Caray, Caray!

OT

Welcome back, Juanita!
 

Juanita,

so nice to see you doing well!

don't know what's up with Zap2it but I found a backdoor,
https://tvlistings.gracenote.com/grid-affiliates.html?aid=lat

if you missed it, next up is "Velvet: El nuevo imperio", following "la Jefa" in May.

 

jefa

This plot is all over the map. Eduardo Torres showed up with, I think, twice what the market rate was for the drugs he stole and gave the $$$ to Duque. How?

Ernestina showed some backbone. I hope she survives. Telling her bad to the bone sister that she knew Luisa had come to kill her own sister was risky. And that Sebas shot her. Erna threatened to reveal the truth to the snoopy reporter that the cover story about Luisa being paralyzed in an auto accident that killed Fernando was a lie. Then Luisa tried to get Jacinto to have the reporter killed.

It's driving Duque nuts that he's not permitted to kill neither Gloria nor Torres. I have a theory about who the big baddie is, but I'll keep mum.

Venancio wants Gloria to cross the border with a million bucks in a money laundering scheme. She seems on board but spoke out against continuing to do it. Judging by the very first scene where she's arrested, it looks like Venancio will get his way.

Laura finds out from Nico that Perrón has been in regular communication with Arturo, Miguel's bio dad. Laura bemoans her taste in men, something Viewerville could have told her from the very beginning.
 

Jefa

Thanks, Novelera. I do hope Ernestina survives to dump Facundo.
 

OT

So happy you're back, Juanita!

 

jefa #33 part 1

Thanks for starting the convo, novelera. I have some more highlights and lowlights.

Good news—the transplant is a success. Gloria contacts Erna with the update. Erna is determined to gain Glo’s trust. Seeing is believing.
Eduardo checks in with Gloria. She shares the good news but tells him she won’t have anything to do with him while he’s still married to Vero.

Laura can’t bring herself to do the online stuff.

Luisa worries about the investigative reporter.

Erna visits Luisa and gives her the transplant update. Luisa wants to know how Erna found out. She tells Erna that her calls can be traced. Luisa blackmails, if you don’t help, the rumor will spread that you tried to kill Gloria. So far, Erna is standing strong.

Arturo hands Miguel drugs to sell to classmates, with the directions, give free samples first, then sell at a high price. Miguel negotiates, he wants half of what he sells. Art calls the boy a good salesman—did you get that from your dad? Miguel says, I never met him, and I hope I never will. He’s a rat who left my mom when she was pregnant. Art tells him not to judge.

Laura picks up Miguel from school. Art watches them from a distance.

Erna tells Luisa she won’t be a puppet anymore. She won’t hurt Gloria or mom. Erna asks, what would happen if the press finds out you were not paralyzed in an accident? It happened because you tried to kill Glo and Sebas defended her.

Ed approaches Marlin and sidekick, Simon, to ask for a meeting with Duque about the merch. Ed comes close to getting killed.

Jacinto and Luisa strategize about the reporter situation Jacinto reasons, it’s not so easy to get this reporter, Orcajo, out of the way. If something happened to him, who would be the first suspect? He doesn’t have any proof. Jacinto tells Luisa to stop doing stupid things like setting fires and fighting with family. Luisa tells Jacinto that Erna has defected over to Gloria’s side. Jacinto thinks that’s good. Erna will eventually lead them to Gloria.

The big boss sends a woman to Duque with a message. He’s not happy about the stolen merch.

Simon contacts Duque to set up the meeting with Ed. The woman says this is good, the boss has plans for Torres. Torres will be killed when it hurts Gloria the most. Don’t kill Torres now, she warns, but get the merch back.

Yadi goes to the support meeting. Gael is there. He tells her she’s not leaving without giving him her name and number. Yadi shares her story with the group.

Maribel demands payback from Juana. She almost drowns her in a toilet. Juana finally gasps, I’ll pay you back. [Wonder what kind of payback.]

 

jefa #33 part 2

Flowers are delivered to Mati’s hospital room. They are for Glo from Venancio. “Glad mom and son are well. Hope to see you soon like we agreed.” Glo tells Mati the flowers are from Ed.

Ed makes his pitch. He offers to double the street value of the drugs. The woman watches and listens from another room. Ed says if he is successful, let him and his family go, if not, kill him. Duque agrees and they shake on it. Duque gives him one month to make good. The woman informs the big boss.

Erna tells Mati she wants no part of harming Gloria. Mati is happy. Jacinto arrives and starts with the threats. Ha, ha, does he think he’s punishing her by sleeping in the guestroom?

Gael tells Yadi that being a group coordinator, he can’t get involved with her. She says she’ll quit. He replies that her recovery is more important. See you next week? Yes, but she seems disappointed.

I guess some weeks have passed. Gloria, Mati and Dani return to CDMX. Welcome home greetings from Yadi. Now Glo has to meet with Venancio. She doesn’t want Ed to know she’s back yet.

Vero feeds Amanda poisoned food. After Vero leaves, the maid switches it out and tells Amanda this will be their secret.

Perron gets the news he’s being released tomorrow.

Nino tells Laura that Perron was making calls to Arturo in the US.

Gloria meets with Venancio. He wants her to meet with people in Tijuana to pick up money and take it across the border without getting caught. One million dollars. Glo is stunned but she will keep her word. How will she move the money?

Nino tells her Art is a drug dealer. He found out she was living with Perron. Miguel was the target. Laura is devastated.

Miguel hangs out with Arturo and Bolillo. Miguel asks Art when he will meet his mom. The answer is always “later”. Miguel gives Art his share from the sales. Art is impressed.

So, it’s a month later. Ed has a meet up with Duque. Ed hands over the money.

Venancio is giving Glo a car to cross the border. Cross through San Isidro, lane three. Stay in lane three even if there’s a long line. Go to San Diego, Friendship Park. Someone will be waiting for you. Give them the money and you’re done. Venancio says then it’s on to the next job. Next job??

Venancio says Glo will keep working for him. He wants her to be his partner. She wants nothing to do with the narco business. This business is like death, he replies, nobody gets out alive. You’re a part of it now that we’ve done business.

And we are out.

 

jefa

#34 – Part 1 of 3

Gloria tells Venancio she’s doing this one thing, because she’s replaying the money she was given to save her son. Venancio tells her that he needs her finura (refinement, classiness) and her eyes of a mother. He assures her he doesn’t kill for pleasure, but because he’s obliged to. He says she won’t travel using her own name. He gives her a burner phone that already has the number of her contact, one Bacalau (huh? a Portuguese dish made with salted cod? We had some during a group outing after one of my semesters of Portuguese at the community college.)

Torres tells Duque he doesn’t want trouble. That’s why he took Duque’s merca to the border. He distributed it; he sold it; he collected on it. And here’s the money back, $2 million. Duque is astonished at what Torres accomplished, and he wants Torres to come to work for him. He gets a flat refusal. Duque reluctantly says that they’re even.

I’m losing hope that Miguel will end up as a happy child with his mother. He’s proud of having sold the drugs. Art tells him he’ll do well in El Gabacho (the U.S.). Miguel replies that his mother always wanted to live with him in the U.S. When Miguel leaves, Bolillo asks if he only wants the kid to sell cohetes. [This is a new one for me. The word means rockets or fireworks. Never heard drugs described this way.] Art replies that it’s puro calentamiento (just a warmup). Arturo says to himself that he’ll take the boy the next day.

Laura continues talking with Nino. She tells him about the other kidnapping attempt in Colombia. [This was Arturo and Perrón’s fake attempt in order to convince Laura to bring Miguel to Mexico.]

Bolillo catches up with Miguel and brings him home.

Veronica tells her father Ed has been back and forth to the U.S. She’s checked his passport. This woman is a monster. She tells her father that Ed only likes sick kids (Dani) and Amanda is disgracefully healthy (thanks to the maid switching her food). She tells her father about Gloria. Her father reminds her she’s had a mental illness since she was 15 years old. [Her father seems like a nice man, but what the hell? He’s alluded to knowing his grandson died because of his mother. And, instead of going to the police or to the courts to get Amanda away from her mother, he keeps trying to reason with the nutcase!]

Eduardo has come to plead his case with Gloria. She almost shuts the door in his face.

Bolillo is about to make a move on Laura when Miguel comes out of his room. He gets something out of his backpack, and a wad of money he earned selling drugs falls out. Laura, yells: “Where’d you get that?” Bolillo gives him a headshake behind Laura’s back.
 

jefa

#34 – Part 2 of 3

I’m starting to move toward dondi’s point of view. The guy playing Eduardo doesn’t have the right galán chops. Gloria turns him down. He begs. He says the same old, same old: he’s with Veronica for the sake of Amanda. She doesn’t budge. He thinks Venancio wants to bed her. She denies it. When she asks him about the truck full of drugs, he says it’s resolved. He insists he won’t give up trying for her love.

Laura goes off on Miguel. The kid is quite defiant. He says he was better off where she abandoned him, in Colombia. Laura doesn’t just back away from this hurtful remark. She tells him the sacrifices she made for him, for her whole family in Colombia. The kid doesn’t care. He’s angry. Bolillo tells Laura he’s going to try to calm the boy. But he just tells Miguel he did good being tough with her; that’s what men do.

Mathilde, Yadira and Dani go to the park. Mati asks Yadira how she makes ends meet and is told she’s been doing housework or some such.

Duque’s big boss’s assistant, with the curly hair, has been watching Gloria’s house. She tells him that Torres came to visit her, and it seems their relationship continues. She repeats out loud what she heard over the phone: Eduardo Torres dies today.

We keep being tormented with worry about Yadira. She’s getting messages from some guy who wants a “private show”. She says no, but then questions whether it would be safe. Just then Gael shows up. He’s doing some surveying at the very park she and Mati have chosen.

Curly hair tells Duque about needing to kill Torres. He figures out that the boss is jealous. He has a thing for Gloria.

Luisa is remembering having sex with Duque who, it seems, hasn’t been around for a month. Amparo has come into Luisa’s room. Laura asks why she’s so scared of Duque. Amparo tells her that Duque was the one who kidnapped Facundo. Luisa tries to say it might not have been him. [Be careful, Amparo, this woman cannot be trusted.] Amparo doesn’t listen to me and tells Luisa that she’s seen her son. He told her that it was Duque’s lab where the kidnapped chemists were living like slaves. At least Luisa looks concerned.

Laura tells Gloria about Miguel’s behavior. Gloria thinks he’ll straighten out. [Right now, I don’t agree.] Gloria asks Laura for help in how to behave, knowing that Laura smuggled drugs on her person.

Amanda is too innocent. She tells her mother she feels fine, when she’d be better off saying her tummy hurts. Ed comes to say he wants a divorce.
 

jefa

#34 – Part 3 of 3

Laura tells Gloria she cannot appear nervous. “Don’t eat or you might be nauseous with worry.” Laura says that passing through Tijuana is really difficult. They change the officers all the time. Laura says she needs to look pretty, but not vulgar. Pretty girls get passed through more easily. Laura says that a little cleavage can be a distraction, if needed. But don’t look at them and keep your eyes down. Laura gives her a religious amulet to carry with her for protection.

As we might have guessed Veronica goes nuts when Ed mentions divorce. She goes to get Amanda and tells her that her father is leaving them and wants a divorce. Ed tries to soothe the child and tells her how much he loves her. Vero gets nastier and nastier, and Ed says he’ll fight tooth and nail for his child.

Laura tells Yadira about Gloria’s upcoming border crossing.

Gael tells Yadi he’s going to become the group leader for a different NA meeting. That way it will be all right if they date. Kisses ensue.

Marlin and another thug are outside Eduardo’s house (the one with Veronica and Amanda inside). They’ve come to do Duque’s bidding and kill him. [How do they know he isn’t in for the night?]

Gloria asks Mati to tell Ed, if he asks, that she’s going to Tijuana for something Mati needs.

Duque shows up at Gloria’s door. She rushes out and closes the door, so Mati won’t see him. It looks like he’s come to gloat. He tells her that she’s tripped over the same rock more than once [Juan José and Torres]. They’re both slick guys. He kind of threatens Dani since he is forbidden to kill her. She gets right up in his face and says that she will definitely kill him if he does that.

Eduardo tells Vero that he calmed Amanda. He has a packed bag with him. He asks her to just let him see Amanda. He thanks her for his children. She goes crazy, hitting him and saying she’ll die if he leaves her. He calmly says he no longer loves her. He can’t remember when he looked at her with anything besides pity. Marlin can see them in the doorway.

Duque gets to his point. He says that Torres, who’s been warming her bed, will be in the same mess as Juan José. His guys are going to kill Torres tonight, and it’s too late to warn him. Cool as a cucumber, Gloria says that, if he were a bit more intelligent, he’d tell his guys not to kill him. “We work with important people who are looking out for us.”

Duque just laughs, saying that she’d need an army. She says: “How about the army of Venancio Estrada? We work for him. And you’d be declaring war.” How I love the worried look on Duque’s face!
 

"JEFA"
Novelera: Thanks for the recap of last night's episode.

OMG Amparo: Are you expletive STUPID ? You know Crazy Luisa will tell Duque.

Veronica is CRAZY. Intentionally poisoning & killing your own kid OMG.

 

jefa

Dondi and Novelera, thanks for Monday and Tuesday. What a treat to have detailed recaps of both episodes. I'm feeling that La jefa is finally circling where it needs to be.

Yay, at last Duque is floored by something. No way does he want to take on Venancio Estrada.

Laura *almost* let Bolillo kiss her? Mujer, wake up.

Yay, Gael is no dummy and switches to a different NA group so he can become Yadira's novio.


 

jefa

Great recap, novelera, thanks so much.

“Bacalau (huh? a Portuguese dish made with salted cod?” Reminded me of when grandma soaked the “baccalà” for days to have it ready for Christmas Eve. Mmmm… baccalà with potatoes, capers, and olives in tomato sauce. In Italian American slang, a baccalà is a foolish person. As stupid as a fish.

I’m worried about Miguel.

“Her (Vero’s) father seems like a nice man, but what the hell?” ITA, Vero should not have custody. But Ed isn’t exactly a good candidate anymore. Will grandpa step up?

Is Gael too good to be true?

Yuck for Bolillo and Laura. She needs to get with Nino.

I think Dorothy Parker’s quip applies to Arana— he “runs the gamut of emotions from A to B.” He was the same in ESLDC.

Gloria’s about to transform into La Jefa.

 

OT

Many thanks, everyone, for your warm welcome. I'm very glad to be back.

Juanita
 

Jefa

Dondi and Novelera, thank you both for the excellent recaps of all the death, drugs, and darkness .

I have seen the guy playing Torres in several shows . He usually plays a bad guy , but Good or bad, he always acts moody and sleepy . He is a low energy guy .

Vero is BSC. The maid is probably saving that poor little girl on a daily basis. Awful.

Laura has terrible taste in men. Yikes.

The actor playing Arturo has been in so many telenovelas . He usually plays a bad guy , but I loved him when he played a kind of goofy good guy last year on Univision. Susan
 

OT Velvet

I saw a promo for Velvet . It looks pretty good . Chantal Andere and Danilo Carrera are in it. Susan
 

OT

Juanita, so glad to "see" you back . susan
 

jefa

I meant to mention the “amulet” that Laura gave Gloria. It looks like a scapular. Laura said it was the Holy Child. Probably the Holy Child of Atocha. A devotion popular among Hispanic cultures. Since Laura gave it to her, I wonder if it will figure into the story somehow.

 

jefa

Thanks, guys. I'll say one thing for this novela. A lot happens every episode.

Niecie: Amen about Laura's picking rotten men "Mujer, wake up!" They keep on hinting that Bolillo has a tiny bit of conscience, only to dash our hopes again and again.

dondi, yep, Miguel's prospects don't look good. I wonder if Arturo's plan to grab him up will work. I'm not looking forward to Laura's emotional collapse if it does. Yes, Ed isn't in a good position to have Amanda live with him, but at least she'd be safe. And novelas always have hot and cold running nannies. Kudos on the Dorothy Parker quote. That woman took no prisoners. Interesting thought about what Laura gave Gloria. My eyes usually glaze over at religious superstitions, but you could be right that it serves a purpose.

Susan, amen on the yikes about Laura's series of horrible male partners. I am on tenterhooks waiting for Perrón to get out of prison and come after her. His lawyer presented him with his get out of jail packet.
 

"JEFA"
Novelera: Laura is just STUPID & a lost cause at this point.

Gut feeling Gael maybe up to no good 🤔

Dondi356: Safe to say Season 1 will NOT have a happily ever after.

Susan: I still do NOT like Erna.

Niecie: Gloria's about to transform into Jefa & never come back.

 

jefa #35 highlights part 1

Gloria manages to convince Duque to back off from killing Ed. Duque calls Marlin to stop the hit. Marlin looks very disappointed.

Ed and Vero continue to argue about the same stuff. He finally leaves with his suitcase.

Vero takes a big glass candle jar and bashes herself in the head and face. She doesn’t see Amanda watching her from the stairs. Vero calls the police to report her husband tried to kill her.

Jacinto bangs the maid. Erna bangs on the door and interrupts. She wants to talk. They can’t go on living like this—he’s in the guest room and she sleeps alone. He ushers her away so the maid can make her escape.

Gael asks about Yadi’s work. She talks about working in a salon. A man interrupts and says it’s late and time to close. Gael offers to escort her home. She accepts.

Facundo and Karen try to get FGR support for their case. In the meantime, the captive students plan an escape while the bosses are in CDMX. Looks like the escape is successful.

Duque vents his frustrations to Curly Hair Debora. He had Torres but couldn’t kill him. Debora says they can’t start a war with Venancio. Duque wonders how Gloria got involved with Venancio. Duque wants Debora to convince the big boss to let him kill Torres.

Ed comes to Gloria. She tells him about the bluff she pulled on Duque. He thanks her and tells her he asked Vero for a divorce. Ed wants to start a life with Gloria—he’ll start a business, something honest. He’ll Daniel’s trust and love. He wants to introduce Glo to Amanda. He asks Glo for forgiveness. Guess Ed’s pipe dream is enough for Gloria. She rushes in with a big kiss that knocks him into the wall.

Ok, the kiss doesn’t mean forgiveness. It means Glo is willing to talk and fix things. He wants to spend the night but she has things she needs to do in the morning—stuff for her mom. More kisses that I can do without.

The cupboard is bare at Laura’s and she’s got no money in her pockets. Miguel asks how much her job pays. Not much, people take advantage because she’s undocumented. [what happened to the money Miguel made from dealing?] Miguel says he’s heard about this from “older friends.”

Laura questions him about these friends. Miguel says they are the same ones who gave him money. Laura goes to a cabinet and there’s Miguel’s money. And why did they give you the money, Laura asks.

Perron is told to pack his things, he’s getting released.

Miguel says he made the money by selling drawings of video game characters. He does them during recess. The money is for us. Laura is relieved but she doesn’t want Miguel to worry about money. She promises she will take care of everything and they will always be together.

Yadi “explains” over breakfast that Gloria has gone to Tijuana with Laura to help her with issues with her documentation.

Gael sends a text to Yadi. Dani teases her about her new boyfriend. Yadi says it’s not official yet.

Luisa tells Amparo she’s going to meet with Duque. Amparo is fearful.
Duque and the big boss discuss the escape from the lab. It’s all been cleaned up and it won’t become an item in the press.

Ed comes looking for Amanda. Humberto is there with Vero. Humberto is furious. Ed thinks it’s about the divorce. Ed sees what happened to Vero and Humberto attacks Ed for hitting Vero. Ed is stunned.

Gloria meets with people who tape money to her body. [Does that look like a million to you?]

 

jefa #35 highlights part 2

Ed denies hitting Vero. She’s lying. Then how did those bruises appear, Humberto asks. Vero spins a story. She regretted calling the cops as soon as they got there. She explains, I didn’t want to press charges because I overreacted. Eduardo had every reason to hit me. Vero takes the blame for provoking Ed. Ed denies it again. Vero dares Ed to hit her again and maybe hit her father, too.

Miguel sneaks away from school with Arturo and Bolillo’s help. Bolillo drops a big whopper of a lie on Miguel. Immigration detained Laura. They took her to jail. The boy can’t believe it. He asks to see Laura. Art says he can’t because they will take him too. He’s undocumented, too.

Bolillo tells Miguel that Laura had a plan for this instance. She gave him the keys to the house and told him to grab her stuff and take her son away. Art tells the boy he’s not alone—you have me. I’ll help you. I love you like a son. Come with me to the US. Then we’ll help get your mom out of jail and bring her. Miguel asks Art to promise to save Laura.

It is just me or is all the sexual activity in this TN sickening? Duque’s latest hookup is interrupted by Marlin. A guest has arrived.

Yadi gets a message from her special subscriber complaining there’s been no new content. She can’t do anything while she’s at Gloria’s. She answers the text—are you still interested in a private session? Yes, he is. Gloria asks him to send a photo. He does— He’s Alfredo Martinez. [this can’t be good.]

Luisa scolds Duque. She’s pissed he hasn’t come around for a month. He’s pissed she’s there.

The cops have come to arrest Ed. Ed appeals to Humberto. You know me and you know your daughter. Amanda is in danger. If she (Vero) is capable of this… she’s capable of hurting my daughter. Ed is taken away. But the seed has been planted in Humberto. He asks Vero for the truth, did Ed hit you or did you make it up?

Glo is taped up and given car keys.

The doctor has come to give Vero a sedative to sleep. Humberto questions him about Vero’s bruises. The doc can’t be certain if Vero or Ed did it.

Amanda comes into the room, happy to see grandpa. She asks why the doctor is there. When she’s told it’s for Vero, she reasons it’s because of the bruises.

Luisa and Duque trade insults. Recapper’s prerogative FF>> you may discuss. Then the hookup shows up and gets in on the action. Luisa throws her whiskey glass at the woman, cutting her head.

Laura has come to school to pick up Miguel. She’s told Miguel never came to school, maybe he left with his uncles. What uncles? The teacher says that’s what Miguel called them. Laura panics. We don’t have relatives here.

Gloria nervously waits in Lane Three. She recalls Laura’s advice and that the Holy Child protects the innocent. Gloria is rear ended by the car behind her. The drivers get out of their cars.

 

jefa #35 highlights part 3

Laura goes ballistic on the teacher. How did you let him go with two men without asking?! The teacher makes a lame excuse about having lots of kids to supervise. The teacher says they’re calling the police. Laura calls Nino.

The guy who bumped Gloria is sorry. He wants to pull off the line to call someone if she wants. She says it’s fine, it’s only a scratch and she’s in a hurry. A border guard gets suspicious and asks Gloria to come with him. Gloria is cuffed and told she’s under arrest.

Thank goodness Amanda tells gramps and the doc exactly what she witnessed. She shows them the candle. It still has Vero’s blood on it. Humberto asks the doc to run toxicology tests on Amanda.

Gloria is searched and the money is discovered.

Miguel and his “uncles” arrive home. The boy is told to pack his bag quickly. They have to leave before the cops get there. Miguel says he can’t leave without seeing his mom. Art tells him not to worry, they will help mom when they get to the US. Bolillo takes Miguel to pack.

Perron comes home and finds Arturo in the house. Why are you in my house?
The cops grill Gloria. They intimidate her. Threaten her with prison. They think she’s a drug mule and want her to drink OJ.

Ed tries to explain his situation to the jail guard as if that makes a difference.
Gloria is tied to a chair. She wants to make a phone call. The cops ask who she’s working for. Gloria remembers what Venancio said about snitching. Glo says she’s working on her own. They put a plastic bag over her head. Gloria sticks to her story. Gloria asks for a lawyer. The cops laugh. She asks to make a phone call. A cop says she can make the call if she talks.

The plastic bag treatment didn’t work. A cop appears with a car battery and jumper cables. Gloria begs and sticks to her story—she works on her own. Gloria's head is dunked in water.

And we are out.

 

Jefa

Dondi, thank you for every dark detail as I ask myself how I can keep watching this show. Uff. I guess I am waiting for the anvils to start dropping on all these horrible people. UFF.

I dont trust Gael. There is something creepy about the way he looks at Yadira.

Jacinto is arrogant and disgusting . I hope disgusting Duque delivers his anvil.

Duque in that red robe...yuck. I thought that nasty Luisa and her wheelchair were going to go into the pool. What is up with that weird red wig??!
Susan
 

jefa

Gracias, Dondi. Fine recap. "Luisa and Duque trade insults. Recapper’s prerogative FF>> you may discuss." - lol. These two definitely earn an FF>>.

I found myself cheering for a mini-second when Perron caught Miguel in his flat, but then I remember what a cretin he is too. Run Miguel run.

We know Gloria will be okay, but that's a helluva cliffhanger.