This little bit hurt: Mabel, unbeknownst, asking "This bed is free, right?" upon moving into the colonia.
And then the following shot of Claudia, lingering on her sad face.
And for the first time, Claudia doesn't say: "No one touches Fina's bed!" For the first time, Claudia doesn't mention Fina. She only says "No. It hasn't been used in a long time."
Ouch.
Especially in an ep that also evoked Fina elsewhere, in Cloe's dependianta-pink dress and persecution for being gay. Fina's name may not have been mentioned in this ep, but her story was present.
It is not a coincidence that Cloe, under pressure for her queerness, is again shown wearing a dress in a light pink with short sleeves that evokes the old dependienta blouses and, in that, Fina. More specifically: Fina, threatened and dragged off to prison.
My reaction to that is, admittedly, rancor.
The talk among the shop girls about “she was annoying and hard on us in the beginning, but look, now she’s nice and stands up for one of our own, let’s bring her a gift!” makes it clear that Cloe has been reprogrammed, and that the audience is supposed to root for her now (I am so bad at forgetting, though).
And the Writing Room is leaning hard into sketching out Season 3 Cloe as sympathetic – she is hung up on a woman who doesn’t love her back in equal manner (both of them looking the other way when it comes to their situationship: Cloe wishing for more and trying to wear down defenses once more; Marta evading the issue. Both are unfair.). And she is now under threat for her queerness.
As Fina was, but the parallel isn’t working for me since Cloe has more privilege, standing, and a French passport. Unless the Writing Room removes that French passport, how much can Cloe be under threat for being queer, really? Especially as there is no proof incriminating her?
To me – and it may just be me – it would be a parallel that devalues what Fina went through because their situations are not comparable. And a grand plotline (as discussed in comments yesterday) of Cloe being dragged off to a conversion clinic and Marta getting her out while lines to Fina’s imprisonment history blur is not at idea I like because it would careen into the set-up singularity of the Mafin plotline.
The same goes for Cloe being repeatedly lauded in this episode for standing up for her values and being brave – in particular when Claudia, one of Fina’s closest friends, gives out that accolade – when this has always been told as a key feature of Fina (“caracter peleón”). And then there's Cloe all modestly – “aww shucks, girls” – downplaying it. Even the horror organ in the background is more suave.
The parallels so far have always maintained the distance between Cloe and Fina; in 505, however, they seem set up to level the field. (me as a situated viewer? I do not like it. You cannot make me think of Cloe as a Fina equivalent. You cannot. - Me analyzing this episode: I see what you are trying to do, where are you going with this?)
I guess we will see?
In terms of narration, the ep offered two moments to position Cloe as unlucky lover and threatened to boot, and both also capitalize on the pink blouse that calls up Fina: There is Cloe touching that de la Reina sibling photo featuring Marta, with a sigh [00:30:56 in the Mafin Drive cut] --
-- and there is (cap at the top) Agustín showing up at the office to threaten Cloe with the conversion clinic [starting 00:16:10 in the Mafin Drive cut].
Again, as a situated viewer? I want Agustín to choke on an olive every time he appears on screen. But from a script-writing and delivery perspective? He is the perfect vehicle of repressive patriarchy in that he is zealous and a bigot, but too vain to be a charismatic fanatic. Dogged, but too incompetent to be truly cunning. Ridiculous, but not ridiculous enough to be harmless.
In fact, that looking halfway ridiculous while incompetent – most everyone just shrugs him off – is the whole point of this character because it shields how he is wielding and exerting so much power over the women in the colonia, and that is the most chilling, horrible thing about him, and I think the actor (Daniel Albaladejo) does a fantastic job hiding the nefarious behind the ridiculous.
If this incompetent bigot gets Cloe arrested and we get his unperturbed performance of “I am just doing my job and I am right because I am a man and wear this dress also where are my olives?” addressed as the horrible, structural, picturesque violence it is? That might be an interesting arc, and the scripts are – thank God (ha) – not rooting for the power structures of the Catholic church.
Food for thought, overall. Not comfort food, not food I necessarily like, but food that makes a point.
And an interesting final note on the conversation between Cloe and Valentina: Cloe doesn’t mention Gabriel’s and Augustín’s threats against her for being queer (probably so that Valentina cannot be her sounding board there, so it will have to be Marta), but she is immediately furious and protective of Valentina when Valentina offers to help her against Gabriel.
The way this is played and set up, including the sound score, is at least ambiguous: Valentina saying she would do anything for Cloe, including giving up her job. Also – and this is an observation by @madronash – the way Valentina looks at Cloe over the entire hero act? Ana Carlota Fernández is making some interesting choices of nuance there, and not for the first time, either.
They could have had this conversation in the street, in the park, in the dispensary, anywhere, but why pass up the chance of more lesbian cottagecore while we can have it?
Handholding in the window nook (not on chairs! on the sills like people who are not guests!). Morning light. The baby crib. The little dollhouse front left.
And what, pray tell, was the Directing and Camera decision behind having these two walk down the stairs together. In the morning. From the bedrooms. As if they had just gotten up?
There is more pining looks, after that absolute gem of an entry for "Will not Win The Most Straight Dialogue Line of the Year Award", namely "I set your husband straight." (he may be the only straight thing about about that entire set up).
Also, "If he did that, I'd go for his jugular." (this is not Beatriz, so this is not an appealing vampire scenario. This is an appealing 'Luz removing the dude officially tied to her wife' scenario')
Begoña's reaction? Hearteyes.
A minute later, she tells Luz that she should go to Barcelona and be happy with Luis, and... who was that, again?
Necessity of this additional handholding shot: narratively, zero (nice school book on the table up front, though). Dramaturgically, if you ship luzgoña? 100%. (We could add a few more zeros).
Another line for Tere! I'll drink a coffee to that.
She looks so happy, too (she is the only happy character in this shot). Interesting twist by Costuming to make Begoña's blouse and collar echo the staff dress: caged unhappy housewife?
That Agustín analysis was more urgent, but my actual favorite shot of this episode? How passive-aggressively Sánchez can make Begoña butter a slice of bread. Great moment.
...also in this scene: the setup of Begoña getting involved with poor families who raise children taken away from their imprisoned mothers.
If it's the same as in other countries, it's often families who did it for the money; it is also something else here administered by the church: the supposed "care" of the orphanage and then of the priests distributing children forcefully separated from their parents into families not their own.
it does underline Begoña giving up on Andrés (and struggling with it) since this is what would happen to her if she were imprisoned as an adulteress, yet the topic of the church judging individual life choices (romantic choices, mostly) of women and having the power of sending them to jail for it threaded through both the Begoña and the Cloe plot.
