I can’t believe we’re 3 episodes from the end, you guys! It…really does not feel like it at all. I can’t wait to see how this show desperately wraps everything up at the last minute, because they absolutely aren’t doing shit in these final episodes.
So previously on Rebelde Way: Manuel finally came back to Elite Way. Mia didn’t want to deal with him, what with how terribly he treated her during their relationship, but Marizza’s like, “I’ve sided with Manuel, so the morally correct thing to do is to completely ignore your objections and force you to see him.” Thus, Mia has walked into her room and here’s Manuel, lying in wait for her.
She asks what the hell he’s doing here, and he chirps, “Marizza said you like surprises!” “I’m going to kill her,” Mia seethes. Do it, Mia!
She tries to get him to leave, but Manuel says that he came to her for the answer to one question and one question only: “Who is my great love?” he wibbles. I love how the show thinks that teenage boys’ biggest concern is finding their gran amor. Or that any teen who used the phrase “great love” wouldn’t get the shit bullied out of them. Anyway, Mia lies and says that Lujan is the love of his life, but she’s disappeared into the cold embrace of the foster system, so good luck finding her. Honestly? That’s hilarious. I hope Manuel tries to hit on Lujan, and I hope she punches him.
Mia apparently didn’t realize that Manuel would, you know, ask the other kids about it, though. Manuel immediately brings it up to Pablo, who’s like, “You think LUJAN is your ex-girlfriend?” In fairness, though, he doesn’t tell Manuel the truth either, because that would wrap this plot up too quickly. Manuel says it’s probably for the best that Lujan is no longer at Elite Way — after all, if she’s his true love and he doesn’t even remember her, it would really hurt her feelings. Yes, that would hurt, wouldn’t it?
Anyway, Manuel thanks Pablo for being a good friend and helping him. He’s like, “I don’t understand why Marizza thinks you’re a two-faced backstabbing spineless traitor who she wouldn’t even spit on if you were on fire.” Pablo sighs that Marizza hates him, and Manuel says, “But you love her.” I don’t know why they’re bothering to make Manuel say this. Is this supposed to be an “out of the mouths of the babes” thing, where “babes” is an amnesiac 18-year-old? Yes, yes, we all know Pablo and Marizzare are meant2b, let’s move on, show.
Speaking of whom, Lujan is still at the lawyer’s office, going over Blas’s effects. It turns out Blas has ALSO left Lujan a ton of money. Mauro and Lujan are shook. I feel like maybe it is not a good idea to let someone who you just met two weeks ago know that you’re rich, but whatever. I guess there aren’t enough episodes left in the season for Mauro to be a gold-digger.
Etchamendi tells Papa B that Dunoff is still refusing to resign. Papa B’s like, “How can he not? He’s an imbecile! He’s useless!” Hee. He’s especially not pleased to hear that Dunoff’s gonna invite a committee to inspect the school. Etchamendi tells Papa B that the school board mostly goes along with what he wants since they’re all in his pocket, but most of them are opposed to actually firing Dunoff. Papa B seethes that Dunoff must be stopped — not because Papa B has anything to hide, of course, he’s just very busy with his political career and now is not really the time to be producing his tax returns or whatever. He says they’ll come up with a reason to get rid of Dunoff and Etchamendi’s like, “Sure, whatever.”
Mama C comes to see Mia and meet her friends. She tells Mia to bring her a picture of Sol, and Mama C will take it to the magazine. The bell rings and Mia says she has to go to class, so she can’t grab the picture just now. Mama C offers to wait in the cafeteria, and Mia can just bring it by after class. Mia is all twitterpated that Mama C is willing to stay, but as soon as she runs off, Mama C tells Michi that she’s leaving. She hands Michi an address and says that Mia can drop the photo off there, but right now, Mama C has to peace out. Michi is suspicious, but then she sees Feli’s mom in the hallway and gets distracted.
I will say, Mama C is kind of cracking me up. Her saying one thing to Mia and then immediately doing the opposite within 30 seconds is super quirky in a kind of psychotic way.
Manuel goes back to class. Carmen’s like, “If you have trouble keeping up, ask your classmates for help. Don’t ask me, because I don’t give a shit about you.” Heh.
Guido comes into class dressed like a nerd classic, with glasses and everything. Laura looks impressed by his makeover, even though the glasses are clearly just for show, since he’s never worn them before? Anyway, he’s brought in a short poem he wrote for Manuel (it’s literally two lines), that I think he wrote himself? I didn’t find anything from Googling it, anyway. He cries from the emotion of his poetry or whatever, and Laura gets all worried and gives him a tissue. I was about to say “If Laura’s falling for this, she’s way dumber than the show wants us to think”, but we already knew that.
Papa Javier tells Ines that he’s taking charge of Javier’s upbringing from now on, and he’s going to start by pulling Javier out of Elite Way. Ines is like, “But this is the best school in the city!” Jesus, I hope that’s not true. I bet Lujan’s public school where the kids did nothing but lean up against the fence outside is still better than Elite Way. Anyway, she says that if Javier has to go to some lesser school, his future will be ruined, and Papa Javier says that Ines has already ruined Javier’s future, since she’s turned him gay with her womanly influence or whatever.
Lujan and Mauro go back to Foster Mom’s house, where Lujan is still fretting over whether or not to open Blas’s letter. Mauro’s like, “What’s the worst it could say?” and Lujan cries that Blas hated her and she never got a chance to show him that she was actually a strong person. Oh, I don’t think I’ve ever actually spelled that out, but yeah — we’re supposed to think that Blas was abusing Lujan for her own good, to make her strong. Or maybe I have already mentioned that and I just don’t remember it because this is my 315th recap (send help). Anyway, Blas died believing that Lujan was weak, and she’s afraid he’ll just be talking more shit about her in his final letter. Mauro’s like, “Well, if you want to prove you’re not a wimp, open the letter.” And then we cut away without knowing whether or not Lujan actually opens it. (As it turns out, she doesn’t, but that’s not made clear until the next episode, when she actually does open it.)
Mama Feli tells Dunoff that Feli’s pregnant, and demands that Feli be expelled. I mean…why can’t you just remove her from the school? You’re not getting your deposit back either way.
We then cut back to Lujan. She’s serving the tiny lisping children their afternoon snack, and they whine that Foster Mom doesn’t buy the good shit anymore. I feel that. My parents used to buy store-brand granola bars instead of Nature Valley or those Quaker Chewy granola bars, and the store-brand ones were always super dry and didn’t have nearly as much sugar. ‘Twas brutal. The kids stomp off, then Lujan overhears Foster Mom complaining to CPS or whoever that her monthly check doesn’t cover the cost of raising 2 growing kids and 2 angsty teenagers.
After she hangs up, Lujan says that she wants to become a social worker and open up a home — five homes, even! — for every kid in Buenos Aires. “You can start on your social work degree by going to school,” Foster Mom snarks. Hee. Lujan offers to give Foster Mom her inheritance from Blas so that there’s more money for the tiny lisping children. Foster Mom doesn’t explicitly accept, but she does gush that Lujan is a sweetheart and hugs her. I mean…I would hope that Foster Mom would encourage Lujan to wait until she’s an adult before giving up all that money. I’m pretty sure Lujan can’t access it until she’s 21, anyway. Well, whatever. Mauro interrupts this feel-good moment by saying that Lujan might choose someone else to be her guardian. He and Foster Mom are weirdly bothered by the idea that she might not stay. Like…she’s only been with them for like two weeks!
Manuel shows off his motor-control skills some more by throwing a ball at a stack of cans. I only mention this because Pablo promises that he’ll get two kisses as a reward, and after he knocks the cans down, two girls kiss Manuel on the cheek. The way Manuel keeps getting “rewarded” with physical affection from girls is so very gross.
Then there’s a weird aside where Laura shows Manuel her watch and brags about it being a Swatch. I think Swatch was also getting some product placement, because Mia also makes a big deal about owning a Swatch in a few other episodes. (Ooh, you know who else owned a Swatch? My mother, in 1999. She bought it from Sears.)
Anyway, Marizza storms in and pulls Pablo away from the group to yell at him some more. She’s furious that Manuel plans on going back to Mexico, because…she thinks Pablo made that decision personally? Pablo points out that Manuel wants to go home and Marizza snaps, “He doesn’t know what he wants!” Again: Manuel has said repeatedly that he wants to see his family and old friends again, because he barely remembers anything about Argentina and doesn’t feel any attachment to his life here, except for Pablo and maybe Mia (but only because he wants to get in her pants). Maybe Marizza would know this if she ever bothered to pay attention to Manuel’s recovery instead of trying to steamroll over the doctors every time she visited.
As it turns out, though, this is just a metaphor for Pablo and Marizza’s relationship: Marizza’s like, “Pablo, you think everyone is like you and doesn’t care about the people around them, but you’re wrong! Manuel does care about us!” and Pablo’s like, “I mean, he has literally said that he doesn’t.”
Mia comes back to the cafeteria after class, only to find out that her mom isn’t waiting for her after all. You guys! Mama C has gotten over her honeymoon phase and no longer wants to deal with her daughter! Are you shocked? I’m shocked.
Ines tells Javier that if he were gay, that’d be okay, which is actually pretty accepting for a deeply religious woman in 2003. Javier doesn’t know what she’s talking about and storms off to yell at Guido, Tomás, and Pablo. He’s like, “My father the inventor of the toaster strudel is a very angry man and he’ll kill whichever one of you it was!” Then he storms out again. Guido wibbles to Pablo that Javier’s dad is going to pound him. (Not like that, though.) That’s called the consequences of your own actions, Guido. I feel like he should’ve thought about this beforehand.
Marizza goes to Casa Colucci and asks Sonia if she’s come to a decision about adopting Lujan. Sonia reminds Marizza that she and Papa C have to make the decision together, and Marizza’s like, “OH, and OF COURSE he said NO because he hates CHILDREN and HAPPINESS and refuses to use his money to HELP ORPHANS.” “See, that’s your problem,” Papa C says. “You don’t know how to listen. Because I actually am happy to adopt Lujan and make her part of this family.” And Marizza’s like, “Oh, cool!” and they hug it out. I mean, great, but like…we really could’ve leaned on Marizza’s love of making snap judgments some more. We are 3 episodes to the end and this girl still hasn’t learned a damn thing.
Miranda asks Pablo if he’s had a chance to read about Papa B and Papa Miranda’s history together, and Pablo’s like, “I guess I don’t really care that much about your dad, sorry.” Miranda tells Pablo that he needs to know the whole truth if he wants to make a decision. Pablo doesn’t know what he means and before Miranda can explain, Dunoff comes in and hustles Miranda off. He asks what they should do about Feli’s pregnancy — Dunoff doesn’t want to expel her, but the Elite Way rules clearly state that pregnant girls can’t attend class. Miranda points out that the education ministry’s rules say that pregnant students CAN attend class. I know, Elite Way, breaking the law? You’re shocked. Miranda suggests that Dunoff consult with a lawyer.
Guido approaches Laura after class, and I guess despite being all googly-eyed over Guido in class, she knows that he’s only dressing up like a nerd to impress her. She tells him that all the non-prescription glasses in the world aren’t going to get her to date him, and Guido is crushed.
Sonia comes to Elite Way and tells Michi that she’s decided to adopt Lujan. They cheer for a little bit about how awesome it’s going to be, then Michi brings up that Mama C was here, but left a while ago. Sonia freaks out that Mama C is running away without a trace, just like she did last time. She goes to talk to Mia about it and gently tries to tell Mia that her mom is not exactly a stable person. (More specifically, “She doesn’t really seem like she’s a normal woman…like Michi, or like me.” LMAO, are those your best examples, Sonia?) Sonia thinks Mama C is hiding something. Mia flashbacks to when she promised her mom that she would always take her word at face value and never question her. She’s like, “In retrospect, that seems like a red flag.” Mia tells Sonia that she knows where Mama C went, and they go off to investigate.
Marizza goes to look for Lujan at the Convenience Store Foster Home. Mauro is also there and is all pissy with Marizza, because he thinks she’s going to take Lujan away from them. In fairness, he’s not wrong: Marizza tells Lujan that Papa C and Sonia want to adopt her, and Lujan is immediately enthusiastic about the idea. They run off to tell everyone at Elite Way the good news. Foster Mom and Mauro are emo. I mean…why? Foster homes are temporary, that’s kind of the point. Also, you’ve only known Lujan for like a month, Mauro. Calm down.
Mia and Sonia go to the doctor’s office and Mia catches Mama C coming out. They go to lunch together, and Mama C lies that she got a call about an urgent meeting, and that’s why she didn’t wait for Mia. She reassures Mia that she’s happy to be in her life and that she only doesn’t talk much about her own life because it’s boring. This seems to assuage Mia, because she gets up the nerve to tell her mom that she wants to live with her. Mama C’s like, “Uh…I need to use the bathroom,” and then she just runs out of the restaurant. HEE! I’m sorry, that was hilarious. Then Mia cries, which is also unintentionally hilarious.
Meanwhile, Sonia stays behind at the office building, and decides to find out what Mama C was up to in there. She talks her way into a session with Mama C’s doctor — good thing the guy isn’t booked day-of, I guess? — and finds out that he’s a psychiatrist. Specifically, he works with drug addicts. Sonia clutches her pearls.
Marizza and Lujan go back to school, and Lujan finally sees Manuel again. She acts super dramatic and un-Lujan-like, stroking Manuel’s face and telling him that he looks sexy with his hair pushed back with short hair. This, of course, is to facilitate Manuel’s belief that Lujan is his girlfriend. Don’t you love how the characters sometimes act completely unlike themselves because Patricia Maldonaldo needs to move the plot along? Anyway, Manuel muses to Francisco as vaguely as possible that he feels bad that he doesn’t remember Lujan, and O, how he must be paining her with his unemotional reaction. Francisco responds equally vaguely that Lujan understands what happened to him. Naturally, none of this clears up that Lujan isn’t Manuel’s girlfriend, so Manuel decides to “fix things” by planting a kiss on her.
Anyway, Francisco pulls him off and they FINALLY tell him that Lujan isn’t his girlfriend. Lujan tragically does not punch Manuel, but she does at least attempt to wrap this bullshit plot up, God bless her. She’s about to blurt out that Mia is Manuel’s ex, but all the other kids cut her off because they need to drag this out for another 3 episodes.
Guido, Pablo, and Tomás are playing pool together. Pablo leaves because he’s all emo over Marizza and it’s throwing his game off. Guido tells him that he can’t leave and Tomás is like, “Whatever, I’ll stay with you, quit whining.” Then Pilar rocks up and asks Tomás to go for a walk. Guido blusters that Tomás can’t leave, and Pilar’s like, “Choose, Tomás: him or me?” Tomás is like, “You, duh,” and they leave. HEE! This has nothing to do with anything, but I am including it because 1) I love Tomás and Pilar and 2) I love Guido’s suffering.
Anyway, this leaves Guido alone with Laura, who’s reading in the corner. Javier and his dad show up just then, and Javier yells at Guido to tell him the truth. Guido decides that fucking over Javier is more important than making Laura think that he’s straight, and keeps up the ruse that he and Javier are a couple. Javier bleats that Guido is totally heterosexual and in love with Laura, and Guido’s like, “No, no, I am extremely gay and am not attracted to Laura at all.” Papa Javier says that he’s going to Dunoff and pulling Javier out of Elite Way right now.
Pablo reads through Miranda’s documents about Papa B’s early career. We don’t see what they say, but there are dramatic close-ups of Pablo’s eyes as he skims the documents, so we know they must be serious. He goes back to Miranda and Miranda’s like, “Well, did you have a revelation from any of these?” Pablo’s like, “Not really, and I still don’t think I can go against him.” Oh. Well, that was anti-climactic. Miranda says that Pablo can’t do it alone, but he would help him if he wanted it. “Are you asking me to go against my father?!” Pablo asks. Uh…yes? That’s what he’s been asking from the start? Whatever. Miranda dramatically says that he’s asking Pablo to save himself.
Feli and Lalo crowd in the lobby, demanding to know if Michi’s heard anything about why Feli’s mom was in the school. These two are so weird and pushy with Michi, I feel kinda bad for her. They both expect her to constantly being spying for them and they’ve yelled at her more than once whenever she doesn’t know what’s going on. Anyway, some dude comes in and says that he’s from the judge’s office. He’s here to serve Miranda with papers, because Mama Feli is…suing him? Reporting him? I don’t know what she expects a judge to do about it, but whatever.
Mama D is giving Dunoff a massage and invites him to dinner because I guess she thinks being rebelde is super hot. I mean, it’s true that not being a cowardly custard is an attractive trait, but you don’t gotta start dating your ex-husband again just because he’s finally learning to be a good person. Wait, did they ever even finalize their divorce? Whatever.
Lujan sees Marcos and after a bit of initial awkwardness, they sit down to talk and Lujan updates him on all that’s happened. She tells him that Sonia and Papa C are going to adopt her and Blas left her a ton of money. I feel like Lujan should not be bragging about being a wealthy heiress to so many people. She’s just asking to be the victim of an Agatha Christie novel. She adds that she wants to open a big foster home with Foster Mom and Mauro. Oh, she wants them to be involved? I feel like she should tell them that, too, ’cause Mauro clearly thinks that she’s going to ditch him and he is mega salty about it.
Marcos is also salty that Lujan is mentioning Mauro, but before they can talk more about it, Mauro himself runs in and drags Lujan off. Marcos is sadface.
Sonia tells Papa C that Mama C is a drug addict. Or…was? I don’t know why they don’t seem to consider that she might be in recovery. Whatever. Papa C gasps that this explains everything — her vague excuses, her sudden absences…wait, are we supposed to think that Mama C was like, snorting coke every time she ran offscreen? We only ever see her go to meet her doctor. Anyway, Papa C wonders how to tell Mia about this, and Sonia’s like, “IDK, I think this is a decision you need to make yourself.” Hee. That’s so unhelpful.
Papa B comes to school to deal with Papa Javier, at Ines’s request. Javier begs Papa B to believe him and Papa B’s like, “Yes, yes, you’re not gay, get out.” As soon as he does, Papa B’s like, “I fully support you in getting rid of Javier, so please, take him away to the countryside, I don’t care.” Heh. He signs a transfer (“pase”) form to speed up the process of enrolling Javier somewhere, anywhere that is not Elite Way and hands it off to Papa Javier.
(I did get excited when Papa B pulled out the form, because I am nerdy enough to have googled “how to change schools in Argentina” and was just reading about them here. This show is educational!)
Pablo comes in and Papa B chirps that Javier won’t be a problem for him anymore. Pablo’s all appalled that Papa B would do such a thing. I mean, while he was totally abusing his power by signing off on Javier’s transfer form, Papa Javier could’ve still withdrawn Javier from Elite Way at any time — you don’t need a REASON to change your kid’s school, especially not at private schools. I don’t know why Pablo thinks Javier leaving is some kind of injustice in and of itself. This isn’t even really Papa B’s fault, for once.
Manuel tells Francisco that he likes someone at Elite Way and Francisco is weirdly excited about it. I guess he’s trying to live vicariously since he has…never actually had a steady girlfriend in the show, now that I’m thinking about it? It’s what he deserves for being a john, though. Francisco’s like, “We must celebrate! Let me go get us some drinks!” and runs off.
After he goes, Manuel overhears some very clearly fake, dubbed-over crying. He turns the corner to find Mia sobbing in the stairwell and he’s like, “I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be here, and I don’t want to leave without doing everything I want to.” Then he kisses her. What? Way to make Mia’s distress all about you, Manuel. Good to see amnesia actually hasn’t changed him at all.
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