Domenica Montero episode 14-1/2 to 16

I’m just going to bang out an outline and some thoughts and flesh things out. This is a great novela and there’s a lot going on, so I’m going through the episodes fast - it’s too much to try to keep everything in strict chronological order and describe every scene.

I’m going to cover these two and a half episodes kind of as one block. I’ll place things that I know come later near the end of the recap, but please forgive if things jump around. And also, please comment on anything I missed, or mistakes I made - I’m counting on you! 

Episode 14-1/2, 15, 16, Domenica Montero

This blog is meant to be a supplement to the telenovela recap blog Caray Caray.

* Kiara is manipulating everyone, but especially her mom, with her self-harm threats. She does it when she rode off on the horse after Tia castigated her for giving all their money to Max, and apparently she did in previously in Miami in response to a breakup with an ex-novio. Tia is now constantly running in panic mode, always on alert, always afraid Kiara will try to do herself in again, and is determined to keep her from that. This explains her hyper fixation on protecting Kiara and coming down so hard on Domenica. Through these episodes, things get worse and worse between Tia and Domenica, where Tia assigns the worst motives to Domenica, even assigning malice to the Laguna kiss (which apparently everyone knows about), accusing Domenica in trying to get close to Luis only after she knew Kiara was into him - just to spite Kiara. Domenica points out the timeline doesn’t match up, but no matter, Tia chews on that over and over again like an old bone. And indeed, Kiara tries to extract a vow from Domenica that she “won’t interfere” with her chances for a romance with Luis if he proves to be interested in her. (Domenica agrees, because if he were really into Kiara, then whatever.)

* There’s this whole thing with Kiara carrying on about how she’s falling in love with Luis (but it’s more like she finally wants to “win” a competition she’s invented in her head with Dominga). Kiara manipulates people by claiming that Domenica “forbids” get from having a relationship with Luis; thus poisoning people against her. At the same time, Domenica is given the impression that Luis has led Kiara on, which raises a red flag for Domenica - oh no, he’s just another interesado playing with them both! She warns Kiara against Luis, over and over again, trying to protect them both from another scammer, but Kiara keeps pushing this narrative that Domenica is overbearing, jealous, and trying to separate her from a possible true love. 

* Luis wants to forge some sort of agreement or deal where both haciendas agree to share the disputed land (this is strongly encouraged by Godfather). Luis gets all cow-eyed, drippy and gooey whenever he sees Domenica, while she runs hot or cold when she sees him - not sure if he’s an estafador (scammer) or not. Poor Luis doesn’t know what to think and is utterly befuddled. 

* It seems like Prudencio is harboring a forbidden love of some kind for Mercedes. This was my first suspicion, but I was later distracted by him meeting with Nana and them talking about some sort of connection or romance way in the past. But no, it seems it’s Mercedes he’s pining for. There’s a scene where she’s worried that Luis will end up with a bad woman like Carmen - “Remember Carmen, Prudencio?” - because she thinks Domenica will manipulate Luis, the way Carmen manipulated…somebody (we can guess). She’s upset, so Prudencio moves in to give Mercedes a hug (and calls her by an endearment) all which have definite romantic vibes, even though it’s only meant to be a comforting hug. Pedro interrupts them, and later comments what a good friend Prudencio is to Mercedes - noting that Prudencio’s eyes light up when he talks about her.

* El presidente municipal is telling his wife that Genero hasn’t been able to pull his weight or do his share (I was *really* vague about some of this) ever since Domenica came on the scene. It seems like her presence has put a damper on how much Genero can steal from her hacienda (I think). El presidente municipal tells of some scheme that he and Gabriel have, I’m not sure exactly how it goes - something with trucks and workers and selling Domenica’s crops? Whatever it is, it’s a private business deal that Generero isn’t to know about. The wife promises to keep the secret.

* It appears Osvaldo is pining after Prudencio’s daughter a bit, and complains to his mom that despite what *she* might have gossiped about around town, Prudencio’s granddaughter wasn’t “easy.” Gossipy mom tells him to forget about the girl.

* A new character, el presidente municipal’s secretary, appears to be an ally of Domenica and shares similar feelings of rebellion against the misogyny dominating the town. It starts first with the president municipal complaining that she’s wearing pants (he only wants to see dresses/skirts) but the secretary pushes back, saying that there’s no mention of that in her contract, that pants are more comfortable, and that if she shows the least bit of leg when wearing a skirt all the idiot men in town start acting like imbeciles (she doesn’t use that word), like they think she’s looking for a husband. She’s quick to point out that el presidente municipal is the exception to that, since he is a married man. And indeed, a few minutes later Gabriel comes by and says something cheeky to her, proving her point. 

* There’s another scene with this secretary where she is chatting with Maria, Gabriel’s daughter, about how great her college experience was, even though she’s now back, trapped in that town, caring for her mother. Maria loves talking and dreaming about going to college, even though it’s a distant dream because of her dad’s sexism. The secretary talks favorably of Domenica, and also mentions Cute Lawyer and how handsome he is, and seems a bit disappointed when Maria mentions the (false) rumor that he’s Domenica’s novio.

* There was a whole long conversation that the corrupt socios (Genaro, Gabriel, presidente municipal) had with each other and I couldn’t grasp one thing. I know they were complaining, but that’s it. This novela is super fun but challenging for me. (I know in the end it’s a good thing; I’m learning a lot of new words.) It’s usually better when the city folk are talking - I can usually get that - but the many country expressions (that no google search seems to help with) are just too much. 

* Kiara finally finds out that she is responsible for the death of that baby whose mass she just atended. First, Mercedes tells her the circumstances of the accident; SIL is a surrogate mother, carrying Luis’s and his dead wife’s baby, yadda yadda. At first Kiara seems genuinely shocked, later when talking to her friend, she makes some truly bizarre statements about, “well, if the baby had lived and he were a single father I never would have been interested in him.”

Later, it is again confirmed to Kiara that she killed the baby when she is alone for a minute in Luis’s office and sees Domenica’s ring on his desk; she’s able to figure how he has it and wants to steal it (it’s evidence) but isn’t able to. None of this deters Kiara from her pursuit of Luis, of course.

* Ernesto (cute lawyer) finally figures out that Kiara isn’t into him - boy, he’ll be thanking God later for it! She makes sure to call him “an old friend, like a brother” in Luis’s presence. Finally she has to tell him the same thing, and he is hurt, but seems to accept it.

* Luis finally comes out with it and declares that Domenica is the only woman he’s interested in. He has a discussion/argument with his mom, where she tries so hard to make a case for Kiara, who is “good,” but Luis isn’t feeling it. He repeatedly insists that he’ll tell Kiara that he’s not interested; he doesn’t know how she or anyone else got the impression he was interested in the first place.

* There’s a sweet little scene where Luis tells his mom that earlier, during an argument between him and Genero, Domenica approaches him and says, “I’ll handle this, you have dealt with enough right now” (or something like that; referring to his recent loss, etc). We saw this scene earlier and we see Luis melt a little as she says this. To his mom he says, Paula (dead wife) would often say it to him, then when she got sick he said it to her. He said he wasn’t comparing Domenica to Paula, but he got all verklempt when Domenica said it to him. Mercedes says, “Yes, sometimes you need to hear that, and from someone other than your mom.”

* We finally find out why Pedro is so resistant to Nieves’ attention. He thinks he’s cursed. He tells Mercedes that ever since he was little, if he was sweet on a girl, something bad happened; he gave examples that I couldn’t understand, but they didn’t sound horrible. To emphasize his point, just when he tells Mercedes this, some pans inexplicably fall down in a crash suddenly in the kitchen, and Pedro yells, “See what I mean?” He does admit that he has feelings for Nieves, but for  everyone’s safety, he dare not act on them. And, sure enough, later when Nieves confronts him (she reads his letter to Nana and finds out how he really feels) and he looks tempted for a moment to kiss her, some firewood he’s holding falls on his feet and hurts his toe. Even the thunder from an upcoming storm sends Pedro in a tizzy; assuming it’s part of his curse. 

* Nieves asks her uncle (Genero) for wardrobe money. He balks but finally gives her some. She’s sick of all her plaid shirts and overalls, I guess. 

* Luis has a lawyer friend visit for what appears to be an extended stay. I think the guy is going to work in some sort of home office at Luis’s place, and I think help Luis with his legal problems regarding the land (?). Also, he decides to sell a family hacienda and use the money to invest in Luis’s hacienda, thus being another socio. Pedro seems deflated when he learns thus, insecure, wonders if they’re going to dump him as a socio, but Luis assures him that it’s a good thing for everyone and of course they value Pedro as much as always. I don’t think Pedro is happy about this, though.

* Roque does everything short of clutching his pearls when Luis and Pedro mention that they’re going to use an outsider (a friend of Luis) for a supplier (of seeds I think) instead of buying from Gabriel. This does not set well with the corrupt three.

* During the latter parts of these episodes, Tia makes a big stink about Domenica’s “offenses” (supposedly kissing Luis just to spite Kiara, getting high-handed and “throwing it in their faces” that Tia and Kiara are the poor relatives), none of which is true and Domenica valiantly tries to refute. Tia is in such high dudgeon that she chews Domenica out, tells her she’s lost confidence in her, and that she and Kiara are leaving immediately. (Even though she knows they have no money.) Domenica is heartbroken and assures Tia it was never her intention, but nobody can change her mind. 

All of this was cultivated by Kia, who lies, manipulates and plays the victim, and Domenica’s own volatile behavior right after being jilted is used as ammunition against her.

Godfather and others try to change Tia’s mind (offering her a check that he says he’d be hurt if she refused) but she’s not having it. She wants to leave ASAP, partly because she wants to be independent for the first time in her life. The problem is, Kiara really doesn’t want to go. Long story short, their departure is delayed, and Kia says she really wants to stay in order to shoot her shot with Luis, unwilling to conceive of the idea that he’s just not interested.

* Godfather has a conversation with Luis where he calls him a “poco hombre” for messing with the feelings of both cousins; this is frustrating to Luis, he’s tried to clear this up several times to no avail. The impression people in Domenica’s camp have is that he’s picking Domenica just because of the land dispute. He emphatically tells Godfather that he’ll make it clear to Kiara that he’s not interested. 

* At the end of episode 16, Domenica once again visits that nostalgic body of water and Luis shows up there too. She is at first guarded with him, but he again insists he wasn’t playing with anyone, and he’ll tell Kiara it’s not happening, and he wants them to find out if what’s going on between them is real or not. Finally, there is enough of a meeting of the minds for them to start locking lips again.