The cocktail party effect explains our ability to isolate a solitary voice amidst a sea of yappers, music and crowd noise. Let’s meet our ladies at the disco, where background noise and the effects of actual cocktails upon speech put our own c.p.e. skills to the test. (This one is hard, use the SLOW button!)

Elena is absolutely certain she will not be calling Mariano, her estranged, cheating boyfriend. She professes this fact repeatedly. But when Vero drops by, still tipsy from the club, discussion of lonely reality has its effect. She breaks down and picks up the phone…

Elena claims she only wants to tell Mariano about the bills, but if you believe that we’ve got a bridge in Uruguay we’d like to sell you. Mariano, well, he just doesn’t seem to be able to say the right thing. Hombres.

This episode guest stars the legendary Nacha Guevara, who plays Melina, a fiery blonde who seems to have something of a history with Flavio, though he still pines for the lovely madame, Amelia.

Gala shops for a new camcorder from the point of view of the display model, leading us into the show’s intro and theme song, "Me Llamas", by José Luis Perales. Perales got his first record deal as a student in Sevilla in 1970, and his romantic ballads have graced the charts ever since.

You may get the feeling that Soledad didn’t have the most stable childhood, but she’s a survivor, and she assures her aging uncle that she’ll stick by him too. Gloria, meanwhile, is telling her young son, who hasn’t yet started school, how academic grading works.

Sole likes her candy, but she’s not averse to sharing it. In Spanish, a lollipop is known as chupa-chups, piruleta or paleta. Do you have a favorite flavor?

Amelia and the girls at first don’t know what to make of him, a small man who arrives with a big wad of money. Soon enough it becomes apparent, Santiago Ritchie is intent on having more than a little fun. (But could that be the only reason for his largesse?)

Milena is enjoying some theater from her private box when Santiago Ritchie appears. Milena wants the lowdown on what he found out about Amelia’s girls while visiting. Santiago obliges. Flavio sleeps.

Goods and services that show up on our urban doorsteps are the ultimate in convenience. Latin Americans love el delivery as much as anyone, maybe even moreso.

When we ask for two, we’re happy to get any, but Melina is a lady not used to being short-changed, abril bello or no…

The meaning of fascista is self-evident, but Southern Cone countries also use facho. Balas, of course, are “bullets” but in some countries also have the alternately slang meaning of “homosexuals” or “gays.” Balas and Fachos are, evidently, also the names of tv shows in which Majo and Gloria’s young client stars.

Gloria and Majo are still on the same job but inhabit different planets. Meanwhile Melina connives to plant seeds of desertion in Gala’s unsuspecting head…

What exactly does Soledad care about that fellow’s uncle? And is the former child star really concerned with the girls’ ability to earn a living? Stay tuned…

Gala says she is ill in the guardia of a hospital, but that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. Meanwhile, Majo is intent on interrupting her husband’s enjoyment of a good book.