Lo Que La Vida Me Robo: Spanglish Girl’s Finale Recap and Review (August 14-15)

Lo Que La Vida Me Robo: Spanglish Girl’s Finale Recap and Review (August 14-15)

ALERT: Be sure to read until the very end.

The day has arrived: our novela is over and this is going to be the last Lo Que La Vida Me Robo Blog. They say all good things come to an end and we Latinas know this is especially true of all our novelas. I guess that’s the joy of being Latina, our novelas actually end. Even if you’re not Latina, that is the joy of watching a Mexican novela.

Enough with the nostalgia, let’s get to what you all came for, the finale! So in the last two episodes, Graciela finally gets what she has had coming, the boot from her children’s’ hearts, forever.

After Victor tells Montserrat and Dimitrio about Gracieal’s involvement in the kidnapping of the children and her false illness, they confront her.  Graciela is sitting in her wheelchair when Dimitrio and Montserrat arrive at the house. Graciela thinks Victor is dead because Josefina, along with everyone else, lied to her so that she wouldn’t know they were on to her little secret.  When Dimitrio and Montserrat arrive, Dimitrio literally takes her chair and tips it so that she falls out. #thatwayshelearns

Graciela continues to play dumb, unaware that they know she partnered with Pedro and tried to kill Victor. Graciela questions why Dimitrio threw her from the chair and puts on quite a show. Montserrat and Dimitrio lash out at her, reminding her that the kids’ lives are at stake. Rosario even loses it and tells them to get her out of the house or she might kill her (it was a “hold me back!” moment). Graciela finally stands up and she, of course, tries to twist the situation. She blames Montserrat and tells her that she was just doing what Pedro obligated her to do to pay Montserrat’s debt with him.

Dimitrio finally corners Graciela by telling her he is going to take her to jail if she doesn’t tell them where Pedro is. Graciela pretends not to know until Dimitrio follows through on his word and is driving her to the jail. On their way, Graciela provides Dimitrio with a location from which they will be able to see Pedro’s house.  They pull over on what seems to be a bridge, and at a distance, there are lights that belong to Pedro’s house.

Then, Graciela does something I was not expecting: she throws herself from the bridge and she dies. Well, we think she is dead but then in Friday’s episode, during the final moments, we see her and she appears to be a street beggar. Her face has lacerations and her hair is mangled—this is the last we see of Graciela.  #dingdongthewitchisgone

Also on Thursday, Jose Luis and Alejandro are taken to Pedro by a “dirty” cop who was working for Pedro all along.  The scene to meet with Pedro was a little comical because for a minute, the novela was all about the eye candy: no, not Alejandro–the truck. The truck was weaving back and forth, cruising over rocks and dirt roads—it was soooooo obvious that the truck, once again, was being flaunted. So I have to ask, has anyone actually bought the truck because of this novela?

Enough with the truck! I know you guys want to know what happens. Back to Alejandro and Jose Luis, so they arrive to the location where Pedro is waiting and complete chaos ensues.  Pedro, armed and prepared, performs the last act of his revenge. He finally tells Alejandro about his motive all these years. Alejandro informs Pedro that it was actually Benjamin driving the truck that caused the accident and castrated Pedro, but Pedro could care less. They exchange words and then the unthinkable happened and my world was shattered for a moment: Alejandro is shot and appears to be dead.

Next, Jose Luis is shown two items covered in sheets. He is told that the two items are cages and each one holds one of the children: Romina and Laurito Jr (I forgot to mention that Victoria is saved and returned to Victor and Nadia).  Pedro tells Jose Luis he must choose one of the children to save and that one of the cages has a bomb.  Pedro tells him that he only has a few minutes because the bomb ticker is already counting. Jose Luis races over to the cages and confirms which one Romina is in. He notices hers does not have a bomb, so he then races over to Laurito’s cage. There are only seconds left, so he breaks off the bomb and runs with it and tosses it.  As he is racing back towards the cages, the bomb goes off and he falls to the ground.

 

Pedro and his men race to leave, but Dimitrio arrives with the police in time. Pedro’s men are shot and Pedro is apprehended. The Police check out Alejandro and Jose Luis’s bodies and we are told that one of them is still breathing. Alejandro was shot point blank, Jose Luis, however, seemed to have the best chance of being alive.

We don’t learn who died until the very end in the last scene. Montserrat walks into the church channeling her inner Audrey Hepburn (she had the updo and little black dress). Her walk into the church took forever and was somewhat dramatic: it almost felt like a wedding because everyone stands as she is entering and walking down the aisle.  She walks up to a coffin, opens it and then shuts it. She then walks back to the end of the church and……………………………………………………………………………… and is joined by Alejandro!  Alejandro wraps his arm around hers and they walk out together.

And that was the end.

Well, not really. Refugio and Angelica meet Jose Luis in novela heaven. Refugio tells him that from heaven he is able to take care of Angel. Jose Luis seems to find comfort in that idea because he too will be able to take care of Romina.  Then Angelica enters the scene and she tells Jose Luis that in heaven there is no pain and everything is wonderful.  They walk off hand in hand and this is really the end.

So as I said in my tweet last night, this novela and its title was really about Jose Luis (Lo Que La Vida Me Robo: what life took from me). In the end he lost it all—even his life. But I guess we can find comfort in the fact that he finally got to be with the one women he actually loved, Angelica.

Now. my “two cents” on the finale: Alejandro and Jose Luis made it this far, why kill one of them off now!!!! Really? I was so upset. At first, I really thought it was Alejandro who was dead and I kept thinking to myself, how could they? They wouldn’t! Then there was the scene where it is implied that Dimitrio told Montserrat who had died and all we heard was a loud cry/scream.  So, of course, my little novela paranoid mind thought the worse. After all, people die in this novela like it’s nobody’s business.  I also kept thinking, well if Alejandro is dead–maybe he’ll come back to life. It wouldn’t be the first time: he’s like a cat–he has nine lives!

The writers of this novela kept us waiting until the last second. Literally! Alejandro made his final appearance in the final seconds of the novela and that was how we knew he lived. Although I was relieved to see him,  I still feel sad that Jose Luis died. But then again, I find comfort in knowing his character is in novela heaven with Refugio and Angelica.  I guess for the novela to have a “happy ever after” ending, it had to end this way…

Well, no not really: my entire blog would have to be re-written had we been shown the ALTERNATE ENDING which is currently available on Unvision: view alternate ending here.

In the alternate ending, both Jose Luis and Alejandro die.   I guess we get to decide how we want it to end: I prefer the ending they actually aired on tv. I chose to believe that Alejandro lived and Jose Luis died: I’m a hopeless romantic. Jose Luis got to meet Angelica in novela heaven and Alejandro got to stay with Montserrat–that for me is “happily ever after,” enough.

THE END.

 So let’s deconstruct this novela like it’s a Jane Austen novel and we are in a British Lit class.  We’ll pretend this is Novela 101 and the work, of course, is Lo Que La Vida Me Robo.

Question: What did we learn? What did the writers really want to say?

I think the following: Karma is real, classism is lame, and blonds do not have more fun…

So the novela started with a poor Jose Luis who by many measures was considered a “nobody.” Then, as fate would have it, he ended up being the richest of them all.  This was a repetitive theme: Alejandro also was born poor then he ended up being Benjamin’s son and in turn wealthy.  The same for Rosario. The idea of classism was pretty strong and present throughout the entire novela. So was it just part of the storyline or did the writers aim to highlight the value placed on class in Mexican society?  I guess we can leave it at it’s. just. a. novela.

Although, as a writer myself, nothing I ever write is simply as story; it often has meaning and purpose.  This being the case, I’m going to assume that the writers aimed to show that classism is lame. The real message here is don’t judge people based on what they have, judge them based on who they are.

Next, karma is real: Every evil person in this novela had a horrible ending, partly because of their actions. Gracieala ends up a beggar on the streets, Pedro gets to rot in jail, Maria killed herself for nothing, Adolfo’s crimes ate at his soul and in the end he preferred death, and Ezequiel died due to his own selfishness.  If the fates of all these evil people don’t teach us anything, then at least let them serve as a reminder that what goes around comes around, i.e. Karma.

Now for the last one, blonds don’t have more fun.  Gracieal, Carlota, Angelica, and Montserrat were all blondes and they didn’t have more fun, just more drama. But to be fair, the brunettes didn’t do well either in this novela: Their lives were equally complicated. Monica, Josefina, Esmerelda, and Nadia all had their own struggles. Ok, so really brunets and blonds have about the same fun… no lesson there, I just thought it was funny.

I think the final takeaways from this novela are the following:

Love is complicated

Karma is real

Mean people do exist

Always lock your doors

Life is full of surprises: sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down.

Now for some fun!

Spanglish Girl’s top “Oh No!” moments:

1. When Jose Luis arrived too late to stop Montserrat from marrying Alejandro.
2. When Jose Luis arrived at the Hacienda for the first time and Montserrat passed out.
3. When Alejandro found out about Jose Luis’s real identity and kicked Montserrat out.
4. When Lauro died at Alejandro’s Hacienda.
5. When Angelica died.
6. When el Padrecito supposedly “died.”
7. When Alejandro arrived too late to stop Montserrat and Jose Luis’s wedding.
8. When Montserrat got shot.
9. When the plane went down.
10. When Alejandro ran out of the hospital and I thought for sure he was going to get lost.
11. When Jose Luis finds Montserrat in bed with Alejandro.
12. When Alejandro got poisoned
13. When Refugio died.
14. When Alejandro got shot by Pedro.
15. When Jose Luis fell to the floor because of the bomb

Looking back, this novela is not for the weak of heart.

My favorite Montserrat Outfits:

The black dress from the funeral, so Audrey Hepburn.

The baptism dress

The red dress from the fair:

My least favorite Montserrat outfits: All those poodle skirts!

My favorite Alejandro outfit: when he is shirtless.

My least favorite Alejandro outfits: all those blue shirts.

The things that stuck out the most and were distracting:

1. The Texas plates on the truck
2. Montserrat looked way to put together for a woman under that “kind” of stress. I’d be a mess!
3. Alejandro, but in a good way…

What I will miss most about the novela:

1. Not having Montserrat’s relationship issues to distract me from my own relationship issues.
2. Not being able to see Alejandro Monday through Friday from 8 to 9 pm.

If I had to rank the “evil” people in this novela based on their evilness, I’d rank them in the following order:

1.  Pedro
2. Maria
3. Graciela
4. Juventino
5. Ezequiel
6. Adolfo ( I have something to confess about Adolfo, I actually found the “new” Adolfo kind of hot. So twisted, I know. I think it’s the whole bad boy wanting to be saved thing)

Similarities I couldn’t help but notice:

Doesn’t Alejandro look like the human Beast and Jose Luis like Gaston? Also, at first the storylines were quite similar. Belle stays in the castle to save her dad. Montserrat marries Alejandro to keep her family from financial ruin, but even more important—to keep her father from being stressed.  Then Alejandro locks her up in the house but gives her the comforts of a castle—just like Belle. Then Montserrat hates Alejandro, like Belle hates the Beast. Alejandro also behaves like the Beast at first, but then he is nice and they  finally learn to love.

Ok, did I ever mention that we got our first celebrity tweet from Sebastian Rulli! He was my first…

Now for my Favorite Lo Que La Vida Me Robo Songs:

So What is my final opinion of this novela?

I loved it. I would go as far as to say that it was better than Amor Real. I compare it to Amor Real because I keep hearing that it was supposed to be a “modern” version of it.  I won’t provide an opinion in reference to Bodas de Odio because I’ve never watched it so I don’t know.

What I think made this novela work was that the cast was young, talented, and hot. The storyline, although repetitive and exaggerated at times, was at its core a dramatic love story that tugged at our hearts because we couldn’t decide who we liked more: Jose Luis or Alejandro.

In summary, I think the novela was fun to watch because the acting was top notch and the drama plenty. I also think most of us watch novelas because they are an escape of sorts from our own lives or at least a fun distraction. This was especially true of this novela. These last few months I’ve been going through some difficult things, so I found the novela to be a good distraction. I also found myself comparing my own life to Montserrat’s and thinking, ” Ok, I don’t have it that bad.”  Besides, I think we should leave the drama to the novelas:

That is it for Lo Que La Vida Me Robo. I won’t say goodbye because I plan to continue blogging about novelas and I hope you continue to check our blogs.

Until later my fellow Lo Que La Vida Me Robo lovers!

Spanglish Girl

Ps. You know you need one of these bumper stickers! I already ordered mine. Make sure to order yours by visiting our store at this link: Shop