Caray, Caray!

LA CASA DE AL LADO

The casa of the title can refer to the Conde mansion with its stylized black and white interior; or it can be the Ruiz digs, where no one talks about the elephant in the room. Literally. It depends on the perspective of the speaker. This shifting perspective is especially evident now that Javier Ruiz inhabits the Casa Conde and Pilar has moved in to keep an eye on him and take care of her sister, Rebeca.

The transition hasn’t been easy for Javier. Intruders – including the entire Conde family – enter as easily as they did before and evil still lurks in every corner.

And then there’s the whole servant problem:

Where’s Nibaldo?
The viewer has seen him lying, bloody and inert – though not necessarily dead – in a public park. The police are called after a young couple spot him. But the only one of our characters who knows about Nibaldo’s misfortune is the one responsible: Ismael.

Hilda is gone too (but only to la casa de al lado, thank goodness).
She agrees to help look after Pilar’s kids – it’s only right. After all, Diego saved her from Javier and Andrea also helped to fend off her monstrous father.

Back to the Future:
On Wednesday we saw Renato accepting a mysterious shipment of books and then “accidentally” dropping a copy of Condenados in front of Emilio. We were nonplussed, especially when we noticed the conspiratorial look Renato and Eva shared.

Then Carola finds her copy of the new book snuck into her handbag and guesses correctly that it must have come from her parents.

But from what we learned last night, it seems as if Novelera’s brilliant deduction was correct – Renato has rewritten Condenados, at least in part. One thing we know: in this new version, Ignacia survives. We’d know a lot more if these people weren’t all such maddeningly slow readers. We’d know, for example, if veneno is still in Sebastian’s future in this edition. (And again, hats off to Hombre for guessing that one!) And of course we don’t know if a murderer’s plans can be derailed by writing out his evil deeds.

The red tongue of the stairway swallows them up and spits them back out, over and over and over. And the house just keeps on laughing.

Pilar marches up the stairs in those wild lemon-colored stilettos. She’s going to check on her sister. But when she hears Rebeca say the word Pilar , she races back downstairs to share the miracle with Javier. She wants him to call a doctor to come and evaluate her. Gladly, he says -- now neither manic nor depressed but rather back at baseline bastard – just withdraw your domestic violence accusation and I’ll do whatever you want.

Meanwhile Ignacia arrives at the front door. Just as she is declaring her love for Javier and begging him to admit he feels the same way, Gonzaki bursts in looking for Pilar: She’s living in this house now, right Javier?

Poor Ignacia. She races angrily up the stairs closely followed by Gonzaki. Fuera de aquí, she screams at Pilar.

Are you nuts? asks Pilar (though we all know this is just a rhetorical question.) You think I’m here because of Javier? ¡Te lo regalo! ¡Quédate con él! I’m here for Rebeca!

Then Pilar turns to Gonzaki: I’m here to protect my sister. And like you said in court, you’re just my lawyer. So butt out, buster!

Pilar struts off on the lemon stilettos and Ignacia clumps back down on her impossibly steep wedgies.

Now Renato bursts through the open door and tells Javier to get lost. Ignacia asked her parents to protect her and that’s what they’re going to do. He insists she come back home with him.

Javier smirks and preens here, telling Renato: You’re the one who needs to get lost. ¡Esta es la casa de papi!

Now the red tongue spits Gonzaki back into the foyer. Javier reflects ruefully that the house is filled with people who hate him. (And the viewer reflects that the trick would be to fill the house with people who don’t hate him.)

Gonzo leaves with these words:
Cuídala, Javier – es la única cosa que tengo en la vida.

And the viewers finally let out their collective breath – Amazingly Pilar hasn’t blurted out Rebeca’s progress to Gonzaki. Yet.

It was a dark and stormy night...
Hilda and Emilio are hosting a party to celebrate their upcoming wedding.
So what if Emilio hasn’t told Hilda he turns tricks for a living?
So what if Hilda still can’t bear to be in the same room as her baby?
So what if the party house has no water? (Sure, you can buy ice and get food delivered – but are they planning to bring in Porta-Potties?)
And so what if crazed killer Ismael is lurking in the shadows?

The heavens weigh in with an opinion – fierce winds, rain, bolts of lightning.

The usual suspects file in ...

While in la casa de al lado, Pilar tells Rebeca she’s just going to pop in on the party and toast to Hilda and Emilio’s happiness. (Better let Sebastián taste the champagne first, Pilar.) Javier is safely in his room and all is well. Va a ser una noche muy tranquila coos the oblivious Pilar to her helpless sister. But the frantic expression in Rebeca’s eyes tells us she knows better. She remembers the terrible things that have happened to her already ...

Outside the storm rages. Pilar stops for an umbrella and steps into the wild of the night.

Inside, Javier, fully dressed, emerges from the shadows.
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OTHER SHOWS

Fans of Mi corazón insiste know that por fin, el fin is on Monday. Then the new Eugenio Siller novela begins on Tuesday: Una Maid en Manhattan. I think I’ll pass – don’t think I’m their target demographic. Anybody in on that one?

Fans of Flor salvaje and Mi Corazón -- les toca a ustedes --

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, maid, telemundo

¡Feliz día de acción de gracias!

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

¡Hola amigos! Como siempre, voy a empezar con mi novela preferida, Las familias sin suerte:


LA CASA DE AL LADO – as of Friday


Who is Anderson Chuncler? --or-- The Trail of the Red Herrings

Earlier this week:

It’s Adolfo!
In Ismael’s hideout, a snapshot of Ismael himself and “Anderson Chuncler” falls out of a copy of La Casa de al Lado.

(Also let’s not forget: it was Ismael who many months earlier was reading And Then There Were None, the Agatha Christie murder mystery that was such an inspiration to our psychos. Could “Leonardo” have secretly been writing his own homage to the Christie classic during the hours he was confined to his room, supposedly motionless?)

No ... wait ... it’s Javier!
We learn of Javier’s secret journals, those green-bound volumes recording, in exhaustive detail, everything about his family and the Condes – rich source material for La Casa. Not only that, he has taken to closeting himself in the study where he consults these journals and writes and writes ... something.

Or ... is it Ignacia? Or Ig’s shrink?
The sequel to La Casa, Condenados, has just appeared. One copy was delivered to the public library and Emilio and Ignacia have begun reading it. They make a troubling discovery: the dedication is a transcript of Ignacia’s recurrent nightmare, the one where she wakes up terrified because someone close to her is about to kill her. You were never faithful to anyone ... not even to yourself. Who knows the dream script? Ignacia does. And so does her psychiatrist, a woman we haven’t seen on camera for a while.

Last night:

Emilio is puzzled by what he has read in Condenados so far. Unlike La Casa, which describes recognizable occurrences in the lives of the Condes, this new book talks about things which have never happened. Maybe, suggests Sebastián, this book is talking about what is going to happen. Uh oh. In the new book there are three siblings. And the oldest sister is going to die...

A sweaty, creepy kind of guy we’ve never seen before tells a black-gloved figure that the first copy of Condenados has been delivered to the library. Now what are they going to do with the other nine copies?

We see a shadowy figure slipping into the Casa Conde (the big house, that is) in the dark of night and leaving another copy on what is now Javier’s desk, next to his copy of La Casa. And we see Javier’s surprise at finding it there in the morning.

And then we get a little jolt which leads us to wonder ... could the writer be the new age nerd, Sebastián?
We see Dr. Reasonable wake up still wearing his street clothes – he seems to have fallen asleep on the couch. And on the table in front of him is a copy of Condenados as well as several notebooks filled with hand-written entries. (The herring trail is pointing to Sebastián. Is he really involved? Interesting. That would make each and every one of Pilar’s suitors evil and/or insane. No exceptions. None.)

Later on at the office Hilda is futzing around her boss’s desk and notices a snapshot of Sebastián with an elderly man (Mr. Chuncler, I presume). Nice picture, she says: Is that you and your dad? Her question appears to make Sebastián squirm.

Let’s check in with the Conde kids:

Carola pulls the old sneak-in-and-pop-up-in-the-backseat-of-the-car trick on Sebastián and persuades him to drive her to her bio-mom Carmen’s place. Carmen agrees to let Carola hide out there for now.

Carola fills Carmen in on Gonzaki – she’s not just suspicious of him, she is certain he’s Iñaki, the worst man in the world, the person behind all her family’s suffering and the person who framed her by planting drugs in her bag.

Against Carmen’s better judgment, Carola puts on a pair of lentes oscuros and a gorra (not exactly an invisible cloak, but they will have to do) and heads out to do some detecting. She has to find proof of Gonzaki’s guilt.

She’s convinced that Ismael’s old girlfriend, Lidia, can help her. You remember -- Lidia’s the one who was run over and nearly died the last time she talked to the Conde girls. Yes, Lidia is back in Miami, she is told by a waitress where the girl used to work; she doesn’t want to be found; and she certainly wants nothing to do with Carola or Ignacia. (And who can blame her? Has anyone been involved with these women and come out unscathed?)

Ignacia accepts Javier’s deal. She agrees to abort her pregnancy if he’ll return the house to Renato. How does she know he’ll do what he promises? She has his word!

Emilio poses for the Silver Boys website. Since he’s wearing a cute little mask over his eyes, no one will recognize him. Right. Meanwhile Yolanda trucks on over to Silver Boys headquarters to see what kind of service the business provides. Unlike innocent Hilda, Yolanda seems to recognize – and be scandalized by -- the product they are selling.

As for the rest of the gang:

Adolfo is off-stage at the moment -- everyone but Mabel and Ignacia thinks he’s dead. Or so it seems.

Gonzaki keeps up the pressure on the cops to hunt down Carola Conde.

The Ghost of Igor Mora keeps up the pressure inside Gonzaki’s head.

Pilar tells Gonzo the move to the new house will have to wait. (As Alex pointed out yesterday, this probably comes as an enormous relief to Gonzaki.)

She is undaunted by Javier’s ever more shameless threats and posturing. She is going forth with her charges of domestic violence against him. Gonzaki helps her prep for her first appearance before the judge. It’s a shame Rebeca can’t testify, says Pilar wistfully – she would have made a compelling witness.

Rebeca is still Javier’s captive – or maybe we should think of her as being in protective custody? He keeps taunting. Her eyes keep haunting. (And I keep hoping that she’s going to pull a “Leonardo” – that she is secretly recovering some mobility and at the right moment will use it to escape.)

And lastly there’s Hilda. She’s going to need a new job since Sebastián’s regular secretary is coming back to work. (Will Hilda leave the flat screen in the office? It’s probably too large for her room in the pensión where we (finally) learn she is living.) Is her glimpse of Sebastián’s snapshot with his “dad” going to have unpleasant consequences?

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Ahora te toca a ti --

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

¡Hola a todos! Welcome to the wacky world of Telemundo novelas.

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

¡Hola a todos! Since every day is Halloween at la casa de los Conde, it’s fitting to start our conversation in everyone’s favorite haunted house:

LA CASA DE AL LADO – viernes

Those Fabulous Mora Boys, Iñaki and Ismael, were each left in a cliff-hanger on Thursday. What happened last night?

Well, in Ignacia’s taller, with Gonzo’s portrait looking on, Ismael waves a gun in Javi’s face. As usual, when confronted with real danger, Javier melts into a sniveling, mewling pool of cowardice. To the rescue – an unlikely hero! Nibaldo slips in unseen and conks Ismael over the head, knocking him out cold. [There’s no shortage of blunt objects on Telemundo sets, is there?]

Javier won’t let Nibaldo call the police – he plans to exact his own justice. Traeme una cuerda (Bring me some rope), he tells Nibaldo.

Somehow the new team of Javier and Nibaldo (not quite Batman and Robin) manages to get Ismael back to the house and lock him in Leonardo’s old room, painfully hog-tied, his mouth sealed with duct tape. But the getaway isn’t clean. Ignacia catches sight of Javier locking the door. What were you doing in that room? she asks suspiciously.

He half-drags her back into her bedroom and ravishes her saying: Quiero que celebremos tú y yo el hecho de que no hay nada de temer. (I want us to celebrate – you and I – the fact that there’s nothing to be afraid of.)

Later, when Javier is sleeping fitfullly, Ignacia slips out and tries the door across the hall. It is securely locked.

Thursday, we left Gonzaki in the driver’s seat with Omar trying to overpower him from behind. Omar grabs the wheel, the car swerves and comes to a stop. Gonzo is slumped in his seat. Is he hurt? Is he ... dead?

Omar gets out of the car; Rebeca gets out too, leaning heavily on him for support – she still can’t walk by herself. Omar reaches cautiously into the front seat and to Rebeca’s relief, extracts Gonzo’s cellphone from his jacket pocket. But Gonzo suddenly kicks out, catching Omar off-balance and knocking him down; then Gonzo sets on him, pummeling him over and over. He has him in a chokehold while Rebeca looks on, helpless and horrified. Omar breaks free and starts to run – only to be shot in the back!

Gonzo leaves Omar’s bloody body prone on the ground and grabbing Rebeca by the hair, he drags her back to the car.

Pilar brings Sebastián to Diego’s bedside in the hospital so he can begin his initial diagnostic session. She also tells him unequivocally that Gonzo is the man she loves, the person she plans to spend her life with. But when she gets home, she replays uneasily what Gonzo said to her earlier: Pilar, vete, vete lejos – huye de mí. (Go far away – flee from me.) I’m not who you think I am!

Karen, who has returned from her tryst with Nibaldo early enough to see Pilar come home, then watches her go out again.

Carola is dying for a drink so idiot Emilio escorts his alcoholic little sister to a club for a trago – his treat! When Carola steps away for a moment, a well-dressed woman in her 40’s sidles up to Emilio and startles him by asking: ¿Cuál es tu tarifa? (What’s your price?) Emilio, both embarrassed and flattered by the proposition, tells her gently that that’s not his thing. Too bad, says the lady: Con ese cuerpo y ese rostro, serías millonario. (With that body and that face, you’d be a millionaire.)

He remembers those words later when he is trying to figure out how he will pay for the expensive treatment the doctors have recommended for his poor, (and still nameless) baby girl – daily growth hormone injections.

When Gonzo stumbles back to his apartment, frazzled and filthy from his latest excursion into madness and evil, he’s not prepared to find Pilar waiting for him and full of questions. He explodes at her and then apologizes and convinces her to come to bed. But later she has a vivid nightmare in which her beloved Gonzalo tells her he has murdered her daughter, Andrea – and now he’s going to kill her too. Pilar startles awake to find Gonzalo sleeping peacefully at her side.

The next day:
A cyclist happens upon Omar, still sprawled out and bloody on the ground. He calls for help.

The doorbell sounds at Casa Conde. It is Pilar and she is there to talk to Javier about Diego.

Upstairs, Ignacia spots Nibaldo lurking outside the locked bedroom door and she forces him to admit that Javier has Adolfo imprisoned within.

While Pilar and Javier are in the midst of one of their vicious arguments – he has just said he’ll only participate in Diego’s therapy if she agrees to withdraw her domestic violence complaint – Ignacia comes flouncing angrily down the stairs, ready for a confrontation.

Now Pilar has just the ammunition she needs to get a unilateral divorce from Javier – he is living with the Igster! Javier denies that he is living with Ignacia and repeats that he will never, ever let Pilar get away: Hasta que la muerte nos separe. (Until death do us part). Pilar turns to Ignacia: Te compadezco (I feel sorry for you), she says and leaves.

A woman scorned – make that a double!
Ignacia runs back upstairs, pries open the locked door with a letter opener (or a chisel) and takes in the sight of Adolfo painfully tied and gagged on the bed. She removes the duct tape from his mouth and he sweet-talks her into setting him free, swearing that once she does so he will disappear from their lives forever.

Of course as soon as he is free, he pops up, and grabs Ignacia in a headlock. That’s your mistake, he tells her: Siempre confias en el primer imbécil que te promete algo. (You always trust the first fool who makes you a promise.) But people like me don’t keep our promises!

The DNA test:
Renato has decided to satisfy Eva by demonstrating that Fake Iñaki is really his son: he will get a DNA test. And he asks Gonzo to be in charge of testing. Gonzo makes a show of reluctance and even appeals to Mabel for help. Somehow, he’ll have to take the test too and then switch his results with Fake Iñaki’s. (Of course we don’t know for sure that Real Iñaki is truly Renato’s son.)

So Renato, Fake I and Real I all go to the clinic. Fake I leaves with Renato while Real I hangs back, has his own cheek swab taken and arranges for the results of both tests to be given to him and him alone.

Carola shows up at Sebastián’s office. Hilda explains that he’s not in yet and no, she hasn’t seen Omar either although he was there the day before. Oiga, says Hilda, are you guys, like, together? Before we can hear Carola’s answer, the cops arrive looking for Sebastián. There’s an urgent matter concerning Omar Blanco...

The problem with Diego
Pilar, Javier and Sebastián meet at the Ruiz house to discuss Sebastián’s initial diagnostic impression. Javier’s facial expression goes from smug and condescending to I can’t believe this is happening to me before the words are completely out of Sebastián’s mouth: Diego tiene problemas de identidad – tiene una clara tendencia a homosexual. (Diego has identity problems; he clearly has homosexual tendencies.) [Because come on, this is going to be all about Javier – it’s not possible that a son of his could be gay!]

Not dead. Yet.
Carola phones Gonzo to say there’s tragic news about Omar. What can I do about it if he’s dead? barks Gonzo nastily. And Carola replies: ¿Muerto? No, ¡está vivo! (Dead? No, he’s alive!) And no one can understand how he managed to survive the attack he suffered.

Will Emilio take up the world’s oldest profession?
Will Omar live?
Is Rebeca still alive in Gonzaki’s killing house?
Will Fake Iñaki pass his DNA test with the help of Real Iñaki?
Will Diego survive his horrible father now that Sebastián has planted doubts about the kid's sexual orientation?
Will Pilar take her doubts about Gonzaki seriously and get away before he harms anyone else in her family?
And now that Adolfo is on the loose again, what new mischief will he be up to?
Will Ignacia ever, ever get a clue? [Well okay, that last one was just a joke.]-------------------------------------------

Ahora te toca a ti --

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

¡Hola a todos! Bienvenidos á una semana nuevo de discusión de las novelas de Telemundo.

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

¡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!

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

¡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.

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

¡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!

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

¡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.

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

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.

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

¡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.

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

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.

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

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.

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

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?

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

¡Hóla a todos! A new week begins.

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

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.)

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

¡Hóla a todos! Bienvenidos a agosto.

Labels: casa-lado, flor-salvaje, insiste, telemundo

Hola, Telemundo fans. Last week we said goodbye – or maybe good riddance – to Herederos. One week from next Tuesday, we’ll be welcoming the latest primetime novela, Flor Salvaje. This August 2 debut is no accident. Univisión starts its latest 9pm/8C novela, La Fuerza del Destino, on that date as well. (Interestingly, La Fuerza’s protagonista, Sandra Echeverría, is a Telemundo actor – Jade, from El Clon) Clearly, they want us to pick a team. Me, I’m going to watch a few episodes of each and then decide...

Blog del Escritor
Telemundo definitely has some hidden treasures on its website. [And I do mean hidden. Have you tried navigating this thing?] Anyway, Telemundo has these little writer interviews tucked away among its “Videos Exclusivos de La Casa de al Lado”. Here are links to the three I found:

http://tinyurl.com/3fkjtzh

http://tinyurl.com/3mkzpq7

http://tinyurl.com/3mj3mz2

Boyishly engaging, wild-haired Chilean writer José Ignacio Valenzuela talks about his creative process and discusses his cinematic and literary inspirations for the novela. Among other things, he tells us:

He intends La Casa as an homage to Alfred Hitchcock.

He is a great fan of detective novels, especially Agatha Christie’s.

The culprit in La Casa is obvious from the beginning but presented in a way that throws the viewer off track. Well. That’s a challenge if I ever heard one. I’m definitely going to watch the first episode again to see if I can pick up on what I missed the first time around.

Oh, and since the story is loosely based on the Agatha Christie classic, And Then There Were None, here’s a link to a free PDF of a Spanish translation of the original:
[Caution: Here, unlike in later versions, the shameful racial and ethnic epithets are exactly as Dame Agatha wrote them]

http://literatura.itematika.com/descargar/libro/66/diez-negritos.html

Fans of Mi Corazon Insiste – There’s a writer’s video blog of your novela too, I think. Good luck finding it!


LA CASA DE AL LADO – as of Friday
Carola and Emilio figure out that Eva is somehow involved with Matías. Girl Detective Carola sneaks a look at Matías’s driver’s license and feeds the demographic info to Boy Detective, Emilio. Conclusion: Matías is NOT the third brother. He must be Eva’s lover!

When Ignacia shows up for her meeting with the fortune-teller expecting to learn the identity of her pursuer, she discovers the woman has been murdered. Then an anonymous caller tells her the third “hermano” is a sister, not a brother.

Gonzalo is still in bad shape. Even so, he manages to croak out to Renato that he can’t name his attacker, but he knows the intended target was Ignacia because her name was called out just before the shot was fired. Gonzalo also confirms to Renato that Eva has a lover.

Yolanda, who saw how viciously Javier treated Pilar in the hospital, tells Nibaldo she’s worried about her. If Javier behaves like that in public, imagine what he’s capable of in private.

Carola has another Leo and company nightmare and calls Pilar who promises to come right over. Javier insists on tagging along.

Diego and Andrea – yes, Andrea the brat – encourage their mother in her plans to set up an office for her practice. They just want her to be happy. Pilar is overcome with emotion. She flashes back to Javier trashing the office she used to have.

Hilda and Eva go toe to toe and it’s Eva who backs down.

Ignacia comes home in her usual hysterical state, rushes upstairs screeching for Emilio, completely ignoring Hilda, of course. The three little Conde’s compare notes: The bruja knew the truth and now she is dead. The third sibling is a sister, not a brother. The wheels in Carola’s alcohol-addled brain are turning: Of course! Everyone involved in Adolfo’s past is dying! That’s it!

Javier challenges Matías. He must have had an ulterior motive for taking the job as Javier’s assistant. Matías feeds him the story he and Renato prepared, that he wants a shortcut to power and money, that Javier is his hero and he can imagine the two of them pulling off a job together, a seamless embezzlement. Having confessed what a bad boy he really is, Matías offers to resign. Now that Javier knows the truth, of course he won’t want him around. Quédate, says Javier sharkily. Todavía no hemos terminado de hablar...

Later, Javier walks in on Renato, Matías and Rebeca just in time to hear Renato say they don’t want Javier to find out. Find out what? asks Javier.

Then Eva walks in on Matías and Rebeca just in time to see them kissing. (Eva doesn’t know that Matías is forcing himself on Rebeca but we do.) Se puede saber, asks the ever-imperious Eva, ¿qué significa esto?

Mi Corazón Insiste – The page is yours.

Labels: casa-lado, insiste, telemundo