This is my point of view of Felipe's reactions during and after the kidnap. It seems that Diego and Felipe's relationship changes dramatically from season 1 to season 2. While in season 1 Felipe admires Diego and helps him in every possible way, he seldom behaves like a thirteen year old. He's truly a servant. Scenes where he misbehaves cheekily, as someone who truly feels at home, are in the second season (reading Diego's mail, openly teasing Diego by continuing eating berries...) never happen in the first season. He plays with Diego's experiments, but he feels terribly embarrassed when he's caught. AS I'm adopted, I think that Felipe loved Diego very much from the beginning, but spending four years apart right after Felipe had entered the home didn't help them in their relationship and he felt a little awkward in his presence. THe only time when we see Felipe truly behaving like a son was when Diego was seriously wounded in the barranco, but then he probably felt scared he might lose Diego again, once and for all. Diego too didn't act much like a father, in the first season. He's more preoccupied with Zorro than with the well being of his charge. And yet, that changes immediately as the second season begins (up to the point where he'd rather spank his noble guest when he hurts Felipe's feeling by making stupid jokes about his being deaf). I thought about what events might have caused such a change and this episode came immediately into mind. I guess Felipe couldn't be too happy when he came back home, but maybe that ordeal made him realize who his family was.
Incidentally , I think Juan Diego Botto didn't do his best job in this episode. He seems quite detached. But he was thirteen when he filmed most of the first season, and he was dealing with his own grieving for the loss of his father. He probably had to build a wall between himself and his character. Also, did you know that young Felipe was played by his younger sister Nur and that she's wearing a wig to conceal her very long hair?
Just as we planned. What did his mom meant?
Felipe looked at her mother, because she WAS his mother. She just couldn't be anybody else. He knew she was his mom. He looked at her and he couldn't hide his confusion and hurt. His ability to lie to those around him, an ability that had made everyone believe him totally deaf for years now, was clearly lost. Felipe fought against the man who was tying his hands up without even realizing he was doing that. All he could think of was why would his mother do such a thing to him? Than the sting of a slap filled his eyes with stinging tears he found so hard not to let them run down his cheeks. He quieted down. His mom, that very same mom who had not seen him for ages, had hit him hard. She had hurt him. Too stunned to react, his mind brought back memories of the very few times Diego and Alejandro had slapped him or spanked him. The first time it had happened, he was being held by Diego and suddenly Alejandro had slapped him hard to make him cry so he would open his mouth to Doctor Hernandez's pliers. His front milk tooth had refused falling down but new ones were already growing behind them. The second time Alejandro had spanked him because he had broken a vase in the home. It was raining and Felipe had started playing with a ball. One of his kicks had gone bad! The third time it had been the worst. Diego had not been home for some time. Felipe had been playing with the son of one of the cowhands. That boy, a few years older than him, had urged Felipe to jump form the hayloft to a stack of hay below. Felipe was scared, but he also feared to be thought of as a scaredy-cat, so he had jumped eventually. Right in front of Don Alejandro, who was just entering the barn and whose heart skipped a few beats. Felipe had had no time to turn to his friend and grin his triumph. He felt himself dragged to a stool and the worst spanking of his life had hit his bottom, that was quite sore for quite a few days. Alejandro had been totally mad at him, and after the spanking had ended, streams of tears still flooding his cheeks, Felipe had understood how loved he was: 'What would have I done if you had killed yourself?' Alejandro had yelled to him. He hadn't worried about the money he would have spent on him if he had gotten hurt. He hadn't worried about Felipe being in pain or dead. He had worried for himself, how bad his life could have gotten if he, Felipe, the child with no family name, had died. That spanking had made Felipe realize how much he was loved. This slap, on the contrary, had made Felipe feel like an object. And he could not understand why. How could his mother not love him? After all those years she'd been looking for him? The sting on his check, though quite fierce, was nothing compared to the sting he felt inside.
Someone jerked him off the cart, making him fall onto his knees and bringing him back to the present. Again, the pain he felt brought tears into his eyes, but once more he was able to control them. He didn't know how long he would manage not to cry. He felt desperate.