Caray, Caray!

1. The way things look now we have a slim chance of being happy together.

2. I don’t hate Gael, but I do understand his hatred and I care about it more than I thought.

3. I have taken from Gael everything… even you, the woman he loves. So I give you up.

4. I love you as I will never love anyone else.

5. I know you love us both, but you don’t have to choose anymore. Please forgive and marry Gael.

6. Forget me… Goodbye my love, goodbye forever.

Labels: abismo

Checklist for watching Un Refugio Para el Amor tonight

Got your hankies and tissues out?  Check
Got your rotten tomatoes handy? Check
Got your “Rose” colored glasses on? Check
Got your Beanie-by-Emilia on your head? Nooo, lost it in translation
1 Box Pepperidge Farm Classic Favorite Assorted Cookies (I can eat them all between 7-8) Check
1 Tall glass Club Soda with a twist of lime (I’m on a diet) Check
Got your lie detector aimed? Check
Got your hand sanitizer? Oops, it’s in my other purse

Snippets from ayer –
The men want to begin their meeting, but Luciana isn’t there.  They decide to call in Cardenas.  Rodrigo gets a call and takes it out of earshot.

The Het Het crowd was ready to leave DF when Ariche asks to say goodbye to Rodrigo.  Luci calls for him.  When he’s done, he hands the phone back to Luciana.  Gentle conversational breezes blow.  Pato needs you, I need you, too; we have to get to the airport; are you in a hurry; yes, we’re in a hurry; are you coming in to the office; no; I want to talk to you; we are talking; I want to see you.  She cuts him off and they leave for the airport.

Lo de hoy –
In the TL House
Roselena is on the phone, alterada as usual.  She’s reaming out someone on the other end about having asked for some pertinent information ten days ago and she still knows nothing.  She wants it, like yesterday.  She’s paying him well, so get hopping.  With Roselena everyone is supposed to be at *her* disposal and on *her* schedule.  (Recapper’s memory is out to lunch—but thinks RE contracted a P.I. to find out who her husband’s lover is.  If he’s any good, RE is in for a surprise when she finds out she was replaced by a certain little Miss Doña Nail Nadie.)

At the TL Oficina de Max
Max, Rodrigo and Oscar are having a confab regarding the status of the empire.  They are reassured that the judgment which went against them was only an internal matter.  As far as the investors go, everything is ok—nor has Claudio becoming a socio again affected the image of the empresa.  High-level stuff when a puff of bad air arrives unannounced.  It’s the Sra. Torreslanda, Jr.  I came for you, my love, as she puts a proprietary hand on Rod’s shoulders and a wifely smooch on the neck.  Gala is actually dressed quite conservatively—ah yes, because they are going to the Ob-Gyn today, as a matter of fact, right now, we barely have time to get there.  Rod is righteously confused; he knows she didn’t mention it.  He can’t go because he has a lot of work.  She reminds everyone there she’s already had to cancel two appointments because of him and, looking at Max, it couldn’t be because he doesn’t care about your grandchild, could it?  (Man she knows how to spread the BS on thick like peanut butter on bread.)  Max brushes it off as being first time daddy jitters.  Off you go, he urges.

At the Heartbreak Hotel Restaurant
Boris and Jana continue the conversation they started earlier.  She’s trying hard to let him down easy—he’s been a friend from childhood.  As we watch, from behind the brasserie’s open flames, she gives him the standard line, it’s not you; it’s me.  She tries to convince him there’s no one else, but he’s not buying it and she ain’t selling it very well.  He wants to know exactly why she wants to end it.  It’s just that she wasn’t ready to see him as a novio and it made her uncomfortable.  Boris pleads his case.  All he ever tried to do was make her happy and all those “mistakes” he made will never be repeated.  He can change, he assures her.  No, it’s no use.  Jana is sorry and leaves.  Boris is left with a broken ego, two uneaten desserts, the bill and a face that’s hard to read.  Is he going to go after Lorenzo or chalk it up to a life experience.  That remains to be seen.

Dr. Nice’s Office
On arriving at the Ob-Gyn’s, Rod realizes he’s been snookered.  This isn’t the same doctor they went to the first time.  No it’s not, says Gala triumphantly.  She switched to a better doctor but since he never listens and never lets her talk, she didn’t have an opportunity to tell him.  Rod tries to hide his face in the shadows during the office consultation.  Gala is very enthusiastic to know if it’s a girl—she wants a girl, though macho hubby naturally wants a boy.  And you, no, doc wants to know.  Well, of course if it’s a boy he would be the first-born (primogénito) in the family to carry on the Torreslanda name.  Doc’s overhead light bulb goes on and he addresses Rod, I think I know you; your face is familiar.  Gala steps in to spread more peanut butter, oh, that can’t be, this is the first time my husband has been her, right, my love?  (Poor Rod—if doc figures it out he will think Rod is a two-timing bigamist with a really high sperm count.)  Doc puts his curiosity on a shelf and Rod doesn’t lie, by just not answering.  Rod is mortified by the situation, just what Gala wanted.
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Labels: refugio

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• At the hen party, Eva/JC has gastritis caused by finding out he'd gotten Samanta pregnant. He cries in the bathroom. For her part, Helena is upset to find out about yet another conquest of JC's.
  
  
  
• Fer wants to get a whore for his son, whose sexuality he doubts. At home, he yells for his wife and though he's too drunk to find the bedroom he has sex on his mind. Marcela plasters ooze onto her face to avoid him.
  
  Next day she tells him: "We have to have a very serious conversation about sex." Perhaps related to her story to the girls of her "cousin's friend" whose husband thought sex should take about three minutes?
  
  
  
• Eva later asks Samanta: "Why did you never tell JC?" "We met at conventions, at first it was only sex. I knew he wasn't a man who could commit himself, but I fell in love. When I thought about telling him I saw he had another lover. I couldn't count on him for anything. He wouldn't have cared at all if he'd had a child. So I had an abortion."
  
  Eva tries to stand up for her former self but hears a lot of unpleasant truths concluding with: "He broke the hearts of hundreds of women. At least he's rotting in hell now -- but I'm still sad."
  
  JC moans to Mimi: "When I think about Lalo and then about that poor child never born... I was a vile cretin, an egoist. I deserve everything that's happened to me. No wonder she wanted vengeance." He vows to undo some of the damage he did her.
  
  
  
• Next morning three of the girls in turquoise come into Rebe's office all cheery, thinking they're all chums now, but Rebe freezes them out. "I am a big cheese and y'all are merely window dressing."
  
  
  
• Helena wants to go on with her life and even fall in love again. "That's a terrible idea" squeals Eva. Eva mocks Helena's new assistant for his upturned moussed 'do and pegs him as a Don Juan in the making.
  
  
  
• JC/Eva dives under the reception desk seeing mother Eugenia in the foyer saying goodbye. "Marcela, wasn't that the fabulous Eugenia, actress with the million dollar face? Why was she here?" "She has some mental lapses, she came to see her dead son."
  
  JC gets the phone number and calls his mom. He talks to her in his own voice and she is overjoyed: "How have you been, my love?" "I miss you so much." "I want to help you, listen to you, where are you?" "Very far away, but I think about you always. I can't come back until I can prove my innocence." "I prefer you far away than in jail! You're everything to me! Call me more often." This was so sweet.
  
  Eugenia catches sight of Eva and is sure she recognizes her/him. S/he says, "JC and I were really close friends, can I come visit you sometimes?" "Thanks, yes, sometimes I feel so lonely, it would be good to have a friend." They embrace.
  
  
  
• Eva calls Samanta dozens of times and goes to her house, no answer, finally Samanta calls and says: "Because of our conversation last night, I'm leaving G.I. to accept another offer which will take me far, far away. You were right, I need to get over my resentment. Goodbye."
  
  Helena is glad Samanta is leaving: "I would be so uncomfortable around another woman whose heart had been broken by Juan Carlos." "Resentment will rot your internal organs" warns Eva. "Right, let's just forget about him," Helena concludes.
  
  
  
• Lucia can't stop harassing Mousse Boy. Santi comes along to remind them he's getting married this weekend and sort of causes it to happen that Mousse Boy is reluctantly going to accompany Lucia to the wedding. He's Just Not That Into Her.
  
  
  
• Adriano asks Eva how the hen party went. Eva denies that they missed having men around. Adriano makes snide comments about women and Eva derides his "ugly commentary" and calls him a misogynist. So he asks her out on a date and plays his pathetic "lonely" card to persuade her.
  
  
  
• Plutarco with his big crocodile grin invites himself over to Helena's to hang with her and Lalo.
  
  Then my computer rebooted. When it came to itself, Pluto was in Lalo's new room pretending to be interested in the interior decorating Helena has been doing. She is overjoyed that Lalo's coming to live with her at last, so of course we know there will be a hitch.
  
  Pluto asks her repeatedly, "Aren't you ready to start your life again?" He makes it clear he's interested but she firmly declares she only cares about Lalo.
  
  Onesimo is later amused: "Your greatest rival, and he's not even nine years old." When Pluto gets an evil twinkle in his eye Onesimo worries: "You're not going to steal that boy and put him in an orphanage are you?"
  
  Pluto figures he can do better than that and be a hero to Helena. We don't know his exact plot, but it involves (according to the avances) the sudden dread appearance of Lalo's father Mario.
  
  

Labels: por-ella

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Recap by Cathyx

Cantina: ʻNobody knows the troubles Iʼve seen, nobody knows my sorrow...ʼ sings Gael into his tequila. Gab hears him and joins in. But Gael doesnʼt want to sing a duet and tells him to leave. He will, but not before he gives a gun to Gael and tells him to off his former friend. Gael says he wants to do it with his bare hands and gives him back the gun. Gab continues to taunt him and Gael responds by slugging him. First Gael has the upper hand, throwing a strong right hook, then slams his head into the bar.(thatʼs gotta hurt when you have a bullet in your head) But look out, Gab will not be outdone. He didnʼt bury a woman alive in a hospital gown the same day he gained consciousness by being a weak man. He turns around and does the 3 Stooges Headbutt, only to have the younger Gael waver for just a moment before he returns the favor with 3 more rights followed my 4 more. If Gabinoʼs head hurt before, it must be on fire about now.
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Labels: bravio

Hey guys! It's me again!

We lay our scene at the beginning (I think) of the conference where Helena will make her big presentation. As usual, I am not clear on whether this is a recap from yesterday or it's new footage.

Eva/Juan, Pluto, Rebe, Helena, and Adriano are all having a little chat before things get started. There is panning video of Mexican beachfront in the background that makes me a little queasy. Anyway, Rebe is being her usual self and picking at Helena. Pretty soon, Pluto gets dragged into the fight and things get a little catty before Eva busts in to stop the bickering! "Come on guys, we all work for the same company after all, so save the salsa for later!" She busts out my favorite colloquialism of the day (totally worth stopping to look it up): you all better not "hacer caravanas con sombrero ajeno..." steal her thunder/take credit for her achievement (I am open to anybody's best guess on what that interpretation has to do with caravans and the hats of others).

Rebe (who looks different now that she isn't wearing that silly dress with the leopard print around the boobs - seriously, this is a rare sighting!) storms off and, what do you know, things become amiable again! Once they've had their pep-talk, Pluto tracks Rebe down in the parking deck so she can yell at him some more. See, she's pissed about how long it's been since they had one of their little "executive juntitos" (sex), and tells him that his pathetic excuse (that his wife just died) is wearing thin. He sticks to that tired excuse, and leaves to join his current object of desire, Helena. Rebe shouts after him that it's small riddance, because he wasn't ever that good in bed anyway.

Helena, for her part, impresses with a cool presentation and a neat video, but afterwards Eva won't shut up with the congratulations! She stands up, applauds and hoots excessively, and makes everyone present spell out Helena's name... "GIMME AN H!" Seriously. Gimme a BREAK!

Back at Grupo Imperio (I keep wanting to abbreviate it, but there is very little gastrointestinal about the place), Eva is in an executive meeting (a real executive meeting. not sex.) with Pluto and Adriano. She wants them to hire back the 100 women who she herself fired back when she was Juan, to celebrate their firm's great success at the conference. Pluto objects, saying they couldn't afford it. Eva gives him an obnoxious wink and turns to Adriano and announces that, well, maybe if we had as much money as PLUTARCO SAID WE DID IN HIS DOCTORED FINANCIAL REPORTS we could hire them all back. Zing!

This really gets Pluto. Along with some other choice comments, he says "what do you know of the complicated world of finances, you're just an up-jumped secretary!" Unfortunately, as the conversation proceeds (perhaps because she's trying to show some financial acumen), Eva accidentally lets slip that she knows Adriano was going to sell some of his shares, a fact that only Juan knew. Adriano calls her on it and she stammers "what? what? what did you say" for about a minute, stalling for time. Eventually, she comes up with a pretty good cover, claiming that, well, she had an "evening" with Juan and he let it slip. Everyone knows what a womanizer that rascally Juan was, so they let it slide. Even Pluto grudgingly accepts that Eva must have been one of Juan's many "duchesses." That being said, Adriano still won't hire back the 100 women. Oh well.

Since Eva can't get back the jobs of all the women she canned when she was Juan, she decides she will try to improve the working conditions of the ladies who remain with Grupo Imperio, starting with a regular meeting for female employees only. The men of GI (Ok, it's not so bad) guffaw a bit (Adriano: "Uh, caray, and how will women ever have fun without men?") and plan a men-only event: Santi's bachelor party.

Santi has a chat w/ Adriano and they talk about how to move on in life w/out Juan and Antonia. Also, he hands his boss a wedding invitation, which comes in a weird plastic wrapper. Santi gets a little mushy and sad about Juan, and feels bad about getting married without his best bud present. I don't blame him - Juan wasn't there for his last attempted wedding, and look what a disaster that turned into! For those who don't remember, that wedding was crashed not once but TWICE in the "state your objections or hold your peace" phase by putative lovers (only one of them was an actual girlfriend) calling him a lying cad. The girls come in, and Helena gets a bit misty about Juan, too. Eva/Juan enjoys hearing Helena and Santi moping about how great Juan was, and chimes in, saying that this Juan guy must have been some awesome dude - but don't forget him!


Then we are treated to another distasteful scene with Helena's Angry Bad Dad. Groan! Dishrag Mom mops and mopes. Honestly, woman, just leave!


Then Angry Bad Dad gives his grandson Lalito a suit and tells the boy that he will have to be the man of his mother's house, which means being strong and manly and, uh, spying on her every action and reporting them back.

Eva sees Samanta crying in the bathroom and tells her that it'll be ok - all troubles are caused by men, and they're not worth it. She invites her to the GI girls' night..

Speaking of the man Samanta was obviously crying about, Pluto grabs Samanta and yells at her for not answering the phone and for coming to work at GI (he is understandably anxious about having his ex-co-conspirator around). She says it's just a job, she really needs money. He says I gave you a ton for that perjury you committed. What, did you spent it all on your lover? Pluto demands that she leave GI immediately, and he's prepared to pay. She looks pleased about the prospect of extracting more money from him!

Fernando and Santi continue to guffaw about the women's meeting. Eva calls Fernando "Don Arquaico" (boy, given his family values, I'm ashamed I didn't come up with that nickname first) and tells him he's probably just afraid of women gathering together. Don Arquaico's wife Marcela agrees, stating that men are simply afraid that the women will scheme against them.

For his part, Adriano will take Santi and the boys to some strip joint called "Calcuta" to see the murritas (an obscene game). They will celebrate Santi's bachelor party "like only a man deserves." We get to see them engaging in carousing and ogle-ating. They do a little bit of talking, too, and Adriano reveals that he's still a little broken up over the end of his relationship with that 16-year-old, and he's not sure if he's looking for distraction or to "sentar cabeza" (settle down).

In a fun parallel, we cut directly to the lady-meeting. There is less carousal, but they actually look like they're having more fun. It's funny to see these women (particularly that set of 3 secretaries we see so often) not in their tiny blue demeaning sexy-flight-attendant outfits. They get to chatting. Samanta tells them that she is pleased with the dynamism of GI as compared to Taurus (her previous employer), and that's the extend of their talk about business. Of course the first and only topic to follow is MEN. They are as treacherous as cats! Pretty soon, they get to talking about Juan, who, I imagine, had a little bit of a "que ver" with nearly every woman in the room before his untimely framing and fake death. Eva listens quite intently, trying to pick up some dirt on his former self (and taking advantage of the opportunity to pump Helena for info on her love life. he's happy to hear that she's not thinking romantically about anyone).

The orange-hair secretary reveals that she once had a noche de copas with their fat old boss. I think it's Rebeca who says that men are like dogs: they must be domesticated. Speaking of dogs, the boys are at the kennel, howling, guffawing and carousing like there's no tomorrow.

The complaints and gripes and sad stories about men go on for a bit, and Eva butts in with a very poorly-received crack - he suggests that "all men must be blind because you, ladies, are super hot!" I don't really see why they chose to emphasize this flop.

Then they talk about family. Rebe: "I would never disgrace my body with children!" Then Samanta admits that she once had an abortion. She never knew who the father was. But, here's the kicker: she suspects it was Juan! Helena facepalms and Eva looks around awkwardly.

Sadly, I can't tell you what happens in the avances, because the chickens were too loud for me to hear!

Labels: por-ella

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F5 starts the love note lie with bad results.  Zoe thinks the letter is a check and rips it up. She asks F5 to tell her what he wrote.  Ooops.  Zoe and Sarita piece the letter together; then F5 returns and kisses Zoe.  She throws him out.

Lala, Willy, and Juancho worry about Barf; poor things, when will they realize she’s a bad egg like rIcky.  Oh right, they still think he’s OK too.  Sigh.



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Eva just told everyone that Pluto is going to pay to educate of all the female employees' offspring. (But not the children of the male employees? And does this include children that haven't been conceived yet? What if someone's kid gets accepted at Harvard?) Helena now sees Pluto as a hero. Eva belatedly realizes her mistake.

Rebeca's main worry is that Pluto won't be able to buy her jewels. Pluto is now more desperate about those shares than ever. Rebeca accuses Pluto of holding out on her; she thinks maybe he's got more money than he's let on.
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Labels: por-ella

• Connie congrats Pato. Tells him his name = outstanding achiever… Mati asks Pato what he needed from fridge. Nothing, just wanted to open it, haven’t in a long time.
• Gala fakes strong stomach pains, ends up managing for Rod to stay the night next to her bed, she smiles satisfied. He looks away like not really wanting to be there.
• Don Aq and Vio arrive to her place, Magda runs out to prevent DonAq from sliming Vio all over. DonAq starts yelling at Magda, calls her a jealous freak. Magda says Don’t be silly! She is your daughter!!

Labels: refugio

Another week of great recaps and comments. Go to it.

Labels: pablo, secretario, telemundo, valiente