Caray, Caray!

Camila has rightly told Santiago off, asking him how it’s ok for him to get married and knock up GRita but she isn’t allowed to move on. He tries to make her feel guilty by asking if she forgot him so quickly (um hello dude WIFE AND BABY?) and she sheds a fake looking tear.

Sofia is playing with Ursula’s daughter when Fortunata sweeps in and announces that Alvaro Fernandez de la Cueva, Ursula’s fiancé, has arrived. I like how they already call him her fiancé even though they haven’t actually met yet. Sofia reluctantly says goodbye to the little girl and goes to greet the Don. Fortunata then goes to tell Ursula that HE has arrived and she says “Ricardo?” No, the other HIM. Ursula reluctantly gets up to go meet him.

Alvaro tells Sofia his sad story about how his poor nephews, who were the heirs to his title, ‘mysteriously disappeared’ (the sound guy lets us know that something is fishy with that) and that his wife, their mother, then died of a simple fever after being so sick from missing them. Sofia is impactada. She asks how the kids disappeared, he says that they just were out one day and they were gone. Were they killed or kidnapped? He doesn’t know. Yeah right.

Jorge and La Font the rooster dig through the cofres of gold. La Font wants to keep a little bit of it, specifically a nice necklace of pearls he found. He looks at it with a look of lust normally reserved for women. The actor who plays La Font is also very good at acting with his eyes, he is very convincing when he is lusting, hating, or disbelieving. Marcelo is still the master of the stink eye, though. I don’t think we’ll see anyone perform that look better than him. The boys go back upstairs and are summoned to come meet Uncle Alvaro. Before going, they discuss how it will be difficult to sell the booty as it could be recognize. La Font doesn’t seem pleased at the whole ‘someone else marrying Ursula’ bit.

Out in the living room, Fortunata leads Ursula in to the room. Ursula has an enormous pink feather sticking straight up from the top of her beehive, like some kind of lavender Indian. Fortunata tells Uncle Alvaro that Ursula has a seven year old daughter, he tells her that she looks much to young to have a daughter that age. Ursula, who seems to be doing a Lis imitation and focusing on nothing, says she was married at age 16. Uncle Alvaro doesn’t seem to care about this, he is really checking her out good. I suppose back in the day with business arrangement marriages, actually getting hooked up with someone even remotely pretty is cause for celebration, he can’t believe his luck. Jorge finally arrives, he introduces himself and La Font. Jorge orders wine for all, then gets Uncle Alvaro to tell his story. He also asks how the kids disappeared. No answer right away, but the sound guy chimes in again with some music of doom.

Santiago comes home and whines to Ofelia about Camila getting married, he tries the whole “something’s not right about that guy” bit to cover his jealousy. Then, he explains that he ordered Vasco to tell Ines that he won’t marry her. He says he’ll never allow Ines to marry that loser Vasco.

Speaking of Vasco – he wants to write the ransom note for the ED card, he asks Bernabe (who I referred to previously as ‘the 4^th Musketeer’ because I couldn’t remember his name) to write the note, as Camila would know Vasco’s handwriting. Bernabe says no, Vasco says why not, Bernabe says “you know I can’t read or write!” I thought this was going to be an after school special, but they move on. Bernabe will hold the quill and Vasco will move his hand to shape the letters. I was impressed, they came up with that pretty quick and it’s a good idea.

Uncle Alvaro says he can’t stay long, he name drops the Virrey, he has an appointment or something. He asks if Jorge goes to the capital much for parties or whatever, Jorge says he prefers to have his own parties, where everyone kisses HIS butt rather than him having to go around kissing OTHER butts. He actually said that, in so many words. Uncle Alvaro asks where he should stay; Jorge insists that he stay at the palace. Sofia leaves to make preparations. The rest of them drink some more. Ursula looks not at all displeased at her prospects here.

After leaving the living room, Sofia says to Fortunata that Uncle Alvaro doesn’t seem like a good guy, he just fell into his title (like anyone who is born an heir isn’t just as lucky?) Fortunata says what’s wrong with luck, and he’s friends with the Virrey! Sofia, along with me, rolls her eyes.

La Font, of course, doesn’t like Don Alvaro either. Back in the privacy of Jorge’s office, La Font says the guy is pretentious, among other things. Because he, of course, is so perfect right? La Font says he lied about some stuff too. He said that Salvatierra is a poor area, he isn’t so high and mighty like he says. Jorge says whatever, as long as Ursula likes him. La Font says sure, then you’ll get that male heir you want. Changing the subject, Jorge says the cofres of gold and jewels are surely stolen. La Font says not necessarily, some business people will transport goods by caravan or other routes. Jorge says that the coins are from various places, so the owner is a business person or a thief. Then he says can you imagine if this was all the money in the world that this guy has? Now he’s poor! Poor Ric is right. He’s broke and doesn’t even know it yet. I guess he could just sail to Africa and spend two weeks and get rich again, just like last time. Jorge asks if anyone was left alive from the assault on the caravan. La Font says no. Then, La Font asks if he can keep the necklace of pearls. Jorge teases him that he wants it as a gift for Lis.

Camila shows up at the mill and runs into Bernabe leaving, he is nice to her but acts very nervous. Guilty conscience maybe. Camila goes inside and Vasco is staring out the window, sitting on his ass. “Working hard, like always!” my wife opines. Good one. She tells him that she has come to talk about Ines, who told Camila the whole story. Vasco says it was a mistake, etc etc.

Ursula admits to Fortunata that she kind of likes Uncle Alvaro. Fortunata just can’t shut up about how great he is, being friends with the Virrey! Gag me. Fortunata tells Ursula that if she marries this guy, she needs to stop fooling around, like with Vasco. She says she’s going to get back at both of them, Vasco and Ricardo. Fortunate wants to know what she’ll do, but Ursula doesn’t say.

Vasco keeps whining that he needs time to think. About what? Back then, you break the seal you buy the product. Simple as that. For some reason, maybe because she’s a big softie, Camila gives him FIVE days to think about it. Five days? Are you kidding me? He has been ‘thinking’ for two days already at least and has made no progress. Five days will just give him time to get that much farther out of town. Camils tries to convince him that Ines is a great catch and that Ines loves him. He says he knows. Why is he resisting so much? I guess because he doesn’t want to be responsible, it’s the only answer. He wants to go out drinking and whoring as he pleases. From what I’ve seen, being married doesn’t stop any men from doing those things, so what is he worried about? He can continue to be himself and as long as he doesn’t hit Ines, she won’t see him for who he really is, and he’ll be fine.

Manuela comes to the mill as Camila is leaving, she tells Camila about Ric’s new house and that she has been hanging out with Lis. Camila says whatever, Manuela says she knows the whole story and understands why Camila doesn’t like her. She doesn’t understand, though, why Camila is so down all the time, having a family and friends and men who love her, etc. She tells Camila that she only has one friend, Ursula, who isn’t really a friend, but at least her father wants her to spend time with Lis. She doesn’t know what’s in it for her father, but she’s happy to have another friend.

Lis is smelling the flowers. Fran approaches, all upset that the other whore, the first whore Camila’s friend, is going to come to nurse that ‘troglodyte’ (her word, I laughed) that is injured in the house. Lis freaks out and grits her teeth. She confronts Mario, who doesn’t back down. Mario basically says we need Pablo to live, Ric gave him orders and he follows orders by his code of honor. Lis says fine, but why Jimena? Fran starts in on the whole stealing the inheritance bit, Mario says whatever, he’s doing what he needs to do, the end. He stomps off, Lis turns into the incredible hulk and starts breaking stuff. Fran tries to calm her down. Of course we realize that Mario has one more reason to bring Jimena, because he luuuuuuves her.

Camila arrives at Santiago’s house looking for Ines, GRita appears and says Ines must be off with Paco. Camila says ‘uh thanks’ and turns around to leave quickly. She doesn’t want to deal with GRita any more, obviously. I don’t blame her. GRita catches up with her and says she is happy to hear of her engagement to Ric. “I imagine that when you’re married, you’ll move far away from here?” Nice thing to say to your sister. Camila says they haven’t discussed that yet. GRita says that with his business he’ll be all over the place right? Camila says “You want me to leave, right?” GRita says yes, because she wants things to get back to normal with Santiago. Camila says the thing with Santiago is over. Now he married GRita and they are having a baby. GRita asks if she still loves him. Camila starts to answer, then just says “Enough already. I’m sick of all your crap and your attitude sucks, so get over it, be happy, and leave me the hell alone.” Yeah! Finally! I would have thrown a few curse words in there too, telling her what a bitch she was, but I guess Camila is too polite for that. GRita actually says fine, you’re right, I’ll get over it. She then warns Camila to beware of Lis, because she is in love with Ric.

Lis is still going completely crazy, now she has to know if Ric has had sex with Camila yet. She says they are going to go over and ask her. She thinks that Camila has bewitched Ric with sex.

Uncle Alvaro sniffs Ursula’s hair, very creepy. I imagined him thinking “MMmmm I love the smell of hair that gets washed monthly.” Gross. They discuss what their married life would be like. They will live in Salvatierra, she can visit San Fernando whenever she wants. She’ll live like a Queen. They kiss and Fortunata, who is totally watching the whole thing from around the corner, spies on them. She runs inside to tell Sofia that they are kissing. Sofia, who is potting plants, doesn’t really care. She is only concerned with Ursula’s daughter. Fortunata wants to know if it’s ok for her to move away with Ursula, Sofia says sure, whatever. Fortunata dances around, imagining that she’s going to be going to parties in the capital. “It’s a dream!” Sofia, along with me again, can’t believe what she is seeing.

At the forge, Santiago is very pissy. Ascanio asks him what the problem is. Santiago again tries to mask his jealousy as concern for what kind of person Ric is. He tries to pump Ascanio for information, Ascanio doesn’t want to tell him anything more than “he’s a normal guy.” Ascanio tells him to forget about them. Whatever Santiago thinks, Ric is still the best person to protect Camila from Jorge. Santiago says what about Jorge? Ascanio says don’t be stupid, he knows the whole story. Santiago says if either Ric or Jorge hurt her, he swears he will kill them. Ascanio tells him again to stop being stupid and just worry about his wife and baby.

Camila comes home with apples for Claudio, Chismosa Cleo tells her she has visitors, Lis and Fran. Camila stifles an eye roll and groan, then goes to see them. Inside, Lis asks what is up with her and Ric, she doesn’t want to answer, which is an answer in itself. Lis tells Camila that Ric can’t ever have a relationship with him because he can’t have a wife, because he is an adventurer. Did he lead Camila on with talks of a wedding? Camila says yes, and really, it’s none of your beeswax. Lis then says yeah well he’s a PIRATE! Camila says yeah, I know. The wind is completely taken out of Lis’s sails. Camila says Ric was the captain of the boat that took her to La Mariana in the first place. Lis says if you know that how can you trust him? Camila asks, don’t you trust him? Lis says for her it’s different. Camila says for her it is different too. Good one!

Outside, Lis is falling apart crying while Fran tries to hustle her home. I’m sure she thought her pirate revelation was going to rock Camila’s world and it fell flat. Fran insists again that Camila bewitched Ric.

Camila stands by the window and wishes for Ric to come home. On his way home on a boat, Ric also comments that a voyage has never felt so long. Just then, the lookout calls ‘Land, ho!’

Ascanio goes to see Justo about a room, Justo says fine, and you can pay me whatever you think you should pay me. He can move in right away. Ascanio says he’ll wait until Camila’s fiancé comes home, he doesn’t want to leave her alone. Justo likes that attitude. Gosh, but that Ascanio is a swell fellow. Tip top.

Manuela gives La Font the latest dish. Stinky guys in Ric’s house, along with an injured guy, he was in a caravan that was assaulted. La Font wants to know who or what he saw, but the guy hasn’t woken up yet. Manuela starts to tell him about the inheritance thing, but he already knows about it. Manuela says she ran into Ascanio and would his freedom be lost if Camila’s marriage to Tim is voided? La Font says yes. Then he gets suspicious of all this Ascanio talk and wants to know how/when/why she saw him. He basically calls her a slut and wants to know if she is sleeping with Ascanio. She says of course not. He says if she is fooling around like that he’ll bury her alive. I love you too dad. What a louse.

Uncle Alvaro and Jorge walk through town, finalizing the business of the marriage. Jorge plays ‘mine is bigger’ by talking about how important he is. He shows off by breaking up a crowd of people yelling about something. Finally Jorge asks if he likes parties or whatever, Uncle Alvaro says he likes everything. EVERYTHING. What does that mean? Does it mean he also likes drugs, or also likes gambling, or also likes MEN, or also like assaulting caravans with his face covered but with his trademark hair proudly displayed? What does that mean? Whatever it means, Jorge likes it and they decide to go drinking.

Ursula tells Sofia that she is going to marry Uncle Alvaro and move to Salvatierra. Sofia says fine, but she wants the little girl to stay here with her. Ursula says fine without hesitation. Lots of love there. Fortunata says, “how can you ask her that? She is her mother!” Sofia says no, she has never been. And why is Fortunata getting upset after Ursula just said ok so fast anyway?

It’s night and Vasco is drunk. Bernabe wants to go extort Camila now, Vasco again wants time to think. They argue.

Jimena and Mario, the old married couple, tend to Pablo. Mario complains about Lis and how she is in love with Ric. Jimena says never mind her, but then wants to know if Ric really loves Camila. She says never mind, he’ll just say yes, since Ric is his boss. Mario decides to tell her the story of that night when Ric couldn’t sleep because he was so in luuuuuuuve with Camila. Jimena says really? Mario looks sad, she wants to know why. Mario says that love makes pirates weak. She says, is that bad? He says when survival is at stake, then yes, it’s bad. He says something about risk and they are about to kiss when Pablo wakes up moaning. Jimena very comically slams down the rag she had in her hand to go see what he needs. Mrs. Ferro and I both laughed out loud at that one, I guess she really wants her some Mario. Mario runs to the bed and tries to pump Pablo for information on the assault, Pablo says he saw them. Mario wants a description.

After getting to land, Ric buys a horse.

Uncle Alvaro and Lis walk through the square with an entourage of armed guards. I guess this was normal enough, but it’s funny. They are trying to act normal, but they have guards with rifles thisclose to them, right in their faces. They parade past Justo’s store, where Vasco glares at them. Ursula smiles at him for a long time in passing, twisting the knife.

Chismosa Cleo is telling Camila all about Uncle Alvaro and how Ursula is going to marry him. Camila says great, she couldn’t care less. Claudio starts coming down the stairs, so I was waiting for Cleo to say Alvaro’s name so we could have the impactado end of show moment, but she doesn’t. Camila gives her the night off so she can go the plaza that night and ogle the prometidos with everyone else. Camila tells Claudio that Ursula is getting married, but she doesn’t know the guy’s name. Claudio is bored. She suggests that he go to the plaza too to see what the hubbub is all about. Uh oh, Monday should have some good Claudio pissed off scenes.

Ric rides hard to get back home to his woman.

La Font tells Jorge that the engagement is the talk of the town. Jorge says whatever, as long as Ursula gets married. La Font changes the subject and says that he thinks the cofres of gold and jewels belong to Ric. Of course we knew that, but how did he figure that out?

Outside, Gonzalo shows up. This guy is a troll. He barges into Jorge’s office to deliver the news that Dr. Bonerficio died and he couldn’t get a new ED card. He also delivers the news that Lis has a cousin that is a pirate, who is also named Ricardo, just like the Ricardo that’s in town. Coincidence?

The song that plays when Camila dreams of Ric, something about ‘suenas de amor’, plays at the closing credits. This song annoys me for some reason, it sounds like it’s from a Disney movie. I guess it’s the Ric/Camila love theme.

Monday – Ric returns, swears that if Jorge touches Camila he’ll kill him.

Labels: Pasion

It seems a supreme irony that it falls to me to recap the gran final of this show, which I bailed on recapping months ago. I hope I can do it justice. (Please chime in, everyone else, including departed recapper Chris!) I found this episode quite tedious. There is little dialogue beyond insipid pleasantries as the characters meet to rehash at various gatherings.

This is only my third novela, but I thought it was a tradition that you have a wedding of the main characters in the last episode. I don't know if tradition has been broken before, but here, the main couple were already married and we had a tacked on amnesia fest for the last few weeks. Since the main couple are already married, we don't have their wedding in this episode. But nuptial fans will not be disappointed.

We start with the scene where our last living villains, Silvana and Manuel, are supposed to apologize to poor Frijolito. Of course, they do a bad job. He magnanimously says that even though they don't repent we should pray for them.

We now see a screen for "three months despues." Azul and Diego have adopted Frijo, and they're picking him up at the orphanage with Caty. He invites all his friends for a visit at his new house. The family goes home to the mansion, where Frijo sees his fantastic new room. Azul has a medium-size baby bump now. They talk about how it's three months till the new baby is coming. Hugs all around. Diego and Azul go alone to their bedroom where he gets more opportunities to kiss her tummy and call her "preciosa." I still see no chemistry between these two, and I still find him not much of a galan. Through the run of this show, I never got used to Diego. I am always taken aback when I hear his deep raspy voice emerge from his Keebler elf face.

Cut to a scene of Ceci preparing for her wedding. (She does look pretty. She is wearing a mermaid-style halter dress.) She is chatting with her bridesmaids Azul and Lidia. She is nervous, and the girls trade nervous bride stories. Clearly ignoring church teachings, Lidia says she and Tavo are waiting for their church wedding until they have hijos. And they're not doing that yet, since they are still enjoying their honeymoon. I still don't know what Tavo does for a living. Anyone?

Cecilia asks Azul if she is okay with her having asked Luis Felipe. She knows it's awkward, but at the last minute they decided to ask him to be padrino of the lazo (godfather of the lasso). This apparently is the person who assists in that part of the ceremony where they put on the twin rope.

Outside the church we see everyone meeting and greeting. Emilia is clutching her baby bump. She has been given special permission to get out of bed to attend. GCSSD seems to have stopped smoking for the last week or so, so we will call him GSD. He actually looks much better lately--not so disheveled/mad scientist.

LuisFe arrives and is introduced to his partner, the madrina of the lazo. Her name is Elena. He can now have a new girlfriend as consolation. They are going to help each other through the ordeal, apparently. He says this is the first time he had to play a part in a wedding.

The wedding takes place with essentially no dialogue to recap, lucky for me! GSD gives the bride away--he says she's like his own daughter.

I've taken a break to go shopping and get some soup on the stove. Now back to the show.

Here's what we have all been waiting for: What happened to Silvana and Manuel?
The scene setter tells us we're in Las Vegas, and the camera pans over what purports to be the wheels of a slot machine. Then we see a shot of Silvana trolling a casino for male prospects. She is leaning against a wall, sulkily smoking a cigarette. Her face looks kind of dirty, and she is clearly down on her luck. And wouldn't you know--her hair has grown at least 8 inches (or she is no longer wearing that fake short wig).

Manuel seems to be Silvana's pimp. He tells her that he has found a perfect client for her--perfect for her special charms. He's a producer, and maybe she can even wangle a role in one of his films. But smile, he adds--with that look you won't manage to get anything. He takes her over to a poker table where a fat man in a Hawaiian shirt is playing. He is introduced as Mr. Hughes (is she supposed to think he is the reincarnation of Howard Hughes?). You get the feeling that he is a porno producer. The man says "sit down" in accented English, and she obeys sullenly. This is pretty sad, even though we wanted to see her come to a bad end. Moreover, this scene was really low budget. They didn't even try very hard to make it look like Vegas. This cheap set would hardly pass muster at Casino Night at the VFW.

Back to the main action.

After the wedding, Ceci comes over to the castle (is this Mo's old house?) to visit. The honeymoon was really great, yada yada yada (a bit too much information for my taste, if you know what I mean). Th;is part made me remember poor old Andres. Well, at least he's alive and well over at Pasion.

Azul teases her about having a baby--she wants to be an aunt. Then, wouldn't you know it--something is wrong with Azul's pregancy. She is rushed to the hospital at only seven months.

The three gay caballeros--better known as Julio, Arnaldo and Efrain--are discussing the latest episode of Project Runway, or whatever they do in their busy fashion business. They get a phone call and rush to the hospital.

Luis Fe is needed to do the special treatment to save the baby. Once again, everyone is wondering if this will be awkward. Come on--are there no other doctors in all of the DF? Diego is in the delivery room with Azul. Good thing he is wearing a surgical mask for some of this--so it will keep us from seeing how he is laughing. Diego wants to make sure they do everything for Azul so she doesn't suffer. He says "I am here for you."

Meanwhile, Gloria talks to Chucho about Silvana. She wants her to change her attitude. Too late!

Back in the delivery room, LF is there to check the dilation. Please save my baby, Azul cries. LF tells her to bend her knees and relax. Ewww. Uh-oh. No dilation. He has to perform a C section. Azul faints in the OR. Finally, the baby is born, and we actually get to see a gross bloody plastic cord getting cut. I swear, I am not making this up.

The baby has no heartbeat, but--surprise, surprise, he's revived. It's all so exciting, that Emilia, in the waiting room, goes into labor too!.

Two weeks later, the family is having a welcome-home party for Azul's little boy, who is now released from the neonatal ward. The children have planned a party for the homecoming. Everyone talks about how wonderful everything is. Diego and Azul go off alone to the side and trade endearments. She says that sometimes she lost hope, but something kept her going. He will love her always--a love without limits--and they kiss.

And that's it, believe it or not!
I won't say it's been fun recapping this show, but it's always great to connect with all the people who participate in this web site. See you at Diablo.

Labels: amar

Two requests, anybody can play!

"First, the easy one: At the blog page Pasión photos and profiles page, we could post new significant characters we figure out, so people could go there for reference.

Second: could you make a blog page for the panoramic scene at the beginning of the show, when they play the opening credits? It goes so fast, but it is obviously full of hints about who ends up with whom. People have posted observations on various days' blog pages. If you had one blog page dedicated to the topic, we could post all comments there, and people like me who are utterly clueless, might have some hope of figuring it out."

Would one of the recappers like to take on the start of that second challenge? Have at it, y'all!

Labels: Pasion

Looks like the perpetrators . . . er, I mean the cast of the show we love to hate will be appearing on Cristina this week. It's amazing that she gives the exposure to all the shows, no matter whether they are good or bad.

Labels: amar

We get the usual repeat of last night’s ending. I won’t rewarm the leftovers, they really were best fresh. I’d do them no justice, so I suggest you read the hilarious recap from Wed. if you missed it.

LuisFe is at Emilia’s and so is Azul. Their song begins to play. Azul’s glad to have a chance to talk to him, he apologizes for leaving the church, but he had to get out of there because it was so painful for him. She apologizes to him because it was never her intention to hurt him and that what she felt for him was real---it was what she felt at that moment. LF says that seeing Diego changed all of that. He knew it could happen, that she’d get her memory back and he’d end up with the short end of the stick, but he was willing to risk it. LF is ever the gentleman and says that as long as he knows that Azul will be happy, then that’s enough. He can live with their memories. They both blather on about how neither one is to blame and that they are both sorry. Then Azul says something that bugged me and I had to watch it a couple of times to make sure I got it right….she tells LF that if she knew him before then he would have been the love of her life. This just seemed so odd to me, did it strike any one else as odd? Anyway they hug and Diego walks in at this moment and we cut to commercial.

Mario tells Emilia that she should rest. That nothing is more important than her baby. She tries to explain why she felt the need to get to the church---Silvana needed her. I say Silvana isn’t worth it, especially not at the expense of the health and well-being of your child, but you know that Emilia-- she’s ever the caretaker.

Diego wants to talk to LuisFe. He doesn’t punch him (as I actually expected him to do) he wants to thank him for being there for Azul, for helping her when she was lost and alone. (I daresay, there is some growth in the eleventh hour for our Diego) LF gives Diego the same line about seeing Azul happy is enough for him and as long as Diego will make her happy that’s all he needs, blah, blah. The best part of LF’s whole schpeil is that he tells Diego that the baby is his. Diego is obviously impactado. It is what he and Azul hoped for and he hugs his wife, overcome with emotion.

Silvana is sitting on a bridge overlooking a busy road. She contemplates jumping. I’m at home encouraging her to take the jump. She didn’t hear me. She has a little conversation with herself (she is crazy, after all). “Don’t be stupid, you can go and get back everything that is lost to you”. We don’t get to see her splattered on the highway in her wedding gown, darn.

Diego tells LuisFe that he would like to be friends, but realizes that under the given circumstances that would really be hard. LF agrees and says that all he wants is to get away from here. Thanks are offered again from both Diego and Azul. LF wishes all three (Diego-Azul-baby) happiness. Alfredo walks in, offers his thanks and tells LF that he’s a great doctor.

After commercial, Diego and Azul are now home. They both apologize and ask for forgiveness for messing around with Silvana and LuisFe respectively. They agree to forgive and forget---they intend to start anew. Azul says that Diego is the only love of her life (what about the earlier comment to LF?). Diego tells her that she is his life and will always be his. He slips her wedding band on her finger, which despite her being pregnant and most likely puffy, slides on easily and still fits. Oh the marvels of television.

The next morning Chonita fawns over Azul and express her true happiness at having Azul back home (IMHO she’s just happy to be rid of Silvana, who treated her so poorly). Diego and Azul decide they need to go pick up Caty and head to the chapel to pray. Our next scene is them praying in the chapel at the orphanage. Caty is in the middle and they all join hands. Azul asks about Frijolito, and they all go to see him.

Frijolito is so happy to see Azul. They hug and she says something about him figuring out who she was. He spills the beans (no pun intended) about what really happened---how evil Silvana was and how Manuel was involved. Diego says that Manuel is his father and Frijolito is surprised that such a nice guy as Diego would have such a cad as a father. Diego and Azul agree that they need to help Frijolito get out of juvie (which actually looks like he’s still at the orphanage, but I just figured they were trying to save on their set budget—why build a new set for the last few days of the show).

Silvana is eating breakfast in the hotel when Manuel finds her. He shows her a copy of one of the papers giving all the details of the wedding. She blames him. He blames her mother. She has some other choice words to say to Manuel and tells him that his cash cow is gone forever. She can’t spare him any change because she’s going to have to watch her money really carefully because her career is sure to be over. He says, not necessarily, there are plenty of celebrities who create scandals just to keep their name in the press (Britney Spears come to mind?). Silvana could use this whole thing to her advantage. The waiter comes over at this point, and gives Silvana some attitude and makes reference to the wedding that wasn’t. She plays the diva and gives him major attitude right back. The manager comes over and tells Silvana that she is no longer wanted as a guest at their hotel and she needs to vacate the premises immediately. Silvana continues the diva mode and says she’s sooooo out of there. Manuel, afraid that he’ll be stuck with the bill makes a hasty exit right behind her.

Diego tells Frijolito that they will make sure to teach Silvana and Manuel a lesson. Frijo it going to the police station to denounce Silvana and Manuel. The two will be charged with calumnia (slander).

Diego calls his mom and fills her in on what they found out from Frijo. Clemi makes a comment about how low Manuel has sunken, but she wouldn’t have thought he’d sink so low as to harm an orphan. Speaking of el rey de roma, the phone call is cut short when Clemi bumps into Manuel and Silvana. Come to find out, Clemi’s come to the hotel to find Silvana as a favor to Emilia. Clemi tells Silvana that Emilia is concerned and wants to make sure that Silvana gets help. Silvana says there is no need, she’s not crazy and doesn’t need any psychobabble from anyone. Clemi tells Silvana that the person in front of her is so drastically different from the nice woman she met how many ever months ago. She urges Silvana to change her ways and to get help. Then Clemi tells Manuel that he’s hopeless, he’s always been cinico and tramposo (cynical and deceitful/ a cheat). She then tells Silvana and Manuel that Frijolito intends to denounce them. Silvana says that his accusations are absurd. Just then Bruno shows up and overhears. He says that he’s also going to testify against the two of them.

LuisFe has flashbacks to his romp in the waterfall with Azulcena. His mother can tell he’s thinking of her and tries to comfort him. He’ll find another girl to love someday.

At the boutique, Gaspar is reading the recount of the wedding that wasn’t to Chucho, Gloria, Julio and Arnie. Gloria says she’s worried about her daughter and that she hopes she’ll be able to make peace with her. Julio says he hopes that Silvana sees the evil of her ways and repents.

Caty asks Azul and Diego if Frijo can come to live with them. Teasing Caty a little, Diego acts like the idea never even crossed his mind. Azul and Caty use their combined female charms to win him over, but they weren’t necessary because Diego was into the idea from the get go---and we, the viewing, audience has known for weeks that our little bean hero will get the happy ending and be adopted into the loving central family, so the pieces are falling into place. Diego and Azul tell Caty that it isn’t easy to adopt, there are many things that they will need to do and get approved. So they make her promise to keep it a secret, not say a word to Frijolito, as they get all the details worked out with the officials.

Frijolito gets his freedom and the judge has declared him to be innocent of the crimes he was accused. We find out his name is really Roberto Sanchez, but he’ll always be Frijolito to us. Anyway, he says that he really doesn’t want to accuse Silvana and Manuel of slander, he just wants them to apologize for what they’ve done.

Manuel and Silvana have been summoned to the orphanage. The diabolical duo meets with Frijolito’s lawyer. He tells them of Frijo’s wish for an apology. Silvana acts all indignant and says absolutely not. Manuel hops on her bandwagon and says apologizing would be humiliating. The lawyer says, well I guess you can leave….you know the way out and soon you’ll know the inside of jail.

Clemi and Anibal discuss the latest happenings. Clemi’s upset to think that she was ever married to a person like Manuel. Anibal reminds her that she wouldn’t have her children, her pride and joy, if not for Manuel. (My mother says that often to my sister about her ex-husband. My sister’s flip comeback is that yes, her children are awesome but she can only wonder how much greater they would have been if she would have selected higher up in the gene pool. It makes me laugh every time she says it, and I actually like my ex-bro-in-law). OK, back to the show, Clemi says, yep Diego and Lidia are the 2 best things Manuel ever did (and if you think about it, his part in the whole deal could be summed up in a matter of seconds---I could have said minutes but I’m going out on a limb here and say that Manuel isn’t probably the most giving lover---more like the wham-bam-thank you ma’am type).

MS meets with LF. He’s leaving his position as the orphanage doctor. They say their goodbyes. Mario, I guess, will be taking LF’s place. Is there really a need for an OB-GYN at an orphanage? As LuisFe is leaving the orphanage, he sees the Moran family arrive. Diego acknowledges LF and Azul gives a wave. The three of them look so cute together, it’s got to be a dagger in LF’s heart.

MS takes Manuel and Silvana to see Frijolito. Apparently they’ve agreed to offer up the apology. Silvana tries to use her smarm on the MS, telling her that Frijo is wrong, but finally MS’s bulls**t meter is working and she doesn’t fall for it. They enter the room where Frijolito is waiting, along with everyone else……END OF EPISODE

Labels: amar

EPISODE 29:

* Jesus and Mario walk into the underground tunnel. Mario looks around at the pirates and doesn't find Lazaro. Jesus explains how he left for food and drink and when he returned Lazaro had left. Mario fumes and presses Jesus against the wall for letting Lazaro escape. Jesus complains it wasn't all his fault. Mario lets him go and scolds the others for letting Lazaro leave. Guerrero and two others speak up about attempting to stop Lazaro but Lazaro has a mind of his own and left. Mario orders everyone to search everywhere for Lazaro and drag him back there like the pig that he is. Mario mounts his horse and leaves.

* Mario rides into town, first to search the saloon, then through the streets, the cafe, hotel marketplace, and even the brothel -- no sign of Lazaro anywhere.

* That night, Uriel rides back to Alberto and crew with news about the caravan coming. They lay in wait on top of the cliff overlooking the road. Below them are Juancho and his crew of pirates laying in wait for the same caravan. Caravan with multiple guards riding on horses in front come down the dusty forest road. The wire is tripped. Two guards and horses fall down. Pirates spring down the cliff to the road and start to swordfight with the guards. Pablo rides up front and dismounts and yells at the caravan to turn back, it's an ambush. Tuerco(?), crazy on adrenaline, doesn't hear Pablo yell at him who he is and stabs him in the chest. Pablo drops to the ground. Juancho and the rest take out all the rest of the guards and take off with the cart, and Rico's treasure chests.

* Mario and crew return to the tunnel. No luck so far finding Lazaro. One makes a smart-aleck remark and Mario slugs him, steps on him and tells him to just do his job. Man jumps up and asks just what is this job anyway?

* Alberto and crew watch Juancho and crew take off with the cart. They head down to the road and follow. Pablo rolls his eyes; he is just barely alive.

* Alberto and crew catch up with cart. As driver pleads, Alberto shoots him dead. One lone pirate pops up from the back and two of Alberto's crew stab him dead.

* Lazaro wanders down to the road. He finds half-dead Pablo; flips him over and says "Well, well, Pablo." He kicks dirt on Pablo and leaves quickly.

* Back at the tunnel, Mario and crew wait. Guerrero and other return with news about an ambush on the road outside of town. Mario wonders about Lazaro. Guerrero isn't sure. They leave quickly.

* Alberto walks Jorge, still in his pajamas and robe, down to the mansion dungeon room. Alberto shows Jorge the chests they picked up tonight; and all the riches inside each one. Alberto assumes that it is pirate treasure. Alberto, Uriel and Matias are giddy with joy over the loot. Jorge is stunned.

* Team Mario gets to the road. Mario jumps off his horse and finds Pablo on the ground, gravely wounded. Mario realizes that they got "Antillano's" money. Mario checks and realizes Pablo is still alive. Mario grumbles and then orders Jesus to investigate and meet them back at Rico's hacienda. Mario, Guerrero and other man take Pablo to the hacienda.

* In the office, Alberto, Matias and Uriel report to Jorge about the pirate ambush team and how they eventually stole the chests from them. Alberto is all but convinced that they are indeed pirates. Jorge says, "What a pity for them, but what luck for us!" Uriel toasts to their success. Matias wonders when they will start to split up the fortune. Jorge advises to wait for things to calm down before divvying it up.

* Jesus opens the gate of the hacienda as Mario and team ride inside. They stop in front to dismount and carry Pablo inside.

* As Guerrero and Mario light the candles in the bedroom, Mario then takes a look at the wound on Pablo. He tells Guerrero and the other guy to get some stuff from the kitchen and get Pablo comfortable in bed; he's off to find a faith-healer.

* At the front gate of Ofelia's house, Mario stands and bangs on the door and shouts for "Santo!" Santo hobbles out in his long john pants and unbuttoned shirt. Mario tells him he needs Ofelia's help right now; he has an injured man at the hacienda. Santo looks confused. Mario says for the love of G-d and Santo Cristo, please. Santo goes inside to get Ofelia. Mario is worried.

* In the bedroom, as Ofelia starts to examine Pablo's wound, Mario asks her to try and save him. Ofelia will do what she can and asks Guerrero and the other guy to help keep Pablo immobile. Mario leaves to talk with Santo. Ofelia empties her basket of the herbal treatments on the table.

* In the salon, Mario tells Santo about the ambush and robbery tonight, about all the men killed along with Pablo. The caravan was bringing Rico's possessions to the hacienda. Santo wonders about valuables. Mario thinks not much. Ofelia enters the salon and tells Mario she did what she could for tonight, now it's up to G-d. Mario tries to pay her. She refuses, and tells him to give Pablo the balsamic three times a day. She will return in the morning to check on Pablo; and bring over the bedspreads that Dona Fran had ordered. Mario walks Santo and Ofelia to the salon door. They leave. Guerrero enters the salon; Mario grumbles to him, How could this happen? Captain is going to kill someone when he finds out. grumble. grumble. Demon.

* Cami tosses and turns in her bed. She can't sleep. She smiles with the happy thought of Rico telling her to trust him. She sits up, and asks, Why am I always thinking about him?

* Rico, sitting on deck of ship, thinking about his conversation with Don Gaspar (about clearing his name). Rico murmurs, "why?"

* From high atop the fortress wall, Lazaro spies on the pirate party below and La Paisana wandering through the mass of people.

* In the hacienda salon, Jesus startles Mario awake to report in on what they found on the road - tracks that lead in one direction then take a detour in another direction. Mario is puzzled.

* In the kitchen, Ofelia and Santo talk about Rico's 'servants'. Santo grumbles about why Cami won't take his advice and not trust the guy. Ines stops by, still sad. Santo is curious where they are going. Ofelia explains and asks Ines how she is feeling. Ines says fine, fighting back the tears. Santo says don't worry, sis. I spoke with Ascanio and he has agreed to break off the engagement. Ines says thank you, then runs inside. Ofelia asks Santo to speak with Vasco. Santo refuses and hobbles to the shop.

* Manuela and Alberto in his office. She reports in about her day with Lis and Fran at the hacienda. She wonders if Rico is wealthy? Alberto glares at her and refuses to answer.

* Fran and Lis say good-bye and thank their hosts Jorge, Sofia and Fortunata. Sofia says they have an open invitation to visit whenever they wish. Fortunata walk Fran and Lis outside. Jorge walks to the side salon. Sofia wonders what he's up to now? He asks why she always thinks so poorly of him? She says she knows him too well, and knows he's up to no good. He takes her hand and tells her some romantic sweet nothing to her. Her eyes swell up with tears and she tells him it has been many years since he last said that to her. She takes her hand back and leaves.

* Santo talks with Justo outside the market, as Justo unloads the supply cart, about Justo possibly renting Ascanio a room at his house. Ascanio wants a place of his own and not feel like a "moocher" at Cami's house. Inside the market, Cami and Rita have a short pleasant conversation. Justo looks in and shouts to Cami. Santo walks in to greet her and then leave. Rita feels invisible again, and Cami and Justo walk away together.

* In the market office, Cami and Justo discuss Rico, when he will return and the marriage proposal. Justo supports her and will play an idiot if Jorge ever asks. She feels like an embarrassment to the family. Justo assures her that's not the case, don't worry about it. They then discuss her money loan and he insists on repayment; she says her fortune is the family's too. He says they'll talk about that later. He reminds her how much like her mother she is - pretty, kind, happy.

* Mario and Jesus walk around to the front yard of the hacienda - Mario is still puzzled by the direction change of the tracks. Mario does his own "Oh, Crap" version as he spots the coach pull up outside the gate. Jesus opens the gate and Mario welcomes Fran and Lis to the hacienda. Fran panics with the sight of two strange men walking out of the house. Mario explains that there's been a problem. Lis is angry and doesn't want anything to do with it. Fran shuts her up and asks Mario about the problem. Mario explains about Pablo's injury and he's recuperation inside the house. Fran and Lis are stunned. Mario snaps and says they can take up their grievances with Rico when he returns. He and Jesus leave. Fran whispers to Lis that is what they will do, and they walk to the house.

* Rita waits on customer as Cami and Justo come back to the market. Justo hugs Cami and then goes to talk business with peddler out front. Rita asks Cami when she'll invite her over to her house - Cami says no invitation needed, you can come whenever you want. Cami leaves.

* On the street, Cami finds Jimena. Jimena tells Cami that Claudio went to find Ines. Cami tells her that Ines is the woman Claudio was referring to the other day. Jimena is surprised. Cami explains what Santo told her about wanting Ines to marry Ascanio, and she is infatuated with Vasco. They walk away together and gossip.

* Tuerco and companion find Lazaro on the wall sleeping.

* Tuerco and companion hogtie Lazaro's hands and drag him down to the patio grounds. Juancho greets Lazaro and thinks Lazaro is there as a spy for Antillano. Lazaro says no, he isn't a spy. Juancho doesn't believe him and beats him up. La Paisana comes out to break it up, backs Juancho and others away from Lazaro. She unlatches the rope from his hands.

* Santo finds Ascanio and Claudio out at the picnic tables. They talk and walk back to the shop. Santo tells Ascanio that Justo has agreed to rent out the room to him. Ascanio has to explain to Claudio why he has to move out - he doesn't want to be a "kept" man. Claudio understands but hoped he would wait until Rico returned, then mentioned Rico's promise to help him recover his inheritance at Salvatierra. Santo is stunned and Claudio has to explain. He and Ascanio inadvertently let it slip that they knew Rico from La Mariana island (which is contrary to what Cami had previously told Santo).

* In the dining hall, la Paisana and Lazaro talk about Ricardo and his new hacienda and Mario. Juancho doesn't believe it. Paisana knees Juancho in the groin and orders everyone to leave the hall. She returns to talk with Lazaro - he shows his ego and says that he is a better captain that Antillano. Paisana and everyone laugh. Lazaro is offended. Paisana grabs his face and sits him back down. Lazaro continues about Mario's death threat, then about witnessing the latest pirate ambush, of which there were several of Antillano's men hurt and killed. Tuerco stands up and proudly proclaims he did it, he killed Paisana's son with the twist of his knife. She glares as he cackles. She presses her hand on his good eye and stabs him in the chest. He falls dead on the table. She wipes her dagger on his shirt and says when a dirty dog dies, he doesn't get clemency. She huffs and leaves the hall. Juancho mumbles.

* Paisana, in her room, sits on her bed and cries. (ed. note: so Pablo must be Paisana's son.)

* In the courtyard, Claudio and Ascanio tell Cami about their slip with Santo. She isn't too worried about it. Ascanio agrees to go to Rico's hacienda and ask about any word from Rico and his arrival date. Cami gives him directions. He leaves. Claudio and Cami sit down - Claudio is upset because Ascanio is moving out to Justo's house. Cami sighs and says he does have the right to have his own life. Claudio wonders when he will get that chance too. Cami tells him to be patient, wait for Rico to return and complete his promise. Claudio wants to go and kill his cousin. Cami says don't talk like that.

* In the bedroom, as the guy works on the compresses, Ines and Ofelia care for Pablo's wound and wonder about the other scars. The guy covers with explanation that the scars are from beatings by his former master.

* Ascanio enters hacienda yard and asks Lis and Manuela where Mario is. He needs to speak with him. Lis antagonizes Ascanio about where he is living. Ascanio mentions to Manuela to tell her father, he doesn't need that loan, he has a job and is earning money. Lis laughs/cackles about Ascanio having a job. Ascanio leaves the message for Mario and leaves the hacienda. Lis then reveals to Manuela that Ascanio was the butler for her father in La Mariana, and that Cami was bought at auction and Tim married her and she inherited his estate and her freedom letter. But once they prove the marriage was never consumated, due to Tim's advance age, she will get the whole entire estate back. Manuela hides her curious interest behind her fan.

* Inside the salon, Ofelia explains to Fran about Pablo's injury and treatment. Fran is disinterested - let the guys handle it. Ofelia and Ines leaves.

* Out by the front gate, Ofelia rambles on about Pablo - his family, scars - then asks Ines what's wrong? Ines continues to say she has a stomach ache. Mario rides up to the gate and greets them. Ofelia reports to him that Pablo is still the same, she doesn't think he will survive.

* On the street, Ines isn't paying attention to Ofelia as she rambles on and on about her doubts and questions about Rico as a businessman. Ines has to go visit Cami right now and leaves.

* Mario is in the bedroom. Guy complains about doing a woman's work in caring for Pablo. He thinks Pablo should die; Mario says shush about that, he is the one person who can tell them what happened at the ambush and stole Ricardo's stuff. Guy grumbles about the work. Mario says shush and just do it.

* Ines cries to Cami in her salon - about Ascanio and Santo's talk to break off the engagement. Cami suspects about Vasco's involvement. Ines breaks down and tells Cami about the other night, when Vasco drunk as usual made out with Ines in his room. Ines is scared to tell Santo, he may hit and hurt Vasco. Cami grumbles Vasco deserves it. Ines confesses that she consented to it (not rape). Cami promises to help - she will first talk with Santo, then Vasco and then to Ofelia and Justo. She assures Ines that Ofelia and Justo will understand - no hitting or fighting. They hug.

* Pancho, Crispin, Ascanio and Santo are busy at the blacksmith shop. Jimena wanders it and bugs Ascanio about being too busy for her. She then pulls Santo aside to tell him that Cami needs to speak with him right now. He hobbles to the house to change. Jimena leaves.

* Mario finds Jimena on the street as a caravan rolls passed. He asks her for a huge favor and explains about the ambush last night and Pablo's injuries.

* Outside the mansion, Don Alvaro has arrived at the door and the guard leads him inside.

* In the courtyard, Mario talks with Cami about the ambush and the stolen items of Rico's. Jimena joins them. Santo arrives. Mario and Jimena leave. Cami and Santo go inside the house.

* In the salon, Santo tears into Cami about letting Jimena go away with Mario and for trusting Rico and his men so much; why didn't she tell him anything about La Mariana. She wonders why he's so interested? He asks what she's hiding? She's not hiding anything and changes the subject to Ines - but after looking at Santo's angry face, she doesn't want to talk to him at all. He's concerned about her. She thanks him for the concern, but thinks he just doesn't want any man to be at her side but him. She tells him, you can have your life, and I have a right to live my own too! He gulps and asks about Ines. She mentions Vasco. Santo explodes and shouts Vasco will never be permitted to marry Ines. Cami tries to convince him of Vasco's good qualities. Santo doesn't want to hear it; his mind is made up, Vasco hasn't changed and never will. Santo asks Cami about her feelings for Rico - she says yes. He gulps again.

Labels: Pasion

Ivonne gets her nasty friend Erika to fake CL's lab results so that the doctor ends up telling CL he has prostate cancer. CL is convinced there must be some mistake. (If he only knew!!) The doctor tells CL his cancer is so advanced the only option is to operate immediately, otherwise it's only a matter of time.

Erika calls Ivonne to tell her CL is getting the bad news at this very moment, ha ha. Nasty Erika reveals she swapped out somebody's old lab result in place of CL's. Folks we can all breathe a sigh of relief that some poor innocent guy is not involved in this diabolical plot. Whew!!

Erika suddenly decides she's worried about her job. Duh! Ivonne advises her to blame it on human error. Oh, that's OK then, being life-or-death incompetent is so much better than just being mean and stupid. Ivonne is happy to hear the doctor is knife-happy. She figures a few days of suffering is the very least that CL deserves.

CL wants a second opinion and the doctor encourages him to get it. Quickly. Every minute he waits puts him closer to the tomb. Then the doctor gives CL the final blow. Sometimes as a result of surgery the nerves are damaged. CL might not be able to resume a normal sex life.

In the privacy of their bedroom Nidia confronts Delirio about what Yadi said. She accuses him of exaggerating their feelings for each other. He pleads his case, did they or did they not just have a night of passion? (Ick.) Nidia waffles. Delirio says they are like Antonio and Cleopatra. She rolls her eyes.

CL finds Paula in the waiting room. Stunned, he tells her he has a grave (no pun intended, he really said it) problem and he'll tell her about it at home.

Nidia tells Delirio that last night was a revolting manipulation on his part. He's a degenerate! She throws pillows at him as he yelps out the names of the world's great lovers.

Angarita is leaving Achichipico against Juan's protests. Juan NEEDS Anga, what will he do without him? Anga assures Juan they will remain partners but he has to leave town. Juan gives him a big hug.

Delfina finds out from the hotel dude that Anga checked out and headed for the bus station. She dashes out to stop him.

Anga gives Juan a check, a big one judging by the look on Juan's face. It's his first contribution to the business. Anga says he views Juan like a son and they hug once more. Juan looks so very sad, poor guy.

Yadi, in the interest of helping along Ma's memory, tells Nidia that she (Nidia) had lovers before, during and after marriage. Nidia tries to look aghast, she says she's a decent woman. "But with a roving eye," adds Yadi. Nidia is very disappointed to hear that Juan, the chomi chomi in the photo, was NOT one of her conquests.

Fer is also getting on the bus to leave Achichipico. He advises Juan that for better or for worse he should probably give Paula a call. Juan bids farewell to his pals as the bus pulls out of town. Poor Delfina runs up but she's too late, she's missed the bus.

CL pouts on his bed until Paula forces him to reveal his diagnosis. An eavesdropping Consuelo gasps and prays when he tells Paula he has cancer. The doctor is optimistic about an operation, but CL might end up with DDDS. (Droopy Ding-Dong Syndrome as coined by Julie in her Pasion recap.)

CL gets all self-pitying, as if getting a boner (pardon my bluntness) is the single most important aspect of lovemaking. Boo hoo, he'll be an incomplete man and he doesn't want Paula's pity.

Since CL is not in the office Delirio approaches Pastor about his Very Important Sofwhere Presentation. He blathers on until Pastor finally calls Monica for permission.

Moni is still annoyed at Pastor for committing industrial espionage (she thinks), so she snippily tells him that if CL gave the project to Delirio then Pastor should go forward and quit bothering her with these stupidities! She hangs up on him but Pastor pretends she respectfully gives him authorization to do whatever.

Gutis, slobbering on his cigar, and Manzano, he of the greasy comb-over, ogle Marely while Delirio is in Pastor's office. Delirio comes out and says convincing Pastor to buy the S/W will be a piece of cake. Delirio is very insulting and calls Pastor an idiot, a wig-wearer, no different from the songs of the ugly sex. (Los cantos del sexo feo...que the hell?) Anyway, I'm sure it's a derogatory term for homosexual, as if that should make a difference in Pastor's ability to make decisions. Pastor is a putz no matter what his sexual persuasion.

Juan tells Susana that he's going to Juanito's school. She says she'd love to go. Juan says why not, Juanito loves beautiful women and he does too.

Consuelo the ratfink calls Moni to give her the bad news that CL has cancer. Moni is impactada.

Paula goes home and tells Ana she's packing her bags because she has to be at her husband's side. Ana comments that a woman going home to her man should at least have a happy face. This is Pau's cue to tell her ma that CL has cancer. One more impactada.

Manzano, flanked by Delirio and Gutis, gives his presentation to Pastor. He keeps winking, thinking he can flirt his S/W into the company. Pastor asks Manzano if he has something in his eye. Pastor asks the usual questions, how much does the product cost, is it guaranteed? Manzano suggests that if Pastor has his doubts he'd be glad to give him a private demo, wink wink.

The three S/W pirates march out of the office single file toward the elevator as Mari gawks. Once inside they congratulate themselves on their victory. Sofwhere whore reigns supreme!

CL shows up at the office and Ivonne snarkily asks him how his exam went. "Oh fine," he lies.

Moni follows him into his office and says he looks a little down. What did the doc say? She tries to get the truth out of CL but he refuses to tell her.

Juan and Susana hang out at Juanito's school. She takes his hand and Juan thought-bubbles that they were on dangerous territory, on the precipice, on the machete's edge. At that moment Juanito showed up and uttered the gem-cutting sentence, "Hey dad, is she going to be my new mom?"

Juan composes himself during the commercial. He thought bubbles that he's putting on 11 shirts but he doesn't want to close the door on this fine lady. Susana winks and tells Juanito that she and Juan are only friends. Juan thought-bubbles that she saved him - 2 points for Susana! Juan asks would Juanito like it if Juan were in love with her? Juanito answers that she's very beautiful. Juan thinks that Susana would be good not only for him but also for Juanito. Dang! That is like the kiss of death to true love.

Tweedle Dumb comes into Juan's office with a big bag of fertilizer that he throws down next to Herlinda's desk. He pisses and moans about having to work for Juan. Tweedle gets all sweaty and red-face and rants that Juan is with his 'girlfriend' Susana. This pushes Herlinda's buttons and she says they're only partners. "Partners in many things," he blusters to his unhappy sister.

Susana advises Juanito to take something unique to his teacher, something other than an apple, something that will make him stand out. Juanito suggests a mango, because daddy says that the ladies will always throw themselves at a good mangazo. (Which is, I think, slang for a sexy guy.) He says that must be some kind of mango, of which there are many. Susana is highly amused and showers Juanito with kisses. Juan is embarrassed at being busted but proud of his son as always. (Hey! Men ARE mangoes!)

Moni calls Paula; she wants to meet and talk personally. Paula doesn't want to but Moni cries until Paula agrees to meet her in 1/2 hour.

Back in Achichipico Delfina soaks her feet after running through town in her high heels trying to stop the bus. Juanito listens to her tale of woe that she lost the love of her life. Juanito asks what about Don Aldemar?

Speaking of the king of Rome, he is outside giving directions to a 6-piece Mariachi band. They begin. They are awful, but Juanito is delighted. Hey, he says, it's Don Aldemar! Don A wails his song of love to an excited Delfina, she hasn't lost love after all! She and Juanito high-five. Delfi cries and we're not sure if it's due to his awful singing or his sweet sentiment. But wait a minute...his isn't a song of love, it's a song of insult, a bad joke. He sings that he's going to forget her. He's publicly dumping her! Delfina can't believe the shame.

Don A announces he is hereby retracting his petition of love. He calls Delfina a traitor, he's leaving and he's going to forget her. Forever. Delfi cries on Juanito's shoulder.

At the cafe Moni tells Paula she could tell by CL's face that something is wrong. She passionately begs Paula to tell her the truth. "Paula look me in the eyes and tell me he's OK," she begs. Pau says she can't...CL has prostate cancer. Moni looks impactada for the second time, the big faker.

Juanito asks Delfi if she loved both guys. She explains that a woman caught in the frontier between youth and maturity, a woman such as herself, can't always control her passions. It's a common romantic story, two men, equally handsome (que?), fighting for the love of a lady. "Like in the telenovelas!" yells Juanito, concluding that it's all very complicated.

Paula explains to Moni that CL's cancer is so advanced that an operation is the only choice. "And afterward, then what?" probes Monica, "He's going to lose the possibility of a sexual life?" Moni - 1, Paula - 0. Paula is offended and tries to leave but Moni pulls her back. Paula finally tells her she has to go because she has already moved back in with CL. Paula - 2, Moni - 1. Moni promises that she won't say anything to CL about their conversation. "Then there's nothing else to say," snips Paula as she leaves.

"Oh yes there's more," seethes Monica at nobody in particular, "I should be with him right now." She calls Paula an estupida.

Ana and Laura work together in strained silence. Ana's phone rings. Laura perks up her ears when she hears it's Juan. He tells Ana things are going well with his new business and how is Paula? Is she around? He heard she was looking for him. Ana tries to talk quietly while Laura practically breaks her neck trying to hear. Ana hems and haws until Juan guesses the truth. Did Paula return to CL? When Ana confirms it he looks disappointed, slightly pissed, and absolutely not surprised.

Heriberto surprises Susana in her hotel room. He tells her he's a man of many surprises. He pokes his gut out, posturing and flirting, blech. Susana says she has a headache and was just going out to get some medicine. She pushes him out the door and says she'll see him some other time.

Ana hopefully tells Juan that Paula spends her mornings at her house and she encourages him to try calling tomorrow. He tells Ana it was great to speak to her. "Adios," he sadly says after hanging up the phone.

Juan is at his favorite spot down by the river. He imagines he sees Paula in her bikini. She blows him a kiss. They swim together. They embrace in the water and they kiss...and any similarity to life is purely coincidental.

se azotan por un buen mangazo = they'll throw themselves at a sexy guy (I think, help anyone??)

ojo alegre = roving eye (Lit. happy eye)

Tomorrow: Laura tells Monica that Juan called Ana. Ana tells Paula that Juan called.

Labels: Juan

Ric is telling Gasparo about the camp of brigands that he and Mario spotted near the beach. Gasparo wonders how Ric knows they're pirates. The gist of Ric's answer is that it takes one to know one. "You're a pirate not by vocation, but by circumstance," Gasparo chides. Ric says he's made a pact and he's going to follow through. Gaspar says sure he will - until one of those guys runs him through with a sword. Ric retorts that in that case, he'll have the right to do the same.

Ric tells Gasparo that he and Mario saw contraband there too. Gasparo says this kind of thing is getting to be a problem for the king. Ric says he doesn't think it's fair that poor people have to pay so much (taxes, tariffs, transport, middlemen, etc.) to have things imported from Spain when they can make so many of these things locally. Gasparo essentially shrugs this off - everyone looks out for their own interests, and anyway, he doesn't make the laws.

Meanwhile, Gonzo is dining with a local dude and opines that it's quite a coincidence that Lis and Fran are traveling with a guy named Ric when they also have a relative named Ric who's a pirate. He's going to invite Ric to the inn for a drink, and he wants this local guy to say whether he's the pirate or not. The guy agrees, but I get the feeling that he'd recognize anyone for you if the price is right.

Gasparo asks for an update on Lis's inheritance situation. Ric fills him in on the Mystery of the Missing ED Letter and how he thinks Fran probably bribed the doctor to write it in the first place. He doesn't see any reason to deprive Cami of her inheritance anyway.

Gasparo says now that Bermeo has confessed to framing Ric on Tim's behalf, Ric ought to be able to sue for his own father's inheritance. Ric doesn't want to do that either. He's got plenty of money. He gets all serious and asks Gasparo if he can entrust him with something. Gasparo looks worried - like he's expecting Ric to confess to something very awful. But no; Ric is in love! Wheeeee! Gasparo's thrilled. "This is just what you need, get married, retire, live a normal life! Who's the lucky girl?"

Ric says it's Camila. "You just love trouble," Gasparo chuckles. He encourages Ric in his pursuit and says he's sure to win her over.

Jimena is trying to convince Cami that fate brought them together. She hadn't seen him in over a year, then he shows up and wants to get married. Cami still isn't as jumping-up-and-down excited about this as Jimena, but when Jimena says it's the will of God, Cami follows Jimena's eyes up to the ceiling. Jimena keeps going on about all the blessings Cami has in her life, not to mention Ursula's envy. Poor Camila says it's just happening too fast. She likes Ric and thinks he's attractive, but... Jimena says that's plenty enough reason to want to get in the sack with him!

Jorge, LaFont, and two other guys are talking about the highway attacks. They haven't found out anything yet, but it seems as though they're escalating and the guys are organized. (I'm confused about this... so are there TWO groups of highwaymen?) Jorge says, "So, are you going to nab the next caravan or not?" LaFont says it's as good as done.

Ric finally gets back to the inn, where the kid he hired to follow Gonzo yesterday reports that, among other things, Gonzo went to see Dr. Bonerfacio Gomez at the Droopy-Dingdong clinic, spoke briefly to a servant, and left. "The doctor wasn't there?" Ric asks. "Nope, poor guy died last week." Ric gives the lad a shiny nickel and sends him away.

Next day, Gasparo tells Ric that Bermeo confessed to everything. He said Tim ordered the hit, and Fran was there too but didn't say anything. He doesn't know if she'll be charged with conspiracy or not, and it will be a while before the entire case is closed. Until then, he advises Ric to go back to San Fernando while he waits for news, and continue working on Camila. He hopes he'll get to perform the wedding. Ric likes the idea, but he doesn't want to get married until he can do it with his own name.

Some people show up at the... I don't know what it's called. It's tall enough to be a door, but it's set a few inches above the floor, and is several feet above the street below, so it's more like a big window. Some people show up outside this window thingy, asking for a blessing. I don't like the window at all - it looks like a cage. If I were tuning in at just this moment and didn't know any Spanish, I'd see these two people looking up at the cardinal behind those bars and wonder if it was some kind of twisted zoo exhibit.

Gasparo seems surprised that Ric is going under a false name; I thought he was the one who got him the fake creds in the first place. Eh, whatever. Gasparo says he'll speak to the viceroy about getting his name cleared. It's not safe for Ric to stay here in the meantime. And if he brings the highwaymen to justice, the king would pardon him for his past pirately deeds.

The next boat to Mexico doesn't leave for three days. Ric declines to buy a ticket and says he'll think about it. He runs into Gonzo, who apologizes for being unfriendly to him earlier, and invites him to the inn for a drink at 5:00. (As he walks away, it looks as though Gonzo is checking him out!)

Next, Ric visits a (supposedly Chinese, but anybody can wear a long black wig and a Fu Manchu mustache) friend he addresses as "Chino." (I assume this is only a nickname... a really feeble one.) It appears that Chino... well, let's just tactfully say that he's a recycler... of contraband and stolen goods.

He's planning a boat trip this afternoon which would get Ric safely out of La Mariana. He's vague about who his customers are. Ric hints around about the Veracruz highwaymen, but Chino says it's not worth the considerable effort and risk to get involved with such people. Ric asks if Foreman is mixed up in any of it. Chino isn't sure, but he wouldn't put it past him.

Then Ric goes to the cemetery to visit his mother's grave and tell her the good news about clearing himself of the murder charge, because he knows she always doubted him. He asks what happened between her and Tim - why all the hate? But Mom's not in a chatty mood. (If anyone's wondering about the lengthy inscription on her tomb, don't worry, it's just generic tombstone stuff.)

Gonzo meets with his hungry local friend at the inn and they split a small pitcher of wine. As night falls, they realize Ric's not coming. The friend says he's going to Havana tomorrow, and Gonzo's going back to Nueva España, so they say good bye. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Over in Nueva España, Mario strolls through the plaza with Cami and Jimena. They chat about Ric's house (it's almost ready), and how they hope he comes back soon. They run into Jorge. "Oh, what a surprise," Jimena says in a borderline-sarcastic tone. "What surprise? We all live here, don't we?" He invites himself to escort Cami to her house for a talk. Mario grumbles disapprovingly as Jorge and Cami pull ahead. Jimena, who has her arm chummily wrapped around Mario's, says Cami's no fool.

Jorge is miffed that Cami didn't tell him about her plan to marry Ric, when he was being such a nice guy, unselfishly trying so hard to find her a husband. Cami says thanks, that was nice of you, and tries to explain the mixup, with her father going to see Jorge before Ric had a chance to discuss things with Justo. Jorge accuses her of lying - no doubt Ric proposed, but no way did he speak to Justo. (Jimena and Mario look worried.)

They pull ahead a bit further, so Jimena and Mario can't hear. He reminds Cami that as the boss hog of San Fernando, he has to give his consent to the marriage, and he can also exercise his right to bang her before the wedding.

She very, unbelievably, incredibly, Valiumly calmly tells him that this "right" doesn't apply to widows, and anyway, he wasn't able to do it when he had the chance. He says that's only because she escaped. They've got unfinished business, so she has to let him do it.

Cami very composedly says she doesn't think Ric would go for that, so she's just going to have to go ahead and say no. She also reminds him that as far as everyone else knows, he already did it, so he doesn't get to do it again. He says no one else needs to know about this. If she lets him do it before Ric comes back, then he won't object when Ric asks permission to marry her.

He kisses her hand and leaves. I think they should keep a wire brush and a jug of hot bleach to wash off ofter getting a hand-kiss from him, but she doesn't even wipe it off on her skirt. That's what I call ladylike manners. She doesn't tell Jimena and Mario what Jorge said; she takes off to talk to her father.

Ofelia, Ines, Manuela, and some other people are helping out at Ric's new house. Ines says she has a tummyache and asks Ofelia to excuse her. Ofelia asks her to meet with Saintly on the way home. Lis also asks Ines to tell Saintly she'd like to come by tomorrow to admire the forge's light. (I swear she seems sincere.) Manuela and Fran wonder what's wrong with Ines. Manuela thinks she seems sad.

Ines schlumps on out of there, then begins running when the house is out of sight. She runs, not to the forge, but to the mill, where Vasco is putting in his ten minutes of work per week. She tells him how anxious she is about this whole situation. "Yeah, I realize it's a little tough." "A LITTLE?" she gasps. She's desperate. Every day she hopes that he's spoken to Saintly, but no. She doesn't care if he hits her or yells at her (maybe she should work something out with LaFont), as long as he gets permission to marry her.

He takes her in his arms and says he's been waiting for the right time, but Saintly is always in a bad mood. She begs him to just do it. He needs a few more days. She badgers him only a tiny bit more, and then he admits that what happened between them really didn't mean much to him. It wasn't love, it was just lust.

Ines gives him a well-deserved slap. He grabs her roughly and yells, "If you think that's the way to get yourself a man, you're very much mistaken!!" She begs his forgiveness and says she's desperate. He says he's desperate too. Not only would he have to face her brother, but also his father and her mother.

He calms down and says she's going to have to marry Ascanio. Then he apologizes and says he just needs more time. Everything will work out. He takes her in his arms again and kisses her.

Guess who just moved to the top of my list of people I hope get run over by a pie cart.

At the forge, Ascanio shows off his first lantern. Claudio says it's all crooked. Saintly says it's not bad for a first try. Hans said that he and Franz would show him their first efforts, except Saintly melted them down. "Are you going to melt this one?" Ascanio asks Saintly. Saintly says no - he's going to keep it around as a warning for others who would wish to become blacksmiths. "Hey, this was your idea. I always had my doubts!" Saintly says he'll learn. Life is all about learning. Thusly inspired, Claudio asks Hans and Franz for an impromptu lesson on blacksmithing.

Ascanio tells Saintly he needs to find a place to live. Saintly suggests Justo's. Ines shows up with her message from Ofelia (but not Lis). It's practically a drive-by. Claudio hurries after her. Ascanio mutters to Saintly that his sister didn't seem very happy to see him.

Ines is crying by the time Claudio catches up to her. He tries to get her to talk. He tells her that when she convinced him to talk about his mother's death, he felt better. She tells him they want her to marry a guy she doesn't find thoroughly objectionable, but she's in love with someone else. (She ought to talk to Ursula sometime about what it's like to marry a nasty old creep when you're 15 years old.) Saintly told her the guy's not good for her, but she loves him! She loooooves him!

She runs off, leaving Claudio to walk alone across the plaza... and across the path of LAZARO!!!

It is at this moment that Ric's pirates discover that Lazaro's left. Jesus (I think this guy is the one named Jesus) flips out, saying Mario told them not to leave. They worry how Mario will react if Lazaro doesn't return before Mario comes back.

Lazaro is muy, pero MUY impactado to see Claudio chatting with Mario in the street. Mario pats the boy on the shoulder and leaves. Lazaro follows Claudio to Camila's house.

Lis, Fran, and Manuela are at Ofelia's when Mario shows up. Lis says the place is now ready, thanks to Ofelia's and Manuela's help. Just a few more things to bring tomorrow. Lis remarks to Manuela how nice Ofelia is. Manuela agrees that the whole family is nice.

Mario brusquely interrupts and asks to speak to Lis alone; she pulls away when he tries to take her arm, but walks alongside him. (In the background, Manuela tells Fran that this guy is weird-looking. "He works for Ricardo," Fran replies. Manuela falls all over herself apologizing, unaware of Fran's deep disdain for the man.)

Mario tells Lis that Ric has ordered that his men should stay in the barn; he needs them to protect the place. Lis hates the idea, but says fine, go get them now and we'll talk. She calls for her aunt and says she'll tell her about it later.

As they arrive at Jorge's, Manuela asks Lis if "that man" said something to upset her, because she's been so quiet. Lis pretends to have a headache. Sofia and Fortunata ask about the house. Fortunata wants them to wait for Ric to come back before they move in; Lis says he could be back at any time. Ursula bitchily asks what he's doing on that island anyway. Fran and Lis thank Manuela for her help and excuse themselves.

"So, what are you supposed to be now, the blind girl's servant or something?" Ursula snipes. Bravely locking eyes with... um... the table, Manuela says that it's especially because Lis is blind that she thought it would be right to help. Ursula mocks Manuela some more, "You can hang around with her all the time if you want," she says, but they'll get tired of her and she'll die alone of sadness at home. She stalks off.

Fortunata tries to make excuses for Ursula, saying she's upset because her suitor's coming soon, and she doesn't want to marry him. Manuela explains that she's trying to have other friends, and and her father thought Lis would be a good companion for her. (Sofia grunts suspiciously.) Fortunata says she hopes Ursula does marry this guy, because in her opinion, the reason Ursula's always in such a bad mood is because she needs a man. Sofia says Ursula's always been in a bad mood, and she sincerely pities the poor guy who marries her.

Manuela very timidly asks Sofia about the husband-search on her own behalf. (Sofia exchanges a cautious glance with Fortunata, who looks at Manuela with sympathy. Jeez, I know she's a little mousy, but she's not ugly!) Sofia tactfully says it's taking a while to find someone with all the qualities a young woman would like. Manuela says none of those things matter to her, as long as he's patient with her and won't beat her. (Part of me feels sorry for her, part of me wants to smack her for being so pathetic.) Fortunata's face becomes even more comically pitying.

Up in their room, Lis and Fran wonder why Ric ordered his thugs to stay on his property. All Fran can say is that she doesn't want to stay at Jorge's house any longer, or she'll die of disgust. Anyway, she doesn't believe the thugs are really there just to protect them; after all, no one's threatened them. But maybe they're after Ric. Who knows why he's really in San Fernando, Fran muses. Supposedly he's there to get Cami's inheritance back for Lis, but he doesn't seem to have any intention of actually doing it. There must be some other reason he's there. "He would have told me," Lis insists. Fran says if that's the case, that he would tell her everything, then surely he'd have told her why they need the protection of his crew.

Lis gazes thoughtfully into the distance. (I swear, just as we cut to commercial, I can see her eyes focusing.)

Downstairs, Fortunata and Sofia speculate as to whether LaFont beats his daughter. Fortunata doubts it, but Sofia believes he's maybe even more cruel than Jorge. Fortunata expresses surprise that Jorge is cruel; Sofia actually has to remind her of Jorge's bad qualities. She accuses Fortunata of seeing the world through rose-colored glasses.

Fortunata asks about the mysterious trip Sofia took with Justo. Sofia regales her with an insane tale of a clandestine picnic of passion. She smirks as Fortunata scurries behind her, begging for details. (Heh, that might have been just a tiny bit cruel, too.)

Saintly and Ascanio approach the pub; Saintly sees Vasco drinking with his friend. (I just noticed Vasco and his friend are wearing matching outfits. Que the hell? Did I miss something?) He suggests to Ascanio that they go someplace else. Too bad, because Saintly misses out on a great conversation.

Vasco is saying that Ines could spill the beans on him at any moment; he's thinking of leaving town. The friend seems to think that the problem will go away on its own if he simply does nothing, but Vasco says Santiago will just spy on him. He'd like to go to "the capitol" (I'm not sure which capitol, or where), but he's out of money. The friend asks about that "information" Vasco was thinking of selling. Vasco isn't sure how to go about it.

The friend says he'll help, but what is Vasco trying to do? Vasco admits that he's considering getting some money out of his sister. He hates to do it, because she loves her. The friend says he loves her too, but need comes first!

I take back what I said before about wanting Vasco to get hit by a pie cart. I want it to be a big wagon full of scorpions. Giant ones, with fangs and claws in addition to stingers. And guns.

Over dinner, Santiago explains Ines's weird behavior to Ascanio. She's always had a thing for Vasco. Saintly loves Vasco like a brother, but he's a irresponsible, embezzling, gambling, boozing disaster. He cheated on his previous wife (actually "woman," which may or may not refer to a n actual wife) every chance he got, may she rest in peace. And now there are rumors about him and Ursula. Ascanio thinks they should just give Ines some time to get over Vasco. He doesn't think it's good to force someone to marry, and he personally doesn't want a hostile wife. He's honored that Saintly and his mom thought so highly of him, but if Saintly doesn't want to go on with the blacksmith apprenticeship, he'll understand. Saintly doesn't let him out of it so easily. :-)

At the hideout, the pirates are still flipping out about Lazaro's disappearance, and there are complaints about the quality of their liquor. Lazaro is peeping in from above.

Claudio is complaining to Jimena that the current marriage rules aren't fair. Jimena says marriage among the rich is just business. Cami says it can be for the poor, too. They could combine their properties and have more stuff. Claudio is still worried. Cami asks where this is coming from. Is someone being forced to marry against her will? Claudio clams up.

At bedtime, Cami tells Jimena all about Jorge's demand that she let him have another crack at her before he gives Ric permission to marry her. Painfully practical Jimena thinks this is the simplest way to go. Cami says no, Ric's going to have to take care of this. Jimena is shocked that Cami's willing to let Ric risk his life over this, rather than make this one little sacrifice on her own. Cami says she's not going to let Jorge bully her. She wants a man who'll promise to protect her, and then follow through.

Jimena points out that Ric isn't a god who can win every battle. Then she realizes, oh hell, now Cami really does think he's a god. Cami says no, but she has to trust someone; and she'll feel safer when he's in town. Jimena leaves, and Cami has a momentary flashback or fantasy of making out with Ric.

Mario and (is it Jesus? I don't know!) talk business on their way to the hideout. I don't get every word of this, but evidently some friend of theirs is on their way to meet them... as part of a caravan. And there's some discussion of getting the guys moved over to Ric's ASAP, because they're getting restless.

The first thing Mario notices when they get to the hideout is that Lazaro is missing. As expected, he takes the news extremely poorly. Jesus says he was out buying food when it happened, they tried to stop Lazaro, but you know how he is. Camila's name comes up, but I don't understand what they're talking about. Mario says something about hogtieing Lazalo .

He hightails it back to town to look for Lazaro. He searches all the obvious places - bars, restaurants, and of course Porky's, the bordello, where he has to fend off an amorous employee.

BAM! It's nighttime.

LaFont is in the woods with his men, waiting for the caravan to arrive. Their scout reports that there are eight uniformed guards, and a wagon with two big trunks. The rival group of highwaymen (the non-Ric pirates) also wait. The pirates suspect that someone else is around, but this doesn't bother them much.

The caravan arrives. The pirates make their move. LaFont watches the melee unfold. The noise wakes Lazaro, who has been camping nearby. It's hard to follow the action, but some guy - I'm not sure if he's someone we're supposed to know or not, he might be the friend that Mario and Jesus were talking about - is savagely beaten by one of the pirates and left for dead. The pirates ride off with the horses and other treasures.

Mario's goes back to the hideout, and is told that someone else is now AWOL. Mario isn't amused by the suggestion that this guy is out with a woman. One of the men complains (I think) that they don't know what they're supposed to be doing.

LaFont sends his men after the pirates. The man on the ground struggles to stay conscious, because he doesn't want this creepy guy with the rooster hair to be the last thing he sees before he dies.

---

Jueves
The Duke shows up in a fancy carriage. I hope this guy brought a clean shoe to drink out of.

Labels: Pasion

Well, this is my last Amar Sin Limites recap. It's been quite a ride, and now we're on that downhill run, so buckle up and grab your beverage of choice!

I'm skipping the leftovers and heading straight to the part where Gloria pulls Diego to one side of the altar to tell him that Silvana was never pregnant and that Manuel is in on the fake-baby scam. Diego is impactado and stares at Silvana, but says nothing. Chucho looks on, wondering what's going on up there.

Diego and Gloria go back to their places and the priest begins the ceremony. Gloria whispers to Anibal that the wedding is going to stop at some point for lack of a groom. Anibal is understandably confused. Clemencia also looks like she heard something. Silvana is so oblivious that she doesn't think anything of Diego's completely bewildered look.

Emilia watches the wedding on TV (oh, come on, they're not that famous!) and tells the maid she can go home, since she's just going to watch the wedding. Oh, no! On the TV, Bruno makes a comment about the sobrio (somber) dress that Clemencia is wearing.

Arnaldo, GSD, Ceci, Azul, and LuisFe are all crammed in a car trying to get to the orphanage and hitting every red light along the way.

The wedding continues. Lidia is lovey with Tavo (awwwww, that's cute). Lidia comes up with the rings and the priest blesses them. Caty looks upset and is being comforted by Clemencia. Gloria thought bubbles "WTF is Diego still doing up there?" or close enough, anyway. Clemencia and Anibal come up with the coins and the priest blesses them. (Since I had to explain the coins to my husband, I'll do it here as well: They get poured into the hands of the bride and groom to symbolize the couple's future prosperity. My parents still have theirs in a little silver box in the china cabinet.)

Then we get to the questions, and NO, Diego says he will not take Silvana as his wife with all the etc. etc. that goes with it. Silvana says "Uh, he asked if you wanted to marry me" and Diego replies "Yeah, I heard." Diego now takes the spotlight from Silvana and spills all the beans to the assembled crowd of reporters (and I swear, there are more of them than there are wedding guests). "How could I marry a woman who, even knowing how I suffered after my wife's death, when she found out my wife hadn't died, hid it from me? How can I share my life with a woman who took advantage of my suffering to enredar (entangle) me? A woman who, as a reason for me to marry her, used something as sacred as a child? A false child. Silvana, you're not expecting a child." As he has his moment of vengeance, the priest, rather than doing the sensible thing and asking them to have this conversation elsewhere, just turns to the altar and prays.

Outside, Bruno announces that Diego has rejected Silvana. He points out all the confused faces inside.

Silvana tries to insist that she's telling the truth about the baby. Diego's like "hey, we're in the house of God, here" and "have a little DIGNITY" (very dignified of him to scream, there). He tells Silvana that Gloria told him what she heard Silvana and Manuel saying. Clemi can't believe Silvana would tell such a big lie. Oh, come on, Clemi, have a little imagination. Diego wants everyone to know that the two of them were planning to tell him she'd lost the baby.

Watching on TV, Emilia says "Silvana, what have you done?" Well, Emilia, I think Diego's explaining it pretty well, there, so….

Silvana struggles to come up with a way to deny it, but can't put a sentence together.

In the back of the church, Ceci tells Azul to get up there and tell what Silvana done, but Azul thinks this is bad enough as is and grabs LuisFe for cover.

Silvana now tries to blame her mother, since Gloria's "always" tried to ruin her life. Then Manuel comes up and, instead of supporting Silvana like Silvana thought he would, he says it was all her. So, basically "the devil made me do it." Silvana asks forgiveness and Diego tells her to ask God for it because he can't forgive her. Oh, yeah, and in case he hasn't been clear enough, he also can't marry her. Dude, we already got that memo. As Silvana screams his name, Diego starts walking back up the aisle and Clemi comes over to hug him. And cry.

Azul peeks out from behind LuisFe as we go to commercials. When we return, Azul starts having flashes of her old life more quickly than I can type. Lots of orange flashes.

The priest, quite unnecessarily (see above re: memo) says that due to what's happened here, the wedding is off. He asks God to forgive the descarriados (those who have lost their way) and send them down the right road. He begs everybody to get out and remember that God's house should be respected. See, now, if God had gone all Old Testament on everyone, the priest wouldn't have needed to make that announcement. A little smiting would do some of these people good.

Caty now pops up, poor confused little moppet, and asks what happened. She also was not cc: -ed on the memo. Mr 5ft opines that someone must have covered her ears when it all started. That's a reasonable explanation given that Diego now has to tell her they're not getting married. She asks what about her little brother/sister and Diego doesn't answer.

Outside Bruno displays more schadenfreude (joy in the misfortune of others; see, you even get a little German tonight), "We're witnessing the downfall of Silvana Lombardo." Not that she didn't have it coming, but Bruno's not exactly a saint himself.

Emilia gets out of bed (see, that's what I was afraid of). She has a little pain when she sets both feet on the floor, but she continues getting up.

As the theme song plays, Azul and Diego (flanked by Clemi and Caty) walk towards each other. Azul has a pained expression on her face as she remembers: the first time they met; the incident with the draped red fabric; Diego macking on her after he fixed the strap on her red dress (remember that? Those were the good times). Azul's pained expression makes her nostrils flare to almost porcine proportions, and the camera angle isn't helping. She does this horrid slow-mo laugh/scream with her mouth wide open that's not terribly attractive either. Finally, she remembers the Love Shack and "Amar Sin Limites" plays as we go back to real time. They say each other's names, hug, and then suck face (Diego was trying to say something, but she shut him up).

We get a shot of Silvana crying ugly (see above re: porcine nostrils and unfortunate camera angles)--and seriously, are we supposed to care that she's sad?

More Diego and Azul sucking face. The wedding extras aren't sure what they're supposed to be doing. LuisFe is impactado. I feel only slightly sorrier for him than I do for Silvana. He also knew that a lot of what he was doing was wrong, but at least once he got hit over the head with the truth a few times he started trying to do the right thing. Azul cries and tells Diego she remembered everything all of a sudden (de golpe), he's her husband, Diego. GSD leads the standing ovation. He tells her this is proof that love has a memory. She says "Papa!" and hugs him. I will admit that this is where they got me. I could care less about her and Diego, but now she remembers everyone else. Then it's hugs for Ceci, who says she was happy to know Azul was alive, but nothing can compare to looking her in the eyes and knowing she's back. Clemi is up next (and boy, with all the hand-offs here, I bet Diego would love to have a minute alone with his not-dead wife). Caty now cries for her mami (scary, scary stuff there--either this is a brilliant young actress or, as Mr 5ft suggested, they gave her a really good scare right before the scene), poor moppet's going to wonder when Mami Liliana is scheduled to return from the dead. Lots of kisses for Caty. A hug for Anibal.

LuisFe finally turns and walks out of the chapel. Um, I guess her hugging Anibal was the last straw? I mean, I know Anibal's one of the best men on this show, but I would think that Azul sucking face with her husband would have been enough. A few reporters notice him leaving.

Diego and Azul suck face some more while squashing Caty between them. The V de G looks on.

LuisFe stands outside in the garden and thought bubbles "Goodbye, my Azucena, hasta siempre" (farewell). Commercials.

Somehow, the reporters are now outside the chapel and being held at bay by some poor nun. LuisFe comes out, but all he'll say is "I'm just the doctor for the kids in the orphanage." One of the reporters tells the nun that Silvana has to come show her face. Mario meets LuisFe outside and asks for an update. What he gets is "I lost the love of my life."

Now, out in the garden/walkway area, more hugs and crying. Manuel comes out and tries to put all the blame on Silvana and wash his hands of it. I won't repeat Manuel's pathetic attempt to get back in Diego's good graces. Clemi, in the understatement of the year calls Manuel a bad person. Lidia, Clemencia, and Diego all say they're done with him. I was hoping Diego would also tell him he's fired from the boutique (cause I'm mean like that, see above re: schadenfreude) but he doesn't. Diego and Azul kiss and hug some more, surrounded by family.

Back in the chapel, Silvana cries some more. The priest asks if she needs confession, but she says it's too much. The priest says he'll leave her with God, then and walks off. Gloria comes up and tells Silvana they're both alone now. She asks for forgiveness for following her heart no matter the price, and also because she'd do what she did (I'm guessing she means telling Diego the truth) all over again. Gloria says they've only got each other now. Silvana cries.

MS tells Azul that later she'll tell her more about the time she spent there (which I would think that Azul now remembers, but anyway). She says LuisFe bringing her there was a blessing. Azul suddenly remembers LuisFe and runs off to find him.

Manuel leaves the orphanage and runs into the reporters. He offers to show them a back way into the chapel to take pictures of Silvana…for a price, though. Parasite. Bruno asks how much for an exclusive.

Azul runs outside, shouting for LuisFe. Diego catches up and tells her the nuns said they just saw him leaving. He starts to say "I know that you and he…" and right then Emilia shows up. Uh, oh, she sure wasn't prepared for this. It's another teary reunion.

Bruno, that parasite, comes into the chapel with his camera guy, narrating that we're seeing the downfall of a woman, the full expression of loneliness. Silvana tells him to get out. She shoves Gloria out of her way and says she'd rather be dead and Gloria poisoned her life, she'll never forgive her, it's all her fault. Chucho says no, she had it coming, and even if Silvana doesn't want Gloria, he does! That Chucho's a stand-up guy. He's really impressed by what Gloria did today. Silvana curses her mother and Chucho escorts a crying Gloria out, after telling Silvana she's evil. Will they even show this on the fashion show, or just put it on YouTube? Commercials.

Emilia, Azul, and Diego go back into the orphanage. (Sit down, Emilia!) GSD comes up and starts to chew Emilia out for being there. She says she had to come console Silvana. GSD's like "you could hurt yourself!" and Emilia's like, "But Azul's alive!" GSD shuts up, since there's no counter to that. Gloria and Chucho come up and Azul forgives Gloria for "acting like a mother." She says it's all forgotten and clasps hands with Gloria.

In the back of the chapel, the reporters are still taking pictures. Silvana takes off her veil and goes over to give them a piece of her (deranged) mind. Bruno tries to spout some crap about the public having a right to know (which perhaps technically, we do, but is this really the kind of stuff we need to know?). Silvana now announces that Bruno helped her out by publishing stories about her in exchange for her sleeping with him. Now the other reporters turn on Bruno. Let's see how he likes it. He brings up the pictures of Silvana and Frijolito, which Silvana says he blackmailed her with.

Emilia comes in to console Silvana and Silvana pushes her. Cause she hasn't fulfilled her quota of evil deeds for the day, I guess. She rants about how Emilia was always on Azul's side, etc. Silvana runs off and GSD tries to calm Emilia down. Manuel stands outside, just watching everything, probably trying to think of a way to turn this to his advantage.

Out on the walkway, Gaspar shouts, "Jesus, verbo divino" (divine word), "It's the devil dressed as a bride!" Silvana now has to face Ceci, Gaspar, Efrain, Chucho, Diego, Azul, Gloria, Lidia, MS, Clemencia, none of whom are looking sympathetic except Gloria. She can't take it and runs off. Chucho stops Gloria from running after her and says they shouldn't try to help right now. Emilia and GSD come over and Emilia cries about Silvana, asking if they couldn't have stopped her. Emilia faints and GSD tells them to call a doctor. Commercials

In some restaurant, LuisFe asks Mario how he's supposed to get over Azul. Mario's semi-sympathetic. He says time will do the trick. His phone rings, with Ceci calling to tell him about Emilia, and he and LuisFe head over to GSD's.

MS and Diego confront the remaining reporters. Diego tells them they were in the house of God without permission. MS reminds them it's also private property. Diego warns them they'd better not do like Bruno and publish unsubstantiated information. He says (again) that the wedding is off, that Silvana's not having his baby, and that his real wife is alive and is his top priority.

Later, apparently, MS thanks Diego for helping her get everyone out of the orphanage. He apologizes for the circus. MS says there's no need and God works in mysterious ways. I'm not even going to touch that one. Diego asks Clemi and Anibal to take Caty home. She wants to stay with him and Azul, but he says he's going to pick her up at GSD's and they may take a while because they've got to take care of Emilia. Clemi starts to talk to Diego about being worried about Silvana. Anibal decides now would be a good time to get Caty out of earshot and he suggests they go get in the car and pretend Caty's driving. Aw. Cute. Chonita goes with them. Clemi gives Diego a hug. She says she feels really bad for Silvana, but Diego says he feels nothing for her. Clemi says that when Emilia's better, she and Emilia will figure something out, but Diego shouldn't worry about it, he should just go enjoy his wife. Is she talking about sex? Just wondering. Diego says everything seems perfect, but Azul did go running off after LuisFe. Diego says she's having LuisFe's baby, so they're going to have to figure some stuff out. Well, we know they're not, but he's still going to have to be told.

At GSD's, Mario and LuisFe arrive. Mario goes into the bedroom. LuisFe and Azul stare at each other and dramatic music plays. Ceci, metiche though she is, actually leaves the two of them alone and goes into the bedroom. Wow, that's some personal growth there.

Well, that's all from me on this show. Thanks for all the positive comments. I'll be taking up Al Diablo Con Los Guapos, so I hope to see you there. Tune in to Amar tomorrow and see what happens with Emilia's baby and the barely-there LuisFe-Azul-Diego triangle.

Labels: amar

Who knew? Guess I should have because they advertised it last night, I just didn't pay attention to the time. Sorry friends. Didn't think this would be a 7pm slot type of show...Oh well!

Labels: Juan

We rehash a few scenes from Monday - Ceci and Clemi trying to convince Diego to give Azul a chance while Silvana again attempts to become the one in charge, Gaspar and Julio debating what to do about Silvana and hoping to come to a decision before Gaspar becomes incapacitated with horror...

Diego leaves the room to be alone and Clemi tells Silvana to go. Silvana refuses saying that Diego is the one who says who stays and who goes. This lights a fire under Clemi and she lists a few of Silvana's faults - no morals, no values, no decency. Anibal has to calm Clemi down. But Anibal tries to argue that Azul may be happy where she is but Clemi's not buying it.

Chucho finds Gloria hiding in the boutique. He has figured out what Gloria was doing in Guadalajara, helping Silvana hide Azul. She claims she was only trying to help her daughter and the baby. Chucho is not happy with her and leaves while Gaspar lurks in the background.

Back at Diego's, the family is organizing the intervention. Julio and Arny have joined Ceci, Clemi and Anibal to argue the options of getting Azul back and getting rid of Silvana. Julio leaves to tell Diego all about Silvana's methods of career advancement.

Silvana is lamenting the fact to herself that Diego will never forgive her now. It looks like she's smiling but I think she was crying.

Julio tries to get Diego to come out and talk to him. Diego won't come out and Julio must kick in the door. All we hear is a bunch of noise and then Julio is in. Diego won't let Julio tell him anything and then requests that Julio show a little respect for his soon-to-be wife. Julio can't believe his ears. Diego has that vacant loco look in his eyes.

Arny tells the family that GSD and Emilia don't know the news yet, so as not to upset them. Julio comes back with the bad news that Diego won't listen and the wedding is still on.

Gloria, looking pretty pitiful, comes to talk to Silvana. Chucho despises them, she tells her daughter, and everyone else does too. Silvana still believes she deserves to be at Diego's side, life isn't fair, good Silvana tried to do it right but that didn't work, then bad Silvana tried and it's not working either. Gloria brings up honesty and dignity, a little late in my opinion.

Diego talks to Clemi in a robotic voice, saying he's going to marry Silvana for the sake of the children, their's and LuisFe and Azul's both. Clemi gives her best arguments but Diego plays the martyr role and will sacrifice himself.

Arny argues with Ceci to take him to see Azul. He understands that maybe she doesn't want to see her husband but he's her brother. Family. She should see him. Ceci will talk to Mario.

Out in the country, Mario and LuisFe discuss the situation. Mario cannot believe that Azul's father would have acted as Silvana said, abandoning Azul so easily. LuisFe reluctantly agrees that she should see her family but doesn't want to upset Azucena any more today. Maybe tomorrow. Mario mentions that her family deserves to know that the baby is not LuisFe's, which seems to be news to LF's mother. (I thought she knew?) I didn't catch what this conversation was about but the dramatic music played so if anyone can fill in the blanks, I'd appreciate it. I think they discussed the two babies, who fathered them and that maybe knowing who the fathers are would change the situations. Mario and LuisFe's mami convince LF that he can't make a family with Azucena until they figure all this out. Mario takes a call from Ceci. Ceci asks if Azul's brother can come see her but Mario says not today.

Diego goes to see Silvana and tells her the wedding is still on. Silvana is overwhelmed with gratitude while Diego is way underwhelmed.

LF visits Azulcena, who is looking pretty awful and resting in bed. He brings her some food but she has no appetite. LF mentions that her brother would like to visit. Azulcena is impactada because Silvana had told her that she had only her father. LF tells Azulcena about her family and that he knows her father personally. Azulcena is touched that her father really does love her and that she had people who cared. She agrees to see them, to decide for herself if it is true.

GSD is pacing and Julio and Arny are waiting. The doorbell rings and Azul has arrived to be reunited with her family. GSD is so happy to see her but Azul can't remember anything or anyone. GSD starts the introductions, but Azul still has her Azulcena look on. Azul is overwhelmed and upset that she can't remember. LF is there to comfort her. They are all uncomfortable so, like all good families, they bring out the food. It seems they have all her favorite things. She eats a grape and cries, then drinks a glass of papaya juice like she hasn't had anything to drink for weeks.

Silvana is extremely happy getting ready for her wedding. Like anyone else is going to feel like celebrating! The slimy Manuel slithers in to see Silvanita. He disgusts even her. He offers his congratulations on her imminent nuptials. Silvana thinks she has pulled off quite a feat, getting Diego to marry her even though he knows that Azul is alive. Silvana thinks that all the shadows over her happiness will be gone now but Manuel reminds her that there is one shadow left, the false pregnancy. Of course, Gloria is lurking in the doorway listening. Silvana figures she will just pretend to lose the baby in a couple months. Manuel asks what will keep Diego with her then? By then she thinks that Diego will love her and need to comfort her. Gloria hears it all.

Back at the reunion, GSD is filling Azul in on her past with Mauricio (was that this telenovela?) and how they came to think she was dead. They tell her how much Diego loved her and that he refused to believe that she was dead. They tell her that Silvana is a liar and then Julio tells them all that Silvana slept her way to the top, which is news to Ceci.

Silvana arrives at the chapel in full wedding regalia to hordes of reporters. Diego waits with Caty and Gloria, who is dressed in hot pink sequins and looking very guilty. Diego goes out to meet Silvana and sees all the press. He is mad at Silvana for telling them about the wedding. Silvana begs him not to ruin her day. Silvana says a few words for the press about her dress. If I were Diego, she would be wearing a potato sack.

The family is going through photo albums and telling Azul all about the pictures. GSD tells her about Emilia's pregnancy. Azul finds out that she is a psychologist. LuisFe is being very patient and understanding while all this is going on. He announces that the baby Azul is carrying is Diego's. LF makes the mistake of mentioning Diego's upcoming wedding. Ceci and Julio try to convince her to go stop the wedding but Azul says no. She wants to be with LuisFe.

At the chapel, Manuel arrives to give away the bride. Eeewww. The attendees start to file into the church. Gloria is looking worse and worse. She sees Chucho and goes to talk to him. She knows he'll never forgive her but she's sorry for all she's done and she will try to make it right. Chucho says, too little too late and walks away. Gloria calls Ceci and tells her that she has just found out that Silvana is not pregnant. Ceci begs Gloria to do something to stop the wedding. Ceci announces the news to the rest of the family. Everyone is impactados. Ceci begs Azul to go and stop the wedding before Diego's life is ruined by that harpy. Azul says but she doesn't love Diego.

At the chapel, the wedding music plays, the groom arrives at the altar and the bride begins her grand entrance with Manuel hanging onto his meal ticket's arm. Gloria finally steps up! She calls out to Diego while Silvana hisses at her. Gloria goes up to the front of the church to tell Diego that Silvana was never pregnant. Don't mind all those people watching. Diego glares at Silvana and she looks only slightly sick.....

Until next episode...

Labels: amar