Oh man, you guys, we made it! Welcome to the end of season 1! It’s been a trip and a half, through love triangles and love rectangles and love dodecahedrons, through bad parenting and some good parenting and oblivious parenting, through teen pop music and rock music and soundtrack songs clearly picked only for their first lines. When I first started recapping this show, in 2012, I was a wee college freshman studying Spanish in a dorm room; today I sit before you a salty, bitter college graduate whose only claim to fame is an unusually large collection of gel pens. It has been a journey, dudes. And who can say where we’ll be by the end of season 2?
I can tell you we will be at a different site. Being that season 1 is over, it seems fitting to make the change now (or soon). I created this site when I was in high school, and honestly I made it on a total whim and gave the name about 0.5 seconds of thought. I thought “Luxembourgish” was a funny word (sorry to all the good people of Luxembourg) and that was about it; I’ve wanted to change it…uh, pretty much ever since. So anyway, I made a new site, and I’m still importing everything over but hopefully it should be good to go by the time I start on season 2.
Let’s do this thing!
We pick up where we left off: Lujan’s tutor has sent her a suitcase, leading Dunoff to the happy conclusion that she’s getting kicked out of the school, and freaking Lujan out. Oh, wait, but then she opens the card that came with the suitcase and realizes that it’s actually a present from her tutor, along with permission for her to go Machu Picchu. Almost like that’s what any normal person think when their guardian sends them a suitcase after they mention summer vacation. Lujan runs out all twitterpated, and Dunoff’s all like, “Ugh, I hate happy children.”
Meanwhile, Renata wants Mansilla to take his job back and stay at Elite Way with her (isn’t her ex-boyfriend coming to work there too, though? That’ll be awkward), but Mansilla’s all on some train about his principles or whatever. Look, I don’t know if I missed a scene or what, but I still do not have any idea what Mansilla’s leaving over. I got a vague sense that he was working on some project involving poor students in the badlands of Argentina or whatever; Rosario was working on the project with him; Mansilla resigned from Elite Way to work on said project; his project proposal was shut down so he quit for nothing; but he doesn’t want to come back to Elite Way, for…reasons. I mean, it all makes sense, but I feel like that kind of thing shouldn’t be left for the viewer to infer. Anyway, Renata freaks out that he’s abandoning the kids to some teacher who doesn’t ~care, and Mansilla agrees to stick around just a little longer.
Lujan and Marizza do the dance of going on an unsupervised trip with their boyfriends. Aw, I was so looking forward to her and Mia bonding. I feel like every time this show promises me something I actually really want to see (Marizza moving into Casa Colucci, for example), it yanks it away cruelly. Lujan is still freaked out that her tutor seemingly knows everything about her and what she’s up to — I mean, didn’t she say she emailed him about going on vacation? — and Marizza’s like, “Well, hey, we still have another season for you to figure it out!”
Manuel is laying out his summer plans to Marcos and Nico. His summer plan is basically to stay at Elite Way while he works for Papa C, and his friends are like, “Who are you, Harry Potter?” Marcos and Nico promise to hang out with him after they come back from their super-fun vacations with their girlfriends, but Manuel’s like, “No, have fun, get laid, don’t worry about me.” They’re like, “Sure thing, bro!” and run off. Papa C rolls up and tells Manuel that he’s actually going on vacation, so he doesn’t need Manuel anyway. He gives Manuel tickets and some money so he can go to Mexico to see his family. Manuel cries all over Papa C about how he doesn’t feel worthy, and Papa C’s like, “You totally are worthy, my substitute son!” and they hug it out.
Everyone goes to class, where Dunoff is lecturing them for running away to marry Nico and Luna off. It does sound kinda bad when you put it like that. As punishment, they’re not going to get to plan their end-of-the-year presentation. Instead, Dunoff is going to organize it for them! That sounds like it’s gonna be fun.
Hilario and Hilda are all happy and engaged now — fuck his other family, man — and they come in to be all coupley with Mansilla and Renata. Mansilla says he’s going to leave before the presentation, because he still thinks it’s better for the kids to hate him than for him to say goodbye. Hilario gets all snippy about how Mansilla ~believed~ in his love (or at least his right to browbeat Hilda into dating him again), and now Mansilla’s punking out of his duties? For shame. Renata’s like, “What he said.”
Papa C comes to see Mia, and tells her about how he gave Manuel money to go to Mexico. Mia’s all crushed that now Manuel doesn’t have an excuse to stay in Argentina. She cries to Feli that she’ll never see Manuel again and they’ll never get to second base. Feli’s like, “For the millionth time, TELL HIM HOW YOU FEEL, WOMAN.” Marizza overhears their conversation, and Feli catches sight of her and asks her to give her ticket back. Marizza BSes that she forgot it and runs away.
Tomás’s parents come to the school and tell him they want to see his grades. Tomás is like, “Yikes.” He tries to BS them off his case, but sadly he’s not smart enough to make it convincing. Guido swoops in and hands Tomás’s parents his doctored grades. “But these are good!” Tomás’s mom says, sounding shocked. “What happened here?” HEE! Burned by his own damn mother. Tomás’s parents chirp that he deserves to go on vacation with Guido and Pablo, as a reward for his good grades.
Pablo’s trying to sweet talk the tertiary girls into coming to his and Guido’s sex apartment, but even they aren’t having it. “I want to have fun on my vacation, not see your face,” Fernanda snips. HEE! Then Papa B shows up. Pablo wants to know why Mama B isn’t with him, and Papa B’s like, “She won’t be joining us for the rest of her life,” except not quite in those words. He creepily voiceovers that Pablo’s never going to see Mama B again. He gives Pablo a piece of paper, which we don’t see but is apparently shocking.
Marizza and Lujan pack for Machu Picchu. Marizza says she has to do something before she can give the tickets back to Mia and Feli, and Lujan gets all suspicious. Then Pablo runs in and says they have to do something for the end-of-the-year show. Marizza’s like, “Aw, hell no,” but Pablo’s like, “We can change everything with the power of music!” He shows Marizza the paper his father gave him, and that somehow gets her on his side.
Marizza and Pablo gather everyone in the classroom and say they have to do something at the party for Mansilla. Apparently the envelope that Pablo had is like, proof that Mansilla isn’t a school-abandoning jerkwad. How did Papa B get his hands on it? Whatever. Marcos runs in and says he found out that Etchamendi offered Mansilla his job back, but Mansilla doesn’t want to stay.
In the main hall, Blas catches up to Etchamendi and snaps that they had a deal, and Etchamendi didn’t follow through. Etchamendi’s like, “Of course I did,” but Blas says that they’ve kicked him out. I mean, I’m pretty sure, “Stalk a student” was not in Etchamendi’s plans for putting Blas in the school.
Marcos and Lujan get Gloria to fork over one of the programs for the presentation and speechify that they’re going to change the program.
Tomás’s parents thank Hilda for giving Tomás enough attendance points to scrape a passing grade. She’s like, “Say what?” and calls Tomás into the office to ask what he did. Wow, that blew up in Tomás’s face even faster than I thought it would. She tells him she didn’t tell the truth to his parents, because she wants him to do it himself. After all, he has the biggest responsibility for his studies. “What’s that?” Tomás derps. Hilda’s like, “Uh…the responsibility to actually do the work, dumbass.” Nevertheless, her speech hits whatever tiny part of Tomás has a conscience, and he ‘fesses up to his parents. They flip the fuck out (“You’re a criminal!” his dad yells, like Tomás killed someone), but then his mom chills out and points out that this is the first time Tomás has actually taken responsibility for his life, so they shouldn’t punish him too hard.
Manuel emos over a photo of Mia. He has to forget her for the greater good (the greater good!) but no, he does not know how! He flashbacks to all the good times, like when he pinned her down and threatened her. That scene really made me believe in love! Nico interrupts his flashbacking and sees his picture. Manuel emos about how he’ll never be able to forget Mia, and Nico’s like, “That’s rough, buddy.”
Outside, the stage is set up for the end-of-the-year presentation. We’re right back where we started! I want to say Mia loves herself enough now not to strip onstage for attention, but sadly I do not think that’s true. Sonia and Papa C are seated next to each other, so Sonia rips off his nametag and gives his seat to Pepa. Well, Sonia hasn’t matured one bit, but we knew that.
Marizza and Pablo look out at the audience, and Pablo emos over his mom not being there. Marizza’s like, “You sure? Because she’s like, right over there.” Pablo runs off after her, but not before Papa B catches sight of her and drags her off. He snaps that they agreed that he wouldn’t send Pablo to military school as long as Mama B disappeared forever. Pablo catches up to them and asks what’s going on, but Mama B goes along with Papa B’s wishes and lies that she’s just going to Europe as planned. Pablo tells his mom he wanted to give her a present before her “vacation”, which turns out to a framed photo of him and Mama B together. Aw! Dammit, occasionally Pablo is the sweetest and most naïve boy.
Nico’s dad shows up, and he says Nico’s mom isn’t coming. But then she does show up! She snips that she still doesn’t approve of any of Nico and Luna’s shenanigans, but she’s brought them things to take to San Luis anyway. Aw.
The end-of-year assembly begins, and Dunoff’s like, “What an excellent year! Your kids went to so many classes and did so many extracurriculars, we just didn’t show any of them.” Etchamendi calls in the middle of his speech, and Mama D drags Dunoff off to go deal with him. Erreway runs up to take over, and they give a speech about how awesome Mansilla is and how they’ve totally learned what ethics are. I bet they plagiarized the definition of “ethics” out of a book. Anyway, as a present to him for all the hell they put him through during the year, they’ve pulled strings with Papa B to get his project approved, so he can go to the Argentinian border and somehow, vaguely, make poor children’s lives better. They give him a photo of their class so he won’t forget them, and Mansilla gets up to give a tearful speech about how he has been touched by their kids, and he’s pretty sure he’s touched them. Honestly, it is pretty sweet, but…is this just an assembly for the 3rd year class? How does that even work? I bet everyone in the other classes is bored out of their minds.
Meanwhile, Etchamendi is reaming out Dunoff. He’s all like, “I told you Blas is kind of a big deal!” and Dunoff’s like, “But you didn’t tell me he was a sex offender!” Etchamendi’s like, “Whatever,” because I guess Mia’s future trauma pales next to the vast pedagogical expertise Blas brings to the table. He insists Dunoff hire Blas back for the next year. Blas comes in and levels Dunoff with a death glare for daring to get between him and teenage girls.
Back at the assembly, Mansilla’s like, “Time for some teen pop music!” and Erreway gets up to perform “Rebelde Way.” Everyone dances and sings along — even Papa B doesn’t look like he totally hates it — and I won’t lie, it’s a delight.
We still have a few loose threads to wrap up, though. Props to this episode for actually feeling like the last day of school: after the conflict resolution and fun musical performance, we still twenty more minutes of saying our goodbyes and cleaning out our lockers. Sonia makes Marizza promise she won’t do anything too scandalous at Machu Picchu. Uh…is she not going with them? Whatever. Mia runs up and Marizza gives her the tickets to Disneyland, which she totally did not mess with in any way.
Mansilla talks to Renata about his project, and he’s like, “It sure is sad that I’ll have to leave you.” OH MY GOD, MAN. He finally gets it together and asks her to come with him, and she’s like, “Fucking duh, being your love interest is literally my only purpose here.” Mansilla’s all happy, and they make out. Man, Renata got a sweet fucking deal. She didn’t even have to commit to that school for an entire year, and now she gets to peace out with her new boyfriend.
Papa C says goodbye to Mia, as he’s going to leave on his trip soon. Mia’s all weepy over Manuel, but still refuses to say anything to him. For fuck’s sake, girl.
Everyone gathers on the stairs to say goodbye. Feli thanks Luna for getting her help with her eating disorder, and Luna and Nico get up to thank everyone for helping them elope (is it really an elopement if you only disappear for like two hours?). Lots of hugging and crying ensues. The whole thing is quite meta, as of course Georgina Mollo and Guillermo Santa Cruz were leaving the show. By the way, I just googled to make sure I was getting Guillermo Santa Cruz’s name right, and I found his website. Apparently he went on to study Chinese economics, and does work in China-Argentina relations while writing about Chinese culture and finances. Fascinating stuff.
Sonia and Pepa head to the port, where Sonia’s going to get on a ship, while “Shut Up” by Kelly Osbourne plays in the background. That’s such the perfect song for this show, I’m amazed it hasn’t been used earlier. They part incredibly tearfully, considering that Sonia’s only going to be gone for ten days. But then Sonia gets to the boat, and sees that she and Papa C are going on the same vacation! Quelle horreur! The captain’s like, “Oh my God, just get on the fucking boat.”
Feli, Vico, and Mia are at the airport, ready to depart for Disney. Feli’s all pumped because she has a ton of magazines to keep her occupied, and Vico and Mia are like, “Or you could just watch the in-flight movie.” Frankly, I think Feli has the right idea. I was on a flight from Texas to Argentina once, and it was a red-eye flight, and the only thing to watch was the trippy live-action version of Speed Racer. To this day all I remember about that flight was a lighting storm, bright colors, and the vague feeling that I was having an out-of-body experience. Anyway, Vico takes out their tickets and realizes that Marizza has changed Mia’s ticket, just as Mia finds a message for Marizza on her camera. Marizza’s like, “You and Manuel need to hook up already, because this is getting old.” She adds: “It’s not hard being you. What’s hard is putting up with you.” Heh. Feli and Vico try to convince Mia to get her ticket changed back, but Mia’s like, “No, Marizza is right!” Ah, the one universal truth of this show. She runs off to her new destination, leaving Feli and Vico in the dust.
Manuel’s sitting alone on his flight to Mexico, but then Mia shows up. They profess their love for each other and make out. It’s just a little cheesy, but God help me, I think it’s cute and the best note for the season to end on. And they all lived happily ever after, until 5 episodes into season 2, probably.
The rest of the episode is eaten up by behind-the-scenes photos and a video of Erreway singing “Resistiré” at their Gran Rex concert. And that’s the end! I’ll do a summary post for this season and then take a little bit of a break before coming back for season 2. Man, I cannot believe I’m done with this season. I feel a little sad? I think I’m developing Stockholm Syndrome.
SEE YA IN A WHILE, DUDES!
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