Previously on Rebelde Way: CPS is looking for Lujan, so she and Marizza have briefly put aside their differences to obstruct the law. Marizza hides Lujan at Casa Colucci, and plays dumb when Sonia says that everyone is looking for her.
Anyway, Sonia figures out Marizza’s lie and catches Marizza and Marcos trying to sneak Lujan out of the house. She is, surprisingly, very stern about it and snaps at all of them to get back in the house and explain this to her.
Meanwhile, back at school, Etchamendi’s all like, “This is very serious, Dunoff! I can’t believe you lost a student!” I mean…he can’t? This school does it all the damn time. Anyway, he yells at Dunoff some more for being useless until the phone goes off. “Don’t touch that; I don’t even trust you to pick up the phone!” he barks. HEE!
Sonia’s on the other end; she tells Etchamendi that Lujan is at Casa Colucci but that she’s sick. She sweet-talks Etchamendi into letting her bring Lujan back the next morning instead. Marizza cries to Sonia that she doesn’t want Lujan to suffer anymore, and Sonia’s like, “Yeah…that’s rough buddy.”
Over at Casa Colucci, Mia tells Papa C about seeing some weird woman at the hospital. She didn’t recognize her, but the woman gave her weird vibes — could that have been her mother? Papa C’s like, “This is a telenovela, so definitely yes.” Mia can’t believe her mother saw her in person and still left without saying anything. Papa C’s like, “To be fair, that is kind of her M.O.” Not in so many words. Mia breaks down crying, wailing that her mother must hate her to have abandoned her like this. Papa C tries to tell her that everything will go back to normal soon now that Mama C’s gone. Mia’s like, “Uh, the trauma from this is actually probably going to affect me for the rest of my life, but sure.”
Manuel is settled back at the hospital, and gushes to his nurse, Angeles, about how much fun he had. He’s like, “Being outside was awesome! It makes me WANT to get better so I can go outside some more!” Angeles is weirdly unenthused by his progress, for some reason. Manuel asks her to call Pablo for him, but Angeles only pretends to dial the phone, and she tells Manuel that Pablo didn’t pick up. Why is this hospital so comfortable lying to their patients?
The next day, at school: “That doctor is an idiot,” Pablo tells the guys. For real, Pablo! That hospital sucks! Pablo wants to find a new doctor for Manuel, but Guido and Tomás are like, “You’re not rich anymore, you can’t just buy him a place in another hospital.” Pablo’s like, “Oh right.” Tomás takes the opportunity to remind Pablo (and the audience) that he still has that job interview that Papa B’s secretary arranged.
Feli and Vico discuss Mia’s weird behavior. Vico says that Mia has always told them when she was fighting with Manuel, so it must be something deeper than that. They ponder over what other problems Mia could possibly have for about two seconds, then shrug and give up. Feli thinks that Marizza is turning Mia against them, a la Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith.
Then Vico’s dad calls and asks Vico to come do some more housework for him. Vico agrees because she’s trapped in a cycle of abuse. Whatever happened to that youth group lady that Rocco introduced her to?
Over in the hallway, Marizza gently tells Mia that if her mom left again, then maybe it’s best to just forget about her. She reminds Mia that she still has one parent left, unlike Lujan. Mia’s like, “Oh, right, how’s the whole homeless-orphan thing working out for her?” I’m glad you care now, Mia, after you watched Marizza kick her out of her room for you. Marizza tells Mia that Lujan might be put with a foster family, but she’s sure her mom will put a stop to it. The family court system stands no chance against Sonia Rey!
Cut to: Sonia in the judge’s office, trying to BS that she’s going to totally bring Lujan back soon, just not right now EXACTLY, and really, when you think about it, what is time, anyway? The judge snaps at her that if Lujan doesn’t magically appear within the next ten seconds, he’s going to have her arrested for obstructing the law. This sets Sonia off on an impassioned speech about how Lujan is a PERSON, and HOW VERY DARE HE try to summon her to court, and he is a COLD MAN who cares so much about THE LETTER OF THE LAW that he’s FORGOTTEN HOW TO FEEL REAL FEELINGS. And Sonia won’t stand for it!!
I feel like that was supposed to be a mic drop moment, but…ugh. I mean. The family court system IS a mess and it DOES fail tons of kids; the show is probably trying to shed some light on that, and it’s a noble goal. But as with everything Sonia and Marizza do, it’s so self-righteous and entitled that it’s hard to take seriously. Like, have any of them, at any point, even TALKED to the judge to figure out what’s going on with Lujan? Or have any of them volunteered to foster her? For that matter, if I were the judge, I wouldn’t want to entrust Lujan to any of these adults after seeing them lie and obstruct everyone who’s trying to investigate Lujan’s situation. This isn’t a case of a family trying to work with the court and still getting dicked over by the law; this is literally a case of Sonia and Marizza fucking with a judge and expecting to get rewarded for it.
The judge threatens to have Sonia arrested some more (do it! do it! chug!) but then Lujan shows up and turns herself in.
A woman shows up and calls herself Lujan’s foster mother with absolutely no preamble. Sonia understandably is like, “I’m not letting Lujan leave with you, none of us have literally ever seen you before,” and then judge and foster mom yell at her for not uNdErStAnDiNg ThE lAw. The foster mom’s all like, “I’m her foster mother, and that means that she belongs to ME and LEGALLY I can do WHATEVER I WANT with her!” You know, just in case you weren’t getting that foster families are BAD and anyone standing in Sonia and Marizza’s way is BAD.
(Note from the future: the show actually does handle Lujan’s foster situation with some nuance, in that her foster mom turns out to be a fairly normal, nice lady, so I don’t know why they’re making her so cartoonishly villainous here. I guess just to fake the audience out later? A twist worthy of Hitchcock, to be sure.)
Back at school, Feli asks Marizza what the fuck is up with Mia. Marizza says she can’t tell Feli, but she encourages her to talk to Mia.
Guido asks Pablo and Tomás if they think he can “do it”; Pablo and Tomás are like, “Are you asking if we genuinely think you have erectile dysfunction?” and Guido’s like, “NO! Do you think I’m going to pass all my classes?” Pablo and Tomás are like, “LOL no” and Guido storms off in a huff, because now I guess he cares about his grades. Then Marizza rolls up and Pablo says he has something to tell her. “What?” Marizza asks and Tomás leans over and is like, “Yeah, what?” Marizza says that this conversation is between her and Pablo, and tells Tomás to shove off.
Pablo tells Marizza about his job interview. Did…did he not tell her that before? And she got all mad that he wanted to talk about his job search instead of her guilt over Hilda? Whatever. Marizza congratulates him, then says that she needs to find a newspaper. Pablo asks why and she says, “I’ll tell you on the way.” “Yeah, tell us!” Tomás says, popping up behind them again. HEE!
Vico mentions to Rocco that her dad called her, which makes him worry. He tries to convince her not to go to her dad’s house, but Vico insists that her father’s changed and everything will be fine. I bet it won’t be, and clearly Rocco doesn’t think so either, since he gets Miranda involved. Miranda says they can’t take any action just now — these accusations are serious, and they can’t do anything without proof — but he’ll talk to Dunoff. Dunoff, naturally, is like, “Investigating Vico’s dad would take effort and I don’t wanna do it.”
See? Dunoff’s cartoonish cowardice aside, this is a good, actually realistic example of how CPS/the family court system struggles to help kids. Miranda cares about Vico, but you can’t just accuse someone of a crime, and like…even though it’s difficult emotionally to presume the innocence of someone you know is guilty, due process is incredibly important in protecting people from the authorities. And yet, Vico is left in real danger while the adults around her slog through bureaucracy and are stonewalled by incompetent and lazy higher-ups. I don’t understand how the writers can be fairly nuanced (for a telenovela) about this situation when it comes to Vico, a secondary character; meanwhile, when it comes to Marizza, a main character and the clear writer’s favorite, they just toss it off like THE COURT SYSTEM IS WRONG, PERIOD. Where is the effort?
Marizza gets a newspaper from Michi and shows Pablo the ad she took out, begging for Hilda’s forgiveness. It’s not a very big ad, but I guess Hilda conveniently pores over the classifieds every day, since we cut to her reading it in a cafe somewhere. She doesn’t really react to it, though; instead, the waiter tells her that she needs to pay for her breakfast and Hilda yells that she already paid and storms off. O…kay. Glad we spent time on that.
Guido writes a note to Laura in class, telling her that it warmed his heart when she said that she believed in him. He wants to prove her right and pass his classes! That’s…not why Laura is mad at him? She’s mad because she believed that he was better than his reputation, but then he told all the boys in the class that he slept with her? Getting an A in history isn’t going to prove that you’re not a misogynistic dick, Guido! Whatever. Anyway, Carmen intercepts the note before Guido can give it to Laura.
Tomás asks what Guido write in the note, and Guido sighs, “My death sentence.” What? All you did was ask Laura to help you study, it’s not like you confessed your undying love to her. Dramatize, Guido.
Papa C comes by to visit Manuel, and Manuel asks who the hell he is. Papa C explains that he’s not Manuel’s dad — because Manuel’s dad is dead, sucks to be him — but he’s like a father to him. They…they literally already had this conversation 4 episodes ago. Anyway, he expounds that he’s Mia’s dad, specifically, which makes Manuel all twitterpated, though he knows not why.
The doctor pulls Papa C aside and asks him to contact Manuel’s family. Manuel’s recovery is going to take a really long time, so they need to decide whether Manuel is going to stay in Argentina or go back to Mexico for his long-term recovery. Er…is this not something they should’ve worked out before he went into surgery? For that matter, shouldn’t they have been keeping Manuel’s real family in the loop from the start? Why am I asking questions when I know there are no answers?
Michi tells Dunoff that Lujan’s been placed with a foster family. Dunoff is relieved that she’s been turned into the court after all, and he won’t lose his job. Michi’s like, “How dare you be relieved at a moment like this! Don’t you realize what a TERRIBLE THING has happened? Lujan is LOST TO US FOREVER!” So…the writers of this show think that foster families like…steal children from their rightful guardians? That’s right up there with “Adoptive parents can never love you like real parents do”, which, now that I think about it, is a position that this show has endorsed before, re: Lola. So actually, it all checks out. Nice to see that women’s rights isn’t the only social issue that this show has terrible ideas about.
Anyway, Michi’s all appalled at Dunoff’s reaction. She’s like, “It’s like you don’t care about anyone besides yourself!” I…what, are you NEW here, Michi? Then she adds, “We’ve lost a student!” and Dunoff’s like, “A fourth-year student, in which case, it’s kind of a relief.” Hee.
Tomás asks Guido to come along to the clinic to visit Manuel, but Guido is stuck sorting all of Carmen’s books as punishment for passing notes in her class. Carmen comes in and asks Tomás if he wants to stay and help, all while rubbing Guido’s chest and hair. God, this school is so wildly inappropriate.
Pablo is preparing to leave for his job interview, when Tomás comes up and says that Guido can’t go to see Manuel. For some reason, Pablo’s like, “Well, then I must go see him!” I mean…is Tomás not going? Is that not enough? Maybe Pablo is afraid that Tomás will hinder Manuel’s progress with his idiocy. Poor dumb Tomás. Anyway, Tomás agrees to go to the job interview as Pablo, while Pablo visits Manuel. So…you’re just gonna kiss that job goodbye, huh, Pablo?
Sonia cries to Papa C about Lujan getting taken in by a foster family. Yeah, if only Lujan had some wealthy adults in her life, whose kids she was friends with, who lived in mansions with multiple spare bedrooms. If only she knew someone like that, maybe they could’ve helped her. Anyway, Sonia is freaking out over how to break the news to Marizza, and Papa C tells her to just put her big girl pants on and do it. Before she can do so, though, the cops call and say that they’ve found Hilda.
Mia finally tells Feli about her mom and Feli’s like, “That’s crazy bro.” But more nicely. She asks what Mia’s going to do now that she’s found out her whole life is a lie. Mia says she’s going to move to Italy to live with her uncle Luca (remember him? I know, me either) after the school year is over. I bet she won’t. (Or maybe she will and it won’t matter, since this show isn’t getting a 3rd season!) Feli’s like, “But what about me?” like…aren’t you leaving school after this year too, Feli? You know, to raise your budding family with Lalo? Oh my God, whatever.
Vico goes over to her dad’s house and does some cleaning and some singing, just in case you forgot that Victoria Maurette was one of the few genuinely talented singers in this cast. Her dad comes home early and says that he’s been fired for drinking on the job. When Vico tries to leave, he grabs her and threatens her. You guys! Vico’s dad hasn’t changed at all! I’m shocked!
Manuel goes to the gym to start his physical therapy. He complains that he’s too weak to lift some weights, and Angeles is like, “You have to really WANT it! You have to believe in your SOUL that you can lift the weights!” Yeah! Disabled people just aren’t trying hard enough! Anyway, eventually Manuel summons the willpower to lift the weights and a training montage ensues. As he works out, he starts getting some flashbacks to being a teen pop star with Erreway, but he still doesn’t remember that Mia is his ex-girlfriend, because that would make things too easy.
Tomas goes to Pablo’s job interview for him. The boss is like, “Pablo Bustamante? Like the son of Sergio Bustamante?” and Tomas is like, “Sergio Bustamante? Never heard of him.” The boss doesn’t buy this and pulls one of his minions to the side to tell him that Papa B’s kid is here. Suspicious!
Manuel is all pumped from his success in physical therapy and wants to brag about it to Pablo. He asks why Pablo hasn’t been by to see him. Angeles hems and haws until Manuel drags it out of her that the doctor has banned Pablo from the premises.
Sonia and Papa C bring Hilda back to Casa Colucci from the police station. Hilda is still bleating that she totally paid for her meal at that restaurant and how dare they drag her off like a criminal!! I don’t know why we’re still going on about this. Why does this show bring up the possibility of Hilda being senile every 50 episodes and then drop it again? Either turn it into an actual plotline or quit trying to make me care, show. Anyway, Sonia’s like, “I’m so sorry my kid is such a little shit,” and Hilda says it’s a water under the bridge. She’s still refusing to go back to teaching, though — “How can I be a good teacher when I let Pablo and Marizza steal the answer key from me?!” she wails. Man, she is taking this way too seriously. Is Dunoff going to fire you for it, Hilda? No? Then calm down.
Michi is all salty and passive-aggressive with Dunoff now. He tries to convince her that Lujan’s better off with her foster family, and Michi’s like, “Impossible! Foster families are BAD and it would be better for Lujan to be HOMELESS.” Dunoff leaves and Michi snaps that she hates him behind his back. Seriously, Michi? THIS is what causes you to lose faith in Dunoff? I swear.
Sonia comes back to the school and tells Marizza that, weirdly, lying to CPS didn’t help convince them that Lujan was in a healthy environment, so she’s been placed with a foster family.
All the kids go to visit Manuel, and they distract the doctor while Pablo sneaks in. Manuel tells Pablo that he wants to run away from the hospital.
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