We return to Los Colinas as Maximo continues to tell the story of his youth. Last season, young Maximo kissed his dream girl Julia (despite her still being with Chad), his mother Nora’s surgery was a success, and Esteban finally got up the courage to ask Nora out. During the last night of 1984, Hector got the promotion Maximo was so desperate for.. because he was having an affair with Diane. Chad decided to propose to Julia in front of a large party, shattering Maximo’s hopes for a relationship. Meanwhile, Nora regained her sight on New Year’s Eve and accidentally found out about Sara and Roberta.
Let’s hope season 2 finds Maximo in a better place than where we left him!
We begin with elder Maximo leading Hugo to his private jet, bound for Acapulco and Don Pablo’s memorial. As the two travel, Maximo begins telling Hugo about the first day of 1985. Still nursing his emotional wounds, young Maximo is trying to be positive.. by avoiding Julia as much as possible.
Maximo instead turns his efforts to charming Hector into giving the open pool boy slot to Memo, which is not as easy as he thought it would be. Poor Memo returns to the laundry to find his nemesis, Lupe, and hope that she won’t fire him. I love the comradery between these two, they really bring the comedy aspect.
Diane shows up to see Don Pablo, quite hungover. The investors have agreed to provide the funds, and the resort is saved… for now. I’m sure the resort will find itself in more conflict later this season, as Diane’s business dealings don’t always seem legit.
Julia finally corners Maximo to ask if they’re okay. Maximo completely lies through his teeth and says everything is fine between them – though I can see both are deeply unhappy. Julia clearly doesn’t want to marry Chad, and I hope she doesn’t go through with it.
While he’s retrieving some chairs for Hector to attempt to bribe him into giving Memo the pool job, Maximo discovers a woman named Isabel stealing pens from the resort. While he’s calling security to remove her, she explains she works for the local restaurant that does deliveries to the resort. These two instantly have a great chemistry, and Isabel could be just what Maximo needs right now – and she may make Julia realize what she’s missing out on. It turns out Julia and Isabel are already friends, and she half-heartedly shows Isabel her engagement ring.
Back at home, Nora is on to Sara and Roberta. She tells Sara she should spend more time with boys and less time with Roberta, which sends Sara running off to Roberta in a panic. I hope Nora learns to accept them, as their relationship is one of the best on the show.
Chad realizes he forced Julia to say yes to the engagement by proposing to her in front of a whole party, and apologizes. This seems to reassure Julia’s doubts as she goes from being very nervous about the engagement to being excited to plan a wedding.. but I don’t think her excitement will last long once she starts spending time with Maximo again and realizes who she really wants. After being inspired by baby turtles, Maximo finds the courage to find Julia and congratulate her and Chad, telling her they will be good friends. I’m proud of him. He also uses his newfound courage to make a deal with Hector to score Memo the job, and to go and apologize to Don Pablo for their New Years Eve disagreement.
With 1984’s issues now somewhat settled, Maximo now looks to have a great year ahead of him.
In episode 2, present day arrives in Acapulco with Hugo, continuing to tell Hugo the story of 1985.
Maximo and Memo are happily working together at the pool, Sara and Roberta continue to try to date in secret, Maximo is slowly endearing himself to Diane, and his friendship with Isabel is growing. Progress! Unfortunately, Maximo’s deal with Hector means he’s making less money and he has Nora’s surgery bill to pay.
Diane is not thrilled about Chad and Julia’s wedding, though she’s trying to pretend the opposite. I’m not sure why Chad and Julia are trying so hard to force this wedding through, when it’s clear both of them would be happy to back away from it.
When a big tennis star comes to stay at the resort, Don Pablo lines Maximo up to be his personal attendant. I love that Don Pablo does his best to look out for Maximo. With eviction notices on the apartment door, Maximo is slightly in over his head right now. Things get slightly mixed up when Diane later introduces Maximo to the OTHER tennis star he was meant to be attending to, meaning twice the tips for Maximo if he can pull double duty.
Nora catches Sara and Roberta hanging out, so Sara quickly comes up with a lie that Maximo cheated on Sara and the two broke up, so she was just comforting Sara. Nora seems to believe them, but it’s only a matter of time before a big confrontation happens. When Maximo sprints home to get tamales for his coworkers, he walks right into a house of people angry with him for cheating on Roberta, which he has no knowledge of doing. Sara and Roberta put on excellent performances, hopefullt throwing Nora off their trail for at least one more episode.
Poor Maximo spends the rest of his entire day running between the two tennis rivals. He quickly gets caught out once the two find themselves in the same room. Don Pablo finds out and is disappointed. I am too – I was really hoping Maximo would get the money he needed.
Diane and Julia trade barbs over the wedding planning. Julia wins the argument by moving the wedding up to June, and calling Diane out for not liking her with Chad. Diane is so right when she says they’re not the right people for each other.. but Julia continues to lie to herself. When Isabel shows up to lunch and asks Chad and Julia about asking him out, it’s pretty clear Julia is jealous at the thought of Maximo dating someone else.
All the lying and sneaking around finally breaks Roberta, and she in turn breaks up with a heartbroken Sara. I hope they get back together fast, as both will simply mope around without each other.
When Maximo’s tennis star cheaps out on a proper tip, Maximo sneaks out of the resort to talk to a reporter, telling him the tennis star’s famous hair is in fact a wig. The reporter gives Maximo money, but there’s no way Don Pablo doesn’t find out about this. I understand why Maximo did it – but I hope it doesn’t ultimately cost him the job he loves so much.
