Previously on Rebelde Way: Marizza has decided to seduce Javier to prove to Lujan that he’s a cheating cheater and no good. This would, perhaps, be a decent plan if it weren’t for the fact that it also makes Marizza look like a boyfriend-stealer? Especially considering that in 2003, the idea that the man might be at fault for cheating was a relatively novel idea. You’re not going to get any sisterhood out of Lujan here, Marizza!
Meanwhile, all of that drama over Manuel’s health was for nothing, because none of his medication worked and he has to have brain surgery after all. Oh, and for the eightieth time, Tomás is still obsessed with Pilar’s nudes.
Marizza goes down into the murder basement to meet Javier. He’s like, “I always knew you and Pablo were wrong for each other!” and starts macking on her. Marizza tells him that she’s still worried about how Lujan might take this, and Javier’s like, “Who cares about Lujan? Certainly not me! Mwa ha ha!” Marizza asks why he even dated Lujan in the first place then, and Javier says that he was only using her to get closer to Marizza. His dastardly plan has been revealed! If only Marizza had bothered to like, record his confession or something, Nancy Drew-style. Marizza says that she doesn’t want to go behind Lujan’s back, so Javier promises to dump Lujan.
Manuel has a breakdown over needing to have brain surgery, which, as much as I hate him, is a perfectly understandable reaction. He makes Marcos promise not to tell anyone at school, because he doesn’t want them to pity him. Marcos is like, “I feel like that’s a stupid reason to keep this a secret from all of your friends and also the adults who are responsible for you, but okay.” I love this show. Every time a character has some gigantic, life-altering secret, they justify not telling anyone because tHeY dOn’T wAnT pItY, like that’s more important than, you know, informing their friends and responsible adults about major events in their lives. It’s hilarious. Case in point: Marcos asks how Manuel plans to skip school to have the operation and cover up his illness without anyone noticing, and Manuel’s like, “Stop saying words, pity is infinitely worse than having to sneak around and cover up my severe condition.”
Pilar gives Mia a box that Sonia had delivered to the school. Ooh, what are the chances that it’s full of Mama Colucci’s things? Naturally, Mia refuses to even open it because she thinks Sonia is trying to buy her love. Then Mia calls Vico, who tells her that she hasn’t found Lalo. After searching for him, Vico’s gone back to her dad’s house, where she’s cooking his meals and washing his clothes again. Her dad comes in while she’s ironing and is mildly critical of her, and for a second it looks like he’s going to relapse into his old abusive ways, but then he doesn’t. Vico leaves without any drama, and Rocco pops out of the bushes all, “Oh, hey, I was just stalking you to make sure your dad wasn’t beating you again.” I mean, I guess it was stalking for a noble cause this time.
Marizza emails Lujan, telling her that Javier is lying to her and Marizza can prove it if Lujan comes to the main hall. Lujan trashes the email, but shows up anyway. Javier tells Marizza that he wrote Lujan a breakup letter, and Marizza’s like, “Ooh, you should tell me what it says, out loud, so that anyone who’s walking by can hear it!” Javier’s like, “Sure, since you asked, I’m going to tell Lujan that I never liked her and have just been waiting to get back together with you this entire time.” Naturally, Lujan walks up right behind him and is not at all happy to hear that. Marizza’s like, “See, I told you that Javier was trash!” Lujan’s like, “I mean, fine, but that doesn’t mean you had to humiliate me like this.” She runs off, leaving Marizza shocked that Lujan apparently doesn’t want to immediately rekindle their friendship.
Pablo, Guido, and Tomás go to a fast food shop for a job interview. Because if there’s one thing huge corporations want to do when hiring for a minimum-wage, entry level job, it’s train three people and pay three salaries. While they’re waiting for the owner, they see a woman wearing a short skirt and start sexually harassing her. She obviously gets mad and tells them that they should be ashamed, and they just keep laughing like, “Stuck-up b*tches, amirite? If she didn’t want us to talk about her like a piece of meat, she shouldn’t have been wearing a skirt! Women are public property!”
Naturally, of course, she turns out to be the owner of the establishment. If you think the boys learn anything from this, they do not: after their interview, they run into the owner’s daughter, who’s a perfectly cute girl with glasses and slightly bushy hair. The boys are all like, “Glasses automatically make girls unattractive!” and start spraying an aerosol can at her while shrieking that they’re afraid of bugs. Despite this disgusting behavior, the restaurant owner decides to hire them anyway so that they can…learn to be less sexist? I don’t know. Disappointment! Let them starve, owner lady!
In Manuel’s room, he and Marcos are musing over how to cover up Manuel’s absence while he gets brain surgery. Gosh, what if they told an adult, maybe one of the adults that run this school, and then Manuel could have an excused absence for medical reasons? Not to get too crazy here. Anyway, they’re interrupted by some kid delivering the mail, who hands Manuel the bill for the fees for all those shows Erreway cancelled. (They’re already paid, for what it’s worth — Manuel just gets to keep the invoices for some reason?) Marcos wants to know why they cancelled all those shows, and Manuel tells him that Marizza made them cancel the tour and haul ass back to school as soon as they found out that Blas died. Marcos is like, “Wow, I bet Lujan would feel like a dick if she knew that Marizza did that for her.” Manuel’s like, “Yeah, yeah, enough about the secondary characters’ problems, I just had a brainwave about how to leave for the operation.”
Over at Casa Colucci, Papa C has decided not to give up on this Mama C storyline, probably because the show is (slowly) nearing the end and we gotta wrap this up soon. He tells Sonia that he’s thinking about trying to find her. Sonia gets nervous about what might happen if Mama C does come back into Papa C’s life, but he reassures her that he’s not going to break up with Sonia to get back together with his ex-wife who cheated on him like 20 years ago.
Michi comes back from searching for Lalo, and tells the girls that he wasn’t at his house and no one knew where he was. The girls all sigh that Lalo must have ditched Feli for real. “How are we doing to tell her?” Pilar wonders.
Speaking of! That night, Vico and Mia have essentially the same conversation over what to do about Lalo; Vico is insisting that men are all trash while Mia bleats that she’s sure Lalo can’t really be gone. Mia is weirdly naive about this. Like…after everything Manuel put her through, she’s like, “There’s no way a man might mistreat his girlfriend”? I don’t know. Anyway, Vico says that they’ll have to tell Feli soon: “If she regrets this and doesn’t want to have a baby, what then?” Mia’s like, “Stop saying words.”
Feli comes back in, and Vico and Mia quickly change the subject to the box that Mia received from Sonia. Mia keeps ranting about how she’ll never open the box or forgive Sonia for dating her dad, but then Feli reads the note and she’s like, “Er, Mia, there’s an important plot development here.” She and Vico offer to stay and look at the photos with Mia. You know the drill: sad piano music, Luisana Lopilato trying to cry, etc. She only looks at a couple of photos, though, before saying she doesn’t want to see the rest. Then Feli’s like, “Ookay, moving on, have either of you heard from Lalo?” Mia and Vico nervously suggest that maybe Lalo is stuck somewhere and can’t call her. Feli’s like, “Why would he not be able to call me?”
After discovering that Javier was just using her, Lujan’s run off and no one can find her. Laura scolds Marizza for being tactless, and she’s like, “You probably could’ve revealed Javier in a way that didn’t, you know, totally humiliate Lujan.” Marizza snaps at her to stop making her feel bad re: the consequences of her own actions. She wants to keep looking for Lujan, but then Manuel comes in and says that they need to have an urgent band meeting.
Lujan’s been hiding in the cafeteria, behind the counter. Javier finds her first and tries to convince her that he totally wasn’t about to cheat on her with Marizza, but Lujan tells him to fuck off.
Manuel gathers the band and tells them that he’s received a letter from Sabrina, offering him a solo career again. This time, she’s offered him three times the money to go solo, and Manuel’s like, “No offense, but I don’t like you guys enough to turn down that much money.” Marizza immediately flips out and storms off, and Pablo chases after her. Mia stays behind to snipe at Manuel that she’s not surprised — she’s used to being betrayed by him, after all. Burn. Manuel sits down on the staircase all alone, while “Perder un amigo” cues up in the background. This would be more emotionally affecting if the scene transition didn’t immediately start filling up the screen with loud, ugly colors.
Feli and Mia look at the photos of Mia’s mom again. Feli’s like, “Hey, did you notice in these photos how your mom is never holding you, and it’s always your dad?” Tactful! Mia sniffles that her mom must not have really wanted to be a mother, and that’s why she ran off. Feli says that Papa C was very brave to raise Mia all on his own: “If Lalo abandoned me to be a single parent, I’d just die.” This show is so subtle. Mia tells Feli not to think that way, and insists that Mama C must be dead: if she were alive, obviously she would’ve come back for Mia.
The next morning, Marizza finds Lujan and explains to her about her whole master plan to expose Javier. She’s like, “I know you hate me now, but it was for the greater good! I’ll never stop meddling in your life, even if you don’t want me to!” Not in as many words. Lujan sticks around and listens to Marizza’s speech, but she’s still giving Marizza the cold shoulder, and she runs off without saying anything back.
Meanwhile, Javier storms into Pablo’s room, and he’s like, “How dare Marizza make Lujan break up with me!” Pablo’s like, “This has literally nothing to do with me, but okay.” Javier’s like, “Stop saying words” and decides to get revenge on Pablo anyway, threatening to tattle on him to Papa B. I mean — okay, but like — Pablo is right! This literally has nothing to do with him! Oh, whatever.
Manuel meets with Miranda and tells him that he’s planning to leave school to pursue a solo music career. Miranda tells him that he shouldn’t drop out of school, and encourages him to at least finish the school year first. Has the show completely forgotten that Manuel has already graduated high school?? He graduated before the first season started! He’s like nineteen years old at this point! If he stays at Elite Way, he’s going to repeat three years of high school for absolutely no reason!! Frankly, he SHOULD go solo just so that he has a job and moves on with his life! AAAAH!!!!
Anyway. Instead of pointing out any of the above, Manuel just tells Miranda to stop harshing his vibe. Miranda’s like, “Is your lack of concern for your future because, perhaps, something is wrong in your personal life?” Manuel insists that everything is fine.
In the cafeteria, Michi, Vico, and Mia gather and say that they’re gonna have to tell Feli the truth about Lalo. Vico’s like, “I’ve thought about it, and I think Mia is the best person for the job.” Michi: “I agree.” HEE! But also, really, Michi is the adult here.
Pablo catches up with Marizza and tells her that, via Javier, he’s heard that her plan worked. “I don’t agree with how you did it, but I know you couldn’t just stand by.” Marizza pouts that it didn’t even work: now she’s fighting with Lujan, she’s fighting with Pablo, and “no one understands [her].” Oh, dramatize more, Marizza. Pablo insists that he totally understands her and pulls her onto his lap. So…I guess they’re back together again?
Tomás finds copies of Pilar’s modeling photos — not nude photos; she’s in a bikini — on her desk. He steals them so that…she won’t have a copy of her own work? Does Tomás not remember all the pool parties they went to in the beginning of the season? Everyone’s already seen your girlfriend’s midriff, my dude! You two aren’t even together anymore!
Anyway, class starts, and Miranda brings Manuel in to say goodbye to the class. Manuel says that he’s just received an offer to tour as a solo artist, and he basically has to leave today to make it happen, so it’s been real and he’s peacing out now. “How are you going to go on a tour without any solo music?” nobody asks. Mia is distraught and runs out of the room, and everyone else gathers around and awkwardly congratulates him. The only one who isn’t awkward is Fernanda, because she’s gushing about how Manuel will totally be an instant success, and he’ll get to be on TV! Bless. Manuel starts crying as he says goodbye to Pablo and Marizza and they hug it out.
Sonia hires a private detective to look for Mama C, but tells him to only call her with news: she doesn’t want Papa C finding out about this. Oh, this can only end well.
Manuel leaves school, and Mia catches up with him outside to say goodbye. She (awkwardly) begs him not to go and he (awkwardly) says that he has to. God, the acting in this scene is terrible, and my standards for this show are already supremely low. Anyway, Mia cries and asks him why he has to leave now — “You’ll miss the rest of our classes!” she wibbles. That’s hilarious. For whatever reason, Manuel decides that he has to twist the knife even more, and tells Mia that he’s leaving because he’s still in love with Sabrina and wants to be with her.
Over at Casa Bustamante, Ines tells Papa B that he needs to go to therapy, since he hasn’t left the house in like two weeks and is clearly depressed. It turns out that he’s already been prescribed antidepressants, but he refuses to take them. In fairness, I was a ~youth~ in the early-to-mid-2000s, and it’s actually kind of crazy to remember how stigmatized it was to talk about your mental health: I remember being on an online forum when I was like 12, and some of the older posters were talking about taking Zoloft. I mentioned what I’d learned to some older kids in my school afterwards, and I immediately got bullied for just for like…knowing what Zoloft was. It was wild.
Javier comes in and tells Papa B that he heard Papa B wasn’t feeling well. He’s like, “I’m here for you, father!” and hugs him. Is…that all he came here for? Is he not here to tattle on Pablo?
Pilar and Fernanda talk about Manuel leaving to be a famous singer. Pilar’s like, “Isn’t it weird that he didn’t seem happy when he left?” and Fernanda’s like, “I guess. Idk, talking about sad people makes me sad. Let’s talk about our modelling careers instead!” Never change, Fernanda. She tells Pilar that she left some copies of the bikini photos on Pilar’s desk, and Pilar freaks out that they weren’t there.
Pablo storms up to Lujan while she’s playing basketball and yells at her for not forgiving Marizza. He tells Lujan that Marizza cancelled the tour for her and they all had a pay a huge fine — she can call their producer if she doesn’t believe him. He snaps that he’s regretting it now, because Lujan clearly doesn’t deserve it. Lujan is shook to discover that…as always, Marizza was right? Is that not the running theme of this show?
Mia is all emo over Manuel leaving, and Francisco says that she can talk to him about it: there’s no need for them to lie about their feelings to each other! I guess lying about trying to perv on other girls while Mia was on tour is just fine, though. I hate him. Francisco suggests that Manuel left because he’s jealous over Francisco and Mia, and Mia starts bittering that she’s SURE it’s because Manuel is still hung up on Sabrina and OBVIOUSLY he’ll just leap whenever she calls. Francisco’s like, “Oookay, well, someone in this situation is definitely jealous.” Mia snipes that she’s just going to take this opportunity to forget Manuel forever. She adds that it’s not just Manuel: she’s stressed over how to tell Feli that Lalo is a fuckboy, too. Francisco suggests that she get it over with, so Mia resolves to tell Feli about Lalo today.
Lujan goes rifling through Manuel’s stuff, looking for evidence of Erreway’s tour cancellation fee. She sees that all of Manuel’s clothes are still in his closet and she’s like, “The fuck?” I also am like, “The fuck?” Isn’t Manuel lying to literally everyone except Marcos, including Miranda, that he’s leaving school forever to be a singer? Does he plan to just rock up after his operation and be like, “Actually, I was just kidding, please let me re-enroll and also get all the stuff in my room back.” HOW IS THIS ANY LESS COMPLICATED THAN JUST ADMITTING THAT HE’S HAVING SURGERY??? Anyway, naturally Marcos walks in and catches Lujan. She’s like, “Why are all of Manuel’s ugly mid-2000s clothes still here?” and Marcos is like, “Stop asking questions.” He asks what Lujan’s doing in here, and Lujan blusters that Pablo told her that Erreway cancelled their tour for her — but OBVIOUSLY that can’t be true, and she was just looking for the evidence that she’s SURE doesn’t exist. Marcos hands over the invoice and Lujan’s like, “Oh.”
Tomás gets Dunoff’s fax number from Michi, intending to send him the photos of Pilar so that she’ll get in trouble. He can’t just…leave them…in Dunoff’s office? Whatever. Guido’s like, “Dude, do you really think NO ONE’S ever seen your ex-girlfriend in a bikini before?” and Tomás is like, “How dare you besmirch her honor like that!” Then they unsubtly change the subject to talking about how awesome Bubbaloo is. I love how low-effort this show is with the product placement.
Mia tries to work up the nerve to tell Feli that Lalo’s run off, but before she can do so, Maxi rocks up. He snipes at Mia to let him and Feli talk privately. Feli’s all huffy with him, and Maxi’s like, “Wow, just because your boyfriend ran out on you, you don’t have to take it out on ME.” Feli’s like, “Say what?” and Maxi’s like, “Oops, didn’t mean to let that dramatic plot device just slip out!”
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