With a Light Touch...

Gonzola Montoya

angie005, MPep

Montoya and Silvia are very similar in characters. Before the era of PepSi, Silvia was portrayed as a disaster in love. She openly pined for her ex-husband, Lucas who didn’t share the same feelings, she was briefly engaged to the biggest idiot in the world Marquez, and she had a complicated on-and-off relationship with Montoya.

Montoya shared the same fate. Although he pined for the redhead, he wasn’t able to keep her heart. That rollercoastered to his relationship with Ruth (that was undoubtedly heading to ruins), his lovesick crush on Pepa, his lust filled fling with Rita’s cousin Marga but when he finally found his true calling with Rita, he was met with untimely death.

However, what was the preparatory point of Montoya’s unlucky fate in the love department? It can be considered that his relationship with Silvia was the cause. So instead, how was he able to move on from La Pelirroja?

In the early episodes of LHDP, Montoya was head over heels in love with Silvia. He was always there to reassure her intelligence and beauty and he eagerly took the position of Silvia’s rebound boy. It was Silvia that called the shots whenever they were together. But Montoya was so determined to have Silvia love him as much as he loved her that it worked against his favor. After they were no longer dating, it’s notable that he still had feelings for Silvia.

The couple share a long history:

Their first kiss

Their work professionalism (note: sometimes professional, it's LHDP!!) Their relationship ups and downs The lost of their unborn child And dealing with Montoya's depression after the death of Ruth But Montoya and Silvia shared a pivotal scene that helped him move on from her. With the introduction of Pepa, Silvia and Montoya had limited interactions together. However, they were able to share a moment of unspoken words in Episode 4x26.

This scene wasn’t just Pepa comforting her lover by holding her hand, looking at her reassuredly, and simply displaying her love. It was for Montoya to realize that Silvia had found solace with Pepa. Silvia was no longer going to seek for comfort with him.

When Silvia asked for comfort and Pepa provided it, Montoya began to process what he had observedWhen Montoya turned to Silvia, in a way, Silvia challenged Montoya’s gaze as if to say “Do not ask me. It’s not the time.”Pepa caught Montoya’s stare but she knew the two Inspector’s history and instead of pouncing to her first instinct to protect Silvia from him, she, with kindness, let them communicate with each other.

As Montoya ponders again, he knew he would always respect Silvia for all they had been through. With a slight nod, he gave Silvia his answer. He acknowledged Silvia’s relationship with Pepa and he accepted it. She responded with her own gesture: Thank you.

As the scene ended, Montoya was left with his thoughts. His period with Silvia has ended. Will he be able to find what Silvia has?

With a light touch on his arm, Rita was there to answer his question.

angie005, MPep Commentary

I chose to write about Gonzola Montoya because Silvia (and Pepa) affects all characters on LHDP. PepSi University is Pepa and Silvia but I didn’t want to disregard the rest of the show. Hence, the reason why my first thesis was about Don Lorenzo.

I want to be able to explore the characters around PepSi and want to show readers that without them, we probably would not have such a diverse storyline with Pepa and Silvia.