Previously on Rebelde Way: Lalo has left Buenos Aires and gone…somewhere else in Argentina, idk. Anywhere outside of BA is like a black hole to this show. Naturally, he’s only done so to earn some extra money to support Feli and their unborn baby, but did he like, tell her this in person? Did he call her phone? No, he had to write her an easily-intercepted letter, which of course Maxi got a hold of.
Maxi tells Feli that he knows she’s all snippy because Lalo left her, but he doesn’t care: he’s tired of being used to cover up their romance, so no more! He shan’t be coming around any longer! I…has it taken Maxi until now to realize that Feli was using him? Poor dumb Maxi.
Anyway, Feli grabs him by the shirt and gets all in his face, demanding to know where Lalo is. I feel like we’re supposed to think she’s being brave and standing up for herself, but it mostly just weirds me out that Feli gets so crazy aggressive over Lalo. Like…of all things. Anyway, Maxi blusters that he just overheard it from one of the other students, then he runs out of there before Feli can introduce any advanced interrogation techniques. Feli is perturbed.
Feli runs up to Mia and Vico and asks if they’ve heard a rumor that Lalo’s skipped town. Mia’s like, “Awkward, maybe we should just lie,” and Vico kicks her. Hee! Mia says that it’s true. Feli’s like, “No puede ser!”
In the cafeteria, Marizza recaps the last few episodes for us: Papa B isn’t speaking to Pablo anymore (or giving him money), Manuel’s left to be a “solo artist” (read: have brain surgery), the band is falling apart, and Lujan won’t talk to Marizza. Her life is a shambles! She loudly sighs that she just has to forget that she and Lujan were ever friends, and she just has to pretend Lujan is DEAD AND BURIED to her, FOREVER, and their friendship can NEVER be salvaged.
Naturally, Lujan rolls up right then, all ready to make nice with Marizza. Aaaand then she runs off, dragging this subplot out even longer. DAMMIT, MARIZZA!
Mia and Vico muse over how Maxi found out that Lalo’s gone: did one of them spill it? Or maybe Marizza or Lujan? Or Pilar or Laura? Heh. Way to tell Feli that everyone in this school knew about it except her. Feli doesn’t get upset over this, though — for once, a character on this show is self-aware enough to realize that they have bigger problems. Mia assures her that she and Vico will still have Feli’s back, and Vico’s like, “I mean, that’s not the same as having the father of your child in the picture to help out. Feli gets all defensive and snaps at Vico like, “I know Lalo loves me, because he ~looked at me~ when he was trying to get into my pants! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT LOVE, VICO!” What? Why are you booing her, Feli? SHE’S RIGHT.
Pablo, Guido, and Tomás go off to their first day at work, which is…at a carwash instead of a fast-food joint? I don’t know. Apparently they’re working at a service station, even though it kind of looked like it was in a mall last time? Whatever, I don’t care enough to keep thinking about this. After their first hour or so of work, their boss tells them that they won’t be washing cars anymore: they’ll be working inside at the cash register, with her daughter Leticia! You know, the girl with the kind of frizzy hair and glasses. She’s a nice girl, if a little awkward, and she tries to ingratiate herself to Guido by giving him a bag of Bubbaloo. Guido’s all, “Ew, I’m offended by a girl I’m not attracted to making advances at me!” Maybe Leti should dress up as a guy, sneak into Guido’s room, and trick him into sharing a bed with her. Guido doesn’t have a problem with that sort of thing, after all.
Pilar sneaks into the boys’ room and finds the empty photo envelope in Tomás’s closet. She’s like, “OMG, he stole my pictures to wank over because he still loves me! That’s so sweet!” That’s…not the word I would use, Pilar, but okay.
Lujan runs into Marcos in the hall and shoves the invoice at him. She’s all, “Now Marizza is the one who doesn’t want to be friends, so I guess we’re never ever getting back together.” Marcos is like, “Oh. That’s too bad.” Hee. Even he’s over all this bullshit. Lujan notices he has a bag and asks where he’s going, and Marcos says that he’s spending the night with someone. Lujan gets all sad because she’s obviously jumping to the most dramatic conclusion here.
Hilda comes over to Casa Colucci to play cards with Sonia. Aw! That’s adorable. She tells Sonia that she doesn’t think this whole “hiring a PI behind Papa C’s back” thing is going to end well, and Sonia’s like, “Stop saying words.” Hilda does not stop saying words and goes on about how things between Papa C and Mama C are still unresolved and there are probably still feelings there. Just then, Papa C calls and tells Sonia that he won’t be home for dinner tonight. She’s like, “Oh, well, I’ll wait up for you!” and he’s like, “Oh, no, I’ll be late, don’t stay up and wait for me.” Then he’s like, “You’re dropping out, my battery is low, but just so you know, we’re going to place nearby! Gotta go!” Just kidding. Sonia tells Hilda that she thinks Papa C was lying.
As it turns out, Papa C was lying, but not because he’s cheating on Sonia: he and Marcos are with Manuel at the hospital. Manuel is all wibbly over his impending operation and asks them to stay with him until he has to go under tomorrow. I mean, I get Marcos lying to Lujan and the rest of their classmates, stupid as it is, but why is Papa C keeping it from Sonia? You know, his adult partner?
Meanwhile, Feli’s run off after finding out that Lalo left her, and Mia, Marizza, and Vico can’t find her anywhere. Eventually they have the bright idea to call her cell phone (the future is now!), and Feli ominouses that she’s “doing what [she has] to.” All she means by that, though, is that she’s hauled ass all the way to Lalo’s end of town to ask his family where he is. Lalo’s lisping little brother confirms that Lalo’s gone “far away” and Feli’s all, “No puede ser!” Lalo’s rude friend Chela is watching over his siblings for some reason, and she snipes to Feli that Lalo dumped her (Chela) for Feli, so clearly he’s just doing the same thing again. Feli refuses to believe it and Chela’s like, “Ask around the neighborhood, Lalo’s hooked up with every girl in this town.”
Lola comes by and gives Laura a teddy bear, that apparently Laura gave to her when they were little. She tells Laura that she’s returning it because she’s moving to Jujuy like…right now, I guess. They hug it out and cry, and…that’ll be the last we see of Lola, presumably. I wonder if they initially intended to give Lola and her class more focus, but they didn’t hit it off with the audience or something? Because they introduced like three or four new third years in this season, and they’ve all been ungracefully written out of the show.
Night falls and Feli still hasn’t returned. Marizza, Vico, and Mia fret over what might’ve happened to her. Marizza groans that Lalo left and that’s it, and she is NOT getting any more involved. Oh, please, when has Marizza ever not wanted to meddle? Case in point: Sol comes into the room, talking to Maxi on her cell phone. She gushes over her introduction to a modelling agency, and Marizza’s like, “Omg, she must have done Maxi a favor so that he’d hook her up with a modelling agency! And Maxi has a motive for messing with Lalo and Feli’s relationship!” “I thought you weren’t going to get involved,” Mia says. HEE. Marizza wonders if Sol knows something about Lalo, via Maxi. “No way, she doesn’t know anything,” Mia says. Dammit, Mia! You used to be such a good girl detective!
At work, an Erreway song comes on the radio, and Leti tells Pablo that she’s an Erreway fan. She sighs that she’d die to meet them — they never show their faces, so they’re all mysterious! What, you’re telling me nobody ever took a photo of them at their many concerts? Are we supposed to believe Erreway is Daft Punk now? Anyway, Pablo’s like, “Oh, well, they probably hide their faces because they’re ugly.” Hee. Leti steps closer and says that it doesn’t matter, since she doesn’t have to look very far for cute guys. Oh dear. After their shift is over, Leti asks Guido if Pablo has a girlfriend.
Feli’s mom shows up to school. She wants to see Feli, and Marizza drags her off to distract her. Marizza tells Feli’s mom that Feli can’t talk to her right now, because she’s bawling her eyes out over Maxi cheating on her. Feli’s mom is like, “Maxi is a fine gentleman and he would never!” Marizza’s like, “Have you ever heard of a girl named Sol?” Hee.
After Feli gets back from visiting Lalo’s house, she cries to Mia and Vico that he really is gone, and she was a fool to trust a man! Vico tells to her to forget about Lalo and start worrying about herself and the baby. Mia tells her to stop being a buzzkill and Vico’s like, “Well excuse me for being the only person here worried about the reality of Feli’s situation.” Oh, Vico. You’re too good for this show. Feli sniffles that Vico is right, and she doesn’t know how she’s going to do this alone. Maybe she should end the pregnancy before it’s too late. Mia starts projecting all over Feli and yelling that PLENTY of women raise babies by themselves and what, is Feli just going to ABANDON her baby? Is she too heartbroken to be a good mother?! Mia’s all like, “I guess it’s true that MOST WOMEN would choose a MAN over their CHILD!” WHAT? Feli is 16 years old, has a bad relationship with her family, and has no way of raising a child alone. She does not need to take Mia’s feelings about this into consideration AT ALL, especially considering that Mia’s situation is in no way comparable. Like…the baby’s not going to have abandonment issues if it’s never born, Mia!
I mean…in a better show, this might actually be a pretty pointed and heartbreaking commentary on the amount of women who stay with pedophiles or something (timely considering the Josh Duggar bust), but really, Mia is just making Feli’s incredibly difficult situation about herself instead. Anyway, she storms out while Feli cries. Way to support your friend, Mia.
In the hallway, Marizza runs up to Pablo and gives him a kiss before running off again. Guido gets all shifty and is like, “When did you two get back together?” “Just yesterday, because time has no meaning on this show,” Pablo chirps. Guido mumbles that he might’ve already told Leti that Pablo is single. And then, Leti calls and tells the boys that her mom wants to hire all three of them (I guess they were just doing a trial period?), and Leti specifically pulled strings because she likes Pablo. She even got him an above-minimum-wage starting salary! The boys rejoice, and I’m sure Pablo will decide that the only way to keep his job is to pretend to be Leti’s boyfriend. Guido’s like, “Welp, there’s nothing else to do, you gotta lie to Marizza.”
Mia goes to Michi and wails that she just don’t know what she’ll do if Feli has an abortion. Because this is all about you, Mia. Like, would she be this upset if Feli had the baby, but gave it up for adoption? Anyway, Michi promises to talk to Feli. “About the package,” she adds when Miranda comes in. Subtle! Miranda: “A baby isn’t a package, Michi.” Hee. Michi gasps that Miranda has secret powers — that’s the only way he couldn’t known Feli was pregnant! “Not really, it was kind of obvious, and plus this entire school knows and keeps shooting their mouth off about it,” Miranda doesn’t say.
Maxi comes to school and finds Marizza. He’s furious about her telling Feli’s mom that he’s cheating with Sol, and he’s like, “Feli’s the one cheating on me! With that horrendous waiter who’s writing her letters and shit!” Marizza’s like, “Tell me more! You can trust me, I’m Sol’s best friend.” She adds that Sol has a crush on Maxi. I guess Maxi spills all, because Marizza then goes to Sol, looking for Lalo’s letter. Sol tells her that Maxi has it.
Manuel’s doctor tells him that the operation is scheduled for tomorrow, and Manuel freaks out at having to wait that long. The doctor asks if he has any questions, and Manuel’s like, “So…you know…after this whole brain surgery thing, like…what’s recovery going to be like, can you explain what’s actually going to happen?” His doctor’s like, “Not really, I didn’t even stop you from going on tour or check up on you regularly when I knew you had a giant brain tumor, so I don’t know why you’re expecting me to step up now.”
Miranda calls Feli into his office to discuss what she’s going to do about the baby. The show is, I think, leaning pretty heavily towards “young love overcomes all, including surprise pregnancies” with a side dish of “having a nuclear family is the most romantic thing ever”, so there’s a definite undercurrent that abortion is the wrong choice for Feli. That said, this scene is fairly realistic about the whole thing: Miranda tells Feli that no one can choose for her, so she has to make this decision even if it’s hard. Either way, it’s going to be heavy decision and affect the rest of her life. Feli cries that nobody taught her how to handle this, and Miranda’s like, “Yeah…that’s rough, buddy.” He excuses her from class for the rest of the day so that she can think about it.
Pilar tells Tomás that she knows he stole her photos. Tomás is like, “Yikes” and Pilar’s like, “But I know you only did it because you still love me!” and Tomás is like, “Oh, right, that was totally it.” They get back together and make out, and Tomás does not tell her that he was planning to rat her out to her parents. Or, as it turns out, that he already ratted her out: a few scenes later, Mama D storms into the office and tells Michi that someone faxed Dunoff a bunch of photos of Pilar in a bikini.
Guido asks Laura if she can make three copies of her history homework for him, Tomás, and Pablo. Laura’s not in a great mood, on account of her sister being written off the show and all that. She snaps at him to fuck off and do his own homework, and Guido’s like, “WELL, ACTUALLY, we only need you to do our homework for us because we’re being RESPONSIBLE and getting JOBS, so HOW DARE YOU get mad at ME.” I mean, if you can’t balance your schoolwork and your job, Guido, maybe that’s a sign that you shouldn’t have a job.
Sonia calls out Papa C for lying about where he was last night, and Papa C sighs and tells her about Manuel. I don’t know why he didn’t just do this in the first place. Sonia goes to visit Manuel and cheer him up, and when they hustle out of the room, Marcos turns on Papa C: he just found out that Manuel’s operation only has a 30% chance of success. He says this really dramatically like Papa C didn’t know? Also, how did Marcos find out? Is the doctor out here just spilling Manuel’s business to everyone or did Marcos just like, Google, this information? Anyway, Marcos is furious that Papa C would let Manuel undergo the operation, and Papa C’s like, “Well, he’s dying of telenovelaneosis anyway, so what do you want me to do?” Marcos says that Manuel should have a say in whether or not he gets such a dangerous operation. Honestly, this is an interesting argument, and I have to say I’m not sure where I come down. Papa C is the adult and Manuel is his charge — whether Marcos likes it or not, Papa C is allowed to make this decision for Manuel, and given that Manuel is severely ill, he’s hardly going to be objective about his treatment. On the other hand, Manuel is secretly twenty almost of legal age anyway; it’s not like he’s a child who’s totally insensible as to what’s going on. Plus, while it’s maybe reasonable not to tell him the exact chances of success, I’m not sure it’s ethical (or even legal?) for the doctor to straight-up lie to Manuel and say that he’ll be fine.
Anyway, Papa C says that he’s doing what he has to, and then he and Marcos dramatically man-hug it out.
Marizza’s room. Laura cries over Lola some more, and Guido comes by to apologize for being a jerk. Laura sniffles that she’ll do his homework for him because she’s a total pushover, just not now, because she’s going through some stuff. Guido offers to help her and gives her a hug. Uuuuuugh. Man, I read a lot of romance novels so “arrogant dick falls for quiet nerd” is actually a trope I like a lot, but Guido disgusts me on a cellular level, so I can’t even enjoy it here >:( Guido ruins everything.
Feli goes for a walk and emos at the sight of a bunch of families in the park. When she comes back to school, though, she tells Mia and Marizza that she’s decided to keep the baby. Mia is inappropriately overjoyed by this. THIS WASN’T YOUR DECISION, MIA! FELI DOESN’T OWE YOUR FEELINGS ANYTHING!!! I will never be over the absolute audacity of Mia trying to make Feli feel guilty about terminating her pregnancy just because it makes Mia sad. Every time I think this show can’t disappoint me more, it does.
Anyway, then Mia and Marizza try to tell Feli that Lalo wrote her a convenient letter that would probably resolve this whole misunderstanding. Feli refuses to read it, though, because that would like, actually be reasonable and wrap this plot up in a decent amount of time. Unnecessary misunderstandings it is!
Michi yells at Guido and Tomás for abusing Dunoff’s fax line and makes them stay and organize the office instead of going to work. I hope they get fired!
Maxi comes to school, intending to apologize to Feli. He asks Sol to go look for her, so Sol runs off to the girls’ room. Naturally, she walks in just as Mia’s loudly talking about Feli’s pregnancy, and she’s like, “FELI’S PREGNANT?” I mean, whatever. Sol is basically the only person in the school who didn’t know at this point.
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