#79 (FINAL) (SATURDAY, 3/4/00) and previous comments
by Jeri
El gran Final--December 4, 1998
Posted By: - Maureen Carrillo
Is anyone else but me crying? Or am I the only weirdo? Sorry, but I really loved Luis' character. And Ernesto Laguardia played him where you couldn't help but fall in love with him. He was the perfect man. And there aren't any like him out there.
Luis lived long enough to make Andres promise to take care of Victoria and Maru and the new baby. Andres agreed. Luis also made Victoria promise to be happy even after he goes. That he will always be there with her when she needs him. Victoria promised.
Lydia went to the chapel to ask her dead daughter Alicia to please help keep Luis alive because Maru would be devastated if both her parents die. She even offered herself instead of Luis. But with all the prayers nothing could stop Luis from being reunited with the good Lord above.
Now fast forward a couple of months, and baby Luisito is here. He is a big boy now--a whole one year old! The most touching scene was when Maru was talking to a picture of Luis and telling him about the baby.
By this time Andres had left and nobody had heard from him at least not Victoria. Also Maru has a small fortune now for her to have when she gets older thanks to the inheritance of Lydia's dead ex-husband.
They are having a party for Luisito's first birthday and Victoria went to Luis' grave to tell him about it when Andres shows up to talk to her. He tells her that he left a year ago because he still loved her and couldn't bear to love her from afar. He tried to find someone else but always thought of her so he has come back to ask her if her feelings for him have changed and would she marry him. She thought for a moment what Luis asked her--about finding happiness--and Andres took that as a no. Well, she got up and kissed Andres. Now they well have a future together--as a family.
They also showed Esteban at a hospital being fed or rather having food put to his mouth. He must not want to eat so he could die--don't blame him.
Even though its over, I have a lot of questions--did Lolita really get married? Is she pregnant by now? Did Alma have her baby? And sorry but I don't like the fact that Victoria didn't let anyone else from the vecindad join in her grief at the funeral. I understand her and Maru's pain but everyone else loved him also. I think that was kind of selfish. What do you think?
Re: El gran Final--December 4, 1998
Posted By: - melania
In Response To: ( Maureen Carrillo )
No, Maureen you're not the only that was crying. Im really going to miss Desencuentro. I think it was kind of selfish of Victoria not to let her neighbors join her in her grief. they were all like family.
I still dont agree that she and Andres ended up together. But if you read my post. you wouls see where i say tha i dont think she's really inlove with him. she's with him for gratitude. in my opinion.
by the way, was the theme song for andres or luis. im confused.
you did an excellent job Maureen.
melania
Re: El gran Final--December 4, 1998
Posted By: - Sue
In Response To: ( Maureen Carrillo )
Hi,
It's 11:56 PM and I just finished watching. Couldn't wait until tomorrow. No Maureen, you're not strange. I cried too. But I think the ending could have been stronger. I feel the writers wimped out. I hope to see another Ernesto LaGuardia novela soon. He's won another fan and so has Daniela Castro.
Sue
Re: El gran Final--December 4, 1998
Posted By: - Dulcinea
In Response To: ( Maureen Carrillo )
(I'm so sorry I wasn't watching with everyone last night - now I know I wouldn't have cried alone!) I agree Maureen that it was really unfair of Victoria not to include the vecinos in Luis' funeral; they all loved him so much. I would have liked to see Almita's baby! And it's interesting the fact someone brought up that because of the fact that Esteban can't talk, nobody will ever know what (really) became of poor Sergio! But anyway. . . This was the first novela I watched on this webboard and it was really great talking to all of you! Thanks again for the summaries, Maureen, and I hope to see you at 'La Mentira'.
Dulcinea
Your Comments
Posted By: - Maureen Carrillo
I totally understand everyone's feelings regarding the ending. tehy should have gone into more detail about Luis' illness and his miracle cure. Also if Daniela Castro and/or Ernesto Laguradis read this: We, the fans in the United States, loved you both in "Desencuentro" and its a shame it was cut short. I would hope that next itme when they do a telenovela about subject which are taboo in Latin countries, they will at least give the US the benefit of the doubt and still run it. We are alittle more open to new issues.
Food luck to you all and thanks for all the commnets-good and bad. I am still thinking about whether to do "La Mentira". So we'll see.
Maureen
Poor ratings understandable
Posted By: - Rosie
Ok, I have held in long enough.... After tonights episode, I understand why this novela did not fair well. First, I don't know what "tema" people are listening to, but Ms. Casrto CANNOT sing!!! Novela stars today seem to think because they can act, they can sing---I don't think so. Secondly, the ending was absolutely atrocious!! If my husband was in state Luis was in, I would have been hysterical!!! For gosh sakes, she is practically a newlywed and is expecting her first child!! I totally agree with people about the funeral--if anything I would want my friends with me at a time like this... Thirdly, Andres is an old man-----he looks old enough to be her dad!!! Then the way they got together---she kisses him out of nowhere--did I miss something? When was she in love with him??? Fourthly, are we to make assumptions about what happened with the other characters? Fifthly, didn't it bother anyone the way she dressed? She still dressed in designer clothing even though she was married to a fireman and lived in a vecindad? Hello----I don't think so. And lastly, I absolutely hated that Ernesto died!!!! I can't believe they would do this to him... The fact that she ends up with Andres is a joke.. They first give Luis a terminal illness, he miraculously recovers only to be killed in a fire incident. What's up with that? Obviously, if you can't tell I am a huge fan of Ernesto Laguardia then you won't understand what I have written. I hope any future novelas Mr. Laguardia's makes, he will make sure his character "lives happily ever after." I hope I haven't offended anyone, that was not my intention. However, this novela was a big disappointment--mainly because Luis dies.... Maureen thanks for all the updates and everyone else, I really enjoyed everyones comments... And if Mr. Laguardia is reading this---please make sure your next novela has a more positive ending for the character you play---you are awesome.
Re: Poor ratings understandable
Posted By: - melania
In Response To: ( Rosie )
Rosie, in a way i agree with you. Making Luis dies was terrible. But they should had ended it by her taking her kids to the cemetery.
Secondly even though she kissed Andres(i wanted to throw up) i dont think that she was inlove with him. before she did, she remembered Luis final words to her. In my opinion she stayed with him out of gratitude, companionship, and a father for her kids.
If you saw the end, when the two where at his house, the way she looked at him, like she has to think about it. it seems like she's saying to herself that's she's going to make it work. and not once has she ever told him te amo. In other words she stayed with Andres but her true love will always be Luis.
Now about her signing, im going to disagree with you. I love the lyrics and i think she sounds fine. I'll admit when i first heard her signing it, i thought she sounded awful, but it grew on me, and i changed my mind.(don;t laugh).
another thing i did not like about the ending, it's when they played the song and dedicated it to ANdres(im i wrong about that?). If you pay attention to the lyrics you would see that it's meant for her and Luis.
I thought this was a wonderful novela, until the writers screwed it up at the end. Luis and Victoria made a wonderful couple, and for her to end up with Andres was sickening.
Like i mentioned at the beginnig of this letter, they should had ended it with her and the kids at the cemetery.
Rosie, as you can see i could go on and on about Desencuentro.
im going to miss it.
melania
It could've worked maybe...
Posted By: - Laura
In Response To: ( melania )
If the writers had developed the way that Victoria and Andres's relationship ended up, spent more time building up to it, it would have been much more convincing and satisfactory despite the age diffence and other perplexing inconsistancies... maybe andres could have joined her in Lamaze classes or saved her life when she developed a life threatening case of toxemia. Maybe Andres could have even delivered the baby while she was trapped in an elevator or something like that. it would have been fun to hear some dialog about how obstetrics has progressed since the birth of David. What I am saying is that with a young beautiful pregnant widow the possiblities were endless but sadly the writers decided not to explore that facet. Oh well!
Re: Poor ratings understandable
Posted By: - Jocelyn
In Response To: ( Rosie )
I have to disagree with you because Daniela Castro CAN sing really good. The lyrics to the song were great they gave the novelas its meaning. Daniela is a great ACTRESS and SINGER.
Blame the writers for the ending.
Posted By: - Maria
Unlike most of you, I wanted Victoria to stay with Andres. What I disagreed with was the time they gave us to digest Luis's death and her marriage to Andres. The original story line of this specific soap, before the other writers interjected so much information that our heads are spinning, was different. Victoria is supposed to fall in love with the man she thinks has ruined her father. It would not have made sense to introduce Andres as a character, have him fall in love with her, and then just walk away. The writers did a poor job of the transition between Luis and Andres. They also hyped (sp) the Luis thing too much. I think in Spanish the word is "empalagador." I happen to like Ernesto Laguardia a lot but did not like the fact he played a role that made him out at times to be un "rogon," always trying to please people. I loved Desencuentro. And I disagree. The Desencuentro part about two people meeting but it not being their time was indeed for Andres and Victoria. Blame the writers that change original story lines so much that we forget what we're watching! (Check out "El Enemigo" by Caridad Bravo Adams).
Re: Blame the writers for the ending.
Posted By: - Kay
In Response To: ( Maria )
I also liked Andres. Loved his sad eyes. He did much good but was erroneously blamed for so much bad stuff.
Re: Blame the writers for the ending.
Posted By: - Sue
In Response To: ( Maria )
Hi María,
My sense is that the lousy ratings Desencuentro was getting when it was being broadcast in Mexico is what drove the storyline. Victoria never fell in love with Andrés as was supposed to happen because the writers had to wrap up the story...quick. And I suppose that's why Luis was killed off in a fire instead of dying from cancer.
It would have been more dramatic if Victoria had discovered for herself that Esteban caused her father's bankruptcy. But instead, IMO, the writers hurried the ending by having Abel's friend tell Luis and then Luis telling Andrés. The confrontation scene seemed anticlimatic to me. Esteban didn't seem like the type who would try to commit suicide.
We don't know how Alma and her baby are doing, whether she allows Manuel to see him. Did Lola marry Nacho? Are Doña Julia and Rufino together? Novelas are known for wrapping up all the subplots quickly but I guess they missed some. Mauricio left with his lady friend. I kind of wish that when they showed Esteban in the nursing home that Mauricio would have popped in. And Victoria knows that Sergio is dead but she doesn't know what happened to him.
Is "El Enemigo" the novel on which Desencuentro is based?
Sue
Such a hero...
Posted By: - Kathy
In Response To: ( Sue )
I think that you are right--there was originally supposed to be even more in this soap but it all got cut short. When I think of Desencuentro I will always think of the beauty of the life of Luis. I can't think of many modern stories that have such a hero. He's not only a hero--he's utterly inspiring. How many of us think a lot about how we look and very little about how we act? He risked his life every day in his job. The background music warned us of the risk every time the bomberos answered a call. He could never be complacent because he knew that he could lose his life at any time. When he leapt into the burning tanker it was with a look of utter joy--even though he fully knew what might happen. And then as he was dying, he told Victoria that he was at peace. I thought about how well he treated the people in his life every day when he was with them. Even though its "just a story" I think that it will help at least me be a better person and kinder. Even though with all my heart I wanted Victoria and Luis to become a happy old couple like Jovita and Matias I still like the story.
Re: Such a hero...
Posted By: - melania
In Response To: ( Kathy )
Kathy, i totally agree with everything you just said. I really enjoyed the character of Luis. Im really surprised that a lot of the viewers didn't like him. Some said that he was too silly, that he didn't fit well with Victoria.
yes, he was silly at times, but he was also kind and helpful with other people and what i liked especially about his character is that he was very romantic. And im a fool when it comes to romance.
Too bad that the writers decided to kill of his character. And personally i hated the ending. Are we suppose to believe that she just fell for Mr. uptight(andres) just like that? It was to phony in my opinion. But the look on her face at the end said it all.(no love).
melania.
Re: Blame the writers for the ending.
Posted By: - Juany
In Response To: ( Sue )
For the first 95% of the story, the three main characters were well defined and well portrayed by the actors. I also loved how well developed all of the (vast)supporting charactors were. It was great seeing how the supporting charactors made intricate connections (encuentros) throughout the story.
BUT, for the ending, I wish that these fabulous actors had taken their scripts and hit the writers on their heads! The ending did not make any dramatic sense. V who spent most of the time mourning and avenging her dead father loses another loved one. Luis who spent quite a bit of effort saving other peoples lives, bringing them into his vecindad, and making his family whole again, loses his own life (and family). And Andres, whose wife mourned their son, gets V, who has of course just lost her beloved husband... At least I thought I saw that V was thinking about and missing Luis before she kissed Andres. Then A asks V if she will forget about past things. Is he afraid that V will become as dysfunctional as his dead wife? And it didn't make sense to place V in a rich garden, when supposedly she had given up wealth. And also, Maru whose main role was to be an obstacle for the relationship of L & V, was to accept Andres very easily?
If the writers had asked me, Andres should have just given up his wealth, moved into la vecindad with V&L and everyone else. He also should have been the godfather to V&L's son (to replace his own son).
I think that in good novelas, the good main characters in novelas should evolve, forgive, and live with internal peace.
And yet I liked that Esteban couldn't even put on his hair-piece at the end.
Re: Blame the writers for the ending.
Posted By: - Kathy
In Response To: ( Juany )
I think that the writers had probably planned to do something very like what you proposed. They just had to wrap up the story very fast. I'm sure that they hated that ending as much as everyone else. I think that they always meant for Luis to have a heroic death and for Andres and Victoria to come together, but if they could have written the story the way they wanted to I think it would have at least seemed plausible. But flawed as the ending is, I still think that they created a magnificent novela. And now we can all imagine how it should have been made! (I would have liked Valentina to have recovered her sanity, and to have learned how to find meaning in a world without David, and to have gotten wise to Sandra, and for Valentina and Andres to have recovered their love...and of course, to have had Luis and Victoria live to a happy old age...I like happy endings even if maybe they aren't so artistic....)
Re: Blame the writers for the ending.
Posted By: - Naty
In Response To: ( Maria )
Altho, I was hoping luis and victoria would stay together, I agree the ending was too hurried. I felt like i was missing something...like andres and victoria fell in love while i wasn't watching or something.
i don't feel like there was enough time for us to see victoria get over the pain of losing luis or to see her change her feelings for andres from hate to respect to love. it was too quick. in one episode she is hating the man, and suddenly in the next, she is marrying him? please. they spent more time on laura reading tarot cards.
and worse of all, we were left wondering about all of the people of the vecindad. why? they spent so much time developing those characters and getting us to admire they way they stuck together, but in the end, all we got was victoria by herself. it just doesn't fit.
so, tell me, why all of the innuedos in this novela? the homosexual theme was running rampant in this novela but no one ever said it. it was cowardly i think. but such is televisa, i guess.
i hope to ernesto return to novelas soon. he's my favorite "man-next-door." does anyone remember his cameo as a fireman in "maria isabel"?
My Dream Ending
Posted By: - Isa
Thanks for all your comments during Desencuestros, I got from you everything I missed. I agree with all of you, it took Luis tooooo long to die. My dream ending has Luis suffering a shorter death. Andes instead of selling the corporation, leaves Victoria to run it and she does so extremely well. The multitude of nannies in the vecindad help her care for her children. We get to see Almita's baby, Chilipas and Elena marry, and Victoria realizes she missed Andres and may be feeling love for him, etc. After a year and a half, Andres comes back and romances her, they marry and all live happily ever after. What do you think?
FiN
Posted By: - sped
Ya llego, adios Desencuentro we'll miss you!!!!!!
FIN FIN FIN FIN FIN FIN FIN FIN
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