with the specifics. (It does that a lot, alas.)

Novelera, you've raised a number of great points. I'm especially intrigued with the last one. Certainly, the writers have loaded the dice in favor of Teresa and Oleg and even Faustino, and AGAINST Ernie and Charlie. More generally, it's often easier to root for the underdog against the powerful, and if we look at Teresa at the start of season 1, she's most assuredly an underdog, and she's battling some powerful scumbags like Epifanio.

Oops, I just looked at my watch--I should be making dinner. Thanks again to both of you.
 

REINA

Thank you, Juanita, for the great recap. Just watched the episode.

Couldn’t believe how careless Nacho and Bebita were in their apartment rendezvous and not just this one.They've been out on the balcony and near the window. Ever think of closing drapes, blinds, whatever, or move to an inner room like somebody could be watching. Not too bright.

Novelera, good speculation on what Efi could want from Nacho.
 

reina3

Hi Jarifa. Thanks for your comment. I too found their carelessness surprising. It seemed to me out of character for both of them. Bebita was surely aware of how jealous and vindictive her husband can be, and Nacho was savvy enough to come up with the plan to use Lina. Heck, even if they weren't trying to keep Epi from finding them together, common sense should have dictated they do what you suggest (closing the drapes, moving to an inner room, etc.). But then again, where would telenovelas be if the characters used common sense? :-)
 

REINA

You speak the truth! ; )
 

reina3

I'll put up a short recap later tonight.
 

reina3 Ep. #16 p. 1 of 3

I'm somewhat confused by the start of the episode. Epifanio is talking on the phone to Pablo. Pablo is looking at a photo of an old man holding a newspaper whose headline reads, "San Juan del Sur, El Destino Más Visitado." I have no idea who the man is, nor why he is holding up the newspaper with a seemingly innocuous headline. Epifanio comments that the man looks worse with each photo they send. The photo was apparently sent 2 days ago. Epi comments, "Bad news travel fast." He then asks how work is going. Pablo tells him, "The two guys we've been trailing will be meeting today. Epi knows that one will be Abel, and Pablo adds that the other is the guy from the cholet, Tejada. Pablo thinks that the two men will lead them to the trail of the missing girls, "and we have good reason to believe that they can identify the Black Horseman." Epifanio tells Pablo that his report doesn't inspire confidence, and he asks that Pablo put Teresita on. Pablo explains that she's not here right now, she's following one of the guys. Epi tells him to let Teresa know that the longer this operation takes, the less money she gets.

The scene shifts to England. Fedor thanks Oleg for saving him. "I didn't think you were coming." Oops, apparently they're not safe yet. Two armed men are approaching them. Oleg and Teresa manage to knock both men out and take their guns.

In Colombia, Padre Gonzo and Mateo have been at Interpol headquarters for 12 hours. Padre G more or less apologizes to Mateo. He tells Mateo "I thought we were doing the right thing." Mateo asks, "You don't think the same thing now?" "I'm not sure," replies Padre G. "After all that happened and what they said, I don't know what to believe." Mateo then asks what Padre G thinks they'll do to Sofia if they catch her. Padre G replies, "I have no idea, but I don't think it will be anything good." Suddenly, Charlie and some Interpol men rush by. They gather around Ernie, who describes the plan to catch Sofia and the others. Mateo and Padre G listen. They exchange concerned looks.

Oleg tells Fedor, "It's thanks to Tesa that you and I are talking face to face now. You're coming with me. I'm not going to force you, I can't. But I can't leave knowing that you're in danger." Fedor reluctantly agrees to come with Oleg, but he makes it clear that he doesn't like Teresa.

Ernie tells Charlie, "I want Teresa Mendoza's daughter alive. She can be useful to us."

Getting ready to leave England, Teresa wants to call Sofia. Her call goes through, and Teresa says, "Sofia, it's me." Ernie has Sofia's cell phone and is delighted to hear Teresa's voice. They immediately start tracing the call's location. He eventually speaks to Teresa,identifying himself by name and letting her know that they met a little more than four years ago. He's trying to keep her on the line for as long as possible so that they can pinpoint her location, but he's also enjoying taunting her. Teresa insists he put Sofia on the phone. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you." Ernie tells her, "I'm not interested in Sofia, I'm interested in you. If I could find you in Australia, I can find you now." Teresa responds, "If you could, you'd already have done so." Ernie threatens, "I'm going to let your daugher rot in prison." Teresa hangs up. Ernie is told that the call came from England. "What the hell is she doing in England?" he asks.

Faustino and the others hear a noise. Everyone is scared. Faustino, pistol in hand, suddenly confronts Mateo. Mateo tells him, "I came to help. They lied to me. I spent the night at Interpol and I heard their plan."
 

reina3 Ep. #16 p. 2 of 3

Faustino accepts Mateo's help, which involves a boat. As he carries Rocio onto the boat, Charlie and his men arrive. They see Sofia and the others escaping in the boat. Charlie yells to one of his men, "Call the priest!"

Sofia, Rocio, and Paloma are not answering any phone calls. Teresa is distraught. "If the DEA have my daughter, what do I do?" Oleg tells Teresa that they were trying to prolong the call in order to locate her.

Epifanio walks out of the presidential palace with a wounded Nacho. Epi orders Nacho to call Bebita and tell her what he's been told to say, nothing more, nothing less. He calls and tells her, "Something unexpected came up and I have to leave the country. Everything that happened was a mistake. I don't belong here. What happened between us was stupid." The call ends, and Epi threatens Nacho: "Anything you say, write, or do will put your sons in danger. Have a good trip." He then tells his henchman, Montaño, "Make sure the whole family is bugged."

Bebita comes to Epifanio's office. He has apparently told her he has something urgent to talk about with her. "What's so urgent?" she asks. Epi shows her the photos of her and Nacho, including some of her naked. "Photos always tell the truth," he says. Bebita asks, "What did you do to him?" "It's not important," Epi replies. "He's alive. Imagine if your son saw these photos." He adds, "You're not going to see your son again until I say so. And I've also sent your enabler (presumably Lina) to hell. However, I'm going to forgive you...because I love you. You broke my heart. Give me a kiss--it's the least you can do." She kisses him, and he immediately says, "You can go now. Relax. Take a pill."

Abel is present as five newly kidnapped girls are paraded past him. He wants two of them "prepared" right away. Abel's wife is not happy about this. Jonathan and Pablo are listening via the device Pablo inserted in Abel's cane, but the sound isn't good. Pablo leaves to get closer.

Sheila finds the name and phone number for Faustino's cop friend. Batman calls him. The cop tells Batman that after this, don't call me again. He wants nothing to do with Faustino or Batman.

Mateo succeeds in getting Faustino and the others to the shore. Coming out to meet them is Padre Gonzo, dressed in non-clerical clothes. He says he wants to help. Faustino takes the padre's phone and throws it into the water. He tells Padre G that the GPS in phones can be used to track people. It's clear that there's a lot of distrust between Faustino and Mateo/Padre G.

Pablo goes into the place where Abel is meeting with Tejada. He hears Abel say, "Gold doesn't deteriorate. It doesn't lose value. It actually increases. Everyone wants it." Tejada says "It's a temptation for thieves." Abel responds, "It depends on where you hide it. Don't forget what I sent you." Tejada replies, "Ten. Here are four more. I'll give you the other half later. I'm guessing you want the tin money in ingots, too." Abel says yes. (We see Pablo put some kind of device on a ledge above a doorway in the building. I have no idea what this is.) Abel then asks, "Where will the buyers want the delivery made? I think they want to transport it through the Brazilian jungle." Tejada says, "That's going to be expensive." Abel tells him to charge whatever he wants. "It's obvious that the Mexican and the Russian have money." Tejada asks, "A Mexican and a Russian? The ones Maita recommended?" Abel replies, "A Mexican, a Russian, and someone else." Tejada observes, "It's a big coincidence. What is the Mexican like?"
 

reina3 Ep. #16 p. 3 of 3

Jonathan and Anton become alarmed. "They're going to catch on. We have to do something." Abel starts to describe "the Mexican": medium height, dark hair, old. "If they're not girls, they're all the same to me." Pablo calls and makes it sound like a bad connection. Abel gets up and goes outside where the reception would be better (and the conversation with Tejada would be short-circuited). He and Pablo talk, and Abel tells him, "You and your partner should get on the same page and call me back, not waste my time." Meanwhile, Jonathan enters the building and asks to use the restroom. He's told, "This is a restaurant, not a public restroom." He leaves. Tejada gets up to follow him. Jonathan pretends to get tired. Tejada points his gun at him. Tejada fails to notice Anton, who come up behind him and hits him on the head with large stick, knocking him out. End of episode.
 

reina3

Awesome recap, Juanita. This was a good episode, with some progress. Though not fast enough for poor Rocio to receive antibiotics!

I’m guessing the old guy holding up the newspaper is a hostage. Maybe the newspaper is a way to assure any rescuers that the old guy is still alive. But why would Epifanio want this old guy...

I hope Epifanio making his female assistant stay and watch him humiliating Bebita backfires on him. So far there are two staff against him, Vanessa (spy/bed buddy) and Danilo (he told Bebita she can trust him, but who know for sure?). I would love for the female assistant to start working against Epi too.

Yay! Mateo and Padre G to the rescue, after their big screwup. At least Sofia should know that Mateo didn’t intentionally throw her to the wolves.

 

reina3

Thanks for the terrific recap, Juanita. I really appreciated the detailed dialog, as some of it went right by me.

So, here's my crockpot theory. The old man holding the newspaper is Pablo's father. They showed him earlier being moved by the guy's plight. Sorry, I can't remember the details. But last night Epi was the one who showed him the old guy holding the newspaper. And right after that Pablo brushed his hand on his face as if wiping away some tears. It wasn't a closeup, so I couldn't see actual tears, but that was the gist. What confused me is that the old man looks like a hostage, maybe Epi holding him to keep Pablo honest? But the old man also looked like he was in a straight up prison with other guys in a cell. So it's possible Pablo will turn out to be a heroic son and worthy of Teresa's affection. Up until recently he's seemed like a mercenary.

OMG that Ernie is diabolical. My prediction that Ernie would find out that Teresa is in England and maybe look for her there came true. But he didn't just trace the call. He got on the line to torment her, trying to get her to give herself up to him to save Sofia. Oleg managed to convince her that he'd have put Sofia on the line if he had her.

I agree, Niecie. Epi's having Susana listen to his humiliation of Bebita, including insisting on a kiss, will backfire. What he did to Nacho was truly awful. He forced him to leave the country, never to return. And then he told Evil Henchie that his wife and children would never be allowed to leave Mexico.

Charlie seems more and more unhinged, like when he yelled for someone to find the priest. And Ernie, my God. Charlie was eager to kill some more people. Ernie actually looked a tiny bit disgusted with his eagerness, but told him to go ahead. So Ernie sanctions murdering Faustino, two women, and presumably Ray.

I have been thinking about Bebita vs Vevita. The Spanish "b" and "v" sound alike. I usually pronounce words beginning with a "v" as a sort of soft "b", which is to say not aspirated. So...her name is Genoveva. Maybe they're saying Vevita, using the diminutive. Mexicans are very fond of diminutives. Sometimes they're said affectionately and sometimes as a sort of insult to indicate contempt. We here on the patio have been writing Bebita, and maybe it's just easier to continue with that.
 

reina3

Thanks for the Monday and Wednesday recaps, Juanita. Nicely done and very helpful.

Teresa said what I was thinking, we (sort of) went through all of this before!

Wow, Epi is exiling Nacho and not letting his family go with him. I hope Bebita learns a lesson this time. Niecie and novelera, I’m also hoping Susana will cross over to her side soon.

ITA with your crockpot theory, novelera, this old guy might be Pablo's father. He’s certainly not doing this out of loyalty to Epifanio. Anyway, I still don't like Pablo for Teresa.

My ear isn't as good as yours, novelera. The English captions have read Bebita and Vevita at various times.

 

reina3

Many thanks, Niecie in MD, novelera, and dondi356, for your great comments.

Niecie, I too thought about the possibility that the old guy with the newspaper was being held hostage, and the paper was to show that the photos are currrent. But why? I kinda like novelera's theory that the old man is Pablo's father and that Epi is holding him hostage to be sure that Pablo does what Epi wants.

Novelera, I didn't notice tears on Pablo's face, but as I said to Niecie, I like your theory that the old guy holding the newspaper may be Pablo's father. However, even if Pablo turns out to be a dutiful son, I do NOT want to see him as Teresa's love interest. And yes, what Epifanio did to Nacho was truly awful, and what he threatened--harming Nacho's sons--was even worse. No one knows that better than Batman, whose own sons were killed on Epi's orders, IIRC.

Dondi, it looks as if we're all hoping that Susana is sufficiently disgusted with Epi that she, like Vanessa and Danilo, will turn against him. Like you, I don't want to see Pablo and Teresa as a couple. As for Bebita vs. Vevita, it seems to me that most of the time, I hear a "b" rather than a "v", and at least some of the time, the captions agree. So I'll stick with Bebita, though when Epi or others say Genoveva, the v is more apparent, so that's the spelling I'll use there.