Caray, Caray!

We begin our day’s adventures in TeleMiami with a replay of the Bruna-Diana confrontation. Our Heroine is in fiera mode and proves that she can pinch every bit as hard as Our Virile Villainess. Octavia slithers in. The dueña of Paco’s Blue Heaven has come down in the world: She may have a “lady’s companion” but she’s reduced to making halter tops out of upholstery remnants. Diana has come to tell her that they’re equals, along with the usual “You’ll pay for your crimes.” Bruna interjects, but as far as domestics are concerned, Diana checked her egalitarian beliefs at the door. Maids, she says loftily, have no right to butt in on the conversations of their betters. Her delivery is almost as stilted as a high school sophomore attempting Oscar Wilde. More arguing until Octavia calls Max. Jr. a bastard, at which point Our Heroine gives her a head-rattling slap. Lady O needs to wash her mouth before talking about Mini Max. Close-up of Diana la Fiera.

Meanwhile, Dr. Evil is resting quietly in his room at TeleMiami General. The door opens slowly; we see a cane and two legs in ragged denim. The camera pans up to reveal our old friend Andrés, thug-of-all-trades. He looks down at Ignacio, then grabs a pillow and begins to smother him. “Die, maldito, die!” I find myself cheering for Andrés while Dr. Evil flops around like a mackerel.

Back at Paco’s, Bruna holds Octavia protectively. Her Ladyship is impactada. She presses a hand to her injured cheek. Diana promises more of the same if Octavia insults Max Jr. again. During this exchange Bruna maneuvers between them, ready to intercept any slaps or pinches, but the ladies only scream at each other until Paco enters. He falls for Lady O’s rather grotesque imitation of a Distressed Ingénue. Bruna gets her two centavos in, calling Diana loca. This provokes a heated denial from Our Heroine. She’s not crazy, she’s full of hate because Octavia and Bruna are vermin. Paco takes offense at this, but Diana’s on a roll. She tells him that marrying “that viper” was the worst mistake of his life. Octavia is warned that if she continues messing with Gaviota, she’ll find out what the new Diana Soriano is capable of. Lady Di grabs her handbag and exits. Paco wants to know what’s going on. Lady O keeps up the charade of innocence wronged and is rewarded with a consoling embrace. Close-up of Octavia over Paco’s shoulder. She looks rather nauseous and her eyes move from side to side to indicate that she feels acorralada.

We go now to Dr. Evil’s Lair, where Camila’s rockin’ that Carnaby Street Swinger look again, this time in shades of red. Enter Max. He’s a happy camper. He found a job. As Camila sashays over to the bar to pour some drinks, Max adds that he’s going to be a consultant for Gaviota’s rival. Our Carnaby Street Sex Kitten is impactada for no apparent reason.

Meanwhile, Andrés continues to smother Dr. Evil. “Die, you damned dog!” Ignacio finally struggles free and threatens to tell the other doctors on him if he doesn’t leave. A rehash of their jungle adventures leads to mutual recriminations. Andrés digs the end of his cane into Ignacio’s throat, vowing to make him pay. He demands to know what Iggy did with “Debora”. “She fell and drowned.” Well, it’s partially true. She had plenty of help, but Dr. Evil’s feeling modest and leaves out a few details. Besides, what does Andrés care? He hated his wife. Andrés is not satisfecho with that. Did Ignacio push her or not?

Over at the perfume factory, Diana has gone from Fiera to Sra. Presidenta. Like most of Fediota’s staffing decisions, this makes one question how she ever managed to become a perfume tycoon in the first place. En fin, Emilio informs Diana that the company is teetering on the edge of ruin, they’ve lost millions, they need to act fast. Our Heroine is unfazed by her complete lack of experience in business and finance. Together they will save the fábrica from ruin.

Back at TeleMiami General, Dr. Evil clutches his throat, gasping as he insists that “Debora’s” demise was just an accident. Andrés doesn’t believe him. He jabs the end of his cane into Iggy’s neck again, snarling that he was the one to mete out Debora’s punishment. Dr. Evil wheezes that their big problem right now is Diana. She’s back. Andrés brings him up to speed on Diana’s partial amnesia. Again we are reminded that as long as Diana’s memory fails her, they’re safe.

And speaking of Our Heroine, she wants Emilio to call a staff meeting to announce her new position. Then they’ll all work really hard and save the perfume factory.

Meanwhile, Debora is on the couch at Emilio’s, enjoying a cup of coffee. Yolanda is on her way out. Our Little Blonde Weasel asks where she’s headed. Big Doormat fills her in on Gaviota’s attempted suicide. Debora, predictably enough, reacts with contempt. She asks why Yolanda’s going to visit the family’s worst enemy. “I have my reasons,” is the guarded response. Yolanda turns to leave when Debora asks about Our Heroine – does anyone know who kidnapped her? No, Diana has blocked out the whole experience. Yolanda finds all this interest suspect, but she’s in a hurry, so she leaves without asking any questions of her own. In case we weren’t paying attention five minutes ago, Debora gets a close-up to tell us Diana’s memory loss means that everyone involved in the kidnapping can breathe easily.

At Villa Vengeance, Diana tells Gaby, Lala, and Nancy that la fábrica’s a sinking ship, but she plans to take the helm and bring it safely to shore.

Cut to TeleMiami General. Yolanda is with Fediota. The String Quartet of Doom plays menacingly in the background as Big Doormat asks Gaviota’s forgiveness. Dueling close-ups. Commercial.

When we return, Yolanda is still begging forgiveness. She blames Octavia’s domineering personality and her own weakness. We get a piano moment as Yolanda vividly describes being just a puppet, with Lady Octopus pulling the strings. “Took you long enough to figure that out,” Gaviota replies before launching the usual diatribe. Yolanda gets on her knees and begs forgiveness again.

Up at the Villa, Granny M has joined the group and calls on God to bless Diana’s undertaking. The others chime in with encouragement and offers of support. Our Heroine asks where Diego is. She needs to tell him, too.

And speak of the devil, here he is on the patio. Wardrobe must be pinching pennies. Camila, Octavia, and Paola have all worn something a second time, and now Diego is wearing the same tacky white loafers we’ve seen on the Brothers Irazabal. Anyway, he grabs hold of a pillar and pulls himself out of the wheelchair. He stands. Grunting and panting, he takes a couple of tiny steps, then pumps his fist in triumph. He can walk. go diego rah

Back at TeleMiami General, Gaviota refuses to forgive Yolanda and tells us yet again why. She gets so worked up that she’s practically screaming by the time we get a close-up of Yolanda, still on her knees, sobbing and pleading.

Over at Paco’s, Lady Octopus is ranting and raving at Bruna, who stands, as usual, with her head slightly bowed and hands folded before her. After Her Ladyship recovers her composure, the pair of them rip on Diana. Bruna works herself up to a near-frenzy. Octavia, on the other hand, has settled into Queen Cobra mode. “It was an evil hour when Max fell in love with that woman,” she intones. She slowly turns her head. She blinks.

And back to Gaviota’s room. “What do I stand to gain by believing you?” she asks. Another rehash of the Alarcón sisters’ crimes against Fediota. She ends by telling Yolanda to ask for God’s forgiveness and get out. Big Doormat sinks to her knees again as the Orchestra of Doom plays on. She begs and pleads while Gaviota stares back, shaking her head ever so slightly.

Meanwhile, Diego tells us that he just needs to strengthen his legs and he’ll be the same man as before. This is not encouraging news. Commercial.

We return to the parlor at Villa Vengeance, where Granny M is now having doubts that Our Heroine will really be able to save the perfume factory. I can’t say I blame her. She doesn’t want to leave the mansion and go back to being poor. Again, I’m right there with her. But the business world is a man’s world. And that’s where Granny Miguelina lost me. Diana also begs to differ. If Octavia can do it, so can she. She can be just as mean and evil, etc. Granny M listens to this nonsense for a bit, then says she’s heard enough. She wants to change the subject.

Gaviota’s room. Yolanda is still trying to wear her down, but the only person Fediota wants to see begging forgiveness on her knees is Lady O. Not a chance, Yolanda sobs, her sister has no conscience, no feelings, Gaviota doesn’t know what she’s capable of. “Like killing the lawyer Reynosa?” Yolanda’s denial is unconvincing. She stands up. Fediota suggests that Yolanda show how sorry she is by ratting Octopus out. Tearful protestations. “I was my sister’s puppet, blah, blah, blah.”

Granny M’s idea of changing the subject is to lecture Diana about the long hours she’ll have to work, the problems this will cause with Diego. Our Heroine replies that she will always have problems with Diego. “You never loved him as a man,” says Granny. Cue the Melancholy Wind Ensemble. After some contradictory statements on both sides, they agree that it was a big mistake to marry Diego. But Diana will never leave him while he’s disabled. “An if he gets well and manages to walk again?” Cue ominous piano music. She’ll ask for a divorce so he’ll be free to find someone who will love him.

Cut to Diego rolling away from the window or door where he was eavesdropping on the above conversation. “So Diana wants me to get well in order to divorce me? Well, I won’t give her that satisfaction.” Here Diego gives us a rare glimpse of his impish sense of humor. To prevent Diana from divorcing him for Max, he will keep his recovery a secret and stay in the wheelchair for the rest of his days. That Diego. What a cutup. We should start calling him “Chuckles” or something.

Hospital. Gav’s room again. This is working my last nerve. Yolanda has been at it for five scenes now, and her tenacity stopped being admirable two scenes back. She drops to her knees again and vows not to leave until Gaviota has forgiven her. I never thought I would write these words, but thank God for Gaby’s entrance. I think she raided the Marfil-Debora closet this morning. She’s wearing a low-cut, mint-green camisole that shows a surprising amount of cleavage. She asks what’s going on. Yolanda tells her. Little Doormat counsels forgiveness.

In another part of the hospital, Debora traipses gaily into Ignacio’s room. Her purse is larger than her black leather skirt – maybe she’s carrying a bull whip along with all her Maybelline products. She tosses the bag onto the foot of the bed, strikes a nonchalant pose, and tells Dr. Evil they’re in luck. Diana has amnesia, yap-yap-yap-yap-yap in that annoying singsong voice. They share a laugh. Ignacio then says Andrés gave him the news when said accomplice came by earlier to kill him. Debora’s cheery mood evaporates. She is so impactada that she has to turn away from the bed. “Andrés came back from the selva?” She doesn’t like this at all. Her reaction arouses Dr. Evil’s suspicions. He begins to speculate on her behavior, on “Debora’s” insistence that she was Marfil, etc. Our Little Blonde Weasel does a poor job of denying that she’s really Debora. Ignacio seizes her wrist, pulls her close, and demands that she tell him who she really is. Close-up of Debora, looking guilty. Close-up of Dr. Evil, with his fiera glare. Close-up of Debora, in a quandary. Commercial.

Back to Gaviota’s room. The sappy piano and violin duet tells us that Gaby has prevailed. Fediota tells Yolanda that she is forgiven. But not without another rehash and a lengthy warning. Exit Yolanda, off to church to ask God’s forgiveness.

At Villa Vengeance, we hear Diana’s thoughts and high-heeled shoes as she approaches Diego. She hopes he’ll give her a divorce and be able to find happiness. I hope I’ll get a seven-figure trust fund for my birthday. We’re both in for a disappointment. En fin, Diana Soriano, Rookie Presidenta, is off to save the perfume factory. With Our Heroine supplying the optimism and Emilio doing the actual work, she knows it can be done. She wants Diego to help her, but he refuses. He won’t give anyone an opportunity to mock the cripple. (Too late for that, pal.) Points to Diana for being exasperated by this old dirge. She tells him he needs to find something constructive to do, so he doesn’t become full of bitterness. (Just what does she think he’s full of right now?) Exit Diana. Once again Diego vows not to divorce her. Commercial.

At Dr. Evil’s Lair, Max and Camila are celebrating. During the course of this rather dull scene we learn that Max plans to take advantage of Gaviota, Inc.’s financial weakness to make his new employer número uno in the fragrance industry. Camila manages to bring up Our Heroine and dis her. Our Hero gets angry, which turns Camila on. While she kisses him with the calculated abandon of a porn star, Max resists half-heartedly.

And now for something completely different. Well, kind of. We’re at the studio, where our aspiring James Dean enters his dressing room. He’s closely followed by René, who’s babbling and gesticulating. While René gabs, Luscious Larry treats us to the sight of his washboard abs as he strips off his jacket and shirt. Eventually René notices that he’s doing all the talking. “What’s up, guey?” (The closed caption actually reads “buey,” or ox, which also works for our boy Larry.) Lunkhead tells the dreary tale of his last encounter with Pilar. René’s eyes widen; his jaw drops; he claps one hand to his forehead and the other to the crown of his head; he drops wide-eyed and open-mouthed into a chair. I think he’s trying to tell us that he is muy impactado.

Back to Intracoastal Five-Star Rentals. Max has managed to pry Camila loose and sternly give her the “just friends” speech. She reprises “I Needs a Little Sugar in My Bowl.” Max offers no visible resistance this time around.

At the fábrica, Sra. Presidenta Diana is being introduced to her team. What follows could be a scene from an MGM musical circa 1940, along the lines of:
Emilio: “We just can’t let those old meanies at the bank foreclose on Widow Jenkins’ farm!”
The gang throws out ideas.
Diana: “I know, kids! Let’s put on a show! We’ll have music and costumes and lights and everything!”
Emilio: “Aw, gee, Diana, you’re swell!”
After which one of the gang points out that the success or failure of their venture depends on Our Heroine. Diana realizes that this is not “Babes in Arms”. Her smile fades and she looks down, thinking, “Damn. You’re right. That sucks.”

Roll credits

Labels: acorralada

After Emiliooo knocks the gun out of Don Loco’s hand and says “now you and me, unarmed” Don Loco says, in effect, “You and what army?” They stare at each other for a long few seconds while Soledad whimpers.

In Mexico City, the other doctor from the hospital visits Malena, wanting to know where Dr. Love is. He wants to know if Dr. Love is having trouble with Don Loco. Malena is also stupid, she believes that Don Loco surely allowed Dr. Love to take care of Mariana.

Don Loco finally says fine, if Alina thinks she’ll be happy with Orlando, she can learn from her own mistakes. He won’t interfere. But, he tells Emiliooo, you know darn well she doesn’t love the lieutenant. Suddenly Emiliooo is all polite and asks ‘con su permiso’ from both Montellanos as he leaves.

Thelma has some crazy idea that Orlando’s wedding should be kept a secret or something, she is over thinking everything. Singing Aunt breezes in, she’s very happy that Max is going to take her to San Mateo this evening for a date. Orlando doesn’t want to hear any of it and leaves. Thelma wants to know why she forgot so quickly what they heard last night, SA says he apologized and then goes on and on forever about how nice he is, la la la. They finally fade out because she won’t shut up.

Coral is in the cab, she says they finally lost whoever was following them. The driver has had enough, he takes her bags out of the car and leaves here there. In the middle of nowhere, the driver keeps saying “It’s your problem.” She picks up her suitcase and starts walking.

Luba and Gaspar talk about how they have an image to keep up, that they are a witch family and everyone should fear them. Then she complains about Thelma some more.

Angel el estupido greets Suzi very coldly, she has come to take care of him, but he just tells her “yeah great thanks but no thanks” Suzi and her excellent tight pants turn right around and leave. Then Angel tells himself that he acted like an ass with her. You think, you idiot?

Don Loco isn’t acting super duper crazy, so Soledad’s radar is going off like crazy. She wants to know what he’s thinking, being so quiet. He acts like he is tired of exacting his vengeance, he’s going to find a wedding present. Soledad flips out and wants to know where he is going for real. If his goal was to drive her crazy, he succeeded. She has lost it. Ha Don Loco then calls her out on the same thing, he tells her she’s crazy. She starts begging him to not let the wedding happen. She proceeds to have a novela style fainting attack, dramatically falling on the sofa. Don Loco for some reason starts lifting the dress up off of her legs, he sees blood everywhere, leaking from her prior injury.

Vera tells Mexican Larry to stay away from Luba and the cave. ML leaves and Rosita enters. She has a problem. Vera says everyone has a problem, like Alina… Rosita wants to know all about it. No no, Vera says, nothing. These two, give me a break. They play the passive/aggressive ‘woe is me’ game too much. Vera finally tells her that Alina has to marry Orlando.

Don Loco goes to Luba’s cave, he wants her to cure Soledad. He and Luba run off back to the house. Gaspar hopes Luba can cure her.

Thelma asks Emilioooo where he has been. He says he doesn’t have to tell her where he goes. Emiliooo says that Orlando has to marry Alina to restore her honor. Thelma says that Don Loco surely will block the wedding. Emiliooo says no, he spoke with DL, he will allow the wedding. Alina has come halfway down the stairs and hears this last part, she doesn’t look impactada or anything. Just whatever. These actors can’t even summon up a good impactado look anymore, the basic staple of novela acting. They are all truly just mailing it in now.

After the commercial Alina talks to Emiliooo and Thelma. She wants to know how he convinced DL to allow the wedding. He says something about DL not being able to oppose a member of the military. Whatever, like DL cares about something like that. Thelma acts all nice to Alina, “be happy” and other crap. What a snake. She talks about what a great guy Orlando is. Ha yeah right. Alina actually thanks Emiliooo for helping her, he apologizes for kissing her the other day. They start to talk about that and Emilioo finally says whatever, you have to marry him, he storms off.

Granillo is dressed up like a woman, he is complaining to Edelmira that he has to do the same menial work as the other girls, he is cleaning tables. Edel tells him to shut up, he still has to finish and then do yesterday’s accounting. As Edel leaves, Castulo enters and calls Granillo “Gorda.” Granillo says that’s no way to talk to a Dama. Ha. Castulo grabs him and wants to know what the guy in here last night was talking about.

Crazy doctor wants to hypnotize Santos to find out more of who he is.

Granillo says the guy was named Ramiro, he doesn’t know anything else. Castulo says Granillo has to find more info if that guy comes back again.

Rosita argues that Alina doesn’t love Orlando, but she obviously doesn’t realize that it doesn’t matter.

Adela is out looking for work since Don Loco ran her off. She finds Nora, who offers her a place to stay.

Luba wants to know how Soledad got hurt, DL says none of your beeswax, just fix her up. She says fine, and somewhat sarcastically says “as you wish.” DL asks about the cofre, she says it is still lost (she gets a good bugeyed look when he asks her about it), he says when she finds it he wants to see what is in it.

Don Max paces impatiently while SA shops in every single store, with poor Ifgenio having to carry everything. He is distracted by the knowledge that Santos is his son.

Alina walks in the forest and whines about having to marry Orlando, who she hates. DL rides up and asks her where she got the stupid idea to get married. He says she isn’t allowed. She says Emiliooo told her that DL allowed it, DL says that Emiliooo misunderstood. She will never be allowed to marry Orlando. WTF. Why does he waste so much time with this crap? Whatever, marry whoever you want, just get out of here.

Max and SA stop to eat at a little restaurant. Turns out that it is Hottie Mom’s place, she sees Max and goes nuts, calling him a killer.

DL and Alina discuss further, DL finally says if Alina doesn’t obey, Soledad will get hurt or killed.

Hottie Mom continues to go crazy on Max in the middle of the restaurant. Max and SA pick up their stuff and take off in a hurry.

Wild and crazy doctor hypnotizes Santos. He talks about a Rosa and Santos has a vision of making out with Rosita. He wakes up and brilliantly realizes that Rosa is a woman.

Alina begs, DL yells, if she disobeys Soledad will suffer. Alina cries some more.

Emiliooo stares at the heart necklace and talks to himself. Whine whine, she can’t marry Orlando, I’m going crazy.

The real doctor tells Thelma that the baby will be fine, everything will be fine, even giving birth here in SE.

Adela and Nora take a walk. They see a hole in the ground, Nora says it is a hunter’s trap. I’m sure we are being told this for a reason, later someone will get stuck in one. We get a long lok at the hole, then down in the hole, then… it’s the cofre! Someone threw it in a hole. What the hell is going on here? This thing teleports around on it’s own.

Luba works on curing Soledad. She says with the cofre she could end the suffering, but with it lost she can’t help. Now she won’t shut up about the cofre. She had it for years, nothing, now that it’s gone, suddenly it is the most important thing ever. Soledad wakes up and tells her how she shot herself in the leg by accident, trying to shoot DL. Soledad wants news of Alina and Orlando.

Gaspar talks to a frog about his munequita, since he can’t talk to his mom about it. He hopes the baby isn’t tonto like him.

Alfonssina in another excellent tight dress treats Mariana roughly, ‘taking care’ of her. Throwing her around while fluffing pillows, etc. Sergio comes in and tells her that Hugo is here for her, he wonders what that’s all about. Alfonsina runs to Hugo, they start making out in the middle of Don Loco’s office. In walks Don Loco! For some reason, he yells “Hugo!” I would have expected that he yelled at his woman Alfonsina, but no, he yells at Hugo. Or Gasca. Or whatever you want to call him. Ooops, the s**t is about to hit the fan. Don Loco says he understands everything now. Gasca says he was stupid, he thought Alfonsina was just a plaything for Don Loco. DL runs Alfonsina out of the room. Somehow Gasca manages to apologize his way out of it. DL asks him, “you found Soledad’s bracelet in Jose’s bed, right?” Gasca says yes.

Luba tells Soledad that she thinks the thing with Alina and Orlando is nthing serious. Soledad says she thinks it is, Emilioooo came and asked permission for her to marry Orlando.

Vera tells Alina that Rosita came looking for her. Vera says something about the wedding, Aina says there won’t be any wedding.

Max tries to play Hottie Mom off as some crazy woman, Singing Aunt is giving him the third degree. Max convinces her that he does not have a son.

DL tells Gasca that he needs someone who isn’t part of the regular local people to talk to, Gasca says he’s the one, he’s all ears. I expect DL to try and spring some sort of trap here, he let the whole Alfonsina thing go way too easily.

Hottie Mom and her employees sit down and discuss the Don Max situation. They decide that Max is a bad man.

Santos decides to go out and find Granillo again to see if he can help.

Alina talks to Donkey, who barks as if talking back to her. She doesn’t say anything interesting. She has no way out.

The doctor examines Angel, he tells him that he is very strong, anyone else would be in much worse shape. Angel tells how he was an ass with Suzi, he wants to send along an apology.. Emiliooo comes in, the doctor says he’ll be back tomorrow with an antibiotic. Emiliooo tells Angel that Alina will marry Orlando. Angel is slow motion going to commercial impactado.

Coral tries to hitch a ride back to San Mateo, she stands by a sign that says 20km back to town. For some reason nobody will stop to pick her up. Her outfit isn’t revealing enough I guess.

Angel doesn’t understand, of course, Alina hates Orlando. Emiliooo says whatever, the important thing is to get Alina out of this place.

DL talks about Soledad’s new lover, then about Alina. He wants to ruin everything. Gasca says tell me all about it.

Angel whines some more, Emiliooo yells at him and leaves. These two are so useless.

Rosita talks to herself about how strange Alina’s wedding plan is. Braulio and Hottie Mom come in, they have the money they need to pay off Castulo for information. Earlier at her restaurant, when they all decided Max was a bad man, Hottie mom and the others talked about money, that must have been related to this.

SA looks at baby clothes and is excited. Thelma is more and more worried about having the baby and what will happen after that. SA goes on and on, Thelma tells her to shut up. She doesn’t want to talk about the baby any more. She actually tells SA to tell her about her date with Don Max. Wow she must be desperate to change the subject to ask for THAT.

Luba has some orange flashbacks of the Orlando/Alina ‘courtship’, Alina running away on a horse, Orlando following with something hidden behind his back, him saying that Donkey interrupted whatever he was doing with Alina, etc. Luba told him that Donkey only makes trouble with bad guys, not good guys. She vowed that Orlando will pay. Soledad shakes her out of her memory. Luba says that she doesn’t think DL will allow the wedding. Luba thinks “mi cofre… me cofre….”, like when the old crazy lady was going to the woods to die, thinking “cocolbosh… cocolbosh….”

Alina packs her things, I think she is going to make escape attempt # 529. She throws everything into a huge burlap bag and runs from her room.

DL is drunk and comes to see Soledad. Now he tells Soledad that he WON’T interfere with Alina’s wedding. What is he up to? He says he wants to recover his love and happiness with Soledad. This better not turn out like Asuncion in Alborada, where that asshole husband of hers was forgiven after being nice for five minutes. The end of this novela someday better feature the death or incarceration of Don Loco or I will hate it even more than I already do.

Alina pauses on her way out of the house, perhaps she is trying to figure out how to sabotage her own escape and blame it on being concerned with her mother. I really like her tight tanktop.

Monday – Alina, who changed clothes somewhere along the way, is still escaping through the wilderness and is scared by some snakes.

Labels: duelo

Labels: Zorro

Minnie walks into Aaron's office as he's rushing to get last minute things done before his 4 PM flight. She informs him that Isadora is divorcing Rod and that Rod is so obsessed with that jimadora hooker of his, he couldn't care less about Isa's leaving. They agree that Aaron needs to convince Rod to ask Isa to come back and to have her persist in her useless quest to seduce his cousin. Otherwise, if Rodrigo finds his migrant "working girl", she'll end up pregnant and Aaron and Minnie forfeit the fortune if their baby turns out to be a girl.

Aaron calls in Gavi and tells her to call up Rod at the hacienda so he can talk to him. Back outside the office door, Gavi freaks and asks/tells Elvira to make the call, but Elvira snaps back that Gavi doesn't give her orders and refuses. "Get back and do your job!" Gavi makes the call and Sayinyawanna answers the phone.

Rod has turned from the Gentle Green Giant to The Hulk on steroids. He is out in the back screaming and threatening poor Crispin that he has only one more month to find the real Gaviota. He says he's more in love with her than ever and it is just killing him. Then he throws the old guy out.

At the same time SJ tries to tell him about the company being on the line for him, but Rod screams at San Juana that he doesn't want to be interrupted when he's busy. SJ runs back to the kitchen and tells Gavi that he isn't in right then and has no idea when he's getting back.

Hilario is sulking there in the kitchen. SJ has been trying to get Hilario's attention and to cheer him out of his strange mood, but he snubs her and just walks off.

Minnie says Rod is just refusing to come to the phone. They need Grammie P's help with this. Aaron tells her to settle it herself. He doesn't have the time or the inclination because when he gets back he's got to convene an important board meeting with the family and Rod's got to be there since he's in charge of the other half of the family enterprise. Talk over. Aaron sends her off to Grandma's house, then tells Gavi to try Rod again and to make sure his cousin gets a message that there is going to be an important board meeting for the entire Montalvo family on the 27th. Above all, Elvira isn't to touch anything of his while he's gone away.

Grammie P and Sourpuss Sofia are not going to stand by and let Rod's marriage go to hell in a handbasket because who needs all the baggage a messy divorce leads to. Minnie comes by then and is hot under the collar because this new foxy Mariana has slyly managed to twist Aaron's arm into not just giving her the receptionist's job; but the brass-balled b!tch has now gotten him to throw out Minnie's handpicked unsexytary and to replace her with Mariana herself.

Grammie tells Minnie to lay off Mariana despite her jealous suspicions and Aaron's track record since she is in a "delicate" state, and upsetting herself could jeapardize her pregnancy.

Aaron is anxious to discuss the progress of the newer, higher priced tequila manufacturing project with them all. He fancies himself gaining the admiration of the entire Montalvo family with the success of this new product.

Icedora meets with Minnie and Sofia for lunch just to tell them she has definitely left Rod and isn't ever going back. She has had enough humiliation and rejection to last a lifetime. (The woman has her pride, ya know?) Absolutely nothing she tried got his attention. (My hubby says he gives her an A with two thumbs up in a circle for those efforts.....)

Minnie suggests she hold off and wait for the family meeting so they can take advantage of it to corner Rod then. Icedora says it's too late for that. She's going to collect for all her spilled tears and she is going to take Rod for half his entire fortune. If looks could kill right then, Sofia would have already sliced and diced Icedora and fed her chum to the sharks.

Rod is in a super funk. He closes himself up in his office with a fifth of tequila and listens to Gavi's tape. The guy is desperate to find Gavi and to make mad passionate love to her after that witch's brew from the night before it seems. He is on a drinking binge and screams to everyone who comes to the door to leave him the hell alone. He is one sloppy mean drunk, too, breaking and smashing everything in sight, including his grampy's picture. He is on a tear and is crying over his tequila. He blames himself for screwing up with Gavi so badly because of his macho man jealousy. (If Gavi only knew the pound of flesh she was collecting out of this.....)

Gavi calls again, but SJ cannot get Mr. Rodrigo to even talk to her let alone take any phonecalls, so she says he's still not back yet and has no idea when he's returning. Gavi then leaves Aaron's message about the important family board meeting on the 27th that he absolutely needs to attend. Rod, in between T shots, remembers the first time he and Gavi drank Tequila together and thinks about how much he needs her now.

Hilario tells Roman that he is too afraid to bother Rodrigo, but he is actually just suffering one hell of a guilt trip over getting it on with the boss's wife, figuring there is definitely no long term job security for him if and when that little news nugget gets out. Ofelia worries about Isa's sudden leaving being the cause of Mr. Rodrigo's going on a wild drunk. She's afraid he'll do something crazy to himself. Roman shakes his head and explains that his wife leaving him was actually an act of liberation for the man. It is Gaviota he's going nuts about, not Isadora. Ofelia is all a big wide-eyed OMG.

Since Roman is worried about his boss he tells Hilario to go grab the truck and bring back Mister James. James will be the only one who will be able to get through to Young Mr. Rod.

That same evening after work, Margarita has invited Gavi to join her and her boyfriend for a drink. Margarita's boyfriend has a buddy who will be sort of a blind date. At the club Blind Date Buddy (Manuel) of course asks Gavi if she's got a boyfriend. She answers no way. She doesn't need that kind of debilitating suffering and then laughs that love gives her a rash. Bind Date Buddy is forward enough to ask her if she's not interested in guys with small wallets, then, like him. Gavi laughs and says they're there to have fun. Margarita says she figures she got badly hurt by some guy sometime in the past. Gavi won't admit there was or is anyone in her life.

James gets Rod to open the door up and to let him into the room. Rod tells him he knows Isa left him when she realized the truth of the matter. He can't even breathe anymore he is so taken with the need to find Gaviota. James is so flustered he tells Rod that what he needs is a priest to exorcise him. "You're possessed, Rodrigo!!" (No. I'd say it is just the other way around, James, considering your guest stay at the Addams' family ranch.)

Rod asks him if he really thinks Gavi actually bewitched him. "--What are you saying?" Would she need to do that to entice her man? "You got to be crazy! Women usually do that sort of thing to attract men, not to keep them away from them." (No, guys. It was Isa who did this to the Rodster, and she botched the job 'cause she didn't bother to tell the old gal when she bought the potion that her Burly Bear was already in love with somebody else before marrying HER.)

James blasts Rod for losing his wife and destroying his marriage over a woman that he'll never see again, who probably doesn't want to have anything to do with him ever again and who is probably already involved with somebody else. Otherwise, she'd have contacted him somehow. (If it was the blind leading the blind before, it just became the blind being led by the deaf, dumb and -----.)

Rod refuses to accept the thought of giving her up forever and always like that. He begins yelling like a wounded wildebeast. He pounds on Jame's chest and screams at his best friend over and over that Gavi is coming back in the spring for the harvest, and that she will want to see him.

Rod tells James that he was never in love before and then when he fell in love with Gavi he wanted to live it to the fullest. His damned sense of responsibility made him go back to England. Then when he came back things with her just got so complicated. He just let his damned jealousy take over his good sense and now all he's done since he got back is step in it over and over again. Other couples break up but they get back to gether and get to give it a second chance, but he says that doesn't seem to be in the cards for him. (I think I started looking for my own tequila bottle about here.)

James says he needs to rise above this like he did with the tragic deaths of his grandfather and parents. After all, James adds, if he got over Sofia's dumping him and then found love again with Acacia, then Rod can fall in love again also. (Wha-?? I don't think you even wanna go there, Baby James. Nope. We don't really wanna have that discussion, you an' me.) Rod tells him that if he met Gaviota again even if he had to suffer it all over the same way, he would fall in love with her just like before, however much it hurt.

In the meantime, Sayinyawanna tries again to cheer Hilario up with another roll in the hay, but Hilario snubs her. This time around, though, she tells him to get stuffed.

Finally James tells Rod to get back with Isa and to make an effort, to find the desire to make things right with her. "Echele ganas". After James leaves him, Rod picks up the tape player and says out loud to Gavi, "If you knew how much I am suffering, we'd be together again already. We'd be loving each other now." He goes to sleep still playing her songs and calling out her name.

At the apartment in the city later that same evening, Icedora tells her mother her real plan is to frighten Sofia and her grandmother enough to get the family to force Rodrigo to take her back. Seduction didn't work. She doesn't have to lift a finger. She only has to sit back and wait now, or one-half of his fortune is her consolation prize. Isa's momma is thrilled with her daughter's ingenuity.

That night Grammy P and Sofia discuss the upsetting news about the impending divorce also. "Isa took her claws out." Those eyes bug out of Grammy P's head again, and she is really starting to sound like a stuck record. "I told Rodrigo there will be NO divorces in this family!" --particularly if that divorce is just to let her grandson free to go running after some whoring migrant and shame the family.

Sofia worries that because of some stupid whim of her mush-for-brains brother, they stand to lose half of their possessions while Isa ends up taking it to pay off her father's business debts!! She suggests that Rod will only listen to reason if Grammy talks to him. "Do it then, Grammy. Do it!!"

At the same time, Sofia thinks to herself that if Grammy really knew the truth about Gaviota, that she really went innocently to Europe looking for Rodrigo simply to tell him about their baby, then Grammy might just sit on her hands. Sofia figures that wouldn't do at all and would wreck her plans to get Isa pregnant and put the fortune securely under her brother's control.

Grammy P tells her to buy plane tickets for the two of them to go to the hacienda and speak to Rodrigo ASAP. "Right away, Grammy!" Sofia thinks to herself there is no way she is really going to let Grammy P talk to him let alone about his Gaviota "problem". Once they arrive she will make sure they don't get a chance to speak to each other.

Since it's aparrently a kareoke night, Gavi gets to sing her heart out and afterwards the whole bar cheers for her. It's late so Gavi decides to take a cab home then, instead of sticking around with the group any longer. She figures Clarita is probably worried about her. Blind-Date Buddy Manuel tells Margarita that Gavi seems to be a woman already in love, deeply hurt, but definitely in love.

When Gavi gets home she tells her mother about the nice evening she had. Gavi also suggests Clarita should go looking for a nicer and more comfortable apartment now that she's to get a raise in pay. Clarita then asks her if this new young man she met today might just be the prince charming she needs now. Gavi says no. Despite the pain of a lifetime hurt Rodrigo caused her, she will always love him.

Gavi and her mother discuss the phonecall to the hacienda. Clarita asks what Gavi will do if and when Rodrigo Montalvo finally does come up for the board meeting, and they see each other again. She'll suffer for sure. Gavi admits that even though she wanted the job to get some good business experience by working there she somehow feels closer to him. Either way, she plans to have everything ready and then to let Elvira take the bows in front of the family during the meeting. Eventually she'll find work somewhere else where she won't be haunted by Rodrigo's memory, as soon as she's gotten enough experience.

When James gets back to Melitón's ranch Acacia is sitting outside moping. She asks him where he's been off to. He explains and then asks her if she would spend the night with him. Acacia says no, she can't because of her uncle. "When are we going to speak to him?" "--Never!" She wants him to swear he'll leave as soon as the peanut harvest is over and never look for her again. Then she surprises him with another desperate kiss.

Melitón starts screaming for her about then and she runs off. James gets this puzzled look on his face, like "what the heck is happening here?" (Can he really be that naive about Acacia's relationship with her uncle after the other night??? How can he still be after her if he suspects anything at all like that? Yechhh!)

Inside the house, Acacia enters her uncle's room, but stays by the door. Melitón gets out of his bed and starts scratching himself in all the wrong places. He orders her to get into his bed but she refuses point blank. He beats her face with his fist, knocking her down and against the wall. Her nose is bleeding. He grabs her by the hair. "My house, my rules!" (My Gawd.)

While all this is taking place Roman finds Hilario sulking near the house. Hilario has been remembering Icedora's insults towards him. He 'fesses up to his daddy that he fooled around with another woman. Roman can handle that news and says hopefully SJ doesn't know, but somebody will eventually get hurt if he doesn't break it off with one or the other. Hilario admits then that it was a married woman. Roman jumps up and runs off telling him that was foolish and has to stop immediately. Hilario agrees it won't happen again.

Before going to sleep, Clarita and Gavi have one more conversation about work. Gavi mentions that Aaron Montalvo's wife is crazy jealous of every woman, but with reason. This surprises her mother who tells her to keep her eyes wide open so that he doesn't take after her skirts the same way, then take a broom to her (in a manner of speaking) like playboys generally do. Gavi says he's so far been decent towards her.

The next morning Gavi gets in trouble from Elvira for supposedly keeping her out of the loop for the meeting preparations. Gavi says it wasn't intentional. She just thought to learn the ropes herself and save Elvira the prep work. Elvira yells at her and accuses her of trying to take over her job responsibilities also just to shine in front of the Montalvo family. Gavi says it wasn't that way, but oh well.

Rod comes downstairs with a a hell of a hangover. He is asking Roman to go with him to the distillery. Ofelia runs in to advise him that there is another call from the corporation. Aaron's secretary is wanting to speak to him. Ofelia gives him the message about the meeting on the 27th and says they've called a few times now. Roman tells him they've been trying to reach him for a while. Rod says he doesn't want to go to talk to anyone and is in a rotten mood. "Let's just settle this business once and for all. Give me the phone." He starts speaking rudely into the receiver (without knowing it is Gavi on the other end). "Hello. You tell my cousin I'm not interested and I am not coming to any board meeting!!"

Labels: Destilando

(*That's #261 by Univision's count; but it's 263 hours.)

The veneer wears thin

Fern and Aldo compete with one another to get Omar to apologize for calling Lety ugly. He does so to applause. This nets Aldo a couple of hugs from Lety, while Fern gets a mere handshake. Meanwhile, Ariel and Ana-Leticia remain in the boardroom and sulk. You would think that Fern was asking them to sell off all their worldly goods and eat out of garbage dumpsters. In A-L's defense, she's stupid and she believes everything Ariel tells her. I'm not sure what Ariel's excuse is.

Lety's phone rings. And rings. Lety realizes that it's Omar calling for Aurora. While Omar bounces in his seat waiting for her to answer, Lety tells Aldo she doesn't recognize the number and tries to blow it off. Aldo offers to answer the phone for her, and even reaches for it. Lety puts on her Big Girl Panties and asks him why he wants to answer her phone. He sort-of apologizes and says he thought it was odd that she didn't want to answer. She asks if he's doubting her. He says that wasn't how he meant it, but he doesn't flash the Chiclets at her either.

Frustrated, Omar hangs up. And then redials. Lety answers this time. "Aurora?" Omar asks hopefully. "Wrong number," Lety says and hangs up. She makes a "satisfied?" face at Aldo. His face says no. She turns off her phone and says they won't be bothered again. His face is still stone.

Omar mutters to himself that it was certainly not a wrong number. He tries again and gets the out-of-service message. This is clearly a first-in-a-lifetime experience for him.

Aldo accuses Lety of being nervous. She accuses him of being jealous. He doesn't deny it - he says she's being weird. She asks him to trust her. (Their beautiful future is off to a great start!) They leave for lunch.

"A person can die of sadness"*

(*Said by Fernando, many many months ago.)

Ana-Leticia is crying in Marcia's office like there's no tomorrow. Ariel waves at her and says to Marcia, "Look at her. Do you like this? Do you like watching her cry like this?" Marcia pleads with her sister to understand. "I don't understand and I don't want to understand!" A-L wails. Marcia explains for the nth time that Fern is just trying to end the crisis ASAP so they can get back to how things were before.

A-L calms down just long enough to ask Ariel to confirm this. He says yep, things should be back to normal by 2020 or so. A-L starts wailing again. Marcia points out that Ariel's the one who made her cry this time. Marcia says the sacrifice is to save their future. A-L says that all she cares about is right now. Marcia tries to talk some sense into her, but Ariel yells "no, no, no" like a little kid. He invites A-L to leave with him. She says she needs to stay there and cry for a couple more hours. Ariel grabs his seemingly empty briefcase and leaves his sisters alone to bond over teardrops. But wait - A-L's face is bone dry!

The New PG*

(*Where the hell is Psychic Guy, anyway? We need him!)

The Photographer Guy (New PG) visits Omar in his office and shows him a very blurry photo. Omar asks who it is. NPG's mother? His sister? No, NPG says it's the Mujer Misteriosa - the picture he took last night.

"I thought you were a professional," Omar says. He complains about the quality. The NPG asks Omar what he wants - speed or quality. The woman never stops moving. Omar has a brilliant suggestion - NPG needs to be more efficient. NPG says Omar sounds just like his boss. He has somewhere else to go, so he takes the blurry photo, laughs at Omar (not sure what that's about), laughs at Fern who's on his way in, and leaves.

Fern thanks Omar for supporting him. Omar says he's doing it for Aurora. He says she's changed his life. Fern says that if she has that much power over him, she must be very interesting - maybe he should get to know her. Omar says "Over my dead body." (Sure, Omar, and if you only knew where to put your dead body to keep that from happening, you'd be making progress!)

Meanwhile, NPG goes to visit Manuel, the image consultant, who is wearing a purple gingham shirt under his pinstriped jacket. Honest. I'm not making this up. I don't have that good of a sense of humor. Or fashion, apparently, because it looks surprisingly good on him. NPG gives Manuel a cockamamie* story about how he's doing a piece on retro fashions and he heard that Manuel's an expert. Manuel, the sucker, says that in fact, he's been working on that with a woman, outfitting her in the cinematic styles of yesteryear. NPG excitedly says that's perfect - Manuel can hook him up with her! Manuel's expression is inscrutable. Will he take this guy up on his offer? Or throw him out on his ear?

(*I like that word and I'm not going to stop using it!)

And what do Stephen King's groupies look like?

Aldo and Lety are chatting in the park when four young women approach. They ask if he's Aldo DomensaEEN. They read his book and they looooooooved it. Finally, the Chiclets are unleashed! He asks if they're studying gastronomy, hospitality, etc. They say they're studying hospitality, and ask for his autograph. Lety makes all kinds of weird faces as he obliges. I can't fault her for this, because I was making the same exact faces. They squeal amongst themselves about his nice smile while he produces the Mexican equivalent of a John Hancock.

After the groupies leave, Lety mimics their happy chatter and jokingly asks Aldo for his autograph. He jokingly tells her to contact his agent and make an appointment. He asks if she's jealous. "Look, the donkey's talking about ears," Lety replies. (This exchange is much more playful than I'm probably making it sound.) He admits that he was jealous before, and asks for kisses. Blech. Now I'm thinking a LFMB drinking game with drain cleaner isn't such a bad idea. (The credit for this revolution in home entertainment should go to commentor Marie from Mass.)

They go for a walk and rehash some old thoughts about Conceptos. They still need to make some money, and Lety says it'd be nice if they got another project on the same scale as the gastronomical tourism thingy. He agrees. At that moment, a phone rings, and Aldo reaches into his pocket. This is amazing to me, because all the ringtones on this show lately have been exactly alike - unbelievably loud and shrill, so how can they tell whose phone is whose? It doesn't matter - that question is trivial compared to the enormous coincidence of the phone call itself.

"It's the girls with the autographs!" Aldo jokes. Actually, it's his publisher. Fortunately, it's within walking distance, as is everything else in Mexico City.* They start walking - joking that maybe they'll run into the autograph girls on the way.

*Mexico City is a mere 571 square miles according to Wikipedia (that's just the Distrito Federal, not the greater metro area). This means that everything is within walking distance no matter where you are... if you've got great feet and aren't in too much of a hurry. And don't get hit by a truck.

(To put this in some perspective, NYC is 469 square miles, and my homely home city is just 24.)

In the Vortex

Alicia is looking in a mirror so she can see what it looks like when she grimaces and scratches herself. For some reason, this sight leaves Tomas impactado. Yeah, it's definitely love. Or an outdated eyewear prescription. (You make the call!) With a melting heart, he watches her rub her nose with the back of her hand.

Ana-Leticia comes out of Marcia's office, still wailing loudly, but in a very dry and tidy fashion. Alicia glances at her and resumes her scratching, smiling in the mirror as she takes a toy dressmaker's doll off her desk so she can scratch her back too. A-L gets impatient and grabs Tomas so he can hear her better. He holds her stiffly and pats her shoulders awkwardly and reluctantly offers to let her talk, if she needs someone to talk to.

Alicia shifts her mirror to watch the spectacle unfolding behind her. A-L is hanging all over her Tomy and asking if he's got time to hear about her thousand problems. Tomas says he only has time for two, but he'll listen to those. Alicia's jaw drops in disbelief as Tomy asks A-L out to lunch. She says she can't eat, because she has no money. (Alicia makes an indescribable face, but if anyone wants to take a crack at it, go ahead. A crack at describing it, I mean. It's not nice to take a crack at someone's face, no matter how much you'd like to.) Tomas offers to pay. A-L agrees to this and suggests shopping afterwards! "Desgraciado," Alicia hisses. The cuartel hiss amongst themselves too, intrigued.

Alicia happily tattles to Marcia. Marcia says "Ha, you're jealous!" Alicia claims that the only reason she's annoyed is because she's hungry. Smiling, Marcia invites her to lunch... but Alicia scolds Marcia for leaving her homeless, and says she can be awful sometimes. "Okay, if you're going to complain, never mind," Marcia says, and heads for the elevator. Alicia changes her tune and says she won't complain... until after dessert. And away they go.

Lowly clerical worker seeks affordable dwelling

Fernando is looking at apartment ads in the newspaper. "One bedroom... good neighborhood... cheap." There isn't even the faintest twinge of self-pity in his voice. Say what you like about Fernando, but this is not the spoiled twit they introduced to us a year ago. Omar comes in to ask how it's going. Fernando says he's enlisted a real estate agent to sell his house, and hopefully it will sell fast, and he's looking for a rental.

Omar asks why he's only looking at 1BR places. Won't that be a little crowded for them? Fern says he isn't planning on living with Omar. Omar tries to change his mind - it'd be like old times, helping each other out with woman problems, etc.* "And we could share expenses," Fern adds mischievously. Omar says he never thought he'd have to share women, much less one like Aurora. Fern notes that Omar's making a fool of himself. Omar says that Fern would too, if he knew her, but he's not her type. Fern says he's not interested.

Wow, that was a totally pointless scene. Wish I'd known that before I started looking words up.

Omar leaves, and Fern looks at Aurora's picture in the newspaper. He's still skeptical of her charms, but admits after hearing so much about her, he's curious.

*There's this regional bowling show I watch on Saturdays. Last week, one of the commentators remarked that a bowler - a man - had been having "female problems" the last time he was on. I gaped at this for a little while until I realized the commentator meant "girlfriend problems." Where I come from (same place as them, I thought), "female problems" usually means one's uterus or ovaries are acting up.

The Smell of Money; and, I accidentally stumble upon an awesome Japanese hit song

Aldo and Lety go to the book place. The book guy says the book is selling well, and gives Aldo his first royalty check. They don't say how much it's for, but it's enough to surprise Aldo and get another hug out of Lety. Lety gives a dull analysis as to its popularity (his writing is creative and wise, plus the title "Flavor of Life" is so attractive). (Try this one if you prefer anime video and French titles.) (Or the original pop version, but I don't like it as much.) (Never heard of this song before tonight. Now I want to have it implanted in a chip in my brain.)

The book guy says they want to do a whole series of "Flavor of Life" books. "It's all thanks to you, Leticia," Aldo says. "I didn't do anything," Lety replies. The book guy says he should have known that there was love behind it. He wants to launch the book series ASAP. Okay, dude, we get it because you said it twice in ten seconds. I think he's in a hurry. In fact, he wants Aldo to write another book. (I get this funny feeling that he means right now and he's going to chain Aldo to a typewriter in his basement if he doesn't hop-to.)

Aldo's lucky he isn't being sued.

Le Noir for Las Dingbats

Still scratching, Alicia asks Marcia how she can be so crazy as to sell everything she owns. Marcia says she'll just have to live modestly for a short while. (Newsflash, Marcia: you're not going to be able to afford to eat lunch at Le Noir much longer, either.) This concept doesn't mean anything to Alicia, nor does Marcia's explanation that sacrifices are sometimes needed for long-term success. "You'll regret it," Marcia's fleabitten friend predicts. "I'm telling you. If you don't have, you don't exist." She takes a long sip of swanky Le Noir water. She adds that an intelligent philosopher once said, "I have, and later I exist."

Marcia repeats what she's already said a million times, it'll take a while to build it all back up. Alicia thinks Marcia's being self-destructive. Boy, if ever someone on this show needed a fortune cookie... but I don't think Le Noir serves those. Or if they did, they'd be like ten bucks apiece.

Alicia throws herself at Marcia's feet (in the restaurant) and loudly begs her not to let herself become poor. Marcia blinks multiple times and bears Alicia's behavior in the best possible humor.

Marcia is still complaining about Alicia's embarrassing behavior when they get back from lunch. "Don't say I didn't warn you," Alicia says. Marcia says that Alicia is a little crazier every day.

Sara asks Alicia whether the things she's scratching are fleas or bedbugs. The rest of the cuartel laughs. Tomas and Ana-Leticia come back from lunch; A-L's mood is greatly improved. Tomas calls her "Ani-Lety" and says he can take her to lots more places like that. Tomas sees Alicia glaring at him and is momentarily deflated. Then he offers to talk to "Ani-Lety" in his office. The cuartel hisses at Alicia, and Martha teases her that she wishes she could listen in on that. "I'm not gossipy like you," Alicia says. "I'm going to see Marcia." She goes in that direction, then sneaks towards Tomas's office when the cuartel is distracted with something else.

Ani-Lety is wailing again in Tomas's office. Tomy tries to cheer her up with some inane chatter, and it seems to work for a few seconds, then she gets depressed again, thinking she's going to be homeless. Listening at the door, Alicia overhears him say that he recently got an apartment that she can use. Ani-Lety does another happy-sad.

Trouble brewing

After lunch, Lety works alone in her office. Where's Aldo? Uh-oh, maybe the book guy really did lock him up in the basement! Omar calls. Lety answers with her Aurora voice. He calls her the most priceless woman in the universe, blah blah blah. She says "you're the same as always." He protests that he hasn't yet had a chance to show her how much he likes her. "Please, Aurora, I love you." Lety warns him not to use those words so lightly. (Fernando comes into Omar's office, whistling loudly... I think I just figured out how Lety's secret is going to be revealed, because something similar happened on General Hospital today.) Omar complains that she's treating him as if she's punishing him. He says that with her, he's paying for all of his sins. Lety says he's making her feel bad, so to prove that she's not so mean, she'll meet with him tonight.

She calls Manuel and says he's her fairy godfather. She tells him she needs to look better than ever, to seduce all those men.

Fernando is in the bat-cave, listening at the door, not really sure what he's listening to other than Lety's goofy laughter. "Reporter? No, no, then I can't go to your studio. Yeah, I've got a date. Okay, I'll wait for you here."

Male bonding

Aldo's at his restaurant job, discussing the menu with his boss, saying he knows that here in the city people mostly like red meats, but he'd like to add shellfish and other seafood. The boss is okay with that - in fact, he's pleased. The boss's phone rings (I take back what I said about all phones on this show ringing the same - this one goes tweet-tweet instead). Someone's waiting for Aldo. Aldo is gratuitously impactado.

It's his dad. "I heard it, but I couldn't believe it. That you're working in a restaurant that isn't yours." Yes, shocking, some people live their whole lives that way. You know what, if something bad were to happen to Humbo, like if he got run over by a truck on his way to the golf course, I think Bozo and Fausto would make a good couple. Aldo asserts that while the restaurant isn't his, the menu is. Fausto scolds Aldo for not asking him for the money instead - he wants to share.

Aldo changes the subject and invites his father to congratulate him. Not for the menu, but for Lety - she's his novia now. Fausto cries tears of joy. (Where'd I put that drain cleaner?) He tells Aldo to hurry up - and get married, have kids, give Fausto cute grandchildren. Aldo promises to give him incredible grandchildren. They hug and cry.

The M. L. S. of D. has been quiet lately... maybe a little too quiet...

Fern is in Lety's office, talking about business... but Lety notes that he's talking very fast. He tells her that she's smiling more every day, and he's glad to see her so happy, because she's very happy, right? She says "Yes, thank you very much for asking." She's even happier to find that someone has paid an outstanding bill. Fern says he just spoke to Ricky Armstrong, and guess what? Guess what? Guess what? He's going to make his final payment to them too! Lety thanks Fern for his work.

PM shows a man into the room and announces that he's brought that dress she wanted. Fern wants to know what's up with the dress - is it a disguise or something? Lety laughs and says sure, it's a disguise for a femme fatale. Fern says he and Omar are going to visit Klaus (I can't remember which gig that was - I think it was the Sportwind/FIFA thing?) and won't be back till tomorrow. He gets up and pokes PM on the arm playfully. "Femme fatale," he laughs and leaves.

PM asks Lety's permission for the cuartel to leave a bit early. Lety asks if it's to harass that damn mystery woman. PM smiles hopefully.

Alone at last, Lety peeks into the box and gloats. "I'm going to be ready for our date, Mr. Carvajal."

Silly

Fern and Omar prepare for their visit to Klaus. Omar admits that he's very nervous about his date with Aurora. Already Aurorified in a white dress, Lety peeks out of her office and sees them talking. Fern is telling Omar that Lety is the prettiest woman. Omar scoffs. Fern is trying to find his keys. Omar complains that Fern is always screwing up and then they have to solve his problems. Fern says he doesn't care how Omar gets home, but the keys are in his office.

Lety wonders how the next couple of minutes can play out without her getting caught. She hides behind the door as Fern and Omar come into the presidencia. Fern wants to know why Omar is following him. Omar is worried that maybe the keys aren't in Fern's office, but he goes back to the Vortex to wait.

While Fern looks for his keys in the batcave, Lety looks into the Vortex, where Omar is pacing nervously, worrying that he'll be late. Lety slips into the boardroom and prays not to get caught. Next, the two men decide to search Omar's office. Lety rushes off to the elevators and waits - she can't easily climb stairs in those shoes. She hears Fern's voice and hides again, this time in Aldo's office. Next, they want to check out Luigi's area... she prays some more. Fern remembers visiting in Aldo's office. Fern opens the door - she is standing right there. But something on the floor in the hallway has caught Omar's eye - it's the keys! They leave. "That was close!" Lety sighs.

Fern and Omar are surprised at how quickly the elevator arrived. Lety comes out of hiding, and now she has to wait.

Warming Up

The cuartel are hanging out at Martha's place. It's her turn for tonight's Aurora-Watch. They are preparing for the evening's events. Sara is talking about hitting someone in "strategic locations." Irma gently reminds them that the poor guy's a reporter, not a thief, but Sara says you never know when a bad guy could show up.

Martha advises her husband that it's time to go to Lety's house.

That's what friends are for

Apparently, Alicia has managed to wheedle another invite out of Marcia. She's fuming about Tomas's kindness to Ana-Leticia. Marcia's not extremely supportive, but I have to admit that this is the most sensitivity I've ever seen her show Alicia: she explains that people have their limits, and Alicia never gave Tomas any hope, so she can't blame him for looking for someone new. Suspiciously, she asks if Alicia feels something for Tomas. Alicia denies it. She changes her answer: Yes. She feels something. Something like rage. Because he's given "her" apartment to Marcia's sister!

Alicia says she's tired, and makes for Marcia's bedroom. Marcia turns her away and says no, she's not going to lose another night's sleep over Alicia's snoring. Alicia tells her to understand that she, too, could be without an apartment at any moment, and let Alicia enjoy her last few days in this bed which Marcia has enjoyed so much already. Marcia herds Alicia towards the door and urges her to seek Tomas's help - he's her last hope.

More filler

The boys have arrived at Omar's apartment. (I had thought they had a meeting with Klaus, but it appears not.) They discuss Aurora vs. Lety again while Fern juggles some decorative balls. Omar swears that for the first time ever, he's truly in love. Fern scoffs. Omar excuses himself and says he has to get ready for his date, because Aurora's waiting.

Omar's phone rings. Fern answers. "Aurora" says she didn't recognize his voice. Fern disguises his voice further, and Aurora tells "Omar" she'll be a little bit late. She's preparing a surprise! Fern hangs up and complains that women these days are much too easy. Not like his educated, refined Lety.

Omar continues to get ready for his hot date with doom. Fern laughingly says he just spoke with Aurora. Omar calls him an ass and accuses him of talkin' trash about him to Aurora. Fern laughs some more and makes him beg. Desperate, Omar begs. Fern says Aurora promised him a surprise. For a moment, Omar assumes this means he's going to bed. Then he slaps his own face and says that's a bad habit. No, instead he hopes that this will be the day that she says she's in love with him! "Today's the day!" Omar enthuses. Fern laughs some more.

Love is wasted on lovers

Later, at Lola's house, Saimon tries to give PM a gift. She tries to bicker about past offenses. He gets gets on her knees and begs her to accept the gift. She seems tempted, but says she can't forgive someone who's doubted and accused her. He begs more strenuously. She says she won't forgive him, but she takes the box and peeks inside. He dances hopefully and takes the gift away from her. Then he pushes it back at her. She tries to get him to talk to the hand, but he kisses it instead. She takes her hand away. He whines, and she points to the door. He slinks away with his tail between his legs.

PM wonders what the gift was.

The oranges

Aldo and his dad are eating at the restaurant, which is called Los Naranjos. Fausto says the story sounds like a movie. Aldo talks about how swell it is and they discuss how lucky he is. Fausto asks if Aldo's given up on the idea of owning a restaurant by the ocean. Aldo says no, the sea will always call to him, but right now he's building his relationship with Lety. Fausto tells Aldo to talk it over with Lety. Zzzzzzzzzzz. My question is, where are the oranges? I was told there'd be oranges.

Extreeeeeeeme close-up!

Aurora is on the phone with someone, arranging the unnamed surprise. She says it has to be perfect - she doesn't want her amigo to ever forget it.

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Next week
Aurora tells Omar to prepare for his punishment. Unfortunately, Omar's not there to hear her!

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