After the chaos of last night, Maximo seems to have woken up and realized he and Julia still can’t be together because of their current spouses. I love the ever-building tension between the two, and I’m hoping it’ll continue until the finale.
Meanwhile, Diane gathers the resort staff to announce the new investor has rented out the whole of Las Colinas for himself and his entourage, and that everyone must be on their best behavior. Naturally, this means further chaos will ensue in 3..2..1. Diane quickly rules out a “nude sunbathing” query from the resort handyman as the employees question what they’re meant to do if the resort has much fewer guests than usual.
With Don Pablo gone, Hector gone rogue and Chad apparently too distracted by his upcoming wedding, Diane entrusts the care of Ricardo Vera, the investor, to Maximo. Diane awards Maximo his dream position of Head Pool Boy, so things are looking up again! That is, once Diane fires Hector. She’s too afraid to do it now with the investors around, in case he makes a scene. Diane is learning the hard way not to have affairs with her employees.
Nora misses Sara deeply, but is still conflicted about accepting her daughter’s sexuality as it goes against her faith. In a prayer, she asks for a sign – and immediately receives a knock at the door to find Roberta’s father dressed as none other than: Jesus. He has discovered Roberta and Sara’s relationship and is just as unhappy about it as Nora is. I think it’s extremely unfair for him to blame Nora for the girls relationship, and both parents really need to consider the happiness of their daughters.
Lupe enjoys her day off by singing Girls Just Want To Have Fun (in Spanish!) to the pool complex, and I think it might be the happiest I’ve seen her. Memo informs Maximo he’s been thinking – and the mole can’t be Hector, as Hector and Memo were both in the VIP area when someone (Maximo) gave the journalist the information. Being the good guy that he is, Memo wants to go and tell Chad that Hector is innocent. However, Hector staying would mean Maximo wouldn’t get his promotion.
Maximo is forced to come clean to Memo about being the mole. Memo is understandably very disappointed in his friend, and doesn’t want Hector to be fired for something he did not do. I adore Memo as he will always stand up for what’s right, even when it does not benefit him in any way. He’s a good soul. When Maximo wants to stick to his plan, Memo tells him he does not recognize him. I understand Maximo wants the promotion badly, but I don’t think Memo will stand for it.
Ricardo Vera arrives just as Kelly is checking out. Still slightly drunk from the night before, she lets it slip to Julia that it was Diane who asked her to come to Los Colinas. No doubt, an attempt to drive a wedge between Chad and Julia. I don’t like what Diane is trying to do to Julia, but it’s clear Chad and Julia will never make it to the altar.
Esteban arrives home to Nora crying after Roberta’s father called Sara a “sicko” and blamed Nora. Esteban tells her Sara is wonderful and kind, and that they may not even be together if Sara hadn’t constantly found ways to bring Esteban to the house so the two would spend time together. “How could someone with such a wonderful heart be anything but wonderful herself?” Esteban asks, seeming to get through to Nora for a second before she decides Sara isn’t the problem: Roberta is. Poor Esteban, he’s trying his best to smooth things over!
Julia immediately confronts Diane about bringing Kelly to the resort. When Julia asks why, Diane is honest and tells her she’s been trying to make the pair realize they shouldn’t be getting married. She comes clean and admits she tried to sabotage their DJ booking and made Maximo and Julia decorate the Valentine’s suite together on purpose. When neither of those things worked, she invited Kelly to Las Colinas to try to make Julia see how different Chad’s life was before he met her. Diane is absolutely right when she points out Julia only said yes to Chad’s proposal because she was too scared to decline in front of all those people. Diane might be a sneaky, scheming woman who usually only looks out for herself, but I’m on her side with this one.
Julia goes to tell Chad what Diane has done, and is shocked when he agrees with Diane: The pair are holding each other back. Chad realizes he’s never made his own choices in life, he’s always done what others have wanted him to do. Could this finally be the end of Chad and Julia? The two talk in circles a little longer, trying to work out who’s holding who back. I feel it’s obvious here that the answer is that they just aren’t right for each other.
Maximo has fun sneaking Ricardo past his bodyguards and out of the resort. Nora finds Roberta’s father in the middle of a Good Friday performance and yells at him in the street that HE is the terrible parent, not her. Ricardo and Maximo can hear Nora from where they’re having lunch on the street, where Ricardo is thoroughly enjoying being a “normal” person instead of one who travels with multiple bodyguards and has meals prepared for him. Maximo takes the opportunity to ask business advice, and is surprised by some of the answers Ricardo gives him. “Whatever you do, make sure you can live with it. Because, at the end of the day, all you have is yourself.” I’m glad this talk made Maximo realize he had to do the right thing.
After yelling at Roberta’s father during the Good Friday performance, Nora finds herself sitting with a woman dressed as the virgin Mary. “What do you do when you have to choose between what the church tells you, and how you feel?” Nora asks. It turns out Mary is actually un underground casino worker, but she has some good advice all the same: Love, kindness and forgiveness. Nora finally realizes she can choose to accept Sara without it affecting her faith, and I’m so happy to see it.
Maximo comes clean to Diane, despite knowing what it will cost him. I admire him for doing the right thing instead of letting Hector take the fall. Diane fires him on the spot, and it’s sad to watch Maximo lose the place he’s worked so hard for. He stands tall as he leaves Diane’s office as Chad is on his way in to inform his mother he and Julia broke up, and he’ll be leaving to figure out who he is: in LA. Diane’s plan to have Chad back under her control has backfired.
I’m entirely unsurprised to see Maximo show up at Isabel’s family restaurant to ask for a job in the final scene. Of course he ends up closer to Isabel just as Chad and Julia FINALLY break up – and I can’t wait to see what happens when Maximo finds out, and want to go back to Las Colinas.
