Caray, Caray!

An angry Maura swears that Bruno will never get what he wants because she's going to stop him, angrily. Bruno angrily warns her she doesn't know who she's messing with and leaves as Maura breathes deeply and angrily. Grrr!

Alex and Fer enjoy their drinks on the plane. Fer wanted to call home, but Alex didn't. He didn't want Bruno warned before they arrive. He wants to get the jump on him. Fer thinks he's being paranoid, but Alex reminds him the Bruno always seems to know everything--he knew they were in the DR. He offers that Fer can call Vicky once they get to Merida and let Vicky know they're on the way. Fer caves and agrees that Alex's plan is good. He can't wait to see the looks of surprise on everyone's faces when they show up.

MJ tells Vicky that she's planning to sell some of her shares to Maura and Lisette. She wants Vicky's blessing/advice. Vicky tells her to do what she thinks is best. After all, Alex left it to her, so he must have trusted her judgment. MJ asks if Vicky will come with her to go sign the contract, but Vicky declines. Vicky hopes that once this is done, Bruno will calm the heck down already.

MJ goes to the company and is greeted by Mari and some people in the waiting area. Mari gives her the condolences of everyone in the company. She says that Alex was an awesome guy and they really miss him. Mari shows MJ into Alex's office, where everything is just as he left it. MJ lets Mari know that she's expecting Maura, Lisette, and their lawyer. Mari asks for permission before giving MJ a hug and then leaves. MJ sits behind Alex's desk and cries. It's hard to get too into it knowing that he's coming back any minute now.

Alex and Fer get in a taxi and ask it to take them to "the Lombardo family house." Must be nice. I doubt anyone would know where the hell I was talking about if I just said "take me home."

Lisette and Maura's lawyer gives MJ the contract to review. They talk to her about selling them even more shares, but MJ has no intention of doing that at the moment. MJ hesitates to sign, so Maura puts on some pressure--no one else will give her as much money and they could end up being on Bruno's side. MJ mentions wanting Vicky to be president of the company, but the lawyer says that's not a good idea, given the scandal. Maura suggests MJ, Hernán, or herself, and the lawyer says any of them would be a good choice, provided they get advice from someone (the implication being that it be someone who actually knows how to run a construction business). MJ is still hesitant because Alex wouldn't have wanted her to sell. Maura reminds her it's an emergency and they've got to do it to beat Bruno.

Alex and Fer arrive at the house and Tomás happily calls to everyone that they're home, after he lets Alex know that his wife isn't at home at the moment. Ezequiel passes on the message to Vicky, who thinks he's trying to drive her nuts. But then Alex walks in. Vicky exclaims "hijo, hijo" (son) but gets hugged by Fernando first. Hugs are exchanged all around between Fer, Alex, Vicky, Ezequiel, and Felipa. Vicky goes into momma bear mode, asking if the boys are hungry, thirsty, what happened to them. Vicky tells Alex that MJ is at the company getting ready to sell shares to Maura and Lisette in order to keep Bruno from taking over the company. Alex rushes for the phone, but Vicky reminds him that he may not want to give a pregnant woman such a big shock. Vicky makes the call for him.

MJ is still hesitating over signing the contract. She answers the phone and Vicky tells her, since she hasn't signed yet, to come back home. "Er…because we need to discuss it!" MJ tells Maura, Lisette, and the lawyer that they'll have to postpone the signing because Vicky wants to see the papers.

An ecstatic Ezequiel (say that 10 times fast) meets MJ in the driveway and helps her up the stairs. She's wondering why Vicky wanted her to come home. Zeke just says "they" are waiting for her in her bedroom, which she refers to as "Alex's room." Zeke is so flippin' happy he's kissing her hand.

MJ walks into her bedroom, looking for Victoria. Instead she finds Alex, freshly washed, and in his robe and slippers. That's like winning the lottery. Predictably she faints. This was preferable to him calling her on the phone how? Well, ok, she can faint into his arms this way, I'll grant you that. He carries her to the bed and tells her "I'm here, I told you I'd be back." She wakes up, cries, and hugs him. Then they get down to doing the nasty. Which we do not get to see, either because she's got that big fake belly on, or because the writers have decided that we've had enough of shirtless Alex in the past week. Whatever, writers, there can never be enough shirtless Alex on the Shirtless Alex Show (you didn't know that was the real translation of Sortilegio?).

Paula has been informed of recent developments and she's so happy, she jumps on Ezequiel and almost wraps her legs around him. She hugs Felipa and the other maid and jumps up and down. Felipa thinks that Alex's guardian angel is doing an awesome job. Paula says she's going to see MJ, but Felipa says "they're in their room, talking, and they probably have a lot to say to each other." She might have been speaking literally, but I think that's a euphemism. Paula settles for going to tell her dad.

MJ has changed into pj's and a robe. She was worried that Alex would never get to see his baby. Alex said he never had a doubt he'd get out of there…"It took you months!" MJ reminds him. Yeah, but he did it. That's the important thing. And he thought about her the whole time. He wants to get a look at the goods, but she's feeling shy. He says motherhood is the most beautiful thing in the universe. He's in awe of the fact that they, like, created life. Duuuuuuuude.

Fernando tells Vicky that he's had enough, death can come at any time, and you can't give up what you want most. They love each other and she needs to quit fighting it, already, cause all he cares about is her. Vicky says she regretted rejecting him so many times and she can't do it anymore. Game on!

Pedro comes running through the mercado yelling that Alex is back. Chucho laughs and says there's no body of water big enough to drown Alex in. Pedro has to sit down from the excitement. He's all red in the face and crying.

Lisette and Maura fill Roberto in on the meeting with MJ. Maura is in a snit, saying "those people" can't be trusted. Roberto is confused, thinking that MJ was really determined to sell last time he talked to her and that it must just be that Vicky advised her to let the lawyers look over the paperwork first. He gets a call from Raquel on his cell phone and incurs her wrath by saying she's interrupting him during a business meeting. She tells him to cut the crap, she just talked to her mom and mom is calling for a family dinner that night at the big house. Roberto wonders why and Raquel says maybe it's to welcome home the prodigal, now that Bruno is going to be living in one of the chalets. Roberto tells her he'll be there. He tells Maura and Lisette that they're having a family dinner and maybe it will be to discuss selling the shares. Maura is still upset about the hesitation. Lisette finds the idea of a "family" dinner amusing since the Lombardos are even less united than usual. Lisette tells Roberto that he needs to get divorced already so the two of them can hook up. Seriously. She says "I like big strong men like you." Does she mean "you're a big strong guy and I like 'em that way" or "hey, we both have the same taste in men?" Right in front of him, Maura tells Lisette to look for big strong men on the internet, cause she's wasting her time with Roberto. Lisette shoots back that Maura is the one who was wasting her time with Alex. Roberto takes his leave without commenting on the last part of the conversation. Maura gives him a kiss goodbye and asks him to keep them informed, regardless of what's going on. Once he leaves, Maura accuses Lisette of having a brain the size of a mosquito for interrupting a serious business discussion with random horniness. Lisette tells Maura that Maura is tied with an impossible idea, because Alex is now six feet under ground…or under water, as it were. Is Lisette always so nasty or has she had a lot to drink? I didn't think she had anything against Alex to be so flippant about his alleged death.

Fernando goes home and is greeted by the maid, who is happy to see him and cries. Fer gives her a hug. The maid says she doesn't know how Katia is doing, except that she's with her uncle and she called the other day to say that she'd send the maid's paycheck with one of her uncle's workers. She leaves and Fernando picks up the phone and calls his uncle.

The uncle takes the news well. He's really happy to hear from Fer. He tells Fer that Katia is out with Elena right now and asks "Do you remember her?" Fer gets a constipated look on his face.

Katia joins Elena at a restaurant, complaining about the cold. Elena pumps Katia for information about MJ, which Katia notices. Elena says she just thinks the story is interesting, that's all. Katia doesn't think that MJ is going to live her little fairy tale for much longer. Bruno is going to see to that. Katia asks about Elena's daughter, who Elena says is studying in Madrid. Elena's phone rings and she answers it, telling Katia that it's her husband. He tells her that "tu hijita" (your little daugher) has been spending money in Culiacán.

Finally, we get a look at the bad twin. And it ain't pretty. Short, fried, bleached blonde hair, a purple and blue tank top, purple hot pants, plaid leggings, a red fuzzy purse, and bright yellow stilettos. And it's no prettier from the front. Tons of black eye makeup, including thick black eyeshadow on an otherwise pale face, an eyebrow piercing and a nose piercing. And just to be clear, I have nothing against any of those things individually, but all together the effect is just not good. We get to hear her Thpanith accent as she peers in the door of a church and has a brief convo with God. "Hi, I'm Sandra. You don't really know me because I don't go to church, but I came today because I want to get off drugs. I need to do it. Everyone asks you for miracles, right, so I came to ask you for that one because only a miracle can get me out of this."

A guy looks through a telescope and sees Sandra. She complains that he found her, but she doesn't try to leave. He reminds her that they were at a "reve" (short for reventon, party) and she announced that she'd had enough and was going to Sinaloa. Sandra tells "Jonathon" that she can't go on like this. There's a drug rehab clinic here and she's trying to get up the guts to go admit herself. She says she's a "piltrafa" (piece of crap) and she doesn't want to go back to her family like this. She does this weird jerky movement thing as Jonathon puts his arm around her and starts walking her somewhere.

Now they're in a little boat. He asks her since when she cares about her family. She says what she cares about is her grandfather's money and that if he sees what she's become, he'd probably just as soon leave his money to his "mozo" (his boy; his servant). Jonathon asks if she can't imagine "toda la magia que podríamos comprar con mi colonia con ese billete" (all the magic we could buy with my colony? With that money…is this some kind of drug reference? And what does the "with" my whatever "with" that money imply? Anyone? Bueller?). She shoves him off, telling him to go back to Mexico, cause she'll never get clean with him here. She tells the guy driving the boat to take her to the shore and calls him "tío" (but no, I don't think he's her uncle).

Ulises gets a call from Elena tells him that Sandra is in Culiacán. Ulises tells her he'll take care of it. He calls Mateo and tells him to get to Culiacán. Ulises will send him a picture of Sandra so that he can recognize her. He gets off the phone and tells his reflection in the mirror "Sandra, at last we will see each other again!"

Bruno is walking with his lawyers and complaining that if "la estupida de" (that idiot) MJ sells his shares to Maura and Lisette, that pair of harpies, he's toast. "That's all women are good for, to screw things up!" Interrupting his rant, I must say I'm fond of that descriptive construction the "la/el descriptive noun de *person*." You just have to make sure that the la/el agrees with the gender of the person you're describing. For example "el guapo de Alex" (that hottie Alex), "la arpía de Maura" (that harpy Maura). Anyway, the lawyers think he's freaking out for nothing and the ladies might not even be able to come to an agreement on price. Bruno says Maura has enough money to make it happen and they need to come up with a counterattack. The lawyers say that MJ can do what she wants with her shares. Bruno tells them they'd better come up with a way to get MJ out of his way or he'll find other lawyers. Damn, Bruno's bitchy when thwarted. He gets a call on his cell phone and announces it's from his mother. The lawyer says maybe it's about the shares, so Bruno answers it and pretends he's happy to hear form her. She invites him to dinner that night, saying she wants to have everyone together again. Bruno agrees, because he wants to talk about that stupid decision MJ is making to sell her shares. He wants Vicky to convince her not to. She brushes that off and asks for confirmation. He agrees he'll be there. Vicky lets Alex, MJ, and Felipa, who were all in the room when she made the call, know Bruno's response. She's worried about how he's going to react when he finds out what's going on. Felipa crows that Bruno's really going to have a "patatus" (a big 'ol scare; fainting or getting dizzy because something really shocks you) this time, seeing Alex back from the dead and all. MJ says the one who does need to come back now is that judge that Bruno killed. Alex hasn't heard about the judge so MJ fills him in--Sra. Maya said the body hadn't been found and Bruno was trying to catch up with the guy, but he apparently fell off a waterfall, and Bruno knows about it because he was there when it happened. Vicky tries to say that maybe it was an accident (*sigh* old habits die hard). Alex says, if so, it sure is a convenient accident. Vicky bumps his chin with her fist in response.

Bruno gets a call from Katia, griping him out about not calling. He tells her not to start with him She complains that without Elena, she'd be dying of boredom. She wants him to come pick her up and take her away. He tries to make excuses, but she tells him she knows what he went to the DR for, to take care of that judge, and she bets Bruno did something to him. Bruno claims to have bribed the judge to keep quiet, but Katia's not buying it. Bruno tells her not to threaten him and she tells him not to ignore her and get her out of there! She hangs up on him. Oh, little miss priss, I'm willing to bet no one hangs up on Bruno and lives to tell the tale. For now he just pulls out his earpiece and keeps driving.

Bruno finishes getting ready somewhere in the big house and makes for the dining room. At the table, Vicky, Raquel, and Roberto, and Felipa are waiting. Raquel talks about how she's the only punctual one and MJ is so low-class that she can't be bothered to be on time. MJ and Paula saunter in and Paula tosses out "well, your little brother Bruno hasn't gotten here yet either!" Raquel tries to rub it in MJ's face that Bruno is back and she didn't end up with everything even though she tried to, ha, ha. MJ grins the grin of a glowing pregnant woman who just found out her beloved ex-husband isn't really dead and has spent the whole afternoon with him in the boudoir doing unspeakably sexy things. Bruno saunters in, saying there's nothing like being home again and having a good family dinner. Alex walks in and says "That's just what I say, nothing like seeing your whole family, don't you think?" Bruno, Raquel, and Roberto are all impactados. Imagine the thought bubbles…Bruno: "No, wait, I was about to have everything, curse you, why won't you die!" Raquel: "OMG, he's alive, I get another chance to jump his bones…no, wait, I forgot we're related. Damn it! Why is the only many I'm really interested in a blood relative!" Roberto: "Oh, crap, he's back! Is he going to be pissed about the whole selling-shares-to-Maura thing? How am I going to spin this to my advantage?" Alex: "Heh, suckers!" Commercials.

Vicky tells Bruno, who hasn't managed to shut his mouth yet, that both Alex and Fernando are back. Subtext: Both the half-brother you hate and his best friend who you don't want me seeing are still alive, and you'd better believe I'm gonna hook up with that young hottie every chance I get! Roberto gets up and says he's happy to see Alex. Bruno, like a small child who's just had a favorite toy snatched away, stands up and starts screaming that it's all a trick, Alex faked his death, and his divorce was a trick too. Alex reminds him that the divorce is legal and that it was the price Bruno wanted so that MJ and the baby wouldn't die. "But you left her everything just to screw me over!" Alex doesn't really deny that, he just says he left her everything because he wanted to. Now Bruno's getting desperate. He tells Alex that Alex shouldn't be there because the house doesn't belong to him anymore. Alex smiles and says his mom and his ex invited him. Bruno tries to appeal to Victoria, saying that Alex pulled one over on them and isn't she upset, I mean, they cried and everything. Alex: "I doubt you cried. And speaking of dead people, what ever happened with the judge? Did you throw him over or shoot him or push him?" Alex informs him that Sra. Maya told them that Bruno was looking for the judge. "Lies!" shouts Bruno. MJ says Sra. Maya told her the same thing. Alex suggests they give her a call. Bruno finally admits that yes, the judge fell, but that doesn't mean he killed him, he didn't even see him. Alex doesn't buy it. Bruno doesn't buy Alex's story either. Bruno is going to accuse Alex of theft. Fine, then, Alex will accuse him of murder. Bruno storms out. Vicky tells Alex to sit down and tells Zeke to serve dinner. Raquel says she'll vomit if she eats anything. Then she grins (seductively?) at Alex and says she's glad he's not dead. Roberto agrees. Alex announces that MJ is going to give him power of attorney and give some shares over to him and that if Raquel votes for him, he can be president again and keep the company from going under. Vicky starts crying and says she's sad. She's glad the boys are back, but everything else that's going on is making her sad. She excuses herself and gets up from the table. Felipa goes with her. Alex and MJ smile at each other.

Bruno goes into his room and starts throwing things around.

Felipa reminds Vicky to focus on the boys being back. Felipa tells Vicky that she did a good job raising her own kid, but he turned out bad anyway and it wasn't her fault. Vicky says that as a mother, you never stop suffering. Felipa reminds her she's got a young hottie and a grandchild on the way and she should focus on that. Once your kids are grown up, you can't smack them around anymore. You can give them advice, but they're going to do whatever they want to in the end. "Are you going to turn into an old lady crying in your chair all the time?" Felipa reminds her that she's still a hottie and she's got a lot to live for, like Felipa lives for Cuco. "But Fernando isn't Cuco!" Eh, says Felipa, he wishes he were! Cuco gets to sleep with me all night!

Fer finally gets to talk to Katia. She cries. She wants him to come get her. He says he will tomorrow. Katia tells him she feels very alone and she's glad he's coming to get her. "But come in a plane would you, cause it's a really long drive." Fernando agrees. Katia tells her uncle she's sorry to leave him. He tells her he'll miss her. She thanks him for everything and says she had a great time. Her uncle says she doesn't have to lie--he knows she's a city girl and living out in the country just isn't for her. They share a hug.

Raquel is in awe that twice they've thought that Alex was dead and yet here he is, back again. Roberto says MJ must be really happy. Now he's lit the fuse. Raquel (drinking, I see) is furious that MJ ended up with everything, she must have talked Alex into it, etc. She hopes one day Alex will open his eyes and see what a "ladina" (an Indian who adopts Spanish ways; a sly, cunning woman--this is one of those "all those people are like that" kind of insults, like using "gypped" or "welshed" to mean "cheated") MJ is and will get rid of her. Roberto soothes her by saying they're already divorced. Well, Raquel agrees with Bruno that it was a farce. Roberto takes away her drink because it's bad for the baby. She whines that she didn't want it and she should have gotten rid of it. She wants a divorce already, she really loves Ulises, blah, blah, blah. Roberto tells her that Ulises doesn't feel the same way, he's just using her. She wants to know who Ulises' other woman is. He declines to say. Raquel decides it must be Maura since Alex dumped her, so she went after Ulises so that she wouldn't end up an old maid. Roberto tells her the point is that she's going after a guy who doesn't want her. He tells her not to ruin her life for him, they've been together for years and they can try to work on their relationship. "What for? So you can keep living off of me? All you want is my money!" He reminds her that they don't have any money, or less than before in any case. He tells her that he asked MJ for a job at the company. Raquel is, of course, upset, because now MJ will think she's above them. How the hell does Raquel not end up getting sick of hearing herself spout this nonsense? Roberto says he's doing it for their little girl. Raquel doesn't care about the kid or about Roberto. She storms off, saying that she's going to fight Maura for Ulises. Roberto, wiped out from dealing with her, halfheartedly calls "She's not interested in Ulises," and sighs.

Alex and MJ are in bed together. Alex is spending some quality time with the bump. MJ says when she thinks about everything that has happened, she feels sorry for Vicky. Alex just hopes that Fernando will help her out and console her. MJ is convinced that Fernando's feelings for Vicky are returned. Alex smooches on MJ as she reminds him that he's not supposed to be there, since they're divorced. Hey, stranger things have happened. Alex doesn't care about Bruno's threats, but he will check with the lawyers, even though he doesn't think Bruno can sue him. He doesn't like Bruno being there, but MJ tells him the judge ordered that he have part of the house. MJ tells Alex she missed him. Ales replies, "Me too. There were no women anywhere on that island!" She laughs at his joke. Alex is worn out from so much excitement, but MJ wants to hear the whole story. He's asleep. She thanks God for getting Alex back to her.

Alex and MJ wake up together. MJ is pleased that it wasn't a dream. Alex invites her to cop a feel and make sure he's flesh and bone. You bet she does! Smoochies. Alex comments that she's getting very "audaz" (audacious, bold) and MJ replies that he showed her how. Smoochies and rolling around. Lots of kisses for the bump.

Ezequiel walks Alex to his car and tells him that he'll have the household budget prepared and ready for him to review. Alex drives off. Bruno walks up and asks Zeke if Alex spent the night (yes) and if he spent it in the bedroom with MJ. Zeke replies that he really can't say. After all, there are a lot of guest rooms in this house. Bruno starts choking Zeke. Cuco would have come to the rescue if he hadn't been on a leash. Felipa asks what's going on. Bruno tries to kick the dog and misses. Bruno gets into his car, saying that if the dog isn't gone by the time he gets home, he'll kill it. Vicky comes out, wanting to know what's going on, and Felipa fills her in. Bruno starts to drive off, telling Ezequiel and Felipa to shut up and calling them good-for-nothings. He is blocked by an SUV coming into the driveway. It's Fernando. Bruno tries to tell him to go away, he's not getting in. Fernando gets out of the SUV and Bruno punches him and then knees him in the gut several times. Vicky tells Zeke to bust it up, but he gets hurt in the process. Fernando and Bruno go at it. Fernando does manage to get some good hits in and gets Bruno down on the ground.

Tomorrow: Maura wants to get Alex back; MJ seethes about something. And in all likelihood, a replay of Fernando beating the snot out of Bruno. Good times!

Labels: sortilegio

Tonight's episode was all about secrets. Some were kept. Some were teetering on shaky ground. Others were brought to light....deliciously. And a few were revealed with maximum cruelty. Not all fun and games. But not all sturm und drang either. A little bit of both.

Here's how it began: Jacqui is fluttering around, warning Connie and Beto of Mauricio's approach and playing the devoted mama to her son-in-law. Beto, in a panic, wants to head for the hills but Connie persuades him to hunker down in his natural habitat--the bathroom. This leaves her free to play the lying game with Mauricio one more time. Her lines: Yes, I'm pregnant. I'm having your baby because I love you, even if you don't love me. His lines: There's someone else. You've been cheating on me all along, even before we got married. Yada yada yada.

More yada yada with Estrella and Monita. Why are guys such swine? Why do they romance us and then drop us or betray us? Monita's convinced they're better off without 'em. Estrella's not so sure. She still wants to talk things out with Furia. Fine! snaps Monita, but don't come crying to me when he breaks your heart again.

Back to Mauricio and Connie. Same discussion but she's a better liar than he's a confronter. The real action is in the bathroom. Beto is wanting to go in the WORST WAY, biting a towel to resist but finally sinking down on the throne and "releasing some hostages". We're treated to a closeup of his relieved face. Well, you know what they say about simple pleasures....they're the best.

And speaking of simple, here's Ximena, still enthralled with vicious Rolu, finding his tantrums adorable and planning a fiesta to welcome his brother. A mystified Lalu looks on. How can she love this insulting, cruel goon? he wonders. As do we. Do you suppose Rolu's brother is destined to be her true love?

We ponder this as we find ourselves back with Beto, frantically opening the window to dispell the pungent Beto fumes. They're so bad they seep out the door and assail even Mauricio and Connie's nostrils, but she deftly blames the plumbing and says she's asked Teresa to see about it.

And presto, we are now at the Bug Lair where Estrella is frantically trying to wake a seemingly comatose Furia. She finally takes off his mask. It's Aldo!!!! And he still fails to wake up. Not until she throws a pitcher of cold water in his face does he come to. What are you doing here?! she asks. We'll get the answer later. And rather delightfully, I might add.

Mauricio, even armed with the sure knowledge that Connie has a lover, is-- you guessed it-- floundering. His IQ is no match for Connie's shrewdness and when he proposes that Jeronimo is the lover, she's aghast. Puh-leeze...that idiot! Besides, he's dating my mother! Nothing to do but for Mauricio to retreat. Clearly he's overmatched when it comes to his wife.

And Beto appears to be overmatched as well. Emerging from the bathroom, he proposes that the three of them, him, Connie and little Betito, run away someplace where nobody knows them. Because everyone knows the baby is mine! even my mother. Your mother is an idiot, snaps Connie. Careful sez Beto, my mother is sacred, she nursed me till I was 8 years old after all. Our silky liar disarms him completely, reassuring him that if it WERE his baby, she would tell him. But alas, it's simply and completely Mauricio's offspring. Nothing to do but accept that. Another defeated and befuddled male leaves the building.

Well, on to Rolu. Defeated and befuddled? Not hardly. He's about to strike back after months of mute paralysis in a full body cast, and then more months in leg casts and a wheelchair. He has finally emerged from his cocoon and it's gonna be ugly, folks. Of course Ximena doesn't see it coming. She's shooing off Lalo now that she knows Rolu is about to celebrate his freedom from the wheechair. She's going to wear her "elebayday" (LBD: little black dress) and drive him wild with desire. Their lovemaking will send fireworks up in the sky, so skedaddle Lalu! so we can get busy. Rolu, alas, has other plans. Let's compress these scenes and get the sad stuff over with quickly, okay? Xime is outlining the agenda: dinner in a romantic restaurant, strolling under the starlit sky, dancing, dancing, dancing and then coming back to make mad, passionate love. I'm going out but not with you, snarls Rolu. How could you be so idiotic as to think I loved you. Step by step he takes her back through the courtship.
X: But you loved me! You asked me to marry you!
R: How could I do that? I couldn't speak.
X: You wrote it on a sign.
R: How could I do that? I couldn't move.
X: You asked Jeronimo to write it for you.
R: How could I do that? I couldn't speak.
X: You communicated it with your eyes. You blinked twice meaning 'yes"
R: TWO BLINKS MEANT NO!!!!! I married you against my will, you idiot!
X: Well, then, why did you stay with me after you got out of the cast?
R: To make you suffer. But now I'm going to leave you because I HATE YOU!!!!

The final scene, which comes later in the episode, has a sadder but wiser Ximena getting therapeutic advice from Lalu. His tack is to save those expensive sessions with the psychologist and do a little role-playing on your own. Ximena has the wheelchair set up with a big pillow with Rolu's face drawn on it while she lip-synchs to "As Time Goes By". Where this therapy will lead eludes me, but at least it gives Ximena something to do. And if it works, so be it. Our plucky little heroine will survive to love another day, I'm sure.

While Ximena is busy having her heart broken and hopes dashed, Connie is storming though the Group Sermeño office like General Sherman. She plows through Ivan and Paula (Paula was instructing Ivan in proper office protocol); is temporarily diverted by a smooth Gabriela (I'll get you a cup of green tea, just the way you like it) and finally marches into HER HUSBAND'S office, only to find a pensive Monita( remembering Mauricio's promise of fidelity) and ready to take on the little street slut here and now. Gaby and the staff hover at the door, ready to jump in on Monita's behalf but she waves them away.

Connie starts in on a series of arrogant threats and questions. Why did you tell Mauricio I was sleeping with someone else?! And thank God he doesn't know it's Beto. But if you DO tell him, believe me, what happened to the kids before will seem like a fairy tale compared to what I'll put them through next!! And the baby is Mauricio's. You can be sure of that. I told him I wasn't on the pill. And he didn't use protection either. It's not a surprise. We BOTH wanted this baby.

Monita is stymied. She doesn't believe Connie but then again.... And she can't belt her because she's pregnant. So she storms off, much like Mauricio and Beto did earlier. Clearly Constanza, in full grrrrrrr mode, still has the upper hand.

Hey, enough of this nastiness. Let's wrap this up by savoring Estrella's discovery. Not all the secrets were cruel ones, after all. Of course it looks bad at first. She's grilling Aldo on the disguise. Well, he donned it because he admires Furia "un montón" (a lot). Oh my, the classic behavior of an immature guy, sniffs Estrella. But who is Furia really? "Me" says Mauricio, who arrives at that moment. OH NO!!!!

Estrella faints. Mauricio looks impactado. And Aldo looks bemused. They both get busy fanning our prostrate actress while nattering at each other: How could you bring her here? I didn't. She followed you here and learned where you lived. She found me in costume and......
The penny drops and Mauricio suddenly understands why Estrella was all over him at the gym. But, what really happened!? Papa adds. At that point Estrella comes to, shrieks that she's in love with the son but slept with the father! Question answered. Father and son exchange the classic impactado LOOK.

And now it really gets juicy. And funny. Estrella is raving about the wild bull love-making, the sizzling kisses, the....Aldo has that "tell me more" look on his face. But she suddenly segues into her role as the heroine of a real life Greek tragedy--like Melea (Medea, corrects Mauricio) or like Helen of Goya (Troya, says Mau) or that Benito guy (Oedipe interjects Mau) and there are a few more malapropisms but you get the picture. Estrella is circling the airport but can't quite land. But then she does...with a thud. After Aldo explains to her that she didn't sleep with his father, she slept with him! she faints once more.

When she comes to again, the misunderstandings are all cleared up, love and desire are remembered, celebrated.... and get an encore. All is well at the Bug Lair. For now anyway.

Mauricio has gone off with the express purpose of getting Furia back in Monita's good graces. And that will involve dropping the dime on who actually made mad passionate unforgettable exquisite (did I forget anything?) love with Estrella. At first Monita doesn't want to listen but he gradually gets his point across. He did it to help his little friend who is clearly in love with Estrella. And if you don't believe that's what happened, ask her. No problem. Monita's convinced and apologizes for the insults and the blows.

And after all, Furia goes on...I could never have anything with Estrella because I'm madly in love with someone else.
Who?
You, Monita. I'm in love with you.
And there our story ends. For this evening anyway.

Previews:
Jackie is warning Connie that Mauricio is about to discover the type of viper Connie really is. And Monita finally tells Mauricio aka Furia that Constanza's lover is Beto. BETO!!!!??? he yelps.

Vocabulary: Some of these we've had before, but they bear repeating. My high school chemistry teacher always said "Review and learn new" so we will.

dar portazo a la rata -= take a dump, "release hostages"
pedalajal = riff raff, hoi polloi, what Connie thinks of folks from the barrio
lejes y manejes = this may be mispelled. that's how my captions had it though. meaning the "ins and outs" of the office. what Paula was explaining to Ivan
sano juicio = right mind (Rolu sneering that no one in his right mind would love Ximena)
toro salvaje = wild bull (Aldo's passionate lovemaking)

Dicho of the Day

El que persevera alcanza. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. (Go Aldo!!!)

Labels: gancho

Recapper Julia is out of town this week, so there's no recap for Tuesday's show. But here's a space for your comments...

Labels: amor

Friday: Dario copyrights Angie’s book as his own. Meantime, she frantically e-mails him to return her manuscript. He thoughtbubbles Sorry, but your book is fabulous and I’m between a rock and hard place. The police come by and put Natalia and Chris under arrest for the death of Alonso. No puede ser! Carlota, who has butted into this scene, gloats.

Okay, I’m working without a net tonight – no captions. Corrections and additions are very welcome. Also, I’m pooped from all the holiday preparations, so this’ll be a bit slapdash. Here we go:

Carlota tells the police it’s all an outrage. Natalia protests that she was about to leave for Mexico city for Alonso’s funeral. Sorry, say the police, you can’t leave town.

Romina arrives at somebody’s home (Camila’s?) just as Emiliano does. She says she thought he had to work. She came to get some last things, and he says he had a rough day, so he left work. No, he hasn’t picked up his clothes from his dad’s place or from his mom’s place

Romina notices he has the two roses in his hand. What are those for? Emiliano looks a little urpy, but he remembers Angelica’s advice, and tells Romina they’re for her. She lights up. He says let’s live in peace. She throws her arms around him and he looks even more urpy.

Sandra comes to take her art lessons from Gabriel. She says she’s not as good as Paloma, who they both agree has lots of talent. Gabriel asks if she knows what’s up with Paloma and that Emiliano guy. Whooo! says Sandra. That’s a real love story. Including the part about Romina. Gabriel says that pretty blonde? Sandra says you may think she’s pretty, but she’s a bad person who has hurt Paloma a lot. Tell me about her, says Gabriel. If I understand what’s going on inside my students, I can bring that out in their art. Okay! says Sandra settling into her seat and relishing getting to tell the tale. Gabriel looks like sheesh.

German runs into Lili on the street and they start trading angry words about him wanting to take Paloma out. Lili says it’s not about being jealous of you, it’s about trying to protect her from you. Tough, says German. I have a verrrry special interest in her, which doesn’t mean you and I couldn’t have a little something. He swaggers and tries to give Lili a kiss, but she says yuck, I can’t believe I ever saw anything in you. German comes close and says believe it or not, I remember your kisses, your caresses. Lili looks swoony for a few seconds, then comes to herself and runs away.

While Carlota chats with the police (drat – we can’t eavesdrop!), Chris tells Natalia don’t worry. We’ll just go and talk to the police and they’ll see it’s not us, and we can get on to Mexico City.

Now we can overhear Carlota. She is proclaiming to the officers that Natalia and Chris are sterling people, beyond suspicion. Paloma wants to know why they focused on them. The police say they can’t discuss that.

Natalia asks Ivonne to take care of everything in Mexico City, and to take care of her daughter. Ivonne assures her she will. Rufi pats Natalia’s arm sympathetically.

Paloma tells Chris that it’s an outrage. Chris says don’t worry, Natalia and I didn’t do anything and sooner or later that’ll become obvious. Carlota listens and smiles complacently.

Diana is sneaking around the lobby of the convention hotel. She hides from Rafa but spots Luz, the lady who has been so friendly with him. She runs over to Luz, who is bemused. Diana points out that she’s been married to “Rafi” for 25 years. You don’t say! says Luz. Yes, I do say, says Diana. Stay away from him - he’s a married man. Luz says I LOVE married men!

Just then, Rafa approaches, sees them talking, and flees.

Luz laughs and says married men are totally hot. Passionate, attentive. Diana’s mouth falls open. You don’t have to wash their clothes, says Luz, or clean the house. I’m so grateful to you! To me? says Diana. Yes, says Luz, you take care of all that and I take care of the sex. He is sooo hot in bed. She walks off, leaving Diana hissing and sputtering.

Paloma wants to go to the police station with Chris. Chris and Carlota tell her she can’t. She hugs him and says she’ll just die if anything happens to him. Then she tells Natalia that she can count on her for whatever she needs.

Emiliano is packing and notes he doesn’t have much. Romina says she had closets full plus she had to bring the things for their son. Son? says Em, thrilled. How do you know? Romina says it was on the paternity test, but we were so emotional at the time, we didn’t pay attention. Em hugs her with joy. And she, still clutching her roses, is blissfully happy.

And what if it had been a girl? she asks. Em says A girl would have been good too. But I can teach a boy soccer! (rats, I missed the next lines, but I think Em said something about being united, and that Romina says when you love me). She tilts her face up and he has the urge to kiss her. Just then the maid Juanita comes in the door. She said she thought she heard noises.

The appearance of Juanita tells us that we are in Diana’s house. How did we get there? Why would Em go there if he doesn’t want to talk to his mother, even if he needed his old socks? Did I miss something?

Em asks where his mother is and Juanita says she’s on a trip – she went to Valle de Bravo. Romina, says ooooh I get it! Now I get why my mother came home.

Carlota asks the police if she can talk to Chris for a second. Okay, says the policeman, stepping away.
Carlota: Cristobal…
Chris: (interrupting) Padre Juan Cristobal.
Ca: Whatever. You know you can count on me.
Ch: Thanks, but that won’t be necessary.
Ca: I’m ready to sell my soul to help you.
Ch: I don’t doubt it. But I’m innocent.
Ca: The law is the law.
Ch: There’s a higher law that regulates everything.
Ca: I don’t think so – we aren’t always rewarded in this life. Otherwise, you’d be with me.
Ch: I’m where I’m supposed to be, and with whom I’m supposed to be, namely God.
Ca: But maybe He won’t be able to save you, as He wasn’t able to save Macarena, remember? And maybe I have a way to save you.
Ch: I’m not afraid, don’t you understand? Natalia and I had nothing to do with Alonso’s death. I don’t need you.
Ca: Sure? I might really surprise you.
Ch: Oh, for Pete’s sake. I’m leaving this in the hands of God.

The police put them in the squad car, and a couple of onlookers marvel and gossip. One says Padre Chris is a saint.

Night has fallen in this corner of the planet and Diana is sitting primly on a lounger poolside, her purse in her lap, crying. Nobody is around. But I love you Rafa, why don’t you love me? she cries quietly. I’m so much better than Camila, I know it. And certainly better than that broad here. Why can’t you love me?

We know the answer to this, but, unlike Luz, we don’t like to twist the knife when we see someone so distressed.

Luz and Rafa are having dinner and they are laughing about her encounter with Diana. Luz says now that I know you a little, I can’t imagine you married to someone like Diana. Rafa says Diana has a fun side, and she was a single mother and I saw the opportunity to form a family. I ended up with a wonderful son. Luz gushes that she’d love to meet him. Really? says Rafa, whipping out his wallet to show her a photo.

He’s so handsome, Luz raves. He could be your real son, you resemble each other so much. He’s like my own, says Rafa. I was afraid when he found out he wasn’t, things would be horrible, but we’re closer than ever. Luz bats her eyelashes in approval.

Back to Diana, now sitting silently erect on the lounger. Joel is walking past the pool area and spots her. He comes over.

Diana wonders out loud how it has come to this. Joel says you want to hear the truth, or what you want to hear? Diana selects the truth. Joel says if ever a man was in love with his wife, it was Rafa. He would have done anything for you. Diana interrupts Until that golfa Camila came along! Joel says no, You just didn’t value him, you weren’t understanding, compassionate.

You think so? says Diana sadly. If you would have given him that, if you would have given him what a man needs from his wife, I’m sure he would still be with you right now.

Diana thinks, then jumps up. Thank you! She says, ecstatic. I know just what I’m going to do! She trots off.

What did I say? Joel wonders.

Back to Luz and Rafa: She understands how he stuck with Diana for his son, but he says it would be unfair to characterize it like that: He and Diana had a lot of good years, but she changed and there were a number of bad years. Years! says Luz. I don’t see how a person can stay in a bad relationship for years. Rafa says life is made up of both good and bad moments. You try to overcome the bad ones and carry on together. Luz, headlights on bright, says But everything has its limits. If I were in that situation, I’d leave and look elsewhere for happiness. And even if you don’t believe it, I think you feel the same as me. Salud! she says, smiling hugely and holding up her shot glass.

Is she trying to liquor up this middle-aged softy?

Rufi, Carlota and Paloma arrive home. Paloma is still upset that she couldn’t go to the police station. Carlota says even if everybody thinks Chris is so great since he’s a man of the cloth, they wouldn’t have hauled him in if they didn’t have some sort of proof.

Paloma says You’re wrong! I’m sure he didn’t do it. Rufi is outraged too and says, I agree! I’m sure your father is innocent.

Paloma swings around to look at her, surprised, and Carlota makes big eyes. Rufi says um, I was referring to Padre Juan, of course! The gears in Paloma’s brain are turning. Carlota tells Paloma she doesn’t want her in that police station, Paloma protests and Carlota yells enough! Paloma runs out of the kitchen.

And you, Rufi, Carlota snarls. Take care what you say! Rufi removes herself too.

Carlota thoughtbubbles: And you, Cristobal, you will beg me to save you. I will go to war with you and your God. Ahhhhhhhh sing some basso profundos.

Police station. The police put Chris and Nat in a room together. Apparently it doesn’t occur to the police that a pair of suspects might jump on the opportunity to cook up fake stories if they’re left alone together in detention.

Of course we know they’re innocent so all that happens is Chris again says don’t worry and she again complains that her place is with her husband’s body in Mexico City. She leans on him and he hugs her. Unfortunately they’re in a room with a big glass window through which we see the police staff staring at them hugging. Chris looks over and sees them. He closes the Venetian blinds. That oughta throw them off!

What happened? says Nat. Never mind, he says, hugging her some more.

Paloma frantically paces in her room, thinking. She has her cell in her hand.

Em and Romina have been to Starbucks and how they’re walking arm in arm. She asks if he wants to talk to his mother. E: No thanks, What for? R: She’s your mother. E: I know, but as long as she keeps copping this attitude, as long as she keeps following my father and won’t give him his freedom, I don’t want anything to do with her. R: I think she keeps hoping he’ll get back with her. E: It’s never going to happen. Their relationship is permanently destroyed.

Em’s phone rings. Romina pulls at his arm and looks at the number, then furiously says Paloma! He takes the call anyway. Paloma says she’s sorry to bother him, but something horrible has happened and she needs his help. She tells him what happened and asks him to help her escape from her house so she can get to the police station.

Chris is sitting nearby and someone is typing in the background while Nat tells the detective that they couldn’t have done it – in fact, she came to this very station to report him missing. Why do they suspect her and Chris? The policeman shoves Carlota’s accusing letter made of clipped out words across the desk towards her. Chris jumps up to look at it.

TUM TUM TUM go the timpani.

Chris says this isn’t any kind of proof. Anybody could put something like this together. True, says the policeman. But there are also these photos. They show you two being awfully affectionate. Nat flips through them. She and Chris are stunned.

Carlota is happily draped on a fainting couch, delighted with her success. Rufi approaches the door with a cup of tea just in time to hear her say You fell right into my trap. But unfortunately she then switches to thoughtbubbling. Thank you Alfonso, for trying to kill me. Aloud: You’ll end up being mine in the end.

Rufi backs away from the door and does her own thoughtbubbling: Dios mio! Help Cristobal. Macarena, wherever you are, help him!

Who took these photos? Natalia wonders. Chris says who cares? The reality is that Nat and I just have a great friendship. Natalia weepily swears on her dead husband and her daughter that there was never anything between her and Chris. I guess she means recently.

Chris says wait – is this a formal questioning? Why is that person taking down what we say? The detective says it is more or less. Chris says we have the right to a lawyer. Stop typing he tells the typist, who does. This isn’t a formal declaration, states Chris. Okay, says the detective, closing his file. It’s your right. I can get you a lawyer.

He leaves, and Nat melodramatically asks Chris who took those photos and why. I don’t know, says Chris, but all this will get straightened out. Put your confidence in God.

Romina and Em have just come home and she says if you go, I’m going with you. He says what are you thinking, you in your condition? Romina says I’m tired of not being able to do anything because I’m pregnant. Don’t go! We were just starting to get along; we’d stopped fighting. Paloma calls, and everything gets complicated again. If it weren’t for Paloma, we’d be so happy, Em.

Don’t be like my mother, Romina, he says. Paloma isn’t the cause of our problems. Then why do you go the minute she calls? Because it’s important for me. And because whenever she needs me, I’ll be there. Besides, it has to do with Padre Juan.

Great, says Romina, then I’m stuck here alone. Em goes over to her and tries to be nice, but now he’s talking softly instead of yelling and has his back turned, and the music is thundering so I can’t make out what he’s saying. I think he ends up saying that they are married and need to make peace with one another. Don’t wait up. He leaves.

Romina struggles with tears, feels her stomach and addresses her fetus, but the violins are too loud for me to understand her.

Orlando is checked through airport security, takes a few paces and opens the jewelry box and looks long and lovingly at the diamond ring, oblivious to the possibility of greedy criminal eyes in the crowd which might spot it. He could get mugged in the parking lot.

I don’t know if you’re going to accept his after your time in Valle de Bravo but I have to trust in you, Camila, he thinks. My love for you is TAN GRANDE.

Em is hurrying down the street while on his cell with German. He tells him to get right down to the police station – Padre Juan needs a lawyer!

Camila is at the airport waiting for Orlando, trying to talk herself into being happy. She knows she has the right to be, and now she just needs the strength to follow through. Or something like that; the background music is too loud.

Chris calls Padre B and fills him in. Padre M flutters nearby. Padre B tells Chris to keep in touch and that he and Padre M will pray for him. It looks like Padre M has already started without being told “go.” Padre B hangs up and he and Padre M discuss everything and hope it resolves very quickly.

Em is below Paloma’s balcony and he calls on her cell. They’re all set. She gets ready to go on the balcony when Carlota comes in and sees her parting the curtains. I thought you’d be in bed!

German shows up at the station, surprising Chris. German says I’m a lawyer and Em told me you needed me. Chris wonders how Em found out but Germ doesn’t know. Natalia says we’re innocent. German says he’ll go out and talk to the police to see what’s up. He leaves, and Chris looks kindly at Natalia and takes her hand.

Em is waiting under the balcony wondering what’s up. Meantime, Paloma nervouses around her bedroom and tells Carlota she couldn’t settle down. Carlota says well at least go to bed. Paloma goes to her wardrobe, switches the light briefly off and then back on (a signal to Em?) gets out her robe. She does the light thing again. Carlota says knock it off, what’s wrong with you?

Em texts What’s up?

Paloma goes in the bathroom, shuts the door, and says I’m changing – goodnight, Tia! She puts her robe on over her clothes. She texts Em I’m in the bathroom. Wait.

Carlota hollers if you can’t sleep, come to my room and I’ll give you a tablet. Okay! hollers Paloma back.

Now with her robe covering her clothes, Paloma again parts the curtains when Carlota bursts back in. She says I don’t want to happen to you what happened with your mother. You have big illusions about Natalia and Padre Juan. Don’t put your hands in the fire for anybody. You could get burned. Just because he wears priests’ robes doesn’t mean it’ll save him from doing bad things.
Paloma says I think he’s a wonderful person and I trust in him completely. Carlota says that’s exactly why I said that. Don’t be so nervous. Go to sleep. Why are you in bed with your robe on? I’m cold, says Paloma.

Okay, goodnight, and Carlota leaves.

Paloma locks her door from inside, takes off her robe and starts to climb over her balcony. I always wear heels when I’m climbing over a balcony, don’t you? Paloma too!

Luz the leech has got hold of Rafa’s arm while they’re walking the resort hotel’s grounds. She says look at all the stars! and drags him out to the lawn, and down onto the grass to lay on their backs to see the stars better. I haven’t done this in years Rafa says smiling. And why not? Says Luz. Rafa says it wasn’t the sort of thing Diana liked to do.

I love the stars! Says Luz. She twines her fingers in his. Rafa says you do know what I’m feeling, don’t you? Luz says I do! I love feeling your skin. I like being next to you.

Rafa says it’s magic. Luz says it is.

Paloma has reached the ground now. She and Em look at each other, but then off they run down the street.

Chris is in a small cell, arms folded, looking annoyed. Who could have done this? We hear Carlota saying Now you will know my fury! Chris says to himself “Carlota.”

AHHHHHHHHHH sing the bassos.

Avances: German tells Chris and Natalia that things look very bad. They must have an enemy who framed them.

Labels: amor

Sorry for the delay, I couldn't get to the show till it was over! Then I forgot to post it to the sidebar last night, I was so tired... Also, this episode had a week's worth of talking in it. They never stopped talking, ay caray!

• We see the happy guys with glowing sunburns jumping in the surf - the beautiful purple helicopter comes to rescue them after four months! They don't have four months' worth of beard in my opinion...
  
  They are taken to the capital, Santo Domingo, where they are met by a flotilla of bureaucrats. Curiously, it is going to take many days for them to get their Mexican passports etc. in order - and oddly, they don't call home to say they're ok.
  
  The little boy will go to live with other relatives nearby - oh, sad, he doesn't want to say goodbye to his sunburned friends - Alex says they'll send him letters when he learns to read. And that's it for our beachboys tonight.
  
  
• In a car, Useless tells Elena not to tell Maura or Roberta her maiden name, they might tell MJ. Elena says too late, I did already, and besides there are a lot of people named Miranda in Mexico.
  
  He goes on, "Also don't tell anybody your daughter's my girlfriend." "Why? Do you have a woman here?" "No, no way, it's just I don't want people knowing my business." "I did it to compromise/commit you. But I promise - you help me find Sandra and I'll help get her to marry you." He likes that, "as long as she's not the way she was."
  
  Elena marvels at what a rich widow MJ is now, and says she'd like to see her "for curiosity's sake." And he tells her another guy died too, Fer, and she's surprised - she knows Fer because his grandfather lives next to her father-in-law. She's titillated to hear of Fer's love for the aged Victoria.
  
  
• Maura, what a busybody! She asks Roberto if he's told his wife Raqhell that her lover (Useless) has another girlfriend. "No, I'm keeping that one in reserve." "And the baby she's expecting, is it yours or his?" "Dunno." "Divorce her!" "And be left with nothing?" "Well, now that MJ's got it all your family's going to be in the street anyway."
  
  She reminds us how odd it is that MJ evidently has a twin. [Oh sigh, sigh, sigh, I CAN'T STAND those evil-twin subplots, why must they torture us with another one? Sigh, sigh, sigh. --Ed.]
  
  She says the first time they all thought Alex was dead, she was sad, but this time it's much worse because she is so furious with Bruno.
  
  Roberto says if Maura goes public with what she knows it's going to be horrible for Victoria, and he questions what will happen to the company.
  
  It occurs to Maura to buy MJ's shares - she wants to punish Bruno. She's got enough dough to do it. Roberto says, "don't forget me," and she says he's always been a good friend.
  
  
• MJ is fondling a black dress, she wants to wear mourning, Vic says that would be too depressing for a pregnant woman (?)
  
  The old doc comes to get Victoria to take her to the board meeting. MJ says she'd like to give some of her shares to Vic, Vic says no, she doesn't need them and Alex wanted MJ to have them.
  
  The ol' doc tries to persuade Vic to go out for a bite after the meeting but she says forget it, and he keeps begging but to no avail.
  
  
• Around the boardroom table - which is a hideous aqua color and clashes with Bruno's purple shirt - and couldn't he have buttoned it up at least for an important meeting? - Raquel squeaks "That's ALL?" at the math that ends up with her getting 11.6 percent, that's to say 1/3 of her Mom's 35% of the shares. "What about the house, my chalet, my expenses?"
  
  The doc is indignant about dividing Mom's house but Vic says she doesn't care. The lawyers point out it won't look good to the public if Vic gets thrown out of the house. Bruno says Raq can keep the chalet and he'll share the house with Vic. Vic says MJ won't like him to come back but he doesn't care.
  
  Then the doc says, it's time to talk about the company and what MJ plans to do with her 65% of the shares. Roberto says Maura wants to buy them. B & R = shocked.
  
  Some lawyer dudes say, well they'd be interested in buying too. Raquel yells, they're going to get rich off OUR patrimony? Doc says they'll have to have a meeting with MJ to discuss it.
  
  Bruno then points out that with Alex DEAD the presidency is open and this time surely nobody will oppose his ascension. His ma starts to protest and he asks, "Do you doubt my ability?"
  
  He has supporters at the table but is reminded there has to be a vote, "and MJ is not here." Bruno says it will be four against three - "or won't you vote for me?" he asks his sister.
  
  
• Meanwhile Maura visits MJ, offers condolences, and offers to buy the shares. MJ isn't ready to think about that. Maura leaves. Paula thinks MJ should sell - Alex isn't coming back, and they'll have a pot of money! MJ isn't convinced Alex is dead.
  
  
• Chucho, Pedro, Metiche and Crutches-boy listen while Paula says she wants MJ to sell out and take the family someplace else. Chucho thinks the business shouldn't be deserted - Pedro says it's the first time he's had something of his own and doesn't want to leave Metiche and crutches-boy without a job FF>>
  
  
• Roberto tells MJ about the meeting. If she sells shares to Maura and Lisette, it will be five to four, and Bruno won't be pres. MJ can be pres! She sez, I dunno nothing about construction. She asks Roberto what his interests are. He says, since he got friendly with Paula he's gotten to know MJ and likes her.
  
  
• Raquel tells Useless about the meeting, or rather yells about it. She's furious because she won't be rich any more and also because she knows he's got another rich woman "and I want to know who she is!"
  
  "Oh, such jealousy, oh, your deplorable lack of faith in me." "Oh, I know! You want me to keep maintaining you while you have another woman." "You seem to be suggesting that I'm a gold-digger." He's hurt. She says she loves him and stomps out. He groans: "How much longer do I have to tolerate this woman?"
  
  
• The bald chauffeur comes for Paula. Erick is lurking behind a building and lets the air out of two tires.
  
  
• Bruno wants to talk to MJ but she's not interested. "Ah, you're judging me harshly," he says, "I had nothing to do with their deaths." "Ah, but you did with the judge, I know perfectly well you went after him and nobody's heard from him since." He says he went and offered money so the judge would stay quiet. "And when he wouldn't, you killed him! All you need to do now to bury what you've done completely - is to kill me." "I'll never do that because I want you." He grabs her, she shakes him off and leaves down another Stairway of Death but does not fall - at least this time.
  
  
• MJ meets Roberto at the bottom of the stairs and says "Tell Maura I'll sell 20% of my shares, 10% for her and 10% for her sister, as long as they promise to be on my side and not let Bruno be president."
  
  "Do you have a job for me?" Roberto asks with a winning smile, "though you might not believe it, I'm licensed in international relations." He warns her that Bruno's back and might want to get her in the sack. "Don't worry, I'm not the fool I used to be."
  
  
• Felipa and Vic listen from the doorway. Vic puts her hand to her heart. They go inside and Vic moans about her monstrous son.
  
  Bruno comes to the door - Filipa tells him his ma is indisposed but he pushes in as usual, to say he's moved his things into the chalet, it's his right. "MJ won't like it," says ma, "I don't care." "At least talk to her." "I tried but she blames me for everything." "Do you only think about yourself," cries Vic.
  
  "Do you want me to build a wall down the middle of the house? Because I'm going to live here and eat here and comport myself in complete liberty." [How I loved Bruno tonight, what a great villain. --Ed.] "But she, in her tender state?"
  
  He breaks down, "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!" No, actually he said, "Her her her, always her, can't you think about ME for even a moment?"
  
  Vic sinks into her chair. Bruno he falls to his knees and takes her hand: "Don't abandon me, I've done wrong but even the worse sinner deserves a chance to change his ways." "You've sinned so much though," she sighs.
  
  He immediately brings up her adultery and turns to leave. Felipa: "the trunk that grows twisted will never straighten out." She calls him a scorpion; Vic says automatically don't talk that way about my son. Felipa continues: "I call it like I see it. I predict he'll start out all sweet because what he wants besides the money is that girl MJ, and he's planning to conquer her and marry her."
  
  Vic asks, do you think they were talking about the judge that officiated at the false marriage? Felipa: "Duh." "And can Bruno really have murdered him?" "Lord knows - why don't you ask Maya (The lady at the safari office.)?"
  
  
• Roberto and Useless meet at a restaurant. "Hey, your mother-in-law is sexy, have you slept with her yet?" "No... aww Jeez, Raquel had another jealous fit today." "What do you want me to say? You got yourself into this." "Help me!" "Why should I help you, you got my wife pregnant." "I told you a thousand times, she threw herself at me."
  
  Again with the "the baby could be yours or mine."
  
  Roberto changes the subject: "Tell me the story about your mother in law with the splendid boobs." "OK, but I'm warning you, if you mess me up I'm going to tell people you are bisexual." "So what, it's fashionable, and besides, I only indulge once in a while to avoid being bored, and I'm discreet so who's going to believe you?"
  
  Roberto: "You told me MJ and your fiance are twins but it's complicated and preposterous, so for the benefit of our audience, please go through it again."
  
  "Her mother married Don Pedro and had three kids: Sandra, Maria Jose and Paula." "But Paula doesn't look anything like Maria Jose." "Probably Elena messed around with the milkman. Later, she met a guy of a good family - Porfirio - who would accept Sandra as his child and lied to his father saying the child was his and that Elena was a widow, and the grandfather really loves Sandra... [I was confused here, any help appreciated. -Ed.]
  
  ... and years later Elena married a scientist, he does some Frankenstein stuff, and the old guy subsidizes his lab, and old pot-o'-gold will die soon, but he wants to see Sandra, and if she shows up she'll inherit everything, so Elena's desperate to find her." "So what's your plan?" "Find her, slam her in rehab, and marry her, I'll have her eating out of my hand."
  
  "Aren't you afraid I'll tell all this to MJ and her family?" "No, because deep down I think you still love me." "And do you love me?" "Of course." "No, I don't believe that, I think we're using each other, any kind of love - homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual - has to be based in honesty, and you're not honest with me, you're messing with my wife." "Whoah, I didn't think you were so macho and possessive."
  
  "Well, no matter what's gone down with you..." "and others," adds Useless... "and others, I am still a man." He puts down some money and gets up, but Useless tries to detain him: "Roberto, despite all, we're still friends." "Friends don't do what you've done." Exit.
  
  Well, Useless isn't alone for long. A creepy guy with blond hair is just behind him. It's Mateo with a ridiculous dye job! They mutually wink and leer.
  
  
• Ahheeeeee this episode refuses to end.
  
  
• Crutches boy saw Erick let the air out of Paula's chauffeur Arturo's tires. Paula shows up, Erick tries to say hi but she blows him off: "Arturo, let's go,"
  
  Well, they can't, cause the tires have no air, "Oh that's ok," says Erick innocently, "I can take Paula home." Paula says she wouldn't go to the corner with him.
  
  Crutches boy, whoops now he's cane-boy, comes up and says, "What's happenin' Paula?"
  
  
• Cane boy accompanies her home in a taxi, warning her not to trust Erick. "I don't trust anybody these days." "I guess that includes me?" "Oh, no," she says sarcastically, but then admits he helped her out just now. "Glad I'm good for something" he says humbly.
  
  
• Mateo tells Useless: "After all I did for them, they sent me to the devil." "But you allied with our enemy!" "Oh, you mean that guy who called himself Mario Aguirre? What could I do? He threatened me - and you and Maura turned your back on me."
  
  This bit of review completed, Useless says he has a little job for Mateo: find Sandra.
  
  
• Roberto tells Maura and Lisette: MJ will sell them shares if they promise to act against Bruno. Maura says that's exactly what she wants, Lisette says "Bruno's been our friend for years," but Maura is in an unforgiving mood.
  
  
• Katia gossips and complains to Elena about how low-down MJ and her family are, and that Don Pedro (Elena's first husband, father of her children) is a drunk with a crummy store in the marketplace. Elena fake-laughs about this and asks about Paula. More complaints.
  
  Useless calls and asks if Elena's gotten the bank records yet. Not yet.
  
  
• Back to the ugly boardroom. Bruno thinks the presidency is in the bag, but MJ says she sold her shares that morning to Maura and Lisette and they might not be voting for Bruno.
  
  
• Bruno runs over to Maura's place and asks why she bought the shares. "It's a good business." "Neither you nor your sister know about construction." "We just want to vote against you." "You know how much I've waited for this." "Yeah, enough to kill Alex!" He says no he didn't, she says he's an unscrupulous animal, he says Alex never loved her, she says "He did so but you messed it up by bringing that other woman around, all my troubles are your fault."
  
  He is vaguely threatening and leaves and thank God, it's over!

Tomorrow: Alex and Fernando return.

Labels: sortilegio

Labels: gancho

Capítulo 57

[I was caught unawares as my cable provider went premium digital with Uni. So, now, I guess, I’ll have to also! The recap follows, but it's from what I could make out on YouTube and from esmas notes. If something seems wrong, feel free to add or correct it. –ed.]

Alex and Fernando are still playing Robinson Crusoe while Bruno plays chauffeur for Katia, taking her to her great uncle’s rancho out in the boonies.

Bruno tells the old T.A. (tío abuelo) that Fernando is missing and probably dead and so Katia felt she was better off with him for a while. Crotchya immediately interjects that Bruno is her fiancé and that they plan to get married in a few months. This is news to Bruno! He decides to cut this inopportune visit short and says it’s time to go. Crotcha walks him out. Once they’re alone in the courtyard he asks why she had to tell her uncle that they were engaged! The naïve little twit whines that she thought they were! (I immediately wonder where she’s packed the wedding day paper dolls.) He tells her that with everything on his mind right now, the last thing he needs is to be thinking about a wedding. Little Miss Clinging Vine wants reassurances that he won’t forget her there and will call her every day. She whines that she’s afraid he’s brought her there as a way to get rid of her. He kisses her (after checking for lollipop goo, I’m sure) and says he’ll never forget her; and no, of course he’s not dumping her! He promises he’ll call, but says it can’t be every day. Too much is going on right now. They kiss and he drives off, probably secretly very glad to be rid of her--at least for a while, till she’s useful again.

Inside the main house, the housekeeper and TA have a good cry over Fernando’s untimely demise. “Such a fine, intelligent, handsome young man!” Sob. Sob. He tells the housekeeper that supposedly Fer went on vacation with his boss, Alejandro Lombardo, and they had some sort of accident. The housekeeper remembers then that a Victoria Lombardo called earlier for him. Lombardo? Oh noes! He calls Vicki back immediately. Vicki tells him not to give up hope because she hasn’t. They should meet sometime. Hopefully under better circumstances, yada, yada. Yes. Crotchya’s there. Her fiancé brought her. Who? Bruno. Victoria takes a minute to let that troublesome tidbit sink in. They say their polite good-byes and hang up. Crotchya comes in to the room right afterward.

TA tells Crotchya that he was just talking to Sra. Lombardo who called because she was worried about her. The brat calls her a nosy old whore who treats her son like trash. When the old guy asks how she could dare say something so rude, she tells him how Vicki got pregnant by her lover and that Bruno was the result. “That’s pretty shameless, wouldn’t you say?” The old guy wasn’t exactly expecting his young grand-niece to be privy to this kind of Peyton Place backgrounder, let alone having her mouth off so matter-of-factly to him about it. (Times have changed, old man! Get your groove on!) She struts away while he turns five different shades of red and waits for the old ticker to slow back down.

Time passes. Days go by. The Castaways continue to build their raft. They fish, eat, swim, work on their tans, sleep and dream about home. FF>>

The hearing for the challenge to the will starts a few days later. Vicki corners Bruno right before they go in to see the judge and she accuses him of tricking her over the business with the will. He plays dumb and blames it all on greedy Raquel.

Back at the manse, meanwhile, Mary Jo informs Paula and Papa Smurf, aka Papi Pedro, about her divorce. The good news–at least for Pau—is that Alex left MJ everything as part of the divorce settlement. Material Sis is all smiles. Neon $$$ signs gleam in her eyes.

In downtown Merida at the hearing, Dr. Hernan testifies that Antonio Lombardo was in full control of his faculties at the time of his accidental death and that he never showed signs, in his medical opinion, of being otherwise. Bruno’s lawyers accuse Hernan of favoritism towards Sra. Lombardo since he’s been a family friend for years. Bruno secretly cheers as Hernan is forced to admit that he knew about Antonio’s adulterous affair with Vicki but covered for Antonio. (Like he was supposed to sever his professional or personal relationship over that? Tsk. Tsk.)

Days pass. At a second hearing, the two bribed board members claim that they have proof Antonio was mentally incompetent. They claim he was making absurd business decisions and suffered wild mood swings. Vicki’s lawyers argue that Dr. Hernan’s medical opinion should hold more weight with the court than unqualified observations from Rocas or the other board member. The judge disagrees and says Dr. Hernan’s testimony wasn’t objective due to his friendship with the family. Bruno has a nasty smile on his face. He’s sure he’s got this case in the bag now.

Meanwhile, across town at Maura’s palatial Think Pink! pad, she and Lisset are discussing Victoria’s legal situation. Mau’s worried that Vicki will lose the case without Alex there to take charge of things. She tells Lis that if Alex really is dead, then Bruno had something to do with it. Alex mentioned something to her about his suspicions. Anyway, Bruno’s crafty and Vicki’s no match for him she thinks. It’s a shame Alex isn’t there because she’s sure he’d be giving Bruno a real run for his money.

Back at the hearing, Bruno’s attorneys don’t want to wait any longer for Alex to return. They ask for Alex to be considered deceased and to have Antonio’s will changed and his fortune divided up in equal parts with his other (now) legitimatized heirs. Vicki’s lawyers object, saying they must legally wait for a full year before declaring someone dead. The judge says he understands that Alex left his fortune to his heirs before he went missing. Surprise #1! Bruno is caught-with-his-pants-down-impactado. Lic. Quiñones clarifies to the judge that if Alex is declared dead, he has no widow. Bruno says that’s crazy and tells him Mary Jo is his widow. Surprise #2!! Vicki’s other lawyer informs the judge that Alex divorced her two months ago and gave his entire fortune, all his holdings, and half the house to her as part of the settlement. Consequently, there’s no inheritance to divvy up.

Bruno is WTF impactadissimo! It’s pure chaos now as Bruno jumps to his feet, mad as a whole swarm of hornets, and claims that Alex is either dead or hiding out to avoid the trial. “If he’s really hiding then that is fraud!” (Viewerville is on its feet, cheering and clapping.) He wants justice! Raquel screams at her mother for allowing it to happen. Vicki stares blankly at her and says nothing. Hernan’s watching Bruno’s reaction. He’s smiling like the Cheshire cat who just pounced on a rat seeing El Bruto get a royal screw job. Victoria now defends herself and says she and MJ haven’t heard a word from Alex and are still worried sick about what’s happened to him. Bruno yells “Liar!” The judge calls for order and demands Bruno show some respect for his mother! Bruno zips it real quick. (A second cheer goes up from Viewerville, though there’s a silent hope that somehow he gets charged with contempt and thrown in the slammer anyway.) Raquel jumps up now. (Whack-a-mole, anyone?) She angrily demands that MJ be called in to testify because she doesn’t believe one word of anything Vicki’s lawyer has said. LQ presents the signed agreement to the judge as proof. (Take that, you greedy, grumbling bitch with a bad dye job!)

The story comes out in the papers the next day. Mau reads it to Lis. Mau bemoans the fact that poor Victoria is being touted as a whore while MJ’s gotten everything: the company, the properties and half ownership of the mansion. She can’t believe it’s come to this! Lamebrain Lis, though, is bored with it all. Mau figures Bruno didn’t lie and makes a mental note that he told her Alex was getting a divorce. Lis yawns and heads in for breakfast. Mau goes too. FF>>

Another week or two passes. At the next hearing Mary Jo is there. The judge asks Mary Jo if she and Alex Lombardo married with communal property rights, i.e., share and share alike. She confirms that they did. He recognizes that that being the case, she ought to have gotten only half. MJ states that Alex wanted it that way because they loved each other. The judge asks why they divorced if they loved each other. Mary Jo turns towards Bruno with hate in her eyes. She replies because Bruno demanded it. She stands up and becomes extremely agitated and then lets Bruno have it between the legal eagle eyeballs. She tells the judge that she and her child were at death’s door. She turns accusingly toward Bruno and screams at him. “You were the only one who could give blood! Alex begged you to do it, but you wouldn’t till he agreed to divorce me!!” She turns back to the judge. “Alex, as a man of his word, did it and complied.” (Don’t ya just wonder how Judge Judy would handle Bruno after testimony like that?) Bruno yells back at her that she’s crazy. He swears he did it out of the kindness of his heart. (Viewerville starts screaming at the screen. “Liar, liar, pants on fire!”) Mary Jo answers back that he told her himself what he did to Alex. He turns to his Mama and whines for some emotional back-up, but she refuses. Surprise #3!!! Mama tells him she heard him herself telling Mary Jo what he did! Everybody’s in shock. Bruno screams at the judge that they’re both lying. He yells now that he hates her as much as he hates Alex. (Like “Nannie, nannie, boo-boo!” goes really far in a court of law, Bruno.)

The judge calls for a recess to discuss it with the lawyers. “This new information puts a new spin on the situation.” Raqui rushes over to Bruno in the hallway after and bitches him out for not telling her the truth. He tells her Alex isn’t the only one who can play dirty. “Anyway, this whole hearing has been nothing but a pile of crap!” The crap-meister in chief stomps off.

Back inside the hearing the judge tells the lawyers that he’s not inclined to believe Bruno Lombardo has a case any longer in light of the new testimony. He suggests to Bruno’s lawyers that they convince him to stop before the case becomes any more complicated. In plain lingo, Bruno had better quit while he’s ahead. LQ reminds the judge that even if MJs testimony were false, the divorce settlement is solid. So, there’s nothing to challenge any longer. The judge agrees.

Bruno’s lawyers come out and tell him that Mary Jo’s claim to the fortune is solid and this changes the whole situation. There’s nothing more they can do. Raquel gripes in frustration that nobody knew anything about any of it. Bruno says as far as he’s concerned, Alex is hiding out somewhere and avoiding facing him in court. He wants blood.

Back in Boonieland, Porferio commiserates with his old pal, Nando’s TA, and remarks that the good always die young while the old farts are left to carry on. A minute later Elena appears and greets her ex-FIL with a forced smile. She pours herself a drink or three and chatters on about her current hubby’s terrific work at the clinic. Porfe glares at her. He could give a rat’s patooty about Jorge the Doctor. TA mentions Fer’s supposed death and having Crotchya with him now. Elena remembers her as a little girl with braids or something. He complains that she’s grown up and he doesn’t know what to do with her. She doesn’t care to do much of anything and sits around all day with her phone stuck to her ear like a 5th appendage. Porfe suggests Elena could take her for an ice-cream at the mall or something. TA says she’s a bit old for that, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea if Elena could hang with her for a little bit of female- to-female quality time. Elena struggles to hide a grimace behind a triple-shot of tequila. She says sure, she could try it if that’s what the old guy would like.

Porfe asks about Sandra. Elena gives him a line about her doing fine and says she and Jorge were thinking of going to bring her back, but there’s been no time to because of the demands of the clinic. Blah, blah, blah. Porfe pretty much tells her to cut the crap. He knows Elena could care less about his granddaughter; and her husband, Jorge, might as well not even know she exists! (Lovely old man, isn’t he?) He threatens Elena that if Sandra hasn’t been properly raised and demonstrates otherwise, Elena and Jorge won’t inherit a single centavo from him. As for Jorge and his clinic, it can rot! He stomps out of the room. TA pours Elena another drink. (Easy to see why she’s always got a glass in her hand around the old buzzard!)

Meanwhile, back on Gilligan’s island, Alex goes for a swim and remembers his romantic time in the ocean with Mary Jo.

Elena goes to the clinic to speak with Jorge and tell him what’s just happened with Porferio. Jorge could give a rap. He blames Elena for everything wrong with Sandra. He tells her It’s her problem. Elena caused it, so she can deal with it. The slime-bucket throws her out of his office.

Outside again, Elena calls Sandra’s number but finds out it has been disconnected. She calls one of Sandra’s friends trying to find out if the girl knows anything. (We note the Alice Cooper/Kiss groupie attire, complete with black and blue make-up, scruffy coiffeur, body rings and tats. For a couple of seconds, Viewerville allows itself to sympathize with Elena’s predicament—but only a couple.) The girl is thumbing through fashion magazines (why, when she’s dressed like that, escapes me) and she does not appreciate having her quality reading time interrupted. She rudely tells Elena that Sandra returned to Mexico a week or so ago. She has no idea where she is and no, she doesn’t have her new phone number. Elena’s back to square one.

Mary Jo and Vicki return to the manse. MJ goes upstairs, lies down on her bed and cries. Pau hears her and comes in to see what happened with the judge --and the money. MJ says she doesn’t care. She’d give it all away just to have Alex back again. Pau tells her that’s a lost cause. He’s gone. She needs to realize it and get on with her life. Mary Jo refuses and says she’ll never give up on him coming back. Never!

Across the hall, Felipa has come in to see Vicki and ask about the results of the hearing. Vicki tells her about MJ’s testimony and Bruno’s dumbfounded reaction. Felipa says it serves him right for all the crap he’s pulled. She then convinces Vicki it’s time to face facts about Alex and Fernando and suggests they have a memorial mass there “to commend their souls to God.”

Outside on the grounds, Raqui (definitely the kind o’ gal a guy is glad to know married the other chump) is giving Roberto the low-down on her low-life brother’s reversal of fortunes at the hearing. Bottom line: MJ got everything due to the divorce settlement he signed before he went missing, and they get bupkis. Bobo is let-me-get-this-straight-impactado. They head inside while he gets his head around that and the she-dog howls about Vicki’s complicity in it all. Bobo taunts his other half, saying that Uli will be dumping her once he learns they lost the case. She pours herself a tall drink. She’s dying to know who her supposed competition is. Bobo makes a proposition. “Give me back the use of my credit cards and I’ll tell you.” He goes into the bedroom. Raqui screams at him for being the ultimate jerkwad.

Elena, meanwhile, decides to call Uli for a confab. She tells him Sandra’s back in Mexico now, but she doesn’t know where. They’ve got to discuss it in person with him. He agrees.

Somewhere else in Merida, Bruno has a chat with Erick to tell him about the hearing. He tells Erick his suspicion that Alex is hiding out somewhere. He suddenly changes the subject and asks if Erick knows what’s going on with Paula. Buttlick pulls a blank because he’s not been allowed back to the manse since he got fired. Bruto screams at him to do a little investigating then. “That’s what I pay you for!!” Erick is left to figure out something.

Paula and Arturo are dropping off Gabriel at the mall. Soon he won't have to use his cane at all. Gabe gets out and thanks her for the lift. He decides to apologize for lying about her to the authorities and explains why he did it. She grudgingly accepts his apology. No harm. No foul. But, as she and Artie drive off, she says what those two pulled on her was unpardonable even for God. Art says something like God always forgives. She reminds him that she’s not God.

El Broodo pays Mama a visit to complain about her part in what happened at the hearing. “Alex is hiding out! You know he did this just to get my goat! He’s laughing at me right now behind my back!” Yada, yada, yada…. Vicki ignores him and lets her thoughts about love drown him out. Bruno continues the harangue about MJ having everything and leaving her nothing. He rants on that if she thinks things are bad now, just wait. Without money and all the luxuries she’s accustomed to, life will really be a drag. She isn’t listening though. She doesn’t care. He realizes this when he finally pauses to take a breath. He asks if she’s heard a word he’s said. She says no. She doesn’t want to listen to anything he has to say. “--Well, then, that’s your problem!” He storms out of the room.

More time passes. Another hearing takes place, but this time Vicki and Mary Jo aren’t there. LQ says they’re grieving for Alex and Fernando and can’t bring themselves to appear at this hearing. The judge finds for Bruno and Raquel in that he believes Antonio was not competent when making out his will. Hernan’s and Rocas’ shares will not change. What was left to Victoria, however, is all that can be divvied up with Bruno and Raqui because the divorce settlement is also valid. Raquel is beside herself. She wants to challenge the divorce settlement because, she says, Alex had no right to give away what belonged to her and Bruno. The judge says that, as it appears, Alex was simply securing his child’s future, so the agreement stands. He won’t agree to a challenge of the divorce settlement. (Too bad. So sad. No mon, honeybun!) Bruno isn’t ready to give in so soon. He asks what would happen if the kid is actually his.

At the same time, Elena shows up at Uli’s –or rather, Raquel’s—apartment to discuss the details about the predicament with Sandra. She tells him that she called Sandra’s best friend in Spain and was told Sandra had left Spain over a week ago and came back to Mexico. Uli, a guy who has made living off other people’s credit cards a fine art, suggests they can locate her from her credit card receipts. All Elena needs to do is to go to the bank and explain she’s the one paying the bills and then demand to see a record of the current charges. He’ll do the rest, he says. The doorbell rings. It’s Mau and Bobo come to discuss the latest gossip about Raquel and Bruno. He introduces them to Elena, who then explains that she’s his fiance’s mother and that she has known Uli for just about forever. Mau and Bobo exchange looks. (Definitely an eyebrow raiser.) Mau teases Uli about not knowing who the lucky girl is that he’s been hiding from them all this time. While he and Elena go over to the bar to fix some drinks, Bobo whispers a few of the choice details about Sandra to Mau and says that she’s apparently the spittin’ image of Maria Jose. Mau is elated to have some new and delicious gossip. She wonders if Elena could be MJ’s mother. Bobo just smiles conspiratorially at her.

Back at Casa de Lobos, the rest of the family holds a memorial service for Alex and Fer.

Speaking of Crusoe and Friday, they finally have their makeshift raft ready and set out to sea. Suddenly there’s a helicopter above and they begin waiving and screaming in hopes the pilot will see them. He does. (It’s a good thing, too, because that raft was about as sea-worthy as a sieve.) The helicopter lands. They hug the pilot, who immediately puts the three of them inside it. Alex and Nando give a prayer of thanks as they take off and head back to home and civilization --or what passes for it in loco Lombardo-land.

[The next two Fridays are both holidays, so obviously there won’t be anything to recap. Here’s hoping you all have a terrific holiday season and a happy and prosperous new year! —ed.]

Labels: sortilegio

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