Caray, Caray!

One of the most padded, repetitive episodes ever. All previous tedious months of the novela were rehashed.

• Maite overacts frantically while Unibrow, in ghastly closeup, simpers leadenly (what a glistening, quivering double chin he has) as they talk through all the misunderstandings of twenty years and swear vengeance on Jacinta. He - leadenly - says: "I'm rich and powerful now, we can beat Jacinta at her own game."
  
  Maite hadn't known until now: back in the day, Jacinta was drugging her with the famous "powders." That's why she was nauseated, and why she dropped baby Valeria down the stairs (almost killing her) and was thereby persuaded she wasn't fit to be a mother.
  
  
• Maite tells the nuns their long-time patroness Jacinta is a monster and shows them Griselda's letter. They are a bit surprised but, surprisingly, calm. Maite asks to live with them in the convent for as long as it takes to win her daughter's love. They tell her about the secret passage - she will visit Valeria by night!
  
  Meanwhile, Unibrow tells his henchmen Theodoro and Bruno that a crusade against the evil duo has begun. Then Theo shows Unibrow a news story about his son Andres, the famous toreador. Unibrow sets his jaw stubbornly and says "I don't wanna hear about it."
  
  
• Manola and Federico kiss and plot. She suggests he destroy Octavio, the "mediocre opportunist," by making mischief at Octavio's workplace. After he leaves, Manola thought-bubbles: she knows Federico is actually a Vallodolid, but doesn't want HIM to know.
  
  
• Jacinta hauls out the old powders and starts poisoning Valeria ("Drink ALL your tea!") to prevent any gadding about in town and asking of inconvenient questions. Pretty soon Valeria is too sick to eat dinner. She tries to crawl to her child and collapses prostrate on the floor. Cleo has the baby and is dandling it when Jacinta snarls, "Take that snotnose to your room and leave him there!"
  
  Cleo cheerfully marvels: "What a coincidence, Valeria is getting nauseated and dizzy exactly as her mother Maite did when SHE was at the hacienda." "Never mention that again," explains Jacinta. Then Cleo wonders if it might be time to call the doctor for poor sick Valeria. "Nonsense! She's strong, like me!" says Jacinta, adding, "She is just sick because she's delicate and went out in the rain." Strong, yet delicate: no doctor for Valeria.
  
  
• Dionisius (El Gordo) kids Andres about the blond bimbo with the puffy lips (Leonela), calling her a "bon-bon." Heh. Andres mopes and has no interest in a bonbon. "Valeria is now a nun and it's all my fault." Blah blah blah. The Bonbon plans a campaign to win him over.
  
  
• Guillermo and Victor are mired in stilted conversations with Patricia, Guillermo's mom. "Mommy, it's good you are reading that book about homosexuality. It is the lack of information which causes us homosexuals so much damage." Mommy is going to live with them now. They also inform each other: "Some men think they have the right to hit women, but this is not true. How cowardly! If a woman is abused she should report the infraction." Having agreed with each other, they gaze manfully into each other's eyes but do not get to kiss.
  
  With what I consider to be a spectacular lack of judgment, Victor decides to take crazy Veronica - who is still rocking back and forth with her arms wrapped around her knees, endlessly talking to herself - when he goes to Aguascalientes to support Maite in this, her hour of need.

Labels: barrera

Celso, the cuartel, Alicia and el “secreto”

Celso can’t keep his promise to Fernando to keep the fight a secret for long. He tells Saimon that he has a secret. Don Fernando fought with some youths that were outside. PM looks on and wants to know what they’re talking about. Saimon weakly tells her that he can’t tell her. (They’ve been together one day and he’s already hiding from her? Can we say whipped?) Celso gives Saimon the evil eye. PM uses her not so subtle charms and asks Saimon again to tell her. Saimon keeps the secret for an even shorter time than Celso. PM runs off somewhere. Saimon tries to assure Celso that PM is just going to the bathroom. Celso, of course, does not believe him. Celso and Saimon fight some more and then Celso runs after PM with Saimon chasing him.
PM runs to the cuartel and they’re all still talking about Lety’s mysterious lunch. PM announces she has a secret. Alicia pretends to make fun of them, but she looks awfully interested in their conversation. Lety walks in and takes Sara aside to ask her if she knows what happened to the bag. “It’s disappeared!” “How?” Sara asks. Lety tells her that she’s looked for it everywhere. Sara says they just need to pretend as if the bag never existed. Lety doesn’t looked convinced but doesn’t protest either.
The cuartel still wants to know what happened at Lety’s lunch. Lety won’t tell them, so they go after PM and her secret. PM says she can’t tell them. Saimon and Celso come in and Celso lets it slip that Don Fernando was in a fight. Lety freaks. “How??? Is he okay???” She eventually wanders off to Fernando’s office. The cuartel wants details. Celso asks Alicia if she remembers the boys who were outside. Alicia says she does; this must mean that Fernando got into a fight for her. Sara knows better than to believe that Fernando would fight for Alicia. Alicia says she doesn’t care about the opinion of the cuartel, because she knows that Fernando fought for her. Carolina comes in and wants to know what happened. Alicia tells her the story (with some changed facts about the economic status of her “suitors”) Juana puts a stop to the story. Carolina says she just heard Fernando say that he did not get into a fight to defend Alicia and then excuses herself. Alicia runs after her. The cuartel has a good laugh.
Celso is in Fernando’s office, his dog is misbehaving and he’s being yelled at for telling his secret. Celso protests, and tries to tells Fernando that he only told Saimon. Fernando doesn’t really care, he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. Sanzon grunts and licks and snuggles. Fernando tells Celso to leave and not to talk about the fight anymore.
Lola and the cuartel talk some more about the fight. They want to know why Fernando got into a fight, if it wasn’t for Alicia. Then they start talking about what was up with Lety earlier.
Celso goes back to Saimon and they’re talking. PM and Saimon get all gooey eyed and Celso decides to leave. Neither Saimon nor PM say bye. They’re too involved with each other. Saimon and PM talk about telling her son about their relationship. PM thinks it may be too early, but Saimon convinces her that they should really find a time to talk to him. After Saimon leave, PM doesn’t act all that thrilled about telling her son.
Lety passes the cuartel still acting really weird. Sara shouts to God to explain what is going on. They gather around laughing, but are interrupted by Fernando on his way to Omar’s office.

Roman and the gang

Roman is upset. He’s pretty much given up on the Alicia thing, and he’s not happy about getting beat up. A beautiful woman walks by. “Alicia Ferreira is not the only beautiful woman on the planet.” He runs off and puts his arm around the new woman.

Luigi

Luigi is in his office making over his dog when the telephone rings. He wants Irmita to answer it, but she’s no where around. He picks it up and it’s some guy called Ricardo. Luigi tries to flirt, but then Ricardo says he needs something in three days. Luigi tells him that will be impossible. Ricardo convinces him to try and Luigi says he has to talk to Fernando first. He turns his attention back to his dog.

Lety and Fernando

Cristina and Fernando talk in his office. It’s all business. Fernando wants to make sure that Cristina had a good visit. When she comes back next time, he promises that she will be received like a queen. She gets up to leave but he wants to show her a magazine with Conceptos’ Cannes nomination on the cover. He opens his briefcase and finds the letter. He sets it aside. Lety starts to talk to Fernando, but Carolina comes in and interrupts. She wants to know how his meeting with Cristina went. Fernando goes on about the nomination. Lety interrupts him and asks him if anything is hurting. “What are you talking about?” asks Fernando. “Celso said you got into a fight to defend Alicia.” Carolina can tell there’s something in the air and excuses herself. Fernando lets Lety know that he did not fight for Alicia. How in the world could she think that he would fight for Alicia! For once Fernando tells the truth. I got into the fight for you, Lety. He tells Lety that it was Roman that he fought. He remembered what she told him about Roman, and that’s why he hit him. Lety is amazed. (Her face turns as red as Alicia’s dress) Lety and Fernando are still talking about the fight when Luigi swirls in and interrupts. Luigi tells Fernando that Ricardo works for a huge publicity company and (with a few interruptions) wants Conceptos to produce an underwear commercial… in three days. Lety is off in her own world and walks off while Fernando and Luigi talk about the possibility of doing the commercial. Fernando tells Luigi to be more respectful to Lety, but Luigi just doesn’t get it.
Lety walks out and she’s in a dream world. She tells the cuartel that she’s super good (and other variations). She has a daydream where Roman is tying her up and is making fun of her. She calls for Don Fernando. He’s walking by (in Tomas’s glasses? I would assume the show would have a production budget for glasses. Anyway…) Fernando arrives, in his Super Don Fernando outfit. The girls all want Super Fernando, but Lety tells them that it’s her dream, and they can’t have him. Roman and one of his friends attack Fernando with a bottle. He takes them down easily. Next he takes out some muscley dude. He runs over to Lety to untie her, but she escapes her bonds on her own and declares her love. Now a karate guy shows up and Super Fernando takes him down too. Super Fernando tells Lety that he will always be there for Lety. She tries to get a kiss, but first his head is turned, then he’s too tall and eventually they get it right. Back in reality she’s talking about having a super hero. The cuartel is fascinated but confused. Celso walks through the room, talking to himself too. Lety talks about the sun and, as we can see, it’s night.
Back in Lety’s office Teresita, Fernando’s mom, calls. She wants to talk to Lety. She accuses Lety of going out with Fernando and sleeping with him. Lety tells Teresita that she didn’t mean to offend her. Dona Teresita doesn’t believe her and yells at her, with Don Humberto egging her on. Guess what? It’s a dream, but Teresita really does want to talk to her. She wants to surprise Fernando. Humberto keeps interrupting. They want to give Fernando and Marcia a house for their wedding gift. This knocks Lety out of it. Teresita asks what’s wrong with Lety. Lety says it must be the connection since they’re calling from London. Humberto takes the phone and he tells Lety that he wants Lety to contact a certain realtor and go and look at some houses. She needs to tape them and then send the tapes to the Mendiolas in London. Teresita takes the phone back and tells Lety that she has to make sure that neither Marcia nor Fernando find out about the house. With tears in her eyes, Lety assures Teresita that she won’t say anything. Lety has a flashback to the night when Fernando told her that he wasn’t going to marry Marcia. She cries. Meanwhile, in his office, Fernando remembers the “afterglow” of the second night when he and Lety made love. “What’s happening to me?” he asks himself twice.
Lety calls the realtor about a house. She wants to make sure that it’s impeccable. It’s for a recently married couple she tells the realtor. Fernando walks in and she hurriedly gets off the phone and tells them she’ll call back. Fernando wants to know who she was talking to. Lety lies and says she was talking to her mom. Now we get some gooey eyes from Lety and Fernando. (Notice how fast the tears disappeared). Fernando starts talking about how special last night was. Lety says yes, no matter what happens, I’ll remember it. He trips up on the phrase, no matter what happens. She tells Fernando that she loves him, but she mentions Marcia’s name. Fernando reminds her that Marcia is far, far away. He can tell something is up with Lety. Fernando wants to go somewhere to be alone together. Lety remembers her conversation with Teresita and says she really needs to go home. Fernando says she can go home a little later. She says that she can’t and runs out of the office. The phone rings and it’s Omar. Lety hands him the phone and asks if she can be excused for a moment. Omar asks Fernando over the phone if he got the red bag that Omar left. Fernando says he hasn’t got it. Omar asks how he could miss it; the red bag he left in his office! Omar calls Lety a gargoyle and Fernando yells at him. Fernando puts the phone down and goes to Omar’s office. He can’t find the red bag. He thinks that Omar must be crazy and doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Fernando stops to ask Sara on his way back to his office if she’s seen a red bag that Omar left behind. Sara remembers her conversation with Lety, stalls and then says she hasn’t seen it. Fernando argues for a little bit and Sara adamantly protests. He has to quiet her by pinching her lips. Fernando comes back and tells Omar that the bag isn’t there. Lety overhears this and realizes that they’re talking about the red bag. Fernando looks like he’s about to freak while Omar reminds him of the importance of the bag and the instructions that were in it.

Will Fernando ever find out what happened to the red bag?
Will Lety really look for a house for Fernando and Marcia?
Will God ever tell Sara what's going on?

Have a great night everyone! Talk to you all soon!

Labels: fea

As Juan leaves Florencia tucked in bed he backs into the hallway and backs into Renata. They stare at each other and she grabs and begins kissing Juan passionately. When they stop he tells her she’d better be careful not to be toying with him. She’s playing with fire. She says he’s a doctor and will treat her burns for her. He laughs but then warns her he’s not going to allow her to use him as entertainment for her friends’ pleasure. She is very direct and says he should understand what she’s going to say: she decides when and where anything happens, so if he values his teeth as they are, don’t even dare to touch her. He caresses her hair and says he is giving her a friendly warning to be ware next time.

Juan leaves and she jumps onto her sister’s bed to say, “What do you think now? As if you didn’t see it all.” Florencia asks what she intending to do with him, and then she begs Renata to be kind to him since he’s treated her so well. Renata says not to worry, she’s only trying to knock the conceited “King of the Barrio” down a peg or two. Then she tells Florencia that Bertha went to Stuttgart and Duseldorf in Germany but neither of them can figure out why.

Miranda warns Pamela that Luciano has got to be the owner of the reserved stock but Pamela thinks he could just have a similar name. Miranda says it’s not likely and that he probably has gotten close to her because she’s Miranda’s friend. So, he’s obviously only trying to get information about her and the business from Pamela. Miranda figures Pamela could use this relationship to get information about him also. Pamela swears she’d tell him what for if Luciano would ever try prying information from her about Miranda so not to ask her to treat him that way. Just then Cesar calls Miranda and asks her over to his apartment since he has something extremely important to discuss with her about her parents.

Gonzalo knocks at Fernanda’s apartment door and tells Fernanda he’s there to demand she leave the country. He asks her what she plans to do now that Miranda knows the truth about her. Fernanda refuses and she asks him what her daughter has said to him. He says she hides nothing and he only has to lift a single finger and Miranda would end up despising her forever. Fernanda answers she’s not going anywhere; if he forces things she’ll tell Miranda how he killed her supposed lover. She’s staying right where she is and she’s going to get her daughters back. He responds and says “How much money do you want in order to leave?” She asks him instead how much he’s going to pay her for the house he’s living in, or doesn’t he remember that it does belong to her!

Alejandro visits Francisco’s house and finds out that Raul was the thief that Lizania had fallen for and wanted to date. Francisco and Amparo are even more upset and embarrassed at this revelation. Raul apologizes saying he'd never put two and two together. He then explains that he took the easy road never realizing that he would become involved in this type of lifestyle. He thought he’d do it to keep Juan from crossing the border like a wetback to look for work. In the end he says he plans on turning the gang into the police, but Francisco yells that surely then they’ll come and kill the entire family. Raul though says he’s got a plan all figured out and Alejandro and he discuss this as Ale assures them all he won’t leave them out on a limb.

Fernanda is exasperated and complains to Gonzalo that he has no reason to complain and judge her now that she knows he and Bertha were lovers not only before but after they were married. He claims he doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She replies that she wonders if he’s conveniently forgotten how he cheated on her with Bertha right under her nose all that time. She tells him she knows what happened that night long ago: he and Bertha planned together to get rid of her and to keep the girls and whatever belonged to her. He wonders if she has gone crazy or something.

Miranda is overflowing with gratefulness to Cesar for helping out her dad. She is on the couch asking him how he ever managed to pay such a high sum to get him out of jail. He lies and giving her his third story how he managed this great and burdensome feat: by taking his entire life savings, because his padrino’s freedom meant so much to him. He says Gonzalo’s threatened him and explains in such an oily, pitiful tone and expression how he offered to go to the police with Gonzalo but got only a slap and insults in return. He continues that it pains him to tell her some painful truths about her father, but she needs to know these things. Cesar ends up telling her how Gonzalo murdered her mother’s lover long ago and ran off Fernanda afterward, making her life a living hell up to and including the present. She thinks back to her argument with Alejandro about his keeping the truth from her and treating her like a child. Cesar then shows her the eviction notice for the elder care hospital he had with him the night he found her with Alejandro; and then he concludes by explaining that Benjamin Cohen was even asked by Gonzalo to fire Fernanda recently, but the medical director refused. Miranda finally calls up Dr. Cohen and confirms this for herself.

Gonzalo says he's not giving Fernanda any explanations, but regarding Bertha, it never meant a thing. Of course his wife asks why then did you bother????? He leaves Fernanda’s place and Alejandro knocks at the door. The two start to chat when Gonzalo returns and she begs Alejandro to hide though he feels it’s time they confront Gonzalo together. Alejandro gives in, though, and hides. Gonzalo tells Fernanda that when she tells Miranda the truth about owning the mansion, then she can move back into her house and he leaves.

Miranda eventually faints from all this shocking news concerning her parents’ past. While she’s temporarily passed out Cesar tells her that now she finally is to be his. He starts fingering her face and puts his lips all over her cheek and forehead. She wakes up and he comforts her in her depressed state, rubbing her shoulders and hugging her. She asks him to drive her home since she doesn't think she can safely do it. He talks her into staying the night in his guest room. She figures it's too late to call the house and tell Tomasa so she'll leave early the next morning. She forgets her cell on his coffee table when he shows her where the room is.

Renata asks Florencia if her sister really meant what she said to Fabricio about being in love with Alejandro. Florencia backs off a bit and says she really meant a woman could definitely fall in love with a man like him and qualities like his. Fabricio shows up at that point and Renata leaves. Fabricio tries to make peace with Florencia and tell her how hard it’s been trying to deal with her and the baby in this situation. He says they have so little time left together. She snaps at him again that SHE is the one who is dying, not him. To shock and hurt him even more she blurts out she thinks she’s in love with another man and it’s Alejandro Luque.

At Fernanda’s, Alejandro listens to more of the story. He was shocked to overhear that the mansion really belongs to Miranda and not Gonzalo. Apparently, her father-in-law gave the mansion to her as a wedding gift. He considered her more worthy a person than Bertha and even told her so once. Then Fernanda mentions again how worried she is that all the girls will hate her for never being honest about Florencia’s real father. Alejandro asks her if Gonzalo would have stayed with her and she says nobody knows what he could have been capable of doing at that point. So Alejandro tries to comfort her and suggests that she did the right thing in not telling him since Miranada and Renata being born were the result of that decision. After all she bore the only woman in the world that Alejandro ever has truly loved. She shouldn’t worry about Miranda anyway, because her daughter is much smarter than one gives her credit for being. Sooner or later she’ll find out what type of person her father is and Gonzalo will be the worse for it. As for Gonzalo, he’s only acting out with the desperation of a drowning man so not to worry about him now.

Renata catches up with Juan again in the patio. They chat on the lounger about his family and Renata mentions the similarities of their upbringing with two siblings and no mother. When Juan presses her for some history of her mother Renata snaps back that her mother is as good as dead and buried as far as she’s concerned. Juan stares back considering this response.

Luciano and Alejandro are sitting drinking a couple of beers at a bar somewhere. Alejandro is griping about Cesar having even paid the bail for Gonzalo, cynically only to score points with Miranda for sure. He’s also angry at Gonzalo for the way he’s continuing to abuse Fernanda. He yells at Luciano that he wants San Llorente Enterprizes put out of business, period. Of course Luciano agrees to the strategy. Then Luciano recounts how he forgot to mention that time at the golf club when Cesar explained he’d planned to buy the reserved stock in order to give it to Miranda for a wedding present when he marries her. Cesar has had it all figured out for a while and it would seem he’d accomplished it all, too. Alejandro doesn’t quite understand. So Luciano gives his friend some advice and suggests that Cesar is a nice looking man and a decent match, as well as younger, and he has known Miranda all her life. So, he warns Alejandro, "Do not to leave the door open for Cesar with Miranda by continually arguing with her." Alejandro gets agitated at the thought of this all coming to pass.

Labels: heridas

I tried to organize this the best I could. A lot happened this episode so here we go...

Lola, Yazmin and El Cheque
PM calls Lola to come down to talk with el Cheque because he’s mad. She enters but before anything can be said, Saimon comes in and talks with all the kids. PM (not so subtly) tells Saimon to leave. He takes all the kids with him. Yazmin gives him a rub of the shoulder right before he goes. Lola tells el Cheque that his kids prefer to be with Saimon more want to be with him. El Cheque tells Lola that he is not happy that his kids arrived in a taxi and that she’s an irresponsible mother. Lola asks him how many times he’s picked the kids up from school. More arguing. Lola calls him fat. Yazmin assures him that he’s thin. More arguing. Lola lets el Cheque know that the kids weren’t in the taxi with a stranger; they were with Martha’s husband… oh, and by the way, they look at Saimon as a father more than they do you. Maybe they’ll start to call him dad. More arguing. Lola basically tells him to stuff it. PM gets the last laugh when she makes a joke about how fat he is after Yazmin calls him thin again.
Meanwhile, Saimon plays with the kids in different parts of the building. Saimon imitates driving a real motorcycle in a dirt bike race. Lola arrives and she’s irritated. Saimon tries to cheer her up with his driving act, but gets a smack on the hand instead. Later, Martha, Lola and the kids eat in the boardroom. Martha and Lola walk off so they can talk about El Cheque.
Outside, El Cheque lets Yazmin know that he’s not feeling so good about the situation with his kids. Since he’s been with her, he’s been neglecting his them. Yazmin does the whole well, if you want to break up dance. Her Flaquito assures her that’s not what he wants. Inside, the kids eat with Martha and Lola in the boardroom and complain about having the same food as always. Martha pulls Lola aside to discuss what happened with El Cheque.
At the end of the day, Alicia watches as Lola puts her kids in the elevator to go home. Yazmin and Lola fight. They go back and forth until Lola tells Yazmin that she is pretty much a nobody who goes around with a fat man. Yazmin insults her back. Luckily, the cuartel steps in to stop Lola from jumping Yazmin who fakes a panic attack and runs off smiling.

Cristina Rivapalacios

Luigi presents some of his ideas to Carolina and Cristina. Lety calls and he tries to hang up on her. She lets Luigi know that Fernando wants a personal meeting with Cristina. Lety tells him that it will be a professional meeting only and then hangs up on Luigi. Luigi tells Cristina that the President wants to talk to her, the president of the company of course! Cristina says she doesn’t have time, but Carolina says its probably a good idea that she go meet with Fernando.
Cristina leaves the office with Saimon following her, giving her compliments. The cuartel looks on shaking their heads. Saimon asks Cristina if she wants to go to a restaurant to talk in private. Cristina lets him know that she doesn’t have any other plans on Friday. Cristina tells Saimon that she would like to go to el Georgia. She tells him that she loves motorbikes. The cuartel roles their eyes. Martha looks like she’s constipated. (Sorry, couldn’t think of a better analogy) Saimon wants to know the location of the restaurant. “Well, it’s not exactly local. It’s in Santiago in Chile.” Saimon has been duped and the cuartel loves it. He tries to act like he knew it was a joke the whole time. Cristina leaves with Saimon crawling after her.

The Kids

After eating, the kids go to Fernando’s office and check out the bag. After a long scene with Lety in Fernando’s office, the kids come in and open Fernando’s bag. They accidentally rip open the bag and then try to cover up their mistake. They stuff all the presents in their clothing. Lola comes running in and tells them that Fernando will cut their heads off if he finds them in his office. They all run out. The only thing left in the office now is the letter in Fernando’s briefcase. (Fernando has a briefcase??)
The kids wait outside eating some of Lety’s presents. They make a promise that no one will know what happened with the bag. Clarita decides to throw away the stuffed animals. She wants to get rid of all the evidence. They all promise each other that they won’t tell anyone about what happened with the bag. Martha’s husband pulls up and wants to know if anything interesting happened. No, they assure him.

Fernando
Roman and his gang call Alicia and let her know that they’re outside Conceptos and they want to see her. She’s horrified. Fernando drives up and recognizes Roman and his gang. He remembers the night he got into a fight with them. Then he remembers Lety’s story about the bet and her first time. He clenches his jaw, resolves to avenge Lety and slowly get out of the car (How can none of the gang recognize a purple BMW? It’s not exactly a car one sees everyday.) Fernando punches Roman a couple times and tell him that he’s going to leave Lety alone from now on. Fernando tells Roman that people like them shouldn’t be allowed to exist, Roman charges and gets smacked on the back of the head. Roman recovers and wants to know what is Fernando’s problem. Fernando asks him if he remembers the bet. Roman says he does and punches (more like slaps ) Fernando in the face. Fernando punches him back and knocks him down. He lets Roman know Lety now has someone to defend her and not to mess with her anymore because then he’ll have to deal with Fernando. The gang hears a siren and scurries off. Roman and the gang drive up to Fernando in their car, and he tells them that if they ever mess with Lety again, they’ll pay. They drive away. Fernando gets back in his car (why? I’m not sure) and remembers more of Lety’s story. Celso interrupts and tells him that he was impressed by Fernando beating the gang up. Celso said that he would have sicced his dog on the boys if Fernando had needed. Fernando tells Celso not to say anything about the fight.

Lety
Lety comes back to the office after her tears in the park. Juana and Sara run up to her wanting to know how the lunch went. She says she not going to talk about it, but lets everyone in the room (including Alicia) know that the conversation was private and that she ate very well. Sara tells Lety about the bag she found in Omar’s office. Lety brings the bag into Fernando’s office. Fernando calls Lety at the office and they discuss Cristina Rivapalacios. Fernando wants to talk to her and do some damage control in case Luigi said anything bad. Fernando asks what has happened back at the office. Lety starts to tell him about the bag and then changes her mind. You can tell by Lety’s actions that for whatever reason she doesn’t seem to be feeling as guilty about the relationship as she did in the beginning of the episode. Lety calls someone to find Cristina. She’s in Luigi’s office.
Sara brings Sara a letter. She stares at the bag; Sara wants to know what is in it. Lety and Sara go back and forth about whether they should open the bag. Lety won’t let her open it; it’s Don Fernando’s to open. Sara walks off frustrated. Lety stares at the bag. Lety touches the bag. Lety talks about the bag. “What if Fernando is urgently waiting for what’s inside?” She tries hiding it under the desk. “It’s disappeared!” This doesn’t work. She tears it open slightly. “Oops I opened it!” Inside she finds an engagement ring and a card. The card is a proposal. She puts the ring on and dances around. Oh wait! It’s a dream. The bag is still closed, and Fernando’s secret is safe… for now.
Lety goes into her office and calls her mom and tells her that she has a dilemma. She wants to know if her mom has ever been really, really curious about anything before. She’s basically trying to get her mom to tell it’s okay to open the bag without saying exactly what is happening. Her mom says some things should stay secret. Doubt at time can be a good thing. Lety genuinely tells her thank you.
Lety comes back, inspired by her mom’s speech and sees that the bag is gone. The kids had put Omar’s letter in Fernando’s briefcase. Lety closes the briefcase and clears his desk. Cristina comes into Fernando’s office and finds Lety under the desk. Lety offers her something to drink. Fernando comes in. Lety notices that something is off with him. Lety walks off but she is still worried about what happened with the red bag.

Is Omar’s letter now safe?
Will Fernando tell Lety the truth about the fight?
Tune in tomorrow! Have a great night everyone!

Labels: fea

A few subplot moments: (a) That greasy blond Leonela babe with gigantic puffy collagen lips jumps all over Andres, having followed him to Aguascalientes from Spain. He's not very glad to see her and tells her he's in love with, and in fact married to, another woman; (b) Manola gazes upon the urn marked "GUSTAVO" but containing, actually, some stranger's ashes. She exclaims to her dad: "I hope Gustavo died like a dog! We have triumphed!" By the look on her dad's face, he isn't feeling very triumphant; (c) Federico calls Rodrigo "hijo" (son) one time too often and Rodrigo looks at him funny and then reminds us all that he, Rodrigo the Rehabilitated, regrets having helped Jacinta engineer the separation of Valeria and Andres.

Guillermo's mother Patricia is reading up on homosexuality in her hotel room when her brutish husband shows up. "You thought you could sneak out and I wouldn't notice?" She says she has a right to see their son. Brutish husband: "He's not MY son! He's dead to me." Victor arrives at this very moment, with flowers, to thank Patricia for reconciling with her son Guillermo (Victor's sweetie). The brutish husband slams the door on Victor and starts hitting the wife. Victor breaks the door down and protects Patricia, who tells her husband she is going to report him for beating her and if he keeps it up he'll end up in jail. She accepts Victor's invitation to go stay with him and Guillermo.

Valeria is mentally bludgeoned by Jacinta's inimitable, self-serving, relentless recaps: "Your mother got pregnant to trick your father into marrying her." (Actually, you may remember, he raped her.) "She left you and your father to be with her lover. She was a prostitute. Your father sought her and died because of her. She killed him." (You may remember it was actually Federico who bludgeoned Adolfo to death.) "She's only come back now to try and get some of your Valladolid inheritance." Valeria is crazed by all of this, cries a lot and screams at Maite to leave forever.

Maite goes to the cemetery where she gets drenched by a small amount of fake rain and asks dead aunt Griselda for consolation. Then she goes to church and tearfully petitions the Virgin Mary. Unibrow comes up behind (is he stalking her?) and she says she needs him more than ever, to help her win back Valeria. He takes her someplace with a fireplace and she starts to dry off. Then they have a shouting fight full of accusations. Him: "Who was the man you were leaving with on that train?" Her: "What kind of man asks a woman to join him, a woman alone, with a baby in her arms, on a cold night, and then leaves without her?" I think he finally convinces her he never got Griselda's letter (Explaining All) till recently.

Jacinta gloats to Federico: "Finally I can sleep peacefully, knowing Valeria will never pardon her mother." He agrees: "Maite menaces our tranquility." (Tranquility??) Meanwhile Valeria, who has been gadding around in the rain just as Maite has, coughs - and - oh no - Cleotilde is going to get some tea. Not tea in Jacinta's hacienda?!!!!

Labels: barrera

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Labels: Alborada

Daniel is yelling at Rebeca, as Jean noted at the end of her recap. He is quite adamant that the money is his and Angel’s, inheritance from their mother.

Everyone at the hacienda is gathered around the table discussing Charo and the whole thing about Miranda saying or not saying that she won’t give raises. Alejandro and Lasagna enter. Lasagna is wearing a short skirt, whoever that anonymous poster was that said she had bad hips and legs is full of it. Alejandro’s phone rings, it’s Vicente looking for Miranda. She starts to complain that the bail amount for Gonz is too high, then is told that Cesar paid it! Flor is happy that he is out too. Renata snottily says “so now that he’s out all the problems are over right?” Miranda replies that they are just beginning. Dum dum DUMMMM. Dramatic music.

Fab and Superslut are arguing about what they will do, Fab appears to want out of the whole thing. Superslut says she’ll tell all of Mexico what is going on and that will certainly hurt Flor! Fab caves and says ok, it will be however you want. What a wuss. She comes in for some kissing, when he moves in, she backs off and laughs. No, she says, that part is only when I want. “For now, I think I’d rather have money.” She says he has to pay for her silence, she wants 10,000 pesos! So now she’s not a slut, she’s actually a whore, since she gets paid for it.

Renata comes into Miranda’s room. It is finally dawning on her that money doesn’t grow on trees and she’s worried that they are going to lose everything. Miranda tries to comfort her and says they will sell the hacienda and the house in Mexico to get some money for the company, Renata can’t bear the thought. “It’s our history,” she pleads, like that ever mattered to her before. Maybe the spiteful love of Dr. Juan is changing her.

Alejandro and Fab argue about his behavior. Alejandro doesn’t want to see Flor cry again, he orders Fab to stay away from Miranda, to focus on his wife. Fab spits back that he’s a hypocrite, he criticizes Gonz so much but he is just the same.

Daniel is arguing with Rebeca again, making threats about declaring Julio incapacitated or something like that unless the stock is returned to him and Angel. Rebeca kicks him out. They argue more as he leaves. The servant comes in swearing that she was going to come to Rebeca’s defense if she needed her to. I’m sure some middle aged housekeeper would be a match for young, strong Daniel. Whatever. Big talk, now that he’s gone. “is he gone? Good cause I was gonna kick his ass!”

Fab and Alejandro bump chests and yell at each other some more, make threats, etc. Alejandro admits doubts to himself about what he is doing but won’t admit out loud to Fab of course. They seem to calm down a little bit, but Alejandro reiterates that Fab has to focus his attentions on Flor. Fab tells Alejandro that Miranda thinks that Alejandro and Florencia are in love with each other, or something like that. Just to make things really complicated I guess. Alejandro asks Fab what he’ll do when Flor is gone – Fab says “I’m going to get Miranda back.” Alejandro paces around the room to keep himself from killing Fab. Finally he says “not even in your wildest dreams, you can be sure of that.”

Renata tells Miranda that the worst part is feeling bad for Flor. They can’t buy anything for her baby, the baby will be born into this difficult situation. Miranda says it’s Fab’s problem to buy stuff for the baby, Renata rightly points out that he used his money to pay for security at the hacienda (Slut hush money too of course but the girls don’t know that). Miranda says they’ll come up with some idea if they work together. Renata then drops that bomb that she thinks the best solution is for Miranda to marry Alejandro.

Cesar gives the sleeping Rebeca a kiss, she’s so glad to see him. I must have missed the part where they don’t hate each other any more, last time I checked he was trying to kick her out. He says he needs to speak with Julio urgently, Rebeca gets a suspicious look. He promises to be nice. She tells Cesar about Daniel’s visit. He tells her that Gonz is out of jail. She says she will tell him that Cesar is innocent, then says something about what she did that surprises Cesar. I don’t know what she said, but something about authorizations I think. Whatever it was, Cesar acts thankful and gives her a hug. In his head he swears vengeance on somebody.

Amparito and Francisco come in their house, no doubt from spending the day selling tacos. Francisco’s feet hurt and he grunts and groans about it. They are arguing about Raul and the gang, Francisco wants to tell the police but Amparito is worried about Sanson seeking revenge if they do that. Carola enters with a sad face, they sit her down to tell them what’s wrong. She says she won’t say anything against Sanson. She says Sanson will kill Raul and Juan both.

Alejandro gives Juan a phone to stay in constant contact with him, while Renata and Miranda say goodbye to each other. Juan and Renata leave separately, leaving Alejandro and Miranda together. Alejandro wants her to come with him to travel to Mexico City. She smiles.

Cesar convinces Julio that Gonz is behind all the problems and the two of them vow to start over and be friends. As they hug, Gonzalo enters and sees them! They all sneer at each other. It’s odd to see Gonz in a suit again finally after so much time in his jail uniform. Gonz says they will pay dearly. “Is that a threat?” “no, it’s a direct advertisement.” Cesar says “what do I have to do to convince you that we didn’t do anything?” Gonzalo says he will never be convinced, they should just confess now to save the trouble of finding out the truth. Cesar says fine, I’ll go confess right away. Gonz says “don’t make fun of me!” and gives a horrible stage slap to Cesar right in the face. I think he missed by about a foot, but Cesar dutifully reacted as if he had been hit. Rebeca starts to whine “what are you doing?” Julio kicks Gonz out of the house. Gonz says one day he’ll regret joining with this pig, Cesar. Then he tells Cesar to never set foot in his company again. Cesar whines to Julio “see? See how he is?”

Miranda tells Alejandro “we need to talk.” Uh oh. Alejandro even has the look on his face that men get in that situation. Mouth open, eyes rolling. “oh man what the f***, just great. I was gonna watch the game, I guess THAT’S not going to happen.” She starts in on him. First, why are you here instead of in Mexico? Why such interest in my sister? He says his feelings for Flor are like a sister, don’t be stupid. Oh, Alejandro, you did it now! “oh now I’m stupid, huh? Well get out, you are banned from this hacienda.” She starts to storm out but he stops her. She gives him hell for not telling her that he was friends with and knew the truth about her mother. She then stomps off for real. Alejandro is stunned

Francisco still wants to do something, Amparito wants to do nothing. Carola says that Raul and Sanson need to work it out themselves. Then she tells them about how Raul met Lasagna while robbing her. They are distraught. Francisco wants to send Raul packing, Ampara tries to say no, but he is insistent.

Cesar and Julio get themselves all lathered up to proceed with their campaign of hate against Gonz. Cesar also tells Julio and his mother that he is going to save them from their financial ruin, a wedding present. They agree to try and buy out San Llorente Inversiones.

Raul comes home to a dark house. Francisco comes in, throws a shoe at him and yells at him to leave. They argue about the whole gang thing, the robbing Lasagna thing, etc. Raul begs forgiveness and says he’s innocent of what Sanson accuses him of, something about killing his brother. Francisco continues to yell at him.

We get a commercial for Barrera de Amor Ultimos Capitulos, featuring Unibrow in a suit. I almost didn’t recognize him. The suit still doesn’t help much though. Back to the show.

Miranda, back at the house in Mexico, asks Tomasa to update her on Bertha. Bertha left, so Miranda says she can go look in her room, Tomasa says nope, she locked it up good. “Bertha never locks her room, she must have something in there.” She says she’ll get in that room. Tomasa says she is having a chest pain, a portent of something bad happening.

Daira asks Alejandro what he’s going to do. He says he’ll have to tell Flor the truth eventually, and tell Miranda as well. Alejandro manages to convince himself that Fab and Miranda are in love and plan on getting together after Flor dies. Someow the fact that Flor belives that too makes him more sure. What? He worries about how he’s losing control of everything.

Charo swears it was Bertha that told the workers that Miranda said no raises. Miranda says nobody else will speak up, so who should she believe? Charo says fine, I’ll get my stuff and leave. No no no, Miranda didn’t mean that, go get some sleep and we’ll talk later. Pamela comes in as Tomasa and Charo leave. The catch up on some news but talk about basically nothing, Miranda is upset that Gonz didn’t come straight home. She thinks she might just go away and disappear and not see anybody.

Fab is mumbling to himself about some work stuff while he works on the computer. Renata comes in and wants the “labtop.” That’s what the Univision captions called the laptop. Labtop. Ha. And for being such a horndog, he seems oblivious to the awesome body in tight revealing clothes right in front of him. He lets her use the computer, Renata starts talking about Flor, that he should pay more attention before she falls for someone else. Who, he says, the doctor? No, Alejandro! He gets mad and she seems pleased to have pissed him off. He leaves and Lasagna enters. She is a little upset about the whole Raul thing. Renata asks what would you use for a password? Lasagna says oh, a birthday? It works and Renata squeaks. She’s looking at Bertha’s credit card history on the computer to find out where she went. Germany, but she doesn’t know why.

Pamela and Miranda discuss anything and everything, girl talk. Miranda confesses to having feelings for Fab still, when he kisses her she melts, etc. Bleah. He’s such a loser. Whoa whoa – turns out that she’s not talking about Fab at all, she’s talking about Alejandro! She is crazy for him but says it doesn’t work!

Juan tells Flor that she’s doing better but needs to keep up with her exercises, etc. Fab says he’ll do the exercises with her the next day, she says why? She’s the one that’s dying, why should he bother? Wow what a buzzkill Flor is. Fab leaves, Juan tells her to be easier on him, Flor gripes a lot about how Fab is a butthead. She has a green flashback about overhearing Fab say she’s going to die. Juan says he knows about it too. Flor says she’s paying for what she did to Miranda. Somehow she decides that this is all Miranda’s fault. On his way out of the room, Juan bumps into Renata. They stare at each other with lust and then start making out. Finally. Took long enough.

Labels: heridas

But first, another editorial notice! Just as Chris has mentioned with regard to Heridas, I believe that our show is getting edited for the US audience. I've noticed that there isn't a simple one-to-one relationship between the Esmas site's recaps and the episodes we're seeing - that is, sometimes you have to look at two different Esmas recaps to cover one whole episode. (This is bad because reading ahead spoils the surprise!) That means that the Monday episode won't always be the Friday episode (eh, you know what I mean) as I've said before. You'll never be quite sure which night is going to have the juiciest revelations.

Having said that, though, I'm pretty sure that this Monday's (tomorrow's) is still going to be pretty juicy.

Omar wants to know about last night. Fern tells Omar that they - especially Omar - are the worst kind of filth (literally "pigs of the third kind"). Omar is not impressed and complains about Fern's attitude. Fern says they are miserable, awful men and he wants to stop the lies. He is concerned about creating another devastating, painful tragedy in Lety's life. Naturally, Omar takes this lightly.

They go to the boardroom to talk some more. Fern tells Omar that he and Lety made love. Omar does a double-take when he realizes that Fern isn't kidding. Again, he tries to make light of it, but Fern wants Omar to understand that this is serious - Lety is really in love with him. He can feel it. Omar is extremely rude, speculating about Lety's passion. Then he stops, worried about the pensive look on Fern's face. He says oh no, don't tell me you felt the same way. Fern just gazes at him helplessly.

Fern says he was surprised to hear that he wasn't Lety's first. Omar sits down and takes on a more serious air. "Pardon my surprise, but... who with?" Fern replies, "with someone who was just as horrible and evil as you and me." Omar becomes defensive and self-righteous.

Fern describes Lety's story about Miguel and Roman - how Miguel seduced Lety for financial gain. He did it to win a bet. Omar looks stricken for a split-second, but quickly recovers and starts joking about it. He says how dumb she must have been. (One of the things that had especially upset Lety was that they had been planning and discussing the bet openly, everyone else knew about it, and she didn't even notice.) Fern describes the little gifts and cards, just like the ones Omar gets for Lety.

Fern says how awful it was for her; how awful it was for him just to hear it. As far as Omar is concerned, however, it only proves that they are using a flawless, proven formula. After all, it's worked on Lety before, right? Fern grabs him and yells (not too loudy) that a person can die of sadness. He wants to quit lying to Lety, but Omar rehashes their plan again to remind Fern and us why Fern can't tell the truth. Omar's suggestion: a nice card!

Fern rants and raves. He says he needs to tell Lety something that's true, something from the heart, something she can believe without feeling stupid (something like that).

Omar's "Card of the Day" for Lety is too dorky and nonsensical for Fern. Fern says that's Omar's mouth, not Fern's heart, and sarcastically asks Omar if he could maybe write something even more ridiculous, stupid, and soppy. (They are having this loud conversation in Fern's office with Lety in the next room.) Omar shows Fern the gift he bought for Lety and says he paid for it with his own money, just for Fern. Fern sarcastically pretends to be all choked up with emotion. He says he wants something more special. Omar admits he's not a professional poet and says he's got plenty of other things to do, so Fern can just write whatever he pleases.

PM and Saimon (he's Simón in the credits but nowhere else; he's Saimón on the Esmas website, for example, so back to calling him Saimon) show up very late to work, joined at the face. They talk about their adventures last night and their newfound love. Alicia brags that she's been in lots of jacuzzis with lots of men. Omar overhears this and makes a rude comment.

Marcia scolds PM and S (henceforth "PMS") for their tardiness, and they compete with one another to take the blame. Marcia says she's happy for them, but is skeptical at first. She asks PM is this serious, or was it just a one-night thing. (Overall, Marcia seems to be much rougher on PM than on Saimon.) PM says of course she's sincere. They are so effusive about their new relationship that Marcia is touched (she doesn't show any sign of the envy she must be feeling). She wishes them well and gives them a break. PM swears to be worthy.

PMS dance back into the lobby. The feas ask what happened, and Alicia watches, hoping PMS have been fired. PM says Marcia has class, not like "that other one" (yelling into Alicia's ear)!

Fern gives Saimon a hard time about his tardiness and is not interested in hearing about how much in love he is with PM. He sends him on a secret errand to his house to get his suitcase, because last night he told Marcia that he was packing when he was really boinking his assistant.

Luigi gets a call from talk show host Cristina Rivapalacios. She tells him she's got a surprise for him - an even bigger surprise than the wax statue. When Cristina arrives to deliver her mysterious news in person, PM shows her up to the executive lobby, but then Alicia takes over, claiming that it's her responsibility to usher the distinguished guests around. She claims, "she's mine!" and is all over Cristina like a cheap suit. At first, Cristina bears it politely, but then Alicia grips her arm so possessively that Cristina cries, "you're hurting me!"

Marcia is eager to hit the road (she's planning to rekindle their romance in Germany) and asks Fern if he'd like to go to the airport with her. He says he still has his hands full with work, which annoys her. Fern asks Lety for Marcia's tickets and the status of preparations for the Bella Life jewelry campaign. She reveals that the vendors will deal only with him (cuz he signed the contract) and not her, so if he goes to Germany, production on the jewelry campaign for Bella Life will be delayed.

Marcia hits the ceiling. She accuses Lety and Fern of planning this all out in advance, so that he won't have to go to Germany with her and can hang out with his lover. Fern defends Lety - this is absolutely not her fault. Fern and Marcia argue in Fern's office, then take it into the exec lobby where Cristina is also witnessing the scene between PM and Alicia arguing over celebrity-ushering privileges and flipping their hair. Again Marcia says there's not going to be a wedding. (They don't notice Cristina.)

Cristina remarks that perhaps this is a bad time. Alicia proudly (cluelessly) tells her that's their president and his girlfriend. Cristina asks again to see Luigi. Alicia leads the way, shoving PM aside.

Fern suggests to Marcia that they go someplace more private. They head towards Marcia's office for a Serious Talk. Fern says don't blame Lety. Marcia says she's had enough - never again. He gives a sarcastic, lengthy, angry reply and storms back to his office.

Lety apologizes and tells Fern she can't do this any longer. Working at Conceptos has been rough on her conscience since the day she arrived. Fern assures her again that his troubles with Marcia are not her fault and soothes her anxiety with easy little kisses. Then he awkwardly pats her arm like a man and tells her to get back to work. He is still a nervous wreck, himself, trying to decide about Germany vs. Bella Life. He sends Lety to Luigi's office to get him an herbal remedy (valerian).

In his studio, Luigi screams as if he has seen a giant Florida cockroach. It's a blemish on Yazmin's face. Alicia bursts in, babbling an introduction, but Cristina bypasses her to greet Luigi. He begs her to give him the surprise. She teases him and says she wants to meet his boyfriend.

Meanwhile, Juana answers Alicia's phone. It's Roman and his gang, calling yet again for Alicia to make good on her obligation to go out with them. Juana runs to discuss this bizarre message with the feas.

Alicia wants Cristina to know that she, too, has been a TV host. (Luigi just lets Alicia talk, wondering where this is going.) It was a very important TV show - at school. She tells Cristina she took six semesters of finance at a fine university. (Luigi's dog looks bored.) It's a very awkward conversation. Cristina tries to asks polite questions, but Alicia keeps digging herself deeper. She says no, she didn't finish school, but she did get married. (Irma is wincing.) Well, she didn't stay married, now she's divorced. But she insists that she and Cristina have plenty of things to chat about.

Luigi ends the mass torture by throwing Alicia out. After she leaves, he confides to Cristina that her academic career was a joke, etc. Cristina waves this off and teases him some more about the surprise.

The feas congregate outside Luigi's office hoping to meet Cristina. Lety joins them, and their conversation becomes noisy and excited. Luigi comes out of his office looking angry, and screams in surprise when he sees Lety. Cristina comes out to see what's going on. He insults all of the feas and offers to cover Cristina's eyes. He tells her she should only have to look at pretty things, beautiful things - like himself, for example. He tries to disperse the group, citing concerns about contamination, bacteria, streptococcus; Cristina says she'd like to meet them. They all squeal like they're meeting Shawn Cassidy (if I may date myself a bit).

Cristina possibly (I'm not sure) invites the feas to a taping of her show. Luigi introduces each of them with nasty nicknames. Irma and Yazmin come out to see what's going on; Luigi introduces "Miss Irma, alias The Lovely, and Miss Thief, alias The Homewrecker." Lety gets his attention, and he introduces her by all of her nicknames: La Garnacha (thick tortilla), Rintorrico (? rhinoceros ?), Moscorrofio (some sort of fly?), and Tlacoyo Bigoton (mustached corncake). Lety makes light of this to make Cristina feel less awkward, welcomes her to El Cuartel, and kisses her on the cheek. Cristina is very gracious. Luigi looks nauseated. :-)

Omar and Marcia are in the lobby talking about the trip to Germany (he is trying to smooth things over with her) when Carolina shows up with a man named Ricky. Omar nervously informs Ricky that there might be a problem with the Bella Life jewelry campaign. Ricky says he needs to speak to Fern right away.

Fern, whose bad mood has been increasing exponentially, has gotten impatient waiting for Lety and comes out into the executive lobby to bellow aimlessly and argue some more with Marcia. He's so mad he doesn't even see the other people. He yells "cancel the wedding, cancel the campaign, cancel my life!!" Marcia says, uh, hey, Ricky's here. Fern looks around the lobby and says sure, Alicia's here, Carolina's here, Ricky Armstrong's here... and does a double-take. "Ricky Armstrong, our favorite client!" Ricky urgently wants to talk, so they all head into the boardroom. He starts off by saying that the Bella Life makeup commercial has been doing well...

Meanwhile, Cristina asks Luigi to show her the first Bella Life commercial. He brags that it's been shown all over the world, and everyone loves it. What we see is about 15 seconds' worth of choppy footage - a woman puts on some makeup and then kisses a man. Seems pretty lame to me, but maybe bits of it were edited out for the US audience.

After that's finished, there are a few quick cuts between Luigi's office and the boardroom, as Cristina and Ricky simultaneously tell Luigi and the execs that the Bella Life makeup commercial is a top 3 finalist (out of 5000 entries) at the Cannes film festival! Cristina will be a presenter at the festival.

The feas, who have been listening outside Luigi's door, break into cheers. (The excitement of this scene is punctuated with kazoo music.) Luigi bursts out of his office and kisses the first person he sees - Lety! He runs over to the boardroom and throws the doors open, jumping up and down. Before he has a chance to say anything, Fern shouts, "CANNES!!" Luigi kisses everyone in the room (except possibly Alicia). In fact, he kisses Omar twice, who doesn't like it. Fern, who seems giddy, keeps repeating "Ricky Armstrong" and "Bella Life" with what I guess is supposed to be a US accent. (Actually he always says "Bella Life" that way.)

Fern gets up and kisses Ricky. Luigi kisses Omar again. Ricky says the ad has been great - it's making them lots of money and now it's up for a Golden Lion.

Fern is about to broach the awkward topic of the Germany trip when Marcia interrupts. All smiles, she says Fern had better stay here to take care of Bella Life, and she'll go to Germany without him. Carolina mentions that the film festival is around the same time as the Big Meeting (this is the meeting that will mark the end of Fern's probationary period as president of Conceptos), and Omar adds that it's also the time of the wedding.

The meeting adjourns. Fern makes as if to kiss Ricky again, but fakes him out. Luigi pushes Omar out of the way to sit next to Ricky, and Ricky kisses Luigi! He says it's because of his talent. Luigi reaches for Omar again...

Ricky, Omar, and Alicia remain in the boardroom. The rest go into the lobby, which seems to be the popular place for sensitive conversations. As Lety approaches with the herbal remedy, she hears Fern asking Marcia about the wedding. He says he just wants to know what kind of news to tell his parents. On the one hand, the great news about Cannes... on the other hand, the unspeakable cancellation of their wedding... Lety hastily retreats and the feas disperse.

Fern's still going on about the wedding when Luigi and Cristina approach. Marcia tries to tell him that Cristina Rivapalacios is here, and he gestures broadly behind him. Cristina takes his hand and shakes it. He turns around and recognizes her. Marcia gives her a friendly kiss on the cheek; Fern gives her maybe a little too friendly of a kiss. Marcia explains that Fernando is her novio, and Luigi says he's personally designing her wedding dress. He goes on and on, making Marcia sad. She excuses herself and leaves.

Luigi tells Fern how excited he is to be going to France. Fern says forget it, Luigi has too much work to do. Luigi has a fit. Besides, Fern adds, the award is for Conceptos, not Luigi. Luigi seethes. Fern says "you're not going to the festival - I am." (He seems to be laying it on awfully thick!) Carolina agrees with Fern. Luigi cries.

Back in the boardroom, Alicia is telling Ricky that it would be good for the PR images of both Conceptos and Bella Life if she were to accept the award at the festival, because of her great beauty and elegance. The whole world will be looking at her, her dress, her hands. Her eyes well up with tears as she imagines the scene. (She is probably hoping to pawn the Golden Lion to pay her bills.) Ricky tactfully tells her that Fern will most likely be the one to do that.

As they file out of the boardroom, Omar catches sight of Cristina and practically wets himself with excitement. He and Alicia compete with one another for her attention. Carolina introduces Omar ("before he collapses from nervousness," she explains.) Omar drools all over Cristina. He keeps pushing her hair back, and Cristina keeps pushing it forward, while Luigi rants and raves about "his" award.

They escort Ricky to the elevator to say goodbye. Alicia tries again to impress both Ricky and Cristina. Juana chooses this spectacular moment to tell Alicia that she had a call from some guys who identified themselves as "those nacos from last night" (and something about Jakarta). The look on Alicia's face (not to mention everyone else's) is priceless. Alicia tries to explain herself to Ricky, but Ricky just wants to get away from her. He says goodbye to everyone, and offers a special goodbye to "Lola - Lolita"! (Wonder what all that's about?)

Fern and Omar go back to the boardroom and Omar proceeds to drools some more about Cristina. Luigi interrupts them - he has major Mexican pop phenomenon Yuri on his cell phone. Omar and Fern briefly sing and dance to one of her songs. Yuri wants Luigi to do choreography for some charity event (?) and Luigi says something about tickets. Fern tells Luigi there's no time for this. Omar says he's going to Germany.

Luigi leaves in a snit. Omar asks Fern if he's finished Lety's card yet. Fern says no, he's not very good at this stuff. Omar says oh well, too bad, he's going to Germany. But he tells Fern not to worry - he's prepared all the things for Fern to give Lety while Omar's away.

Lety finally arrives with the herbal remedy. Fern gives her the card and chocolates, which cheers her up. He is nervous about the card, but it's better than usual (probably since Fern wrote it himself). She thanks Fern and hugs him tearfully. He kisses her forehead (these kisses no longer cause him to wince). They hear Marcia yelling irritably in the hallway, so they hurriedly separate. She comes in and asks about lunch. He says he has plans. (Lety excuses herself.) He mentions something about Yuri and the wedding; Marcia tells him to say something to his parents. (Sorry, I didn't get much of this.)

He pats her awkwardly on the shoulder tells her to have a good trip, and leaves her standing alone in his office without even a goodbye kiss.

Marcia invites Lety out to lunch (at Le Noir, the finest restaurant in town) in front of Alicia, who is miffed to be left out. Lety is incredulous and asks why her? Marcia says they need to have a talk. The feas lick their chops in anticipation of juicy gossip. Lety looks scared. :-) After Lety (and Fern) is out of earshot, Alicia asks Marcia how she can possibly be seen with Lety at a place like Le Noir.

In Omar's office, Omar shows off the care package he's preparing for Fern. There are numerous gift boxes, candies, stuffed animals, and greeting cards. Fern protests that he can't deal with all this stuff. Omar says he's going to make up a schedule for him to follow. He says how much he's looking forward to learning the culture of the German ladies.

Lunching on his own, Fern calls his father and says he has some news. (Two women at the next table stare and smile at him.) When Dad tells Mom to pick up the extension, Mom's first thought is that there's a problem with Marcia. Dad says on the contrary, we're supposed to have some champagne ready. He tells them about the Cannes nomination. They are excited, but note that the dates coincide with the Big Meeting and the wedding. (I'm not sure what they decide about this. I think Fern says he wants to do the whole thing in Germany!) He ends the call and meets with two men for lunch. (The women at the next table continue staring and smiling.)

At Le Noir, Lety is awkward. She won't let the waiter pull out the chair for her or unfold her napkin. When offered wine, she insists on lemonade instead. Marcia announces that it's time for them to speak frankly. She says that Lety knows all of Fern's private business, plans, and secrets. Marcia wants to know them too. (Lety tries to order a taco with everything on it.)
Marcia says she knows Lety's helping Fern with an affair, and that his confusion is normal, but ultimately, she (Marcia) is his girlfriend.

Marcia asks Lety about Tomas and says women like them need to stick together. Marcia says the difference between men and women is that women love with both their hearts and their heads. (Something like that.) More.

Lety protests that for her to tell Fern's secrets would be a violation of privacy. Marcia says it would be a violation of Fern's privacy, but not Lety's. Lety says she doesn't want to deceive him; why her? Marcia says that they seem close and she knows she can't count on Omar. (Lety rolls her eyes and agrees with this.)

Lety tells Marcia she respects her relationship with Fernando and takes it seriously. Marcia says she fears she's losing him. She tells Lety he's been having "relaciones" with another woman. She feels like she's dying from not knowing. She's been fighting for Fern for three years and doesn't want to throw that away. There's lots of crying and begging on both sides. Marcia begs Lety to help her, and Lety begs her not to ask.

Omar spends his lunch hour preparing detailed instructions for Fern. This letter and explicitly spells out (rehashes) their plan (or as Omar writes, "your routine of horror") to keep "the monster" happy in love with Fern so that she'll stay with Conceptos. Etc. He puts it all in a big red gift bag with Fern's name on it, staples it shut and leaves it on his own desk.

Marcia gets a call from Omar to go to the airport. Lety reminds her that Fern is stressed out over work stuff and wedding and everything else. Since Marcia's love for Fern runs so deep, surely they can get through all of this. Marcia says this trip to Germany was their last chance to save their relationship, but she thanks Lety for the encouragement and leaves Lety crying alone at the table in the restaurant.

There's a filler scene where the feas taunt Alicia (who hasn't eaten) about their great big lunch and how they have friends and can eat. Alicia makes fun of their "naco" food, beans, and gossip. She'd rather be hungry and alone.

Sara finds the red bag on Omar's desk. She shakes it, intrigued.

Roman rides up to Conceptos on his bike. Celso tries to chase him off. Or maybe not. On second viewing I'm not sure it's Roman and I'm not sure Celso tries to get rid of him. It looks like the guy on the bike is just delivering food and Celso wants some. Regardless, this guy has lured Celso away from his post.

Mr. Martha drops his, PM's, and Lola's kids off at Conceptos and tells them to behave. El Cheque is having a pointless discussion with Yazmin outside the building and Yazmin points out that these poor children are being abandoned by a taxi driver (Mr. Martha drives a cab). He is outraged and runs off to look for Lola, leaving Yazmin standing there by herself.

Filler scene: Luigi watches videos with Cristina and Carolina. He brags about his brilliance and they sexually harrass him. ;-)

Lety takes a walk after lunch, crying and praying. Her conscience is on fire. She can't continue her affair with Fern because it's wrong and it hurts Marcia. She is struggling between fulfilling her dreams, and being filled with guilt over lying. She needs strength to forget him and be a credit to her family. She resolves to break it off. But she can't. Or maybe she can. (She argues with herself.) She can't do it. Why, why? Please, God, help me.

---

Will Yazmin suffer a disfiguring accident? (It never hurts to ask.)

Will Lety dump Fern like a bad habit?

Will the red bag prove too tempting for curious eyes?

Will Alicia go out to lunch with Roman if he offers to buy her a bowlful of beans?

Find out tomorrow!

Labels: fea

Look in the sidebar on the left - see those clickable links by series? Click there and you will be taken to a list of all the recaps of that telenovela. Unfortunately, del.icio.us does not sort them by date, so you'll have to hunt a bit to get them in sequence, but that should straighten out from now on.

Labels: announcements

• Maite's extended lecture, delivered to Guillermo's mother, about homosexuality (it's nobody's "fault" and we should love our children and wish them happiness just as they are) took up 1/4 of the show. At the end Guillermo showed up and there was a lovefest.
  
  
• Sergio overhears Josefa and Jose Maldonado having their usual argument ("Jose, you should tell Maite she is your daughter." "No, she's too upset about her daughters, maybe later..."). Sergio promises not to spill the beans.
  
  
• Valeria has developed some backbone. She shows up at the hacienda, the now-recovered baby Pedrito in her arms, and declares with uplifted chin that she will be taking care of the child from now on. Jacinta is not happy to see either of them.
  
  
• Remedios and Octavio will rue their decision to tell Federico that Octavio is his father. Federico now yells at Octavio: "Where were you when I was growing up, why did you disappear so long? I've figured it out - you wanted Doña Jacinta to think I was the son of her husband, and include me in her will, which she has done, but you will not get a cent." He leaves muttering that they'll pay.
  
  
• Another public service announcement: a bouncing little undergrad comes up and lets Professor Octavio know she will trade her Favors for a better grade. He tells her, "Actions Have Consequences," and suggests she study harder instead.
  
  
• Unibrow holds Juanita's son - his grandson by the defunct asthmatic Daniel. Evidently Juanita (who was always the smartest of those three girls) has been helping Unibrow with the wine business in Europe, and now is living with him in a location to be disclosed shortly.
  
  
• The brown-nosing biddies show Jacinta a magazine picture: Andres with a floozy actress hanging all over him. Jacinta waves it triumphantly in Valeria's face. Valeria acts all steely and unconcerned, but later swears to the camera that she's more determined than ever, now, that Andres will never know about his son.
  
  Later, Andres, loitering in the convent courtyard with his shirt mostly unbuttoned and a great deal of chest hair showing, actually sees Valeria in her nun's habit. She gets away. He confronts the nuns and they admit she's been living with them. Without exactly saying so, they allow him to believe that Valeria has taken vows. "I've lost her."
  
  
• Finally one of the countless arrangements of roses which arrive at the restaurant for Maite has a note: "Sorry I haven't been able to tell you my name. I will help you get your daughter back. Come to see me at Las Barricas."
  
  So Maite puts her hair up (it looks nice) and goes to Las Barricas, where she encounters - yes, you guessed it - Unibrow! Looking like an undertaker in his black suit, evidently rich now, but as ugly and harsh as ever. She's furious that he lured her there and stamps out without listening to anything he has to say.
  
  On the way out, she meets Remedios, who tells her Valeria is back! and living at the convent. When Maite goes to find her at the convent, though, she's already on her way back to the hacienda. Maite turns on her heel and steams off.
  
  
• Federico is ragefully boozing when Jacinta comes in and says: "I don't tolerate men who drink." He doesn't believe her when she reiterates that he is a Valladolid.
  
  Their conversation is interrupted by Maite's explosive entrance - she isn't going to be intimidated this time, and she won't leave till she sees her daughter!
  
  Jacinta tells Federico to get out, tells Maite: "You Will Get In Here Only Across My Cadaver," insults her, they slap each other, Jacinta chokes Maite and says, "You'll Cry Tears Of Blood!" Just then Valeria arrives and is surprised to see this scene. She tells Jacinta, "This woman is my friend," but Jacinta says: "No, she isn't your friend, this so-and-so is your mother."

Labels: barrera

I don't know how often I'll be able to do daily mini-recaps, so please don't count on them. However, last night was quite eventful (yet again) and I thought a quickie update would be helpful, since I have the time to do it. I'll have more details in my weekend recap, but here's what you need to know now:

Lety tells Fern that working at Conceptos has been rough on her conscience since the day she started. Fern soothes her anxiety with sweet little kisses that appear to be effortless. He, on the other hand, is a nervous wreck. He sends Lety to Luigi's office to get him an herbal remedy.

Alicia follows Cristina around and tries to impress her with her six semesters of finance, etc. While Alicia is badgering Cristina, Juana answers Alicia's phone. It's Roman and his gang, calling yet again for Alicia to make good on her obligation to go out with them. Juana runs to share this bizarre message with the feas.

Omar and Marcia are in the lobby talking about the trip to Germany (he is trying to smooth things over with her) when Carolina shows up with a man named Ricky. Omar nervously informs Ricky that there might be a problem with the new Bella Life jewelry campaign. Ricky says he needs to speak to Fern right away.

Fern, whose bad mood has been increasing exponentially, has gotten impatient waiting for Lety and comes out into the executive lobby to bellow aimlessly and argue some more with Marcia. He's so mad he doesn't even see the other people. He yells "cancel the wedding, cancel the campaign, cancel my life!!" Marcia says, uh, hey, Ricky's here. Fern looks around the lobby and says sure, Alicia's here, Carolina's here, Ricky Armstrong's here... and does a double-take. "Ricky Armstrong, our favorite client!" Ricky urgently wants to talk, so they all head into the boardroom.

Cristina asks Luigi to show her the first Bella Life commercial. After it's finished, there are a few quick cuts between Luigi's office and the boardroom, as Cristina and Ricky simultaneously tell Luigi and the execs that the Bella Life makeup commercial is a top 3 finalist (out of 5000 entries) at the Cannes film festival! (Holy crap!) Cristina will be a presenter at the festival.

The feas, who have been listening outside Luigi's office, break into cheers. Luigi bursts out of his office and kisses the first person he sees - Lety! He runs over to the boardroom and throws the doors open, jumping up and down. Before he has a chance to say anything, Fern shouts, "CANNES!!" Luigi kisses everyone in the room (except possibly Alicia). In fact, he kisses Omar twice, who doesn't like it. Fern gets up and kisses Ricky. Luigi kisses Omar again. Ricky kisses Luigi. (I realize this all sounds a little odd, but they're all very giddy about the Cannes news, plus I think Luigi either has a little crush on Omar or just likes to harrass him.)

Marcia says Fern had better stay here to take care of Bella Life, and she'll go to Germany without him. (I guess she figures he'll be too busy to cheat on her now.) Carolina mentions that the film festival is around the same time as the Big Meeting (this is the meeting that will mark the end of Fern's probationary period as president of Conceptos), and Omar adds that it's also the time of the wedding.

The meeting adjourns. Ricky, Omar, and Alicia remain in the boardroom. The rest go into the lobby, which seems to be the popular place for sensitive conversations. As Lety approaches with the herbal remedy, she hears Fern asking Marcia about the wedding. He says he just wants to know what kind of news to tell his parents. On the one hand, the great news about Cannes... on the other hand, the unspeakable cancellation of their wedding... Lety hastily retreats and the feas disperse.

Luigi tells Fern how excited he is to be going to France. Fern says forget it, Luigi has too much work to do. Besides, the award is for Conceptos, not Luigi. Luigi cries.

Back in the boardroom, Alicia is telling Ricky that it would be good for Conceptos and Bella Life if she were to accept the award at the festival, because of her great beauty and elegance. (She is probably hoping to pawn the Golden Lion to pay her bills.) Ricky tactfully tells her that Fern will most likely be the one to do that.

As they file out of the boardroom, Omar catches sight of Cristina and practically wets himself with excitement. He and Alicia compete with one another for her attention. They escort Ricky to the elevator to say goodbye. Alicia tries again to impress both Ricky and Cristina. Juana chooses this spectacular moment to tell Alicia that she had a call from some guys who identified themselves as "those nacos from last night" (and something about Jakarta). The look on Alicia's face (not to mention everyone else's) is priceless. Alicia tries to explain herself to Ricky, but Ricky just wants to get away from her. He says goodbye to everyone, and offers a special goodbye to "Lola - Lolita"! (Wonder what all that's about?)

Fern and Omar go back to the boardroom to rehash some old information. Luigi interrupts them - he has someone named Yuri on his cell phone. (I don't quite get what this is about, but I'm sure it will become clear soon enough.) I think Yuri does choreography or something. Fern tells Luigi there's no time for this.

Luigi leaves in a snit. Omar asks Fern if he's finished Lety's card yet. Fern says no, he's not very good at this stuff. Omar says oh well, too bad, he's going to Germany. But he tells Fern not to worry - he's organized everything (I assume he means the cards and little gifts) ahead of time for Fern while Omar's away.

---

Will this morning go on forever, or will Marcia and Omar eventually go to the airport?
How does Ricky know "Lolita"? (This may not be a big mystery - there's a whole bunch of episodes that didn't get recapped after Chris stopped watching and before I started.)

And who the heck is Yuri?

Labels: fea

Squeaky and Flor decide that the way to get themselves out of the poorhouse is for Miranda to marry Al. They agree that she won’t do it willingly. They will have to make her do it.

Miranda asks Al what he meant by insinuating that there was something between Fab and her. Al says he came because Flor called him. ‘Go see her, then,’ says Miranda, ‘and then leave. I don’t want you here.’ Al says that they have to talk [what else do they do on this novela?] Miranda says that she can’t forgive him for not telling her that Fernanda is her mother. Al says that the decision not to tell her was Fernanda’s, not his. Naturally, this makes no difference to Miranda.

Lasagna tell Erika and Veronica that she is sorry that she offended Raul and that they broke up. They think that she is well rid of a low life like Raul. Al comes up behind them and greets Lasagna. She tells him that Raul has gone back to Mexico City. Veronica and Erika think Al is a hottie.

In search of Flor, Al finds Juan and asks how Flor is. He says that she is responding to the treatment but her emotional state is precarious because of problems with Fab. Juan asks Al to calm Flor down and get her back into her exercise routine.

Flor tells Al that he has discovered the plans of Fab and Miranda. She says that Fab and Miranda are going to wait until she dies and then get together. She is sure from the way that they embrace and talk that they are still in love with one another. Fab is going away to live at his ranch so that he can see Miranda without anyone knowing. Al instantly believes the wacko allegations of this neurotic woman. He also seems to be more disturbed about Miranda’s supposed betrayal of him than concerned about Flor.

Gonzo is about to leave the prison and is in a nice suit instead of his coveralls. He wants to know who paid his bail but the judge won’t disclose the identity of the person. At the dramatic moment, in comes Cesar and modestly says that it was he who made bail for Gonzo. Gonzo says, ‘You don’t expect me to thank you, do you? You paid the bail with my money.’ Cesar, in his boot-licking humble employee mode, says that to save the company, he sold his ranch. He tries to embrace Gonzo but Gonzo says, ‘you must think I’m an idiot. We’ll talk about this in my office, not here,’ and leaves.

Luciano comes to collect something from Father Buenaventura (hereafter Santiago since that is easier to type) and runs into Pamela. They exchange admiring looks. She is there about some poor children but when Luciano invites her for a coffee, she forgets about the children and accepts.

Fab takes Juan to his mother’s quinta to smooth things over between them. Juan says that his concern is Flor’s health and that Fab is complicating her treatment. Fab says that isn’t his intention but he and Flor has lost the ability to communicate. He doesn’t know what to do. Juan says that marriage counseling isn’t his job… At that moment Al storms in like a 5 year old and starts beating up Fab.

Back in his office, Gonzo receives a report on the investigation into the company from Vincente, his lawyer. There is no evidence against Cesar. Gonzo can’t believe it. He calls in Nuria and asks her to set up appointments with the head of accounting and all the other departments. An awkward pause ensues and Vincente has to tell Gonzo that other than Nuria, Cesar (and Luis Alberto, I guess) there are no more employee in SLI. Then Gonzo wants to meet with the owner of the reserved stock but Vincente says that the owner refuses to meet. Vincente and Nuria suggest that Gonzo go home, rest and read his email. Gonzo says that he won’t be condescended to and the next time he is at the office, he will throw them out.

Back at the scene of men behaving like kindergartners, Juan tries to keep Al off Fab and then Miranda comes in. Al says that Fab has to account to him for his treatment of Flor. Miranda wants to know what Al has to do with Fab and Flor’s situation. Since he isn’t going to tell her that Flor is his half sister, he has nothing to say.

Just for a change, Fernanda is in her office at the hospital and she is upset. There is a knock on the door and in comes Santiago. He wants to know about Andrea’s mental condition. Fernanda gives some kind of answer and then Santiago gets specific – is Andrea strong enough mentally to withstand being reunited with her husband? Fernanda is confused. Pamela told her that her husband is dead. ‘I thought so, too,’ says Santiago but he is outside and he wants to see her’. Fernanda wants to consult with Andrea’s doctors and get back to Santiago.

Nuria and Luis Alberto feel sorry for Gonzo since he has lost his business. Cesar says that the only thing SLI needs is an infusion of capital. ‘From where?’ asks Luis Alberto. ‘From me,’ says Cesar. He can pretend it is coming from the sale of the quinta. He calls Luciano and agrees to sell him the quinta. Then he asks Luis Alberto if the ‘old guy’s’ [Gonzo’s] plane is available. Luis Alberto and Nuria says that they are all still under investigation and it is too risky to draw attention to himself. Cesar blows smoke rings.

Having bitched at everyone for not telling her about her mother, Miranda now refuses to tell her sisters. ‘It’s not my responsibility,’ she says. Fab argues that Flor ought to have the opportunity to not hate her mother before she dies but Miranda says, ‘how are you going to live with yourself if you tell her and she keels over.’

Juan asks Al about his unusual interest in Flor. As usual when secrets are told in large drafty rooms and halls, someone is listening. It is Veronica. Al leaves and Veronica asks Juan to check out her swollen glands and she says that she has night sweats. Juan is no dummy. He says, ‘have you been tested for HIV?’ Miranda and Fab overhear this and I laughed out loud at Fab’s expression. I bet he didn’t use a condom when he screwed Veronica.

Leonardo gets the green light to tell Andrea about his return from the dead. Apparently, this will happen in the evening. Santiago leaves and Leonardo asks if Fernanda is Gonzo’s wife. ‘How did you know that? ‘I was in prison with Gonzo,’ says Leo. Leo makes a pass at Fernanda but she rejects it politely.


Lasagna, Squeaky, Erika and Flor are chatting about cheating on their partners. Flor is asked if she was going to cheat on Fab, who would she want to do it with. As Al walks up behind her, Flor says that the only man she is attracted to is Al. ‘I believe that I am in love with your brother,’ she says to Lasagna. Al slips away. Lasagna says to Flor, ‘Tell me what you just said is a joke.’ Flor says, ‘she and Fab have lots of problems. In contrast, all is peace and tranquility with Al. Even his voice makes me relaxed and secure.’ ‘A person’s voice doesn’t make you fall in love with them,’ says Erika. ‘A priest can have the same effect and you don’t fall in love with him,’ says Squeaky. ‘Any woman would fall in love with Al,’ says Flor. ‘You don’t know him very well,’ says Lasagna and she leaves in an agitated manner.

Fab goes after Veronica to persuade her to get tested for HIV and Miranda seems to think even before she is tested that she has to tell her sisters about this. Meanwhile Lasagna and Al talk about the knotty problem of having your half sister fall in love with you but not being able to tell her because it might kill her. Lasagna points out that Flor and Fab are having problems and she needs Al’s help. Al says he will talk to Miranda and Fab. ‘You can’t tell Miranda!’ exclaims Lasagna. Al agrees. The only person he can talk to is Fab. ‘You have to leave the hacienda right away,’ says Lasagna. ‘Why are we living in such a nightmare?’ asks Al.

Veronica is in what appears to be a chapel and is talking to herself. She can’t have HIV. She is fine. The whole thing was a plot of Tomasa and Juan. In comes Fab. He accuses her of knowingly trying to have sexual contact with him. Now it appears that he didn’t boink her. He stopped after a little petting but she would have gone all the way without protection. ‘Not so fast,’ says Veronica, ‘unless you give me money I will blab to everyone in the family and tell Flor that she is Al’s sister.’ Fab is surprised at this revelation.

Miranda tells Squeaky, Flor and Erika about Veronica’s possible infection with HIV. Then she drops the real bombshell. Due to their financial problems, the girls are going to have to not only clean their rooms but all of the hacienda, including the kitchen.[Maybe the girls could wear those sexy French maid uniforms for Chris ;-) ] Squeaky says that she doesn’t know how to do those things and Miranda responds that she will have to learn. Erika volunteers to help.

And now it’s “Abuse Rebeca Time.” This time it is Daniel who browbeats Rebeca to help him get control of his inheritence from Julio. For some reason, Rebeca thinks that doing this will kill Julio but Daniel doesn’t care.

That’s where the TiVo stopped.

Labels: heridas

• As Andres was gripping Valeria's hand and speaking to the back of her wimple, Valeria's special nun came up to distract him, saying "we can't tell you anything, come back later."
  
  Valeria meanwhile slipped away through the tunnel and went to the hacienda, where she discovered the crying feverish baby and flew down the stairs with him in her arms, as Jacinta brought up the rear saying, "What's your hurry?" They all go to the hospital where the doctor says the kid has pneumonia and is mortally ill. At the end of the episode, though - he's ok. Valeria did not reveal her secret (that she's the mom).
  
  
• The white horse dances some more and Andres (wearing hot pink knee socks and a big bulge with his green outfit and scarlet cape) kills more bulls.
  
  
• There are lengthy lectures on homosexuality. Guillermo misses his mother, but his dad is too macho to accept a gay son. "Some families think it's because they did something wrong. I'd like my mom to see that I am happy." Maite points out that we can choose our family, the way she and Victor chose each other and then Veronica, and now Guillermo is part of that family.
  
  
• Nicolas loses it when he sees a red candy wrapper (like Omar's!) on the desk. Manola tells him to snap out of it, but that's not going to happen. Teodoro tells Maite about Nicolas's increasing paranoia, and she tells Gustavo, who says, "Since he is believing in ghosts, maybe I can be his worst nightmare."
  
  
• Guillermo's mom shows up unannounced at his apartment. Neither he nor Victor is home, but Maite is. This makes Guillermo's mother think he has reformed and is living with this beautiful woman. Maite gently disabuses her of this hopeful notion. The mother stands with her mouth open. Not much of a cliffhanger.

Labels: barrera

I don't have my notes with me, so if I miss anything important, I'll mention it at the end of the week, but since people are wondering now, here are the broad points from last night:

Fern tells Omar about Miguel and Roman - how Miguel seduced Lety with romantic cards and little gifts in order to win a bet, and it nearly destroyed her. This has really shaken Fern up, but as far as Omar is concerned, it only proves that he and Fern are using the perfect strategy. After all, it worked on Lety before, right?

Omar's "Card of the Day" for Lety is too dorky and nonsensical for Fern. When Fern complains, Omar says he's got plenty of other things to do (you could have fooled me), so Fern can just write the card himself. Every time Fern tries to work on the card, he gets interrupted by someone else barging into his office.

PM and Simon (yes, according to the credits which I always skipped before, he's Simon, not Saimon) (well technically Simón but I'm too lazy to do the accents all the time) show up horribly late to work and talk about their adventures and their love. Alicia brags that she's been in lots of jacuzzis with lots of men, which provokes a rude comment from Omar.

Marcia scolds PM and S (henceforth "PMS") for their tardiness, and they compete with one another to take the blame. They are so effusive about their newfound love that Marcia is touched and decides to give them a break.

Fern sends Simon on an errand to his house - to pick up his suitcase, I believe.

Luigi gets a call from talk show host Cristina Rivapalacios. She tells him she's got a surprise for him - an even bigger surprise than the wax statue. When Cristina arrives to deliver her mysterious news in person, PM shows her up to the executive lobby, but then Alicia takes over, claiming that it's her responsibility to usher the distinguished guests around. She is all over Cristina like a cheap suit. At first, Cristina bears it politely, but then Alicia grips her arm so possessively that Cristina protests!

Marcia is eager to hit the road and asks Fern if he'd like to go to the airport with her. He says he still needs to finish up some work, which annoys her. Fern asks Lety for the status of whatever. She reveals that the (suppliers? creditors?) will deal only with him and not her, so if he goes to Germany, production on the jewelry campaign for Bella Life will be delayed.

Marcia hits the ceiling. She accuses Lety and Fern of planning this all out in advance, so that he won't have to go to Germany with her, and threatens to cancel the wedding (again, I don't have my notes, I may be misunderstanding something that I saw only in a preview for tomorrow's episode). They argue about this in Fern's office, then take it into the exec lobby where Cristina is also witnessing the scene between PM and Alicia concerning their celebrity-ushering duties. Fern suggests that they go someplace more private. They head towards Marcia's office for a Serious Talk.

Labels: fea

• Seeing as how he's already guessed her identity, Maite tells all to Andres. "If I hadn't married Adolfo, your dad would have rotted in jail and you and Daniel would have moldered in an orphanage. I lost my own daughter. But I knew Nuria was a good woman and a good mother to you..." It was a good scene. She informs him that she and Victor are like brother and sister, and that Veronica is adopted.
  
  Then she makes him promise to tell nobody. She will have to find her own time for telling Valeria the truth - if Valeria is ever seen again.
  
  
• Stupid, stupid Valeria sneaks out of the convent every night and INTO the hacienda, where she nurses and dandles her baby all night - then sneaks BACK to the convent through the cold, wet tunnels, and then has to say her rosary instead of going to bed, so she gets exhausted, and her little cough turns into a raging fever and she is confined to bed.
  
  
• Jacinta boots the nun out of the hacienda. Then she boots Cleotilde out of Pedrito's room. Then she opens the windows, takes the blanket off the baby, takes away his bottle, and watches him get sick. "You're a child of sin, son of a nobody, you'll be much better off with God." Then she leaves.
  
  In the morning she sneaks back in, gives back his blanket, and closes the windows. Cleo comes in and exclaims tremulously, "Pedrito is burning up!" "Oh, what a pity."
  
  Jacinta pretends to call the doctor: "Oh, he's with another patient, what a pity." She hangs up and says, "There's nothing we can do till the doctor comes. So go make my breakfast and leave this stupid baby here." Cleo protests, Jacinta screams again: "Make! My! Breakfast!" Cleo hightails it out of the nursery, and Jacinta hisses to the squalling infant: "Better you should go to God than live humiliated in this world..." It was splendid, my favorite scene yet, except for maybe the time she watched the old Padre die on the floor because she wouldn't give him his medicine. That might have been even better.
  
  
• Maite gets more anonymous flowers, Andres kills more bulls, nobody knows who bought Las Barricas, still no sign of Unibrow. Victor sings "Happy Birthday" (well) to his mother over the phone, then Guillermo calls his own mother. Really, I'm not making this up.
  
  
• Remember when I said that the superannuated Miss Josefina Maldonado looks like Joan Rivers? I found this picture of Joan at AwfulPlasticSurgery.com, a truly excellent and satisfying site.
  
  Anyway, the most pitiful subplot ever: some old dude in the Maldonado household, name of Nabuco, is actually jealous that dapper-but-useless Sergio (Jacinta's ne'er-do-well brother) is flirting with this tight-faced horror. So -- he puts salt in Sergio's coffee! And then Sergio doesn't want his coffee! Really, I'm not making this up.
  
  
• While showing off his dairy to Bruno (who is working for the mysterious out-of-towner who bought Las Barricas), Rodrigo admits: "I used to be a complete cretin, but the blows of life have put me in my place."
  
  Meanwhile his grandfather, Manola's dad Nicolas, is going bonkers. The maid spills an itsy bit of tomato sauce on him when she serves his dinner and he loses it, shouting, "You've stained my hands with blood." He rushes to the bathroom and scrubs and scrubs - but he can't get the blood off... The mother and Manola seem a little bit interested, but actually not very.
  
  
• Andres mopes around Aguascalientes and then decides to go to the convent and ask the nuns if they know where his wife Valeria is - at the very moment when she, Valeria, is staggering to her feet in that very convent, insisting that her fever has broken and that she must go to her baby.
  
  She dresses as a nun so as to glide anonymously past him as he stands moping handsomely in the courtyard, but he, coincidentally, chooses at that moment to reach out and grab her arm (do people actually grab nuns' arms?) and ask, "can you help me?" as she passes. Her mouth open in surprise yet again, she hasn't yet turned toward him when -- the curtain comes down.

Labels: barrera