The icon of the Mexican comedy The Most Beautiful Flower shows what looks distinctly like two boys flirting. But I've been fooled before, so to be cautious, I'll watch the second episode, where wallflower Michelle goes to a party. Maybe the gay boys will be there.
Turns out that Episode #2 makes no sense without Episode #1: Michelle is an unpopular outcast girl in her high school. But while most unpopular kids wallow in self-pity, Michelle knows that she's fabulous. The problem is, how to convince everyone else? She's been dating popular Daniel (German Bracco) on the downlow for a year, but in Episode 1 she dumped him when he refused to come out to his friends.
On to Episode #2:
Scene 1: Procession of the Christ Child, held on January 6th in Xochimilco, a colorful, canal-filled suburb of Mexico City. Extravagant costumes, drummers, Dad carrying a Christ Child under a canopy while Mom, Grandma, and Michelle smile and wave. Well, Michelle mostly grimaces. .
Suddenly she sees a message in the sky -- Traviesa -- and rushes over to the Traviesa stationery store. Inside, a hot guy is dancing by himself in his underwear (no beefcake). They gape at each other in intensive horniness.
Scene 2: In between their desperate struggles to avoid tearing each other's clothes off, the boy explains. His name is Mati (Tadeo Tovar). His grandmother owns the store, and lets him come in after hours to practice DJ-ing. He works at weddings, birthdays, quinceaneras, and coming up, a huge fundraiser for the town's Most Beautiful Flower contest.
Back story: Tadeo Tovar (right) is gay, and dating famous dancer Li'l Cuesta, who has 42.5 k followers on Instagram.
Michelle was not invited, because she is so unpopular, but she can't tell Mati that! "Maybe I could sing at the party?" she suggests. "Sure. I'll see you there."
Scene 3: School. For once, it's not a glass-and-steel palace with a 5-story atrium; it's a storefront with a colorful Aztec-style mural. Daniel, who was dumped by Michelle in the last episode, enters the Chem Lab with three girls hanging on him, and finds a teddy bear at his work station: "For Michelle, from a secret admirer!" he announces.
The Mean Girls laugh; no way an unpopular girl has a secret admirer, so she must have sent it to herself! Michelle is outraged at Daniel's obvious attempt to get her back, so she throws the teddy bear on a lit bunsen burner.
Scene 4: After class, Daniel retrieves the teddy bear from the trash. The head Mean Girl interprets this to mean that he is the "secret admirer" (which he is, of course), and advises him against dating Michelle, since dating an unpopular girl would make him unpopular, too. She points out a table of popular kids on the quad: "So, which of these do you like as a boyfriend or girlfriend?" Wait -- does she know that he's bisexual, or is she being inclusive just in case?
Left: More Tadeo.
Scene 5: Michelle at study hall with her two friends, both girls, but one with very short hair -- maybe a lesbian? They are outraged that Daniel would try to get her back. Meanwhile, he moons over her from across the room. She tells them about the big fundraiser -- their chance to go to a popular kids' party, a first step toward popularity! They are not interested, but consent to go.
Scene 6: After school. Michelle tells the girls that they have to dress as "beautiful flowers" for the fundraiser. They think that the phrase is metaphorical, but she doesn't listen: flowers it will be.
Cut to Michelle in her grandmother's room, stuffing her face, looking at old photos, and being yelled at by the sour-faced old lady. "Stealing my marzipan and my photos." Michelle explains: "I was invited to a fundraiser party for the Flower Contest, so I need to borrow one of your outfits." Grandma won the contest several times, back in the day, so maybe one of her old sashes?
Suddenly she is hit in the head with an object (I can't tell what). Grandma notes that her little sister is visiting. This enrages Michelle, who hates the little brat. She's in Michelle's room, touching her things and discussing human anatomy with their mother.
Back story: Mom and Dad divorced long ago, and both have remarried. The Sister is from Dad's second wife, staying with them while her parents are at a conference in Europe.
Scene 7: Dad is out by the canal, fixing Michelle's boat. She approaches: "I'm sorry I haven't talked to you for a long time, but I have a boyfriend now, and he takes up all of my time." He asks about her two friends, Yadi and Tania. "Who? Oh, of course, we're still tight, but I have so many friends now, just simply tons and tons of friends, oozing with popularity, so I don't see them much." Way to disrespect Yadi and Tania, girl!.
Scene 8: Michelle and her two friends on a deck, complaining about a "Tell me you're popular without saying that you're popular" video. It's ridiculous! The only way to popularity is to go to parties, get boyfriends, and stick it to the head Mean Girl, who happens to be Michelle's cousin.
Scene 9: Michelle and her two friends, wearing flowered headdresses, are dropped off at the giant event space by her stepfather Fer. He forbids them from going in because two older guys -- college age -- are arguing outside. Also, no one else is wearing stupid flowered headdresses. But Michelle doesn't listen.
They enter, to the stares and jeers of everyone, only to be turned away by the bouncer for not having invitations. Michelle argues that she has a singing gig there, but the bouncer doesn't believe her.
Idea -- they can hide in empty speaker cases and be carried in!
Scene 10: Stepfather Fer (Luis Fernando Peña) calls his wife to see what he should do. She's in the midst of surgery -- literally cutting open a body -- so she tells him to just handle it. He steals a boy's hat and jacket and sneaks in, badly disguised as a teenager.
Daniel (the boy who was secretly dating Michelle) recognizes him, and blurts out way too much: he's been thinking of "kissing her...doing everything with her...out of love, of course." Stepfather Fer forbids him from seeing her.
Meanwhile, having learned that Michelle likes Matti the DJ, cousin Mean Girl saunters up to the DJ booth to steal him.
Scene 11: Uh-oh, the speaker cabinet won't open. They yell and pound. Finally Michelle manages to knock her cabinet down the stairs. It bursts open, revealing her, with a stupid flower headdress, to the world. Everyone laughs. But Mati steps up, pretends that it was an intentional opening for her performance, and hands her a microphone. She sings about being a masochist, and is a big hit.
(Don't worry, the two friends escape the cabinets, too.)
Scene 12: Mati and Michelle discuss her performance. He offers her a permanent job singing at his gigs, which she gladly accepts. Then he asks: would it be ok if...do you think you would...sometime...um.."
"Yes???? Go on...."
"Give me your Cousin Mean Girl's phone number?" Psych! The End.
Beefcake: None.
Gay Characters: Two guys dancing together at the party, Daniel's bisexual reference, and in future episodes, Michelle herself recognizes that she is bisexual! She ends up having to choose between two boys (Mati and Daniel) and a girl (not yet introduced).
The Icon: It's gone now, but I think it' depicted Daniel and Michelle with her hair pulled back, so she looks like a boy.
My Grade: B+
