Caray, Caray!

Daniel and Eva argue. She walks away and he follows, but she ignores him. Daniel visits Leonardo and checks on him. Leo tries to feed him a line of bull saying he’s sick. Daniel points out that he was fine yesterday at the birthday party. Well I woke up sick this morning replies Leo. One of the kids must have given me something. But don’t worry; Eva is taking good care of me like she took care of you when you were sick. The difference, says Daniel, is that I was really sick. You are not. What a fake you are. What are you trying to gain from this charade? A lot replies Leo. At the end of this I want Eva to care of me. Daniel walks out.

Tony drives down the road and slams on his brakes. He spots Jackie watering some plants with Francisco washing the car. He says how good-looking she is. She insults him. Francisco comes to the rescue and tells Tony to back off. I’m her husband. Francisco tells Jackie that he is there to protect her when needed. Now get back to work. Jackie smiles.

Eva brings Leo some lemonade. He thanks her and says he has to defend her from Daniel. Defend me asks Eva? Yes replies Leo. A while ago he came by and he got upset with me. We had an argument. Why asks Eva? About you responds Leo. What do you mean about me asks Eva? Well that is what I wanted to talk to you about says Leo. I think it’s time we talked. What I have to tell you is not good. I does not make me look good and Daniel either. But I told you I was not a perfect man. I have been thinking these past couple of days. You are a good person and I will not allow anyone to hurt you. And when I mean anyone that refers to me and Daniel. Daniel is my best friend. But I will not let anyone hurt you. No one.

Victoria visits Sabine. She tells her God punished her. That the bathroom has ears and she shouldn’t be messing with other women’s men. Sabine is upset and in walks Daniel.

Leo admits that he was lead by Daniel and his foolish games. Who’s playing games asks Eva? The day that Daniel found out you were working here he was excited and made a bet says Leo. What bet asks Eva? It will sound horrible to you, but I decided to talk to you about it today replies Leo. Daniel bet $500.00 on who would sleep with you first. Then raised it to $1000.00 totally confident that he would be the first to take you to bed.

What asks Eva? Please don’t make me repeat it asks Leo. Of course I want you to repeat it says Eva. Daniel bet $1000.00 on who would bet you first replies Leo. And I accepted. Why? I don’t know. I don’t like playing with a woman’s feelings. But I just went along with him. Perhaps because we’re such close friends. Then we started telling each other of our advances.

Victoria plays the innocent and tells Daniel how worried she is over Sabine.

Leo tells Eva how Daniel would tell him how he sent flowers and letters to her. How he said that he was close to having her. I know after telling you this you must hate us both. But I had to tell you. I had to clear my conscience. Please forgive me. I understand how you feel…. Eva interrupts and says “You don’t understand anything” and walks out. Leo smiles.

Victoria tells Daniel that the doctor says that Sabine has half her face disfigured. Daniel can’t believe someone would do such a thing. Whoever did that must be crazy. (Hello!! Crazy is standing next to you). Who could do something so cruel? Victoria gets nervous as Sabine gets agitated and suggests they leave her alone.

Eva goes into her room and starts having a fit. “A $1000.00 is all I’m worth! Daniel I’ll show you Renata comes in and starts throwing insults at Eva. (Has she nothing better to do then harass Eva? How about getting a life, lady!)

Tony and JoJo FFà

Eva tells Renata to leave her room. Renata says you can’t talk to me that way. BLAH, BLAH. She touches Eva and Eva loses it and physically throws Renata out. HAHAHAHA!

Tony and JoJo FFà Leo walks out and gives Tony an errand.

Eva cries. Leo walks in without knocking. (Why does everyone do this and why does Eva not learn to lock the freaking door?)

Back from commercial and Leo tells Eva how bad he feels. He tries to comfort her but she says not to touch her. Okay replies Leo. I understand. I begged Daniel to cancel this stupid game but he didn’t want to.

Laurita asks Jackie if Eva has come by.

Leo asks Eva to forgive him. She has been so good to them. That’s it says Eva. Good. Eva the good. Eva the sweet. Who cares if you play with Eva. She has no feelings. She’s just a servant. You want to know how I feel. I’m repulsed by you. You can Daniel are friends, you both deserve nothing. She pushes him and then when he tries to control her gets bitch slapped for his efforts. She runs out of her room. He rubs his jaw and says to himself “At least you don’t hate me as much as you hate Daniel”.

Jackie asks Francisco if he knew who that guy was. No why asks Francisco. I thought he was cute says Jackie. You liked him asks Francisco? A little replies Jackie. Whoa! says Francisco. Let me give you a little advice. You can’t trust those type of people. What would you have done if I wasn’t there? I let him know there was someone to protect you. Don’t exaggerate Fran replies Jackie. Who knows I could have ended up going out with him. Please Jackie says Francisco laughing.

Victoria tells Daniel how sad she feels for Sabine and how scared she is. What if it happened to her? I put on make-up everyday. I hope the police catch who did it. I hope so to replies Daniel.

Jackie asks Francisco if it would bother him if she went out with a guy. He laughs it off. Eva bursts in and asks where Daniel is. Francisco says I don’t know probably at work. Why don’t you sit down and have a cup of coffee. Eva is hearing none of that and asks when Daniel gets back from work. Why asks Jackie? I need to talk to him please begs Eva. What’s wrong asks Jackie again. Eva ignores her and asks Francisco for Daniel’s work address. Wait, what’s wrong asks Jackie. What’s happened? Eva replies it’s not what’s happened but what’s going to happen.

Carlos has a visit from Marisol who brings him food. They talk about the incident. Carlos asks if Alicia knows where he is. Yes, replies Marisol, but she’s scared to come visit in case they want to arrest her too. They won’t says Carlos. I took full blame for all this. I’m completely in love with her. (you’re an idiot) Marisol promises to try and get him out.

Alicia tells Tony to get Carlos out of jail. Tony kisses her and Eva catches them.

Eva yells at Alicia. You promised me you’ll stay away from him. He’s nothing but trouble. Alicia tries to explain, but Eva is having none of it. Tony finally has enough and tells Eva he’s tired of her insults and won’t put up with them anymore. Eva picks up the hot iron that Alicia was ironing with and threatens him with it. Alicia pulls her back.

Leo asks Renata where Eva is. Don’t know, don’t care replies Renata.

Alicia and Eva fighting. Alicia insults Eva and gets bitch-slapped.

Adrian comes to visit Laurita. Cute.

Marcela, Victoria and JoJo talk wedding. Seems to me that JoJo is a big, big butt kisser.

Eva visits her dad’s grave. She asks for help with Alicia. She tells herself that Daniel will pay.

Adrian gifts Laurita a kite. Francisco and Jackie make fools over themselves regarding the gift. They take Adrian and Laurita to the park to fly it.

Daniel gets some documents from Marcela and says he’s going home early.

Tony advises Alicia to rebel against her sister.

Tony and Ricardo are talking about Adrian. Ricardo still thinks Adrian’s dad, Tomas, kidnapped him even though Adrian denies it. Tony thinks he’s dead. I won’t believe it until I see a dead body. (during this conversation Tomas is in Ricardo’s room stealing money). Marisol comes in looking for Alicia. In the kitchen replies Tony. Justa comes in asking if Adrian has come back yet. Not yet replies Ricardo. Well I heard a noise in your room replies Marisol. Ricardo goes up to see Adrian. Tony asks Marisol to talk him up to Alicia about how a great guy he is. I’m crazy about her. Marisol says sure. Especially after all the problems you put her in at the school. If you don’t threatens Tony, I’ll tell Alicia what you really do. You do and I’ll hurt you replies Marisol. I’ll go to the police.

Ricardo finds Tomas in his room stealing from him.

Eva is waiting for Daniel in the parking lot.

Ricardo asks Tomas if he kidnapped his own son. Tomas tells Ricardo that it’s none of his business what he does. Where’s my son? What do you care replies Ricardo. Tomas tries to leave, but Ricardo tries to stop him and a fight breaks out. Tomas throws Ricardo on the bed and starts kicking him. Adrian walks in and tells his dad to stop.

Alicia asks Marisol if she saw Carlos. Yes, replies Marisol. He took all the blame because he’s in love with you. (of course Tony overhears this)

Tomas tells Adrian he’s leaving with him and to get his stuff.. Ricardo says no and Tomas pulls out a gun.

Eva spots Daniel and throws money at him. Daniel asks what’s wrong. It’s what you deserve! says Eva. A $1000.00! That is what you are worth to me!

Monday: Leo and Daniel fight and Victoria finds out their fighting over a woman.

Labels: eva

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Labels: announcements, stars

Dear Amigos/as – I noticed there was a rumor that some mystery recapper was coming tonight, but it’s just me. ;-) Of COURSE we couldn’t put anything over on you all! Carlos has the night off, doing the kind of thing we all hope our SOs will do for us in turn—escorting the Lovely Linda out (okay you grammar police out there, no, I don’t want my SO escorting the Lovely Linda. I want him escorting ME). So, here you have Schoolmarm filling in, though they are big shoes to fill since Carlos’ wit and humor are so awesome! Also, thanks to Julia, Sylvia, and JudyB for their wonderful recaps earlier this week, which I haven’t had time to comment on due to three late nights in a row with travel and meetings. My apologies for getting this up slower than usual. Had to blow the carbon out of the pipes to get up to speed on recapping.

Both parts are up now, it's all here!

Such a bright, cheerful morning after in the breakfast room at The Big House of Horrors in the Basement (aka the Casa Ruiz y de Teresa. Okay, maybe it’s not limited to the basement). Tacky and Tasteless Kristel wisecracks about the Boda Night [that didn’t bode well for Emanuel]. “Must have been exhausting!” Emanuel gives her a side glance and half smile. “You have no idea.” Emiliano snaps at Kristel, and gets a “Whaaaat?” look for his trouble. Emanuel defends Kris to his Papi. “Nothing happened.” [Ed. Note: Truer words have never been spoken, let’s compliment the writers here for a spectacular turn of modismos.] Kris gives him an air hug, to which he just gives her a good-humored fist bump ala Howie Mandel and they grin like goofballs at each other. The true life of the party has made her grand entrance, though. Ilitia’s as sparkly as Weary Willie this morning. She greets them all and refuses to eat as Emanuel, the perfect gentleman, jumps up to seat her. Kristel stage-mutters (no whispers for her) that Ilitia better eat since she’s pallid and haggard (ojerosa). [Way to go, Kristel, you’re two for two this morning.] Fedra thinks the child is just exhausted, and urges Emanuel to get her out of here on a nice little trip. “Great idea! What do you think about…Switzerland?” Fedra’s fork stops halfway to her mouth. [What, she’s not enchanted with it?] Ilitia runs to hug Emanuel, squealing with delight at the prospect of being scanned or better yet patted down by TSA. Oops, wrong country. Emanuel hugs her back and remarks he’ll take advantage of the opportunity and kill two birds with one stone: he’ll take his little lady on the honeymoon she deserves, and bring his little sister home with them. He looks around…. “Good?” Fedra grits her teeth and nods abruptly.

At Netty’s Slightly Irregular Boardinghouse, we are reminded of the Cuartel of the Feas because they’re always in a pack chitchatting. Today the subject is the lien on the house, which Netty apparently forgot about while she was busy being a diva again. [Ed. note: a kind, gracious diva, to be sure, but a diva nevertheless.] She incurred the debt for Marianela’s university education and didn’t bother to pay it back when she was in the $$, because she had to get those clothes and ride in a limo. Mamá Dolores’ replacement Gladiola (the voice of Netty’s Conscience) scolds her on priorities. Netty’s head was in another zone, Gladiola notes with disgust. Consuelo volunteers them all to help Netty pay. Netty ignores Glad’s glare, and graciously thanks Consuelo, leaning over to grasp her hand. Brandon and Oliver save the day with fast food from the taquería for everyone—let’s hope they can still pay their part in this deal Consuelo just sealed. More chitchat flies by, and Doris strides in as the boys go off to the kitchen to drop off the bags. Doris beams as she greets the family and takes a post behind the sofa. By a remarkable coincidence the doorbell immediately rings and Brandon answers it. Look who’s here! It’s Victoria de la Garza/Mari, in her smart little blue and black number, to face the crowd in the naca pensión living room. Netty jumps up, staring in shock as Brandon introduces “Victoria de la Garza” to her. Doris folds her hands nervously, waiting for the verdict. Gladiola and Consuelo stand to look, too. Netty gasps that it can’t be. Behind Vicky/Mari and Brandon, Manolo/Gretel tries to trot in manfully, but just struggles with two rolling suitcases. Vicky/Mari and Brandon turn and watch the struggle. Oliver strolls in and looks disconcerted. Vicky/Mari introduces herself again when Oliver asks who that guy is (totally ignoring that he’s asking about Manolo), and then introduces her really small sidekick brother as “Manolo de la Garza.” Manolo/Gretel grins goofily. And gives them a not-so-macho “mucho gusto.” Manolo shuffles nervously. [Ed. note: Excuuuse me. NO one here recognizes Marianela’s beautiful face, smile and eyes without her silly glasses? Or, Gretel’s with those other silly glasses?] Apparently not, but Netty remarks on how much Vicky looks like the defunct Eva when she was younger, how precious! [Ed. note: must have been before Eva’s facelifts.] Vicky’s smile fades fleetingly. Brandon explains she’s Marianela’s best friend (no doubt), and just in town from Spain. Manolo nods vigorously in agreement. Brandon wants to know if they’d like a coffee or what, and Vicky cleverly jests about that question not being part of last night’s interrogation. She exchanges a fond chuckle with Manolo, who chuckles heartily in response. Netty welcomes them. Vicky tells Netty that Mari always talks about her, and how much Mari loves her. Her grin stretches from ear to ear. That nails it for Netty - any friends of her niece’s are her niece and nephew, too. They can even tutear her (use the informal form of you reserved for family and close friends), which clearly means they can consider themselves part of the family. So how is Mari, anyway? Better than ever, Vicky reports. Brandon watches with a love struck gaze. Mari has gotten married and lives in Paris. They’re all impactados. “Marianela got married?” Netty whispers. Brandon’s love struck gaze isn’t so much any more.

The morning after is not so bright and cheerful at Casa Porta López. Muñeca insists that something’s going on with Ilitia. Lorenzo gives her the Sigh of Exasperation usually reserved for wives to give their husbands. What could be wrong? She just got married to the love of her life, hablablabla. Yeah, but her sixth sense picked up something. Call it a mother’s intuition….Low cuts her off, pokes her with a cattle prod pumped up to a couple of hundred volts, and points out she’s never been a mother so there’s no way she has mother’s intuition. Her glare could freeze him to stone if he ever bothered to look her in the eye. But, he’s the Daddy and he knows these things. He thought Ilitia looked beautiful and radiant. He sneers at Muñeca’s stupidity. Even in spite of the burglary. Muñeca doesn’t need a reminder about that. Instead, she does a 180 onto a non sequitur subject. She’s so glad Fidel brought the kiddies. Huh? Why bring them up? They didn’t need to be there—they had no place in his daughter’s wedding, he retorts. She reminds him she wants to adopt. What? Adopt who? These are the two, Manzanita and the no-name boy, that Muñeca wants to adopt. “What, are you nuts? Puh-leeze!” Muñeca doesn’t give an inch. “What a bad memory you have. Don’t you remember that not long ago you proposed to me that we adopt?” He shakes a finger scoldingly at her. “Things have changed.” She snaps back that nothing’s changed; their marriage is still the great farce it always was. (You go, girl!) Low tells her to do what she wants. She can collect children from all over the place—Africa, China, whatever—the United Nations of adopted kids. He’s wasting his time here and going to work. Muñeca is left sighing. Fidel finds her—he’s heard she’s looking for him. He’s all smiles. [Ed. note: one wonders if there’s a sparkle in his eye at his terrific employment situation, or something else.] Muñeca would love to know why he was suddenly hanging around at the Big House of Horrors during the wedding reception. His face falls. Thud.

Low hasn’t gone too far—just to the yard. He checks out papers in his hand and flashes back to his last social call on our favorite spook, Garduño, in the other Big House (the one with no picture windows), when the G told Low his son is still alive and had been dropped off on the street by G’s doofus duo buddies. He remembers that the G proposed a game: whoever finds the baby first, wins. If Garduño wins, it’s not a pretty picture for the little guy. Low deliberates briefly, then calls his henchman Santos in a panic. He’s bringing by a photo of the boy that’s two years old and there aren’t many clues to go by. Money’s no object, just find the kid.

Muñeca, meanwhile, expertly grills Fidel. [Does Brandon know about this talent?] She was pretty clear—she told him to take the kids back to Casa Hogar and take the night off. He knew full well she was coming home from the wedding with her husband. So how come he hung out at Fedra’s so late? Fidel recovers nicely, reminding her that addition to being her chauffeur, he’s her bodyguard since her kidnapping. She points out she’s always trusted him, so he shouldn’t let her down. He’s still working for her. Fidel somberly goes back to work and Muñeca wonders if he’s the Lirio de Plata. [Not according to us, he’s not. That wouldn’t give us any nice sparks with Vicky/Mari at all.]

Fedra backpedals as fast as she can while trying to eat. (Apparently she never met my grandma who insisted that we not eat and talk at the same time). Fedra’s too busy thinking up 99 or so reasons why it’s a Bad Idea for Emanuel and Ilitia to try and bring Gretel back to think about good manners at the moment. Emiliano likes the idea—free Gretel! (Oh yeah, that’s Carlos’ line from another recap). Emanuel goes on the attack—it’s more than two years since they saw her! (Ilitia has joined the group, even if she isn’t touching the morning-after breakfast. Nice designer touch, having the three of them on that side of the table in shades of purple and pink. Poor Axel is banished to the other side of the table. Must be the blender hair. And they’ve left Gretel’s seat empty, plus one more for good measure. If the three on Emanuel’s side put their elbows on the table too hard and tip it, Axel will end up with breakfast in his face—that might help the hair.) Axel joins the fray, though. He doesn’t see why they can’t bring Gretel, he sternly tells Fedra. Fedra sneers and babbles about the doctors calling the shots and Gretel’s still nuts, so she can’t come home. She intently looks at her food, no doubt so she can cut it right. Emanuel thinks Gretel’s treatment needs a change. It’s obviously not working. Fedra gets increasingly agitated as she argues and Emiliano gets increasingly disgusted with her. He HOPES that she is not hiding anything from him. Fedra looks up warily. Emil gets up with a warning: if she tries to mess with him, he’ll find out. He stares menacingly and throws the gauntlet down. Or, it might be his napkin. Emil stalks away from the table, still glaring at Fedra. Kristel gleefully makes a sophomoric gesture and Fedra pouts.

The Cuartel de la Pensión is still gathered for a family meeting. Netty laments that her little Dumpling married, moved to Paris and didn’t even invite her Auntie! Gladiola chides her—how would Netty expect to get there when you can’t get there by burro? Vicky defends Marianela—they married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout and there was no time for formalities. That should beg the question….nah, we won’t go there, and Netty doesn’t think of it, either. Manolo watches, worried about getting busted. Netty presses about the groom. Is he a nice guy? Will he make Mari happy? Oh, sure! Mari gets off the hook as she spins the tale out a little more. Doris interrupts that she’s so happy Vicky/Mari has come to live with them. Oliver looks on, wary about this odd couple in his living room. Doris says that Vicky is lovely and Manolo is mighty handsome, and Oliver erupts. “You’re calling HIM handsome (el viejo este-this old guy, a term of total disdain)?” They all discuss the lovely pair as if Vicky/Mari and Manolo/Gretel are not even there. Consuelo takes issue when Brandon calls Vicky beautiful and reminds them all that they aren’t going to be living there free no matter what their relationship with Marianela, especially when there’s a crisis going on here. Consuelo storms off to find her son and feed him. She leaves Brandon and Gladiola bemused by her sudden fit of temper. Netty gets back to business. Vicky can use Mari’s old room and Manolo can bunk with the boys. Brandon tells them he’ll get out of the room. Doris offers to share, which is of course unacceptable. After some tap-dancing and panic, looks like Manolo could end up bunking with Oliver. Yikes. Manolo/Gretel prefers to stay with his sis. But, oops, there’s only one bed in there. Yep, Manolo/Gretel definitely is ending up with a very hesitant Oliver. Oliver grouses that Manolo better not snore or anything. [Snoring is not likely to be the problem, Ollie.] Doris is Not Pleased. Netty has it settled, though. Oh, and by the way, this house isn’t exactly mine, she shares with them. Any time now the bank could come and seize it. Vicky/Mari is impactada. Netty jumps up, that’s enough of that. It’s time to chow down and hear about Mari’s wedding and all the news. She drags Vicky/Mari off to the dining room. Manolo/Gretel sidles past Oliver, who smirks at the rube, then grimaces as he watches Manolo/Gretel go off.

Back in Emanuel’s bedroom [Ed. note – there’s an idyllic wedding night tryst spot, for sure. Nothing like the whole family having access to the audio all night. Oh, that’s right, not a problem here, though.] Ilitia begs him not to go and leave her alone. He apologetically tells her he has a meeting, and he’s not in a very good mood, and he’s got a lot of work….She tries again to hold him there, telling him she owes him an explanation. What happened was pretty ugly. It’s her turn to be apologetic. Emanuel smiles his best grin of forgiveness. [And 95% of us here melt. Sorry, guys.] No, it wasn’t exactly ugly, but it wasn’t the wedding night that….Ilitia interrupts. She doesn’t know what came over her. [Yeah, right. Just TELL the man, already!] Maybe it was….nuptial stress? [Ed. note: I adore that word “estrés” because it’s so deliciously Spanglish. One of my all time faves.] Emanuel chuckles—there is no such thing. Ilitia protests. Of course there is, if she says so. [Okay, maybe the line wasn’t exactly like that.] She explains it’s a kind of trauma, something that happens with a wedding. (We’ll buy the trauma part, and it definitely happened with this wedding—it was at least marginally related)…..she gives him a pixie-ish smile and shrug while she makes it up as she goes. Emanuel, bemused, wants to know how that works. It takes time to work out of it, she assures him. Time and love. Emanuel apprehensively asks her to let him know when it’s gone. Ilitia agrees she will and he goes, leaving her pensive.

Night has fallen and dinner is done. At the naca pension, Netty bounces up, then apologetically excuses herself to air out Mari’s room, which has been sealed like a tomb for a looong time, leaving Vicky/Mari with Brandon. Vicky/Mari is beat and sits down to wait for Netty. Vicky/Mari, with that angelic smile, wants to tell him that Mari was right when she said he was a very special guy. He seizes the moment to find out what else Mari has told Vicky about him and plops down on the sofa next to her. Nothing much, just that all the folks in the boarding house are good people and she can trust them. [Ed. note: got that “vosotros” right down there, and the nice lisp ala Spain. Would we do so well with a British accent?] “Was that it?” “Yeah, why?” Brandon continues that he has the police nose (K-9?) and he’s sure there’s something more she hasn’t told him. He wants the truth, he smiles confidentially to her, inspiring trust. Who is she, really? [Ed. note: Well, so much for your police nose, Brandon. It didn’t give you a clue about who she really is. And you’re not inspiring trust.] Vicky/Mari has the good grace to look dismayed. So much for the police skills again. WE all know that Marianela gets that look when she’s caught out at something.

Gladiola has the bed ready for Manolo/Gretel. She remarks that Manolo knows where the bathroom is, and if (s)he gets cold, just tell Oliver. [Hee hee]. Manolo/Gretel gazes over one shoulder longingly at Oliver and wishes she could do that, and he could hold her all night. Oliver, who has been standing by the window looking smug and annoyed notices the gaze (now THAT’S some good police work there—that gaze was just sooooo subtle) and fusses at Manolo/Gretel, trying to break into the fog. “Listen up, son, the Sra. Is talking to you!” It results in the desired effect of getting Manolo’s attention refocused away from Oliver. “Oh, of course, Doña Gladiola, talk to me!” Manolo/Gretel is startled out of the reverie. Glad protests the Doña thing and has missed the entire last two minutes of slightly irregular interaction. Her Mom radar isn’t up with Oliver, just with Brandon, apparently. She repeats the stuff about getting cold and telling Oliver. Manolo/Gretel nods nervously, looking back over a shoulder again at the subject of those erratic thoughts. Glad bids them good night and gives Oliver an air kiss and blessing. Then she turns and gives Manolo/Gretel a stern once-over, followed by a fake grin and nod. Oliver and Manolo/Gretel face off—the latter with a distinctly uneasy grin. Manolo/Gretel sits onto the edge of the bed. [Ed. note: what decent poli is not going to notice that Manolo seats himself with exactly the graceful move that Gretel does? Sheesh. ]

Now that they’re alone, Oliver goes into a litany about how hot it is in this room. He’s always getting overheated. [And Gretel is just about to]. Manolo/Gretel flaps the jacket to cool off, in agreement. Oliver does a lovely strip tease, babbling on about wanting to cool off from the heat and removing his shirt, then his jeans, all the time looking warily over his shoulder at Manolo/Gretel. “Are you going to stay like that?” Manolo/Gretel panics, realizing Oliver means it’s time to undress to hit the sack. “Fully dressed, like you’re on horseback or something?” Oliver’s down to his shorts and medallion. Manolo/Gretel is in full panic mode. (S)he calls him Big Guy (macho, but it’s recapper license) and calls herself a blockhead (cabeza de bruto) nervously explaining that (s)he forgot pajamas. Oliver scoffs. Real men sleep in t-shirts. He’ll loan one, no problem, he grins. Oliver leans over with his back to Manolo to open the drawer and realizes Manolo’s getting a free shot. Oliver jumps back and sideways to open the drawer, throwing Manolo a t-shirt. He directs Manolo to put it on. As Oliver stands with his arms crossed insisting that Manolo put the t-shirt on, Manolo/Gretel anxiously thinks about an escape and breathes hard. [Calling Dr. Carlos –bring your sphygmomanometer and take a reading!]

Downstairs, Brandon has started the second degree, even if they do look pretty cozy on the sofa. He tells her directly that this stuff about her being Mari’s best friend, well, he doesn’t buy a word of it. Man, why not? Vicky/Mari goes into the well-rehearsed story of them going to college to study public relations together, etc. They’re practically like sisters. ;-) (Yup). So when Mari heard that Vicky and Manolo were coming to Mexico, she recommended they board here. She doesn’t see anything weird about that. [You’ve been watching too many telenovelas, Vicky]. Brandon is still friendly enough, but the questions are blunt. So, why didn’t Mari call them and give them a heads up? Vicky/Mari pours on the Spanish accent. For Mari to leave them all had been very difficult. He has no idea how Mari suffered. Brandon still looks doubtful. VIcky continues that for Mari to talk with any of them would have made her way sad. Brandon accedes that she left to forget Emanuel, but she also ended up forgetting all of them. A little hurt creeps out in his voice. Vicky/Mari, who never wants to hurt anyone’s feelings, is sad.

There’s still a problem upstairs. Oliver pushes Manolo to change, and Manolo/Gretel insists that (s)he wants pee-hamas. Oliver is irritated and wants to do a speech lesson. Pee-yamas, pee-YAmas! As a bonus, he’s giving macho lessons. No self-respecting macho man wears jammies, they wear boxers. Or nothing. He shakes a little boody in emphasis. Manolo/Gretel is horrified. “Stripped?” Manolo will get too cold. Oliver scoffs again—does Manolo need his Teddy and maybe a little cup of hot cocoa, too? Oliver crosses his arms in disgust. Or, does Manolo by some chance bat for the other team? Manolo/Gretel protests—with the machos, of course! Oliver mocks a little more. Here the only two machos are Oliver and Brandon and neither one wears jammies. There’s a new problem. Manolo doesn’t wear undershorts. Manolo/Gretel studies Oliver’s face, waiting to see how that’ll fly. Oliver chuckles and calls Manolo “chiquillo” (kid) and “canijillo” (short stuff, Little Guy, Shorty, but it has several meanings and some of them aren’t very schoolmarmish. “Bad egg” is about the best of them). Oliver smirks about “going right to the root,” (andar al raíz) letting it all hang out, like a bell clapper swinging in the wind (under the bell/campana). He gestures with his arm, leaving nothing to our imaginations, and laughing. [Ed. note: the double entendres in this novela…..sheesh]. Oliver laughs at his wit and says he’ll loan some shorts. No longer heeding the shot from the back that Manolo/Gretel is getting Oliver leans over and pulls out a pair of boxers. He opens them and checks out the inside, then holds them up and takes a deep whiff. Suddenly he realizes he has an audience…… Abruptly Oliver declares that they’re clean, and tosses the boxers to Manolo. There’s nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Manolo/Gretel sucks it up and scurries off to the baño to change, leaving Oliver perplexed at the prude.

Vicky/Mari and Brandon have made it upstairs, too. She smiles wistfully, looking around, and thinks about how long it has been since she’s been in her own room here, with her things and books. What a heap of memories! Brandon feels compelled to point out it’s Mari’s room—obviating the obvious. It’s not a suite in a five-star hotel, but it has a sense of Mari—even her perfume. He sighs about his Marianela and she looks at him fondly. Vicky/Mari assures Brandon with a smile that even a luxury hotel couldn’t be better. Brandon leaves her with a last thought—she can count on him for anything she needs. But keep clear of those Ruiz y de Teresa--they’re worse than the plague. Vicky/Mari, finally alone, sighs and sits on the bed. She’s not sure she can stand all this. But, she has to follow through with her promise. She begs an invisible being for strength.

Meanwhile, down the hall, Manolo/Gretel is changed and Oliver is sacked out. Manolo/Gretel drops the discarded clothes on the floor and tiptoes (as much as a flat-footed person can) to Oliver’s bedside. (S)he reaches down and tucks Oliver’s hand arm under the covers. Good thing Oliver doesn’t have to have his poli reflexes in gear when he sleeps. So far, he’s missed two cues here in the last five seconds. Manolo gazes at Oliver’s sleeping self while tiptoeing to the other bed, but doesn’t lie down. Instead (s)he does that graceful sitting thing again. Manolo talks to her/himself. It’s just weird to have Oliver so near and yet so far. What if she told him it’s her here with him? Nah, she can’t expose him to that risk. Fedra would kill him. Manolo/Gretel gets up and goes over to lie beside Oliver, thinking that she’d give anything to be in his arms again [Ed. note: not to put too fine a point on it, but how much closer to being in his arms could you be here?] She would love to feel all his again. Manolo/Gretel puts her arm around him and nuzzles him with her moustache leading. Oliver murmurs to his little caramel, his little poisoned one and sleeps right on through it all.

Vicky/Mari unpacks and finds photos of Emanuel still in the bed stand drawer. She takes them to the desk for a closer look. “It was useless.” She decides she just couldn’t keep up all that hatred she felt for him. She can’t understand what comes over her when she’s close to him! Her heart jumps, despite all the hurt he gave her. Vicky’s/Mari’s is palpable. Despite all the distance, etc., she is still in love with him. Vicky/Mari calls herself a fool and tears the photos up. [Nice symbolic gesture, but we know it won’t wash, Mari.]

SECOND HALF

It’s morning in the D. F. Doris lectures Manolo/Gretel on keeping the moustache in place, leaning over to secure it again. [How much slobbering did (s)he do over Oliver all night?] Manolo/Gretel protests—(s)he knows, but (s)he’s just so nervous! Oliver’s going to be back from his shower any second now. Speaking of the king of Rome, while Doris chides Manolo/Gretel not to move, Ollie makes a grand entrance, resplendent in his robe. Oliver yells and they both jump. He’s not thrilled to see Doris working on Manolo’s upper lip, so he doesn’t give it further scrutiny to ferret out the cat in the bag. Oliver grabs Doris by the arm, hustling her out of the room and telling her he wants to talk alone with this little monkey (capuchin in any language is a little monkey, no? That would be except when it refers to a friar….and it’s entirely possible that Ollie is calling Manolo/Gretel a little friar….) Manolo/Gretel freezes in the chair in fear. “That’s enough, already!” Oliver slams the door and stalks back to Manolo/Gretel. He yells he’s going to teach m/g to respect the ladies of the house. M/G quivers.

Fedra hasn’t made it out of the bedroom and her robe--how delightful to have household help to bring your coffee…. [Can’t complain, though. Hubby’s downstairs chopping veggies for homemade black bean soup. That trumps bringing me coffee any time. I hate chopping.] She’s desperate and can’t fathom why they have no news about Gretel in so long. Her tone says he’s directly responsible. Bernardo points out things take time—he can’t just snap his fingers (to snap one's fingers - chasquear los dedos) and Gretel will magically appear. Fedra fusses that this woman could destroy her. Bernardo’s soothing, sultry, sinister voice continues that the guys watching the pensión for him just reported that a gal and a guy showed up. One is that type who showed up at the wedding. That Victoria de la GarTHa. Fedra snarks about the “caperuzita” which obviously is slang for something (caperuza – hood, caperuza roja, Little Red Riding Hood). Fedra has a feeling –and he knows she’s rarely wrong – that Gretel is in that boardinghouse. That bunch of nobodies has her hidden. Bernardo asks what she wants him to do. Fedra stares back with a challenge and raised eyebrows—he should know.

Speaking of the queen of Rome hidden in the pensión, Oliver is still chewing her out. In fact, he’s ready to take her on. Oliver gestures for her to just try and postures. In his bathrobe. Manolo/Gretel gives her best attempt at de-escalating him—she’s a peacenik, no need for violence here. Ollie shakes his finger at her—not even a full day in the pensión and she’s making moves on Doris. Manolo/Gretel tries again, on another tack. “What’s going on with you, Big Guy? You like the chick or what?” [Nice way to kill two birds with one stone, Gretel.] He retorts that if he likes Doris, it’s his business, not Manolo’s. Manolo/Gretel protests that Doris said she and Ollie were just friends. Okay, Oliver doesn’t know exactly what’s happening to him with Doris. But, he just wants Manolo to respect her. “Okay, uncle, calm down,” Manolo/Gretel urges him in a low voice. The sadness in Manolo’s eyes is clear if anyone’s bothering to take notes. Oliver thinks that it might be worth the trouble to get something going with Doris. He tells Manolo not to interfere. “Got it?” “Yeah, uncle, got it. But, it's bad to get involved with her when you still love someone else.” “Who told you that?” Manolo/Gretel stutters around about how they’re Mari’s friends, has he forgotten? Mari’s talked about Oliver….and Gretel….. Oliver lunges and grabs Manolo by the shoulders and gets right in his/her face. He yells that if Manolo wants to save those teeth, he better never talk about Gretel again in his presence. That woman is dead and buried for Oliver. “Did you hear me?” He storms out of the room, leaving Manolo/Gretel with a tear and shuddering.

Could Vicky/Mari get any hotter than she has been in the last couple of days? Apparently so, judging from Consuelo’s irritation and Brandon’s admiration. Vicky/Mari struts her stuff tastefully in the living room with Brandon trailing. She’s looking sharp in a strapless super-short white and black bandaid. Consuelo grouses to herself that Brandon only has eyes for the newly arrived chick. Her son voices his admiration for the lovely Vicky/Mari. Mami grabs the puzzled lad by the wrist and hustles him off to school. Manolo/Gretel descends with Ollie right behind; they stage a mini glare-off at the bottom. Doris is a better detective than the Qui-estón Cops (say it slowly twice, then fast twice and you’ll have it….) because she notes a little tension immediately. “What’s wrong?” She twirls around to ask Manolo/Gretel if everything’s all right. Manolo/Gretel worriedly insists that she not worry. (S)he pastes on a smile and greets everyone. Netty wants to know how everyone slept, to which Vicky/Mari replies well, and Netty has them sit to chat before breakfast. [Ed. note: since I eat breakfast standing with the hair dryer in the other hand, I can’t imagine being this relaxed in the morning.] Vicky/Mari gingerly seats herself on the edge of the sofa so the cameraman doesn’t get too much detail, and Netty asks more questions. Vicky/Mari studied advertising and Manolo/Gretel, who has joined her on the sofa carefully to look macho in slacks, studied…um…. journalism. Brandon has such a deal for Manolo. Manolo can follow them around and get the scoop when they nail the Lirio de Plata. That should give Manolo’s career a boost. “Lirio de Plata?” [Oh, right, Gretel hasn’t had internet access for a couple of years now.] Vicky/Mari pipes in that he’s just some thief running loose. [Ed. note: no one seems to note that someone who has been traumatically bound and gagged by the Lirio de Plata within the past 48 hours should have been likely to mention it to her closest living relative, but it’s telenovelaland.] Oliver says it’s not for much longer, though. They’ll mop him right up. He snaps his fingers. Brandon volunteers Oliver to be the lucky poli with an embedded journalist. [And I use the term loosely….] Manolo might like it, and he’ll be able to send some good reports—those sell. Oliver is incensed and tries to shut his bud up. Brandon just bulldozes along there—he’s got some boring assignment that wouldn’t interest Manolo. With Ollie it’ll be an adventure; there’ll be action. Vicky/Mari interrupts. She’s got an important interview with an advertising firm. She beams and deftly diverts all attention from Manolo/Gretel. Vicky/Mari is going to see Sr. Emiliano Ruiz y de Teresa. Netty’s jaw drops. Brandon points out again that since she’s Mari’s friend, she really shouldn’t be involved with these folks. Vicky/Mari points out that if Mari herself said she should go look for work in the firm, it should be okay, and it belongs to Mari anyway, right? Netty warns her about that witch Fedra—they’ll ruin your life, pay attention to me here. Oliver, all serious for a change, agrees. Fedra is the devil. He hopes Vicky never has the bad luck to meet her. Vicky/Mari asserts she’s already met Fedra and isn’t afraid of her. Manolo/Gretel chips in that big sis knows what she’s doing. Brandon gets to the real point. It bugs him that she’ll be close to that jerk Emanuel Ruiz y de Teresa. That guy already has his eye on her. [Ed. note: now there’s a fine piece of police work.] Vicky/Mari contends that he’d better not think about messing with her—it won’t suit him because she’ll just put him in his place. Netty is doubtful. Looks like Vicky/Mari might be, too.

Wow, what a lovely house! Oh, it’s Mauricio’s. The Qui-estón Cops are running an op. Mauri wants to know why. Brandon’s just got his bulletproof vest for protection, but apparently the other guys expect trouble since they have full SWAT gear. Or, they want to remain anonymous. After seeing months of Mauri’s tricks, I’m with them. Mauri spits out that instead of Brandon and his riffraff (gentuza) wasting their time messing with Mauri, they should be out catching some real criminals and scouring the streets looking for the creep who robbed him. Brandon brandishes a warrant. It’s just a routine search (cateo). Nobody can do anything with all the dough they robbed without calling attention to it. Mauri hisses that he needs to recover his $$ as soon as possible. Brandon can only imagine. He strolls down the hall with Mauri, arm behind Mauri’s back, casually looking around wondering aloud what Mauri was doing at the Ruiz y de T wedding and home with all those bills. As far as he knows, the casa R y de T isn’t a bank. “That’s not your problem, you insolent poli (polizote- add “zote” to just about any noun and get an insolent, impudent, ignorant, etc. whatever the person is if you want to insult the person). “You want to know what I think?” The ignorant, insolent, impudent cop challenges Mauri. “I think the money belongs to the mafia and you’re desperate because you have to turn it over.” Brandon smirks. Mauri scoffs. Such an imagination Brandon has! The best defense is a strong offense, and Mauri is definitely offensive. He retorts that this is why the country’s in the shape it’s in, because of police inefficiency and Brandon is such a dumb brute (bestia) that one of these days he’s going to be the one ending up in jail because he sees the crimes even in the soup he eats. Meaning that he sees stuff where nothing is going on. [In Other Words, Mauri is subtly threatening to demandar/sue, bring charges against Brandon for harassment or the like.] Brandon tells Mauri he hopes Mauri will still be laughing when the mafia comes to collect all that money. That stops Mauricio cold. Might as well just talk to Brandon right now, and cast his lot (cooperate) with the poli. “Who…who will give you a hand so they don’t kill you?” Brandon gives him a small smug smirk.

There’s always a bell ringing somewhere. [Ed. note: we had a blizzard yesterday and I was grateful my volunteer job bell-ringing in front of Wal-Mart was cancelled, so the bell wasn’t tolling for me.] Netty runs to respond to the insistent multiple rings, followed closely by Gladiola. Fedra sails in past her, stilettos clicking on the lovely, clean tile floor, Bernardo hot on her heels. [Ed. note: take that for what it’s worth….]. “Not one step more, Fedra Curiel!” Netty yells at her, stopping Fedra briefly. Fedra only stops to turn and give her an evil grin and point a finger. “Ah, verdad?” (Really?) [Ed. note: who holds the lien on the house? Has Fedra somehow figured out how to seize it and stops short here of saying that the house is really hers?] Netty continues hotly that Fedra knows perfectly well she’s not welcome in this house. Netty grabs Fedra and swings her backward toward the door, yelling for her to get out. Fedra faces off and tells Netty to move aside, clown (cirquera, circus performer/acrobat), because Fedra’s not leaving until she’s scoured every last nook and cranny (rincón – corner) in this house.

The Qui-estón Cops, meanwhile, are getting set to scour every nook and cranny on another gig. Oliver and the boys are in full SWAT gear and he gives them instructions. He wants every inch checked of the offices upstairs and downstairs. The thrill of the chase throbs in his voice. He wants to nail this sucker (lacra – blot or blemish, agarrar – seize, grab). Manolo/Gretel is nailed to his back, without any SWAT gear. (S)he does have the obligatory steno pad and pen, though. The boys go off to war. Manolo/Gretel, still hovering at his shoulder, stops Ollie to ask fretfully if this isn’t pretty dangerous, and says (s)he’ll just wait outside. Ollie gives her a “huh?” look and tells Manolo if he wants to be a journalist, he’d better get with the program. Take advantage of the situation and use Oliver as cover, stick to him like glue, because he has a heart of steel. Oliver thumps his heart to prove it. Manolo/Gretel just frets some more. Is Oliver sure that the guy is in this building? Ollie patiently assures Manolo he is. His enthralled “huy!” tells us he’s enjoying himself enormously. Suddenly Ollie notices Manolo’s rapt gaze directed at him. He re-directs her behavior with a “get on with it, write something down! (Ándale) They call this guy the Gravedigger (enterrador), and he’s wanted in five states.” Manolo/Gretel frantically asks if he can say that slower. He tells her this isn’t dictation. Get a grip and get it done. “Hey, uncle, you don’t have to be rude about it.” Oliver tells Manolo he’s right. He puts his hand behind Manolo’s head understandingly and gently says, “Get out of here, you’re very green, kid--I don’t want to be responsible for the death of a young chick journalist like you—so young that even that moustache hasn’t turned out too well yet.” (Llégale – can mean “get out of here, get lost,” and also “go for it, help yourself, suit yourself” or “go get it” as in seeing a handsome/pretty person across the room.) Manolo/Gretel recants—no, (s)he’ll stay behind Oliver and be Very Careful. “All right?” The shooting comes past them, a guy in an orange polo shirt zipping by. Oliver is poised and On Duty. He jumps into the fray with Manolo/Gretel scuttling along behind, pencil in one hand, notebook in the other, following directions and glued to Oliver’s back. Oliver runs to another pillar and aims again. “Where did he go?” He’s mostly talking to himself. They move into the open, Manolo’s/Gretel’s hands now around his waist from behind. (S)he breathes shallowly with fear. Ollie reaches around to check his behind, sensing too much togetherness. He turns to shake off the leech so they are facing each other. The guy in orange has somehow gotten to where Oliver and Manolo/Gretel used to be, and shoots from behind a pillar. (S)he shrieks and Oliver pulls her out of harm’s way, somehow ending up on the floor with Manolo/Gretel on top, face to face. Utter panic is in Manolo’s face briefly, but then instinct kicks in and (s)he moves Ollie’s goggles away from his gorgeous eyes and gazes at him, moving her face marginally down closer to his. Ollie, still on his back, abruptly turns to face us and now his is the face with utter panic. [Ed note: Right about now I need a freeze frame photo. Drat!]

Back in the real world of advertising, Emanuel is having a Bad Hair Day and is scurrying around with Ándre trailing. [Axel probably is having a Bad Hair Day, too, but he’s not here.] “Adelina” he insistently yells as he finds her in the hall talking with a colleague. He’s just hung a photo/portrait (colgar un retrato) his office and he doesn’t want anyone messing around in there or moving it round. [This is a Big Deal? Maybe I missed the translation of a dicho]. Adelina looks a bit startled, but she’ll see to it. She wants to know what happened to Mujica. “She was fired.” He wants a replacement hired ASAP. Adelina rushes off—maybe to avoid getting fired herself. Ándre tries to calm him. What is going on? Eman will be giving himself a heart attack. Ándre imagined Eman would be coming in with a huge smile after the boda night he must have had. Eman scoffs. “Whoo-hoo. What wedding night? We slept in separate rooms.” Eman couldn’t get that Victoria out of his mind all night. Ándre gets that, because this chick is a hottie (avión – airplane, slang term). Once she came into the church he couldn’t take his eyes off her. “You have no idea!” Emanuel shifts from one foot to the other, his voice full of desperation.

Speaking of the queen of Rome, here is Vicky/Mari at the reception desk, all dressed for work. Or, for a black-tie dinner….somewhere Really Warm. She announces herself to the receptionist. She’s here to meet with Emiliano Ruiz y de Teresa. Vicky/Mari can’t help but notice the freshmen across the room wildly gesticulating to each other about her. She gives them her very best schoolmarm stink eye. They give her their very best once-or-more-over eye. Emanuel may hyperventilate.

Oh, yes, Fedra’s still plaguing Netty in the front hall of the pensión. Netty tells Fedra she’s NOT checking this house out because she has NO right to be here. Fedra calmly tells Bernardo to do her the favor of proceeding. “Con permiso,” Bernardo moves into action. Netty, all defiance and akimbo, is no match for Bernardo, who just bats her out of the way like a fly. Gladiola he picks up under the arms and sets her down around behind him. Consuelo gets similar treatment. Bernardo straightens his cuffs and with another supercilious “con su permiso (please excuse me)” moves on. Glad runs after him, fussing, followed by Consuelo. Glad says she’s going to chase him out at broompoint (literally!) Netty turns to face Fedra who calmly remains in the hall. Netty snaps at her. “So how come you don’t show up when the polis are home?” (Think about it a minute, Netty.) “Go get your lackey and get out.” Fedra disdainfully calls Brandon and Ollie cowards. “I’m staying until my goal is accomplished, got it?” “And what have you lost now, Fedra? Oh, don’t tell me. Your hubby escaped again.” [Ah, Netty, direct hit! Good job!]

Ándre rushes to introduce himself to Vicky/Mari with Eman on his heels. “Ándre Silva, my love, and I live to serve you in whatever way you desire.” He kisses her hand. Vicky/Mari says all she needs is for him to direct her to Emiliano’s office. Ándre offers his arm to escort her and Emanuel jumps to the other arm, introducing himself as the Vice President, and it’s his obligation (deber) to do this. Vicky/Mari is having none of their teenage one-upsmanship. She disengages and acidly tells them enough, she doesn’t need crutches (mulatas) to get to the office. Emanuel points behind him, disappointed. “It’s the first door.” The boys drool as they watch her go to meet Emiliano. [Quick, someone, get one of those yellow signs: Piso Mojado – Wet Floor]. Ándre says that no one is going to be able to tame that personality. No one. She’s got knives in place of a tongue. Eman thinks the strong personality is just a façade (fachada).

With absolutely no intro music after the commercials, we find ourselves still on the floor with Manolo/Gretel and Ollie, but they’ve managed to sit up and slide into a corner. Manolo/Gretel fusses worriedly about “that guy” and Oliver grabs an arm and shakes her. “Shut up and act like a man! Don’t be shrieking here. Sit down and stay quiet, and heads down!” He pushes her down to the floor, where she immediately anchors herself to his calf, gasping and sputtering in terror. He fusses at her in a stage whisper to let go of his leg, and tries to shake her death-grip on his leg off. She shrieks again and he kneels, putting a hand on her shoulder. “YOUR job is with the pen and paper.” He slaps the steno pad at her chest. “There it is. Mine is to get a lead on these delinquents.” He gets up and tries to get back to work, and she grabs the leg again and drags him back. “Please, don’t go! They could kill you, can’t you see that?” Oliver kneels down again, his annoyance at high pitch. “Yeah, of course they could kill me. A cop risks his life every day. Sit down and don’t move. Got it?” Oliver pulls Manolo/Gretel up by the lapels so (s)he’s in his face. That longing gaze zaps him again. He pushes her to arm’s length to talk to her. They hear shots, and he throws her back into he corner. If they send him on to the next world, Manolo should tell Brandon. Manolo knows what he should do. With that, he gets up and storms off into the gunfight. Manolo/Gretel yells “Oliver, no!’ and then stuffs the steno pad in her mouth, picks up her pen, clings to another object in her other hand (camera?) and squat-walks toward the gunfire.

Brandon reports via walkie-talkie that they’ve just finished the search on Mauri’s very contemporary, tastefully decorated home (okay, maybe not in so many words). They didn’t find what they were looking for. He’s exasperated. Something catches his eye and he meanders into the dining room, leaning over to pick up a lovely pearl-and-diamond earring from the edge of an area rug. “What could this be?” Brandon studies it briefly, facial expressions telling us he must be processing the info, and hears Mauri approaching behind him, still full of insults. Instead of confronting Mauri, Brandon pockets the earring. [Ed. note: how incongruous – a pink polo shirt with a bullet-proof vest. Armando can pull this off well, though.] “Okay, Polizote, now that your little dogs have finished searching my pad, why haven’t you disappeared yet?” “You’re lucky, Fonseca, that we didn’t find anything to compromise you.” “I told you I have nothing to hide.” [For starters, how about your face? It’s truly an annoying shade of orange, or haven’t you been reading this blog?] “I’m just warning you that whenever you look behind you, I’ll be there. Watching your business dealings, Fonseca. For your own good, don’t make any mistakes.” He pats Mauri on the shoulder and struts out. Mauri finally breathes, sighing deeply, then brushes off the contamination from his shoulder.

The Qui-estón Cops are still occupied with the chase, passing across the screen in single file with rifles aimed in front of them (bad move if one of them in the back of the single file startles easily). Gunfire is heard. In the foreground behind a pillar we find Manolo/Gretel still semi-embedded, holding her pencil and pad, and preoccupied with the well being of Oliver. She asks God to please not let anything happen to him, to protect Oliver for her. Her fear escalates as she hears a voice yelling behind her. It’s Oliver yelling for everyone to move out to the street because the building is surrounded. He takes cover behind the wall across the hall from her so she can see him clearly, then turns and moves back into the hall. The orange shirt comes into view, with a clear shot at Oliver’s back. Manolo/Gretel yells “Oliver!” and he turns just as he gets clipped. He clips the delinquent simultaneously, but falls to the floor, clutching his gut. Manolo/Gretel runs to him and fusses over him, leaning over into his face and yelling for help. “Macho! Macho!” He pushes her back in irritation, and sits up. “Wait a sec, don’t get your knickers in a knot, I’m fine, man! Can’t you see I’m fine?” But Oliver still clutches at his gut. Manolo/Gretel cups his face with her hand, worrying and babbling that he’s hurt and shouldn’t move. Oliver is alarmed and pushes her away again, this time with both hands holding her off. As he stands up he feels her hands on his bum and pulls away, even more alarmed at all the touchy-feely stuff. “Get those hands off me! My friends are going to think badly of me.” Manolo/Gretel makes an effort to restrain herself. Other team members come into view pushing the delinquent along in front of them while Oliver regains his composure. They assure him the building is secure. There’s no one below and the hostages (rehenes) are free now.
“Very good. Report to the Commissioner and tell him the op was a success.” They leave and Manolo/Gretel is all-solicitous again with hands where they Should Not Be on his face. “Are you okay, Oliver?” Ollie throws Manolo off and fusses that she’d better not grab him. “But what you were doing was dangerous!” The Manolo voice is disappearing fast and the Gretel voice is taking over. Oliver grabs Manolo by the arm. “Dedicate yourself to your reports and leave me alone. Let me do my job.” He hisses. Then he breathes hard with more pain where the bullet hit him, bending slightly. Of course, that provokes another attempt at coddling, but just the glare is enough to stop Manolo’s hands in mid-air. Oliver’s irritation is hitting new highs. “That’s enough of the fun there.” He mimics the touchy-feely hand stuff, then stalks off impatiently, leaving Manolo/Gretel wide-eyed with apprehension again.

Lorenzo has found one of the firm’s employees to chew out about a commercial being cancelled. She protests that Emanuel cancelled it. And in fact, Mujica was fired. That’s the last straw for Lorenzo. Now his son-in-law wants to take over the campaign. Ilitia and Muñeca arrive just in time to see the explosion. Ilitia has recovered a modicum, and calms him down. She reminds him he needs to help her new hubby, who will be the boss of everything one day. And she’ll be the First Lady here. His princess has the magic touch and Low calms. Muñeca just looks on, disgusted with Low. Low wants to know why they’re here. Ilitia has to see her Baby. [Surprise.] She has to renovate his office and put her feminine touch in there. [Just curious—how many of you went to renovate your new groom’s offices when you married? I know I didn’t. His was a college professor’s cave in the basement of an ancient building. It stayed that way until he retired. I saw no pay-off in renovating it. But, it’s Ilitia and it’s telenovelaland.] She blows a kiss at her Papi and he indulgently chuckles. Muñeca has a meeting. Low sees more erosion of his position here. “Puh-leeze.” He’s the one working here to represent the family. She reminds him she’s still a primary shareholder. Muñeca wants to be more involved, and see what his work is about. Maybe she could even do that job herself. Low looks at her guardedly, arms folded and fingers rubbing together furiously. She asks a receptionist to bring her a coffee to the board room. “Con permiso, Lorenzo.” Muñeca flippantly excuses herself with a little smirk leaving Low rolling his eyes with a “what’s that all about” expression. [You go, girl!]

Netty’s pensión has yielded nothing concrete. Bernardo gives Glad and Consuelo an insolent sneer as he breezes by. He takes a place in between the girls and Netty, informing Fedra that he’s gone through everything and what they’re looking for isn’t here. Consuelo snottily tells them she’s going upstairs to see if anything is missing. Netty wonders what they expected to find. Fedra remarks that it has come to her attention that Netty has a new boarder. A friend of her fatty niece? (Grasienta-greasy, fatty). Enough! That’s not Fedra’s business, Netty retorts. It’s enough that she’s Marianela’s friend and she’s welcome to board here. Period. Fedra jeers that must be a consolation to her since her fat niece isn’t likely to return and Netty counters that her comfort comes from knowing that at least Marianela is far from Fedra’s malevolence. Bernardo stands behind Netty, watching the tennis match of repartee. Always with a smirk. [Ed. note: Netty, bad idea to have Bernardo at your back.] Fedra drawls that Netty can’t win with her, (actress of video games). She’s just playing the total diva with Fedra because she got this bit part in a second-rate novela—what was the character’s name? Netty retorts that the envy is oozing from Fedra’s pores. Fedra heckles Netty that the only jealous one is her, since Fedra is sporting the Great Big Wedding Ring set. She flashes the ring at Netty and leans into Netty’s face and reminds Netty that Emiliano is her man, her husband, hablablabla. Netty storms by her and opens the door to kick them out. Bernardo hurls a parting leer and wink at Gladiola telling Fedra they can go. Gladiola looks after them angrily as the door closes, and shakes her head.

Emiliano has brought the newest employee to the board meeting and is greeted with mixed reviews from Low, Muñeca and Emanuel, who immediately protests that they needed someone with experience. Muñeca defends Vicky/Mari, the new hire, because if Emil hired her she must have the qualifications. [Ed. note: very true—it would only be if Low hired her that we’d have to do a background check.] Low jumps in and tells her she doesn’t know what she is talking about. Muñeca is provoked. Low agrees with Eman—for this position, they need someone with a first-class (sobresaliente, the comment on an assignment once, which I ironically had to look up to understand) résumé. Muñeca is impactada at Low’s comment. Emiliano points out he had a recommendation for her from Jorge Llauma, who runs one of the major advertising firms in Madrid. He even just talked with Jorge by phone, and Emiliano is sure they can’t find a better person for the position. [Oh, Jorge, bravo for being so unselfish!] Vicky/Mari thanks him and expresses her regret with a sharp blade to Emanuel’s heart that the newlywed isn’t pleased with the news. She delivers the blow with an angelic smile, leaving Emanuel staring at her, speechless, and Emiliano looking puzzled. He recovers and asks her to sit, at which Low reacts to quickly seat her. Low notes there’s nothing more to say, and welcomes her with a leer and a quick look down from above over her shoulder. His beautiful hand rests on the back of her chair, and we sense that the hand would be elsewhere if he had a say in it. Vicky/Mari graciously thanks him and turns back to the rest, telling them she’s eager to get started. She wants to know to whom she reports directly. Eman tells her. Directly. To him. “I’m your immediate supervisor.” Then he shrugs. “Okay, that’s the decision, so welcome to the firm.” Emanuel puts his hand out to Vicky/Mari, who hesitates a second before extending hers. The face-off and handshake are accompanied by the tiniest of smiles at the corner of Vicky’s/Mari’s mouth.

Avances: Ilitia makes a deal with Adelina to keep her Baby safe. Vicky/Marianela finds a staff member undressing Emanuel and jibes that she didn’t mean to interrupt. Vicky/Marianela gives Emanuel a sound slap. Will Ilitia end her problems with Mauricio at the end of a pistol?

Jeanne

Labels: llena

Discuss amongst yourselves

¡Hola a todos! As you may have noticed, Jean and I are still trying to figure out the best way to organize this thing. You may remember how it came into being: we didn’t have the requisite five recappers for any one novela, but we Telemundo fans wanted a place to talk about our favorite shows. So we started El Mundo de Telemundo (EMT). We’ve been tackling at least three and sometimes four or five separate novelas in a space posted weekly.

As the number of comments grows, it gets harder to follow a topic of interest. Most of us, I think, are only interested in one or maybe two shows and would probably appreciate a way to navigate the forest of comments. So in the interest of Chaos Control, I had a couple of ideas:

1. Put a clear topic heading on every comment, preferably in caps. For example:

AURORA
Tuesday’s episode was…

or:

GENERAL COMMENT
Telemundo seems to be more concerned with…

That way, we can decide right up front whether to keep on reading. I realize that a lot of us are already doing this, but to those who aren’t – hey, it would help.

2. It’s hard to get away from the recap mindset – I’m the worst offender with the wordy Aurora screeds I’ve inflicted on you – but I do think comments or questions about what you’ve watched or what others have said are the way to go here. Considering the number of novelas in one place and the fact that the link is for an entire week, when we do post plot updates, it might be best to limit them to brief summaries, basically bullet points of daily episodes.

So. That’s my thinking. I’m looking forward to Jean’s return here in a week or two. I know her perspective is going to be helpful. And thanks to everyone – commenters and readers – for keeping this space alive. And lively.

My comments on the developments of the past week in AURORA and ALGUIEN TE MIRA:

AURORA

I am still convinced that Aurora has a short time on this earth. She is a sort of angel (although lately she seems anything but angelic) returned to earth with a specific mission: first, to turn Blanca’s life around; and second, to leave Lorenzo with the knowledge that what they had was real.

But since this is a 100 hours plus telenovela and not a movie or short story, it will be a looooooooooooong time before the mission is fulfilled.

Meanwhile:

The junta’s approval of Aurora’s reanimation comes a little late. The press is watching closely. And now Martín’s friend, Dra Liliana, is asking way too many questions. Gustavo’s solution: disarm her by charming her. Dr. Elizabeth’s: kill her.

Helping Blanca become a good person becomes more challenging each day. And it’s not clear that hiring César as Blanca’s chauffeur is a move in the right direction.

Nina’s road to redemption is also getting longer and steeper every day. First we saw her quasi-incestuous seduction of Martín. Then we saw her injure herself and blame it on Aurora. And now on Friday’s episode she sabotages stage equipment with the clear intent of harming Aurora – maybe even killing her -- and removing her as the star of the show.

In the department of unintentional humor: Dr. Williams explains to Gustavo why he’s so eager to help him. He says: “I am desperately in love with you.” Does this guy look like he’s in love with anyone?

On Friday’s episode, when the beloved dance instructor, who has only a month left to live, asks Aurora about Cryonics, she tries to dissuade him from considering it. In doing so, she reveals to him that she is the original Aurora. (Interestingly, he is unconvinced by her arguments against the procedure: he is eager to cheat death.)

Also on Friday, Natalia confesses to Lorenzo that she was involved with Gustavo years ago, but denies that Gus is Nina’s father. Both Martín and Lorenzo are angered when they realize she has been lying about her recent contact with Gustavo.

And finally: Hot or guácala (Spanish for 'blech')? You decide – César and Vanesa in a car. On the street in front of the Lobos apartment. In broad daylight.


ALGUIEN TE MIRA

There are precious few sympathetic characters left. My candidate for most nauseating moment of the week: The Julián/Piedad kiss. When they showed it again as a flashback, I actually had to avert my eyes.

The most shocking moment: Tatiana ripping the earrings off Camila, right through her earlobes.

The most unfair moment: Seeing Lola accused of threatening Luci after all the crap Luci has gotten away with.

Proof that a little perversion isn’t always a deal-breaker: Mauricio may be a voyeur but ironically, he’s turning out to be a decent guy who really loves Matilde. Will she be able to forgive him?

Rodrigo’s rescue of the model, Valeria, from the abyss was a nice way to show him as a healer. But much has been made of Valeria and Rodrigo being alike. I don’t think she’s long for this world. I suspect her dramatic function is to shock Rodrigo straight with her death.

Unfortunately, Daniela is in Julian’s crosshairs. Will the police crack the case in time to save her? Not likely. But maybe they’ll stop Julián before he gets to Piedad.

My favorite characters right now: Matilde and Carvajal. They are both morally grounded, both free of artifice. Matilde is increasingly dismayed by what she is learning about these people she thought were her friends. And Carvajal is the clear-eyed one who keeps the police investigation on track.
-----------------

Okay, my friends. Have at.

Labels: alguien, aurora, fantasma, telemundo

JJ has just made a sneak attack on Ale’s lips, and left her breathless and speechless in front of the Genoves door. David, meanwhile, is berating FaustiMario for calling Yolanda and giving Gabi more things to question. Faustiago tells him that he just wanted to make sure she didn’t tell Gabi anything about Marta. David thinks it was a silly thing to do and wonders what they are going to tell Gabi. (Oh just make anything up. She doesn’t believe a word you all have been telling her anyway.)

Faustiago changes the subject and asks how things went with Roberto. David reports that he gave Roberto the money but didn’t find out (averiguar) anything about how much more Roberto knows. He then begs Faustiago to tell his daughters the truth- at least tell Gabi. David loves her more than anything else in the world, and he doesn’t want her to think he’s hiding something from her or lying to her. Faustiago looks uncertain and anguished at the thought of how his daughters would react to the truth.

Upstairs, Juli has managed to play her English language dvd. She’s gotten pretty far in. All the way up to “g”—grocery store; general. Juli gets up, confused. (She must be thrown off by the whole idea of a hard “g” and a soft “g”. I mean, why would the same letter have different pronunciations?) She decides to put in one of the other language lesson dvds, and gets an eye full and an ear full of something she would have never expected. It’s the recording of Roberto and David, planning the fake wedding, with the fake judge, and the fake witnesses. Juli rewinds and watches again to make sure she’s hearing correctly. She shakes her head, saying “no puede ser” (it can’t be), and tears of anger and hurt at her sister’s humiliation well up in her eyes.

When Gabi walks in, Juli immediately turns off the dvd and tries to act nonchalant, but she can’t hide her tears and anxiety. She decides to tell her sister the truth, or at least let her see it for herself. “Gabi, you don’t know what I just found out. You’re not married to David! It was true that your wedding was a lie. They tricked you. The wedding, the judge, the witnesses. It was all a lie Gabi! It was all a trick of David and Roberto.” She turns on the dvd and they watch the damming conversation together. Gabi’s in shock and looks like she is about to be sick. Juli has gone past the shocked phase, to righteous anger. “That pair of shameless jerks!” (sinverguenzas) Juli hugs her sister as Gabi’s tears begin to fall.

At her luxury hotel suite, Bertha is learning that nothing comes without strings attached when it comes to Adolfo. Providing shelter for her means he can come and go in “her” suite as he pleases. She hides her momentary shock at finding him smoking a cigarette on her couch as she enters through the door. Bertha tries to cover up her discomfort, now that she knows at least part of his secret illegal life, courtesy of Leo. She tells him it’s not a problem that he’s there and obliges him in describing the missing photo of Gabi. Her description matches the description Roberto gave him, and he’s now a little more sure that Roberto holds the cards, and David’s the one who’s bluffing in this game. He then asks about the new employee in Mario’s house—a girl named Susana. Bertha explains how she appeared out of nowhere (apareció de pronto). She didn’t have any recommendations, but Gabi insisted on hiring her. “Why? Do you think it was that servant who stole the photo?” Adolfo gives his usual non-answer, but he’s looking more certain of his theory.

At Genoves Manor, David questions Susana again about whether she saw the letter when dusting the books, and demands that she looks again. He leaves to head back to work. FaustiMario and Abelardo are also agitated and exit the study arguing about Yolanda. Faustiago can’t believe that she would have been an accomplice in Marta’s murder since she and Marta were such good friends. Abelardo thinks perhaps Adolfo threatened her.

Their little disagreement is interrupted by Bitch on Wheels Gabi. They can do nothing but huddle together like scared rabbits when Gabi comes barreling down the stairs, slinging insults at them like bullets.

"How could you all do this to me?!!!! What harm did I ever do you?!" FaustiMario has no idea what she’s talking about, so Gabi tries to refresh his memory with a few more choice words. She tells him she’s referring to her marriage to his son. She demands to know why he tricked her (engañarse). Why did he make a fool of her? (burlar) And when she asked him if the marriage was fake, he himself told her no! FaustiMario (not being the real Mario, and sorely lacking the relevant info) does not understand. Gabi dares him to come upstairs and be reminded of exactly what she’s talking about. When he hesitates, she turns up the bitch meter a few more notches. “Ahh! You don’t dare? You’re too ashamed?” She shouts and curses him and David all the way up the stairs. She can’t believe how bad and shameless David is!

She marches FaustiMario into Juli’s room, and tells a furiously packing Juli to turn on the video. FaustiMario is surprised to see that Juli is leaving. Gabi lets him know that they are both leaving ASAP. Faustiago’s face reflects the same shock and hurt his daughters felt at first viewing the video.

Roberto’s BEST DAY EVER continues. He receives his second briefcase full of cash that day, this time from Adolfo. He clutches the case protectively to his chest as he answers the phone. It’s his (not so) silent partner in crime, Susana. He pretends it’s someone calling the wrong number (estar equivocada/o), to throw off Adolfo’s suspicions. Susana figures out that he can’t talk and arranges to talk to him later. Idiot Roberto has stayed on the phone a lot longer than one would with a “wrong number.” Felix squints his one beady eye suspiciously at him. Adolfo wants the picture and the shoes. Roberto tells him he doesn’t have them here, but he’ll get them to Adolfo in a few days. Surprisingly, this response does not yield a punch to the gut from Felix. Adolfo and Felix leave, unhappily, but calmly. As soon as they leave, Roberto readies himself for a hasty retreat, packing his suitcase, including the photo and the shoes, and consolidating his cases of money.

Outside, Felix and Long-Haired Goon wait and watch. They see Roberto load his heavy suitcase and briefcase full of cash into his car (the case up front with him, of course) and leave. They follow close behind.

At Casa Genoves, FaustiMario has just finished watching the offending video and swears he knew nothing about it. Gabi calls him a liar (mentiroso), since she herself asked him at the time if the wedding had been real, and he told her it had been perfectly legal. FaustiMario assures her that it will all be worked out/be fixed. Gabi knows it, because the way she’s fixing the situation is by getting the hell out of there right now. She marches out of the room, and FaustiMario looks to Juli for a bit of support. She returns a look of hurt and disappointment. In her room, Gabi’s packing her bag and demanding that the maid get her a taxi, and not one of the family’s drivers.

Downstairs, Faustiago is as ticked off as his daughters and demanding to know from Abelardo if his daughter is married, yes or no! Abelardo assures him the she is, but Faustiago is too busy cursing David to really listen. He also wants to know if they were trying to make a fool of his daughter. He abuses a chair before storming out, saying this is all over (se acabó). He’s outa here! Abelardo chases after him (the old guy moves pretty fast), trying again to assure him that the kids are indeed married. He doesn’t want Faustiago to make a hasty (precipitada) decision. “Se acabó!” He makes his way through the tunnel with Abelardo trailing after.

Around the corner at JJ’s house, Limon has brought Caramelo a surprise. Her buddy Chicles! He brings her an appropriate gift of two pieces of Chiclets. Caramel and Gum are together once more. Limon hopes Chicles will end Caramelo’s boredom. She takes him to see her rooms.

Roberto checks into a hotel, still clutching his case full of cash to his chest, and followed closely by Felix and Long-Haired Goon. Felix notices that his elevator stops on the 5th floor, and makes his way up in time to see Roberto’s bellhop exit his room- 516. Despite his wallet and case full of cash, cheapskate Roberto only tips him a few centavos from his pocket. He then calls Susana, tells her he’s relocated from his apartment to a hotel, and asks her to meet him as soon as possible. He also asks her to get hold of some shoes that are as identical as possible to the diamond shoes.

Caramelo and Chicles continue to play. She drives her hot pink toy car; he plays cop and stops her for no good reason (she insists the light was green). He then demands to see her papers/license. (This kid will make the perfect corrupt cop some day.) Since Caramelo has no idea what a license is, she no longer wants to play this game. She decides she wants to “read” Chicles a letter JJ wrote to her Tia Elsa. Chicles is incredulous that Caramelo knows how to read now. She assures him she can, and “reads” the letter: “Dear Elsa, I want to ask your pardon because I hit you really hard.” Chicles is sufficiently scandalized and wants to know why JJ did such a thing. Caramelo changes her story. JJ is asking her pardon because…he loves her. Yeah, that’s it. Chicles wants to see the evidence, and comes over to see where this is written. Seeing nothing that looks like a letter on her notebook page, he dismisses her supposed ability to read. She is adamant that she CAN, but Chicles diffuses the situation by suggesting they play on the slides instead. Agreed!

Back to the drama around the corner. Gabi and Juli are descending the stairs with their suitcases, and Gabi checks with Juli to make sure she brought the dvd. Gabi can’t get out of there fast enough. Her curt answer to Susana when she asks if they’re leaving is: “Sí! Adios!!” A very stressed out Abelardo tells Susana that as soon as David comes home, have him go to his father’s bedroom where he and his father will be waiting for him. Susana tries to get info out of Abelardo about why Gabi left, and gets another curt response: “Yeah! She’s going on a trip. What of it?!” She also asks for some time to go see her “sick grandma.” Her work first, then her sick grandma, aunt, or whatever.

The reality of his situation appears to be sinking in, and Roberto is lying on his bed deep in thought. He better be thinking of a good plan for staying alive, because Adolfo won’t let himself be jerked around for much longer.

The Guillen girls have arrived home to their empty apartment. Gabi collapses onto the couch in tears, fondling her wedding band. She ignores her phone, thinking it’s likely David, but when Juli checks, she sees it was JJ. Gabi calls him to see what he wanted. He was just checking to see how she is since a little bird told him she was fighting with her husband. He says the little bird was Ale (could it really be Faustiago). Gabi is amazed by how fast gossip flies in that house. She lies that she’s fine as she sniffles. JJ presses her a bit more, asking her to meet him for coffee, saying that it will do her good to get what’s bothering her off her chest (desahogar). Gabi agrees to meet him, which shocks Juli. She wonders if Gabi is looking for trouble. Gabi couldn’t give a damn. Her life is hers and she’ll do what she pleases. She’s been so naïve up till now! She needs to do something- work, travel, study, learn to fend for herself. No one will ever make a fool of her again! And this time round, she couldn’t care less what her father says!

Clueless David comes home and is given the message by Susana to go to his dad’s bedroom. Abelardo looks like he has the biggest headache of his life as he continues to talk Faustiago down from killing David. Faustiago accepts that the marriage is legal because of Mario’s intervention, but he’s still ticked that David intended to take advantage of his daughter. And was he then just going to abandon her? David enters the lion’s den, without even realizing it. He’s wants to know what’s happened. Faustiago lets him know that what’s happened here is that David is shameless, a cynic, and not much of a man (sinverguenza, cínico, y poco hombre)!!

David has no idea what’s going on. Faustiago breaks it down for him, revealing what he knows about the fake marriage plan. “Did you think my daughter is a hussy (cualquiera)? That she wouldn’t have anybody to defend her?! ” David stammers that they are indeed legally married. Faustiago points out that it’s only because Mario intervened, but had it been up to David…then what? David wants to know if Gabi knows. He’s informed that not only does she know, but she saw it with her own eyes on the video. Since David had no knowledge of the video before, he has to be brought up to speed by Abelardo. David wants to know what Gabi said. Faustiago thinks he should be asking what DIDN’T she say! David wants to talk to her and tell her their marriage is legal. He’s shocked to learn she left his a$$ (se fué). “Of course she left! And I’m going to leave too!” Faustiago continues to hurl insults at him, but David’s more concerned about locating Gabi on the phone.

At the apartment, Juli picks up David’s call, and Gabi refuses to take it. He asserts to Juli that he and Gabi are indeed married. Ever the hopeful romantic, Juli can’t help but smile at this good news. Gabi, however, calls him a lying hypocrite and still refuses to speak to him. David decides to give up for the moment. He tells Faustiago that he can take his insults, but he does truly love Gabi. He leaves through the tunnel, and Faustiago decides he’s leaving too. He’s going home to his daughters. Abelardo tells him he can’t. Faustiago’s answer: “Try to stop me!” (Trata de impedirme lo.)

Arriving home, Leo is surprised to see the lights on at the Guillen apartment. When he knocks on the door, Gabi is worried it’s David, but he would have had to fly there (ir volando) to arrive so quickly. Leo asks why they’re there, but Gabi has neither the will nor the energy to tell the whole sordid tale now. She leaves the room without saying a word. Leo is immediately worried and asks Juli what’s wrong with Gabi. Juli tells him about the false wedding, judge and witnesses.

Susana arrives at Roberto’s hotel wearing black shoes that look more comfortable than the diamond shoes, but not much more attractive. Felix watches her enter the room.

At the tunnel house, Faustiago is making the case for why leaving now wouldn’t be so bad. He could do the one to two months in jail and then he would be free. Abelardo wants to know if he’s going to quit without having brought his wife’s killer to justice. And if his daughters doubt his innocence? Faustiago thinks that he can tell what he knows about Adolfo to the cops. Abelardo decides to play dirty to keep Faustiago in the game. He’ll tell the cops Faustiago made the whole thing up about the cufflink and Mario never gave it to him. He’ll be locked up and his daughters won’t want to see him. Faustiago wonders why he should do all of this. To help that jerk that tried to make a fool out of his daughter? “Gabriela isn’t your daughter.” Abelardo points out that Faustiago could have very well killed his wife out of jealousy. Abelardo then softens his tone. He knows that David was a jerk, but he really loves Gabi. He points out that we all do stupid things when we’re young. Faustiago has also committed errors. The ringing doorbell interrupts them. It’s JJ looking for Fausto.

Faustiago asks to be left alone with JJ and they sit down for a chat. Faustiago explains about Roberto discovering the truth. He can’t take it anymore! He then tells JJ about the false wedding (maybe it wasn’t him who told JJ to call Gabi then). That made him reach his limit. He can’t do this anymore. He doesn’t care if Adolfo takes all the Genoves money. JJ tries to get him to think it over. If Mario fixed the whole thing, then David and Gabi are good and married (bien casados). And David really loves his daughter. Faustiago concedes this might be true, but how can he trust someone who tried to do such a thing. “Anyway, he isn’t even really Mario’s child.” (Worst kept secret, ever!) JJ is suitably shocked at this bit of gossip. “Then whose kid is he?” Faustiago explains that his mother is Dora, and explains Dora’s connection to JJ. She was a witness to the murder of the girl at the hotel. She wrote a letter that explained it all. JJ is impactado.

JJ can’t believe the story Dora recounted and is close to tears. “Who were they?” (Referring to the killers.) “Carlos Avila and Roberto Zarate.” JJ wants to know where he can find that rat bastard Carlos Avila. He’ll make him confess. Faustiago tries to get him to calm down, but tells him where Carlos works—El Club Sagitario. JJ leaves right away, and Faustiago makes a call.

At the apartment, Gabi is crying into her pillow on her bed. Juli comes in to let her know she told Leo the truth about the sham wedding, and he’d like to talk to her. He’ll be very discreet (prudente) with this information. Gabi asks his pardon because she so rudely exited the room, but she does not feel like talking now. Juli tells Leo that Gabi will speak to him tomorrow, but right now she feels too bad and feels too ashamed to talk. Leo understands, and asks her to let Gabi know how much he cares about her. If there is anything that they need, they know they can count on him. He gives Juli a sweet kiss on the cheek and stroke of her chin, as she looks at him with stars in her eyes. He’s very happy to see them again.

As he exits, he runs into David at the door. He coldly looks David up and down and tells him to have a good night. Juli announces David’s presence to Gabi, who’s already in her jammies ready to try to erase her really terrible bad day with some sleep. Gabi doesn’t want to see him. David begs Juli to plead his case to Gabi, but Juli knows her sister. She’s not going to budge. He once again states that they are indeed married. That the false wedding plan was the stupidest thing he has ever done in his life, and that HE LOVES HER! HE LOVES HER! He has to see her and explain to her. He has to look her in the eyes and beg her forgiveness. He asks Juli how Gabi took it when she saw the video. Does she seem alright? (La viste mal?) “How do you think she would feel? Really awful. What you did is unspeakable (no tiene nombre)!”

David talks about how hard he fell for Gabi when he first met her, and how much it angered him when he thought she had been with Carlos. He wondered why she was with Carlos (in the Biblical sense), but not with him. Juli is disgusted by this macho line of thinking. He knows it was impulsive and stupid. But he couldn’t get it out of his head that she played the saint with him, but meanwhile with others… He asks for one opportunity. Just one. He explains about how his father fixed everything when he found out about the stupid plan. He wants to prove it to Gabi. Juli advises him that he’ll get nowhere with Gabi tonight. It’s best that he comes back tomorrow at around 11am, when perhaps her sister has cooled off a bit. David grabs on to this one scrap of hope and leaves thanking Juli and begging Gabi’s pardon.

Step right up folks! Get your popcorn and grab your front row seats for Wrestlemania II at Club Sagitario! In this corner we have JJ (Jailbird) Victoria! In the other we have Carlos (Pretty Boy) Avila! Last time David (Blondie) Genoves did some pretty good damage to Pretty Boy. Let’s see what 11 years of pent up rage can do for Jailbird Victoria.

JJ pushes past the head waitress to rough up the bartender to find out exactly where Pretty Boy Avila sets up shop. Carlos gets a heads up from the waitress that a really angry dude is here looking for him. He comes out to the main floor of the club to meet his new nemesis.

C: What do you want?
JJ: You.
C: Well, here I am.

JJ needs no further invitation to tackle Pretty Boy and throw him over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes on to the piano. He then gives a few solid punches to Pretty Boy’s face, before knocking him to the ground. He crouches over him, preparing to strangle him, and tells Carlos he will kill him! Adolfo arrives just in time with his Peacemaker, and JJ turns around as he hears the click of the gun. “Let him go!” The two men stare each other down. JJ’s eyes, filled with hate.

Labels: verdad

Capitulo 123.
Read Amanda’s original recap, then come back here to discuss it.

1. Lety asks Saimon to ship the disk to Fernando’s parents, but don’t tell anyone. Fern is back to relying on Omar’s “wisdom.” Omar tells him to watch Lety’s DVD. He hears, “The future Mr. and Mrs. Mora in your future house.” Omar says she must’ve read the letter and is going to marry Tomás and take Conceptos for vengeance, but Fernando says Lety would never do such a thing.

2. Saimon told Paco that the women are up to something tonight, and the men need to find out what. The cuartel invites Lety out with them tonight, but Lety says she’s going out with her novio.

3. Fernando is super snotty with Lety. She asks him what’s bothering him and he won’t answer her. She can’t figure out what she’s done wrong. Omar tells Fern to confront Tomás. Fern doesn’t know what he could say, and Omar tells him to scare Tom off.

4. Tom is upset because he invested in Australian timber land and it burned. He’s afraid Lety will fire him.

5. We have a new record! Eight continuous minutes of the cuartel, Efren, and Jazmín.

6. Again Lety tries to find out why Fernando is angry. She asks, “Are we going out tonight?” and he turns his back on her. She says, “I get it; you don’t even want to look at me,” and she leaves, crying. He continues his tantrum. She tells the cuartel that her novio is mad at her and won’t tell her why, and they invite her to go out with them tonight to cheer her up.

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Capitulo 124.
Read Julie’s original recap, then come back here to discuss it.

Beware of spoilers in the comments section. The recap is fine, just not the comments.

1. Tomás is afraid to return Fernando’s call; he’s afraid it’s about the Australian trees. Fernando picks up his phone and shouts, “Desgraciado! What are you trying to do with Lety?” But it’s Marcia! She pitches a tirade and tells him, “Do what you want with Lety!” Well, at least now he has Marcia’s permission!

2. Lety marches through his office, and he just glares at her. When she’s in the cave, he broods over the Lety/Tomás picture and plays with his toy car, the one thing he CAN control.

3. Lety and the cuartel leave. Alicia runs to Lopez to tattle on them for leaving early. He says that officially, it’s past quitting time, although they usually stay much later.

4. Saimon wants to take the packet to Lety because it needs a postal code, but Fernando demands to see it. Saimon doesn’t want to surrender the packet because he gave Lety his word as a gentleman, but Fernando threatens his job. Rotten schnook!

5. Fernando reports to Omar that Lety is sending a disk to his parents. He’s worried that she found the letter, and for revenge, she’s not only marrying Tomás, but also telling his parents about the embargo, etc. Viewing the second DVD seems to confirm his suspicions. He starts to think that he should ask Lety herself (duh!).

6. Tom calls Fernando and stutters and stammers about trees in Australia. Fernando laughs and ends the call. He tells Omar that it’s confirmed, Tom is an idiot. Fernando is going to find out from Lety for himself (IOW he’s ignoring Omar’s advice again).

7. Alicia informs Fernando that Lety went to Solo Para Mujeres (SPM) and he blows his stack again. Paco and Saimon overhear it as well. Irma and Lety don’t want to enter the show, but the others twist their arms. Fern tells Omar, who laughs as he imagines Sergio Mayer dancing sensually for Lety (Sergio used to be in SPM).

8. Alicia reports to Marcia that Fernando was upset when he heard that Lety was going to SPM. Marcia orders Ali to follow him.

Labels: fea-2010