Saturday, October 15, 2011
El Mundo de Telemundo, week of October 17: Discuss amongst yourselves
¡Hola a todos! Hope you’re all enjoying the weekend. We have another glorious, sunny fall day – my favorite time of the year.
La Casa de al lado – viernes
Okay. I admit it. I was faked out by Thursday’s teaser scene of Ignacia waiting in the shadows of her taller for ... Ismael! Well it turns out that he’s stringing her along just as he was doing with Carola. She’s not so much his accomplice as his groupie. Don’t fail me, she begs him. He’s her last hope. Will he help rescue her family from ruin? Will he help save the house?
Rebeca, gagged and bound securely hand and foot, languishes in the sótano of the isolated house. And then with some effort she twists herself around and she sees it ... the body of the too trusting realtor, Ximena, hangs from the rafters! A creaking of a door, footfalls on the stairs ... Gonzaki, killer face in place, dumps the contents of Rebeca’s purse on the floor and removes her gag:
¿Dónde está? ¿Dónde está la maldita foto que encontraste en el banco?
Rebeca doesn’t know – maybe it fell to the floor in the bank vault. And after seeing Ximena’s body, she has lost all hope:
¡Mátame, te ruego Gonzalo, mátame!
And the monster replies:
No te voy a dar ese gusto.
Gonzaki cuts down Ximena’s body and carries it away. He leaves Rebeca to scream all she wants. No one will hear her.
Nibaldo begs Karen to let him spend one more night hiding in the Ruiz house.
Across the way at Casa Conde:
Despite Ignacia’s indifference, Emilio begins to tell her about Carola’s birth mother – she shouldn’t meet her! But before he can go any further, Hilda interrupts the conversation. She has agreed to take care of Diego over the weekend and she wants to say goodbye to Emilio before leaving the house. Emilio asks her to say goodbye to the baby too, but Hilda refuses to do so. She doesn’t say anything to Yolanda either.
Omar is still in the hospital and still in very bad shape but at least he can talk. And he repeats to his friend Sebastián what he told Carola: that he was attacked deliberately. The intended target was Sebastián himself.
The Ruiz family, minus Diego, is having one of their angry family dinners. Andrea gets banished from the table for asking where Diego is. (Is that why she’s such a skinny marink?) Pilar stands her ground. Her son is somewhere safe, she says. Dare to put a finger on Diego, she tells Javier the Jorrible, and I’ll kill you!
Javier heads to Gonzalo’s apartment where he has guessed, correctly, that Diego is hiding. Perhaps Hilda hesitates to open the door. But then she remembers she’s in a telenovela and that’s what she has to do.
So Javier strides right in and spewing soul-killing sarcasm, he heads right for Diego. Diego runs away and locks himself in a bedroom. But now Hilda remembers she’s there to protect Pilar’s boy and that’s what she’s gonna do. She gets right in Javier’s face and tells him to leave or she’ll call the police. (Go Hilda!) And leave he does.
Hilda’s image is further rehabilitated when we overhear a conversation back at the Casa Conde. Carola tells Emilio that the baby is fussy because she senses Hilda’s absence – their daughter needs Hilda and so does Emilio.
Gonzalo is back in the office. Priscilla, the clerk who attended Rebeca in the bank, wants to return something Rebeca dropped on the floor. Gonzalo, Rebeca’s trusted associate, is happy to accept the envelope on her behalf.
Once the bank clerk is gone, Gonzalo opens the envelope and discovers the missing photo inside – the three brothers! Oh man. Did Rebeca’s luck just run out?
Ignacia interrupts Gonzo’s reverie. She wonders if they should look for Adolfo – maybe he could help save the Conde house. (Has Ignacia ever told the truth? To anyone?) Gonzalo explodes at her: He forbids her to look for Adolfo – why he’s at the root of all the Condes’ problems!
Sebastián catches up with Pilar to share his suspicions: Javier was behind the attack meant for him that left his friend fighting for his life in a hospital bed. Pilar is unsurprised (and not all that sympathetic). Besides, she has her own tsuris: her sister Rebeca has disappeared. What? Sebastián just saw her yesterday with Gonzalo in the office:
Rebeca got a phone call; Gonzalo got upset and followed her; and Sebastián heard snatches of Rebeca’s conversation about “una prueba concreta” at precisely 2:30. He’s sure of the time because he was talking to Omar on his own cell at that moment.
Renato meets his fake son, Iñaki, and insists he wants to introduce him to the family. Fake Iñaki can’t lie his way out of this and calls Mabel to tell her things are spinning out of control.
Emilio realizes he left his phone at the home of Carmen, Carola’s birth mother. He calls and arranges to come by and pick it up. Carmen’s not happy about this – she’d much rather get Emilio’s address and deliver the phone in person. But Emilio leaves her no choice. He shows up a while later, claims his phone and leaves. He doesn’t notice that Carmen follows him...
Carola has started thinking again about looking for her birth parents but now she can’t find the information she got from the adoption agency. Ignacia, quite meanly, tells Carola that she should ask Emilio. He’s already located Carola’s mother and talked to her. Says Ignacia oh so innocently: He really didn’t say anything to you?
Pilar gets a call informing her that Rebeca’s car was found in front of the bank. She calls Gonzalo to tell him about it. He, naturally, wants to take charge of things. Against his wishes, Pilar heads to the bank, as does Gonzalo. Once again, he tries to get rid of her, saying he can deflect questions about Rebeca’s criminal activity.
Gonzalo is even unhappier when Sebastián shows up, especially when Sebastián proposes they study the security tapes -- maybe they can see what was actually in the safe deposit box.
Gonzalo gnashes his teeth as everyone peers at the grainy footage. They see Rebeca removing a paper. The time stamp reads 2:45.
Back at Casa Conde:
Yolanda is in the kitchen preparing lunch and catching an episode of “Mi Corazón Insiste” when she has an unexpected visitor: Karen. Karen thinks maybe Yolanda and Nibaldo shouldn’t throw away twenty years of marriage just like that. (I hope Yolanda tells her “no backsies”.)
Carola is furious with Emilio for going to find her birth mother without her permission. But before Emilio has a chance to defend himself, the lady herself shows her face: I’m the woman who brought you into this world, Carmen tells Carola. I’m your mother.
Another Adolfo – Ignacia tryst in the taller. Ignacia repeats the story that master criminal Rebeca has left the country. Adolfo wants Ig to find out exactly what she did before leaving. Ig agrees on one condition: she wants Adolfo to give her a child. (The old-fashioned way? Hard to say with looneytunes Ig).
And back at the bank:
Gonzo runs out and Pilar pursues him. She wants to know two things: Who called Rebeca? And more importantly: why didn’t Gonzo mention the call?
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Bueno, ¡te toca a ti!
La Casa de al lado – viernes
Okay. I admit it. I was faked out by Thursday’s teaser scene of Ignacia waiting in the shadows of her taller for ... Ismael! Well it turns out that he’s stringing her along just as he was doing with Carola. She’s not so much his accomplice as his groupie. Don’t fail me, she begs him. He’s her last hope. Will he help rescue her family from ruin? Will he help save the house?
Rebeca, gagged and bound securely hand and foot, languishes in the sótano of the isolated house. And then with some effort she twists herself around and she sees it ... the body of the too trusting realtor, Ximena, hangs from the rafters! A creaking of a door, footfalls on the stairs ... Gonzaki, killer face in place, dumps the contents of Rebeca’s purse on the floor and removes her gag:
¿Dónde está? ¿Dónde está la maldita foto que encontraste en el banco?
Rebeca doesn’t know – maybe it fell to the floor in the bank vault. And after seeing Ximena’s body, she has lost all hope:
¡Mátame, te ruego Gonzalo, mátame!
And the monster replies:
No te voy a dar ese gusto.
Gonzaki cuts down Ximena’s body and carries it away. He leaves Rebeca to scream all she wants. No one will hear her.
Nibaldo begs Karen to let him spend one more night hiding in the Ruiz house.
Across the way at Casa Conde:
Despite Ignacia’s indifference, Emilio begins to tell her about Carola’s birth mother – she shouldn’t meet her! But before he can go any further, Hilda interrupts the conversation. She has agreed to take care of Diego over the weekend and she wants to say goodbye to Emilio before leaving the house. Emilio asks her to say goodbye to the baby too, but Hilda refuses to do so. She doesn’t say anything to Yolanda either.
Omar is still in the hospital and still in very bad shape but at least he can talk. And he repeats to his friend Sebastián what he told Carola: that he was attacked deliberately. The intended target was Sebastián himself.
The Ruiz family, minus Diego, is having one of their angry family dinners. Andrea gets banished from the table for asking where Diego is. (Is that why she’s such a skinny marink?) Pilar stands her ground. Her son is somewhere safe, she says. Dare to put a finger on Diego, she tells Javier the Jorrible, and I’ll kill you!
Javier heads to Gonzalo’s apartment where he has guessed, correctly, that Diego is hiding. Perhaps Hilda hesitates to open the door. But then she remembers she’s in a telenovela and that’s what she has to do.
So Javier strides right in and spewing soul-killing sarcasm, he heads right for Diego. Diego runs away and locks himself in a bedroom. But now Hilda remembers she’s there to protect Pilar’s boy and that’s what she’s gonna do. She gets right in Javier’s face and tells him to leave or she’ll call the police. (Go Hilda!) And leave he does.
Hilda’s image is further rehabilitated when we overhear a conversation back at the Casa Conde. Carola tells Emilio that the baby is fussy because she senses Hilda’s absence – their daughter needs Hilda and so does Emilio.
Gonzalo is back in the office. Priscilla, the clerk who attended Rebeca in the bank, wants to return something Rebeca dropped on the floor. Gonzalo, Rebeca’s trusted associate, is happy to accept the envelope on her behalf.
Once the bank clerk is gone, Gonzalo opens the envelope and discovers the missing photo inside – the three brothers! Oh man. Did Rebeca’s luck just run out?
Ignacia interrupts Gonzo’s reverie. She wonders if they should look for Adolfo – maybe he could help save the Conde house. (Has Ignacia ever told the truth? To anyone?) Gonzalo explodes at her: He forbids her to look for Adolfo – why he’s at the root of all the Condes’ problems!
Sebastián catches up with Pilar to share his suspicions: Javier was behind the attack meant for him that left his friend fighting for his life in a hospital bed. Pilar is unsurprised (and not all that sympathetic). Besides, she has her own tsuris: her sister Rebeca has disappeared. What? Sebastián just saw her yesterday with Gonzalo in the office:
Rebeca got a phone call; Gonzalo got upset and followed her; and Sebastián heard snatches of Rebeca’s conversation about “una prueba concreta” at precisely 2:30. He’s sure of the time because he was talking to Omar on his own cell at that moment.
Renato meets his fake son, Iñaki, and insists he wants to introduce him to the family. Fake Iñaki can’t lie his way out of this and calls Mabel to tell her things are spinning out of control.
Emilio realizes he left his phone at the home of Carmen, Carola’s birth mother. He calls and arranges to come by and pick it up. Carmen’s not happy about this – she’d much rather get Emilio’s address and deliver the phone in person. But Emilio leaves her no choice. He shows up a while later, claims his phone and leaves. He doesn’t notice that Carmen follows him...
Carola has started thinking again about looking for her birth parents but now she can’t find the information she got from the adoption agency. Ignacia, quite meanly, tells Carola that she should ask Emilio. He’s already located Carola’s mother and talked to her. Says Ignacia oh so innocently: He really didn’t say anything to you?
Pilar gets a call informing her that Rebeca’s car was found in front of the bank. She calls Gonzalo to tell him about it. He, naturally, wants to take charge of things. Against his wishes, Pilar heads to the bank, as does Gonzalo. Once again, he tries to get rid of her, saying he can deflect questions about Rebeca’s criminal activity.
Gonzalo is even unhappier when Sebastián shows up, especially when Sebastián proposes they study the security tapes -- maybe they can see what was actually in the safe deposit box.
Gonzalo gnashes his teeth as everyone peers at the grainy footage. They see Rebeca removing a paper. The time stamp reads 2:45.
Back at Casa Conde:
Yolanda is in the kitchen preparing lunch and catching an episode of “Mi Corazón Insiste” when she has an unexpected visitor: Karen. Karen thinks maybe Yolanda and Nibaldo shouldn’t throw away twenty years of marriage just like that. (I hope Yolanda tells her “no backsies”.)
Carola is furious with Emilio for going to find her birth mother without her permission. But before Emilio has a chance to defend himself, the lady herself shows her face: I’m the woman who brought you into this world, Carmen tells Carola. I’m your mother.
Another Adolfo – Ignacia tryst in the taller. Ignacia repeats the story that master criminal Rebeca has left the country. Adolfo wants Ig to find out exactly what she did before leaving. Ig agrees on one condition: she wants Adolfo to give her a child. (The old-fashioned way? Hard to say with looneytunes Ig).
And back at the bank:
Gonzo runs out and Pilar pursues him. She wants to know two things: Who called Rebeca? And more importantly: why didn’t Gonzo mention the call?
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Bueno, ¡te toca a ti!
Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo
Saturday, October 08, 2011
El Mundo de Telemundo, Week of October 10, 2011: Discuss Amongst Yourselves
¡Hola a todos! Bienvenidos to another wonderful week on Telemundo. Just FYI, Telemundo has been advertising something called Confesiones de Novelas on Sunday at 6:30 EDT. It might be amusing.
I will recap the two Telemundo offerings I am watching:
MI CORAZON - viernes:
Débora accuses Ángel of killing her father. He feigns innocence. Débora then asks what Ángel knows about a beef between a cop and her father. Felix suggests that the police were after Ramon and he got careless.
Soledad has been left alone and doesn't know what is going on. She screams until Vicky comes. Vicky tells her that their plan to escape died with Ramon. When Vicky suggests that they escape on their own, Vicky replies that she has nowhere to go. They are all trapped.
Lola goes to see Andres. Earlier, Diana, had told Lola that Andres had not accepted her resignation and suggested smugly that it was because she had become too important in his life. Andres confirms that he is keeping Diana on in her job and protests that they only have a professional relationship but in vain. Lola says that she doesn't trust Diana and Andres replies that she hasn't given him any proof against Diana. Lola says that her final word is that Andres has chosen Diana over her. Andres replies that if that is the case, he won't go after her. They are over. (How many times is this?)
Much of the episode takes place at Lopez' memorial service at the police station. Rodrigo speaks, Adelita does too, but she breaks down and Lola has to finish for her. Uninvited guests are: Diana; Daniel and Débora dressed as a cop. I guess they don't have a height requirement for cops in LA. (Why is there a big picture of Benjamin Franklin in the room?)
In spite of being advised to give Adela some time, Daniel tries to comfort her at the service. She tells him to leave her alone. Later, Sofia tells him that it is hard to compete with a dead person - they are always perfect. She advises him to take it slow and try to be Adelita's friend first.
When Andres suggests that that Lola make a complaint of harassment to the police about the photos that Debora sent her of Andres and Diana in the restaurant, Lola replies that Diana was harassing Andres and she knows this thanks to Débora, the crazy person who has been harassing Andres his whole life.
Felix tries to force Vicky to tell him with whom Débora left her insurance policy. Vicky either doesn't know or she is much too smart to tell Felix knowing that it would be a death sentence for her and Débora.
When Diana leaves the police station, Débora follows her. Meanwhile, Ángel has an important appointment. When he arrives at where his appointment is, he sees Débora drive by following Diana. This seems like pretty clear confirmation that Diana is working for Ángel. When Diana gets out of her car, Débora runs up and starts shooting at her.
FLOR SALVAJE- viernes:
Rafa gets taken to prison. He meets with his lawyer who advises patience. Rafa can't believe that he could be detained on the declaration of a prostitute. Mariano takes great satisfaction in putting him in a nasty little cell saying that after the incident with Rocío, he is being watched by the Governor and can't play favorites anymore.
Catalina leaves Raimundo's house and asks him to tell Sacto that she is waiting for him at 'their' hacienda.
It's party time at Rafa's hacienda. Catalina is on a tear. She throws out all Rafa's stuff, tells the staff that she will be a gentler and kinder boss. She tells Luisa that Rafa won't be coming back and she will hire lawyers to get her lands back.
Sacto and José Maria are out looking for Pablo's body. They find blood and evidence that something was dragged but that is all.
Flor is still inconsolable over Pablo's presumed death. The priest is making his regular visit to Nueva Esperanza Zahra and Olga meet him at the boat and ask him to help Flor.
José Maria tells Raimundo that he and Sacto are like brothers because they both are devoted to justice. He wonders how anyone could abandon a child like Sacto was abandoned. Raimundo tells José Maria that he believes that Sacto is his son. Raimundo also tells José Maria that there is no way to prove that Sacto is his son but as a doctor, JM presumably knows about DNA testing.
Correcaminos gets word that her grandmother has died. Now we find out that she has a son and he is heading for Nuevo Esperanza. Correcaminos has barely seen the child since he was born and doesn't know how she can raise him in the Calle de Consuelo.
Malicia tells Enrique that she has a new guy - Pirruetas. Pirruetas is wonderfully obnoxious to Enrique about his triumph. He takes Malicia to bed with him. Enrique, meanwhile, tells his uncle that he he believes that Malicia didn't leave him on her own initiative. He says that he isn't going back to the Capital.
Catalina tells Sacto that he is going to live with her and be her right hand man in charge of the oil business and running the hacienda. Sacto tells Catalina that he isn't going to be her kept man.
The priest tries to comfort Flor but she says that all she needs is hate and resentment to give her strength. That is all she has until she dies.
Mina thinks that Malicia is sleeping with Pirruetas to get the main role in the novela.
Flor borrows a gun from Rocío. She goes to the prison and demands that Rafa tell her where Pablo.
Over to you.
Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo
Friday, September 30, 2011
El Mundo de Telemundo, Week of October 3: Discuss Amongst Yourselves
¡Hola a todos! Here’s a fresh page for chatting about the primetime shows on Telemundo: Mi corazon insiste, Flor salvaje and La casa de al lado.
It’s all yours!
It’s all yours!
Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo
Saturday, September 24, 2011
El Mundo de Telemundo, Week of September 26, 2011: Discuss Amongst Yourselves
¡Hola a todos! I can't believe it's already the end of September. Below are recapettes of Friday's episodes of Mi Corazón Insiste and Flor Salvaje. Now over to you.
MI CORAZÓN INSISTE - viérnes
The big news is that Lola and Ándres got together. The bad news, of course, is that they pledged never to let themselves be separated again, which, unless it is happening in the gran final means trouble is coming for the couple. Still no últimas semanas.
The happy night of passion was orchestrated more or less by Adelita, Etelvina and the staff in Lola's house along with Camilo. But, as Lola and Ándres were passionately kissing silhouettes in the window, Débora was outside in disguise watching them. She curses them and Ándres actually hears her but fortunately, it didn't quell their desires.
Otherwise, Ándres gets Ramon to make what we call in the law business, 'statements against interest,' that is, Ramon more or less admits that he knew that Débora killed Marcelo and kidnapped Soledad.
Later, Ramon arranges to send a message to someone by an inmate.
Camilo tells Andres that he will be divorced from Débora in 15 days.
Vicky is a very sympathetic jailer to Soledad. Soldead urges Vicky to set her free but Vicky explains that she'd like to but she is afraid of Ángel.
Ángel sees Felix's mug shot at the police station and warns him that the police are looking for him.
Débora tries to cry on Ángel's shoulder after seeing Andres and Lola but he is not sympathetic and tells her that she is completely crazy.
Adelita invites Lola's and Andres' friends to a morning after breakfast party where Andres proposes to Lola.
I think that was about it.
FLOR SALVAJE - viérnes
José Maria goes to see Rafael to get his support to move against Mariano because of what he did to Rocío.
Mariano is threatening Malicia about what happened with the painting when Piruetas interrupts. Piruetas tells Malicia that he loves her and doesn't want her to end up like Silvia, dead in the river. Malicia tells him to stay away from her basically for his own protections.
Frigida finds Rocío and Antonio in José Maria's room. She draws the worst possible conclusions but Raimundo says that if José Maria brought Rocío there, he must have had a good reason.
Pablo and Sacto are by the river. Pablo tells Sacto how his wife tried to tell Rafa the truth about him and Amanda but Rafa misunderstood. Sacto urges Pablo to take his family and get out of town before the truth comes out. Pablo replies that he is nothing without Amanda.
Amanda is afraid of what Lucía might have told Rafa but Ana reports that all is quiet in the town.
Rafa brings José Maria to see the Governor. The Governor doesn't want to believe that Mariano would abuse his own sister.
Mariano searches the houses of the cuatro P's, brutalizes Piruetas and tells Zahra that he will punish her for every man that Rocío slept with. After they leave, Piruetas tells the girls that the knows where Rocío is.
Piruetas is explaining what happened with Rocio to the 4-P crowd when Amanda comes in. They freeze her out cold. Zahra says that she doesn't want Amanda in her house. Amanda leaves and the girls cheer. Later, Amanda breaks up the chicas having a celebratory drink and tells them to get to work. Amanda tells Mina that she wanted to work with Zahra but she is just giving back what she got.
While admiring herself with the dress Amanda wore to the party, Ana sees a veiled figure and runs away in terror. She tells the chicas that the ghost of Clara is after her.
The Governor orders Enrique released and apologizes to him for the mistake. Mariano's face when the Governor mentions that Enrique is the nephew of the owner of the paper, The Truth (La Verdad), was priceless. Enrique is gracious. "Dicen que la justicia cojea pero llega," They say that justice is slow but it comes, he tells the Governor. When Enrique is gone, the Governor tells Mariano that nothing like this had better happen again. He says that Mariano has been accused of abusing his sister. If he so much as touches her again, the Governor will dismiss him from his post.
Amanda doesn't want to talk to Pablo. Pablo says that he will tell Rafa everything. Amanda tells him not to do it. If he talks, Rafa will kill them both. Amanda says that she wouldn't mind dying for love but not for 'un-love.' She says that she hates him and tells him to take his family and go far away.
Frigida tells Lourdes that Antonio and Rocio are at her house.
José Maria comes home. He tells Rocío that thanks to Rafa, the Governor told Mariano to leave her alone.
When Amanda tells Rafa that she is getting some resistance from the girls to her new role as boss, he supports her but witchy little Ana tells Rafa that Zahra won't accept Amanda at all. [I'm rooting for the ghost of Clara to get Ana.] Rafa goes to see Zahra and tells her that he is throwing her out not only from the Cuatro P but also from her house, reminding her that it is his house. Zahra almost tells Rafa about Amanda and Pablo but Olga stops her.
Pablo tells Lucía that she has won. He will quit his job and go back home with her.
Catalina provokes Rafa so much that he tries to strangle her.
Flor wants to make the Cabaret Cuatro P into a class joint that the snooty upper class folks want to visit. Piruetas and most of the girls are in agreement.
Dudi gives Sacto the picture of Jesus that Amanda had entrusted to him before Sacto left town.
Amanda tries to make peace with Zahra but Zahra just drips venom and won't listen. Rafa and his men are throwing Zahra out of her house when Amanda shows up. Zahra curses her.
I didn't do the last part justice but I've run out of time.
Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo
Saturday, September 17, 2011
El Mundo de Telemundo – Week of September 19, 2011: Discuss Amongst Yourselves
A note to new readers: Jean and I set out a page each week to talk about the primetime novelas on Telemundo. Right now we’re following: Mi Corazón Insiste, Flor Salvaje and La Casa de al Lado.
How our page differs from most on CarayCaray:
1. The recaps are, for the most part, in the comments and not in the text above.
(One exception: whoever starts the week’s page has the option of putting that first summary in the text box. Since it’s my week and I’m watching La Casa de al Lado, I get to put my two cents worth in the text box today.)
2. Jean and I may be doing the posting but right now the most important and prolific writers on the page are Hombre de Misterio and Novelera. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know these are two of the very best writers around here – both of them literate and funny and always listening for interesting Spanish phrases or vocabulary to share. (Hombre has also shown a surprising flair for fashion commentary – check out his description’s of Lola’s sexy outfits in Mi Corazón Insiste. We may need to start calling him Hombre de Modo.)
3. Because we follow more than one novela in a single space, we try to remember to label each comment. That way, people can find what interests them and not get bogged down in the process.
4. And because we post on the weekend, the discussion begins with the previous Friday’s episode; it continues through Thursday’s episode with comments added each day. So, for example, a typical comment might begin –
La Casa de al Lado -- jueves
5. In this space we have been refining the art of the mini-recap or ‘recapette’, a brief review of each episode that acts as a springboard for conversation. Typically, a recapette fits in a single comment space though occasionally it spills over into a second comment.
So if you are enjoying any of the Telemundo programs and want to check us out, take a peek at the comments that are added each day in the course of the week. And of course we’d love to hear what you all have to say!
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La Casa de al Lado – viernes
Extreme birth control
Gonzalo slips into the cheap motel room, chloroforms Ignacia and does a horrifying Psycho number on studmuffin Pedro – no donation will be made tonight.
His knife is raised over Ignacia’s unconscious form but he’s distracted by a knock on the door. Ignacia is saved by the potatoes.
She wakes up hours later to find herself in bed with Pedro’s slashed and bloody corpse. She calls – who else? – Gonzalo. Gonzo races to her side, calls the police, plays attorney and supportive but disappointed spouse. Ig isn’t completely off the hook legally but she is finally free to go home.
Since Ignacia can’t remember anything, it’s easy for Gonzo to convince her that she may well be the murderer. Hey, she might have murdered Adolfo or Leonardo or whatever his name is. Ignacia is ... grateful.
Business as usual at la casa Ruiz
Javier is pretty cranky when he returns home from the fool’s errand Gonzalo sent him on. No one makes a fool of him. No one. He appears just after the still-traumatized Diego has asked his mother if she knows who abducted him. Diego is sent back to his lonely, scary room. Pilar is left to cower and simper.
The next morning Rebeca tries to resist Javier’s blandishments but it seems she’s just a girl who can’t say no.
Tres meses después
Hilda, still in Zacatecas, appears to be going into labor. (Why is she always alone in the Mexico scenes? Low budget or high art?)
Emilio shows signs of recovering his vision but without Hilda and his unborn child, he feels no joy.
Carola, despite Javier's braggadocio, is still smoldering and moldering in jail and still refuses to see her family. The good news: she should be nicely detoxed by now.
Opening Night
Ignacia has been fiendishly busy channelling all her angst into her art. Tonight she gets to show what she has accomplished. It is time for the opening celebration of her new exhibition. The usual suspects gather.
Despite Eva’s tart warning to stay away from Pilar, Gonzalo goes right up to his skittish neighbor and begs for a chance to talk. She refuses, saying she can’t trust herself with him.
Javier slimes over Rebeca. It’s clear that these two are back in their old groove. The new, improved Rebeca didn’t last very long.
Ignacia herself is like a quinceañera, basking in the attention and adulation of the crowd. But then Javier sidles up and reminds her that it was on precisely such an occasion that she first met Adolfo. She is suspicious – how could he know that? And now her bright night is clouded: her mind strays back to that earlier show when Adolfo introduced himself with a scribbled note on a cocktail napkin and asked a waiter to deliver it to her.
She is startled back to the present when a waiter hands her a note scribbled on a cocktail napkin: Estoy muy cerca.
She is instantly sure that Adolfo is back and runs out looking for him. But the only one she finds is Gonzalo. He pretends to be unconvinced – it can’t be Adolfo. But the truth is otherwise. He is also sure Ismael/Adolfo is back.
Las casualidades no existen
The camera shows a strange long-haired figure in a black shirt and green jacket sending an email from an internet café.
Rebeca gets a weird email message (ACh 611938 it says) and no one knows where it came from or what it means.
Karen hears a noise in the house and finds a chair overturned in the kitchen. A window upstairs is open.
Pilar finds a red rose under her pillow and no one in the house knows how it got there.
Javier denies sending Ignacia the note at the gallery opening.
He’s back.
The creepy email guy pulls off his wig and turns to face the camera: It’s Ismael.
How our page differs from most on CarayCaray:
1. The recaps are, for the most part, in the comments and not in the text above.
(One exception: whoever starts the week’s page has the option of putting that first summary in the text box. Since it’s my week and I’m watching La Casa de al Lado, I get to put my two cents worth in the text box today.)
2. Jean and I may be doing the posting but right now the most important and prolific writers on the page are Hombre de Misterio and Novelera. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know these are two of the very best writers around here – both of them literate and funny and always listening for interesting Spanish phrases or vocabulary to share. (Hombre has also shown a surprising flair for fashion commentary – check out his description’s of Lola’s sexy outfits in Mi Corazón Insiste. We may need to start calling him Hombre de Modo.)
3. Because we follow more than one novela in a single space, we try to remember to label each comment. That way, people can find what interests them and not get bogged down in the process.
4. And because we post on the weekend, the discussion begins with the previous Friday’s episode; it continues through Thursday’s episode with comments added each day. So, for example, a typical comment might begin –
La Casa de al Lado -- jueves
5. In this space we have been refining the art of the mini-recap or ‘recapette’, a brief review of each episode that acts as a springboard for conversation. Typically, a recapette fits in a single comment space though occasionally it spills over into a second comment.
So if you are enjoying any of the Telemundo programs and want to check us out, take a peek at the comments that are added each day in the course of the week. And of course we’d love to hear what you all have to say!
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La Casa de al Lado – viernes
Extreme birth control
Gonzalo slips into the cheap motel room, chloroforms Ignacia and does a horrifying Psycho number on studmuffin Pedro – no donation will be made tonight.
His knife is raised over Ignacia’s unconscious form but he’s distracted by a knock on the door. Ignacia is saved by the potatoes.
She wakes up hours later to find herself in bed with Pedro’s slashed and bloody corpse. She calls – who else? – Gonzalo. Gonzo races to her side, calls the police, plays attorney and supportive but disappointed spouse. Ig isn’t completely off the hook legally but she is finally free to go home.
Since Ignacia can’t remember anything, it’s easy for Gonzo to convince her that she may well be the murderer. Hey, she might have murdered Adolfo or Leonardo or whatever his name is. Ignacia is ... grateful.
Business as usual at la casa Ruiz
Javier is pretty cranky when he returns home from the fool’s errand Gonzalo sent him on. No one makes a fool of him. No one. He appears just after the still-traumatized Diego has asked his mother if she knows who abducted him. Diego is sent back to his lonely, scary room. Pilar is left to cower and simper.
The next morning Rebeca tries to resist Javier’s blandishments but it seems she’s just a girl who can’t say no.
Tres meses después
Hilda, still in Zacatecas, appears to be going into labor. (Why is she always alone in the Mexico scenes? Low budget or high art?)
Emilio shows signs of recovering his vision but without Hilda and his unborn child, he feels no joy.
Carola, despite Javier's braggadocio, is still smoldering and moldering in jail and still refuses to see her family. The good news: she should be nicely detoxed by now.
Opening Night
Ignacia has been fiendishly busy channelling all her angst into her art. Tonight she gets to show what she has accomplished. It is time for the opening celebration of her new exhibition. The usual suspects gather.
Despite Eva’s tart warning to stay away from Pilar, Gonzalo goes right up to his skittish neighbor and begs for a chance to talk. She refuses, saying she can’t trust herself with him.
Javier slimes over Rebeca. It’s clear that these two are back in their old groove. The new, improved Rebeca didn’t last very long.
Ignacia herself is like a quinceañera, basking in the attention and adulation of the crowd. But then Javier sidles up and reminds her that it was on precisely such an occasion that she first met Adolfo. She is suspicious – how could he know that? And now her bright night is clouded: her mind strays back to that earlier show when Adolfo introduced himself with a scribbled note on a cocktail napkin and asked a waiter to deliver it to her.
She is startled back to the present when a waiter hands her a note scribbled on a cocktail napkin: Estoy muy cerca.
She is instantly sure that Adolfo is back and runs out looking for him. But the only one she finds is Gonzalo. He pretends to be unconvinced – it can’t be Adolfo. But the truth is otherwise. He is also sure Ismael/Adolfo is back.
Las casualidades no existen
The camera shows a strange long-haired figure in a black shirt and green jacket sending an email from an internet café.
Rebeca gets a weird email message (ACh 611938 it says) and no one knows where it came from or what it means.
Karen hears a noise in the house and finds a chair overturned in the kitchen. A window upstairs is open.
Pilar finds a red rose under her pillow and no one in the house knows how it got there.
Javier denies sending Ignacia the note at the gallery opening.
He’s back.
The creepy email guy pulls off his wig and turns to face the camera: It’s Ismael.
Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo
Saturday, September 10, 2011
El Mundo de Telemundo - week of September 12 - discuss among yourselves
¡Hola á todos!
Thanks for all the great comments. In particular, thanks to Hombre, Novela Maven and Novelera for helping me out with the phrase, 'Si pedir por fuera.' It seems like a handy phrase to know.
MÍ CORAZON: It seems like we ought to be getting near to últimas semanas with this one. We're up to 80 episodes so I suppose there are another 50 to go if it runs 130 episodes so maybe we're not that close.
After Tiberio obligingly tells Lola about all his property holdings and that Soledad is enjoying 'fresh air' in the country, she deduces that Tiberio is holding Soledad on his ranch in Tijuana.
It was very amusing to see Débora scared witless and deciding to make a run for it when she believed that Ángel would rat her murderous plans out to Tiberio. Débora ultimately decides that she can't leave Andres. Her parents think that she is nuts.
Ángel claims that he doesn't believe Soledad's story about his mother Tamara. Later, Felix confirms the story for Ángel and now Ángel turns against Tiberio.
Rodrigo gets his cornea transplant and regains his sight. Everybody is happy.
Daniel turns his life around and is released from the clinic.
Tiberio is having bouts of excruciating pain. He won't tell anyone what is going on. He does unchain Soledad, though.
Ángel goes to see Débora. She tries to back off of her previous proposal but finally Ángel tells her that now he wants to kill Tiberio and become God or something. They hatch up a plan, which involves pretending to discover an illegal shipment of acetone in the name of Carlos Gonzales, aka, Tiberio Guzman.
FLOR SALVAJE-
Pablo succeeds in ending the workers' strike. Management's concessions are not good enough for Sacramento but the workers accept them. The sick worker, Fernando, is taken to the clinic in Timotes and promised his job back when he recovers. I gather that Peter, as company representative, has basically overruled Rafael on the management of the workers.
Catalina's lawyers are played by the actors who played the priest and the doctor in Doña Bárbara. They are non-commital about helping her divorce Rafael.
Zahra is still mooning over Rafael but she counsels Rafael to court Flor and she suggests to Flor that Rafael might be the one to make her happy. Flor is curious about what happened with Zahra and Rafael but Olga won't tell her.
Rafael offers to pay Catalina's lawyers to drop her case and then threatens them when that doesn't work.
Enrique and the girls of the 4Ps celebrate their victory. Zahra reminds them that they still have to get Rócio out of the asylum.
Lourdes, Mariano's witchy wife, decides to lead a decency campaign against the prostitutes in Nueva Esperanza.
Raimundo's son, the doctor, is on his way to NE.
Catalina seeks Peter's support saying that business would be a lot easier with her than with Rafael. She goes on a tour of the oil works and makes nice with the workers. Pablo picks right up on her making goo goo eyes at Sacto.
Rafael is given one of Ana's auction notices.
Piruetas is jealous of Enrique and Malicia. Enrique tells Malicia that he is worried about what Mariano will do. Malicia is nervous herself but won't tell Enrique why.
Mariano comes to see Rócio. He offers to take her home if she will express regret for what she did and love him (like a brother?) She spits in his face and he starts to strangle her, only being stopped by the asylum staff.
Rafael gives Flor a horse. She names him, Ángel.
Raimundo's son (I forgot his name), the doctor, comes home and it is the actor Pedro Rendón who played Efraín in Herederos and Carmelito in Doña Bárbara. [DB fans: I just noticed that it was Jencarlos Canela, Andres in Mí Corazon, who played Asdrúbal in the first episode of DB. I remember he was very good looking.]
Pablo takes Sacto to a secluded place to discuss who is taking the biggest risk in romance. Pablo claims that Cat is just using Sacto and he risks being dismembered like her previous lover, Alirio. Pablo says that Flor is different. She loves him and he has enough money to take her away from NE. Just then, both men see Flor and Urrieta riding together.
No novelas on Monday for the Miss Universe pageant they've been promoting, I assume.
Thanks for all the great comments. In particular, thanks to Hombre, Novela Maven and Novelera for helping me out with the phrase, 'Si pedir por fuera.' It seems like a handy phrase to know.
MÍ CORAZON: It seems like we ought to be getting near to últimas semanas with this one. We're up to 80 episodes so I suppose there are another 50 to go if it runs 130 episodes so maybe we're not that close.
After Tiberio obligingly tells Lola about all his property holdings and that Soledad is enjoying 'fresh air' in the country, she deduces that Tiberio is holding Soledad on his ranch in Tijuana.
It was very amusing to see Débora scared witless and deciding to make a run for it when she believed that Ángel would rat her murderous plans out to Tiberio. Débora ultimately decides that she can't leave Andres. Her parents think that she is nuts.
Ángel claims that he doesn't believe Soledad's story about his mother Tamara. Later, Felix confirms the story for Ángel and now Ángel turns against Tiberio.
Rodrigo gets his cornea transplant and regains his sight. Everybody is happy.
Daniel turns his life around and is released from the clinic.
Tiberio is having bouts of excruciating pain. He won't tell anyone what is going on. He does unchain Soledad, though.
Ángel goes to see Débora. She tries to back off of her previous proposal but finally Ángel tells her that now he wants to kill Tiberio and become God or something. They hatch up a plan, which involves pretending to discover an illegal shipment of acetone in the name of Carlos Gonzales, aka, Tiberio Guzman.
FLOR SALVAJE-
Pablo succeeds in ending the workers' strike. Management's concessions are not good enough for Sacramento but the workers accept them. The sick worker, Fernando, is taken to the clinic in Timotes and promised his job back when he recovers. I gather that Peter, as company representative, has basically overruled Rafael on the management of the workers.
Catalina's lawyers are played by the actors who played the priest and the doctor in Doña Bárbara. They are non-commital about helping her divorce Rafael.
Zahra is still mooning over Rafael but she counsels Rafael to court Flor and she suggests to Flor that Rafael might be the one to make her happy. Flor is curious about what happened with Zahra and Rafael but Olga won't tell her.
Rafael offers to pay Catalina's lawyers to drop her case and then threatens them when that doesn't work.
Enrique and the girls of the 4Ps celebrate their victory. Zahra reminds them that they still have to get Rócio out of the asylum.
Lourdes, Mariano's witchy wife, decides to lead a decency campaign against the prostitutes in Nueva Esperanza.
Raimundo's son, the doctor, is on his way to NE.
Catalina seeks Peter's support saying that business would be a lot easier with her than with Rafael. She goes on a tour of the oil works and makes nice with the workers. Pablo picks right up on her making goo goo eyes at Sacto.
Rafael is given one of Ana's auction notices.
Piruetas is jealous of Enrique and Malicia. Enrique tells Malicia that he is worried about what Mariano will do. Malicia is nervous herself but won't tell Enrique why.
Mariano comes to see Rócio. He offers to take her home if she will express regret for what she did and love him (like a brother?) She spits in his face and he starts to strangle her, only being stopped by the asylum staff.
Rafael gives Flor a horse. She names him, Ángel.
Raimundo's son (I forgot his name), the doctor, comes home and it is the actor Pedro Rendón who played Efraín in Herederos and Carmelito in Doña Bárbara. [DB fans: I just noticed that it was Jencarlos Canela, Andres in Mí Corazon, who played Asdrúbal in the first episode of DB. I remember he was very good looking.]
Pablo takes Sacto to a secluded place to discuss who is taking the biggest risk in romance. Pablo claims that Cat is just using Sacto and he risks being dismembered like her previous lover, Alirio. Pablo says that Flor is different. She loves him and he has enough money to take her away from NE. Just then, both men see Flor and Urrieta riding together.
No novelas on Monday for the Miss Universe pageant they've been promoting, I assume.
Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo
Saturday, September 03, 2011
El Mundo de Telemundo, Week of September 5, 2011: Discuss Amongst Yourselves
LA CASA DE AL LADO -- viernes
Gonzalo is frantic.
He is furious at Adolfo for kidnapping Renato. In spite of Gonzalo's objections, Rebeca has called the police to look into Renato’s disappearance. She openly challenges Gonzalo’s decisions and behavior. It seems...
...como si hubieras querido que Renato Conde no apareciera.
(...as if you didn’t want Renato Conde to be found.)
And further...
... como si estuvieras poniendo trabas en la búsqueda.
(... as if you were putting obstacles in the way of the search.)
[Does Rebeca have an inkling of the dark truth? Maybe not. She’s probably thinking Gonzalo is helping Renato find a safe place to hide just as she did.]
Meanwhile, Renato’s attempt at escape has been thwarted and he is chloroformed into unconsciousness, bound and gagged.
Gonzalo phones his brother and tells him exactly what to do next. We don’t hear what he says on the phone but we do see Adolfo dragging Renato away. Then we hear Adolfo taunting his father, Igor, saying that Renato got what he deserved. It doesn’t look good for don Renato.
A gentleman (maybe) caller:
Omar shows up at the Casa Conde looking for Carola. Ignacia hustles him off to her studio to try to pump him for information about Carola’s life outside the house. Omar is spooked when he sees a photo of Ignacia and Gonzalo (that’s my husband, Ignacia tells him) and remembers Carola showing him a phone photo of that same lumpen face and announcing that Gonzalo was her true love. Omar gets out of there fast all the while muttering to himself: She’s in love with her own brother-in-law!
Carola and Ignacia are more easily manipulated than Rebeca. Even so, when Ignacia shows up with another breathless update – Iñaki called her cell phone and threatened her -- Gonzalo realizes his little brother has made a fatal blunder, one that will bring the authorities right to their hideout.
Gonzalo bursts into the Conde home all the while reaming out Adolfo on the phone just as Marisol is on her way down the stairs and out the door.
This is an interesting moment: the crossing of two apparently unrelated malignant beings both too focused on their own dark plans to notice anyone else.
So what has Marisol been up to? (And hats off to Hombre – she sure seems to be Ricardo Merino’s sister!) She has handed the poisoned candy to Pilar:
Pilar’s social smile fades and her eyes narrow when Marisol’s generic compliment about her beautiful house segues into an off-balance rant about how some people cause others to lose everything and yet go unpunished. The open box of chocolates sits on the coffee table, untouched.
Marisol returns to the Conde house and engineers things so she is discovered in Emilio’s arms. Maybe she was hoping for Hilda, but it is Eva who walks in on them. Eva sends Marisol away by giving her the rest of the day off (I suspect there will be a little something extra in her next paycheck) and then gives vent to her great joy! Finally – we can get rid of Hilda!
Later we see Marisol dusting the piano in a house where all the furniture is covered with drapecloths. Her brother’s house. The neighbor lady stops by and is happy to hear that Marisol is planning to live there. Her brother, says the neighbor, is watching desde arriba (from above) and is surely happy too. Marisol answers:
¿Desde arriba? Ricardo no está muerto. Ricardo está tan vivo como tú o yo.
Oh ho!
Let’s follow the poisoned chocolate:
Javier comes home in a foul mood just having learned that Renato’s death was faked. Like Gonzalo, he assumes the trick was aimed at him personally. He roars at Pilar when she tries to suggest otherwise. He sits in front of the candy but ignores it and follows Pilar upstairs.
Diego also ignores the candy – he doesn’t like chocolate.
Once again, Hombre nailed it: it is Karen who can’t resist stuffing a couple of pieces in her mouth before going off to do the marketing. She comes home feeling weak -- but not too weak to stuff another piece in her mouth. The next thing we know, she is in the kitchen with a very bad bellyache. Andrea is hungry and completely unsympathetic. Have some chocolate! I shout at my television.
Karen is in her bedroom, pale and sweaty and doubled up with cramps.
Hilda and Yolanda get to play detective:
Hilda is emptying the garbage under the sink when she notices the baggie that Marisol left there earlier. A dark vial and a syringe. Is Marisol sick? Is she exposing them all to some illness? Yolanda will find out.
Yolanda takes the vial to a pharmacist friend. It’s not a medicine, he tells her. He’ll send it out to a lab. By tomorrow, they will know what it is.
How upset is Emilio by his marital woes?
Not very. He is sulking on his bed but immediately perks up at the news that Iñaki called Ignacia. They can track down the call from the cellphone itself and therefore the caller.
The same thought occurs to Gonzalo who by now he is nearly foaming at the mouth. Over Carola and Ignacia’s objections, he snatches the phone. But Emilio tells the girls not to worry – he can get all the info on incoming calls online.
The police have arrived at the Conde house. Thank goodness Gonzalo is there to take charge of things!
The last goodbye (of the evening):
Displaying his best Lt. Columbo technique, Gonzalo uses a handkerchief to retrieve his gun (now bearing only Carola’s fingerprints). He makes his way to the hideout. He and Adolfo argue. Gonzalo reproaches his brother for all his mistakes while Adolfo whines that he gets no respect, that Gonzalo thinks he’s so superior... Well he’s not!
While Adolfo is whining, Gonzalo is stealthily pulling out and donning a black glove.
We all have a limit! screams Adolfo.
And Gonzalo replies: You’re right. We all have a limit. And I’ve reached mine.
Gonzalo aims and coolly squeezes the trigger. Adolfo takes a hit in the belly. He falls to the floor.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Who, as of Friday, September 2, is the most loathsome character on this show?
1. Iñaki, alpha psycho. We saw him kill one of the few sympathetic characters, Matías. Last night we saw him shoot down his little brother, Ismael... well ok. maybe that one was a public service. But he also killed the only ‘good’ Mora brother, Ivan. He probably ordered Renato Conde’s execution, although we don’t know for sure what has happened to Renato. Everything Iñaki says is a lie. Everything.
2. Ismael, beta psycho. See above. Operates like a slick sociopath when he’s on his own but dissolves into a petulant pre-adolescent when his big brother is around. May already be dead.
3. Javier, bully, narcissist and thief. Murders the dreams and spirits and breaks the backbone of those around him. May not literally be a murderer though.
4. Marisol, the new kid on the psycho block. Marisol’s intended victim is Pilar but she seems unconcerned about collateral damage. Too bad Javier isn’t a chocoholic. Karen is the first victim of – if not death, then very very bad bellyache by chocolate.
5. Eva Spencer, domineering, unfaithful, cold. Uber snob. Last night she was glad to find Emilio and Marisol in a clinch. Time for a little “I told you so.” She has never trusted Gonzalo. Is this because it takes one to know one?
6. The despicable Conde Kids. Their indiscriminate lechery makes them easy prey for loathsome characters 1, 2, 3 and 4.
-- Carola is a druggie and a drunk and gets a special kick out of seducing her sister’s men.
-- Emilio is a lazy, whoring voyeur who is too dumb to know you don’t walk away from your gambling debts unscathed.
-- And Ignacia is a drama queen, the diva in the opera playing in her head.
7. Pilar. So hard to watch the bug-eyed, grimacing victim returning over and over to Javier’s smirking abuse. Psychologist, psychotherapeutize thyself! Did she really do something bad to Ricardo Merino?
8. The servidumbre. Nibaldo lurks. Karen is openly dishonest. The two were cheating on Yolanda. Is Yolanda as innocent as she seems? Is it a sin to be a yenta?
9. Hilda’s innocence has been replaced by resentment which, while justifiable, is less than appealing. Rosa Munita Yen didn’t have to work up much of a sweat to get Hilda on her side. Save your soul, your skin and your baby and get out of that house!
10. Mabel Mora. After Igor had his devastating stroke in prison, she abandoned her little boys. Only Gonzalo was old enough at the time to remember her.
---------------------------------------
Here’s my (much shorter) list of the, if not exactly innocent, then most sympathetic characters of the moment:
1. Renato Conde. I still don’t really understand why he staged his own death. He was testing his not-so-trusted advisors. Maybe he wanted to escape from – and punish – the faithless Eva. He seems to have loved his children. I resist the idea that his kids became monsters because of his over-indulgent parenting. I’m not sure if I feel sympathy for the character or just for the actor who plays him.
2. Rebeca. Locked in a vicious and life-long competition with her half-sister Pilar, she shows up disposed to steal the affections of Pilar’s husband and kids; she sticks around long enough to displace Javier as Renato’s trusted advisor. But then she morphs into a sensitive and intelligent soul who cares about her sister and her niece and nephew; cares about Renato Conde and his interests; and loves and subsequently grieves for Matías.
3. Igor Mora. Helpless observer of the evil being done by his sons. Tries to warn the Conde kids about the Mora boys. Tries to help Renato escape.
--------------------
Your turn, folks.
Gonzalo is frantic.
He is furious at Adolfo for kidnapping Renato. In spite of Gonzalo's objections, Rebeca has called the police to look into Renato’s disappearance. She openly challenges Gonzalo’s decisions and behavior. It seems...
...como si hubieras querido que Renato Conde no apareciera.
(...as if you didn’t want Renato Conde to be found.)
And further...
... como si estuvieras poniendo trabas en la búsqueda.
(... as if you were putting obstacles in the way of the search.)
[Does Rebeca have an inkling of the dark truth? Maybe not. She’s probably thinking Gonzalo is helping Renato find a safe place to hide just as she did.]
Meanwhile, Renato’s attempt at escape has been thwarted and he is chloroformed into unconsciousness, bound and gagged.
Gonzalo phones his brother and tells him exactly what to do next. We don’t hear what he says on the phone but we do see Adolfo dragging Renato away. Then we hear Adolfo taunting his father, Igor, saying that Renato got what he deserved. It doesn’t look good for don Renato.
A gentleman (maybe) caller:
Omar shows up at the Casa Conde looking for Carola. Ignacia hustles him off to her studio to try to pump him for information about Carola’s life outside the house. Omar is spooked when he sees a photo of Ignacia and Gonzalo (that’s my husband, Ignacia tells him) and remembers Carola showing him a phone photo of that same lumpen face and announcing that Gonzalo was her true love. Omar gets out of there fast all the while muttering to himself: She’s in love with her own brother-in-law!
Carola and Ignacia are more easily manipulated than Rebeca. Even so, when Ignacia shows up with another breathless update – Iñaki called her cell phone and threatened her -- Gonzalo realizes his little brother has made a fatal blunder, one that will bring the authorities right to their hideout.
Gonzalo bursts into the Conde home all the while reaming out Adolfo on the phone just as Marisol is on her way down the stairs and out the door.
This is an interesting moment: the crossing of two apparently unrelated malignant beings both too focused on their own dark plans to notice anyone else.
So what has Marisol been up to? (And hats off to Hombre – she sure seems to be Ricardo Merino’s sister!) She has handed the poisoned candy to Pilar:
Pilar’s social smile fades and her eyes narrow when Marisol’s generic compliment about her beautiful house segues into an off-balance rant about how some people cause others to lose everything and yet go unpunished. The open box of chocolates sits on the coffee table, untouched.
Marisol returns to the Conde house and engineers things so she is discovered in Emilio’s arms. Maybe she was hoping for Hilda, but it is Eva who walks in on them. Eva sends Marisol away by giving her the rest of the day off (I suspect there will be a little something extra in her next paycheck) and then gives vent to her great joy! Finally – we can get rid of Hilda!
Later we see Marisol dusting the piano in a house where all the furniture is covered with drapecloths. Her brother’s house. The neighbor lady stops by and is happy to hear that Marisol is planning to live there. Her brother, says the neighbor, is watching desde arriba (from above) and is surely happy too. Marisol answers:
¿Desde arriba? Ricardo no está muerto. Ricardo está tan vivo como tú o yo.
Oh ho!
Let’s follow the poisoned chocolate:
Javier comes home in a foul mood just having learned that Renato’s death was faked. Like Gonzalo, he assumes the trick was aimed at him personally. He roars at Pilar when she tries to suggest otherwise. He sits in front of the candy but ignores it and follows Pilar upstairs.
Diego also ignores the candy – he doesn’t like chocolate.
Once again, Hombre nailed it: it is Karen who can’t resist stuffing a couple of pieces in her mouth before going off to do the marketing. She comes home feeling weak -- but not too weak to stuff another piece in her mouth. The next thing we know, she is in the kitchen with a very bad bellyache. Andrea is hungry and completely unsympathetic. Have some chocolate! I shout at my television.
Karen is in her bedroom, pale and sweaty and doubled up with cramps.
Hilda and Yolanda get to play detective:
Hilda is emptying the garbage under the sink when she notices the baggie that Marisol left there earlier. A dark vial and a syringe. Is Marisol sick? Is she exposing them all to some illness? Yolanda will find out.
Yolanda takes the vial to a pharmacist friend. It’s not a medicine, he tells her. He’ll send it out to a lab. By tomorrow, they will know what it is.
How upset is Emilio by his marital woes?
Not very. He is sulking on his bed but immediately perks up at the news that Iñaki called Ignacia. They can track down the call from the cellphone itself and therefore the caller.
The same thought occurs to Gonzalo who by now he is nearly foaming at the mouth. Over Carola and Ignacia’s objections, he snatches the phone. But Emilio tells the girls not to worry – he can get all the info on incoming calls online.
The police have arrived at the Conde house. Thank goodness Gonzalo is there to take charge of things!
The last goodbye (of the evening):
Displaying his best Lt. Columbo technique, Gonzalo uses a handkerchief to retrieve his gun (now bearing only Carola’s fingerprints). He makes his way to the hideout. He and Adolfo argue. Gonzalo reproaches his brother for all his mistakes while Adolfo whines that he gets no respect, that Gonzalo thinks he’s so superior... Well he’s not!
While Adolfo is whining, Gonzalo is stealthily pulling out and donning a black glove.
We all have a limit! screams Adolfo.
And Gonzalo replies: You’re right. We all have a limit. And I’ve reached mine.
Gonzalo aims and coolly squeezes the trigger. Adolfo takes a hit in the belly. He falls to the floor.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Who, as of Friday, September 2, is the most loathsome character on this show?
1. Iñaki, alpha psycho. We saw him kill one of the few sympathetic characters, Matías. Last night we saw him shoot down his little brother, Ismael... well ok. maybe that one was a public service. But he also killed the only ‘good’ Mora brother, Ivan. He probably ordered Renato Conde’s execution, although we don’t know for sure what has happened to Renato. Everything Iñaki says is a lie. Everything.
2. Ismael, beta psycho. See above. Operates like a slick sociopath when he’s on his own but dissolves into a petulant pre-adolescent when his big brother is around. May already be dead.
3. Javier, bully, narcissist and thief. Murders the dreams and spirits and breaks the backbone of those around him. May not literally be a murderer though.
4. Marisol, the new kid on the psycho block. Marisol’s intended victim is Pilar but she seems unconcerned about collateral damage. Too bad Javier isn’t a chocoholic. Karen is the first victim of – if not death, then very very bad bellyache by chocolate.
5. Eva Spencer, domineering, unfaithful, cold. Uber snob. Last night she was glad to find Emilio and Marisol in a clinch. Time for a little “I told you so.” She has never trusted Gonzalo. Is this because it takes one to know one?
6. The despicable Conde Kids. Their indiscriminate lechery makes them easy prey for loathsome characters 1, 2, 3 and 4.
-- Carola is a druggie and a drunk and gets a special kick out of seducing her sister’s men.
-- Emilio is a lazy, whoring voyeur who is too dumb to know you don’t walk away from your gambling debts unscathed.
-- And Ignacia is a drama queen, the diva in the opera playing in her head.
7. Pilar. So hard to watch the bug-eyed, grimacing victim returning over and over to Javier’s smirking abuse. Psychologist, psychotherapeutize thyself! Did she really do something bad to Ricardo Merino?
8. The servidumbre. Nibaldo lurks. Karen is openly dishonest. The two were cheating on Yolanda. Is Yolanda as innocent as she seems? Is it a sin to be a yenta?
9. Hilda’s innocence has been replaced by resentment which, while justifiable, is less than appealing. Rosa Munita Yen didn’t have to work up much of a sweat to get Hilda on her side. Save your soul, your skin and your baby and get out of that house!
10. Mabel Mora. After Igor had his devastating stroke in prison, she abandoned her little boys. Only Gonzalo was old enough at the time to remember her.
---------------------------------------
Here’s my (much shorter) list of the, if not exactly innocent, then most sympathetic characters of the moment:
1. Renato Conde. I still don’t really understand why he staged his own death. He was testing his not-so-trusted advisors. Maybe he wanted to escape from – and punish – the faithless Eva. He seems to have loved his children. I resist the idea that his kids became monsters because of his over-indulgent parenting. I’m not sure if I feel sympathy for the character or just for the actor who plays him.
2. Rebeca. Locked in a vicious and life-long competition with her half-sister Pilar, she shows up disposed to steal the affections of Pilar’s husband and kids; she sticks around long enough to displace Javier as Renato’s trusted advisor. But then she morphs into a sensitive and intelligent soul who cares about her sister and her niece and nephew; cares about Renato Conde and his interests; and loves and subsequently grieves for Matías.
3. Igor Mora. Helpless observer of the evil being done by his sons. Tries to warn the Conde kids about the Mora boys. Tries to help Renato escape.
--------------------
Your turn, folks.
Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo
Saturday, August 27, 2011
El Mundo de Telemundo, Week of August 29, 2011: Discuss Amongst Yourselves
Hello from the disaster central - the Northeast. We had an earthquake on Tuesday and are now battening down for a hurricane. But back to the crisis-ridden world of telenovelas.
FLOR SALVAJE - viernes
Flor reunites with Sacto. He tells her that he never went far away. He tells her that he sent Pablo to Nueva Esperanza to give her the message that he doesn't care what happened with Urrieta and he never should have left town. He asks Amanda to marry him. Then he tells her that the postcards he sent were provided and written by Pablo. Amanda is impactada. She tells Sacto that it is too late. She can't marry him. Sacto concludes that Amanda has fallen in love with Urrieta.
Pablo meanwhile is having breakfast with Rafael and Catalina. He finds out that Rafael has a beef with Sacto. Rafael promises him a better position in the company. Catalina concludes that Pablo is a spy for Rafael. She decides that she has to go see Sacto and tell Rafael that she is going to Brigida's house to plan for the celebration of the Nativity of the Virgin. Rafael is suspicious of Catalina's sudden devotion to religion but he lets her go - warning her not to lie to him.
Pablo sees Amanda in town and gives her a cheery greeting. She attacks him for lying to her about Sacto. CC appears and warns them not to behave this way in public - someone might gossip to Rafael. Does Pablo want to join the "companía al descabezado" (headless company)?
Sacto is in a funk and Raimundo tries to get him to take his medicine. He gives him the advice of an old man: "Las mujeres de la mala vida sólo tren eso: ¡males a tu vida!" (The women of the bad life only bring one thing: bad things to your life.) Sacto says that he should know that already: his mother lived on 'Consolers Street' and she abandoned him right after he was born. Raimundo asks her name. When Sacto says that his mother's name was Penélope, Raimundo flashes back to an sexual encounter with her, which, in novela terms, is as a good as a DNA test showing that Sacto is Raimundo's son.
Amanda tells CC that Pablo lied to her. Pablo isn't traveling the world with a good job. He barely escaped death from malaria. When CC asks how she knows this, Amanda replies that she heard it from Sacto's own lips. CC is impactada.
Catalina, meanwhile, is trying to convince Sacto that Pablo has switched to Rafael's side. He won't believe it. She then tells him how, in his delirium, he confused her with someone else and kissed her. She puts her hand on his and Sacto looks uncomfortable. Catalina asks who the woman is. Then she gushes about how Sacto set her free from the dungeon and was so brave to face Rafael's wrath. Sacto says that she helped him too so they are even (a mano).
Brígida sees Catalina caressing Sacto's face and goes running to her husband who is looking at a picture of him and Sacto's mother, Penelope. She accuses him of turning her house into a bordello. He asks her how old she thinks Sacto is.
Amanda won't tell CC where Sacto is. When CC asks if she wants all the men for herself, Amanda replies that she is trying to save his life.
Rafael has called Enrique to his office to get publicity from the fact that his company is going to donate money to build a small hospital in NE with qualified medical personnel. He insists that Enrique take a picture of the 'chequezote' .
When Enrique is gone, Rafael tells Peter that he would like to put a bullet between his eyes. Peter changes the subject to the gossip in the bar that Rafael had sex with Zahra. Peter asks if Zahra is exclusive to Rafael like Flor. Rafael says to go ahead and try to get Zahra to have sex with anyone but him.
Zahra tells Olga that she threw Pablo out. Olga replies that Amanda is in love with Pablo and reminds her of the crazy things she did when she was love with Rafael. She also reminds Zahra that she has kept the reason that she and Rafael broke up a secret for many years. Only Olga knows what happened. Zahra tells her to leave it way it is: dead and buried.
Pablo gets into Amanda's room. She accuses him of lying to her about Sacto. He tries to defend himself but Zahra comes in, hustles him out, walks arm in arm with him on the street and makes him pretend to pay her. Malicia asks if Zahra is taking clients again. "Only with special clients," she replies.
Rafael tells Peter that he wants to promote Pablo in the company and get him in charge of the newly forming union so that it doesn't do anything management doesn't want.
Raimundo's daughter, Manuela, (and maybe Sacto's half sister) tells Sacto that he can trust her. He says that he wants to get out of the hacienda to find out what is going on. She agrees to help him.
Catalina tells Luisa that Sacto is the 'elegido,' the chosen one, who will kill Rafael for her.
Manuela give Sacto some of her older brother's clothes. Her brother is studying medicine in the capital. She notices that Sacto looks like her brother and even has some of the same gestures.
Amanda decides to leave town with her sisters. She says that Zahra told her to obey her or leave so she's leaving. Bebe actually speaks and says, "mala Amanda." Zahra comes in and reminds Amanda of all she has done for her and her sisters. Amanda goes to Clara's house without her sisters.
Pablo gets CC to arrange a meeting with Amanda. Sacto is in town and he finds CC. She is disgusted that he is only concerned with Amanda so he takes him to see her.
Amanda and Pablo reconcile at the river. Rafael comes to town looking for Flor and Ana tells her that Zahra kicked her out. CC takes Sacto to the river and shows him Pablo and Amanda kissing passionately.
I spend way too much time on this one. I will try and do a recap of Mi Corazon later.
Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo
Saturday, August 20, 2011
El Mundo de Telemundo, Week of August 22-26: Discuss Amongst Yourselves
LA CASA DE AL LADO
Let’s start by importing the terrific comment Hombre made last night on last week’s page:
I couldn't post earlier, because I spent the day at a bluegrass festival (it was fantastic!). But I just wanted to put out my suspicion (which is even more likely after tonight's show) that Gonzalo a) is the older brother to Ismael and Ivan, b) killed Rosa, because he's protecting Ismael, and felt Ismael was jeopardizing things by using Rosa, who was making lots of mistakes with Carola and Hilda. We definitely saw Gonzalo go out for a breath of fresh air and stay out for hours. And tonight Hilda said she thought Rosa was dead BEFORE Adolfo showed up. We also saw Adolfo be upset with Rosa's death. So Gonzalo as the third brother is more and more likely. Of course the Condes think the third brother is Javier. Hah!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As of Friday:
Emilio survives the beating but has “cortical blindness” which may or may not be reversible. Everyone assumes Adolfo/Ismael is responsible but the viewer knows it was one of the guys Emilio welched on in a card game.
Renato slips into the hospital to see Emilio. Emilio senses his presence and tells the family about it but they all think he’s imagining things.
This week Yolanda, fearing that Nibaldo has another woman, follows him to Renato’s secret apartment. Now three people -- Rebeca, Nibaldo and Yolanda -- know that Renato is alive; and Emilio suspects that he is.
Igor Mora has become a kind of oracle in the Conde house. Everyone goes to him for answers and his monosyllables speak volumes. The Conde kids now know the real names of the twins, that Adolfo/Ismael is malo, that Ivan/Leonardo was killed, and that the third sib is a brother. Ismael is desperate to get his father Igor out of there, dead or alive.
Ismael orders Hilda to kill Igor. If she refuses, Emilio will die. Hilda poisons Igor’s soup as instructed but doesn’t have the heart to feed it to him.
Hilda then witnesses a confrontation between Eva and Igor’s wife, Mabel, and hears Mabel say that Eva once tried to kill her.
Using the names Igor, Ivan and Ismael Mora, blind Emilio talks Ignacia through an internet search that reveals a 1976 photo of the Mora family: Igor and Mabel, an unnamed young boy, and twin baby boys, Ivan and Ismael. Hilda sees Mabel in the photo and recognizes her as the woman she just saw with Eva. She spills what she heard. Could the young boy in the photo be Javier?
Eva admits to Ignacia that she did try to kill Mabel but denies knowing anything about Mabel’s family.
Gonzalo’s speculative maneuver pays off and Conde stock rises dramatically.
Javier launches a smear campaign against Gonzalo denouncing him in the legal community for his personal and professional failings; as a result, several clients leave the firm. Javier tries to recruit Matías and Rebeca to a new firm he is starting.
Javier has also hired a detective (recommended by Matías) to follow Pilar and Gonzalo. The goal is to get rid of Gonzalo definitively. Meanwhile, Matías tells Rebeca about the detective. The two will approach him and try to neutralize him.
In the middle of all this Sturm und Drang, Matías declares his love for Rebeca and proposes marriage.
Pilar catches Ignacia in the process of trashing her office and realizes she was the one who destroyed it before. She stands tough in the face of Ignacia’s usual nasty threats. Then she tells Gonzalo – and he’s none too happy at the steely note in her voice -- that he’d better control Ignacia. She visits Javier and tells him what Ignacia has done.
Javier nearly chokes Ignacia to death and warns her to keep away from Pilar.
Pilar sees a picture of Rosa, now known to be Ismael’s accomplice, and realizes this is her patient “Cecilia”, the same one who claimed to be in love with Gonzalo.
Carola and Ignacia speculate that Javier could be the third Mora brother. Matías and Gonzalo agree it’s possible. Pilar is incensed at the suggestion: she’s been married to Javier for more than 15 years and it’s inconceivable that he could have a secret identity, unknown to her. Gonzalo is unhappy at her reaction. Does she still harbor feelings for Javier?
Later, the creepy Rosa Munita Yen is found murdered. (It’s actually Hilda, on her way to a meeting with Ismael, who finds her.) We know Ismael isn’t the killer – he’s actually distraught over her death. The viewer suspects that Gonzalo – looking more and more like the third brother -- is responsible.
Diego has a nightmare that someone is hurting him – Gonzalo!
Hilda asks Nibaldo to take her to see Rebeca. No, she doesn’t want to talk about divorce. She’s in deep doo doo and she needs a lawyer.
On Friday, there are some interesting developments:
1. Despite Javier’s dirty tricks, Conde stock prices hold and Gonzalo goes
into executive mode.
2. On the threshold of the Conde house, Javier overhears Matías referring to his role as the late Renato’s informant. Both enter the unlocked front door and argue heatedly, Matías denying and Javier accusing.
3. Meanwhile, Ismael has also entered the Conde house and gone upstairs where helpless Igor and blind Emilio are alone. He brandishes a hunting knife he seems to have borrowed from Julián in Alguien te mira. Igor Mora’s screams alert Emilio. (How does he know Ismael is there?) Then Emilio also begins screaming for help and Matías runs upstairs, Javier at his heels. Matías momentarily disarms Ismael and shouts for Javier to call the police; Javier stands frozen and does nothing. Ismael manages to break free, stopping briefly to thank Javier. As Ismael runs from the house, he bumps into Yolanda, just back with the groceries, and then is nearly run over by Gonzalo. Matías again catches up with him, wrestles him to the ground and shouts to Yolanda to call the police. Javier stands back and watches. Gonzalo gets out of the car...
In the next scene, the police arrive and arrest Ismael. Everyone but Javier gathers round while Gonzalo explains what happened and thanks Matías and Yolanda. Emilio credits Igor Mora with saving his life by alerting him to the unseen danger.
3. Matías again asks Rebeca to marry him and she accepts.
4. The Conde women are in a truth-telling mood:
Carola admits to the family that she’s in love with Ismael. And she knows he had nothing to do with the attack on Emilio because Ismael/Adolfo said so. (Of course he also told her he was responsible for Renato’s death so the viewer knows that Ismael is a liar, even if, in this particular case, he’s telling the truth.)
Ignacia admits to Igor Mora that her time with Ismael/Adolfo was the happiest period in her life.
Eva is cornered by Carola and Ignacia and says she’ll tell them the truth about Mabel. (We’ll see.)
Hilda admits to Nibaldo and Yolanda that she’s been meeting Leonardo/Adolfo/Ismael and doing things for him... that he asked her to poison Igor but she couldn’t go through with it.
5. Pilar gives Gonzalo an ultimatum: the Conde family or her. Meanwhile Diego, feeling guilty about deserting his sister Andrea, packs up his stuff and returns to the Ruiz house. When Pilar realizes he is gone, she follows him home. Smirking Javier walks in to find his picturebook family intact. He escorts the tearful Pilar up to the bedroom. He knew she’d come back to him, to his arms, her family, safety. He loves her and will take care of her for the rest of her life. He moves close and touches her face...
Pilar and Javier are naked in bed. He’s awake. She is ... unconscious? asleep? (dead???).
Gonzalo bursts in looking for Javier and comes upon this tableau... “Gonzalo ... por Dios” smirks Javier.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay. Your turn. Flor Salvaje? Mi Corazon Insiste?
Let’s start by importing the terrific comment Hombre made last night on last week’s page:
I couldn't post earlier, because I spent the day at a bluegrass festival (it was fantastic!). But I just wanted to put out my suspicion (which is even more likely after tonight's show) that Gonzalo a) is the older brother to Ismael and Ivan, b) killed Rosa, because he's protecting Ismael, and felt Ismael was jeopardizing things by using Rosa, who was making lots of mistakes with Carola and Hilda. We definitely saw Gonzalo go out for a breath of fresh air and stay out for hours. And tonight Hilda said she thought Rosa was dead BEFORE Adolfo showed up. We also saw Adolfo be upset with Rosa's death. So Gonzalo as the third brother is more and more likely. Of course the Condes think the third brother is Javier. Hah!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As of Friday:
Emilio survives the beating but has “cortical blindness” which may or may not be reversible. Everyone assumes Adolfo/Ismael is responsible but the viewer knows it was one of the guys Emilio welched on in a card game.
Renato slips into the hospital to see Emilio. Emilio senses his presence and tells the family about it but they all think he’s imagining things.
This week Yolanda, fearing that Nibaldo has another woman, follows him to Renato’s secret apartment. Now three people -- Rebeca, Nibaldo and Yolanda -- know that Renato is alive; and Emilio suspects that he is.
Igor Mora has become a kind of oracle in the Conde house. Everyone goes to him for answers and his monosyllables speak volumes. The Conde kids now know the real names of the twins, that Adolfo/Ismael is malo, that Ivan/Leonardo was killed, and that the third sib is a brother. Ismael is desperate to get his father Igor out of there, dead or alive.
Ismael orders Hilda to kill Igor. If she refuses, Emilio will die. Hilda poisons Igor’s soup as instructed but doesn’t have the heart to feed it to him.
Hilda then witnesses a confrontation between Eva and Igor’s wife, Mabel, and hears Mabel say that Eva once tried to kill her.
Using the names Igor, Ivan and Ismael Mora, blind Emilio talks Ignacia through an internet search that reveals a 1976 photo of the Mora family: Igor and Mabel, an unnamed young boy, and twin baby boys, Ivan and Ismael. Hilda sees Mabel in the photo and recognizes her as the woman she just saw with Eva. She spills what she heard. Could the young boy in the photo be Javier?
Eva admits to Ignacia that she did try to kill Mabel but denies knowing anything about Mabel’s family.
Gonzalo’s speculative maneuver pays off and Conde stock rises dramatically.
Javier launches a smear campaign against Gonzalo denouncing him in the legal community for his personal and professional failings; as a result, several clients leave the firm. Javier tries to recruit Matías and Rebeca to a new firm he is starting.
Javier has also hired a detective (recommended by Matías) to follow Pilar and Gonzalo. The goal is to get rid of Gonzalo definitively. Meanwhile, Matías tells Rebeca about the detective. The two will approach him and try to neutralize him.
In the middle of all this Sturm und Drang, Matías declares his love for Rebeca and proposes marriage.
Pilar catches Ignacia in the process of trashing her office and realizes she was the one who destroyed it before. She stands tough in the face of Ignacia’s usual nasty threats. Then she tells Gonzalo – and he’s none too happy at the steely note in her voice -- that he’d better control Ignacia. She visits Javier and tells him what Ignacia has done.
Javier nearly chokes Ignacia to death and warns her to keep away from Pilar.
Pilar sees a picture of Rosa, now known to be Ismael’s accomplice, and realizes this is her patient “Cecilia”, the same one who claimed to be in love with Gonzalo.
Carola and Ignacia speculate that Javier could be the third Mora brother. Matías and Gonzalo agree it’s possible. Pilar is incensed at the suggestion: she’s been married to Javier for more than 15 years and it’s inconceivable that he could have a secret identity, unknown to her. Gonzalo is unhappy at her reaction. Does she still harbor feelings for Javier?
Later, the creepy Rosa Munita Yen is found murdered. (It’s actually Hilda, on her way to a meeting with Ismael, who finds her.) We know Ismael isn’t the killer – he’s actually distraught over her death. The viewer suspects that Gonzalo – looking more and more like the third brother -- is responsible.
Diego has a nightmare that someone is hurting him – Gonzalo!
Hilda asks Nibaldo to take her to see Rebeca. No, she doesn’t want to talk about divorce. She’s in deep doo doo and she needs a lawyer.
On Friday, there are some interesting developments:
1. Despite Javier’s dirty tricks, Conde stock prices hold and Gonzalo goes
into executive mode.
2. On the threshold of the Conde house, Javier overhears Matías referring to his role as the late Renato’s informant. Both enter the unlocked front door and argue heatedly, Matías denying and Javier accusing.
3. Meanwhile, Ismael has also entered the Conde house and gone upstairs where helpless Igor and blind Emilio are alone. He brandishes a hunting knife he seems to have borrowed from Julián in Alguien te mira. Igor Mora’s screams alert Emilio. (How does he know Ismael is there?) Then Emilio also begins screaming for help and Matías runs upstairs, Javier at his heels. Matías momentarily disarms Ismael and shouts for Javier to call the police; Javier stands frozen and does nothing. Ismael manages to break free, stopping briefly to thank Javier. As Ismael runs from the house, he bumps into Yolanda, just back with the groceries, and then is nearly run over by Gonzalo. Matías again catches up with him, wrestles him to the ground and shouts to Yolanda to call the police. Javier stands back and watches. Gonzalo gets out of the car...
In the next scene, the police arrive and arrest Ismael. Everyone but Javier gathers round while Gonzalo explains what happened and thanks Matías and Yolanda. Emilio credits Igor Mora with saving his life by alerting him to the unseen danger.
3. Matías again asks Rebeca to marry him and she accepts.
4. The Conde women are in a truth-telling mood:
Carola admits to the family that she’s in love with Ismael. And she knows he had nothing to do with the attack on Emilio because Ismael/Adolfo said so. (Of course he also told her he was responsible for Renato’s death so the viewer knows that Ismael is a liar, even if, in this particular case, he’s telling the truth.)
Ignacia admits to Igor Mora that her time with Ismael/Adolfo was the happiest period in her life.
Eva is cornered by Carola and Ignacia and says she’ll tell them the truth about Mabel. (We’ll see.)
Hilda admits to Nibaldo and Yolanda that she’s been meeting Leonardo/Adolfo/Ismael and doing things for him... that he asked her to poison Igor but she couldn’t go through with it.
5. Pilar gives Gonzalo an ultimatum: the Conde family or her. Meanwhile Diego, feeling guilty about deserting his sister Andrea, packs up his stuff and returns to the Ruiz house. When Pilar realizes he is gone, she follows him home. Smirking Javier walks in to find his picturebook family intact. He escorts the tearful Pilar up to the bedroom. He knew she’d come back to him, to his arms, her family, safety. He loves her and will take care of her for the rest of her life. He moves close and touches her face...
Pilar and Javier are naked in bed. He’s awake. She is ... unconscious? asleep? (dead???).
Gonzalo bursts in looking for Javier and comes upon this tableau... “Gonzalo ... por Dios” smirks Javier.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay. Your turn. Flor Salvaje? Mi Corazon Insiste?
Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo
Saturday, August 13, 2011
El Mundo de Telemundo, Week of August 15, 2011: Discuss Amongst Yourselves
¡Hóla a todos! A new week begins.
MÍ CORAZÓN INSISTE viernes - This had to have been the shortest novela pregnancy ever! As we saw on Thursday, Lola decides to go to Panama to try and find traces of her mother. When did Soledad escape from Tiberio and presumably leave Panama? Lola must be at least 22, if she spent 4 years in an adult prison. It has to have been a long time ago so it is not surprising that she spends seven months showing Soledad's picture to people who don't remember her.
At some point, Tiberio decides to go to Panama, too, parking Soledad in the same whorehouse as the seemingly permanently strung out Adela. He follows her around and finally has someone give her some information about her childhood and passes on the news that Soledad killed Tiberio with the acid attack, the evidence of which is a tombstone.
Lola goes to the cemetery and sees the tombstone. Since Soledad presumably has a tombstone, too and Lola is sure that she is still alive, this doesn't seem like really strong proof that Tiberio is dead. Lola doesn't know what to think. She calls Etelvina and tells her that they are returning to LA. Right after that, her water breaks and Chabela, not being real, isn't much help. Tiberio is following and he takes her to the hospital where she give birth to a baby girl. She names her Isabel, in honor of her aunt.
Meanwhile, Rodrigo has been going to every town along the US Mexican border. He finally finds the security guard who used his ill-gotten gains to buy a taco stand but isn't interested in working there. We know this town is in Mexico because there are Mexican flags everywhere and Rodrigo puts on a sing-song Mexican accent. He pretends to be a cop to the disgruntled taco stand worker who blabs the whole story about how the guard was given the choice to accept money and testify falsely or be killed.
Andrés has adjusted to prison life and is teaching drawing and poetry writing, I think, to his fellow inmates. While he is manhandling a large piece of meat in the kitchen, he flashes back to the trial and the two murderers theory put forward by Camilo at the trial. At the time, he had rejected it because it seemed to incriminate Lola but now as he stabs the meat with both hands, he believes that there were two different people attacked Marcelo.
Andrés tells Camilo that this insight plus the new testimony by the guard will get him out of jail. [I'm not exactly sure how that helps. Showing that Marcelo had two assailants would only suggest that Andrés had an accomplice and I don't believe the guard saw who hit him. Of course, if the guard testifies that he was paid to perjure himself, that might cast doubt on Andrés' guilt.]
Andrés and a very business-coiffed Débora a have their usual argument about Lola. Andrés asks Débora to deposit some money in Rodrigo's account because he has spent all his savings searching for the security guard. Ramon is reluctant to do this and finally he points out to Débora the big disadvantages for both of them if Andrés gets out of prison.
Camilo is still coming on to Sofía without much success. We find out that Danny is in Amsterdam- the drug capital of Europe.
I think that was about it.
FLOR SALVAJE - viernes
We have the big initiation spectacle with Flor dancing with the support of the other girls. Rafi gets up and tells the rest of the crowd to look but not touch. This one is his alone.
La Trepadora, aka Rocío is back in town. Zahra asks why she is so concerned with Amanda's fate.
Meanwhile Clara swears that she will go after anyone who gets between her and Mariano.
Amanda's other older sister, Susanna, helps Olga in the kitchen, in contrast to the bitchy Ana. Their arguing upsets Beba.
Meanwhile Sacto is leaving town. He says goodbye to Amanda and then goes and frees Catalina and also buries the last bit of Alirio. Catalina's idea of revenge seems to be ripping up Rafi's shirts.
The father of Amanda & her sisters appears to have regrets about abandoning them.
Rocío asks Zahra not to let this happen to Amanda. Zahra replies that Amanda has no choice and is doing what she has to to protect her family. She says Rocío had a choice and came to the 4p's voluntarily to punish herself and that is why she doesn't have many customers.
Rafi takes Flor to her casita with it's own special colored light bulb. It turns out that Flor is not willing to 'cumplir,' go through, with her bargain. She uses her mother's herbal knowledge and drugs Rafi with the extract of a flower.
The reporter want Malicia to be his model. He tells her that he has never paid for sex. He only sleeps with a woman if they both want it.
Cataline gets help in leaving town from Raimundo who appears to be the husband of the snooty school mistress, Brigida.
The maid discovers that Catalina has escaped.
Rafi wakes up and figures out that Flor drugged him. He is about to get what he wants by force when he gets the news about Catalina.
Sacto stumbles upon a line of guys waiting to try and get work in the oil fields. When someone in the line pushes another one out saying that he is too old to work in the oil fields, impulsive Sacto demands respect for the aged and starts a big fight. Things are not looking too good for him until he is helped by another job seeker, a former sailor named Pablo Aguilar and José Luis Resendez makes his appearance in the novela.
Rafi brutally flogs the maid about where Catalina is. He finally figures out that if Alirio's remains are missing, it must have been Sacto who freed Catalina.
With Raimundo's help, Catalina gets to Timoteo. She is about to get a on a train to the capital when Mariano announces that the train won't leave unless she is found.
COMMENTS: I'm not sure what Amanda thought she'd gain if she drugged Rafi other than to make him angry and more likely to take what he wants by force. It's not like she can go anywhere.
Since Rafi is in the oil business, it wouldn't seem that working on an oilrig is not going to be a great way to for Sacto to stay away from him and Amanda. He was on foot. How far could have gotten from Nuevo Esperanza?
Over to you now.
Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo
Saturday, August 06, 2011
El Mundo de Telemundo, Week of August 8, 2011: Discuss Amongst Yourselves
I’m going to post the page so we can get the conversation going. I’d especially like to hear what everyone thinks of the latest primetime novela, Flor Salvaje. (I’m not sure I love the premise of the show, but I guess I’m still on the fence.)
In La Casa de al Lado, everything is spinning out of control for both the Conde and the Ruiz families. Adolfo is a terrorist who kills without a backward glance. Pilar finally breaks away from Javier the Jorrible but she may be done in by her own kids. Renato is not only on the brink of financial ruin, he is now on the brink of death. Matías and Rebeca are trying to put out fires but Adolfo and Javier may extinguish them before they get a chance to do any good. What a mess.
Mi Corazón Insiste: Sorry, I’m not watching this one.
Thanks to Hombre, Novelera, NJ Sue and Jean for all the great mini-recaps last week. (I have a hunch you have a lot of appreciative readers out there.)
In La Casa de al Lado, everything is spinning out of control for both the Conde and the Ruiz families. Adolfo is a terrorist who kills without a backward glance. Pilar finally breaks away from Javier the Jorrible but she may be done in by her own kids. Renato is not only on the brink of financial ruin, he is now on the brink of death. Matías and Rebeca are trying to put out fires but Adolfo and Javier may extinguish them before they get a chance to do any good. What a mess.
Mi Corazón Insiste: Sorry, I’m not watching this one.
Thanks to Hombre, Novelera, NJ Sue and Jean for all the great mini-recaps last week. (I have a hunch you have a lot of appreciative readers out there.)
Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo
Saturday, July 30, 2011
El Mundo de Telemundo, Week of August 1, 2011: Discuss Amongst Yourselves
¡Hóla a todos! Bienvenidos a agosto.
Flor Salvaje starts on Tuesday. I am going to check it out. I read that the lead actress in Flor, Mónica Spear, was the star of three successful novelas in Venezuela and has now signed an exclusive deal with Telemundo. Ya veremos.
After Herederos and Clon, my new standard for a novela is: does the story move along? I can take about anything else (not the hammy acting on Univisión) but an attractive, talented cast, a beautiful setting and a good initial idea are all worthless if the writers just put the story in a repetitive loop.
CORAZON- Andres exhibited an annoying schizophrenia in judgment. He refuses to believe any of the logical arguments that Lola makes to him about how pushing Débora down the stairs would have been totally against all her previous statements and actions but to no avail. Andres says that they are over. He never wants to see her agian.
Andres then finds out from the maid that Marcelo came to see Débora and that they had a terrible fight. He confronts Vicky and Ramón about this and he can tell that they are lying. He is unable to get the truth from them, however.
Lola tells Rodrigo that she didn't push Débora down the stairs and he says that he knows that she couldn't do something like that. Rodrigo tries to convince Andres but with no success. Meanwhile, Andres is all smarmy over Débora - gag.
The police question Marcelo about Verónica's murder but get nowhere. Rodrigo's boss tells him that he has learned from Interpol that Tiberio ran an operation that trafficked women for prostitution but then he disappeared and could be anywhere. He warns Rodrigo not to go after Tiberio without permission from Interpol. Right.
Marcelo shows up at Apolo's funeral and Lola tells him to get lost.
Etelvina tells Lola that Adela is sneaking out at night. Then Adela brings home a (used but low miles) Mini Cooper for her grandfather and claims that she bought it from her tips at work. Lola replies sarcastically that Adela couldn't even have made the down payment for a car like that from her tips.
Ramón, probably unwisely, taunts Marcelo about the fact that Tiberio won't take his calls.
Marcelo, I think, orders a hit on Rodrigo but it is unsuccessful. I think he kills or wounds one of the matones.
Lola inherits even more money from Apolo and Adela is jealous.
Camilo appears to be getting nowhere with Sofía but he is probably wearing her down. Andres finds out that Sofía is Camilo's love interest. Sofía asks Andres to help her do an intervention on Daniél and get him into treatment.
Soledad is still tied up and gagged in the pool supplies room.
That was about it. Over to you.
Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo
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