Caray, Caray!

Labels: eva

Friday: MariVicky insists she doesn’t want Eman to kiss her, and that he’s out of bounds anyway because her best friend Marianela - ta DUM! - still loves him.

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Muñeca and Brandon have arrived home to her place, and she thanks him for dinner and for bringing her home, but he got on her nerves wanting to talk about the Lirio the whole time. She insists that neither Fidel nor Eman are connected to the Lirio in any way, and isn’t Brandon maybe just a weensy bit obsessed about the whole thing, and isn’t maybe, just maybe, his attraction to Ilitia is influencing the direction of his investigation? He catches her meaning and says he’s not doing it out of jealousy of Eman, he’s too professional for that. Muñeca smiles that passion can make people do stupid stuff (the telenovelas plots sure are proof of that).

Well, look who comes waltzing in! It’s Ilitia back from Paree already, saying she jumped on the first plane home so she could be with her beloved. I’m dying to be in his arms, she says, scratching her scalp idly. She wonders what Brandon is doing at her folks’ house so late. Work, sez he, and then he asks why, if she misses said beloved so much, did she come straight home to her mama’s?

Because she wanted to bathe and pretty up for him after the flight, assures him. No need, says Brandon, because your beloved is off on a trip with Vicky. Muñeca, who has been watching this exchange with amusement, winces.

Back to the soggy hacienda! Instead of being ecstatic about the “she still loves you” news, Eman is fried. He says Mari never would even tell him face to face if she loved him, or if she hated him. And after he thought he’d never again feel for any woman what he felt for Mari, he’s feeling it now for Vicky. Destiny! he declares. No use fighting it!

But MV slips away, reminding him that he’s married, and no way is she going to be somebody’s lover. Forget it!

Zip! We’re back at the big house. What’s wrong? clueless Emil asks Bernardo, who, as we recall, has materialized in the living room where Gretel was just about to tell her father about her uncle’s unscheduled flight over the balcony rail lo, these many years ago. You look like you’ve seen a ghost, says Emil. Bernardo solicitously replies that he and Fedra were so worried about Gretel, but here she is. Eman notices that his daughter is looking pale, and Bernardo helpfully suggests that maybe she’s about to have one of her crises. Gretel, horrified, wants to bolt.

Emil holds on to her, reassuring her that he won’t let anybody harm her, but she runs out, terrified. Bernardo says he has some matters to attend to, but Emil barks that he’s not going anywhere.

Hacienda again. MariVicky is lying in bed, smiling, remembering the red-hot kisses between the red-hot sheets of the agency soundstage. She hears something go bump in the night and lights a candle and peers out the window. She shrieks, then screams for Eman.

Big house: Bernardo oozes that he always has cared so much for the kids, ever since they were young. Emil rages at him that he saw the look of terror on Gretel’s face, and he needs to realize that Emil knows that he and Fedra kept her caged like an animal for two years. Bernardo explains that Gretel was having a breakdown, and besides she was about to marry that loser policeman.

Emil explodes that nothing he’s saying justifies what they did to her, and he’s the one who decides what’s best for his children. If it had been up to him, Bernardo would have been fired years ago. Bernardo curls a lip slightly and tells him too bad that his firing is something Emil would have to consult with his wife about.

Emil grabs him by the lapels and growls that from now on, Bernardo better step gingerly (andar con pies de plomo, lit. walk with lead feet) because if Emil finds out that he’s laid a finger on any of his kids, he’ll kill him. He imprisoned your daughter, Emil, kill him now! Aw, no such luck. Instead, he gives him a little shove for emphasis and stomps off which leaves Bernardo free to do some thoughtbubbling: What if you knew that this child that you’re defending so hard is not even yours?

Hacienda: Mari is cowering in bed, the fire-spitting professional woman reduced to a hysterical ninny, and Eman has arrived with a flashlight. Eeky shrieky it’s a terrible animal! she says, pointing, and, following her finger, we see a small, wet monkey cowering against the wall. Eman tells her not to scream or run or it’ll turn savage, but to hold very still, to hug him really close. She does, legs and all, and he tells her to notice how the little thing has calmed down.

Big house: Bernardo enters Fedra’s bedroom and when she spots him, she’s overcome. She runs over and hugs him, though he doesn’t hug back, and says she was so afraid she’d lost him forever. Really? You were worried about me? he asks. Pouting for maximum effect, she tells him she was afraid he’d gone off to Veracruz to die like Chemo. Don’t ever leave me like he did! It’ll kill me. Bernardo scoffs that she doesn’t care if he lives or dies. She swears that she was ready to tell Tiburon to go looking under every rock to find him.

Bernardo’s sure that she could always comfort herself with her lover. Don’t even mention him, that cheating rat! she says. I caught him messing with Kristel. Instead of looking gleeful, Bernardo presses his lips together in disgust.

Our little Kristel is joining Lower than Low Lorenzo in a fancy restaurant, where he flutters around her. He’s worried about Fedra’s reaction to having seen them, and Kristel says she was too, but it worked out great because Fedra moved up her wedding date with Mau. Lorenzo protests that she just did it to break up what he and she have together.

Whoa, “easy, calm down” says Kristel in her hip top-model wannabe English. There’s nothing between us, but I really appreciate how you’ve helped me with my modeling. You’re just jealous of my “baby boo” because he has somebody so hot. She’s all cheery and suggests that they “move on” with their lives. Lorenzo kneels tableside and holds her hand, and says he wants to know how he can see her, so they can develop what’s growing between them. She throws cold water on that idea, so he asks her why she came to dinner. She tells that first, she wanted to thank him for his help, and second, she wants him to know that outside of work, there’s nothing between them. She skeedaddles out, he chasing after. He’s left with a waiter staring at him and two customers having a giggle at his expense.

Back to B&F, BFFs: Bernardo is ready to go kill Lorenzo, but Fedra tells him to leave it to her. Bernardo explodes that she would let him live after he’s drooled all over her daughter. Fedra tells him it’s her business, and she’ll decide what happens, and when it all stops.

Then she wants to know where he was all that time and why he left without saying anything. He tells her about Oliver and Mano knocking him out, about the cellar and the rats, and that Max helped, and that it’s Gretel getting her revenge. She’s insane! (desquiciada, lit. unhinged).

Fedra wonders how he got out, and he mentions Nereida, but says that’s not important. The important thing is that Gretel was here talking to Emil. Fedra is sure Gretel will tear her eyes out. They have to do something!

Hacienda: Eman now has the little monkey sitting in his hand. MariVicky is squealing like there’s a spider the size of a dinner plate in the room. Eman pulls her leg a little bit about the fierce animals out there and puts the little guy out of the window. MV begs him to close the window and clings to him in fear. Mari did better with the giant snake, for heaven’s sake.

Big house: Bernardo tells Fedra that Emil and Gretel were talking about the past, and if he hadn’t appeared when he did, Gretel probably would have told Emil about how Luis Felipe met his untimely end. Looks like Fedra has lost control of her. Fedra starts scheming. They have to think of something that will mark her for life, so that she’ll have to keep her mouth shut.

Bernardo suggests telling Gretel the truth and Fedra flutters her eyelashes, pretending not to understand. Bernardo grasps her shoulders and tells her Gretel is Maximo’s and Paula’s bastard (Fedra weakly protests she never knew) and, leaning over her all wild-eyed, he hisses that she never told him, never trusted in him, that she always put him below that Lorenzo Lopez. This is what he saved her life for? She’s an ingrate, and he ought to have let her fry in that ship and then end up at the bottom of the sea.

Fedra wriggles loose, but he grabs her again. Emil doesn’t know, huh? And he doesn’t know that Eman is Jose Maria Sevilla’s son either, does he? What else are you hiding from me? Axel and Kristel could be Lorenzo’s! He gives her a shake. Fedra, loose again, waggles a finger and tells him he’ll regret it.

Your poor husband says Bernardo. What all he doesn’t know about his children! Emil has walked in, and says he wants to hear about it now.

Hacienda: MariVicky has the flashlight now and Eman has nailed the window shut, saying he’ll protect her with his superpowers. Look! It peed on me, he says, holding his hand out for her to sniff. He leaves, teasing her and she tries to fall asleep, but hears more sounds. She grabs the bedding and flees downstairs where Eman offers to sleep in the bed while she stays downstairs, but no, she’s afraid to be alone.

Big house: Out with it, says Emil. Bernardo tells him that they were just chatting about Gretel, and how she was there. Fedra adds that she was sorry she wasn’t there to see her. Emil frostily asks Bernardo to leave.

Alone with Fedra now, he reproaches her, saying that his own daughter had to sneak into her home just to see him and talk to him. Fedra in turn reproaches him for letting her go, since she’s not right in the head. He growls that Gretel isn’t insane.

Fedra, as usual going on the offense, says she’s deeply offended, that he’s very judgmental, that he never let her explain her actions, and that everything she’s done has been for her children and for him. He swears to her that when he has enough proof to uncover her lies, he’s going to put her out in the street. He leaves and she proclaims that nobody is going to throw her out of her house.

Vicky thinks maybe Eman could sleep on the floor (too damp, he says), or in the chair (too hard), and he says the only way is for them both to sleep in the hammock. Finally, after a lot of back and forth, she agrees if he promises to turn his back to her. She climbs in and he tells her back to back won’t work in a hammock. He puts his arm around her and they sway peacefully.

When Eman wakes in the morning, MV is gone, but the little monkey is there. Eman finds a note stuck into the hammock which tells him that MV is off scouting locations.

Back in Mexico City, Ilitia is leaving a cranky message on Eman’s cell. Her mother tells her not to talk to him that way, but Ilitia’s mad that she’s been calling him all night and his cell is turned off.

Just then Brandon walks in with a cup of tea for Muñeca. Ilitia is shocked that he’s there, but her mother reminds her that they’re under a round- the-clock watch. Ilitia thinks he ought to do his watching outside, not in the house. She tries Eman’s cell again, then sniffs that she’s sure Vicky planned the whole thing and that he’s cheating on her.

Doris and Jorge are having morning coffee in what looks like a hotel lobby. Jorge’s been trying to reach Eman all morning, but no luck. However, both think it’s a good sign that the sun is out again, and they hope they can get over the bridge and start their shoot, which I hope is an indoor one, as it’s going to be a muddy mass of broken limbs outside.

In the background, we see Andre giving some lady a goodbye kiss, then he joins Jorge and Doris, who rolls her eyes. He tells her it’s her fault, she rejected him last night. She tells him he better watch out for his health, sleeping with strangers. He laughs and says if he dies, he has a great makeup artist, hahaha. Sleazebag.

Ilitia tells her mama that she’s going to go find Eman, since no man is trustworthy, one short skirt and they’re babbling idiots. Muñeca tells her not to offend Brandon, who is still standing there. Ilitia is sure that he’s dying of jealousy because he’s hot for the little Spaniard. Brandon, giving the knife a little twist, says that it’s not that she’s gorgeous, a major babe, it’s who she is inside, her big heart. Plus she’s not bipolar. He jumps a bit away.

Ilitia comes after him, and Muñeca has to step between them. They decide not to fight and Ilitia calls her dad at work and asks him where Eman might be. He tells her about them being at the Ruiz y de Teresa hacienda, so she says she’s going to head right over. Lorenzo tells her that Vicky’s out to get Eman, and she has to save her marriage.

Lor’s secretary lets in Hinojosa, the accountant, a properly balding and serious-looking fellow, who tells Lor that he transferred the money into Lor’s personal account, but this time he’s going to have trouble covering it up because it’s such a large amount. Lor isn’t worried, he’s been doing these transfers for years and nobody’s ever noticed. Hinojosa tells him it’s different now that Vicky has taken over. Lor says she’s not here right now, and he needs the money for an investment he’s doing with Fedra. He’ll make his wad and return the money and no one will be the wiser.

Hacienda exterior, so exterior that the hacienda itself is not in sight. There’s Eman looking around at the scenery and thinking it’s just right for a shoot, and sure enough, it doesn’t look like it’s rained enough to wash out a bridge. Not a puddle in sight, the trees all nice and dry. He is able to reach Jorge who tells him the bridge is still out and they’re going to see if they can get a truck to get them and the gear across.

Five nanoseconds at the big house: Max takes Bernardo some breakfast but finds hysterical bondage queen Nereida instead.

Eman calls to Vicky – where has she gotten to? He goes looking in the woods, and near the river he sees an undergarment on a branch. Oh boy! Could she be swimming nude, he wonders. He takes a deep sniff of the undergarment and wonders why he’s so attracted to her. Sometimes he feels like he’s known her all his life, other times she seems so distant. He thinks a few lustful thoughts. He goes searching to see if she’s swimming in the river.

Bernardo has brought Fedra tea, and she wonders where Nereida is. Bernardo tells her he’s given her time to think over her priorities, and that she tried to control him and he wouldn’t have it. Fedra thinks that’s what you get messing with a servant. She says she realizes Bernardo is right, the way to shut Gretel up is to tell her the truth about her parentage, and she’ll tell her herself. Bernardo thinks Gretel will be relieved to find out she’s not related to Fedra, and Fedra, not the least insulted, is sure that relief will evaporate when she finds out that if she opens her mouth, Paula gets it.

Down by the riverside: Eman spots MariVicky swimming in the river in her bikini and snaps a few shots of her. She notices him and is embarrassed, but he persuades her to smile, telling her that she looks like a goddess. Her face lights up and he shoots some more. He walks into the water fully dressed and they end up in a passionate embrace, but not before we get a real eyeful of her fabulous figure.

Fedra is flopped on her bed, sweeping the last drops of tea out of her cup with her finger, then licking it off. Bernardo, half on the bed, is near her and they are plotting about how Gretel has to know that Paula is at their mercy. Bernardo points out that first they have to find Gretel so Fedra can tell her, but Fedra thinks that’s easy – just find Oliver and he’ll lead them to her. Bernardo says he’ll take care of the policeman, and Fedra can take care of Mano.

Bernardo wonders if Paula knows that Gretel is her child, and Fedra tells him of course not, and it needs to stay that way. They have to get Paula away from the general somehow. Bernardo says he’ll take care of it.

Max hasn’t untied Nereida, who is sobbing while he demands to know where Bernardo is. She wails that he tied her up and escaped. Serves you right, says Max, for invading my territory. I ought to leave you tied up for working with the enemy, he says, but finally he unties her.

He helps her into his room, not closing the door to keep the fearless rats out, and we are treated to an eyeful of her incredible figure too. This is a banner night for our male viewers, who have hit the jackpot, and maybe for us ladies too, who toast the TV screen, remembering when our stomachs were that flat. Max sits her on the bed, and puts his arm around her, telling her to take heart. Of course just then Paula comes in with his tray which she drops in horror.

Paula flees and Max tries to follow her, but of course he never leaves his cellar. Agoraphobia can really put a crimp in a romance. He covers Nereida with a sheet and orders her to run up and tell Paula the whole truth.

Bernardo encounters Nereida on the stairs and grabs hold of her angrily. She tells him she has to go tell Paula that she wasn’t doing anything with Max. Bernardo tells her he wanted her to see who’s boss and what he’s capable of. From now on she has to do everything he says if she wants to get her privileges in the house back. She’s to give Paula the impression that she spent the night with Max. You’re insane! she spits.

Want to spend the night with the rats again? Obey, or I can do things so bad you’ll wish you were dead. He gives her a rough kiss on the cheek. Got it?

More necking in the river, some very nice views of MV’s pert and perfect behind, and MV breathlessly asks Eman where all this is leading. To the end of the world, he says. More gushy lovetalk, more kissing. She’s been dreaming of this moment, she tells him. I have something very important to tell you! But he can’t quit kissing her to listen to any breaking news.

Oops, the shirt is coming off. In place of the usual waterfall, we have a bit of tumbling river water in the background, and, avert your eyes if you’re the shy type, close-ups of skin and gropey caresses and big sloppy kisses.


Avances: Brandon is driving Ilitia to the hacienda. We see them kissing! Marianela sits Eman down to tell him the truth, namely that Marianela is here. She doesn’t define “here” at least not in this snippet.

Labels: llena

Let’s get married right now, says Max. He has just given María what looks like a boxed bovine nose ring. Fabián and Nathy will be their witnesses. But María Desamparada says no:
No me voy a casar a escondidas como si estuviera haciendo algo malo. No así.(I’m not getting married secretly as if I were doing something wrong – not like that.)

The air in the Sandoval house reeks of Padilla. Padre Padilla smirks that since Victoria herself is of humble beginnings, she won’t object to Scuzz Boy for her daughter. She corrects him. She wants the best for her daughter and it’s obvious Scuzz Boy can’t provide that.

At the Casa de Modas, María is reflecting on Max’s proposal when Toni approaches her:
Tan joven, tan bonita, y tan preocupada por una tontería.(So young, so beautiful and so worried about something so foolish.)

María is surprised that Toni would consider love a tontería. It’s not that, says Toni. It’s just that Victoria has one set of plans for her and another for Max. Besides, María should put her career first. Once she’s established, then she can think about love. It’s too bad more girls don’t understand that they can’t depend on men – there would be fewer tears and fewer abandoned children.

You mean like me? asks María. Toni backpedals a bit – your mother must have been deceived by a man. That’s no excuse for abandoning a child, says María:
Si yo me quedara sola con un hijo, lucharía por él.(If I found myself alone with a child, I would struggle on his behalf.)

Back at the Sandoval house, the Padillas are settling in like fleas on a hounddog.

In the office, having done her best to talk sense into “Juliet”, Toni tackles “Romeo”. She tells Max:
…mereces un buen jalón de orejas y un par de nalgadas.(...you need someone to pull your ears back and give you a spanking)
[Hey! Down in front! They’re not looking for volunteers!]
He has no business courting María, she tells him, when he knows perfectly well that Victoria will never accept her as his wife. No good can come of it:
¡Conste que yo te lo advertí!(Remember, I warned you!/Let the record show, I warned you.)

Osvaldo ignores a call that comes in on his cell while he’s in a meeting with his boss, Pedro. Pedro notices that the call seems to bother Os. He startles Os by asking him: Do you have a lover?

Linda – the unanswered caller – throws the phone across the room just as Nathy enters the apartment. She is furious that Os won’t take her call. Nathy tells her to resign herself to the truth: Os isn’t for her. Besides, she has JuanJo. Linda agrees that JuanJo wouldn’t be a bad option – he is very brave, he risks his life to save others:
-- pero tiene un gran defecto – es pobre!(-- but he has one big flaw – he’s poor!)

Are Linda’s ears burning? Because in a neighboring apartment, her name comes up. Millie and the boys are talking about love. Millie wants to be sure that JuanJo has found his soulmate, someone beautiful inside and out. Is Linda that person? JuanJo is sure she is. And she accepted his proposal. Well why not, says Millie, you’re quite a catch. Napo and Cruz look uncomfortable.

Pedro is telling Osvaldo how important it is to manage his private life discreetly. He is interrupted by a messenger who hands him an envelope. It’s the report they’ve been waiting for: the investigation of the shooting on the set shows it was accidental. Os knew it. No one would want to kill him.

Victoria prays for a way to save her daughter from Scuzz Boy. As she heads back downstairs, she is horrified to hear what Padilla senior is saying to Fer: Victoria reminds him of a beautiful girl who used to work in a clothing factory. She had a daughter…

Then it wasn’t my mother, pipes up Fer brightly. I’m her only daughter.

Nathy and María are discussing how MD turned down Max’s proposal. Nathy understands why she did it, but still, after they had been together… Linda enters in time to hear this choice piece of gossip: So María and Max did it! She smiles knowingly.

Fabián, meanwhile, is telling his friend Max that he never thought he’d see a woman turn him down. Max is kind of glad though: it shows that María Desamparada loves him for who he is and not for what he has. And what about Ximena? asks Fabián.

Indeed. What about Ximena. The ‘illicit sex’ theme plays as a backdrop to Ximena and Guillermo’s mutual pawing. Really? Xi and Gui? For an unattractive guy, he certainly gets a lot of action. Didja miss me? she asks.

Max tells Fabián that when Ximena cheated on him, she killed whatever love he felt for her. Fabián remarks:
Siempre has hablado de este engaño pero nunca pudiste probarlo en realidad.(You’ve always talked about her cheating, but you could never really prove it.)

Maybe not. But the Xi and Gui show is heating up.

At the Casa Sandoval, Padilla Senior threatens to expose Victoria’s past if she won’t accept his son for Fer.

Scuzz Boy’s eyes are popping out of his head as he looks at photos of yachts and helicopters and Fer tells him the family owns a house in Miami and an apartment in New York.

At last the visit is over. Padilla senior scurries out like a cockroach. Victoria looks at his empty whisky glass and then hurls it across the room. It shatters.

The roomies are still comparing life philosophies. LindaHo contends that only a moron (tarada) would refuse to marry Max Sandoval:
Dejaste ir la oportunidad de tu vida.(You let slip the opportunity of a lifetime.)
María is adamant. Max loves her and they’ll marry at the right moment. But Linda insists that the moment has come and gone. He’ll never ask again.

Xi and Gui are at the Sex and Food stage. Then… saved by the doorbell. It’s probably Ofelia, thinks Guillermo.

Life Lesson According to LindaHo:
Todos los hombres están hechos de la misma madera.(All men are made of the same wood)
[I guess she would know.]
Max is never coming back, she predicts.

The doorbell rings: Max is back! Yay! Smooch smooch.

Gui guessed wrong about his visitor. It’s Osvaldo and he is steamed! As soon as Gui opens the door, Os punches him (even though the wound in his side is still healing and the effort causes him pain). Where does Guillermo get off telling people that Osvaldo has a lover??? Guillermo retorts that he knows about Linda and he has proof… Os cuts him short:
Ten mucho cuidado Guillermo porque no voy a permitir que nadie destruya a mi familia.(Be very careful Guillermo because I’m not going to let anyone destroy my family.)

Once Scuzz Boy and Pa have gone, Fer starts in on Victoria. Wasn’t she ever young? Wasn’t she ever in love? Yes, answers Vic, although my youth was very different from yours. When you’re young you can make mistakes that scar you for life. Fer looks up: Did that happen to you? Yes, says Victoria, and you don’t know how much I’ve suffered because of it.

Nathy tries to get LindaHo out of the livingroom so Max and María can have some privacy. She’s not budging. Max then graciously invites all the girls to his home for dinner. When he says he’ll just call home to let his parents know, Linda asks if he’s calling his mother or Osvaldo. How do you know my father? asks Max.

Osvaldo is still arguing with Guillermo while Ximena hides in the bedroom. He says:
Voy a defender mi relación con Victoria a costa de lo que sea – advertido quedas!(I’ll defend my relationship with Victoria at any cost – you’ve been warned!)
He leaves and Guillermo slams the door after him. Then Ximena emerges from the bedroom wrapped in the regulation Telenovela postcoital sheet. So Osvaldo has a lover, she says. Interesting.

Back home, Fer asks Victoria to tell her what happened in the past. Some day I’ll explain it, says her mother. I don’t want you to suffer like I did. And I’m ready to defend you tooth and nail (con uñas y dientes, literally with nails and teeth). I’d die of pain if I lost you, says Victoria.

Xi tells Gui she only came by to say goodbye. Hah, says Gui, You need me. Xi curses the day she met him, but for someone saying goodbye she isn’t in a big hurry to leave.

Back at María’s apartment, LindaHo tells Max that everyone knows Osvaldo Sandoval – he’s a famous actor! And also he came to see her in the hospital when Victoria’s chauffeur ran her over…

Whoa, says Max. And he turns to María: Why didn’t you tell me any of this, mi cielo?

Victoria unburdens herself to Toni – Padilla is threatening to expose her past unless she lets his pestilent offspring marry Fer. Well maybe the moment of truth has come. And Victoria says:
Con tal de salvar a mi hija, estoy dispuesta a revelar mi secreto a Osvaldo.(To save my daughter, I’m prepared to reveal my secret to Osvaldo.)

And at that moment Osvaldo enters and asks:
¿De qué secreto hablas, Victoria?(What secret are you talking about, Victoria?)

In María’s apartment, there’s an awkward silence. Then LindaHo says: It’s a long story but … I asked María not to say anything. Bottom line: now I’m working at la Casa de Modas too! Good for you, says Max innocently. Nathy suggests they do dinner another day. Max and MD smooch smooch goodnight.

When Max is gone, Linda declares once more that she is gunning for Osvaldo. She knows that sooner or later (tarde o temprano, literally late or early) he’ll get tired of his wife and marry her.

Osvaldo and Victoria are alone now and he wants to know what she is hiding. She says:
Tengo deshecho el corazón. Es indispensable que haga a un lado todas las mentiras, todos los engaños.(My heart is broken. It’s essential to set aside all the lies, the deceptions...)
Os is puzzled. What lies? What deceptions?
Victoria continues: The moment of truth has come.

Not to Xi and Gui though. They continue their unsavory … what? banter? No, that’s too light. Verbal foreplay, maybe.

Victoria says: El engaño es como una traición. (Deception is like a betrayal). And Osvaldo gets all paranoid: You mean what they’re saying about me? he asks. Now it’s Victoria’s turn to be puzzled. Before either can clarify, Fer bursts in saying she’s going to a club with Scuzzy Boy. No you’re not, says Victoria. Go to your room!

Xi and Gui are at it again when the doorbell rings. This time it is Ofelia. She walks right in asking why it took him so long to get to the door. Then she sees Ximena.

Fer’s inopportune entrance has distracted Os and Vic. They stray into the old Fer fight, the “You always…” “You never…” that we’ve heard before. Victoria adds an extra twist of the knife when she says: You worry so much about your precious career, but your last film played to an empty house.

You might think Ximena and Ofelia would exchange air kisses and feign pleasure at seeing one another again. But no. These are both tough galletas. Each knows why the other is here, although Ofelia is mildly surprised. She knew Ximena was fooling around, but not that her lover was Gui. If Ximena tells Ofelia’s husband Pedro, then Ofelia will tell Max. And everyone will pay. The insufferable (and apparently irresistible) Guillermo can only shrug: I’m not a one-woman man.

Back to Osvaldo and Victoria: He doesn’t get angry at Victoria’s rather nasty attack. Rather, he seems to crumple. He tells her he not only failed as a film actor but now he has lost the lead in an upcoming novela. His public has gotten tired of him. An actor’s life is very short, he says. I don’t expect you to understand: you’ve always been successful and you’ve never lost anything…

Victoria interrupts him. You’re wrong, she says. I lost the most important thing in my life. That’s why I’m so opposed to Fer’s relationship with that boy. Then tell me about it, pleads Osvaldo.

Fer calls her friend Gaby to tell her she’s going out with Scuzz Boy even though her mother told her not to.

At the Padilla rathole, the elder Scuzz tells his son he has an ace up his sleeve: he knows Victoria’s Secret and he’s going to use it to control her.

At the dinner table, Victoria says she’ll do anything to keep the Padillas away from Fer.

Con razón. At that moment, Padilla Senior is mixing a potion for Scuzzy boy to put in Fer’s drink:
…para que se ponga flojita y se olvide de protegerse(so she’ll loosen up and forget to protect herself.)
[The stuff is pinkish in color. Maybe that will save Fer.]

Finally, we drop in on St Bernarda. She is deep in prayer: May Juan Pablo never ever ever ever find that child of sin.

We see Fausto Candela creeping around the balcony and then heading down to Bernarda’s prayerfest. She’s startled. She didn’t even hear him approach.

It took him a long time because he had to pick up Eva and there was a back-up of traffic crossing the Styx. (Or so they say. But I think they stopped to hoist a few in honor of the Packers victory.) But finally – ta da!
Acércate Eva! (Come here, Eva).

Then the two wicked-looking old women lock eyes as they take each other’s measure. Bernarda executes a perfect eyebrow sweep.

So now there are three weirdos in the house. One more and they’ll have enough for a regular mahjong game.

María lies in bed and remembers the rooftop idyll with Max.
Max lies in bed and remembers the morning after the night before.
María looks at the silly photos she and Max took together.
Both sigh: Mi amor…te amo.
At the club, Fer goes off to find Gaby while Scuzzy Boy orders drinks. Then he pulls out the potion his father prepared and adds several drops to one of the glasses. The clear liquid turns pink.

And at last, we are back to Victoria’s Secret. She begins:
Hace muchos años me enamoré de un hombre, un hombre en el que nunca debí poner mis ojos...(Many years ago I fell in love with a man, a man I should never have set my heart on…)

And while we wait until tomorrow to hear the rest of the conversation:

Sweet William in a kayak.

Labels: triunfo

At Mario's, jubilant Alejandra and Gabriela leave for the salon for Alejandra's wedding coif; but not before Gabriela disconcerts "Mario" over desiring an important conversation with him. Back in Édgar and Susana's room, he shocks her with news that during her coma not only was Roberto poisoned but that Garnica disappeared.

Édgar warns they shouldn't be seen together and he needs to allay suspicion by returning to Adolfo, whose orders to execute child hostages he disobeyed; thus Susana decides Édgar's basically a good person. At Adolfo's, enthused Dante is swooning over bringing high rolling Americans to their illicit archeological dig.

But Adolfo's subdued and presses to excavate more first, leading Dante to draw back and wonder at his tentativeness. Adolfo's sick and tired, so Dante offers him a pep talk recounting his meteoric rise to success and power. Still Adolfo feels all his bad deeds are coming home to roost and drag him under.

He's had success, but at a cost; and his sadness surprises Dante, who attempts to give misery company by acknowledging even though Dante repaid the jewel amount, he's still under investigation. And he's always admired Adolfo's strength to weather storms few others can. If they unite, they will emerge victorious.

Leonardo visits Yolanda who eventually simply explains what happened during the kidnapping. Though she never imagined Adolfo could do such a thing, Leonardo certainly did. And she reveals Chicles slipped the letter into the mattress of the missing maid, whose address Yolanda doesn't know. She agrees to ask Adolfo about it.

In Susana's room, her head still isn't working like it ought to; and suddenly she regrets confessing everything to Édgar. But he notes Susana also knows his secrets, which together can save their lives; so when Édgar requests she part with one of the diamonds to carry with him to Adolfo's, Susana agrees.

At the salon, Gabriela and Alejandra girl-talk, with Alejandra reassuring Gabriela no one is hiding things to hurt her -- right up until Gabriela asks whether someone has revealed things to Alejandra, and the stylist conveniently breaks in to change the subject.

In Mario's office, worried "Mario" discusses with Abelardo his intention to reveal only part of Márta's story during his inevitable meeting with Gabriela, leaving out Mario's paternity, her rightful heritage of millions, and that Julieta is only her half sister. Abelardo assures him little by little she will understand.

On their return, Gabriela enters Mario's office, while excited Alejandra rejoices with Abelardo on her upcoming marriage; he happily offers to plan their small celebration. Inside the office, "Mario" brings Gabriela up to date on part of Márta's story, including he was then married and she was murdered by Adolfo.

At Adolfo's condo, he just barely believes Édgar's failed execution story; but after considering the freak accident of Roberto's poisoning, decides he's just having a run of bad luck. Later Dante phones Adolfo with a plan to make Elsa a red herring to divert suspicion from them by framing Elsa for the jewel theft.

At Elsa's, Mauricio's counsels and soothes her that it's logical Caramelo would stay with the person who raised her; and surprises and delights her with the notion that a baby of their own could take her mind off this -- no, wait, how about FIVE babies? And this time she introduces the magic word, "marriage."

She takes a call from Caramelo with news of Juan José's wedding, and Elsa soberly explains she will return to "auntie" status. When Elsa confesses the sad thing is they are trying to take the child away, Mauricio thinks she's just confused and changes the subject by inviting her to dinner; and they share a warm embrace.

When Édgar makes a second apparently personal visit to Ulises to surreptitiously lift Elsa's apartment key again, Ulises gleans the understandably wrong impression and tries to make a little time with Édgar. He steals the key, and Ulises messes with Édgar's mind by not letting him exit without a kiss -- and then by kissing his hand instead.

Moments later upstairs, Édgar empties a small bag of clear gemstones into Elsa's fish bowl and exits. At Alejandra's architectural studio, she first teases Mina and then reveals with squeals that she's getting married the next day.

Adolfo visits Yolanda at home, and she claims she didn't report him, which so far appears the case to him. But she's incredulous he could be so sick as to execute children. They don't even have the infamous letter; what is he going to do, break into Juan José's house and check all the mirrors?

Yolanda recounts her story of their escape -- with the important difference that Édgar told them to run and left the keys. She confirms the thugs attacking him as they left, but Adolfo can't believe he'd be so stupid. Yolanda asks about maid Juanita's belongings, but he impatiently denies knowing and exits quickly.

Back at the architectural studio, Mina is just toasting Alejandra's upcoming "Mrs." -hood, when Juan José enters and calms his bride's wedding plan jitters with reassurances. At first Alejandra refuses to invite Bertha, when Juan José asks; but then she agrees to think about it at his noting Bertha's her only sister.

Adolfo makes Édgar sorry he returned by viciously jumping him with a revolver at the back of his neck the moment he appears at the condo. Adolfo's unhappy with the lame coverup of Édgar's disobedience. But Édgar thinks fast and bargains information about the diamonds for his life.

He's just about to spill the story when he pulls the single diamond given him by Susana out of his pocket, amazing Adolfo.

Labels: verdad

Capitulo 201.
Read K-Fuego’s original recap, then come back here to discuss it.

1. Tom says he’s Erasmo’s boss now. Wrong!

2. Alicia is horrified that she has to ride the microbus. She insults everyone, and then she doesn’t want to exit where the cuartel will see her.

3. The judge thinks they’re playing games with the legal system. He’ll postpone the liquidation of Conceptos, but he gives them only three months, not six, to teach them respect for the law. They have to pay off debts of $6.5M. Sanchez insists that reconciliation is better than battle, and he insists that Fern and Lety hug as part of that reconciliation. They hug awkwardly.

4. Fern begs Lety to let him work at the office to help dig Conceptos out of debt, and she agrees, calling him “Señor Fernando.” See the transcript.

5. The cuartel drools over Aldo and he takes them out to breakfast. Luigi hauls him away. Aldo’s talk to Luigi sure seems like flirting. Luigi sets up Aldo in his new office.

---

Capitulo 202.
Read Julie’s original recap, then come back here to discuss it.

1. Luigi introduces Aldo to Marcia. Hippy Ed could recognize a person’s inner self because he’s perceptive. Poser Aldo can recognize what Lety told him about people and seem perceptive.

2. Fern tells Lety they should work together because they both share in the problem. He’s responsible because he caused it. She reminds him that now the responsibility is hers, and the sooner they get out of debt, the sooner she doesn’t have to see him anymore. (Lety, you’re ugly when you’re mean.)

3. The cuartel tries to figure things out. The embargo lawyers are Lety’s lawyers. There were financial problems between Lety and Fern. Lety was very cold to Fern last night. Marta suggests, only half joking, that there was a romance between them.

4. They arrive late and Marcia lays into them. Alicia arrives even later with a big run in her stocking. Sara asks if the rules apply to everyone. Ali whines to Marcia that Lety’s out to get her. Marcia reminds her that she was late. Ali yammers on about the microbus and Marcia falls asleep. The cuartel poisons Lety against Marcia while Ali poisons Marcia against Lety.

5. Lety tells Lopez he has to consult with her before he fires anyone. She’ll talk to Marcia herself.

6. Aldo tells a caller that he’s opening the restaurant to win a woman’s heart. Alicia comes down to scope him out and sets her sights on him. Luigi arrives and says he’s already staked his claim. He kicks Ali out and Aldo kicks Luigi out.

Tu servidor recapper is going to save some time here. De hoy en adalante (from now on), whenever Alicia tells Marcia anything about Lety, she twists it to try to make Marcia hate Lety more. If Lety says, “Could you please ask Doña Marcia to meet me in the conference room,” Alicia reports it as, “Lety ordered you to report to her immediately in the conference room, and that’s an order! That’s exactly how she said it.” I don’t want to describe that every time, but know that it’s there. The cuartel does the same thing to Lety, though not 100% of the time. Any time I refer to Alicia or the cuartel talking to their patrons poisonously, I’m taking special notice that they are pitting one against the other.

---

Spanish Lesson
F: This is not about anything personal. You made yourself perfectly clear last night. I want to talk about my position in Conceptos. I know you don’t want to see me.
L: I think it’s for the best, Don Fernando.
F: But I need to help pay the debts, especially with the horrible deadline the judge gave us. Lety, you need to rescue the company. We should work together just like before. In such a grave situation, you can’t afford to leave me on the fringe. You need me. Accept it. I’m willing to assist you in whatever you like. The challenge is too big - $6.5M in three months. That’s a titanic task. All I need is a space to work in. No, not your office. I can share Omar’s office. And use of a secretary? I would be very grateful. Yes, Omar too. He might be able to do something.
L: I can’t deny you entrance to Conceptos. And I need everyone’s help to succeed.
F: I promise, we’ll only talk about what is strictly necessary.
L: I have some ideas for projects. We’re in big problems, Señor Fernando.

Labels: fea-2010

Daniel is put on a stretcher and taken into an ambulance.

Marcella wants to hear more about Deborah losing her daughters, but Victoria and Leo walk in and puts the conversation on hold. We find out that Deborah is their aunt. How I don’t know.

Eva and Tia Miranda are in the hospital waiting room to hear news on Julio. Suddenly Eva sees Daniel being wheeled into a room. Tia Miranda tells her to calm down, perhaps she is seeing things. Eva swears she’s not imagining things. Tia thinks things are going to get ugly if the family shows up and sees her there.

Jackie is complaining out loud about Victoria. She gets a call from the hospital.

The family is around laughing and talking when Renata comes in and gives the bad news that Daniel was in an accident and is in the hospital. Instead of Victoria immediately rushing to the hospital she calls Jackie and yells at her for not calling her directly on her cell phone. I tried replies Jackie, but the phone was busy. That’s just excuses yells Victoria. Anyway what happened? They told me that Daniel was in a taxi and crashed into a rock. He banged his head pretty good says Jackie. Victoria yells more. Why was he in a taxi? What happened to his car? I don’t know replies Jackie. Victoria says of course you don’t, hangs up and calls her an idiot. Leo tells her to quit yelling and let’s go.

Dr. Garcia tells the nurse that his friend is getting worse. That he was being slowly poisoned for years and that’s why he’s so fragile. Dr. Garcia tells Julio that he can’t die. He has to finish his revenge and meet with the lady that was at the cemetery.

Eva sneaks into Daniel’s room. She tells him that she has found out that he killed her dad and just left him in the street to die. Why didn’t you hear my screams? I found out that you married Victoria. I hope that you’re happy with her.

Marcela thinks it would be best that Daniel dies. Then the next victim would be his daughter. And then… Well let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Although Victoria is not my daughter. Then I will inherit all the stock in the company and all the money. Deborah during this whole time is just staring at Marcela. Finally she interrupts Marcella’s evil thinking and asks her if she’s okay. Fine replies Marcella. Deborah says that after receiving the news of her son-in-laws accident she remained calm. Does it not worry you? Of course says Marcella. Well you handle your emotions very well my friend says Deborah. Well in a time of crisis one must keep a level head replies Marcella.

Eva tells Daniel that she is expecting his child. Daniel opens his eyes.

Nurse asks Eva to leave if she’s not related to Daniel. Eva says she just came to see how he’s doing. Will he be okay? Yes, he just suffered a head injury. But x-rays show nothing is wrong. Another nurse rushes in and pulls the nurse out of the room. Eva tells Daniel that now she knows he will be okay, but swears he will never hurt her child. Daniel mutters “Eva”.

Victoria and Leo arrive at the hospital. Eva tells Daniel that she will learn to hate him. Tia arrives and tells her that they have to leave. At any moment his family will arrive.

Victoria and Leo arrive at Daniel’s bedside. She sees Daniel’s eyes flutter and leaves to go find the doctor to find out Daniel’s prognosis.
L: Daniel wake up.
D: Where am I?
L: In the hospital. You were in an accident. Do you remember?
D: Yes. I was in a taxi following….
L: Who?
D: I saw Eva.
L: What do you mean you saw Eva?
D: She’s in the city. Perhaps you think I’m crazy, but she was here. She talked to me.

Tia tells Eva to calm down for the baby’s sake. Don’t go back because the family could see you. They leave the waiting room just as Victoria comes in with the doctor raising hell. She can’t believe that Daniel was all alone in his room. She wants a nurse watching over him 24 hrs a day and she’ll pay whatever. The doctor tells her to calm down. They are going to transfer him to a private room to recuperate. You’ll see he’ll be fine. Well, it better be replies Victoria. Or there will be big problems for you.

L: When did you see Eva?
D: In the street. I was coming out of a meeting.
L: Who was she with?
D: An older woman.
L: (must be the aunt he tells himself) Do you know the woman?
D: No, I have never seen her before.
L: So what happened?
D: Eva and that lady got into a taxi and so I got in one also to follow them. Someone crossed our path and then we crashed. Do you know how the taxi driver is doing?
L: I suppose okay, because they only brought you.
D: I feel so bad for him. He crashed because of me. It’s my fault. For trying to catch up with Eva, I pressured him.
L: It’s okay. I’ll investigate this.
D: Don’t mention this to Victoria. I don’t want her to know I had an accident trying to catch Eva.
(Of course Victoria is hearing all this)

Victoria comes in and is happy to see Daniel awake. She tells him that she spoke with the doctor and he did all the tests possible and he is going to be alright. Soon they will transfer him to a private room. And you were a frantic says Leo. Oh, my love, I was replies Victoria. Now tell me, what was wrong with your car? Why did you get into a taxi? It’s broken down replies Leo. Of really says Victoria. But I told him that I would take care of everything. Don’t worry about anything.

JoJo and Marisol are talking about her scheme.

Francisco is at the tailors’ trying on suits.

JoJo shows Marisol her wedding dress that she’s borrowing from the company.

Leo leaves the happy couple. As soon as he’s gone the vulture Victoria starts in on Daniel and wants the real story of the accident. Not right now, replies Daniel. I don’t feel good or am in the mood. Of course Victoria doesn’t care and says you were in the accident because you were persuading Eva or are you going to deny it? And why did you tell Leo not to tell me?

Jackie tells Francisco that Daniel was in an accident. He freaks out, but Jackie tells him Victoria called and he’s going to be fine. What’s that she asks pointing to package he brought with him. He tells Jackie to come and enjoy in the splendor of it all. Is it for me she asks? No. I am ready for my finance Marisol to see be in that beautiful church says Francisco. What will happen when she asks you for the tickets to Europe asks Jackie. They bicker.

Francisco comes back in his duds to show Jackie. She thinks he looks ridiculous.

Victoria keeps on Daniel about Eva.

Deborah tells Marcella that she didn’t loose her daughters. Her husband took them. One day she was away on business (she had just started) and when she got back they were gone.

Julio thanks Eva for being with him. How can I not? You know I care for you like a father replies Eva. I know and you are like a daughter to me. You gave me love and happiness. Nothing that my own kids could give me replies Julio. I had planned to tell you all this much later, but now that I know I won’t be here for too long you need to know. Know what asks Eva. That you are the heiress to half of my fortune. You are a millionaire.

No, I can’t. That’s not right, replies Eva. I know that if I had told you sooner, you would not have come back with me to the states.

Deborah tells Marcella that she has never told anyone. Marcella asks how all this started. How did she meet him? I was just starting my cosmetics company and he was looking for work. Our lives started intertwining; we feel in love and got married. Then you have the girls asks Marcella. Deborah nods.

Eva tells Julio that it’s his kids who have the right to his fortune not her. No, I told you before that you have shown more caring for me then they have their entire lives. Yes, but what I was just doing my job. Taking care of you and giving you the proper caring you deserved replies Eva.

Deborah tells Marcella that the problems in her marriage started when her company grew. He couldn’t find work where he felt happy. Why didn’t he work with you asks Marcella? He didn’t want to replies Deborah. He pretty much wanted to be the breadwinner and be the man. So why did he take the girls asks Marcella. Deborah says it’s a little embarrassing to say this but during a business vacation I was unfaithful.

Victoria is yelling at Daniel that she can’t believe that he still thinks about Eva. Don’t you realize I am you wife and you should think only about me and no one else. Daniel tunes her out and says he knows it was Eva.

Julio tells Eva that if God takes him, then he knows his money is in the best hands. I don’t want your money. I want you to get well and me the grandfather to my baby replies Eva.

Marcella says everything you are telling me surprises me. Deborah explains her behavior by saying that they were going through a rough patch in their marriage and that she was lonely and I let myself get swept away. Oh, don’t worry. I understand perfectly says Marcella. I felt so bad; I confessed everything to my husband. I thought that we could work it out. Even thought we did. But a week later I had to go on a business trip and he and the girls were gone.

Julio tells Eva that they have to be hidden until the day everything is ready.

What did you do asks Marcella. Everything I could do replies Deborah. I contracted investigators, who traced them to Mexico, but then they left there and after that I have not been able to find them. Just recently they have been found here in the states.

Eva thinks of Daniel/Daniel thinks of Eva.

Eva tells Dr. Garcia that Daniel is also in this same hospital.

Eva and Tia talk about the news that Julio has given half his fortune to Eva. Eva doesn’t know what to do.

Marisol shows Alicia the dress.

Eva talks to Tia about her feelings for Daniel. Tia warns her to stay away from him. If the family finds out about Julio the crap has hit the fan.

Marisol and Alicia talk about the dress.

Eva tells her baby that she will never abandon him/her.

Deborah is thinking about finding her daughters and sends a photo to Marcella. Marcella doesn’t care though.

Eva tells her baby she/he is the most important to her.

Daniel tells Victoria enough. It’s probably for the best. Victoria tells him that she hates Eva and doesn’t want her anywhere near him.

Monday: not much clues given. Eva is warned not to be seen by the family.

Labels: eva

Tonight, Jacqueline Bracamontes is Irma de los Peces (Irma of the fish [think "Pisces" is the sign of the fish]).

Bloody footprints on tile. Gravel and water. More footprints, leading to a woman sitting on a piano bench, covered in spatters of blood.

Still not loving the new theme song…but I do love Jacqui's black sequin dress. I want one.

Irma is led out in handcuffs while the DIEM crew collect evidence. Moran tells Capellan, over the phone, that all they know is it was done with a lot of violence.

Flashback: A cheerful Irma bids her fish a good morning. "Mommy's going to feed you all, babies!" A pissed off dude comes in and gives her a hard time for being so cutesy with the fish. "You treat them better than you treat me! I'm hungry." She hightails it out of the room and gets his breakfast out of the microwave. He's looking at her notebooks and he asks her if she plans to continue with "this." "The University?" He says it seems less like a University and more like a place where they teach her useless things. She starts to remind him that he studied at a Conservatory, but he interrupts her and says she stopped studying "for love"…or so she made him believe. Irma reminds him that he consented to her going back to school. "What for? So you can learn how the oviparous animals reproduce, and the oviviparous, and the viviparous?" Jackass rips the pages out of her notebook and rips them up. She tries to walk out, but he grabs her by the arm and says he lost his appetite. The cameras focus on the fish.

Those are the "ovíparos" oviparous animals lay eggs with no embryonic development inside the mother, "ovivíparos" oviviparous animals lay eggs after the embryo has developed inside the mother, "vivíparos" viviparous animals give birth to live young…go forth and use those terms in everyday speech. Also, since I'm thinking about accents and grammar, and why those words needed accents, the stress in Spanish is typically on the second-to-last syllable, so you need an accent whenever you're trying to indicate that you're putting the stress anywhere else. And the accents are important because an unaccented and accented word might be spelled the same way, but have different meanings. For example "esta" (ES-ta) would mean "this one", but "está" (es-TA) would mean "it is."

Jackass, AKA Alfonso, goes over to the piano and takes a pill. He sits down and starts to play while Irma starts taping her notes back up. The phone rings and he yells at her to answer it without missing a beat. It keeps ringing and he tells her to either answer it or take it off the hook. By the time she picks it up, he's stopped playing. It's Raul, a classmate of Irma's. Alfonso picks up the extension to hear the conversation. Raul is offering to swing by her work and give her a ride to school today. She says she's not going because she hasn't finished the anatomy homework. He says it's not a big deal and he always turns his in late, but she doesn't like to. Raul says he'll call her tomorrow, then. When she gets off the phone, Alfonso is standing in the hallway behind her. He asks who it is and she tells him it was a classmate, calling to see if she'd finished some homework. "You know I can't practice with interruptions. Tell your friends to call at other hours." He grabs her by the face, gives her one of those semi-threatening little too-hard pats on one cheek, then kisses her. He says he's going to the conservatory. Irma asks him if he'll be home early, just because. He doesn't answer her, just looks pissed off and leaves.

OK, rant #1…if you have to lie to your SO all the time because the truth would upset them, hello, maybe it's not such a good relationship for you! And rant #2…yeah, dude, I get it, I need to keep my mind on my work when I'm practicing too, but that's why I turn the damn ringer off the phone! And if I don't and it rings, well, that's my own damn fault, isn't it? Jerk. And rant #3…you played for less than a minute and just because the phone rang, now you're going to stop and go practice at the conservatory instead? Why didn't you just go there in the first place for your precious peace and quiet! And I think I'm done now.

Aranda comes into Capellan's office and reports that they found a lot of "anti-ansiolíticos" (anti-anxiolytics), "sedantes" (sedatives), and "antidepresivos" (antidepressants). Capellan asks if they've already done a toxicology screen on the body and on Irma. She wants to know as soon as the tox screen is done and she wants a psych evaluation on Irma. She tells her to concentrate on the family history. "Irma Puente is the daughter of one of the best performers Mexico has ever produced." (concertista=performer). Capellan is looking at a news article on her computer about the suicide of Alejandro Puente.

Flashback: Irma is cleaning the glass on the front of one of several aquariums. Her boss, Don Victorio, comes to hustle her out of the shop before she's late for school. When she says she's not going, he says she can't skip…it's only the first semester! Irma lies and says there aren't any classes today. He buys it, but marvels at how nowadays they'll cancel class for anything. He's quiet for a while, but then says he's been wanting to talk to her about something important for the last few days (hace unos días=since a few days ago). He says, "Soy cansado, yo quisiera jubilarme" (I'm tired and I'd like to retire). Irma is afraid he's thinking of closing the "acuario" (aquarium…but I think it's more of a fish store). What he actually wants is to sell it to her and have her pay in installments. That will be his "jubilación" (pension). One guess what her loving husband is going to think of that. Irma says she can't buy anything right now. He tells her to think about it and talk it over with Alfonso. "Music is beautiful, but it's not always enough. This store could be your future." He says they should get together and talk about the "forma" (the form; how they're going to do this; the terms), but to be honest, if the business has grown, it's been because of her dedication and hard work. "Te pertenece mas a ti que a mi." (It belongs more to you than to me.)

Alfonso is playing at home, while Irma is trying to talk to him about the shop. His argument to "Princesa" (princess…and I do not think he means this in a flattering way…and also, FYI to Mr. 5ft, I would prefer "Reina" [queen]) is that they don't have the money. When she mentions doing it "a plazos" (in installments), he scoffs, "What? With your salary?" Irma says the shop makes enough that she can pay herself a salary and have enough for the payments. He asks, quite reasonably how much the payments would be and what the interest rates are. She doesn't know yet. Then he turns it around on her and says she doesn't know anything and what she needs to do is save her salary because what he makes isn't enough. Irma points out that if she doesn't buy it then he'll sell it to someone else and she may be out of a job. "So? You'll get another one. I don't see what the problem is."

At this point, I screamed at the TV. This guy is a jackass AND he's stupid on top of it. I know she doesn't have figures yet, but duh, of course she'd be making more as the owner than as an employee, which would keep him in booze, pills, and sheet music even better than her salary does now. And if he's so concerned about a steady income, then maybe he's the one that ought to get a regular job that pays more! He acts like he's the one maintaining her, when really it's the other way around. Show a little gratitude, damnit!

She leaves the room and he reaches for the pill bottle again, and don't tell me it's water in that glass. He goes back to playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

Irma talks to a woman, by a van with "Neptuno" (Neptune) on the side. This appears to be the shop's supplier. The woman, who is rocking a lovely curly bob, tells Irma that her husband is wrong. She thinks this is a great opportunity and the old guy loves Irma and she really knows the business well. She tells Irma that she didn't have "en que caerme muerta" (anyplace to drop dead; so broke she couldn't even afford to die, in other words) when she bought her first van and now she's zooming all over the place making deliveries. "Well, Alfonso says…" She interrupts and says it's impossible that Alfonso doesn't let her do ANYTHING. "Sure he does." Before the other woman can respond, she's kicked by the bun in her oven and sits down in the front seat of the van. "The kid doesn't like for me to work!" Irma says if she was in her shoes, she'd rest all the time. "Well, sure, but then you'd go crazy. Have you thought about it?" "About going crazy?" "No, of going to see my doctor." Irma says Alfonso is over 50 and she's not going to have kids, but she's got fish. The other woman gets all excited and tells her to come look at the black-tailed fish she brought.

Alfonso is practicing when Irma comes home. Sorry, I don't recognize this piece, but damn do I wish my hands could still move like that…damn arthritis! And possibly also lack of a full-size keyboard on which to practice. Irma has brought home a new baby and she puts the plastic bag in the aquarium so the water will be the same temperature before she lets the new guy or gal out with the others. Alfonso interrupts her fish bonding to ask her if they should eat. He upsets her by calling it a new "pescadito" and she corrects him that it's a "pez" (I think the difference is that pescado is usually dead, cooked, and on your plate, but a pez is alive and swimming…someone correct me if I'm wrong). He starts in with the bitching…"How many damn critters do you need before you're satisfied?" (bichos=critters, little creatures). The light and electric bills have arrived and he left money out for her to pay them. Irma asks what he'd like to eat. She's not eating because she had something earlier and she needs to finish her anatomy review. "If it's anatomy, I think I can help you," he says, grabbing her from behind and kissing the side of her neck. If he wasn't a stupid, menacing, jackass, that might have been romantic or at least funny. Instead it was possessive, threatening, and bordering on violent. She breaks away and says she's really got to finish her studying. He says "Fine! I'm in my house and I can't eat. I want to be with my wife and I can't! What I do doesn't matter. All day, working for nothing! Better I should get into a trash can and rot there!" Irma weakly says "Alfonso," but he rounds the corner.

The tox results arrive and Moran gives them to Gerardo. He slips the disc into his computer and says "As I supposed! It was the husband taking all those pills, not her." Moran is confused, but Gerardo smiles.

Flashback: Raul gives Irma a ride home from class and tells her about her nickname among her classmates: "Irma, la de los peces" (Irma, the one of the fish; Irma the fish girl). Irma laughs. Raul gives her a present--an embroidered fish with a tassel that looks like it's meant to hang off something, like a rearview mirror. He goes around to open her car door and Alfonso looks down from an upstairs window. Raul asks her not to leave school and she doesn't answer. She stops to pick up the fish she dropped and Raul watches her go inside before he leaves. Alfonso watches him.

Irma starts to get into bed, but Alfonso barks at her, "Where were you?" She says she was at class and he accuses her of lying. "I don't tell lies. I'm not like you. I called you the other day at the conservatory to ask you something and you weren't there." He asks her who she was with and when she insists she was at class, he turns on the light to demand to know if she needs to be with someone younger. "I'm not enough for you anymore? You need someone to do things to you that I don't do? To touch you like this?" She struggles to get away from him and he backhands her and screams "You don't like me anymore!" What happens next is left to the imagination, but there's more hitting and her screaming "no!"

Capellan, Aranda, and Moran meet in Capellan's office to discuss the case. Aranda says that Alejandro Puente, the father, was a performer and the "maestro" (maestro; conductor) of the National Conservatory of Music…Capellan doesn't need to hear this bit. Moran says he was diagnosed with "artrosis"(degenerative osteoarthritis), "artritis degenerativa" (degenerative arthritis). Capellan opines that he probably couldn't live with the idea that he was going to have to stop playing. His wife died of cancer in '95. Irma was the only daughter and she found her father with a bullet in the "sien" (temple) in 2004. She got psychiatric help, but 3 months later, she married Alfonso, a pianist and former student of her father's, who was 20 years older than her and addicted to antidepressants. That makes it sound like if the psychiatric help had worked, she wouldn't have married him. Capellan says it's a history of constant losses and rapid substitutions. Moran gets a call announcing the arrival of Don Victor. Capellan asks to have him sent in.

Flashback: Irma is at work, wearing large dark glasses. She tells a couple to remember to leave the fish in the aquarium in the plastic bag for 2 hours until the fish gets used to its new home (we always used to do it for half an hour…I guess times have changed). The happy couple leaves with their new aquatic child. Don Victor comes into the shop and asks if Irma has thought about it. She just keeps dusting things on the shelf. "Did you talk to your husband?" Irma starts sniffling. "I suppose he didn't agree?" She just keeps dusting. "Irma? Come here, please." He's looking at some fish. "Have you ever asked yourself why fish have that special fascination for you?" She says they make her feel "acompañada" (accompanied). Don Victor says they're hypnotic. "They move without ever stopping. Like they're always looking for the way back to the sea." He looks at her sadly and takes of her sunglasses. "I got up half asleep to go to the bathroom and I hit myself on the door." This is such the typical story that "hit myself on the door" might as well be code for "my husband beat the crap out of me" and therefore no longer useful as a lie. Even Mr. 5ft knew she was saying "I hit myself on the door" even though he didn't understand the words. Don Victor says he's got too many years on him not to know that those aren't the marks of love. "Irma, the difference between us and our captive fish is that for us there is ALWAYS a way out. ALWAYS." Irma starts crying and he hugs her. It sounds like he cries with her.

Alfonso comes home with flowers. They always come home with flowers after their wives accidentally hit themselves on doors. Bastard. He asks if she didn't go to school. Oh, look, he's got a box of chocolates too. That ought to make everything ok. She says she couldn't go to school. On account of having run into a door. He asks her to forgive him and says he doesn't know what happened to him. He offers her the flowers. "Look. I brought you those tights you like so much." Oh, so not chocolates, then. He gets whiny. "Forgive me, Irma." To paraphrase Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "I can't help feeling like the reason you want me to forgive you is so you can feel better about yourself. That's not my problem." So suck it, jackass. Irma says she doesn't understand why she can't buy the aquarium and why she can't study and why everything bothers him. "I can't do this anymore, Alfonso. I feel like I'm going to go crazy." "Please forgive me!" he whines. He says he doesn't feel like he knows his wife and like she's always thinking of anything buy him. "So how's it going with your little friend? That imbecile. You know, with the car?" Careful, your jackass is showing. She says his name is Raul. "You like him don't you?" he asks all tearful--like I'm supposed to care. When she asks how he can talk to her like that, he starts with "Irma" a touch too loud and coming towards her. She covers her head with her arms and screams. He gets hold of himself and says he doesn't want to keep fighting and everything will be fine. "Forgive me, please, I swear it will all be fine, forgive me."

Don Victor chats with Capellan in not an interrogation room, or her office, but some room with a couch. "She worked with me for five years. I offered to let her buy the shop, but her husband opposed it. In the last year, she was living in a profound fear and great sadness. She couldn't find a way to get out of there."

Flashback: Raul thanks Irma for loaning him some notes, which he has come by her place to pick up. Oh, this is going to suck. He asks if she's going back to class tomorrow and tells her she'll flunk out if she keeps missing class. He asks her to go for coffee or ice cream, but she refuses. He says he'll be in touch and as she walks him toward the front gate, Alfonso comes in. He introduces himself as Irma's husband and Raul introduces himself as her classmate and offers his hand. The guys shake and Irma rushes to explain that Raul needed to borrow her Chem notes. "Is dinner ready?" Irma says it's not. "Well, I like to have something to eat after I make love…don’t you two?" Raul looks shocked and says he'll call Irma later, then he runs out of there as Irma runs up the stairs. Yes, Raul, you caught the vibe, and what did you do? Run for the hills. Thanks, dude. Sorry, not his fault. And that's going to be no consolation to him after it all goes down. Irma, for some unknown reason, didn't lock the door behind her when she went inside. Alfonso comes in after her and tells her to wait…"You didn't even greet me!" He sits down in the hallway and starts pulling papers out of his briefcase. "Why do you do this to me?" He says it's because he's a man (on behalf of the DECENT men I know, I call BS on that) and he knows when "me quieren ver la cara" (they want to see my face; someone's trying to put on over on me). Irma says Raul just came by to pick up some notes. "He wants to sleep with you. That's if he hasn't already." "Why do you say that, as if you didn't know me?" "It seems like I don't know you." Irma says he's changing and he's not like he was before. He's more…He interrupts her, "More what? More crazy?" He goes over to the aquarium and uses a net to take out one of the fish. Irma panics. "In this moment, you're going to forget that damn university…do you understand?" She agrees, to save her baby, and he lets it back down in the water while she cries.

At the shop, Don Victor talks on the phone, while Irma skims a tank. He gets off the phone and comes over to tell her that someone wants to sign a contract with him within the hour. "But if you say you want it, I'll go back on the deal, I'll go back on it right now!" She says no, they've already talked about it. "But you'll be out of a job!" "I'll find something, don't worry. Hurry up or you won't make it in time."

Raul talks to Aranda. He can't believe it. "Did you and Mrs. Puente have a romantic relationship?" Raul says she always kept her distance and her respect for "that guy" above all. "She was always there for him. Leaving everything. She didn't leave in peace. He spent all his time tormenting her with his obsessive jealousy of everything and everyone." He says he knew her for five or six months.

Flashback: Irma mops the floors at night, and Alfonso comes over, drink in hand, to ask if she didn't go to the university today. I could kick him. I could do worse, but that's a start. "You told me not to go anymore." He laughs and says he's surprised she does what he says. "You're going to forbid me from more things." He plays innocent and says he's not going to forbid her anything and if she didn't go to class it's because she didn't want to. "Don't blame me for it." He asks her what's wrong. "The 31st is my last day of work." She says after that she'll "aflojar" (slack off). He ignores the sarcasm and says she'll find something, and besides with the orchestra and his classes, they've got enough to get by. She stops mopping. "You told me that we couldn't buy the shop because we needed my salary to live on. That we couldn't make the monthly payments…and now you say the contrary?" "You made a proposal, if I can even call it that, and a childish one at that! You didn't even know what the payments would be, or the interest!" he shouts after her.

The supplier, Toni, comes by the shop again, as Irma is finishing packing up the whole shop. Toni asks if "he" hit Irma. "How can you be with a guy who does that do you? Please!" She asks if Toni wants her to leave him "a estas alturas?" (at this point; now; this late in the game). Toni says that's an option. "You don't have a husband, you have an excuse not to do anything with your life. You're going to go crazy if you stay with him."

Toni talks to Aranda. She doesn't know if he ever abused her sexually, but she says he did hit her. "La acosaba, la presionaba, la tenia encarcelada, pero a Irma lo que mas le pesaba era que no podían tener hijos." (He harassed her, he pressured her, he had her imprisoned, but what weighed most on Irma is that they couldn't have children.)

Flashback: Irma gets ready for bed and Alfonso watches her. He tells her to leave her stockings on. Irma says she saw Antonia today and she's pretty far along in her pregnancy. They couldn't have kids either, because her husband also had "paperas" (mumps) when he was young. Alfonso reminds her that the doctor said "maybe" it was because of the mumps. "Why do you keep repeating this to me?" Irma wants to go see Toni's doctor and that she said it wasn't that expensive. He says they don't have money for it and besides, she's over 30. "What does that have to do with it? Antonia's about my age." He laughs and says it's different. "Antonia's a businesswoman. She has her own business." I'm seething. Seething. Seething. Seething. Boiling. Seething…. "And?" "She's well kept, she's whole, but you, my love? You've had to work and you're a little worn out." He says they'll just have to make the most of it and starts kissing her. Nasty ass jerkface.

Alfonso practices and Irma comes over to sit near him. He stops and asks what's wrong with her. "Are you worried about your job? Don't worry it will all be fine." "I wanted to buy the shop from Don Victor." He says it's done and gone, let it go. "Alfonso!" She gives him a hard look and says she wants a separation. This is the dangerous time. Right here. Not before she leaves him, not after, but while it's in process. I wish she wasn't doing this alone. She has to repeat herself. "Last night you wanted to have a child and now you want a separation? Don't be childish!" She's furious at him calling her childish. He tells her to just buy another fish. "Don't you make fun of me! I don't want to keep living like this!" She says she wants to have her own life. "What have you been watching on TV?" "Don't make fun of me!" He asks how she'll live, she has nothing, she's no one, she doesn't have a career or a job…she's nothing! Irma mumbles "eres un tarado" (you're an idiot). He tells her to say it looking in his eyes. She tries to get away from him, but he grabs her from behind. She goes running down the hallway and he stalks over to the fish tank and knocks it over. Oh, it's on now, jackass.

Capellan talks to Irma in an interrogation room. "There are those who say that fish don't have souls. Did you know that, Irma? I don't believe it. It's that in the tank [pecera] they're not in their natural habitat. They're not free. There, enclosed in the tank, decorated with corals and plants, they're there to give pleasure to those who look at them. But they're not free. Is that how you felt, Irma? Like a fish, a prisoner in the tank?" Irma tries to talk, but it takes her a while. "I, before, I wasn't a fish. But he suffocated me…every time, less air…I couldn't breathe…he wouldn't let me breathe. And I couldn't take it anymore. I had to become a fish." "How? How did you become a fish, Irma?" "Swimming with them. In silence. Hasta que nos mató." (Until he killed us.)

Flashback to the tank falling over again. The fish flop around on the floor and Irma comes over, in shock. Alfonso tells her to clean it up. Irma cries and reaches toward the fish. My instinct is to yell at her to grab them and get them into some water, but I know that most tap water is chlorinated and that kills them, so unless she had some non-chlorinated, and non-chemical-infested water lying around, there's nothing to put them into so they survive.

Irma takes the fish and wraps each one up in a piece of newspaper. She picks up the box of tights he'd brought home and takes the tights out of the box.

Alfonso practices Moonlight Sonata again, if a bit violently. Irma walks out, on her bloody feet, toward the remains of the tank, while Alfonso screws it up and starts over. She starts putting the larger rocks from the tank into the stocking. Alfonso screws up again, bangs on the keys, and makes another bad, angry start. Irma comes up behind him, calls his name, and whacks him with the rock-filled stocking. As the butterfly flies away, she continues bashing his head in.

Alfonso's body is lying on the floor, as is the stocking. The camera pans up from Irma's bloody feet and she's sitting on the piano bench. She looks up at the camera.

"Irma Puente Berrueto se entregó a la policía y confesó el asesinato de su marido. El diagnóstico psicológico determinó que Irma padecía de una depresión maniaco-compulsiva profunda. Por lo que fue internada en un hospital psiquiátrico. No volvió a hablar jamás."

Irma Puente Berrueto turned herself over to the police and confessed to the murder of her husband. The psychological diagnostician determined that Irma suffered from a deep manic-compulsive depression. For which she was interned in a psychiatric hospital. She never spoke again."

I will agree that there are delusional symptoms and depressive symptoms, but I have no idea what that diagnosis is supposed to mean, since it doesn't exist in the DSM IV TR and I can't find an analogue for it. I also don't see any mania in her behavior, and I'm not sure I would call any of her behavior "compulsive". Thoughts?

Next week: Aislinn Derbez

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