Caray, Caray!

reina3

I'll post a recap of tonight's episode later tonight.
 

reina3 Ep. 55 p. 1 of 3

The episode opens in Nicaragua. We see Charlie Velasquez and two other guys asking to see the warden of the prison where Pablo's father is being held. Charlie is on the phone with Epifanio. He tells Epi that the only thing he knows is that Landero's father is still there. The warden isn't here, but the deputy warden has agreed to see us. Charlie ends the call when the deputy warden arrives. He asks Charlie how they can collaborate. Charlie tells him "Some people are coming to the prison to free a prisoner, and we plan to trap them. The prisoner won't be leaving, but they have to be able to get in. They need to think that they got in on their own."

We then see Pablo, Oleg, and Teresa, who are also in Nicaragua near the prison. Pablo has been watchng the entrance to a house where prison guards stay. Two guards are talking outside. One leaves, and when the remaining guard enters the house, Pablo grabs him around the neck. He's joined by Oleg and Teresa.

The scene shifts to Bogotá. Faustino and Batman are happy to hear one of their radio announcements. An announcer says, "Don't forget, we'll have El Gato Tozzi at the Vicolo Barco Public Library, main entrance, every day between 2 and 4 pm." Meanwhile, Sheila and Sofia are in the kitchen at the place where they're staying. Sheila says, "Good thing your two lovers are making money and helping out." "Lovers?" asks Sofia. "In case you hadn't noticed, Fedor likes you," Sheila replies. Sofia says "He's either terrific at faking it or he doesn't care who knows. But now is not the right time to talk about this." Sheila asks who Sofia likes more. "Mateo is my novio," says Sofia. Sheila says, "I'm not suggesting anything. I like Mateo." Sofia tells her, "Fedor is smart, and he has lived a life similar to mine, so we reallly understand each other. I'm not saying that Mateo doesn't understand me, but things are different with Fedor. I sometimes have the feeling that Mateo is looking for something in me that I don't have, something that isn't me. But he challenges me, and I like that." Sheila says, "At some point you'll have to choose." Sofia tells her that right now, all she's thinking about is her mother. She goes to her room and asks Sheila to turn off the radio. Oops!! I guess that means she'll miss the announcement.

In Washington DC, Jane Kozar is talking with Owen (I think). She tells him that she thinks Vargas is right when he says an alliance with him is in our best interests. Owen objects, "We're not partnering with him, he's blackmailing us!" Jane claims, "What matters is that once the president of Mexico is working for us, we'll have a lot more power. This is good for us." She then shows Owen a piece of paper with a projection of what we'll earn in the next 12 months. Owen is clearly impressed. Jane adds, "And that doesn't include the sale of arms to the Mexican army and the police. Once our agreement with Vargas is in place, we can set the price of cocaine any way we want." Owen still isn't comfortable. He says, "Our government has been very critical of Vargas. We can't just do a 180-degree turn." Jane replies, "I have some ideas on how we can justify this change to the public." Owen then asks, "Any news from Senator Garcia?"
 

reina3 Ep. # 55 p. 2 of 3

Owen's question is obviously the cue to switch to Senator Garcia, who is with Ernie in Mexico (I think). Garcia tells Ernie, "My assistant has been instructed to say that my leave of absence is due to health reasons." Ernie tells him, "I've just learned that my house is under surveillance, and so is my ex-wife's." Ernie goes on to say that he doesn't think it was a good idea for Garcia to authorize the trip. Garcia replies, "Do you think I was in any position to say no to Teresa? I just hope nothing happens to them. I don't have a Plan B."

Pablo, Oleg, and Teresa have subdued the guard. They tell him they need his help in getting into the prison, and they'll pay him very well. However, if he says no, he won't get the money, and they'll have to make sure he doesn't rat them out. Suddenly, the guard notices Teresa. "Teresa Mendoza!" he exclaims. The others are surprised that he recognizes her. He tells them that she's all over the internet. We see a clip of Estefania explaining how Teresa helped her and her family. "She's a saint!" Estefania declares. We see and hear many other people also testifying to what a wonderful person Teresa Mendoza is. It turns out that his clip has had 59 million views. The guard now has no qualms about helping Pablo, Oleg, and, especially, Teresa.

Danilo asks Susana how the First Lady is. Susana replies that she was very happy that things would soon be over, but that ended with General Garrido's death. Susana then admits to Danilo that she made a terrible mistake. She and the First Lady were drinking, and she kissed the First Lady. "I wanted to die! I quickly apologized, and she was very nice about it, but....I wanted to die!" A stunned Danilo says, "I didn't know that you were so bold! ¡Maldita perra!" Delighted, he laughs.

Meanwhile, Bebita is eating with Epifanio. He comments that she seems weird. How so? she asks. You're quiet, he says. She ask about Montaño. Epifanio stares at her and asks why she's asking about Montaño. She replies that she hasn't seen him in a while. "And you won't!" says Epifanio. "I got rid of that bastard. He was late, and he was disobeying me." Bebita asks who willl be head of security. "Anyone," replies Epifanio. Suddenly, his phone rings. Kozar is calling him. She announces, "After much discussion, we've decided to work together."

"La hora gris" is mentioned on the radio, another signal to Teresa to get in touch.

Padre G. is being questioned by Interpol. He insists he's done nothing wrong. The guy from Interpol insists that Padre G is covering for Sanchez Godoy.Padre G says he had cooperated with Interpol before, because he thought Sanchez Godoy was a criminal. But all that happened was that,thanks to my cooperation, the man's wife is dead. The Interpol person says he didn't take part in that operation. He tells the priest, "I can't hold you here. You have to go before a judge." Padre G replies, "Do what you must."

Pablo explains to the now cooperative guard that they're here to rescue Pablo's father. He tells the guard his father's name and asks whether he knows him. The guard says yes, Pablo's father is the oldest man in the prison, and the only Mexican. He's a bit sick, but he's well respected. The four of them try to figure out a rescue plan, but none seems feasible. Then the guard says that some faces can go unrecognized. He's thinking of Minsa, governmental representatives who come on vaccination day. And today's the day.
 

reina3 Ep. 55 p. 3 of 3

Bebita, Danilo, and Susana meet with the young man who was General Garrido's aide (and took the photos of Garrido and Montaño). He tells them that Garrido's plan was that if he were ever caught, the clues that the aide helped to plant would point to Montaño as the person inside the Palace who was passing information, not Bebita. Bebita asks how they discovered that Garrido was involved. The only people who knew were the four of them and the American senator to whom Garrido gave information--Jane Kozar. Based perhaps in part by the phone call from Kozar that interrupted Epifanio's conversation with Bebita, Bebita declares, "She (Kozar) betrayed Carlos!" The aide says he'd like to continue to help Bebita, "By serving you I'll feel as if I'm still serving General Garrido." Bebita is grateful for his help. The meeting breaks up. Danilo and the aide leave. When Bebita is alone with Susana, she says about Montaño, "I'm glad that SOB paid for what he did to my father."

Oleg asks Teresa, "When we were in the cave, and I could no longer move, you said something to me. What did you tell me? I want to know whether I was just hallucinating." We see Teresa remembering bits of the scene again. Then she says to Oleg, "I told you not to leave me, that we were going to get out, and that I would go with you wherever you went." Oleg asks her, "Do you still feel that way, now that we've survived?" Teresa tells him they'll talk later.

Pablo, Oleg, and Teresa stand in the middle of the road, pistols drawn, and stop the health clinic van that's bringing the people to do vaccinations in the prison. They take the van and continue on to the prison. (I'm not sure what happend to the people who had been in the van.) They enter the prison, and the cooperative guard gets everyone to line up for vaccinations.

Ernie Palermo happens by chance to see a large headline in the newspaper saying that Mexico and Nicaragua have just signed an accord of cooperation.
He's very upset. He returns to where he and Garcia are staying, throws the paper in Garcia's direction and tells him, "Better find a Plan B."

Teresa and Pablo are in the corridor where his father's cell may be. Teresa 's phone rings. It's Garcia. Pablo tells her not to answer, but she recognizes that it could be important, so she answers. Garcia tells her "he knows you're here." Teresa says that's not possible, there's no one...Oops, she spots Charlie Velasquez. She tells Pablo that Charlie is here. She starts moving quickly. Pablo says "He's headig our way. Slow down" (presumably so as not to call attention to herself). And on that note, the episode ends.
 

reina3

wonderful recap Juanita !!!

I was thinking Garcia and Ernie are still in Ecuador, but I don't think they have said.

the interpol guy didn't know about Rocia being killed, I think he softened a bit.

Tesa is in a bind but the way the guard blew up the Saint Teresa thingy, I'm wondering if the whole prison won't erupt to save her.

 

reina3

Thanks, Juanita. Super recap. As always, you've connected everything together to make all moving parts make sense. Much appreciated.

So Nicaragua and Mexico sign an accord just as Our Team is in Nicaragua, okay. And Ernie just happens to read about it in the newspaper, okay.

Bebita finally becomes useful to the cause, putting Epi's phone convo with Kozar to realize Kozar betrayed General Garrido. I'd been wondering if Bebita were ever going to pull her weight.

Sofia assesses Mateo and Fedor very well. She's right, "Mateo is looking for something in me that I don't have, something that isn't me." I like Mateo, but Sofia is too young for that. She's still figuring out who she is.

I want to see Mateo and Padre G reunited.

Deb, the whole prison erupting to protect Teresa would be great. She has become a folk hero.
 

reina3

Thanks very much, deb, for your astute comments. To be honest, I'm not really sure where Garcia and Ernie are. The only thing I AM sure of is that because I was very tired last night, I didn't proofread the recap at all, and now I see all kinds of small typos, but nothing substantial (I hope).

Yes, I too thought the Interpol guy softened a bit when Padre G mentioned Rocia's death.

I hadn't thought about the possibility of the entire prison rising up to save Tesa, but I love the idea! And given the cooperative guard's enthusiastic response to meeting her, it really could happen.
 

reina3

Niecie, it looks as if you and I were posting at almost the same time. I didn't see your message until just after I had replied to deb. Thanks very much for your very insightful comments.

Clearly, the new treaty between Mexico and Nicaragua was no coincidence. Epifanio went ahead with it (IIRC it had been sitting unsigned on his desk for months) in order to give his team more power to act in Nicaragua and prevent Our Team's success. And yes, Ernie just happened to stand next to someone who was reading the newspaper carrying a major story about the treaty. And the man just happened to be done reading it and offered it to Ernie. And this just happened to happen in a telenovela, where such things just happen to happen. :-)

I too was happy to see Bebita finally put together the phone call from "a senator" with what she now knew and reached the right conclusion: Kozar betrayed Garrido. I hope this will be the start of her taking an even more active role in bringing Epifanio down. I'm glad she has a gun, but somehow I don't see her killing him with it, but who knows? Of those who remain alive, I think only Teresa has a more compelling reason to want to kill him. Mind you, I don't want to see Epifanio simply sentenced to life in prison. I want him dead, dead, dead.

I too would like to see Padre G and Mateo reunited, but Mateo's earlier "I'd die for you" still makes me fear he won't be alive at the end of the novela.

Ah, good, another vote for the prison erupting to save Teresa. Yes!
 

reina3

Thanks so much for the splendid recap, Juanita! You got it all. I really appreciated all the details. Yep, it's sometimes hard to tell where these people are!

I guess Epi's agreement he signed rather explains the Nicaraguan prison's putting up with Charlie Velasquez. But I suppose he'd have managed to bully them into letting him take over the place anyway. I had the definite impression that the prison guy he interacted with didn't like him one bit. I am definitely looking forward to another epic failure for Charlie!

That video that the prison guard was showing Team Nicaragua was put up by that guy we've seen before. I think he's one of those "influencers" that seem to be everywhere. But for me Caray Caray is my one and only sorta, kinda "social media". I remember that guy infuriating Teresa weeks ago by putting up something about her. Now he's apparently making her a world-wide hero.

Another amazing TN coincidence: that the vaccination day just happened to be the day TeamN was around to take advantage of it.

Hmmm. I think I remember Teresa, trying to get Oleg to respond, saying she'd never leave him. And she seems ready to say that again, after the big prison break. That would certainly be interesting and mean that Pablo goes the way of the rest of her lovers, but hopefully not dead. I want to see him somewhere happy with his father.

It looks like Padre G is fully prepared to go to prison rather than betray Mateo and the others.

As you said before, Juanita, lots of balls in the air.
 

"ESDLC 8":

HALIMACANDY, SpanProf, Novelera, Dondi356, Niecie & Co.,: I see Telemundo is putting "ESDLC" in the 8:00 PM CST timeslot & not their original 9:00 PM CST slot.

Guessing they're preferring to keep "REINA 3" in the 9:00 PM CST instead.

 

reina3

Thanks very much, novelera, for your terrific comments.

Yes, the Nicaraguan agreement undoubtedly made it easier for Charlie and his crew to gain the cooperation of the prison authorities. And I too have my fingers crossed that the outcome will be yet another failure for Charlie.

As I was watching the episode and then writing the recap, I kept trying to remember who the guy was that put together the St. Teresa video. I knew I'd seen him before. I thought perhaps he was a journalist, but I was far from sure, so I just used Recapper's Privilege and ignored him. :-) You may be right that he's an "influencer." Like you, apparently, all I know about "influencers" I've learned second hand. Oh well, at least for now, he seems to be on the side of the angels (or, at least, the saints).

Yes, It Just So Happened that the vaccination day would take place that very afternoon. Interestingly, though, Teresa at first was unappy about that. She wanted time to plan a strategy. But given the choice between "today" and "a week or so later," she made the only reasonable choice.

I'm glad Oleg did indeed hear what Teresa had said to him in the cave, and that what she told him now confirmed that he hadn't hallucinated (though I love the fact that he thought he might have). It will be interesting to see what the remaining four episodes do with their relationship. And yes, Pablo should live and be happy with his father.
 

esdlc8, reina3

Steve, for weeks now Telemundo has said that "El Señor" will be shown at 9PM EST/8PM CST. Just why they've made this choice remains a mystery. "El Señor" is REPLACING "La Reina del Sur3," which has been all along in the 9PM EST time slot (and thus I assume the 8PM CST slot). My guess is that Telemundo has found lately that they get a larger audience at 9PM than at 10PM.
 

reina3

#56 – Parte 1 de 3

I was pressed for time this evening. Wish I could have put in more details.

We start in the Nicaraguan prison with Charlie and his latest henchman discussing whether or not Teresa Mendoza will come. Charlie is sure she will, based on what she said during the call to “fake Faustino”. When this guy tells Charlie he’s thirsty, the SOB tells him go ahead and grab the liquid in the old man’s IV solution.

Teresa and Pablo have seen Charlie and swear they won’t leave without Pablo’s father.

In Bogotá Sheila tells Sofia they need to ask Fico (she calls him the half doctor) how long she needs to continue the, I assume, antibiotics. Viviana comes to tell them she’s amazed by what they’re saying about Teresa. Just then Viviana’s water breaks. She tells them she can’t go to the clinic; she’ll have the baby in her bedroom.

At the jail in Bogotá where they have Padre G, a trans person is protesting being put into a cell with men. Padre G tells the guards to treat people with decency. Just then a guy has come, presumably sent by Faustino. He has brought the priest some laxatives. When the stomach cramps hit, he’ll be taken to the hospital where they can rescue him.

Oleg is vaccinating these guys like he’s done it all his life. Teresa approaches and tells him about spotting Charlie. She says that they’ll have to improvise. Some guys Pablo must have hired get over a high steel fence and then call Landero.

Charlie, always suspicious, is wondering about the “nurses” giving vaccines. He approaches Oleg, asking for his documents. We see Oleg get his hands on a gun. But then a loud alarm goes off. It seems the guy on the outside exploded something, but they didn’t really show it going off.

Epi and Delio talk. More of the usual: Delio telling Epi he’s going off half cocked. Epi tells him that “they” want to sell Mexico weapons for the military, the municipal police, etc. And they also want him to make some sort of announcement that they’re going hard against all the narcos…total war. Kozar wants some heads to roll so that she can take credit for it. Delio says los cuates are going to be upset if he delays the Ley de Sometimiento. Epi says they’ll be OK because he’ll only make war against the cartels that aren’t “with them”. They just need to get the scalps of some big fish. And that Ley will be handled later.

Delio figures it out. Whoever comes up with the most money will get exclusive rights (to freely move drugs). Delio tells him he’s playing with fire. Epi tells Delio that he’s going to attend (Delio is) a dinner at the ambassador’s house with Kozar and his friends.
 

reina3

#56 – Parte 2 de 3

Bebita is beside herself at how Epi wiggles free of everything. Danilo opines that it has to do with what Teresa Mendoza found, maybe that compromising evidence against the DEA. When Bebita says she’ll investigate this, Susana explodes. She reminds Bebita that Epifanio Vargas never loses. And, if he catches her doing that, well… We can see that Bebita is so exercised because of her love for Bebita.

Sheila is getting the childbirth bed ready. She tells Viviana that she’s also pregnant but hasn’t decided whether to have it. Viviana says a child is very important for her. She grew up in orphanages and was never adopted. Sofia has found the medic, but he’s “on something” and no help at all.

We get a classic Charlie freakout, ordering people around and treating everyone like crap.

Pablo and Teresa go in and find Astudillo, Pablo’s father. There’s a tender reunion. Then Pablo and Teresa wheel him out on a gurney.

Charlie finds out Astudillo is not in that hospital room and starts screaming at everyone. Our TeamN gets his father in the van, and they rush off, crashing through a gate. Charlie takes his usual futile shots at the receding van.

Rafa gets a call from Viviana and grabs Fedor and Mateo. He explains to them that she cannot go to the hospital, just like Sofia could not. “Why do you think I decided to help you when I saw you by the road””

Viviana tells Sheila that she and Rafa were in one of the first mass demonstrations. They saw a cop kicking a friend and almost killing her. When they went, with a video of what happened, to the police station, they found out that some prosecutor had opened a case against them for terrorism and belonging to an armed rebellion. If she goes to a clinic, they’ll arrest her. Sheila tells them that she was there for a birth way back then in Melilla. Well, actually, she fainted. But she saw most of what happened after that.

Pablo and his father talk in the back of the van.

Sofia looks up birthing techniques on the internet! Sheila brings back a whole kit that Rafa had prepared for cutting the umbilical cord, etc.

Charlie and his cohort are hot on their trail in the van. Lots of shots are fired. Pablo is hit. Teresa manages a direct hit on the front of the SUV, smoke comes out, and Charlie is stopped right there.

The baby Emiliano is born. [Somehow I think this whole childbirth, conversation with Viviana, and seeing the child are going to turn Sheila away from her plan to get an abortion.]

Pablo and his father reminisce in the van about the stories Pablo was told when he was a child.
 

reina3

#56 – Parte 3 de 3

Rafa comes home to meet his son.

Some of their hired guys have brought some cars and they abandon the van. They help Astudillo into one of the cars. Pablo gets into another car.

Somehow Charlie has gotten his hands on another vehicle and roars at the others to get going. Pablo has put a vehicle in the road to stop the pursuit. Pablo shows Teresa a very bad wound in his side. She says she won’t leave him. Oleg realizes that they have to do so.

Pablo gives Teresa a phone and says to call Edmund Dantes. It’s the code number of his Swiss bank account. The person she calls will know what to do with his father. He’ll ask Teresa for a code. It’s her birthday. Oleg tells him it’s been an honor just as they leave him.

Time moves ahead a bit and we see Astudillo, Teresa, and Oleg talking in a comfortable room. She tries to comfort him by saying that the only thing Pablo wanted in life was to see his father free. She also says that today she saw Pablo happy.

There’s a long scene of Pablo and one of his guys exchanging fire with Charlie and his. Pablo sort of surrenders when he’s out of bullets, but Charlie has had some guy with an assault rifle climb up a way; and, when the signal is given, he just shoots him to pieces. Very, very sad.
 

reina3

Many thanks, novelera, for this very fine recap. You say you wish you had time to include more details, but I think you captured everything very well with the descriptions and details you included. The recap also helped me to see things I had missed.

Somehow, I failed to realize that the scene with Padre G had to do with a trans person. Oh well, at least I did realize that the guard was trying to give Padre G pills that would make him sick, so he could get brought to a hospital, from which he could be rescued. (Padre G, normally quite savvy, seemed surprisingly dense about this.)

Of course, I have no right to call Padre G dense when I didn't understand the issue with the trans person. And that wasn't the only thing I didn't understand. For a while, I wasn't sure whether the men who crept along toward the prison and then apparently set off an explosion were Charlie's men or Our Team's. In any event, what was the point of the explosion? Was it merely to create a distraction so that Pablo could rescue his father? And how did Pablo arrange for the men when Our Team barely had time to get changed and go in the van as the vaccination brigade?

I thought Delio knew from the start what Epifanio planned to do because Epifanio had told him a couple of days ago. Delio had asked him whether he was going to give positions to his friends and Epifanio said no, he thought this time there should be an auction, and that the people who paid the most money should get the best routes for drug smuggling, or something to that effect.

I agree with you that Sheila's experience helping Viviana give birth has probably made her decide not to have the abortion. I especially thought so when I saw the look on Sheila's face when Viviana held Emiliano.

The scene from a distance after Pablo was killed gave me the impression that Charlie may have been the only person to survive. So the question is, who will finally rid us of this piece of trash? Faustino and Ernie seem like the people with the strongest motivation.
 

reina3

thanks so much novelera !!!

does Tesa have the same phone, why aren't they tracking it?

I was thinking they brought the mercenaries with them from Ecuador, are they all dead?

finally in a chase scene a stray bullet hits the radiator (not that anyone would aim for it)

I didn't like Pablo sacrificing himself for his father (who I thought was dying but seems to be making a miraculous recovery since they drug him out of his bed)

I hadn't made the connection that the laxatives had come from Faustino, but I think Padre G's reluctance is that he was planning on facing the music and doesn't want to be a fugitive.

Isabella Sierra is so cute playing Sofia, I love watching her.

on Epi's demise, don't count Batman out, he's returning to Mexico one way or the other, right?

 

reina3

Thanks, Novelera. Your recap covers everything I needed. This made me laugh: "Oleg is vaccinating these guys like he’s done it all his life." Oleg is so cool in tense times, until lately about his feelings for Teresa.

R.I.P. Pablo. Sorry to see him go. His father has sadly paid the highest price for his rescue. Teresa's comforting words that Pablo's biggest wish was seeing his dad free shows again what a good leader La Reina is.
 

reina3

I'll put up a recap later tonight.
 

reina3 Ep. 57 p. 1 of 2

As the episode opens, Teresa is wondering how they found out she was in Nicaragua. She remembers telling Faustino, but.... Oleg thinks that's probably the answer. Teresa says no, it was his voice.Oleg indicates that they could have cloned his voice, and they could have gotten hold of Faustino's phone. [Hmm...was he watching our telenovela?] Teresa is furious that Epifanio has betrayed her. She calls him, and they exchange bleeped insults. She reminds him, "I did everything you asked, and not only did you try to kill me, you also attacked my daughter and the people I care about most!" She then tells him that breaking her out of prison was the biggest mistake he's ever made. "You don't know where I am, but I know where you are. When you least expect it, I'll be there, ready to kill you." She hangs up on him.

In Colombia, Faustino et al. are trying to plan Padre G's rescue from jail. The woman who owns the place they've been staying in comes in and tells them that the policeman reported that Padre G said to tell you that if you're thinking of a jailbreak, he's not going anywhere.

Sheila tells Sofia she feels like a coward. "I've always been afraid of Batman leaving me, because he's the only man who has ever respected me. I'm afraid he'll change. And a baby changes things." Sofia asks, "Are you saying you want to have the baby?" Sheila shakes her head emphatically, YES!

Epifanio talks by phone to Charlie, who tells him they did what they could, and the managed to kill one. Epifanio isn't at all satisfied. Charlie promises to get Teresa Mendoza. Epifanio is still furious, and he hangs up. Charlie then has a fit.

Epifanio, seemingly drunk, sees Teresa, who taunts him and then shoots him. He then wakes up. Bebita asks whether he had a bad dream.

Teresa is talking with Pablo's father,Astudillo, who seems to have made a miraculous recovery. She tells him, "Pablo told me about a place in Portugal where he wanted to go with you." Astudillo agrees that it's a good place. Teresa says she'll make sure he gets there and has everything he needs. He's pleased, but he assures her and Oleg that he can take care of himself. Ernie and Garcia join them. They want to move back to their main concern: Vargas and Kozar. Teresa says she doesn't want to do anything until she knows that Sofia is OK. Both Ernie and Garcia try to convince her to go after Vargas and Kozar. Garcia points out that "if we don't act now, we'll lose our opportunity." He goes on to explain that Vargas and Kozar are meeting to formalize their agreement. Teresa remains adamant about first making sure that Sofia is OK.

Sister Margarita is going back to the other nuns. They've told her they need her.

Fedor is looking at more video testimonials about Teresa, most of them overwhelmingly positive. The radio is on. Sofia is about to leave the room when she hears the announcement about "la hora gris" and "Tozzi" at the Virgilio Barco Public Library from 2 to 4 pm. She immediately realizes that they're trying to make contact. Sofia, Fedor, Mateo, and Sheila immediately set off for the library.

Epifanio, clearly worried, asks the General for more security because Teresa Mendoza called and threatened to kill him.

Batman, Faustino, and Paloma spot Sofia et al. Major hugs all around. Batman says to Sheila, "Forgive me. I love you." Thrilled and relieved, she hugs him.

Oleg says to Teresa, "More than anything, I want to know how Fedor is. But Palermo and Garcia are right. We should focus on Vargas and Kozar." However, just then, Teresa looks at a flier she's holding and notices "la hora gris" and "Tozzi." They get into a taxi to go to the Library. Palermo sees them leave and is furious. Garcia assures him they'll be back. He points to their luggage, which they've left behind.
 

reina3 Ep. 57 p. 2 of 2

Delio, with his head bleeding, rushes into Epifanio's office. Susana sees him enter the office, and she listens at the closed door. Delio tells Epifanio, "One of your people's guards threw a rock at me as I was leaving my house in my car. It broke my windshield and then cracked open my head." "How do you know it was one of my people?" asks Epifanio. Delio replies that the rock came wrapped in this paper, and there was also a memory card with it. On the paper are scrawled the words "For the big kahuna (el mero mero) from your buddies." Delio again tells Epifanio that what he's considering is very dangerous, "that whoever pays you the most will get special privileges from you." Epifanio says let's see what's on the memory card.

Bebita tells Danilo that Epifanio is very nervous. She then asks Danilo why he wanted to see her. He tells her it's about Susana and how she behaved the other day. He continues, "She told me about the kiss. She's fighting what she feels for you. Her reaction was one of fear. She's worried for you." Bebita asks him rather coldly, "Aren't you crossing the line here?" Danilo apologizes.

Faustino gives Rafa a thick wad of money. "You helped them, and now I help you." Sofia tells him, "It's a gift to celebrate Emiliano's birth."

Sheila and Batman tell each other how much they love each other. She then tells him she plans to have the baby. She adds, "I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for me. I want to be a mother. But I have one condition: never leave my side again."

Charlie tells the Interpol guy that Teresa Mendoza will be in Bogotá very soon, to see her daughter. "She's coming to Colombia. Let's do what we have to do. Understood?" The Interpol guy seems to indicate "yes."

Teresa and Oleg get out of the taxi and start to run, fearing they may be too late. Oleg spots Fedor and calls out to him. Everyone engages in a major hugfest. [But we telenovela veterans know what all this happiness means: something bad will happen soon.]

Susana comes to see Bebita and tells her "I've heard something that might interest you. Epifanio and Delio were in Epifanio's office, and then they disappeared. There's a secret passage." She then goes on to tell Bebita everything she heard, first by listening at the door of Epifanio's office, and then by finding the secret passage and hearing them talking in a room there. She tells Bebita that Delio told Epifanio that he should have kept his word to Teresa. Epifanio disagrees, saying "it was better to leave her buried alive." "No" says Delio. "What I don't know is how she got out." They then listen to the memory card. A man's voice that Susana doesn't recognize says, "I'm not the only one. All of us here agree. What would you think upon hearing that a friend, the big kahuna, is considering betraying you? If what they're saying is true, it would be a declaration of war." The speaker seems to address Epifanio using the word compa, meaning "pal" or "buddy." This enrages Epifanio. Never mind what the issues are--what Epifanio objects to is that the man speaks to him as if they're equals.

Suddenly, Epifanio hears a noise. It's Susana, who has touched something. She immediately retreats, as quietly as possible. Epi and Delio return to Epi's office via the secret passage. Epi puts Delio in charge of the meeting with Kozar, and the episode ends.
 

reina3

Gracias, Juanita. Super recap. An episode without violence, wow. Yep, ugh, that hugfest happiness will not last.

I wondered if Bebita had secretly drugged Epifanio to cause him to have nightmares, but nope. She seemed as surprised as the rest of us that something tormented him.

Since Padre G is sticking to his principles and won’t escape, I sure hope the magistrate honestly lets him go.

Odd, even though Susana asked an aide for a first-aid kit for Delio, Delio never gets that head wound bandaged.

We’ve already got Mateo saying he would die for Sofia. Now we’ve got Batman agreeing to never leave Sheila’s side again. Uh-oh.

The Colombia Interpol guy has always been turned off by Ernie and Charlie. I’m wondering if he’ll get a chance to show Charlie that he’s not the boss of him.
 

Reina3

Sorry, I fell behind. Thank you to all who read and commented on my Friday recap. Many thanks to Juanita and novelera, who have produced wonderful recaps this week.

I don’t get what that event with “Totsy” was supposed to be. We didn’t see it did we? They said lots of people showed up for it. But it did the trick so…okay.

So happy for Batman and Sheila. I hope nothing happens to them. As Juanita wrote, “[But we telenovela veterans know what all this happiness means: something bad will happen soon.]”

Let’s hope Charlie will meet his fate at the hands of Faustino in Colombia. I will enjoy that.

QEPD, Pablo. I never loved him but I thought it was a bad move to kill him. Why couldn’t they just have him go to off with his dad? I think Pablo could have been saved if he left with Teresa. Pablo’s situation wasn’t as dire as Jonathan’s—I understood that sacrifice. It also took one of Teresa’s options off the table. I would have liked to see her turn down Pablo’s Porto offer.

I can’t remember seeing Epifanio so scared. The walls are closing in on him. He needs to suffer. If Teresa doesn’t get him, his narco buddies will.

 

reina3

Terrific recap, Juanita! I really enjoyed your account of what happened and also your speculations.

An episode with very little Charlie is always a good one. And it was quite heartwarming to see all of OurTeam together, even though Teresa and Oleg have promised to cooperate with Garcia and Palermo. When they met on some rooftop or wherever they were, it was clear that Teresa still loathes Ernie. She didn't even look at him, addressing her remarks to Senator Garcia. Wonder if the luggage they left contains the $5 million. Now THAT'S showing the love of a mother. I adore my son, but I think I'd grab the money and then get a cab.

I really do enjoy Epi's uneasiness. And I thought his pet General (Arismendi) looked a bit askance at him. He obeyed about even more security, but I thought he might have lost a bit of respect for Epi.

I was a bit puzzled by Bebita's response to Danilo's explaining why Susana was upset. It was a kind thing for him to do, explaining Susana's behavior. I guess Bebita isn't as accepting of the possibility that Susana has a thing for her as I thought she was.

As Niecie wrote, the Interpol guy looks at Charlie like he's something he just scraped off his shoe. IIRC he's been on a few of Charlie's epic failures, including shooting into crowds of people.

The fact that there was a memory card went right over my head. So, thanks again Juanita, for explaining what Epi and Delio were listening to in that secret passage. That's so weird on the face of it. Was there always a secret passage from the President's office in the National Palace? Or did Epi create it all by himself and then shoot the construction guys who did it?

Mateo got an angry response from Sofia last night. IIRC it was when OurTeam Colombia got the news that Padre G was staying in jail. Or maybe it was something else. But Sofia AND Fedor vehemently disagreed with him. The point was that Mateo muttered something about being on the side of law and order instead of totally with OurTeam.
 

reina3

thanks Juanita, always nice to get your take on things!

loved seeing all the hugging!

Epi's secret passage reminds me of the tunnels and such under the U.S. capital building, White House, etc, I remember the spiral staircase from Vanessa's final days.

Mateo is the odd man of the bunch, but I think Sofia is attracted to that, like she said "it challenges her", would we expect her to be unlike her mom and pick the nice guy?

 

reina3

Thanks very much, Niecie in MD, dondi356, novelera, and deb, for your terrific comments.

Niecie, I too noticed that Delio's wound remained untreated. My guess is that perhaps someone did come with the first-aid kit that Susana had requested, but by the time they came, Delio and Epi were in the room in the secret passage, and Susana was in the secret passage listening. Just a guess. And yes, both Mateo and Batman have now made "uh oh" kinds of statements, but I suspect only one of them will have telenovela-rule consequences. Also, I think/hope you're right about the Interpol guy.

dondi, I've never quite understood how the clues dropped in the announcements (la hora gris, tozzi) are tied to events. Somehow, I think that "events" are mentioned so that there's a limited time frame when the people being sought can come and be united with the others. And I second your hope re Charlie's fate.

novelera, I loved your imagining your response to the choice about $5 million vs. seeing your son! And yes, General Arismendi did seem less than sympathetic to Epifanio's insistence on having more security. Also, your description of Bebita's oddly chilly response to Danilo is very much what I thought, too.

deb, interesting response re Sofia's possible choice. Of course, I'm still hoping that Teresa and Oleg will go off together to some lovely but hidden island somewhere. In other words, that Teresa will finally choose the nice guy. And so yes, if Sofia winds up choosing Fedor, she might be doing what I hope her mother might also do. Then again, at age 15, Sofia shouldn't be seriously choosing anyone!