Caray, Caray!

Well, here we are, trudging through another evening in the Slough of Despond. Pajarito Vicky is still playing the dying swan. Brothers are dying of hunger. Dad dying with worry. And finally the family is thinking a marriage between Rafa and long-suffering Vicky is the answer. Not the romance we're hoping for, right? Nor is the romance between Tia Rosario and Quintana the answer. But that's cooking along right nicely this evening.

Here's how the episode went tonight. Rafa arrives home from his obligatory house call at Vicky's to lament how Vicky's family pressured him into promises he didn't want to make (and Vicky into kisses he didn't want to give). Jaime nervously champions Vicky's cause and even Julieta and Leonor finally conclude that Vicky is the lesser of two evils, particularly if Papa Gaston follows through with his promises to control her stalking phone calls and visits to the office.

Following this, we have twin scenes of Rafa and Alejandra waking up depressed and weary. Looking at the phone. Waiting for a call. Getting a call but Rafa hangs up before she answers. Both drag themselves out of bed with hardly enough energy to get to work.

Alejandra perks up momentarily when Tia Rosario confides that Quintana asked her to be his novia and go with him to a party that evening. Alejandra is immediately on board, happy that someone's love life is going well (or so she thinks). She counsels Rosario to pay no attention to her brother's worries. She has the privilege of loving a man who really cares for her. That doesn't happen every day so don't blow your chances. Off the two trot to Rosario's room to look over outfits. Alejandra wants Auntie to wear a plunging neckline black top she gave her, as well as a little skirt to show off her pretty legs. Tia is hesitant. We'll see where this goes.

Meanwhile Jorge has found the love note Rosario dropped and is aware that a romance is afoot. We'll see how that goes also!

Now to work. Alejandra arrives and has a little heart to heart with Susana. Confides that she didn't sleep a wink last night. Her family is thick as thieves with Marcos and indignant about Rafa. Wanted him to leave Auto Siglo but of course that's impossible. He has to keep working to repay her. So she'll quit. Susana reminds her that the last time she tried to quit no one else would hire her.

Rafa arrives. Gloomy "buenos dias". Alejandra snaps that she wants Susana to get the carpenter back to put up a door since she doesn't want to share space with that man. Or even talk to him. All communication must be passed through Susana. Oh my, it's all so high school romance isn't it?

And speaking of sophomoric...we have another random corrupt cop scene. The bozos are trying to hit up Marian Celeste for a bribe (mordida) because she lacks a licence plate (it fell off a few blocks back). Marian doesn't bite and assures them they're not getting a peso out of her. And they don't.

Rafa finally arrives at the sales floor, startling Pepeto with his old garish tie and signature early days white socks. Seems he's trying to get his former vibe back and we have a nice retrospective of his lingerie hawking days. Ladies, if your hubby doesn't just jump off the bed when he sees this, you'll get your money back! he promises, waving a lacy bustier around in his hands. Pepeto assures him he's the same guy he ever was....a good friend, a fellow who loves his family. But Rafa knows different. He's lost Alejandra....and he wants her back.

We switch to another buddy scene: Marcos and Chavez. The latte wants to know how things are going with Alejandra. Well, she's very affected by the swindle and losing Rafa but Marcos is sure they acted just in time. If not, he would have lost Ale forever. But he's sticking like glue now, and eventually she'll be his. (Let's hope he's wrong, wrong, wrong.)

Back at Auro Siglo, finally the junta begins and Alejandra's in a foul mood with most of the staff. However the General's sales have been good. Ditto for Bebe and Dandy. Jose Tomas (Pepeto) comes in for a drubbing however. He excuses his poor performance on first month blues and promises to do better next month. May God hear you but I don't think He's listening snaps Ale. Another poor performer was Ramirez who blames it on the beating he got. But what about all those other months of poor performances? asks Ale. Has he been mugged every month of the year?

And up jumps our separated socialite Rosaura, championing the cause of the poor. You're the "mosca en la sopa" (fly in the soup) of this department retorts Ale. You haven't made one single sale this month. Rosaura's plea is that separated folks, or those suffering heartaches, should have the same 40 days grace period as women who've just given birth. Another argument that doesn't fly, but it does give everyone the chance to point out that certain people have canceled meetings and been in bitchy moods ever since their love life went sour, so why not grant that same slack to the sales force? The incipient revolt is quashed by the arrival of Señor Beltran.

He wants the sales figures for the month. And Ale indicates that Rafa should be the one to give them. He's as positive and encouraging as Ale was sarcastic and downbeat. He affirms the good work of the sales force, gives the numbers for the sales off the floor (not good enough, gasps Beltran) but indeed it is, because together with the institutional sales, Auto Siglo has more than made it's quota for the month. Beltran is ecstatic to learn Rafa has closed the Celeste deal. Applause all around from the staff. Rafa points out that a significant part of the institutional sales were thanks to Ale and Carbones de Norte. Insignificant applause. Ale's not winning any contests here.

And neither is Marino. Although he tried to get hold of the monthly prize earlier (a watch), practically wresting it out of the hands of Susana, it seems the fellow with the highest sales figures was none other than Dandy. So he gets the watch. And Rafa, with his big institutional sale, gets a fancy new telephone, more appropriate for the fine executive he now is. No problem programming in the old phone numbers....just change the chip. It's what's inside that counts, explains Beltran.

Best part of the evening was the long shot of Dandy's surprised but ecstatic face when he learns he's the month's winner. And there we end.

Previews:
Ale hands in a letter of resignation again.
Rafa vows not to let her quit.

Vocabulary:
Me costó un trabajo arreglarme = I had trouble even getting dressed (Alejandra dragging into the day)
Como me veo? = How do I look?
una persona que no es la indicada = not the right person (Ale talking about Rafa)
mujeriego = womanizer (Quintana)

mordida = bribe , (also can mean bite)
hacer cola = wait in line
que gacha es la gente, de veras = really, people can be so nasty (cop complaining about Marian Celeste's treatment of their bribe attempt)
Dios te oiga = May God hear you
feroz paliza = terrible beating (Ramirez' excuse)
siete y pico = just a little after 7....Ramiro's excuse for trying to get his late sale credited
asi se habla compañera = now you're talking comrade (General affirming Rosaura's confrontation with Ale
escote = neckline (usually plunging or cut very deep...at least on Univision)
cohecho, soborno = also words for" bribe

Dicho of the Day

Camarón que se duerme, se lo lleva la corriente (lit. a sleep shrimp is carried away by the current) (fig. You've got to keep on your toes.) And looks like Rafa IS keeping on his toes. He closed the Celeste deal. He hasn't married Vicky yet. And he hasn't lost Ale. Not really. Hang in there Rafa!

Labels: dinero

Ahoy all,
Since I attended a number of high school graduations last week the Alice Cooper song kept running through my head. It was fun to see all the kids very excited about the next step of their lives. Most were looking forward to going to college, some were looking forward to traveling, and some were planning to go directly to work. I vividly recall that time in my life, feeling both excited and nervous about the future. I thought I knew it all. Ha!!!

I'd love to know what everybody has in the store for the summer. Is anyone planning any trips? Planting a garden? Having company for a visit? Watching a Harry Potter or Star Wars marathon? Planning to make a purchase? Read a book?

I know Elna June is up to her earlobes in remodeling. I have always found any sort of redecorating to feel like a new beginning. Out with the old and in with the new, eh?

I think you all know what I have in store for the summer. We just got the boat's watermaker working for the first time yesterday so it looks like showers all the way to Hawaii for us, hooray!!! We set sail on July 8th and I probably won't be back until the end of August. Ten days or so to get to Oahu aboard the vessel Cinnabar, a week to fool around and provision for the return, then a leisurely sail back.

What's up with the rest of you?

Labels: gancho

In the finca office, Noel surprises Rodrigo by insisting he won't oppose Regina's inheritance going to Rodrigo. Rodrigo figured Noel would like the money to go to that ruffian. But no; Noel won't interfere in the legal affairs between parent and child -- just as he wouldn't want interference between himself and Renato. For once, Rodrigo agrees with him, Rodrigo says. So, it's a done deal as soon as Regina and Juan are married.

Juan shocks the boyz at the beach shack, revealing they will all leave tomorrow -- just as soon as he marries Regina Montes de Oca. Back at the finca, Regina for her part, slumps into a chair in a parlor, when Noel happens upon her. He'd like her to level with him, as always; not to pry, but so that he can help her if she needs it. Regina denies there's anything to tell.

She made a mistake and now she accepts the punishment; but it strikes Noel as odd that marrying the man she loves would be a punishment. His words are torture to Regina, and Noel suggests perhaps Renato was acting the tyrant with his insistence. Noel confesses he hardly recognizes his son's violent behavior; he's surprised and worried. Noel always thought Renato resembled himself; but it hurts to realize he was wrong: Renato is a Montes de Oca, from head to toe.

Regina insists the only guilty one is herself. Noel suspects only innocents declare themselves in such a fashion, but Regina continues. It's all her fault. She piteously asks when will this torture stop, and that makes Noel pause and apologize. He didn't intend that; after all, a wedding is a happy occasion when love is involved. Regina turns to face him, agreeing -- when there's love.

Back at the beach shack, Remigio is furious that Juan intends to revenge himself on Regina. But Juan is set on it. Gabriel explains that he and Jimena are leaving together for points far away, somewhere they can be married; and Juan reminds him he's family, that he promised Gabriel's father to take care of him, and that there'll always be a light burning for him and Jimena at Devil's Rock.

At the gypsy camp, Servando pressures Griselda to make Jimena marry Branko, on account of Servando giving his Gypsy's word, which is sacred. But that's his business, Griselda claims; if Branko wants to marry Jimena, he can pay her price. If Griselda doesn't obey him, Servando says he'll reveal to Jimena her true background.

When Griselda points out the flaw -- that they'd both be jailed, Servando disagrees. He has Fulgencio's protection now, and Griselda would lose everything, including Jimena. As Servando exits, Griselda mulls over how she wouldn't lose anything; she'll just take Jimena and go somewhere that neither Branko nor the white boy will ever find them.

In the catacombs, Arcadio scouts around, looking for María del Rosario's jewels that Leonarda hid. He's knocking on walls and then spies a suspicious hay bail that needs pulling aside. Sure enough, behind it is a secret compartment holding the little cask of jewels. Arcadio is greedily joyful; but decides to put the cask back to avoid suspicion and only retrieve it again should he be making a getaway.

Beside a fire at the gypsy camp, the girl who loves Branko begs Griselda to help her, paying her some gold pieces as incentive. Griselda explains Servando's threats; but the cash is convincing, and Griselda asks the girl to pay close attention to what she will say...

Federico visits Eloísa at home while Fulgencio is at the casino; he's decided now that he will go along with Eloísa's earlier plan to kill her husband. Eloísa is delighted at the possibility of how rich and happy they will be. Meanwhile, at the casino, Fulgencio sits accompanied only by Raúl and has decided to leave; neither Noel nor Rodrigo showed up, so there's no one to play cards with.

Raúl is surprised when Fulgencio mentions his house guest, Alberto, who is apparently a Puebla businessman well known by reputation to Fulgencio. Raúl has been thinking about arranging a get-together at home to introduce Alberto to his friends. Fulgencio approves, suggesting that it is time for Rodrigo, Leonarda and everyone to get back to normal -- and the best thing for that would be if Juan del Diablo left town for good.

A gentleman takes his leave of Fifi, and she tells Lulu that he should have visited with her instead, because he was quite the talker; in fact, talk is all he wanted. Lulu observes that a lot of the men who come to the casino just want somebody to listen to them -- better than they apparently do at home.

In a strange scene in Renato and Aimee's apartments, he taunts her bitterly while claiming that sometimes only a little, tiny thing is required to change a person's life forever. For example, it really hurt him to find out what an imposter Regina had been; all his life he didn't know her at all. Renato grabs Aimee and jerks her to her feet, gritting his teeth and biting out that what he most detests is betrayal. It's the only thing he cannot forgive. Renato squeezes Aimee's jaw and chin in his hand, and it seems like he will kiss her; but he jerks her loose and goes back to his cognac, which he's deep into already.

Next morning at Dr. Pablo's, Marlene awakens from sleeping at Rosenda's bedside to find that Rosenda is showing signs of life. Her fingers move and soon she begins to regain consciousness. Marlene beams with joy and runs to get the doctor; but it appears Rosenda has a terrible headache and doesn't recognize anyone, including herself.

Back at the finca in Regina's bedroom, Clemencia can hardly believe Regina plans to go through with the wedding. Regina reminds Clemencia she asked her to save Aimee, and now she can't do anything to avoid the wedding. But Regina's not worried yet; she's sure Juan will take her off just to spite Aimee, but then drop her at the nearest place as soon as they are out of sight.

Then Regina can get back to a convent, where she can at last live in peace, Regina says. Clemencia has the bad manners to point out that as her husband, Juan will possess all the husbandly rights. This clearly hadn't dawned on Regina, who is horrified, and declares she'll never, ever permit that! Ha, we will see.

Down on the landing, Renato enters in the same clothes and same cognac snifter as in the last scene and observes to Leonarda and Rodrigo that they should be leaving in an hour. Leonarda notes that he's apparently still insisting Regina marry the bastard. Rodrigo chimes in gleefully that Renato is right and the wedding will go on.

Renato sends Celia to get Aimee ready to go; and then he heads down to the catacombs to give Arcadio his job back, which he also has decided to do. Leonarda is not quite sure she likes the change she sees in Renato, but Rodrigo plainly is: Renato's finally become a real Montes de Oca, he declares.

Arcadio is sweating out his dilemma about the two missing women: the crazy one and Rosenda. He's got to find them both before Leonarda finds out he didn't kill them. He's raking himself over the coals once more about letting it slip to Rosenda that Juan del Diablo's mother is alive, when Renato appears and mystifies him by giving him his old job back. Now he has to find those women for sure in order to keep in Renato's good graces.

At Dr. Pablo's, Pablo is just explaining to the clueless Rosenda about what happened to her and what her condition is. Little by little she should regain her memory; they are going to take good care of her. Marlene declares she won't budge from her side until Rosenda is completely well.

Back in her apartments, Aimee is beating poor Celia around (who also has a head injury but must go on about her drudgery anyway); she's killing the messenger after hearing that Renato wants her ready for the wedding as planned. Aimee is livid and throws one whale of a great hissy fit. She is a wonder to behold. So nothing has changed!

Why doesn't the ground just open up and swallow them all! When Celia babbles on about how awful that would be, Aimee hauls off and smacks the living stuffing out of the wretched woman. Aimee is so furious that Regina is marrying Juan that she just can't accept it and finally comes around to the hallucination that Regina really intends to leave him at the altar at the last moment, like she did Federico. Yes, yes! That's the ticket! Aimee is depending on it.

Dr. Pablo points out to Marlene that Rosenda's memory loss can be a good thing for her, so that now for a while, Marlene can spend time with her, take care of her and get her daughter back without being rejected. Marlene is delighted and grateful for this miracle.

In a short scene at a town plaza, Servando meets Federico and gives him a firearm for the job they have to do. Back at the gypsy camp, when Griselda insists to Branko that he must pay to marry Jimena, Branko insults Griselda for trying to sell her own niece. But it doesn't wash with Griselda, and she swears to herself that Branko will never marry Jimena.

At Raul's, Alberto and his wife delight in Jimena's newfound happiness over her upcoming marriage with Gabriel. What's more, the erstwhile grandparents offer to take both young people with them back to Puebla, where Jimena can be with their daughter and Gabriel can work with Alberto. Everything seems like it's working out beautifully until there's a ring at the door and presently Griselda bursts into the room and ruins the mood. She smacks Jimena and scolds her for not coming home at night.

Back at Dr. Pablo's, he lies to Arcadio when he comes around looking for Rosenda, saying she's not there. And he wonders aloud to Arcadio why anyone would think Rosenda needed a doctor. Arcadio claims he's just on orders from Leonarda and makes a hasty exit. Presently, Marlene enters, and after hearing what happened, reminds the doctor she suspects it was Leonarda who attempted to have Rosenda killed for carrying Rodrigo's child.

Juan quaffs cognac and paces the floor in a finca parlor; and when Clemencia enters and asks what's happening to him, he laughs bitterly and says he's getting married! Passing his hand over his eyes, he admits he doesn't even know himself what's happening to him. Clemencia embraces Juan, weeping for him. It's all a nightmare; how can he agree to marry Regina.

Juan points out facetiously that it's Renato's order, and nobody second-guesses the boss. Clemencia's worried about Renato, too. How can he have changed so much in one night? How can you supposed lovers... she begins; but Juan interrupts. Supposed? Regina confirmed our relationship last night, he says. Clemencia begs Juan not to play around with her, and Juan tries to calm her down. He explains his view -- how he was going to leave with Aimee, but the two sisters colluded together and caught him in a trap. And they have to pay for that.

He's going to marry Regina and take her far away in his ship. Yes, that's it. A woman can be very useful shipboard; she can clean and be ship's cook and hedgehog. (See Black Adder.) And if she gets worn out we can always throw her overboard. Juan is really warming to his topic, and Clemencia grows more desperate, when he arrives at the point of the first day of the honeymoon...

Upstairs in her room, Regina writes her final diary entry. The only thing she regrets is that Renato will never know of her great love for him nor how little he really knew her. For love of Renato, she will be the wife of Juan del Diablo and be condemned to a life full of sadness. But no matter, this wedding is her last demonstration of love for Renato. Renato...Renato, I love you; I love you, she says.

Regina closes the diary and places it on the bed. When she lifts her wedding dress -- also lying there, preoccupied, she allows the diary to fall to the floor, where it will undoubtedly be found by someone later. Perhaps even Renato, when he wanders into her room, to pine after her after she's been whisked away from the finca.

Back in the parlor, Clemencia is just begging Juan to take her with them on the boat when Renato enters and facetiously explains that can't happen. Two newlyweds wouldn't appreciate that. Two people so much in love! he whispers sarcastically. Juan plays along, agreeing. Renato continues that he'll be needing to "take care of" his wife when Juan interrupts, pointing out how Renato is "taking care of" his wife by locking her in her room.

This enrages Renato who insists Juan has no right to come into his house, no right to drink his cognac -- which glass he smashes for punctuation. Juan's on his feet now, shouting how he has every right! He's a Montes de Oca, too. He has a right to half of the finca! Of this house! Juan yells. Get used to it! Renato is speechless as Juan exits.

Finally, everyone is assembling downstairs to go to the wedding; and they all watch as Regina descends the stairs once again in her wedding gown. She's ready, she says.

Labels: salvaje

Sorry folks, PaulaH, Novela Maven and I have decided to stop doing recaps of Clon. There are so few people posting comments (and presumably watching) that frankly, it's just not worth the time and effort it takes to write a recap. For me, anyway, it takes at least two hours to do one not counting the hour I spend watching the episode before I start writing.

Labels: clon

*Because I just couldn’t help continuing the weather theme. I’ve been a little preoccupied the past week because some virus gutted my main computer. All has been fixed in time for a recap full of more tears and frustration. Ay, que triste!

Jimenez gets an eyeful of Carmela trying to swallow Marco’s tongue. She is hot and bothered but Marco makes excuses, promises to call, and flees with his tongue still (more or less) attached.

Ale returns home dejected and barely gets a foot the door before Rosario accosts her. They’re worried since Ale never called or updated them on the Rafa situation. Ale’s tears well up; she refuses to talk to anyone and runs upstairs to her room. Ale sits on her bed and sobs her heart out while Rafa cries to Jaime on the phone that he doesn’t know how he is going to survive after what he had to do. “My life is in pieces!”

Susana interrupts Rafa’s phone call to deliver the sales reports. He asks her not to call him licenciado but Susana says it’s the only way she can address him now. Rafa tries to explain himself but Susana refuses to listen to anything Rafa has to say if it isn’t related to business. Rafa is left frustrated and on the verge of tears.

Vicky rocks out to the music on her MP3 but dashes back into bed when she hears her dad and brothers coming. They brought Vicky all her favorite foods to entice her to eat. Don Gaston makes the hermanos leave the room when they keep chowing down on the barbeque meant for Vicky. Once Vicky is sure her padre has left the room, she nearly pigs out but stops and goes for the chips instead.

The employees are aggravated when Susana won’t accept any of their last minute sales as part of the previous month. Rafa exits his office and Nelson asks what happened to make him look like a walking corpse (cadaver ambulante). Rafa says he is a walking corpse and will explain in the morning.

Rosaura pleads with Susana to make an exception for her because of the situation but there’s nothing Susana can do. Marino smells desperation, which must be a major turn on for him. He comes onto Rosaura; after all, he has money and could “help her out”. The General says his money is worthless and tells him to take a hike.

Gabriel, Rosaura’s ex-husband, calls the Siglo to speak to the General. He heard Rosaura was living with her and wants to know how his ex is doing. “The princess has left the golden castle and is learning about the real world.” Gabriel is aghast Rosaura could possibly survive without her upper-class comforts. The General assures him Rosaura is living like millions of other Mexicans. Gabriel asks her not to tell Rosaura that he called and she doesn’t.

Jimenez clumsily thunders into the Siglo with his final sale of the month. Susana tells him to forget it but Jimenez swears Rafa gave him permission to enter it late. Susana tells him to take it up with Rafa. Nelson asks why the sudden hostility toward Rafa and Susana says Rafa is a jerk and flounces off. Nelson is even more confused.

Marco arrives at Ale’s on his high horse to save the day and glue the pieces of Ale’s life back together. Rosario called him to hear how the Rafa debacle went. (How about you wait and talk to your niece about it instead of inviting her ex-boyfriend over? Or would that make too much sense?)

Marco says Rafa confessed to trying to sell his house to get out of paying his debt to Ale. Jorge and Rosario are predictably scandalized; Jorge calls Rafa a delinquent and wants him thrown in jail. Marco agrees but it’s ultimately up to Ale. Jorge barges upstairs to force Ale into talking with them. Ale just wants to be left alone but Jorge refuses to let her curl up and cry after what Rafa did to her. Ale still doesn’t want to talk so Jorge puts his foot down: if she won’t discuss it with them, they will decide how to handle Rafa without her. “Do not complain if you don’t like the decisions we make.” Ale cries some more.

Rafa returns home to a house full of anxiety and stress. He assures Leonor he has taken care of everything but Leonor is fed up. She is tired of him hiding the facts from her and wants to know exactly what happened. Rafa does not want his mother to torture herself over what happened but Leonor is adamant. “I made a big mistake signing those papers and I want to know what happened and what the consequences are.”

Jorge storms downstairs in a huff but Ale follows not far behind him. She gives a weak greeting to Marco and sits down between her padre and tia. Ale says Rafa confessed his plan to her. Rosario and Jorge prod her with questions about what to do next. Jorge is ready to lock Rafa in jail and throw away the key. “He broke the law and he made a mockery out of us.” Ale’s eyes widen in concern.

Rafa tells his family the truth. Marco cooked up the radio contest and the paper Leonor signed was actually the warranty to the house. Leonor is crushed and Julieta is incensed. “Why would they do this do us?!” Rafa claims Marco just wanted something else to hold over Rafa’s head. Leonor’s sadness turns to fury. “That woman mopped the floor with you every single day! She took your paycheck and she sent that horrible lawyer to embargo our house! What more does she want? To take away our house? Send you to jail?”

Ale straightens up a little and says the sale of the house is between Rafa and the buyer. Rafa did not break the contract with her. Besides, if they send him to jail and seize Leonor’s house, how will Rafa ever pay back his debt? They can’t afford to lose Rafa’s monthly payment what with their financial situation. Ale promises she will send Rafa to jail if he doesn’t make his payments but she is sure they won’t need to; Rafa will pay her back. (Kudos to Ale for having at least a little faith in Rafa.)

Rafa vows he will never let their home be taken from them. He makes every payment punctually. Julieta wonders if Marco could be taking personal revenge on Rafa because something happened between him and Ale. Rafa admits Marco is very jealous but it doesn’t matter. The only way to get things back in order is to keep paying back his debt to Ale. Leonor agrees but refuses to take it lying down; she is going to do everything possible to finish this fiasco once and for all. She wants Ale and Marco out of their lives for good.

Jaime asks Rafa why he didn’t tell Leonor the whole truth about the warranty. “What was I going to say? Because of my relationship with Ale, you might go to jail?” The wheels in Rafa’s head start turning; if he can pay back the rest of his debt in full, the embargo on the house will be lifted and his mother will be out of danger. Rafa wants to get a loan from the bank but can’t because of his agreement with Marco. Rafa has to leave the Siglo and without a job it will be impossible to get a loan.

Jorge can’t stand the thought of Ale returning to work and standing face-to-face with Rafa. Everyone wants Rafa fired from the Siglo but Ale’s hands are tied. Rafa is her boss and if she had him fired, she would feel guilty for causing Rafa to lose his job. Ale is going to leave the Siglo; after all, she only promised to stay long enough to train a replacement. Her family is not pleased but they give up trying to convince her otherwise.

Jaime suggests Rafa get the money from Don Gaston. Rafa considers that idea as bad as suicide since he would have to marry Vicky. Jaime presses the idea, which annoys Rafa. Jaime doesn’t get why it bothers Rafa so much since Ale is probably going to end up an item with Marco again. Rafa hopes not and prays he hasn’t lost Ale forever. “La amo!”

Marco tells Ale she can count on him for whatever she needs. He feels guilty for what happened to Ale because he tried to warn her about Rafa but she refused to listen. He offers his shoulder for her to cry on and tells her to call anytime she needs to talk. Marco will even help pay the bills if Ale can’t find work once she leaves the Siglo. Ale turns the offer down but thanks him for his generosity. Once Marco leaves, Ale’s tears start flowing anew. She never imagined Rafa, the only man she truly loves, would be capable of treating her this way.

Don Gaston is distraught when he finds that Vicky still hasn’t eaten. He sends the hermanos to get Rafa so they can snap Vicky out of her funk. The guys gleefully pull out their knives and hurry off for Rafa’s. They arrive in no time flat, literally pick Rafa up, and carry him back to their house.

Oh, dear. Ale is weeping in her room again. Let’s spare ourselves more pain, shall we?

The hermanos throw Rafa on the couch for an interview at knifepoint with Don Gaston. Vicky is still ill with grief and they aren’t going to let her die because of Rafa. Don Gaston doesn’t beat around the bush. “Do you not love her? Do you feel nothing for her?” Rafa stammers he loved Vicky and respects her very much. Of course he wants to help her Vicky well. Rafa agrees to spend time with her but tells them he has responsibilities elsewhere too.

The hermanos drag Rafa into Vicky’s room to cheer her up. Rafa gives her a peck on the lips and feeds her a bit of ribs. Her brothers are thrilled Vicky ate and she whimpers for Rafa to stay with her. Rafa has to work the next morning but promises to visit again. Once the guys are gone, Vicky throws a fit because Rafa wouldn’t stay the night. “My plan will not work if he doesn’t spend the night with me!”

Por favor, can this dia del Diablo finally be over for our protagonists?

Avances: Marco celebrates his success swindling Ale; Jimenez might tell Ale about Marco macking with Carmela. (But he’ll probably chicken out.)

Labels: dinero

Regina Montes de Martir slowly glides down the steps to a fate she is dreading. Everyone stares at her. Regina looks like she would shoot her the spot if she had a gun, quick, hide all knifes. Renato asks her if she’s ready and she says responds resignedly. Regina really overdid it with the blush.

Renato hands her a bouquet of flowers, Regina is about to cry. “These are the first flowers you’ve ever given me. Too bad it was today.” Be a bit less emo please, you are making everyone suspicious.

MDR spent the night lying on her tomb. A dove lands close to her and as usual she thinks it’s Juan de Dios’ spirit coming for her. This is so sad. She walks out and I wonder where she would go next.

Jimena and her new family are facing off to Griselda after she smacked her. She wants to sell her like a ho. “I might be hard on Jimena sometimes, but I only want well for her.” Uh huh, sure. Mariella screams at her, you go1 I’ve never seen her so aggressive. “If you were a mother, you would know. I lost my Angela when she was so small. I pray to God she would never be in the hands of someone like you.”

JIKES!!!!

Clemencia is besides Regina NOT making things even more obvious. Rod is rude as usual. Juan waits with the Pescadores who didn’t even bother to dress up. I guess those are the only clothes they have? They all have something to say. Even Colibri. “I really like Lady Regina and I don’t want to see her hurt.” Awww, neither do we. Hot Juan needs prodding to know where to stand. The priest asked her if she knows what she is doing. NO she is not but freaking stop asking her.

Fed and Cervando on horseback waiting for the booty robbers. I hope this doesn’t end well.

Griselda fakes concern for Mariella about her lost daughter but insists on Jimena returning with her. They won’t let her. “I will go to the authorities.” Not a good idea, lady. “I’m not afraid of you,” she declares. Fool lady. That’s another one that deserves to end very, very badly. She realizes that Mariella is her real mother and she needs to take out Jimena out of there, pronto.

Wedding march time. Regina walks in on Renato’s arm. This must be killing her inside. Poor thing. She approaches Juan slowly and he yanks her forward. You better stop your rough handlings right now Juanito. He teases her about her grim face and I’m 100% with him. Act a little, will you? “our mission ends here,” Renato tells his ho wife Aimee bitterly.

The priest starts the ceremony. Juan hold regina’s hand in a gesture of solidarity. I think that was so sweet. The priest asks Juan if he will take Regina for wife. “I do.” His voice resonate. Aimee scrunches her nose and mouth. He asks the same of Regina. “Yes, father, I accept.”

Holy crap!!!!!

Juan seems a bit surprised. I guess he was expecting her to bold. Everyone reacts. Looks are shot back and forth. Aimee is swallowing her own vomit.

MDR is at the beach, the same spot where Orca found her last time she escaped. Run, run! The dove let her hold him/her. That’s a well trained dove and very cute. I want one as a pet now, but I disgress.

Back at the wedding. Regina’s blood-shot eyes gaze into Juan’s. He slips the ring on her finger and she does the same. A tender moment amidst the angst of this farce wedding. I’m growing tired of Aimee’s tightened mouth.

“I declare you husband and wife.”

That is it. No turning back now. “You can kiss the bride.” Juan looks around with a smirk on his face and opts to kiss her hand. Renato, non too happy. Overall a very well handled wedding.

Fedgets caught in a trap. Sevando’s knife saves the day. They fight the bandits and get their guns. They speak of killing Fulgencio but Servando doesn’t want to.

The wedding party walk out of the church. Regina doesn’t look so well and says she needs to get her things from the finca. Juan helps them up into the carriage. Clemencia, who is so responsible for everything that happened, is all worried about her. “You have a fever.” “It’s nothing Nana.”

Idiot Aimee complains to Renato that he cannot let Juan take her away. Hello, they just got married you stupid cow. “She just got married to the man she loves.” “Yes, but what if she lied about loving him.” For God’s sakes, do you want him to kill you for real? Shut your trap.

Juan and Clemencia are at the finca. She blesses him in name of his mother. “I hope that you don’t revenge everything that’s happened on Regina. You will be the same like the ones who did this. You would betray your mother and father’s memory. Think about all this.”

Good words. I hope they got to his heart. I do think they did. “You are as if you were my mother.” “Please I plead with all my heart that you don’t make Regina unhappy.” She cries hard. Juan takes off his wedding ring. Weird….

Regina sadly realizes she is now a wife, but she won’t be his woman. We’ll see about that :P. Clemencia and Juan cry into each other’s arms. Regina slowly takes off her veil. All very dramatic.

Noel gives Rod the documents that give him possession of Regina’s inheritance. They insult each other and Rod complains about Regina. I will be so happy the day he finds out who is the real bad daughter.

Renato sits alone, looking boorish. Juan enters the sitting room, looking for trouble most likely. He paces back and forth and says he will go look for Regina. Regina comes down wearing her nun clothes. Weird. Renato asks why she is dressed like that and she responds that it’s the only thing that’s truly hers. So she didn’t take all her stuff? Weirdo.

Fed and Griseldo bring the ruffian that stole from them gagged and bound and return the money to Fulgencio. Poor dude.

The generals with their ridicule.ous customs are in a ship walking around with their guns cocked. Colibri steps up to one and tells him Eucebio is going to steal the ship and then grab him and beat him up. They do the same with each general. Colibri cries and begs each one to approach the door where they are taken one by one. Its very funny, lol.

Hey Remigio doesn’t look bad at all shi9rtless. Whooo.

The ruffian is stabbed in the stomach by Fugencio. Ouch. He lies dead on the floor. “Who betrays me, dies. Throw him into the ocean.” Ufff

Finally they defeat all the generals and now the boat is theirs. Much nicer than Luzbel.

Regina is shivering and looks very ill. Juan, shirtless now for some reason –not that I’m complaining- picks her up in his strong arms. They are on the shore.

Haha Aimee is crying bitter tears of the defeat she brought upon her self. “Juan, Juan. He left. Juan now has left forever. And he left with damned Regina. Damn her!” Whoa. Renato with two glasses of liquor barges in and sarcastically tells her poor you when she says she doesn’t feel so well. Haha. He is being suck a jackass and its super entertaining.

“It’s a celebration, a private one.” He forces a glass of champagne into her hand and forces her to drink. He is screaming at her. “Even though you said you’d be with me all your life, you want to leave. Why are you so fidgety. Maybe it’s your guilty conscience.”

She raves and complains about Juan being a savage and how he shouldn’t have let him take Regina. He grabs her and yells at her some more.

Juan brings Regina into the new boat. She is frightened and disoriented. Juan is already wet, hehehe.

More bullying from Renato. She so had it coming. He keeps grabbing her face roughly. He mocks her. She tires to leave but he blocks the exit. He tries to make her confess. “Why are you so sad about Regina. Tell me, did you sacrifice her.” “No, she is guilty and Juan doesn’t love her, he can’t love.” Obviously Renato asks her why she is saying that. She is just digging her own grave deeper and deeper the more she opens her big fat mouth.

Juan informs Regina the boat and el penon del Diablo are his only possessions. Regina cries she cannot live in a boat. Juan tells her too bad and that tonight is our wedding night and you will be my wife. “Don’t you dare touch me! You just want to torture me and make fun of me.” And all this in front of his friends. Jeez Juan, stop being such an ass. Not nice.

“I want to leave right now!” He mocks her and compares her to Regina. Will someone come to her defense. She appeals too Colibri. She begs Remigio to help her. He tries to defend her. Regina stars getting all faint and Juan embraces her and takes her away. Oh please, weren’t you just pissed off? Freaking bipolar dude lol.

More arguing and bullying in Renato and Aimee’s room. Noel finally stops the craziness. She sobs she hasn’t done anything. Awww poor little angel.

Regina collapses into the bed. Juan looks panicked, specially when Colibri walks in and says it’s the same sickness that afflicted the workers at the finca.

Labels: salvaje

We open where we left off, in the park of Daniel’s childhood. Albi tells Daniel that he can’t come live with him just yet. Luisa doesn’t know he’s back, her health is delicate… Ok, agrees Daniel cheerfully, let’s wait ‘til she recovers and then we’ll tell her. The Manipulator and the Manipulated walk off companionably, arms around each other.

In the Gilded Cage, Zoraida warns Jade to watch out for Amina and Rania because they are just waiting for her to make a mistake. Jade laughs off the warning and calls Lucas on the cell phone Latifa has reluctantly loaned her. She confides that she’s worried about her daughter. The lovers reassure each other.

Jade tells Zoraida that Said is going on a trip and insists that she’ll find a way to get Lucas in the house while Said is gone. Then Jade phones Lucas again and says:
Si tienes el valor de hacer lo que te voy a decir, tal vez podamos volver a vernos antes de lo que pensamos.
If you have the courage to do what I’m going to tell you, maybe we’ll be able to see each other sooner than we thought.

And in Mohamed’s house, Said is asking his brother to look after his household while he’s away. Make sure Jade doesn’t even get close to the front door, he says. Then the Naz breezes in, announces she’s going to the drugstore. But where’s our tea? grumps Said to her fleeing back. Hey, Said, don’t you think we should find the Naz a husband? wonders Mohamed.

Having made her escape, the Naz corners Ramoncito and asks him to arrange a date for her with Pablo; her house is full of people and she can’t get to the gym. That will be one pair of gold earrings says the amiable Ramón. You’ll have two pairs once you come through with the goods, promises the Naz.

Malicia meets up with Luisa who forks over the promised hush money.
Si sigues así, tu secreto siempre va a estar a salvo conmigo.
If you continue like this, your secret will always be safe with me, smirks Malicia.

At Empresa Ferrer, Nati and Andrea breeze past Clara, enter Lucas’s office unannounced and tell him that Marisa has accused Alejo of robbing her diamond necklace. He agrees to go to the police station to try to straighten things out.

Meanwhile, Alejo and Pablo have returned to Gloria’s and Alej is trying to convince his mother that it is just a misunderstanding (malentendido) but Pablo says bluntly that Nati’s mother has accused Alej of robbery. Gloria is furious, and has to be talked out of confronting Marisa; she insists on going to the police station with Pablo to file her own complaint (denuncia) against Marisa for slander (calumnia). Alej is upset with Pablo for getting Gloria involved but Pablo declares:
Esa fiera no va a salir con la suya. Es una injusticia.
That beast isn’t going to have her own way/get away with it. It’s an injustice.
Alej tries to stretch the tension out of his neck. Mohamed is watching closely from across the street.

A giggling girlish Lucy, er…I mean Jade enters, takes Rania’s hands and dances her around. I didn’t think you were so cheerful, observes Amina sourly. I’d be sad if I were getting divorced, says Rania. Well, yes, I am sad, so sad…temporizes Jade…I’m just trying to distract myself. Oh and by the way, you’re going to meet an old friend of mine later… a distant niece of Zoraida’s, very religious, wears a black burka covering all but her eyes. Such a sad story! Her novio died on her wedding day and since that day she hasn’t spoken.

At Mohamed’s they are talking about Gloria’s son being accused of robbery. Pobre doña Gloria, commiserates Ali. Abdul waxes nostalgic about the days when they punished thieves by cutting off a hand.

The hawk-eyed Naz enters Samira’s room to see if she and Jadiya want to go to the mall and spies a blood stain on her bed. ¡Qué alegría! she cries. (what joy!) and she rushes out to share the news with the gang that:
¡Samira fue bendecida! Su sangre ya bajó!
Samira has been blessed! She got her first period!

And at the police station, Gloria greets Nati:
Así tu eres la mocosa del cuento de horror!
So you’re the snot-nosed brat in this horror story!
Lucas enters and approaches the detective, telling him he’s there to find out (averiguar) what happened with Alejandro Cortés.

In Samira’s room, Jadiya is thrilled. She reminds her cousin that now she can have a husband chosen for her and he will cover her with gold and give her many children. Samira is devastated at the thought of being forced to wear the veil in public; she imagines the kids at school laughing at her. She pictures herself with a troop of little Prince Amins and is understandably horrified. Then the gang comes in to celebrate – Abdul, Ali, Mohamed, Latifa and the Naz, the latter waving a special, beautiful veil from Cairo which she’s been saving for just such an occasion.

The girl can think on her feet. Whoa… hold on… who says I got my period? I cut my hand and stained my sheet is all… The assembled faces fall.

Gloria is hollering at a policeman while Lucas is trying to convince the detective to leave Alejo alone. The detective says he has to investigate the complaint. Well, says Lucas, there’s no proof against Alej so the complaint will be withdrawn very soon.

Abdul catches Amin ogling Karla and warns him:
Casi todos los hombres pierden el alma por culpa de sus ojos.
Almost all men lose their souls because of their eyes.
He hustles him into the house with the cheery admonition to avoid roads leading to hell. Speaking of which, Karla with a K smiles and waves at Tío.

As Alejandro gets back to Gloria’s, Ramón is finishing up a phone conversation with Nati. He tells Alej that Nati’s father went to the police and spoke on his behalf.

At the Casa Ferrer, Lucas confronts Marisa angrily, tells her she’s behaving unscrupulously (sin escrúpulos). Don’t you give me morality lessons, she retorts. This necklace business stops here, says Lucas. I’m not letting you do harm to my daughter’s life!

When Lucas returns to the office, Clara hands him a mysterious brown box delivered by messenger. Lucas opens it and finds within a .. black burka! He recalls Jade’s voice:
Si tienes el valor de hacer lo que te voy a decir…
If you have the courage to do what I’m going to tell you...

Enrique comes in to Lucas’s office and tells him that Leo has approved all of Marisa’s financial demands for a divorce. Go ahead and finalize it, urges Lucas, so I can marry Jade. I’m finally going to leave my parents’ house for a new life with the woman I love!

Jade crows to Zoraida about how easy it has been to carry out her plan so far. This is the worst thing you’ve ever done, says Zoraida. And don’t forget that you have two enemies in this house just looking for your downfall. (caida)

Leo is telling Albieri that Lucas wants a new life but instead of looking to the future, he’s trying to return to the past, like an adolescent. Albieri asks him what he’d do if he had an adolescent Lucas sitting in front of him. How would you feel if I had cloned Lucas twenty years ago and you had that clone here? Leo tells him he would take the opportunity to correct his errors, that he short-changed Lucas and he would love to be able to go back and change that.

Daniel has returned to Dora’s house. Albieri is expected for dinner. Osvaldo comes home, hears that Albi is coming, and announces he’s going to Miguel’s, where he’ll spend the night. He and Dora argue, she tells him that if he leaves, he shouldn’t bother coming back.
Tus deseos son ordenes.
Your desires are orders/ your wish is my command, says Osvaldo.

Nati is with Fernando and Andrea. She calls Alejo, tells him her father believes in him and convinces him to come over to talk with Lucas. Fernando is now on his fourth beer, and Nati has joined him. Give me another, she says. Seriously, says Nati, if I’m the daughter she never wanted to have, then she’s the mother I never wanted to have.

Ramón tells Pablo that doña Nazira wants to see him – en privado!

Latifa and the Naz argue about Pablo. When the Naz leaves, Latifa is thrilled to hear Mohamed say that he is going to find a husband for the Naz. She is less than thrilled when he tells her he has made a doctor’s appointment for Samira so they can find out why she hasn’t yet gotten her period!

Jolly tío Abdul is telling the children stories. If you get up from your bed in the night, be sure to shake your sheets out before you get back in. You never know who might have been in your bed while you were gone. But Tío, who would lie down in your bed? Un genio de malo! he answers. An evil genie! But then unfortunately Abdul has to leave to go to Said’s house. His woman are alone and:
…él me pidió que no las descuidara. He asked me not to neglect them.

What was the name of the woman who’s coming to dinner tonight? the sisters ask Jade. Jamile, she replies. The bell rings and the smiling ladies approach the door. The Very Religious Sisters are delighted to see it is Tío Abdul. Jade and Zoraida, not so much…

The credits roll.

Labels: clon

The bad guys are racking up points this week. We start tonight as we ended last night, seeing two of them reel in their victims with mastery. Quintana has just told Rosario that he LOVES her. And Marco has just given Rafa a choice- his mama or the woman he loves. Either Rafa tells Ale that it all was a scam to sell his house and get her to pardon his debt, or Marco has Leonor thrown in jail. Rafa is realizing that he’s been beat. He calls Jaime and asks him to meet him at his house later.

Quintana continues to lay it on thick with Rosario. She tells him he’s taken her by surprise and she doesn’t know what to say. He says he’s felt this way for a long time, but couldn’t act on his feelings when he was still married. He tells her she deserves happiness and to have her own life. (Good points. But not with a swindler like him.) She says she has to think about it. Quintana then decides to channel Ramirez, pulls out a sheet of paper and starts to wax poetic about love. “When one FEELS love, one doesn’t have to THINK.” (deep…) He invites her and Jorge to his brother’s birthday party, and says she must tell him her decision then. He folds the poem, kisses it, and hands it to Rosario before making a dramatic exit. Jorge the Enforcer is unfortunately too late, but makes an effort to root out the dog that’s been sniffing around his baby sister.

Rafa arrives (finally!) at Marian’s house. He gives her a polite but curt handshake and tries to get right down to business, but it’s obvious that his heart and mind are elsewhere. Marian tries to be a bit flirty but gets down to business too. She restates that she likes the deal, except for Siglo’s rule about not taking all her old trucks as trade-ins. The deal is off unless they can reach agreement on this point. Rafa once again explains that this is one thing Siglo can’t budge on. He grows distraught and agitated (certain that the falling out of this deal will be just the cherry on top of a super crappy day). He asks Marian to please not do this to him. She thinks he’s just trying to manipulate her, but he assures her this is the worst day of his life, and starts pacing back and forth rubbing his temples.

Marian is obviously moved and very concerned about him. She gets him an aspirin and some water and tells him she’s never seen him like this- so down and unanimated. She rightly thinks these are the symptoms of love gone wrong. Rafa corrects her and tells her they’re the symptoms of an atomic bomb going off. Defeated, he gathers his things to leave. Marian stops him by asking if there isn’t another option for the used trucks. A bit of the old innovative, plucky Rafa comes back and he gets the idea to sell the used trucks on Celeste’s behalf. Marian likes the idea and decides to trust the matter with Rafa. She signs the contract (yay!). That’s the last happy thing that happened tonight, so I hope you all soaked in that little moment. They agree to meet the next morning at 11 to get things going, and she tells him she hopes to find him rested and in a better mood. When he leaves, she looks thoughtful.

Marco and Chavez are celebrating their victory and Chavez is assuring Marco that Franky El Rompe Huesos is in a secure location far, far away from the city. Chavez asks if Marco is sure that Rafa will give Ale up. “After all, Rafa is really in love with Ale.” Marco affirms this. “And Ale’s really in love with Rafa.” Marco freaks out at the mere thought of this and starts to abuse Chavez’ lapels. He calms himself down by assuring himself that he nipped that problem in the bud just in time (a tiempo). Chavez’ mind wonders off to lascivious thoughts about Ale. Unfortunately, he speaks these thoughts out loud and gets the stink eye from Marco. He willingly offers up his jacket lapels to Marco. “Very good. You’re learning Chavez.” After sufficiently being chastised by Marco, Chavez asks how Marco will know that Rafa has broken up with Ale. Marco assures him that he’ll know by the trail of tears and he’ll be waiting there with his handkerchief.

Chavez then reminds him that they have another pending matter- Carmela. Marco’s good mood instantly evaporates and turns to fear. “No! No!” Not only does he have to live up to their little bargain with Carmela, it has to be tonight. Marco can’t guarantee that he’ll be in the right condition to perform. He has to build up his strength (fuerzas).

Rafa has returned home to a worried Leonor, Julieta and Jaime. Leonor tearfully swears to Rafa that she didn’t sell their house. Rafa asks if she read the papers that she signed and she admits that she didn’t. It begins to dawn on her just what she did and the look on her face is just heartbreaking. “What did I do?!” Rafa tries to calm her down and tells her not to worry. He asks his mom and sis to leave him and Jaime alone to talk. Rafa then hands the documents over to Jaime to review. It’s unanimous. Rafa’s screwed. Leonor could be thrown in jail at any time if Marco feels like it. And the “buyer” is nowhere to be found. Rafa tells Jaime about Marco’s proposal and that he has to make the most important decision of his life. Ale or his mom. For Jaime, there’s no contest. Rafa looks anguished.

He makes the death march to Siglo, and takes a deep breath and gives himself a blessing (the sign of the cross) before crossing the threshold. Dandy is doing the same for Jimenez, as he’s about to head out and try to close a deal with a big client. Jimenez and Rafa cross paths and Jimenez is concerned to see how distracted and down Rafa appears. Rafa heads straight in to see Ale, who has been waiting anxiously all day for him to return with a good explanation for the house sale.

This gets ugly folks, so I am just going to give the basics of what happened. Rafa starts out with the good news. The Celeste deal is closed. Yay! He stalls. Ale asks about the other matter- the house sale. It is obvious Rafa made his choice (Leonor or Ale), but it’s not easy. Rafa says yes he knew about it. Yes, it was all part of a pre-planned swindle to get her to fall for him and pardon his debt, as well as to make some money from selling the house. No, he never broke up with his girlfriend. It was all a lie. Rafa does not look Ale in the eyes the whole time she is asking him questions, pleading with him, and crying. (I can barely look at the tv screen either.) Rafa can give her no explanation for why. All he says is that one day she’ll know everything. Ale can’t bear to hear any more or look at Rafa. She grabs her things and runs crying from the office. Rafa is also crying in anguish. “Te amo. Te amo. Perdoname Alejandra!”

Susana runs after Ale, who has caused quite the torrent of gossip amongst the sales crew with her dramatic exit. They are all sure it’s a lovers’ quarrel between her and Rafa. Dandy and Bebe try to get them all to shut up about it. Marino wonders when they’ll finally admit that those two have a relationship. When Ale turns up pregnant?

Out in Ale’s car, Susana is trying to find out what happened and also to convince Ale not to drive off in such a state. Ale tells her what Rafa said about the swindle, the lies about his love, and about not really breaking up with Vicky. Susana is impactada, but she just can’t believe it (le cueste trabajo creerlo). She really thought Rafa was in love with Ale. She cries with her best amiga, and only lets Ale drive off after she promises to call her as soon as she gets home so that she knows she’s safe. The crew continue to chatter after Ale leaves. Pepeto looks concerned about his friend and goes off to talk to Rafa. He tells Rafa the crew is gossiping about him and Ale having a lovers’ quarrel. Rafa asks Pepeto to help put a damper on those rumors, but then admits that things are pretty grim.

Back at the neighborhood bar, Carmela is warming herself up for her bonboncito Marco, by giving the waiter’s bonbon a good squeeze. Marco arrives and she greets him with a handshake almost as strong as Franky El Rompe Huesos’, and pulls him in for a kiss. She wants an explanation of why her promised night of passion was ruined, and pulls Marco in close to give it. Just then, Jimenez walks in with his client. He spots Marco and Carmela getting cozy as Marco continues his sob story. He was betrayed by the woman he loves. He keeps seeing things. He’s seeing a psychiatrist. He’s leaving town tonight to go for treatment….Hold on a second buddy! Carmela was sympathetic up until that point. If he doesn’t give her what she wants tonight, he’s going to jail. “I’m not you mama. I’m not your aunt. I’m the woman you made a deal with. It’s time to pay up.” Marco’s looking like he’s ready to run and hide and Carmela wonders if he’s not attracted to her. He assures her that of course he is. She asks him for proof in the form of a nice kiss, right here on her cheek. Marco approaches her cheek gingerly with his lips, and surprisingly meets Carmela’s lips when she turns her face just in time. She plants a big one on him, and it looks like she’s sucking all the air out of his lungs because Marco is turning as red as a beet. Jimenez gets an eyeful.

Tomorrow: Ale cries and remembers her romantic times with Rafa. Marco is there with a shoulder for her to cry on and a kiss for her forehead. Rafa swears he loves Ale and will get her back.

Labels: dinero

I don't know if anyone is filling in for Jeri this week so I thought I'd post this to start our discussion.

Labels: salvaje

Pardon my Spanish but “lo que en el diablo pasa a nuestra novela dulce?” Where’s the mariachis? Where’s the Mi amors? Where’s the sweet kisses? (The Jaimie/ Vicki kisses weren‘t cutting it, as funny as they were!) Okay, I got that off my chest, so lets get started before I change my mind and decide not to do this as our destructive winds alert has turned into a full out hurricane of misery and ugliness. I may have to seek shelter at any moment.

We start out with a few mild June showers. This was from last night, but was actually the only really funny scene so I felt obligated to include it. Ironically it has to do with Vicky. Jaimie is pleading with Vicky. He tells her Rafa is going to find out about everything. There is no way to cover it up. What are they going to do. Vicky doing an academy award performance of fragility pretends to faint. Jaimie now all flustered and concerned gets closer to try and revive her. (I thought he was going to start CPR). He starts slapping her on the face. Vicky finally having enough, slaps his hands away, but realizing she is blowing her act big time slumps back down in the bed. Her performance now resumed, in the most irritating whiny voice ever says Rafa can’t end it with her. Jaimie reassures her Rafa won’t end it but she has to calm down. He tells her this can’t be good for the baby.

At this point Vicky starts rubbing her stomach and starts talking to the (???) baby. (we still don’t know if there is a baby or not). She informs the baby that Papa is talking to him. We here imaginary baby laughter and Jaimie wants to know what the baby said. Vicky grabs him by the head and forces him to her stomach and says here get a good listen. Jaimie wants to know what the baby wants to tell him. Vicky encourages him to talk to his child. Jaimie does some chuchie chuchie coo to Vicky’s stomach then looks at her perplexed and says he isn’t listening. She tells him if you are talking all the time how to you expect him to respond and forces him down to get a better listen. Then she tells him what did you expect to hear “Hey pops how‘s it going?” well silly she tells him babies at this age don’t talk. Then she asks him if he can feel the baby. Jaimie all excited tells her yes he can. Then he starts some serious baby bonding,

We are now at Siglo where storm warnings have been upgraded from summer showers to possible thunder and lighting. Zetina gets the first lighting bolt . He is asking Susana if he could possibly talk with Rafa or Ale. Susana tells him that Ale isn’t there and Rafa is really busy. He tells her he will wait as he turns around he drops his suitcase and as he is picking it up, Trapito comes running in, trips all over him dumping the 20,000 rolls of toilet paper he is lugging around.

Ale has arrived (the thunder is getting closer). She is assaulted by an anxious bag of strong northerly wind (Ramirez) who wants to know about the morning meeting. Ale tells him not now and leaves. Ramirez turns to the Siglo crew who all seem quite puzzled and intrigued by this. She asks Susana if Rafa is here yet and Susan tells her he is in the office. She blows off Zetina as well and enters her office.

She is back to using Medina instead of Rafa. She enters the office and calls out for him and a very anxious Rafa scuttles over to her. She takes out the sinister documents and asks him if it is Lenora‘s signature. Rafa takes the document from her and tells her it is and wants to know what gives. She tells him it is a sales document where Lenora has sold the house. Rafa (getting a lighting bolt as well) is stunned. He asks her how she could even think such a thing. Ale tells him to read it. She also shows him the deposit slip where 200,000 pesos were deposited in his bank account. Rafa still dazed by the lighting bolt, assures Ale that his mother would never do anything like that. Rafa tells her there is something not right about all of this. Ale tells him to stop, they are both adults, and continues to show him the signed documents that prove Lenora’s intention to sell the house. Rafa tells her the paper could be as legal as she says but he is certain that Lenora would never do anything like that.

He asks her where she got the documents. Ale tells him they came from the man who was going to buy the house (Old break your bones Frankie). She continues to tell him that Frank told her all about it. Rafa tells Ale that this is all impossible. Lenora would never sell the house. Ale accuses him of treating her as if she was crazy and holds the papers up to him as proof of her sanity. Then she points out the date which happens to be the same day she was in Cocoyoc. Rafa reminds her he was with her there. She tells him “yes but you were making a lot of phone calls.“ He tells her but not for that. Ale says the papers say the opposite, pointing to the deposit slip. He tells her if there was money deposited in his account it was from the contest that Lenora had won. Ale desperately says I hope you can prove me wrong. She doesn’t know what they are going to do. Rafa makes a call as Ale gives a silent prayer to God that this isn’t happening.

An unsuspecting Lenora answers the phone (doesn’t she know you are not suppose to talk on the phone during a lighting storm?) Rafa tells her they have a very serious problem. He tells her some guy showed up with papers stating that she sold him the house. Zap!!! Lenora is down. Dazed at first she says not this again. He tells her it is more complicated. He asks if she has any document besides the deposit slip that would prove she won a contest. Well of course they gave her a diploma. He tells her to go get it. He will send someone over for it. (Who can he send out in this terrible storm).

We get a little respite from our lightning storm. Jaimie continues his little game of who’s your daddy, playing peek a boo to Vicky’s stomach. Vicky practically comatose during Jaimies baby chat wakes when he starts tickling her stomach cooing to the baby. She points to a little higher lifting her shirt oh so slyly and says “give him kisses here”. Jaimie abruptly sits up and seems surprised by this request. He gives a noisy pucker kiss to Vicky’s belly. The shirt is a little higher now, with Vicky telling Jaimie to give a little kiss right there. Jaimie obliges and gives another little kiss. Now Vicky is pointing to her neck and we get an "ah caray" from Jaimie and “in for a penny in for a pound,” we have moved up to the lips. Jaimie wants to make sure this is all for the baby. Vicky assures him the kisses will reach the baby. Jaimie reluctantly goes in for a kiss and his pulled down with gale strength force by Vicky. Jaimie finally comes too and asks Vicky what she’s doing. She is just trying to get all those sweet kisses to her baby. She tells him they both need his affection. She pretends to start crying as she rubs her stomach and Jaimie pleads with her not to cry and the kissing goes on.

Jaimie is interrupted by a phone call. When he realizes it is Rafa we see a guilt ridden Jaimie answering it. Rafa tells him to go get the “diploma” at his mother’s house and to bring it to Siglo as fast as he can. Jaimie tries to excuse himself from Vicky. She isn’t done with him yet and drags him back to the bed peppering him with more kisses. Jaimie manages to free himself from her. He tells her it isn’t safe in her house what with her crazy brothers and her father. He tells her to get better and off he goes. Vicky realizing game over, reaches for a magazine. And that folks is all the kissing we are getting to night.

Back to where the storm is intensifying, we see Rafa telling Ale he is waiting for the proof that will demonstrate the truth. Ale tells him that she will be waiting for him, as leaves the office to meet Jaimie. Zetina ambushes him. “Remember Me? “ Of course he does but now is not a good time, his head is not in the right place for this. Come back tomorrow. Now Ramirez is after him wanting news about the meeting. Rafa informs him, that today there will be no meeting, so go get to work. Claudia, one not to miss out on the opportunity for some good gossip or some good gossip spreading, approaches Ramirez and tells him something smells funny here. Some new “boss crisis“ perhaps?

Susana has now entered Ale’s office and Ale is filling her in on all the details about Rafa trying to sell the house. Susana wants to know if she really thinks Rafa could be capable of doing such a thing. “Poor Ale” is trying her hardest to believe in him, but all the evidence points to the contrary. She doesn’t know what to do. (It’s called faith in your man honey). Thank goodness she didn’t tell her family she was seeing Rafa before she found out about this. She explains how Frank showed up with the documents. How her family found out and they made her call Marco to handle the whole mess. I will hand it to Ale she was not happy to get Marco involved again.


Frank and Chavez are at Marcos enjoying the “open bar” when Marco shows up and chews them out for drinking all his expensive whiskey. The noise frightens Frank and he falls off his chair. Chavez invites him to join in on the celebration. After all he is the main beneficiary of all their hard work. But with his finest whiskey. (Okay I hate these guys, but oh how I love hating them. They are pretty funny all in one room together.) Chavez brings a drink to Marco and tells him to congratulate Frank. Marco reluctantly tells him he did a good job. Frank not one to miss out on a good firm hand shake stands to offer his hand. Marco isn’t falling for this. Then Frank says well then let me give you a hug. Marco definitely doesn’t want any part of this but too late. It is a done deal as Frank squeezes the stuffing out of Marco, as we hear sound effects of broken bones and see Marcos very red face. (Well done Frank!!)

Rafa meets Jaimie outside Siglo who has brought the “diploma” Rafa asked for. He explains the whole mess to Jaimie. He says with this “diploma” he is about to be saved. Jaimie tries to warn him that this document really doesn’t prove anything. Rafa ever optimistic says don’t tell me that and asks him to go back to his house and wait with Lenora. Rafa blesses himself and kisses the document as he reenters a much stormier climate.


Ale is still crying to Susana. Susana tells her to handle this situation very carefully so as to not cause any damage to her relationship with Rafa. Ale tells her Rafa is upset with her for doubting him. Rafa enters with the document and hands it to Ale. Ale takes one look at it and asks him how long did it take them to make up the diploma. Rafa says “what?“ She accuses him of making it up in their house in five minutes. She tells him to quit messing with her. Poor Rafa hit by yet another lighting bolt tells her isn’t messing with her. It is the document Lenora gave him. Ale tells him it is just a piece of garbage. She tells him he is betraying her. Rafa swears he isn’t. She tells him that this diploma doesn’t prove anything.

Rafa thinking very hard, tells, her to call the radio station. Ale says okay she will try to believe him, and asks Susana to call the radio station. The call comes through and Ale listens in . The women says there never was a contest. They are not that type of radio station. Radio De Nota does not have contests. Ale is crushed, Rafa is beyond disbelief. Ale tells him to hang up. Rafa calls Lenora back. He asks her if she remembers anything else. Ale tells Rafa to have her describe the man who showed up. The description is identical to the description of the man who came to Ale’s house. Lenora is now in tears and wants to know what is going on. Ale is in the background certain that Lenora tried to sell the house. (the thunder is now so loud and near). Lenora is crying and wants to know what is going on. Rafa tells Lenora he isn’t sure what is going on. Ale is shouting she sold the house , why are you betraying me more, she sold the house.


Rafa hangs up telling ale that he need to talk to this guy that says he brought their house. “There is something not right about this. This guy pulled one over on Lenora.” Ale angrily tells Rafa to quit messing around. Do you think this guy would just give Lenora 200,000 pesos for nothing? She asks him if he is still going to deny all of this. Rafa assures her he is going to investigate this. Ale stops him and says “Look there are two possibilities. Your mother sold the house and you didn‘t know anything about it or your mother sold the house with you knowing all about it.” Rafa tells Ale that Lenora would never do anything like this behind his back. Then Ale says well then she did it with your consent. Rafa screams that didn‘t happen neither. He starts to leave and Ale accuses him of planning all of this while they were in Cocoyoc. To seduce her and then sell the house, hoping she wouldn’t do anything because they were novios. Rafa asks her how she could even think of something like that. She pleads with him (I think) to tell her the truth.

Rafa is destroyed and asks her for the papers. She hands them to him and tells him not to waste his time with calling her. She has a lawyer. Rafa asks who and Ale says Marco. Rafa can‘t believe she would call him. Ale tells him her family made her contact him. She would never do something like that to him on her own. She tells him Marco talked to Frank. Rafa tells her he will talk to Marco. Ale says I don‘t want to hear this and Rafa assures her he will talk to him alone. Rafa leaves a distraught Ale crying painfully alone. This was very hard to watch.


Okay I had to take a little break, my sister called and I needed a strong drink and a good chat before I could finish this. So it might get a little sketchy from here on out.

Lenora is telling Julieta that this woman was yelling at Rafa that she had sold the house. She was furious and was treating Rafa very badly. Julieta asks Lenora what Rafa said. She tells her he was very quiet and worried. And trying to figure this whole thing out. She tells her Ale is accusing them of some really horrible things. She is crying and says it is all her fault. Julieta reminds Lenora that Rafa wasn’t here when this all happened and it would be hard for him to try and explain it to Ale. Lenora wonders if it would help if she called Ale and tried to explain things. This was not a good idea.

Susana has entered Ale’s office. Susana wants to know what happened. Ale says there is nothing left to do. She shows Susana the “diploma” Rafa gave her. She says he still can’t explain the house deal. She says it a fake, anyone could have made it up. (Even our dunce Marco perhaps?) Susana admits that the paper is a fake. Ale informs Susana that Rafa told her this is the proof that Lenora won the 200,000 pesos from a contest. She says he is either very naïve or thinks she is an idiot. Or at best, Lenora sold the house without him knowing about it. At this point Susana tells Ale that Lenora is on the phone and wants to talk with her. Ale wants to know what she would want to talk to her for her. (Duh? The house maybe). Susana tells her it is probably to clear up all this misunderstanding. Anyway it is important. Ale has not lost her sense of sarcasm and tells Susana “yea something important’ and takes the call.

Lenora tells her there appears to be a misunderstanding between them regarding the contest. Ale interrupts her and rudely says “ No there was no misunderstanding. Your son called and explained everything very clearly. You tried to sell your house and had no right to do that“. Lenora tries to explain that she won a contest and sent the document that stated this. Ale says the document is a fake and there was no radio station that gives out prizes. Lenora defends herself and says she is certain of what she won. Ale says yes it was the same man who came to my house and gave her the papers that she signed selling the house. She tells Lenora she is tired of all of this. She tells her to stop trying to convince her the money was from a contest. She is not that naïve and is getting offended that they think she would believe such a story.

Lenora is now offended that Ale would doubt her honesty let alone Rafa’s. Lenora tells her she will not permit her to treat her like a thief. Ale shoots back and I won’t permit you to treat me like an idiot and slams the phone down. Susana chews Ale out for loosing it like that. She reminds her that after all the sale did not go through. They can just return the money and be done with it. Ale says no way. Do you understand what is going on here? Susana tries compassion, and says Lenora made a mistake. Ale says I believed in this man 100 percent, now I am starting to think the worse. Maybe Rafa is with me just for the money. (I was sick when she said this. Why wouldn’t she ever think this about Marco). Now she doesn’t know what to do. Susana advises her to take some time to think about this. Ale says she has and he hasn’t come up with anything to convince her otherwise. Susana again pleads with her. She tells Ale she believes in Rafa and to just wait and hopefully she will see this is all just a mistake. She tells Susana she couldn’t beg for any more than for this to be all a mistake.

We are now at Marco’s. Frank is polishing off his whiskey. The phone rings and Marco warns everyone to be quiet because now begins the third act (fase tres part or scene) Medina. Rafa is in the Siglo bathroom and wants to know if he is talking to Marco. Marco wants to know if he is taking with the swindling (estafodor) criminal. Rafa tells him he is not a crook nor a swindler and he will prove that they are all wrong.

We start hearing this "showdown at the okay corral" type music. Marco informs Rafa that this will be impossible to prove and that Lenora is up to her neck (cuello) in problems. Marco tells him he is wasting his time if he is calling him to convince him otherwise. Rafa tells him he is not calling for that. He was told by Ale he needed to deal with him in order to clear up this whole house incident. Marco corrects him and says “incident, no this was fraud” ( estafa). “and yes you do have to deal with me. You will no longer be able to continue to fool (embaucando to fool or swindle ) Ale or her family. Rafa says fine then where should we meet. The music continues as Rafa reaches for a paper towel from the dispenser to note the directions. (I only point this out as I am always using paper towels from a patients bathroom if I have to write down something important.) Marco hangs up quite pleased with his master plan looking very much like Snidely Whiplash. He hangs up and tells Frank the final part is coming. Frank reminds him the final part is when he gets paid. Marco tells him he will get paid when he finishes his job.

Jaimie is trying to sort things out back at Rafa’s house. Lenora says Ale treated them like they were thieves. She can’t believe this. She thought things were getting better. Julieta says God set him free from the clutches of this women who made Rafa’s life impossible. This gives Jaimie the opportunity to sell the fine attributes of Vicky. Julieta says yea “here comes the devil and has put Rafa in the middle of both of them”. Lenora however, thinks Jaimie might have something there. Vicky after all loves him and respects him, even though she does have her faults (can you think of any?). She explains that since Rafa has become involved with Ale he has forgotten all about Vicky.

Rafa has called Jaimie to see how things are going. Jaimie tells him that Lenora called Ale and things didn’t go so well. Rafa tells Jaimie that on top of everything else he now has to deal with Marco. Jaimie warns him to be careful. Rafa asks Jaimie to check this Frank fellow out giving him all the details on how to reach him.

Rafa is still in the bathroom when Beltran comes looking for him. He wants to know what he is doing in the bathroom so calmly. He reminds him he needs to get to the meeting. Rafa says he has important things to deal with and will get to it tomorrow. Beltran tells him I don’t live for tomorrow. I live for today. Than he inquires about the Celeste deal. Rafa tells him he has a meeting with her today. Beltran warns him if he shows up empty handed there will be no tomorrow for him at Siglo. (Another zap of lightihg).

There is some more Ale family stuff here, and Quintana shows up for Rosario. Jorge wants to know what is going on with the whole house “incident”. Rosario assures him that Marco will take care of everything. Quintana even manages to ask Rosaura to go steady with him.

Rafa shows up at the restaurant where Marco is waiting for him. Rafa walks over to him and throws the papers down and says “I am here lawyer.“ Marco trying to play suave and cool invites Rafa to sit down. Rafa is not up for this crap. Marco advises him to not be so arrogant (altanero). Rafa says what do you want. Marco says what are you up to? Selling your house and hoping to keep the money? Or are you trying to take advantage of Ale in hopes that she will lift the lien against the house. Rafa says neither and insists that Lenora did not try to sell the house. Marco tells him he has proof that states otherwise.

Then Marco asks Rafa if he knows his rights. Rafa says he is a salesman not a lawyer. Marco tells him to consult with who ever he cares to. He then spells it out to Rafa. Lenora is in big trouble. Showing him all the papers Lenora signed. Trying to sell the house, faking papers that said it was clear of liens and we all know the rest by heart. Marco says to Rafa holding the papers “is this not Lenora’s signature? Is this not Lenora’s house?” Rafa tries to put a but in there and this is kangaroo court, no buts allowed as Marco asks if he has proof to the contrary. He goes on to tell Rafa what Lenora did was a crime. There are penalties for this, maybe even jail time.

Rafa stops him and says, “No way lawyer, I am not that naïve. We will cancel the sale. Give back the money. And that will be the end of it“. Marco says not so fast here. Only if my client accepts this. How convenient that Marco represents Mr. Vega (alias Frank) And how convenient that Mr. Vega has signed a paper that gives Marco full power of attorney regarding this affair. He tells Rafa that his client is outraged and wants Lenora in Jail. Rafa tells him to forget that. Marco smugly remarks try and stop me.

Time for Rafa to lawyer up. Unfortunately the only almost lawyer he knows is Jaimie who is having a difficult time in locating Mr. Vega. And a very difficult time trying to get a rock out of his shoe. Rafa tells Jaimie something is not quite right here. How could this guy disappear so fast. After all if this guy could recover his money what would he gain by causing all this fuss. Rafa says there is something very suspicious about all this and the worse part is that Marco is threatening him with the fact that Lenora could go to jail. Rafa asks Jaimie if he could do that? Jaimie says that if she did what they say she did she could go to jail and for a very long time. Rafa tells Jaimie to stay close to his phone he will get back to him.

Rafa has returned to Marco‘s table. Marco tells Rafa not to waste his time trying to contact his client. He has left the city for good. “I am in charge and have accepted this with great happiness." Rafa asks Marco how far would he go to persecute him? Marco denies this. He then says to Rafa I want to see your face when your mother goes to jail. Rafa has finally figured out Marco’s game. He asks Marco what he wants. He says “It is easy, give me the money and give me Ale. It is Ale or your Mother. I want you to tell Ale it is over.

Batten down the hatches. The hurricane has made landfall and it is called Hurricane Marco. And I am off to seek refuge.

Labels: dinero