MY FAVORITE THINGS: October 2007

LA USURPADORA finally ended last week Thursday(upper) on GALAXY TV, the climax being Carlos Daniel, finally free of his diabolical and prosmiscous wife Paola, married her more saintly twin Paulina(who HAD to be persuaded to marry him in the first place as she did'nt feel right about marrying her brother-in-law although she loved him). It also however ended on a sad note for Carlos Daniel's sister Estefania, who suddenly lost her mind after her horrible husband was thrown in prison for attempted murder and arson and her other brother Roderigo and his wife Patricia had to adopt her son.

Very strange how things turn out at the end of some telenovelas- in THE GADERNER'S DAUGHTER(LA HIJA DE JARDINERO) Luisa Fernanda married Carlos Eduardo, who most people around here don't seem to remember that he was her stepbrother,(her biological father, Luis Alejandro, was married to Carlos Eduardo's mother, Marissa) it disgusted my mum after I narrated the story to her but she hadnt been disgusted in NO ONE BUT YOU when Raquel fell in love with Antonio and vice-versa, who was her exboyfriend's stepbrother. Most of what happens in telenovelas cannot happen here in Nija but still... doesn't mean we don't enjoy the intrigue, right??

For all my vistors who requested for the full summary of CATALINA y Sebastian, it's going to take a lot of work and time but I'll do my very best.

CUANDO SEAS MIA' hit our screens in 2005 after a long telenovela hiatus, the last,until then the Brazillian soap, 'SECRETS OF THE SANDS'.
Since then, more telenovelas have been pouring in; a far cry from the time when the practice was a new telenovela was presented AFTER its predecessor wrapped up, the only exception being the period when 'THE LADY OF THE ROSE' aired on Saturdays and Sundays at 10 p.m and 'WILD ROSE' was shown on Mondays to Thursdays on NTA 10 , immediately after the 10 o' clock News.
Most people have probably forgotten THE RICH ALSO CRY(Los Ricos Lloran Tambien), the first global telenovela and the VERY first Mexican soap to hit our screens, back in the 90s. It's a Telenovela that will forever remain in our memories, mostly because of the Principal characters;
Marianna played by Veronica Castro (who happens to be a year older than my Mum... it's true, the telenovela was produced in 1979),Luis Alberto played by the handsome and very macho Rogelio Guerra(right), Augusto Bendico(who sadly died at the

ripe old age of 83 on January 19, 1992)

played the family kindly but no- nonsense Don Alberto who took the orphaned Marianna in and treated her like the daughter he and his wife never had, including encouraging her to be a positve influence on his wayward son ,Luis Alberto but at the same time protecting her from being taken advavantage of. There's also Elena, Alberto's wife (first played by Alicia Rodriguez then later by Marilu Elizaga). And last but not least, the woman THE RICH ALSO CRY fans hated so much and was a constant thorn in Marianna and Luis Alberto's flesh, Elena's niece, Esther played by Rocio Banquells whose diabolical

action caused most of the action in the telenovela but reports indicated that most people cried when she asked for forgiveness on her deathbed.
The whole story began with the orphaned Marianna going to the big city to locate her late father's lawyer friend who had recently visited them at the ranch(after Leonardo's death, her stepmother Irma, threw her out) but ended up in the household of Don Alberto who insisted on adopting her as his daughter instead of hiring her as a maid, much to her suprise and much to the displeasure of his wife and their niece,Esther who saw the much more beautiful Marianna as a threat to her plans to trap her cousin Luis Alberto, into marriage.
Luis Alberto and Marianna disliked each other on sight, he was spoiled and arrogant and she was the only person besides Alberto who could stand up to him. But gradually, her maturity and beauty won him over and instead of viewing her as an object of lust, fell in love with her and started showing postive change. But the cold hand of Esther split them up; she accused him of raping her while he was drunk and was now carrying his baby. Meanwhile, Irma discovered that there was a hiddden Will, naming Marianna as the sole heir to the ranch and she sent her lover Diego to look for her and then murder her, BUT when he finds her Diego decides to seduce her instead and marry her for her money.

However, Mariannna begins to date the son of Alberto's business associate instead, who is her father's name sake, Leonardo, as well as being closer to her in age , unlike Luis Alberto, who is 32,(she was merely 18). A friend of Diego and Irma-a ruthless gangster- sent a hitman but the man ended up killing Marianna's roommate instead, in their flat. Esther(after staging a miscarriage to cover her tracks) got pregnant for real by Diego and ran away, due to his and the fake doctor's blackmail but ended up very ill and the family learnt of her deceit but forgave her, including Luis Alberto and Marianna. Both Esther and her baby died and Luis Alberto and Marianna reconciled. The climax of the story was Diego killing his gangster friend, the discovery of the Will, and Diego and Irma's arrest.
The telenovela apparently ended with Luis Alberto and Marianna's wedding after she got back her inheritance from her even more diabolical stepmother Irma, but alas, NTA 10 didn't finish the story as they probably didn't want to shock us with what happened next...
Luis Alberto took over the business like his father had always wanted him to do- which meant he had to go on business trips. One day, when he wasn't at home, Marianna's ex-fiance,Leonardo, came to visit Alberto(at least that what he said) and while talking with her, she suddenly feels ill and faints, naturally he catches her to prevent her from falling on the ground. But at that same moment, Luis Alberto came home, saw Leonardo holding his wife and jumped to a VERY WRONG CONCLUSION. It turned out that the reason why Marianna had fainted was because she was pregnant but ALAS! Luis Alberto refused to believe the baby was his(out of jealousy) and refused to listen to Marianna's pleas; he stayed in Brazil attending to his business, leaving Marianna alone with Maria, Ramona and the other servants to console her. After several months, he sent a letter announcing he was divorcing her and Marianna threw a fit- she ran away and fainted on the street. She had her baby but due to the shock of L.A's cruelty and the after effects of child birth, she lost her mind and gave her baby to a stranger- naming him Beto after his father and grandfather.
A repentant L.A found her at a psychiatric hospital and begged her forgiveness, adopting a baby girl to make it up to her. But for years, Marianna could'nt

Marianna did'nt dare tell anyone but Marisabel later found out the truth & was distressed to discover she was actually adopted. Luis Alberto meanwhile gets very jealous and angry over Mariana's great affection towards young Beto and finally asked her for a divorce. Marianna then told Beto the truth and he was overjoyed the lady he was very fond of was his bio- mother. Luis Alberto entered the house just as Marianna and the children just finished having dinner; branishing a gun to defend his honour but Marianna & Marisabel revealed the truth to him just in time. She and Luis Alberto repaired their marriage after he tearfully apologised to her and begged her and Beto to forgive him.

I was absolutely shocked when I came across this info and just had to post it. Everyone who had watched this soap would of couse be on Marianna's side; i remember her as the epitome of virtue itself, why on earth Luis Alberto(who fought so hard to keep her loving him) would draw to such a conclusion in the first place but at least it ended happily at long last.

TRIVIA: The actor who played the priest, Father Adrian, (Rafael Banquells) was not only the director of THE RICH ALSO CRY but in real life the father of Rocio Banquells (Esther).

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