I need y'all's help. This isn't a analysis post, more like a rant slash thinking out loud, which is why I needs y'all's help and I'm also dealing with a gnarly migraine headache because I just found out that Teriyaki sauce can cause migraines, fun! Oh so fun! I legit thought my BP was high and would need to be hospitalized(yay GAD!) and as this show is my comfort I am here to distract myself from my thoughts and if I in fact am dying of High BP than I guess this is my good bye and I've made my peace with it. I am okay(I need to say these types of things aloud in order to make my GAD chill out lol).
The current scene I'm on, Armando has given him the basic rundown of what Betty told him happened to her with Miguel. In stander style he doesn't give details but does step 1 step 2 kind of rundown.
He tries to explain to Mario that what they're doing to Betty isn't fair and that if she ever found out that it was be a disaster, not only for her, but everyone.
What caught my attention is that this same day Mario writes the letter to Armando, where he goes into detail the horrible plan they both enacted to make Betty fall in love and even went a step further as to truthfully incriminate Armando in that letter, making it seem like Armando spoke badly about Betty, however as an audience we know that Armando didn't really ever make fun of Betty and instead would get annoyed at Mario for it. He'd make fun of Mario and his stupid ideas of cheesy gifts and cards with poems and sadly he would say stuff like "I would never take a serenade with mariachis to her." or "I'm never going to make love to her. Thinking about that... I don't even want to think about that." So maybe, I take it back, Armando did make fun of her. What a piece of ish.
Anyway Armando won't really be the topic of this post, at least not the center of it. I kind of need a break from that toxic man.
Mario Calderon, another toxic man.
In the first part of I Understand You I talked a lot about their dynamic and how manipulative they both are towards each other so I won't explain in further detail that sort of stuff in this "post", but it's still important to know since that post goes along with this one, the letter, or at least, what went through Mario's mind when he wrote it.
Exactly like the first time Armando slept with Betty, they're in the meeting room, Armando, without hesitation, told Mario that yes he slept with Betty, having had one drink(though he didn't even finish it) and that he didn't need an inspirator either and once again Mario seems panicked when he notices just how out of control he is of Armando.
Curiously though it kind of reminds me of a personal experience. A few years ago through a person I called my best friend at the time, I met another girl and our duo became a trio. Basically we were all together, all the time. We had group chats with each other, we did this and that, people always commented that we were always together, blah blah blah. It was a blast, you know? I'm sure, as many people hear nowadays, trio's just don't work and hey this was no exception, nearly a year after I met this other girl the trio became a duo, I was not a chosen one and lost my best friend(all is good, no resentments or anything like that). I cannot speak for the other two and the things that happened, I can only speak for myself and I promise this all someway, somehow, oddly enough, connects with Mario and Armando.
First let me give these two people an identity. We'll call my exbsf Marissa and the girl she introduced me to Liza. Marissa and I had been close friends for nearly five years. She was the kind of friend that would text me when I entered my depressive episodes and then call my mom when I didn't pick up or answer her texts or calls. You know, she was always there to remind me I was loved and cared for. I admit I took that friendship for granted. At the same time I always tried to help Marissa relax and when we'd hang out I always wanted her to feel like for that moment the world revolved around her, did I execute this perfectly? Not always.
Anyway, fast forward to meeting Liza, Marissa had known her since childhood but they hadn't really been close friends until about a year or less before I met her, by then I was pretty sure that Marissa and I would be best friends for life. I was certain of that so I never felt jealous, possessive, or anything like that so when I started hanging out with Liza a lot more I didn't think it was a big deal and then it was and I did my best to correct the situation, well I go on a trip with my family and Liza(Marissa couldn't) joins, we kept getting mad at each other, having fights, blah blah blah, I'm texting my bestie across the world, 14 hours ahead and telling her how frustrated I was, with Liza, my family, the trip, everything really and Marissa at 4 am wakes up to reply, later I found out Liza had been complaining about me to her and that's why she was awake.
I still remember when I came back from that trip, almost a day or two later I see Marissa, we're doing some volunteer work with Liza and another friend of ours and I had this outer body experience where I am being, deliberately, mean to her, in front of everyone. In this short lived moment I'm staring at myself telling myself to shut up and to stop talking. I tried to correct myself in front of everyone but it left a sour taste in my mouth.
After that I started noticing, on my part certain things and I didn't like about myself. I became cold, distant, didn't even want to talk to Marissa. I didn't even want to see her nick name on my phone screen or notification. I felt like I was suffocating and Liza was no exemption.
In a post, way back when, I talked about how Armando has the habit of running away from his feelings and therefore whenever he does have them it's hard for him to understand them and identify them for what they are. In a very similar way, in that friendship, I did the same. For a while I ran away from what I felt, then I denied the way I felt, and finally when the ending of that friendship came, I was left confused about it all.
I do remember very specific instances, before I asked for space from both Marissa and Liza, where I'd look at them interacting I'd I feel invisible. I'd feel worthless and awful about myself. You know, walking into the middle of a conversation and everyone being quiet and hearing the whispers of "I'll text it to you later." and the ever pretending that they would bring up plans in the group chat between them and when I'd ask about them they'd say "Oh we told you about this already." and I was left with this awful feeling of "do they have a group chat without me?" I began to resent my best friend and felt replaced and those feelings felt like I wasn't nearly as important or worth fighting for. It brought my traumatic and toxic friendship from years before that to be relived in my memory and in an act of self-preservation I ended the friendship with both of them.
I'd stare at some one I used to call my best friend and feel like I was talking or staring at a stranger. Our conversations always felt force. In a room you could feel the tension coming from both of us and I can only speak for myself but my tension was due to fear. I was petrified of her, not because she was a bad person who'd do the same thing my ex toxic best friend had done but rather I was just afraid of getting hurt by her and afraid of trusting her again. It was a horrible year. Losing your best friend like that... it's terrible. I guess, in a sense, I'd rather lose a friendship because of it being toxic than lose a friendship because of miscommunication.
Yeah, yeah, what does this have to do with Mario and the letter
Mario in some sick and twisted way, in this specific scene, reminds me of myself. While yes I wasn't afraid I was losing control of my best friend(Cause I never had it nor wanted it) I was afraid of losing her, while Mario here is afraid of losing control over his best friend and in tail, losing his best friend.
If we strip away all the benefits that Mario gets from being friends with Armando, why does he have a friendship with Armando? It's hard to say. I'd like to believe, that at least, a small part of him, does truthfully care about Armando and his well being as he often tells Armando not to marry Marcela, especially because he's not in love with her and even though Marcela is beautiful, that there's plenty of other women who are a lot better looking, while yes he focuses on the superficial, you can sort of admit, in some dark and twisted way, that Mario has a soft spot for Armando and his happiness. However it's not a priority for him.
The problem is that Armando and his happiness never got in the way of Mario's happiness(money, chicks, etc.) like this time.
The scene I am currently paused on is of Armando gripping Mario from his suit jacket, while all we see is Mario's face. He is staring firmly at Armando's eyes, not stoic, not serious, not bemused, not disinterested, annoyed, or anything like that. He looks sort of afraid, not in a "OMG THE KILLER!" afraid, but a sad afraid if that makes sense lol.
His eyes are slightly squinting, his brows are slightly, just a hair, arched, and brought together at the front while his lips are on a straight line. This is, again, similar to Armando's poker face, however the slight squint of eyes and even flared nostrils and the slight change of his eyebrows while in context of what's going on is pretty clear to tell that Mario is scared, that he is nervous, and afraid.
This is a micro expression.
I'd like to say that this expression, in my understanding and opinion, is that of somebody staring at a person who they've known for years, but no longer recognize and that fact alone scares them but knowing that Mario needs to in some shape have control of Armando for his benefit this is terrifying for him.
In reality Mario has been losing his best friend and even if Mario manipulated him, he's not a psychopath or a sociopath, he cares about Armando in some strange way. I wouldn't say he loved Armando as his best friend, more than the benefits he got from being friend's with Armando, but rather, he was quite smitten with him in this sense of "He needs me in order to survive life and I'm doing him a favor with being his friend." type of way so it was mostly a friendship build in pity and a boost for his ego. Unlike Mario, who is constantly out with women, at cocktails and work events he's always seen conversating with people and engaging with both men and women, flirting with women, we only see Armando conversating with Mario and women. He seems to only converse with men when it comes to talking about his escapades and such or business and seeing as Armando is neurotic, a perfectionist, always on the brink of a breakdown where he'll yell at everyone, I don't think he really puts himself out there to form meaningful friendships with men(or women). Armando seems like the type of guy who is popular, liked by everyone, but he really doesn't have any close friends except for Mario and even then the friendship isn't the best.
Their friendship is a friendship based on dependency, really all of Armando's most intimate and important relationships have been based on dependency.
Mario depends on Armando's social status both for his economic future and his personal life, while Armando depends on Mario for social cues and how to get with and out of something or someone. For a while this friendship has really benefited them both, like a shark and a remora however this begins to change when Betty enters Eco Moda, therefore, Armando's life.
We've all heard the tale of the resentful guy best friend that hates that his best bud got a girlfriend he's in love with because that means he's losing his best bud and no longer having his wing man.
It's been a very obvious dynamic from the start and Marcela even commented on it in one of the very first episodes: That Mario was sad he was losing his comrade and partner in womanizing and whoring ways because Armando was engaged and getting married. He tried talking him out of it but when he saw that there was no talking him out of it9once Armando sets his mind to something he becomes stubborn to make it happen, even when he's way over his head) he recommended that Armando tell Marcela they get married through the courts and that 5 years later they revisit if they would get married through the church and if not, no resentments, their marriage just didn't work out for them, and Armando does just that and Marcela agrees.
In some way Mario began to accept that he was losing his comrade to Marcela, therefore Armando's freedom to join him in escapades with the Models and such, however because he also knew Armando wasn't in love, he knew that he'd still be able to get him to sneak around every once in a while, therefore personal and social life? Secured. Obviously neither Armando or him imaged that Eco Moda would enter an economic disaster, which would not only jeopardize Armando's reputation as president but most importantly, to Mario, his economic, profesional, social, and personal life. If Armando lost it all, he'd lose it all too and that's what truly moved him to tell and manipulate Armando into entering a relationship with Betty.
(I.e. why else would Mario have to move to a different country in order to get a job when Armando said he was done with him as in finito!)
Mario teased, he joked, he did this and that, but if we're being honest, he never really thought that Armando would fall in love, as even Armando said himself that believed that he might never fall in love, or at least, it was too late for him anyway because he was getting married to Marcela, especially, that the person he'd end up falling for would be the very thing both Armando and Mario looked down upon: An "ugly" woman.
Little by little Mario has seen and felt the space grow and his resentment as well because even in his letter there is resentment when he says "you don't share with me like you used to in the past." while yes we can asume he was mocking, take into context Mario's behavior leading to this letter. It is resentment, clear as day.
Mario has been the only witness to this change of Armando taking shape, both professionally and in the personal(Marcela has only dealt with the consequences of that change). Though he has tried to give the benefit of the doubt that Armando couldn't truly care about Betty in a romantic way, much less that it would ever become public, he also knows that he can manipulate Armando with his fears because not only has he seen the change of Armando and even his desires for Betty increase but he has also witnessed Armando's fears of his feelings and of it ever being in the open. However in this scene when Armando, flat out accepts and says that he only had one drink, didn't need an inspirator, and asked "so what?" is an unexpected turn of events; Armando isn't afraid to admit to his best friend that he feels endearment for Betty, that he cares about her as a friend, that she's an important woman in his life, that what they have is a serious friendship, that matters, and now that without fear of prejudice, that when he sleeps with Betty, he is with her and no other woman, and that he enjoys it and he isn't embarrassed about it!
Oh the growth! Steady and slow, but it is there from Armando's side!
His questions regarding Armando's feelings, his jokes weren't just to make fun and be cruel. Lets not forget that Mario is extremely detail oriented and careful with his manipulation. This was all him gathering intel. In a sense I'd say that Mario trusted that Armando would grab the bag ASAP before anyone noticed it. He also didn't want Armando to screw up but in the fail chance that Armando, for being stupid, didn't get to the bag before anyone else, writing the cruelty of their plan so explicit and heinous, would cause Betty and Armando to breakup.
I'm trying to wrap my head around it.
It kind of defeats the purpose of Mario manipulating Armando to start the affair with Betty because Nicolas could turn her against them, i.e. him[Mario] and he'd end up losing everything because this letter does just that.
As a writer, I'm trying find the correct footing, trying to give FG the benefit of the doubt regarding this letter and the terrible thing is that this letter isn't OOC of Mario, really it's not a surprise that he'd write such a letter like that so there has to be an ulterior motive as to why Mario was so stupid with the placement and treatment of that letter, right?
Well I am just as stumped as you.
In some way, my writer brain is telling me: Well clearly all signs point that Mario Calderon in some sick and twisted way wanted to free Armando from it all and when he wrote the letter he wanted Armando to grab it first, but if he didn't, knowing that Betty checked all of his correspondence, he hoped, expected, and (mis)calculated that Betty wouldn't set them on fire. Why? Because Armando told him that if Betty ever found out it would be terrible, because he'd be killing her(but also that Betty would burn them if she ever found out).
That seems more OOC of Mario than anything. Mario wouldn't risk this going public, he couldn't risk Betty finding out. I mean it would defeat the entire purpose!
So why does he write this godforsaken letter! Why does Mario think that this letter holds purpose? That it's important to tell him step by step and in cruelty, in a more cruel way than in person? Well I just concluded, just this moment.
Yeah, I know, sounds a little to out there, don't you think?
But let's consider this new theory of mine, please. Just entertain me with this foolery!
In the I Understand You Part 1 post I made a huge deal and emphasis on Mario and Armando's toxic friendship and how they manipulate each other and I talked about how Armando knew that if Mario even got a weft of fact that Armando had feelings outside of guilt towards Betty that motivated him to continue the relationship and affair with Betty that Mario would use it against him, right?
Well Mario has a pretty strong odor signal right about this scene. In reality this scene shows more range of emotions coming off of Mario than the scene when Armando forcefully told him about his first time with Betty. In that scene we see him going from mockery, to panic because he doesn't have control of the situation, therefore of Armando.
However this scene is pretty evident that Mario no longer has that upper hand and by Armando's freedom of expression regarding what they're doing to Betty, both condemning him and himself, Mario looks spooked and what I said above regarding his feelings still stands! Oh my god, it still stands and it all comes crashing down now!
Mario is petrified that he has lost control of Armando and the situation and that, while he's gone, that Armando can screw it up, so he writes a stupid letter, cruel as ever, he was placing all his bets that Armando would get to it first, he did not expect for it to get misplaced, and what of it?
Well if Armando decided to backdown, there's a letter that could destroy his relationship with Betty, therefore, physical prove of the tragedy they planned for Betty.
Would Mario go as far as to do this? I mean he did tell Armando to destroy the letter, didn't he? He didn't want any trace of it for Betty to find.
Now the missing piece is, why didn't Mario tell Sandra to not let anyone go into his office and especially grab the blue package on his desk? Because let's be clear here, when he ordered Betty's birthday present he told Sandra that a package would arrive for him and to not open it.
Why didn't he do the same thing this time?
AAAAAAAAAHHHH My writer brain will not let me rest in peace until I figure this one out and I need y'all's help and cooperation for it because I cannot write the post about the letter unless I know this!
Like I sort of understand why he wrote the letter. I get that part and in a weird way understand his side, wrong as it may be, it explains it, what I don't understand however is why he was so careless and stupid about the letter.
I mean to basically simplify this post Mario wrote the letter because he truthfully believed that Armando would screw it up, not only by forgetting to gifts, the cards, the cheesy routine he had developed but because he also feared that Armando would let the guilt get to him and confess everything to Betty so he writes this cruel letter and tries to remind Armando of the consequences of their relationship ever becoming public, right? Not with words but by being cruel to a new level.
The letter has a purpose in the story, I just don't get why he was so careless about it.
If anybody has any other ideas, theories, or suggestions let me know so I can write the post!
