Caray, Caray!

velvet
Monday, #65, 1 of 3
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Al talks to Esteban about the Velvet info that is somehow getting to Pima. How could this possibly be? Esteban is sure it’s one of the employees, but he wouldn’t dare accuse one of those totally innocent people without proof. Which he will find. Then he kisses up a little to Al. And then Al asks about his relationship with Blanca. Esteban immediately knows it was Emilio who spilled and again blames Ben for hiding the baby info from him (which is a big fat lie). Then he says that Al will be better than him and be there for his family. (Except for the wife he desperately wants to divorce).
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Said wife is talking to Barbie about how she’s going to destroy everyone. She’s screaming stuff about everyone finding our what kind of person that perra (Ana), etc. and Barbie of all people provides a voice of reason by telling her to calm the frick down. She tells Cris that she has no proof of anything and Al has one of the best lawyers in NYC. Then she tells Cris she needs to find proof first and THEN can crush all the little people. Barbie is a Cris-whisperer because Cris stops yelling, although she looks annoyed about the disruption in her venganza plan.
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Clara and Mateo’s womenfolk talk about Laura and Clara lets them know that Laura has plans that don’t include Mateo. They are as thrilled as you’d expect.
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Cris calls Gloria about wanting to meet. She has also sprung Gloria from her clinic that didn’t seem to be working anyway. As she goes, she says “Hasta nunca” to the nurse, which probably means she’ll be back. Or one can hope.
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Blanca chats with Esteban and lets him know some guy form London came by, un tal “Tomas”. Esteban is not happy and gives Blanca a summary of how Tomas is on the “sucks” list and Blanca will look out for him.
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Gloria has apparently taken the express bus back to NYC because she and Cris meet up and Cris tells her she’s pregnant and also Al wants a divorce. And she wants the world to know what happened with Al and Ana, which is that they were in love once? And maybe still are? It really doesn’t seem like much, but Cris is sure it is and she’s now getting help from Gloria so this should be fun.
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Mateo is finally defending his beloved Clara to his mother and asking her to give Clara a chance. He tells mama that he doesn’t’ recognize himself when he’s with Clara, he’s the best version of himself. Mama isn’t happy and seems to be ok with giving her a chance. But also wants Mateo to stay close to her and his tias and away from her family? I think that’s what she said, which doesn’t seem like a great start. Mateo and Clara should move to Miami with Jenny and, I assume, Max.
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Cris and Gloria. Cris looks distraught but Gloria will help her get Alberto back.
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Esteban and Ric talk about that Tomas guy. Ric doesn’t have a good feeling about him. Esteban says if he finds out anything about Sofia or Tomas to let him know.
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Barbie is at work. “Work”. She asks, demands, that Pepita follow Ana and let her know if she sees Ana with Alberto. Pepita seems on board with this so Barbie must be paying well.
 

velvet
Monday, #65, 2 of 3
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Gloria pops into Velvet to say hi to Valeria who wants to know what the heck she’s doing there. Glroia accuses her of locking her away and Val asks if she escaped. Gloria says Val will give back everything and Val says no. Valentin comes by to say hi and Glroia hugs Valeria goodbye and drops a little threat in her ear before she goes so that Val won’t say anything about anything that could get Gloria in trouble.
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Sofia comes to the store and give Ric a big ole hug. So she’s ok for now?
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Cris goes to see Al t tell him she will not be giving him a divorce. Al has been thinking and tells Cris that she should see a therapist. She says she’s not crazy. He says he should have asked her before because her reaction wasn’t normal. She asks if he’s going to commit her, but he says he wants her to do this for the good of their child. He’s trying to convince her nicely but her face doesn’t look like this is going well. He thinks he’s asking nicely and can’t understand why she’s not taking it well. She goes on a long ramble about her childhood and finding her mother dead and being sent somewhere by her father and all this is his fault! She can’t believe he’d accuse her of being loca when she’s about to have his child! She and the child must not be important to him. He softly tries to convince her, but she says fine! She’s going to give him the divorce and he can go off with his woman and leave her and his child alone. He still wants her to see someone. She says nothing but stares at him a bit and then leaves. (She’s a good actress).
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Barbie has gotten a second chance to meet with Valentin but the meeting includes Valeria and Victor this time. Valentin asks who the target market is, and when Barbie stumbles over the answer, Val butts in with the answer. It’ll be for women in their 50’s, like his mom. Whom she apparently knows, and they both chuckle. And then she talks up the collection, showing him something very large and very gold that is based on Mexican history and design, etc. She’s happy to do this while Enrique seems to be trying not to roll his eyes at her success.
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Al and Ana are on the secret balcony that no one has found yet. Ana starts to defend Cris and say she loves him, but Al tells her there are things about Cris that she doesn’t know and Ana is the woman for him. He kisses her. And then Cris enters! She found the secret balcony! And that Ana is Al’s perra! Surprise, Al and Ana! (commercial break)
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Cris yells at Ana, calling her a zorra and trepadora. Al tries to defend Ana but Cris yells at them that Ana pretended to be her friend all while doing this behind her back. And then she goes back to crazy yelling that Ana was a part of his plan to take all her money and probably behind wanting to send her to a clinic. Cris tries to attack Ana but is stopped by Al.
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Ric pulls Sofia aside and asks what she’s taken. He can tell she’s on some pills. Sofia says she misses her mom, with whom she had a mystical connection, and she feels it again when on the pills. (Or something to that affect). She cries and Ric goes to get her some water. She doesn’t look happy. She could probably use some therapy too.
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Cris is still yelling at Al and wants that woman (Ana) out of his life so he can focus on her again. So guess the divorce is off again? Barbie shows up and takes Cris away but Al looks very concerned.
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Blanca is ticked at Emilio for blabbing about her past to Al. She can’t believe he’d violate her trust after he was there for her with the Max situation. She didn’t believe what Esteban told her about him, but if he keeps acting like this, she will believe Esteban. She’s happy now and wants Emilio to leave her alone.
 

velvet
Monday, #65, 3 of 3
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Ana talks to Al about how Cris is suffering and needs him. Al says what she needs is a shrink. Mateo enters to ask what’s up. Al wants to strategize with Ana about what to do next. Ana is worried being seen as “that kind of woman”. Mateo is listening and suggest that Al not go home tonight. Mateo gives Al a light, come-to-Jesus talk about what to expect and Al sighs heavily.
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Ric is back on the store floor, sneezing, in front of Emilio. Emilio isn’t buying the act and asks if this has something to do with Esteban’s daughter. Ric is like, “What? Gosh, no”. He says he needs to go back to his room for a little tea. He’s able to go, while Emilio gives a little smile.
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Valeria and Valentin talk. I miss the early part of the convo but he gives her a necklace with a goddess of fertility on it? Really? Fertility? Jeez, go on a date first, buddy. It’s pretty enough hough, and he puts it on her neck while Enrique watches unhappily from a distance.
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Sofia is at Ric’s being cared for by Ric. She wants to make sure her father hasn’t been told about her being there, and he says he hasn’t. Then he asks if she’ with Tomas. She says it’s complicated. Esteban calls Sofia and Ric tells her he’s worried about her. She takes a deep breath and answers. She lets him know she’s not with Tomas, she’s with Ric, who really didn’t’ want her to tell him that. But she hands him the phone and he tells her dad that she’s ok. Did she say something else about Tomas that I missed?
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Gloria is at the rich people’s lounge bar to meet Alessandro. He orders a drink and she gets a coffee, so maybe the clinic did help her. She wants his help getting her stuff back from her daughter. Seems she has a plan and it involves help from Cristina too.
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Val goes to a very quiet home and looks around cautiously. Gloria is there. Val says she was wrong to force her into a clinic but asks why she’s there. Gloria says she’s picking up all her things, unless Val wants those too.
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Tomas is at Rics and demanding to enter, saying that Sofia is in trouble, but Ric wants him to leave. Sofia comes out. Tomas tells her they are perfect together and she should go with him. Then he says something about her father that she wants to know more about. He calls Esteban a ludopata (pretend there’s an accent over that o- it means a compulsive gambler) and he spent her education fund. They had to leave London so they wouldn’t end up on the street. (Not sure how he would know this).
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Ana is working all alone in the atelier and Cris enters. And she’s calm. Scary calm, when she asks if they can talk, “amiga”. This is worse than crazy yelling Cris.
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I mentioned that the Spanish Velvet treated Cristina just as badly, especially since she deems to be perfectly normal and nice until her Spanish Al tried to divorce her. Then she was angry, but didn’t go crazy mad until the very end. This actress got a better setup to her mental downfall. Spanish Ana also didn’t have a problem, that I remember, getting back together with her Al even though it was the 50’s. They were really mean to Cris in that show. But Spanish Cris did get a chance to work at the store, whatever it was she did, and be ever-present to annoy her husband. I hope they give Mexican Cris a chance to calm down and put in some hours with her jewelry collection. She needs something to do because doing vengeance all day would be exhausting. And her partner, Barbie, is terrible at working. She needs Cris if the jewelry collection is going to have a chance, unless they hand it all over to Val, which Barbie would really hate.
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K
 

Bahar

Dang, I kept falling asleep during this episode. I wonder what I missed. I was happy that Karsu’s mom doesn’t have anything serious, but uh oh looks like the suegra does.

It’s interesting that Timur said again he didn’t know what he’d do without Bahar and he’s trying to get her back.

Who was that light-fingered lady in Dr. Evren’s boat? That was a bit that I missed – where she came from. Maybe I’ll re-watch this episode.

 

Bahar

Maggie, same. I'll have to rewatch also...
 

velvet

MANY THANKS, K, for another helpful and delightful recap. And thanks, too,
for including more info about the original Spanish novela on which this
version of Velvet is based.

Lots of evidence that Cristina really is BSC. In addition to her throwing
things and hitting people, she also keeps changing what she plans to do.
First, no divorce, then divorce but he'll never see his child, then no
divorce. All within this one episode. I think at one point Cris says she is
going to see her doctor. I'm not sure I remember her saying this, but what I
do remember is Alberto saying "OK, go to your gynecologist, but I want to go
with you." Which, of course, might put the kibosh on Cris's claim to be
pregnant. Or, if she does become pregnant via Victor, the fetus would
almost surely be seen as much younger than Cris had claimed.

As soon as Ana and Alberto met yet again on the supposedly secret balcony, I
was SURE that they'd be discovered, probably by Cris. (One prediction point
for me.)

I enjoyed your saying that Gloria has apparently taken the express bus back
to NYC. Of course, even better than the expres bus is the Telenovela Bus
Service, which takes the person where s/he is going without stopping for
anyone else. It's apparently related to Telenovela Airlines (USA to, say,
Morocco in just a few minutes) and Telenovela Medicine.

At first I didn't pay much attention to Valentin, but finding out that he
is interested in Mexican culture and the culture of New York made me suspect
that he may be more important than I'd thought.

Wow, Gloria sure knows how to threaten. She threatens Val that she
(Gloria) might tell Alberto that you (Val) "knew I had her (Isabel) locked
up and you were my accomplice all this time." I'm not sure I understand
"all this time," but even just the fact that Val knew all along what Gloria
had done is a powerful threat. It's no wonder that Val would do almost
anything to prevent this coming to light.

Yes, K, I agree. Cris's addressing Ana as "amiga" makes me nervous, not to
mention how it must/should make Ana feel. Especially since she's alone in
the room.
 

Bahar

Maggie I researched the last half I dozed through. The girl on the boat was a drunk vagabond that decided to crash on Evren's boat for a power nap. I don't think she is of the homeless drug taking variety. Probably a party girl that had a bit too much, may e on someone else's boat, and needed to sleep it off and possibly get out of a compromising situation. At least she brought his coat and wallet back.

Is it Timur that is having Selim background checked? Hope he finds some dirt on him. At this point he is the only truly bad guy on the show, in a blackmailer sort of way .

I liked how Parla told Can he was her real dad. A heartwarming scene. Admittedly Timur has only known about her for 3 years, but he is making no attempt to forge any bond with her. Bad dad. But good dad to Umay when he bought her the art set. He is growing a bit as a father and I have hope for him and Parla.
 

velvet

Another excellent recap, K. I enjoyed your asides and got a laugh out of your telling us to visualize the accent on the "o" in ludópata. I keep my phone handy while watching, with the Reverso dictionary ready for a new word. That one was definitely not in my vocabulary.

Cris and Gloria together in anything. Just the very definition of a toxic twosome. It's disgusting to watch Gloria twisting what happened and throwing fuel on the fire of Cris's jealous rage.

Hmmm. I thought Enrique, in the meeting with Valentin, was comparing Valeria's skill at getting Valentin into their jewelry line rather than rolling his eyes.

I'm pretty sure Cris found Ana and Alberto on that rooftop terrace because of Pepita. We saw her noticing Ana leaving the atelier and, I thought, the writers just omitted the part where Pepita runs to Barbie, who runs to Cris.

Blanca is a big disappointment to me at least. She's buying Esteban's crap hook, line, and sinker. And she's angry with her old friend Emilio who's trying to save her from Esteban.

Valeria is definitely using her looks (and some mild flirting) to get Valentin on board with the jewelry line.

Children can certainly be disappointing at times, but only a toxic narcissist turns on their only child the way Gloria did because of the forced drying out.

I had the impression Alberto had booked a shrink appointment AND an obstetric one for Cris and for the very near future (the next day?). Even if Victor has a high sperm content, nothing is going to show up in the ultrasound Alberto wants to watch with Cris. Wonder how she'll get out of this one?
 

Bahar

One other scene I wanted to comment on. The kitchen cabinet that has needed paint because Bahar ran out before she got sick, was being painted by Timur! I've been wondering when that was going to get done. I did not expect him to be the one to do it.
 

Bahar

Bahar finally had a meltdown, over her dead fish. I’ve been amazed how strong she’s been and how she’s carried on.

I didn’t know Cagla was friends with Rengin!

What exactly did Selim want Rengin to sign? Is he getting her part of the inheritance?

Timur is really something, begging Bahar to come back, saying how empty the house is, and then there’s his mother with cancer. I’m wondering why the kids have to move out with Bahar. Can’t they stay in their familiar house? Umay may still be in high school, but Aziz is old enough not to have to be with his mother.

It’s amazing to me how all these doctors can just sit around talking with each other – how do they have the time? Aren’t they needed? It also amazes me how often Bahar advises the patients when the lead doctors are there. I would think an intern should be seen and not heard when it comes to patient relations.

 

velvet ep. #66 p. 1 of 3

The episode begins with Cris coming into the room at Velvet where Ana is
working. No one else is in the room. Cris accuses her of wanting Alberto so
that her lowly life could be made a little bit better. Ana denies this, and
tries to explain to Cris that she and Alberto had been in love long before
Cris and Alberto got married. Cris tells her to spare her the sob story, she
already knows it. Ana explains that once Alberto and Cris were together, she
stepped aside and moved on. "Oh," replies Cris. "And what about the kiss I
saw? Was I imagining things? You moved on with your life, but with my
husband. Because you're a zorra!" Ana tells her that she's not the
only victim here. "We're all victims, and we all have to take responsibility
for our actions. You knew Alberto didn't love you when you married him.
And yet you married him." Cris vows that she'll make sure Ana will regret
this.

Valeria gives Gloria a briefcase containing a lot of money. She took it from
the safe, but she plans to return it soon. She then asks Gloria whether now
she'll tell her the truth about Isabel. Gloria tells her that she hadn't
planned for things to turn out as they did. She was simply hoping to scare
Isabel so that she'd leave and get out of Benjamin's life. But what happened
was unintended. Isabel wound up killing the man. It was a terrible accident.
Val observes, "Then it was self-defense, and she shouldn't have gone to
prison." Gloria replies, "And I wouldn't have married your father and you
wouldn't exist. Sometimes a woman has to go to great lengths to assure her
future. Some day you'll understand. You're like me." Gloria then adds, "But
your brother's world will soon crumble." Val asks, "What did you do?" She
gets no answer, just a "thank you" (presumably for the money) and then Gloria
leaves.

Blanca comes into the room where Ana and Marga and a few others are. She
asks what's happening here? Ana says she can't tell her, at least not here.
Suddenly a very happy Raúl waltzes in. He reads the room and realizes
something is the matter.

Cris and Barbie are talking. Barbie is trying to get Cris to calm down. The
actress playing Cris does an amazing job of looking like a true madwoman.
Even scarier than Carlos. She swears to Barbie that she'll kill Ana. Ana
will regret ever being born.

Ana tells Emilio about her encounter with Cris. Emilio offers his support.

Back at Velvet, Cris tells an employee named Mariana to remove Ana Velázquez
from the roll at Velvet. Today is her last day. Alberto tells her that she
can't fire Ana. She has to finish the collection.

The scene shifts to Rick and Sofia confronting Tomas and some guy with him.
Tomas wants Sofia to come back to London with him. He tells her that her
father is a gambling addict, and that he has had several lovers, and has
spent all Sofia's money, including her college funds. She tells him he's
lying, her father wouldn't do that. Tomas insists it's true, and that's why
they have to go to London. At this point, Rick holds up his phone. He says
he's getting all this on video, and if Tomas doesn't leave he'll call the
police and accuse him of harassment. Tomas and his nameless buddy leave.
 

velvet ep. #66 p. 2 of 3

Alberto explains to Cris that Ana must stay at Velvet until the collection
is finished. She has to stay for the good of the company. Cris finally
agrees that "OK, Ana can stay, but I will make her life miserable!"

Sofia realizes that if her father spent all that money, how could he have a
company?

Enrique confronts Alberto about his relationship with Ana. Alberto insists
that Ana is not his lover, and he demands respect. He and Enrique exchange
blows. Mateo tries to break up the fight and winds up getting socked in the
face by Enrique, who was aiming for Alberto.

Later, Enrique asks Val whether she knew about Ana and Alberto. Barbie says
to Enrique, "They're not a family, they're a gang of criminals."

Ana and Marga are talking about the situation with Cris. Ana, who seems to
have infinite compassion, says "I'd think the same as Cris if I were in her
place." Marga observes, "You even tried with Carlos." Ana says she doesn't
want to be the bad person.

Cris has a flashback to how delighted she was with her wedding gown. She
thanks Raúl, who tells her it was Ana who designed and made it. The
flashback ends, and we see Cris tell Raúl that his collection and Ana's will
never see the light of day. Raúl is confused. Cris explains that Ana and
Alberto were in a relationship before he married me and continued after. Ana
convinced Alberto to get a divorce. She pleads with Raúl: "Help me, I'm
devastated. I don't want my child growing up without a father." Raúl hugs
her.

Sofia asks Blanca who else worked at Velvet years ago. Blanca says that
just Emilio and she are left. Apparently Sofia is trying to get more
information about her father.

Cris is again moaning to Barbie. She mentions that her father paid Alberto
megabucks to marry her. Now her father is dead and she's alone. Barbie
assures her that she has Barbie. And Enrique. "He's an oaf, but he loves
you." Cris then proclaims, "Alberto will be my husband for as long as I
want him to be."

Sofia asks Emilio about her father. Emilio says that his relationship with
her father was never very good, and he'd prefer not to talk about it. Sofia
asks whether his father had a gambling problem. Emilio asks why she wants to
know. A frustrated Sofia says that nobody will tell her anything. Not my
father, not you, and especially not my aunt. Emilio asks whether she has in
fact spoken to her aunt. When Sofia says she has, Emilio asks whether Pilar
asked her for any information. No, replies Sofia, and I wouldn't give it to
her if she asked. I'm not a spy. She admits that she likes her aunt. Emilio
says that while he's not willing to talk to her about her father, he is
willing to talk about Pilar. He mentions that she has achieved a lot, but
that was partly because she never cared about methods, only results. She's
been sued countless times. People who work for her do so in slave
conditions. You can find out a lot more on the Internet.
 

velvet ep. #66 p. 3 of 3

I'm not all that interested in Marga and Clara's mother. Suffice it to say
that she needs a good deal of money to save her restaurant. Marga says she
will quit Velvet and get a job that pays better so she can help.

Enrique the oaf is talking to Barbie. I keep forgetting that they're
married. They seem to be at least as forgetful as I am. Anyway, they're
discussing Cris's situation. Barb says Cris is obsessed with getting
back Alberto. Enrique asks how Cris can get back what she never had.
Her marriage is a farce. He adds, if she doesn't snap out of this soon,
he'll be forced to take strong measures. Barbie asks, like your father?
Perhaps, replies Enrique. He then asks Barb to tell him if Cris shows signs
of danger.

I thought we'd seen the last of Victor, but apparently not. He and Cris seem
to be at it again. "Tell me you really want me, only me," says Cris. "I'm
crazy about you," replies crazy Victor.

Raúl comes to Ana's apartment. He's very cold. "Is it true that you and
Alberto are lovers?" he asks. Ana tells the saga, but Raúl doesn't believe
her. "I loved you, Ana. I opened my heart to you. But the Ana I knew would
never have done something so low. I can't continue to work with you, let
alone be your friend." He leaves.

A depressed Ana decides to leave. Emilio says he'll go with her. He says
there's nothing to keep him here.

Blanca is stunned that Ana is leaving in the middle of the collection.
Enrique comes in and asks Ana why she is still here. What you did yesterday
wasn't enough? Blanca says Enrique shouldn't talk to an employee like that.
He tells her that she's sleeping with Alberto. They've been lovers for
years. He tells Ana he knew she was a gold-digger the moment he met her. And
Carmen Garza will not be part of Raúl's collection. A confused Blanca asks
what has this to do with Carmen Garza. "Ah, another thing she hasn't told
you," Enrique says. "Carmen Garza is the pseudonym she's using to work for
another fashion house. We're paying her a salary so she can work for someone
else. And right under your nose, Blanca. Your star seamstress is nothing but
a shameless liar."
 

Bahar

Reglin and Cagla went to med school together (with Timur and Bahar). They weren't bosom buddies but just classmates, I think. Cagla is teaming up with her for Bahar's sake, with reglin winning the booby prize, Timur.

I had a thought when Timur took the fall for Asiz Usas, perhaps his dad did the same for him on the case with the dead ob patient that Evren is hung up on. Unless that patient was his sister that died falling down the stairs when he was 8 or 10. I thought when a patient leaves they sign something that says it's against medical advice. I don't think the lady ever had a chance especially since she delayed treatment trying to save her baby.

I agree, it's surprising how much leeway Bahar has with the patients. There must be a lot more doctors than those we see, otherwise how can the hospital function when they go to donor dinners or put to the country to treat underserved patients.

Wonder if the light fingered lady, that returned the coat and wallet, will make a return. Otherwise that was a strange interaction on the boat. Cagla and Bahar did witness them together so it is a potential cause for a relationship misunderstanding in the future I guess.

I wonder why Nevra wants to keep her new love interest out of sight of Timur.
 

velvet

Thanks so much, Juanita, for the excellent recap. Loved your descriptions and asides. ITA about Clara and Marga's mother. I would also add that this annoying woman wanted ALL of Marga's savings and didn't even mention the financial problem to Clara, seemingly her favorite. But the cat's out of the bag now since Clara came in on one of their confabs.

Good on Ana for saying it out loud. I worried Ana was just going to stand there and take it, but she told Cristina that she KNEW Alberto wasn't in love with her and married him anyway.

What? Valeria gave Gloria some money belonging to the company? She said she'd be able to replace it soon. Anyone think this will come to pass? Not me.

Cris has no official title in Velvet. How can she fire Ana? And the writers gave us false hope about Enrique concentrating on the Ortegui shipping business or whatever it was. Now he's in every scene at Velvet. He's not exactly an oaf; he's a raving narcissist who's married to a nasty, cold b&*^h. I definitely pity the kid in Barbie's bump.

Only in a telenovela could Tomas have with him a paid security guard willing to help abduct Sofi. But Tomas served his purpose. He has alerted Sofi to the truth about her father squandering her mother's money and her college fund.
 

bahar

Nevra is working that cancer diagnosis for all she's worth. She wants Bahar back in the house before a divorce proceeding might reveal who owns everything. I wonder how long we'll be awaiting Nevra's being revealed as illegally borrowing on a house she doesn't own to give it to a scammer.

I thought for a quick instant that the patient who was brought in after being shot was the woman who passed out on Evren's boat. The showing of her face was very quick, so I couldn't be sure.

I hope my suspicion doesn't happen. They're showing Timur being nicer and nicer. And the woman on the boat could be a possible love interest for Evren. Please don't let Bahar end up with Timur.
 

velvet

While it was good for Ana to give Cris the what’s- what about the basis of her marriage to Al, it was especially satisfying to see Cris give a similar talk to Enrique. When he railed (to Cris) against Al for cheating on her, Cris reminded him that he did the same to his wife. Who was sitting right there and not saying anything. I might have chuckled a bit. I appreciated the call out to his hypocrisy, not that it’ll do much good.

Both Al and Enrique deserved to get punched. Too bad Gloria couldn’t be at that fight too. Why is it so terrible for Val to know about Isabel slightly before Al? Not like she knew for years. She could come clean and take away Gloria’s leverage.

K
 

velvet

Many thanks, novelera and K, for your great comments.

Novelera, you're right. Cris has no title at Velvet and no authority to fire
anyone. It may be that she thinks that since her father's money helped
Velvet stay in business, she can do whatever she pleases at Velvet. And, of
course, she has inherited all her father's shares in the company. That too
may in her mind empower her. As for my referring to Enrique as an oaf, I
was simply echoing Barbie's description of him to Cris. She assures Cris
that yes, Enrique is an oaf, but he loves you.
And I agree that Tomas has
served his purpose, alerting Sofia to the truth about her father. Hopefully,
we've seen the last of him.

K, you raise an excellent question about Gloria's threat to reveal that Val
knew about what Gloria had done to Isabel for a long time. In a comment I
made yesterday to your recap, I spoke about the threat that Gloria makes to
Val near the end of the episode. She asks Val what Alberto would think of
you if he knew that you knew about what happened to Isabel and that you were
my accomplice for a long time. Val takes that threat very seriously, as
Gloria knew she would. I'm still not sure how long "for a long time"
indicates, nor am I sure exactly what Val knew about Isabel, but I do
know that Val's giving Gloria all that money is likely intended to prompt
Gloria to tell Val more about Isabel.
 

velvet

Thanks so much, K, and Juanita, for excellent recaps. This is hard to watch—the wrath of Cristina, depravity of Gloria, and the stupidity of Albert. I wanted Ana to slap Cris back. Disappointed in Raul automatically backing Cris and not hearing Ana out.

K, I lol’d when you referred to Barbie as the “Cris whisperer.” The problem is Barbie is whispering the wrong stuff. She’s not really helping Cris. I’ll co-sign your post at 5:37. I had the exact same thoughts.

Juanita, I’m not all that interested in Marga and Clara’s mom either. She’s awful. Matter of fact, I find that whole family irritating in different ways. I am glad Thomas told Sofi the truth about her father. “Sofia realizes that if her father spent all that money, how could he have a company?” And that’s when Sofi gets a call from Tia Pilar as if to answer her question!

 

velvet

K, in your comment, you ask "Why is it so terrible for Val to know about Isabel slightly before Al? Not like she knew for years." But Gloria's threat to Val in Monday's episode seems to indicate that Val knew at least some of what happened to Isabel and that Val was Gloria's accomplice for a long time. So Val may have known things that she could and should have told Alberto quite a while before he learned of Isabel's existence.