Caray, Caray!

vuelve

Thanks so much, Darcy. Excellent recap. I really like your combining the scenes to make a sensible narrative.

Well we have two demonstrations of Braulio's character. He always punches below his weight. His fragile self worth requires him to browbeat those he considers underlings: Tigre and Chenta. I laughed out loud when Santiago told him he was going to bring in outside auditors to explain the differing sales numbers.

I don't know what Braulio's final outcome will be, but I sort of hate to think of how shattered Martha will be if it's really, really bad.

The character of Sapo seems to reflect the narco milieu. It's all about fear and greed. The greed is obvious. There's two levels of fear. The obvious one is making whole communities fear the jefe so everything works to their benefit. The other level is the top guys themselves fear of being overthrown. They must appear so scary to stay on the top of the rotten heap.

Hmmm. I know it won't happen. This is a telenovela, after all. But I think a better pair would be Diego and Nuria. I'm pretty tired of the rich boy/poor girl trope. I can foresee difficulties down the road with Amelia and Diego. And the same culture clash with Santiago and Nuria. But it's too much to expect any realism in these novelas.

I liked "uneasy shift in dynamics" to describe what Viewerville is seeing in the Chalo/Chelo/Euge/Carmen characters.

I felt like screaming for the thousandth time at Chelo. Why is she unfailingly so dumb? She buys Fausto's BS about her being found equally to blame for Andres' kidnapping and doesn't tell Santiago flat out that Fausto was the one who did it. If she had two active neurons she should realize that Santiago, with his contacts, could probably get Fausto rounded up and booked for the crime.

Again, Darcy, thanks so much for the fine recap!
 

Vuelve

I was getting some vibe from Euge towards Diego. Maybe that’s who she lives over Chemo (Chamo? Charo?) can’t keep all these Ch- names straight). Anyway, Diego is good people and he’s a better choice than what’s-his-name. Chalo? I like the Diego- Nuria match, even though we know it won’t happen. Violates all laws of telenoveladom.

K
 

Vuelve

Darcy, thank you for that excellent recap of all the magic moments .

I will have to see if I can find a photo of Alberto online because I don't know who he is . I wonder if Tigre is going to be jealous and eliminate his competition .

Well, it looks like we are getting a Chelo\Chalo matchup . Is Chalo up to protecting weepy Chelo from Fausto? #vowels

Liana seems to have picked herself up and put on the war paint . She evidently thinks she is up to handling Sapo which is probably a big miscalculation .

Yay, Santi and the writers . Santi is displaying some hero qualities . I like it. I would like to see a partnership of Santi and Diego to take down Fausto . I am still ticked about the writers erasing Jacinto so early on. Maybe the actor had another job .
Susan
 

vuelve

Susan, the Alberto actor is Jorge Luis Pila. He's appeared in several Telemundo novelas, mostly as a good guy, but a couple of times as a sleep around Romeo. I googled him for fun and found out he's born in Cuba, like William Levy. He seems to have come, at least to me, from the part of Cuba where they don't speak quite as rapidly as they do in William's area!
 

Vuelve

Novelera, thanks. I found photos online and recognized him as Santi's good amigo.I didn't remember the name Alberto. Chenta ( Vincenta) seemed quite interested in this kind , guaypo guy.

Are Chelo and Chalo nicknames ?

Can't wait to see what happens next. Susan
 

Vuelve – 1/11/23 part 1

Amelia continues to consider whether Braulio is her only option. Ros tries to discourage her, telling her that Braulio is only manipulating her. But Nuria is afraid that Braulio may be her only option to be with Andres. What if she’s turning down her only hope?

Andres continues to fear the future and Amelia and Braulio reassure him that he will always be with them and he isn’t ever going to have to leave!

Chelo tries to talk to Nuria but she refuses, saying she doesn’t even want to look at her. Later, Chelo’s new champion approaches Nuria and asks for her to forgive Chelo. Nuria isn’t receive at all at first, and Chalo plays the dead sister card. He says he’s not sure this is the right thing to say but at least Nuria has her sister, Chalo’s sister was killed by another jackass like Fausto and now Chalo will never be able to see her again; does Nuria really want to let the history repeat itself? The next day, Nuria does try to approach Chelo in the kitchen, even asks how the baby is doing, but it’s a pained conversation. She tells Chelo she is planning to get rid of the sewing machine because she doesn’t want to have anything to do with the dirty money, but Chelo points out that Nuria needs the sewing machine for her business and tells her to keep it. Chelo tries begging for forgiveness again and Nuria says that she will always care about Chelo, always want to protect her and make sure bad things don’t happed to her but she can’t forgive her. She’s not sure she will ever be able to.

Tigre and Sapo discuss whether Liana is up for the job. Tigre asks if Sapo is really going to let the ladies live like he told Liana, but Sapo admits he’s going to kill them all including Liana. He checks to see Tigre’s reaction, and Tigre says to kill them all.

Euge and Carmen discuss Diego coming to see Nuria and they wonder how he could know her and why he wants to see her. Euge thinks Diego is a nice guy and probably harmless but Carmen doesn’t trust anyone. By the end of the conversation, they are pondering all the nefarious motivates Diego might have.

Diego discusses the Nuria problem – with Danita! It was cute, he worries to his daughter. Diego’s main concern is what kind of person Nuria might be, but he feels like he’ll be able to tell by looking in her eyes.


Santi wasn’t bluffing, he gathers the outside auditors and the audit is on! That was fast! Braulio sees them at the company, and he’s not amused.

Cassie continues to be a pain to Martha, but she’s cheered when Ari arrives. Cassie is a whole different person when Ari is around it’s a rather glaring difference, suddenly she’s all smiles and optimism. After Martha stays long enough to be thanked, she leaves Ari and Cassie alone. They talk about how Ari is now going to AA, Cassie vows to support him and Ari can’t believe she’s willing to stand by him even though he put her in a wheelchair. (Darcy can’t believe it either) Ari also asks about Andres because he wants to apologize to him too, Cassie fills him in on the return of the birth mother. Ari tries to reassure everything will be okay, but Cassie is thinking big shake ups are coming to this house.

Martha and Amelia start to talk about Cassie and Andres when Liana arrives to give support and tell the ladies it’s going down at the company. She informs them it looks like Braulio is laundering money and Santi discovered it. Martha wants an emergency meeting just the family. Amelia wants to send her dad in her place since she has no energy for the company right now; but Liana tells her to think of ‘Juanito’ who is a shareholder too! Liana just hopes this isn’t true that Braulio is laundering money…


 

Vuelve – 1/11/23 part 2

Oh, Alberto isn’t divorced, he’s getting divorced! We learn this as he and Santi wait outside the auditor’s room for the results. Santi knows that this isn’t the best time for Alberto, but he wants him to help Nuria get her son back. Later, Santi and Alberto show up to see Nuria and Alberto offers to be her lawyer. Nuria is the normal surly and uncertain at first, especially when Alberto offers to take the case Pro Bono, but ultimately she is convinced and shakes Alberto’s hand.


Nuria asks to talk to Santi alone and Alberto takes his leave. Nuria asks Santi about going against his family and he tells her that he doesn’t care, he’s on her side. Besides, he spent years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, he knows what it’s like to be a victim of injustice and he’s always going to fight for what’s right. Nuria thanks Santi, he saved her life that day on the bridge and he’s doing it again. Santi tells her that he loves her, that he’s always loved her. Nuria admits she still loves him too, but she can’t be with him. The only thing she can offer is friendship.

Chelo worries more about going to jail if anyone finds out Fausto kidnapped Andres. Nothing new here.

Liana tells Braulio that Martha called an emergency meeting and makes it sound like she found out from Santi. She offers Braulio the perfect idea for disputing Santi. Braulio questions her motivations, but Liana says she’s looking out for herself! She has a vice-presidency to protect.

Back in her office, Liana tells security to turn off all cameras and remove all personnel. She says Braulio is having a private meeting and doesn’t want any of it seen. The security guy is reluctant, but Liana convinces him it’s Braulio’s orders. Liana calls Sapo and says he has a 10-minute window, be on time!

Ari asks Andres for forgiveness, and he says he will forgive him as long as he promises never to drive that fast again. Little kids are easily pleased. Speaking of which, Aida makes the kids burgers, pizza and ice cream since none of the adults are around. Andres says this is cheering him up now that that woman came claiming to be his mom. He’s worried about what might happen but they all assure him that they would always love him no matter what. (Pizza and ice cream would cheer me up right now, not that anything is wrong, it just sounds good)

Everyone arrives for the meeting. Valentin arrives with Amelia and Braulio isn’t pleased. Santi isn’t there yet, Sapo arrives too, outside. He orders his men to kill everyone and they storm into the building.

Ros and Rai plan their wedding registry, they also talk about Chelo and Nuria. Ros starts out as unyielding as can be, but she’s no match for Rai’s gentleness. He carefully reminds her that she too knows what it’s like to be in an abusive relationship, and by the end of the conversation he even has Ros worrying about all the horrible things that could have happened to Chelo.

Euge and Nuria talk in the courtyard about Nuria’s new lawyer, but they don’t get very far before Diego arrives. Euge tells Nuria that she forgot to tell her Diego was coming, and Nuria remembers back to meeting Diego before. Diego says he’s there to talk about Juan, um…he means Andres. He thinks he has the answers to some of her questions. Euge wants to ask a lot of questions, but Diego wants to talk to Nuria alone. Diego tells Nuria the whole truth, including that he was the one who ran over Andres. He says he went to the police, and he tried to look for Nuria but there wasn’t much they could do since Andres didn’t know his own name and he didn’t match any of the descriptions of kids missing locally. He tells Nuria he wants to help; he wants to make sure Andres recovers his memory. Diego owes it to Andres since he saved his life and he’s the best thing that has happened to Diego in a long time. Diego’s speech is very sincere and Nuria looks like she believes him. The only thing he can’t tell her is why Andres was in Aguascalientes, the only person who knows is Andres.


 

Vuelve – 1/11/23 part 3

Braulio starts going off about Santi again and how everyone always believes him. Valentin and Braulio argue about who will be providing the lawyer services for Andres…. I don’t have patience to listen to this crap, I want to know what Sapo is going to do!!! And he and his guys are making their way in. He’s bringing like half a dozen men to this gun fight and they’re the only ones armed!!! Seems like overkill to me, but I guess it’s supposed to look impressive and intimidating.


Nuria asks why Diego didn’t adopt Andres himself, and he says he wanted to but he wasn’t in a good place financially at the time and they wouldn’t let him. Nuria knows this story very well and shares her doubts about Amelia and Braulio and how they got Andres. She’s still thinking they could be involved in the kidnapping, Diego tells Nuria about how Amelia really met Andres. And we see flashbacks of the early days of Amelia and Andres, Diego says Andres won over Amelia’s heart just like he has everyone else. Nuria admits that Amelia has given Andres the love of a mother and Diego says it’s true, but even then, Amelia was willing to look for Andres real parents in the past. He tells Nuria how he told Amelia that he suspected Andres’ real parents were looking for him and Amelia agreed to looked for them even though she knew she might lose Andres, but what she found was…. Fausto and Chelo, Nuria finishes the sentence.

Fausto calls Chelo again, he still wants to extort Amelia somehow, and he wants Chelo to go pick up the money. Chelo says no. Fausto says it’s an order and not a question and Chelo will do it whether she likes it or not, but Chelo says he is sick and she isn’t playing his games. Fausto wants at least 100k to run away together but Chelo tells him to go by himself. She and the baby are safer there.

Chenta tries to ask Tigre about the meeting that made Braulio furious, Mia comes at the same time to ask Chenta to call Santi since everyone is waiting for him, but Sapo arrives on the floor at the same time, and starts shooting. Everyone gets down, they hear the shots from Liana’s office and Martha actually tries to go investigate but Liana stops her. Sapo is yelling ‘where is Braulio Zepeda?’ and then he points his gun at Tigre’s head and says, ‘I’ll blow your brains out if you don’t tell me where Braulio Zepeda is!’ And our episode fades out.

 

Vuelve

Susan, yes Chelo and Chalo are nicknames. Chelo's real name is Consuelo. I haven't heard Chalo called anything but Chalo, but wiki says the character's real name is Jeramias.

I feel the same way 'can't wait to see what happens next', it's been a minute since I've had that feeling about a novela. They are really doing a good job of keeping the intrigue dialed up.
 

vuelve

Thanks again, Darcy. You really nailed all the details. And I completely agree with your side comment about not believing the now saintly Ari would want a girlfriend in a wheelchair.

Diego was first rate in his discussion with Nuria. I think it's important that she give Amelia some slack, especially knowing that she tried to find Andres' real family.

I'm watching Sapo and the Lesser Narcos storm the building and can't help wondering about their pay scale. Sapo's second in command, the one he confides in, has some lines and may get whatever scale is. How do they get the rest of them? Wander Miami streets looking for brutal faces and offering a pittance?

I'd bet a lot that Fausto is going to grab up at least the baby and maybe she and the baby before this is over.

I suspect that Santi showing up late to the big meeting will prove crucial. And I don't think Sapo is going to succeed in killing Braulio and Liana. They still have some more scene chewing to do.
 

vuelve

I will do a recap tonight, length depending on my energy level.
 

vuelve

1/12/24 Pt 1 of 2

Sapo, with his too short pants and lack of socks, has the less important members of GZ staff kneeling. In the conference room Braulio, Martha, Valentin, and Liana sneak around while Sapo looks for Braulio.

Chelo tells Fausto that the baby is too new to be on the run with him. He sort of agrees to wait, but tells her that he’ll call her when it’s time for her to make that call to Amalia and ask for the money he still somehow thinks he’ll get.

Sapo keeps threatening people to give up Braulio. Mia is not doing well, shaking like a leaf. When Tigre protests, Sapo bashes him in the head with a gun.

The executive group sneak around the building, and Braulio tries to open some door so they can escape. Sapo threatens to kill the ones he’s captured one by one. Tigre looks like he’s not sure of what he’s done.

Diego pleads Amelia’s case to Nuria. Nuria replies that he has no idea how she’s suffered. We are treated to some flashbacks, one of Nuria screaming when Captain Corrupt tells her Andres was found dead, and the other when she was going to jump off that bridge. Nuria’s not letting Amalia off the hook. She tells Diego that Amalia paid off Fausto instead of contacting the police, prolonging the whole thing.

Valentin really makes Braulio look like a craven coward when he goes to speak with the thugs.

Santiago and Alberto are stuck in traffic. This is why Santi was not there for the big reveal about Braulio’s cooking the books. Alberto tells Santi that Martha and Amalia are going to hate him for representing Nuria. Santi tells him “Welcome to the club”.

Nuria tells Diego that she knows that Amalia loves Andres, and she’s grateful for her caring for him. Diego says that the boy is pure love, a special child. Chelo approaches. Diego gives her quite the stare. And Nuria tells Chelo that she owes Diego an apology as well.

Aida and Mariano observe Casandra, Ari, and Andres playing and are content.

Valentin comes in to tell Sapo that no one knows where Braulio is. Liana and Martha hide in Liana’s office. Martha calls Santi to beg him to call the police.

This is weird. Casandra sees some notice of what’s happening at GZ on her phone. She’s worried about Martha. Aida later says that they mustn’t let Andres know about the danger, but of course he overhears.

Tons of cops arrive at the building. Santi and Alberto show up and are told they can’t go in. The main hostage negotiator tells them that the guy doing this is Sapo Fernandez, the head of the Bajío Cartel. Santi and Alberto go into a back warehouse area.
 

vuelve

1/12/24 Pt 2 of 2

Sapo finds Martha and Liana. He’s still demonstrating a kind of a yen for Martha. Martha tells Sapo to kill her but spare Braulio. He corners Martha and starts insinuating and nuzzling her cheek. He says something to Martha about Braulio hiding under her skirts, and she slaps him. Valentin tries to grab Sapo.

When it looks like Sapo is ready to shoot Martha, Braulio finally comes out. Sapo makes a speech. He tells everyone that Braulio lost millions of pesos by buying telas chafas (shoddy fabrics). “When he thought this would be discovered, he came to me for a loan. I told him I wanted to launder money through the company and also to move the drugs in GZ trucks.” We see Liana smirking, enjoying Braulio’s downfall. Braulio tries to say it’s a lie. Sapo tells the others that the police seized his drugs from a GZ truck, and Braulio promised him to get it back. “Then he set a trap for me.”

Sapo points his gun at Braulio. Then he says he wants him to suffer first. He’ll kill Martha in front of Braulio. Liana jumps up objecting. Then Sapo grabs up Amelia, admiring her. He says that maybe he can give her a baby.

Santi and Alberto run up about 20 flights of stairs.

Sapo’s evil second in command threatens to kill Chenta and Mia. Mia faints.

Chelo again begs Nuria to forgive her. Nuria says that Diego was brave enough to come to tell her what happened, including Chelo obeying Fausto and being part of the extortion. She tells Chelo to pray she gets Andres back because, if not, she may turn Chelo into the police. Nuria says she’d do anything for her child, including marrying Braulio. Chelo begs her not to marry Braulio. And later Ros also begs her not to do it. Ros says she’ll get Andres back, either legally or otherwise.

Sapo is gloating over Amalia. Valentin jumps him and is shot. Martha yells at the thugs to call an ambulance. Valentin looks bad. We see Amelia trying to stop the bleeding with her hands. Valentin makes one of those last speeches we’ve seen so many times. He tells Amelia how much he loves and admires her. He dies.

The evil second in command shoots Tigre when he’s trying to get the guy to let the woman go. He’s shot in the thigh, I think. It’s too soon for him to exit the novela.

Sapo tells Martha that Braulio caused all of this because of his greed. Martha tells Braulio that Santiago was right (about the fake sales figures). Amalia asks Braulio how he could have done this.

Martha tells Sapo to kill her but to spare her son. Liana begs for Martha’s life.

We see that Santiago has broken the lock on the door with a fire extinguisher. He and Alberto run through.

Sapo tells Liana he’ll spare everyone if Liana kills Braulio. He hands her a spare gun. I wouldn't bet my 401K that she'll go through with it. Probably something will save Braulio.

So…the big hostage scene carries on to Monday.
 

"VUELVE" HIGHLIGHTS DISCUSSION:

Novelera: WOW! That escalated quickly & not shocked Val died telling Amelia he loved her.

I hope law enforcement agencies can stop the bloodthirsty carnage.
 

Vuelve

Thank you Novelera! Great recap!

So much drama!!! All those guys following him and Sapo really has no idea how to storm a building properly! If he had come in quietly and not made a ruckus until actually locating Braulio and Co., we could have been spared all the looking around trying to find people. But then I guess they want the extra drama. Yeah, I bet the minions are extras. I went to school in Southern California, and I had some friends who regularly took gigs as extras, from what I heard, it doesn't pay anywhere as much as the regular actors, but it's not bad a day's work.

Martha calls Santi to beg him to call the police! I actually laughed!!! Woman, call the police yourself, you've proven that the phone works just fine!

I too liked the scenes between Nuria and Diego, they were respectful and calm. They both said how they felt and they both listened each other's perspective. I think Diego knows that Andres has to go back to Nuria, no matter how hard it's going to be for the women he loves.

I couldn't believe Alberto actually asked who Santi believed should get Andres. How does one year with Amelia even begin to compare with a lifetime with Nuria? He was kidnapped!!! Are there really people who believe that it's okay to kidnap a child and then a year later argue that they are better off with the new family because they are adjusted and happy? Granted the memory loss adds a layer, but still! I'm thinking Andres has to recover his memory, he's already had some flashes and dreams.

Nice to see the kids all happy and getting along, for the short time that lasted.

Yeah, I don't see anyone else dying.... but we'll see on Monday!

 

Vuelve

Novelera, thank you for bringing us all the tense negotiations . I am supporting Sapo in his assignment to Liana. I am okay with that .

Euge doesn't seem to care that the guy who just proposed to her is defending that poor little weak kitten with almost an identical name . Chalo must have decided that Chelo is as close as he is ever going to get to Nuria, the grand prize. Nuria, don't sell the sewing machine purchased with blood money ...you can sew sleeves on Chalo's " sun's out; guns out " plaid shirts . ..community service , perhaps.

I am counting on Santi and Al to bring some hero vibes to the table.
Susan