This week on Espanola Way, Chef Lorena Garcia turned out to be the mystery investor in Lola’s (I called it!) and storylines accelerated to Talia’s season finale next week.

But first, Tyson, oh Tyson.  You are usually Mr Straight as an Arrow but your detour into the world of scheming was an abysmal failure (except watching you try to cut the steak with a pizza cutter was a hoot).  Never, never made a deal with the enemy – and with the other guy on Espanola Way that your love interest might also be interested in to save said love interest.  Classic soap mistake. Never call your love interest stubborn.  And never serve her a dish that your rival excels at, dude.  Wake up and smell the cheesesteak!  Props for a sweet apology on Friday’s episode.  But you can’t be so dumb as to not know what jealousy is (after all, when you first met Jayden, you said you weren’t jealous).  You needed more than Brie in the face – you needed a smack upside the head.

Chris got a mention!

Eliza and Allie – thank you for reading!

Now that we know Jayden is a spicemaster and that a spice battle is looming, we got some interesting new relationships and interactions.  Dolores went to Frenchie to get the spice battle book translated; Dolores threw down the gauntlet for the spice battle with the Brothers Grub.   Debbie got hired at Lola’s as head sous chef (and was promoted to sous chef at Fucinelli’s on the same day!)  There’s been some softening of the animosity between the Fucci’s and the Parra’s.

This week, we also learned why Vinnie was stealing food.  His father had been laid off and putting food on the table was a challenge.  This led to Talia hiring Vinnie’s mom as a sous chef (apparently, Talia has no sense of budget)and her quest to use the spices for good.  I liked this turn of events and turn in the storylines.  Should there be a season #3, this would be a good storyline arc to continue.

Chef Garcia as the mystery investor was interesting (where was the line that Garcia was so impressed with Talia at the Golden Ladle, that was the reason she invested).  Spicing her was just silly and then she was quickly dispatched after they made up.  And Tyson, you need a better reaction to things than having your mouth agape for a minute at a time.

The search for more spices continues next week.

Now some pet peeves for the week.

1. Could anyone not see the spicemaster battle book ending up in the pot of sauce?  And didnt Dolores have Frenchie translate part of it .  Too many “coincidences” happen to drive story.
2. Calle Tres has not been seen since the first episode.
3. Continuity continues to be an issue in some scenes.  For example, an establishing shot suggested it was nighttime.  But when Talia and Julie entered the apartment, it was clearly daytime outside.  In other scenes, characters facial expressions change between shots.
4. More on continuity.  How long do these kids get for a lunch break and do they get to come home from school for lunch?  When Tyson invites Talia over for lunch, neither are in their uniforms.  However, when Val, Julie and Rocky show up at Lola’s, they have their school uniforms on.  Maybe it was half day or early dismissal.
5. The Beach Day was a nice idea – but really, having it in the Fucci’s kitchen.  May I remind you that you are in Miami BEACH, so having a BEACH day at the actual BEACH would have made more sense.
6. The school scenes seem out of place.  All of a sudden Talia’s dropped Food Services 101 and Tyson’s added the class.  West Miami Beach School must have a liberal course add/drop policy.  All of those scenes could have taken place at Calle Tres.  Food Services teacher seems to have disappeared.  I would, though, would have loved to see Tyson try to knit.
7. Dolores seems to now speak in the blank of the blank mode.  The hug of the group.
8. Wasn’t it established in Season #1 that the spices don’t work on Talia?

Other things continue to impress.

1. A small point, but the show does a great job with outdoor shots.  Traffic moves in the background, people walk back and forth along Espanola Way and you can even see traffic move outside Dolores’ apartment window.
2. The actors live their characters pretty well.
3. While the spices set up a nice battle between good and evil, you could remove them from show and the storylines would still make sense.

Line of the week: “Who’s been using the beet cutting board to cut cauliflower?”

Line of the week, runner-up: “I feel the need to scheme.”

Line of the week, runner up: “I wanted to make it more … brie-ish.”

Weird scene of the week: The YOLO Dance.  Apparently, losing your inhibitions applies to only Rudy and about two other people.

Sweetest scene of the week: Tyson and Debbie talking by the lake.

Funniest scene of the week: Tyson trying to make a cheesesteak.

Next week, its the final three episodes.  The previews state “Val suspects there’s a traitor in their ranks.”  My prediction: either Rudy or Tyson.