Telenovela Alborada, #30

This is a recap of the Univision telenovela Alborada. In order to read the whole post, you click "read the rest" at the bottom of this summary!

If you are new, please visit the recaps in ORDER - they are listed to the right under a picture of Doña Juana and Modesta. See the bottom of this post for more information.

Monday: Modesta reports the successful burning of Gasca's vocal chords and says she'll take the fall if necessary - nobody need know that Juana was involved. Juana is very moved as Modesta whispers: "I'll do anything for you." "How can I pay you back for so much affection and devotion?..."

In the dungeon Gasca chokes and chokes. The guard asks what's the matter but - much as when we are queried by our dentists when our mouths are full of tools - Gasca cannot answer. The guard asks, "Are you poisoned?" but still gets no response. "No matter, you'll die tomorrow one way or the other."

This guard, returning with the priest who's to give last rites to Gasca, thinks Gasca has been possessed by a demon. Bestial growls, gasps, and wild eyerolling lend weight to that hypothesis.

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High above the hell of the dungeon, the placid and complacent Fray Alvaro orders a poisoning investigation. It comes to nothing: the wine and bread Modesta left behind are clean and she took her little poisoned water flask away when she left. It's therefore decided Gasca's problem was not poison, but possession by a demon.

Since Gasca couldn't talk, he couldn't confess his sins and receive absolution. (Not that he would have anyway.) Fray Alvaro says Fray Bartolomey (the Grand Inquisitor) will be happy to hear his brother's assassin died "condemned to eternal fire."

[The fake tonsures of these friars look like flesh-colored kippot. Guess they couldn't get these actors to actually shave the backs of their heads. -- Ed.]

Cut to the hooligan-guards who lounge outside Sara's hideout day and night. What a boring job. Within, Victoria and Sara are first of many to hear that Gasca is being executed. Victoria looks forward to being in the audience on that happy day.

Antonio and Andrés say goodbye, they're off to visit Diego's properties. Andrés says he's happy to go, even though his wedding is coming up, because "Antonio gave me work when I needed it most."

Now your tired recapper gets a rest, because there is nothing of note being said while Gasca is taken to the gallows, pelted by vegetables, remembering his crimes, etc. He dies.

Juana: "He didn't say anything?" Modesta: "No, he tried but [makes mocking imitations of Gasca's strangled utterances] ... " Diego kisses Modesta with jubilation and says he should put up a monument for her and giggles on his way out.

Felipe, who looks so excellent on a horse, rides into Luis's hideout, reporting that Gasca seemed to want to talk but couldn't. "Cristóbal thought it was nerves." [Insightful diagnosis, doctor - Ed.]

Marina tries on her wedding garb. Diego tries his on too and then falls down. Heh.

Catalina tells Cristóbal she spilled the beans about Luis being alive when her mother badgered her. Wincing, he reproves her: "I begged you not to ... I need to trust you enough to talk freely..." Later his forehead corrugates in worry as he puzzles over a story he remembers - about a gypsy woman who stole an aristocrat's son and put her own son in the gilded cradle. Catalina voices his hypothesis that Juana switched Diego and Luis.

Isabel and Marina have a tender scene. "Where will you live?" "Andrés will decide. I'm sorry to leave you - but I don't want to leave my mother alone either, after all her suffering." "It hurts to have you go, but we'll visit." Both cry. "Thanks for all you've done for me, and for your affection." "Just make me godmother of your first son." Both cry more.

Isabel tells Juana she's waited long enough to visit her brother's tomb. She then gets Juana to admit that Luis is a natural son to Carlos. "Why did you say you just plucked him out of the coach?" "To protect Carlos's honor."

At El Hampa hideout, Isabel and Sara wait for Marina and Victoria to get back from shopping. "They're so late, it's almost night." "They'll be back when the stores are closed." Higinio comes with news: the Godfather, Don Ignacio, is dead. Sara is ecstatic to be free of the mafia work she's been doing for decades. "He made me take care of his interests here in exchange for his protection from Juana's denunciation."

Isabel hits head with hand: "Caray, I forgot to tell you, Juana says she didn't denounce your family." "She herself told me!" "She lied so you would stay away and not notice the kids... She's bad, but not perverse. And you'd feel sorry for her if you saw her now - she's so weak and sick. You should confront her and ask for an explanation!" "I'd like that..."

Juana's getting made up by Modesta. "Give me more powder to hide the bags under my eyes." "You don't look that bad." "Don't lie." "How do you feel?" "I feel bad - hey, don't take the color off my cheeks." "It's an awful lot, it looks so red."

Catalina, Isabel, and all visit Luis's hideout, Hipólita being conspicuously absent! "She doesn't feel well." Luis asks Felipe how the petition to dissolve the partnership is faring. "They're dragging their feet - Diego's bribing somebody, and even if he doesn't have a lot of silver, he's still the Count and that influences them." Luis: "Is my money in danger?" "Not yet, at least not until Antonio takes over and starts making decisions. But it's time you went back." Cristóbal says Juana looks terrible and he'll try to find out from her doctor what's going on.

Hipólita is sick in bed, Ada tries to get her up. "Are you bored? You should have gone to the farm." "I worry Antonio will be back [Wait, I thought he was going to be gone a month. Has a lot of time elapsed without anybody telling us? - Ed.] and be suspicious." "We could go walk in the plaza, or visit your mother. Rafael hasn't been out in two days." That gets her up. She looks in the mirror and realizes, I guess, that she's pregnant.

Isabel tells Luis and company that Diego is marrying, in ten days, a "horror" who waddles when she walks and has a bad temper. She then says "I really want to visit my brother's tomb, even though it's a long trip." All decide to join her. "When?" Isabel: "Tomorrow - I want to be back in time for Marina's wedding."

Modesta sees Isabel return from her visit to Luis's hideout, and reports to Juana (who's beefing about the cost of Diego's wedding): "Isabel's been going on long trips and she doesn't use the Palace's coaches." Juana goes to visit Isabel's chambers, where Isabel and Marina have been squealing and cooing over precious little recently-purchased items. After various lies are lobbed back and forth, Juana asks for news of Luis and his business, but Isabel says she doesn't want to talk about it. Juana: "You know this will ruin Diego." And Isabel says:

Cada quien cava su tumba con sus propias manos: "Every man digs his grave with his own hands."

"You don't like [Diego]!" "That's right, in fact I despise him. The only reason I haven't run him off is my consideration for you." "Well in consideration of me, couldn't you ask Felipe to postpone the dissolution of the partnership until Luis's return?" How disingenuous! "No." "Why won't you help me?" "Because I don't feel like it. And your little tears aren't going to sway me this time." "It's going to be our ruin." And Isabel gets right up in Juana's face and says, "it's your own fault ...

Cria cuervos y te comeran los ojos: "Raise crows and they'll eat out your eyes."

Juana: "You're bad and vengeful." "Maybe. I will never forgive you for deceiving Luis and me." "I'm really sorry." "It's a bit late for that now, don't you think?"

At some point, since Gasca's execution, two months elapsed without my noticing.

Tuesday: Diego and his horrible fiancee are strolling. She doesn't seem to notice he is staggering and lurching as she asks where the honeymoon will be: Vienna? Paris? Rome? "Don't you like to travel?" Diego: "Boats make me queasy. I can't go now anyway; with Luis away there's too much work." "I suppose your cousin will return for the wedding." "I don't think so." "What, he'd snub us?" Her mouth opens wide enough for a full-sized potato to be inserted. "Luis doesn't care about these things." "It shows lack of respect. Anyway, hire a guy to do your work so you can travel! There are cures for seasickness. You're a Count and should live like one. It's not elegant to spend your time working, any old nobody can do that. Aristocrats travel to the world's best places and I expect nothing less from this marriage."

Asunción tells Hipólita she knows about Luis being alive, but that she wants Hipólita to forget about him. "Get resigned to being with your husband - I did!" "That was different - Luis loves me! Even if we never live together I won't stop thinking about him." "You'll be unhappy, then, until the day you die." "I don't think so - my good memories will comfort me."

Team Luis likes the switched-babies theory but Cristóbal still insists on keeping all this from Luis. Felipe says: When it all comes out Luis will be angry. Cris: "I'll take full responsibility." How to prove this cockamamie hypothesis? Marcos surges up, pointing out that according to Juana's story there should be a baby buried in Juana's husband's tomb (that's Isabel's brother), and if there isn't, Juana's been lying her a*s off.

Mirtha is perplexed to hear from Sara, La Poderosa, that Diego's leg was burned in the fire on the chulano, because her mistress (remember Esperanza?) had told Mirtha that LUIS had a scar on his leg from a fire...

Perla's friend asks why she looks so worried, did her protector leave? No, Perla thinks she's pregnant. "They don't like whores with kids ... what if [Antonio] thinks it's another's and dumps me? I'll get fat, I won't even be able to work." She doesn't want an abortion. The friend thinks Antonio will be happy about the baby.

Hipólita is also worried about being pregnant; she hasn't menstruated in months and according to Ada her womb is showing (I didn't see anything). "It happened the day of Rafael's baptism, I thought I'd never go back to Antonio but would live with Luis as his lover..."

There's a knock on the door! It's Luis! He snuck into town by night to say he's upset she hasn't come to visit for so long. He tells her about the long tomb excursion to Camargo. He reiterates his feelings about her (positive) and about her being married (negative). She almost tells him she's pregnant but doesn't.

Cristóbal tells Catalina about the trip to Camargo and that the lads are planning to open Isabel's brother's tomb to see if there are baby bones in there too. He invites her to come along on this jolly grave-opening expedition, but she points out her brother's wedding is nigh and that she shouldn't leave Hipólita alone when Antonio is expected back from his business trip.

Hipo tells Catalina Luis visited her to say goodbye and is primly informed that wasn't the way things are done. Then she admits she's pregnant by Luis again! And that she didn't tell him because she thought it fair to tell Antonio first and perhaps, calmly, get him to agree to a divorce. [This is the stupidest thing I heard all night -- Ed.]

Ramon tells Arcadio they're never going back to Cristóbal: he made them beat rugs and dressed them up like monkeys! They visit Perla to find out what happened to Gasca, and then decide to go ask Diego for Gasca's job, since the position is now open. They're sure Gasca was responsible for the attempt on Luis's life - who else would dare?

They go to see Diego. Vincente is doubtful such ruffians will be received, but since they say they have news of Luis, Diego instantly lets them in.

Ramon recites their credentials: Gasca was our friend, we did little chores for him. They list their various misadventures, many commissioned by Diego himself, and then give Diego the electrifying news: two months previously they had dragged Luis's bloodied but still-breathing body to Cristóbal's house!

Egads! "Did Cristóbal save him?" "Dunno. Cristóbal told us to stay quiet, but [grandly] after a lot of thinking we decided our loyalty is to you!! ... We didn't tell you sooner because after what happened to Gasca we got scared and left town." Diego asks if anybody saw who did the dastardly deed (no) and asks again, "Was Luis very badly wounded?" "Yes!" "Could he have been saved?" "We can ask Cristóbal, but, by the way, we need work - empty bellies are not good for the brain." "I'll hire you after you find out about Luis." Diego tosses them a coin and after they leave he growls to himself: "That wretch surely couldn't still be alive??"

On the dusty road we see Antonio and Andrés (on their way home from investigating Diego's properties) cross paths with Luis, Cristobal, Marcos, Felipe, and Isabel (on their way out to Camargo to visit the tomb). I love these horse-and-wagon scenes! And all the dust!

Both groups do a little double take there in the road as they pass, nodding curtly to each other. Isabel is worried that Diego will now get the information that Luis is alive. They say, oh well, he was bound to find out eventually! Nevertheless, Luis and Cristóbal decide to go back to town. The others continue on to Camargo.

Drunk on the coin Diego tossed them, Ramon muses to Arcadio (the mute) that if they play their cards right and don't make the same mistakes Gasca did, they could maintain their employment with Diego forever.

So, as Diego requested, they go to Cristóbal's palace to ask about Luis.

Frostily, and with excellent posture, Catalina says: "Luis? Here? I don't know what you're talking about." "Remember? We brought Luis here half-dead?" "No, I don't remember. I haven't seen Luis for a long time. Have a nice day." They are ejected. Ramon muses to Arcadio: "If he'd died, all of Cuencas would know it! They're hiding him."

They go to ask Perla but she doesn't know anything. She pays them what they're owed and tells them to get lost forever as she massages her imperceptibly pregnant belly.

The regidor summons Juana, to tell her there's way too much gossip about her family; aristocrats should not comport themselves thus. She persuades him to put off the dissolution of the partnership until Luis returns. (Remember, she thinks Luis is dead, so this is like waiting for Godot.)

Leaving, the haggard Juana tells Modesta: Sooner or later we'll have to admit Luis is "no longer among us." Modesta suggests a visit to Rafael at Antonio's house; this revives Juana's spirits somewhat. As they are leaving after a session of dandling Rafael, Antonio gets back. He casually drops the bombshell: he just saw Luis on the road. Juana staggers.

He then greets Hipólita. After she hears that he's seen Luis, she tells him the story: that Gasca shot Luis on Diego's orders and that Luis was miraculously saved. He doesn't believe it.

When he realizes she's been seeing Luis these long months while he, Antonio, was on the road, he shakes her roughly and shouts at her and the whole scene escalates until she shouts: "I'm pregnant by Luis again." So much for the calm diplomatic approach.

New updates Wednesday and Saturday. The list of Alborada recaps is to the right - below the picture of Modesta and Doña Juana, just above the elephant. Click on the numbers in order!

You can buy (cheap) souvenir cards I painted in honor of our Alborada adventure
Amor Real
Entre el Amor y el Odio
"Telenovela villains meet lurid, dreadful deaths"

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