Santanico still alive! Perhaps they realised just how few
women they had left in this show and decided they had to pull her out of the
plot box
Of course this is episode 8 out of a 10 season run – so very
few points there. Especially since everyone in this episode refers to her sexiness.
So what has she been doing? She’s decided to resurrect
Carlos which is apparently a thing. Because he knows how to find the missing
Venganza via a dancer she’s obessesed with (this could be sign that Venganza is
in a relationship with a woman, same with Santanico. But we don’t even get to
see them together and, of course, that dancer ends up dead without ever opening
her mouth so let’s not bake a batch of cookies just yet).
What kills her? El Tatuaje, the new big bad of the week.
Ok, y’know, last week I commented on how the show seemed
to be delving into at least the names of Aztec/Meso-American mythology. But now
we have a big guy called “The Tattoo”. Someone reached the end of their wiki
research!
El Tatuaje has the ability to make the tattooed weapons
on his body real. And he touches people and turns them into tattooed minions.
Back to Santanico – she and Carlos join the Geckos and,
after a moment where they decide whether or not to torture Carlos for Reasons,
Seth (who is leader and normally I’d say “why” but I did mention those moments
when he almost seemed to mean it) decides to let Carlos in. His plan is to get
to Venganza and find out where the Lords his Amaru’s bones (Amaru was consumed
by the lords who kept her blood and, apparently, her bones) which they can
destroy and hopefully kill Amaru.
This seems likely since Amaru is definitely pushing to be
restored to her own body which seems to be behind the whole kidnapping of Freddie’s
family.
Venganza is hiding in a prison – a prison where the
inmates, culebras and humans, are in contrl all under the authority of Venganza and all lethal and scary. This reminds of me Santanico’s little utopia and
again I question how a society that thrives so much on physical violence can
have humans and super-powered, super-healing, near invulnerable monsters
co-existing. Because, nope.
They manage, after the necessary posturing, to get an
invitation to see Venganza after which Carlos rats them all out and reveals
they were going to kidnap Vanganza
Wait, what, why? That was the plan? Why was this the
plan? They wanted to know where the bones where – why was kidnapping on the
agenda? Shouldn’t that at least be option three after “asking nicely” and “whining
a bit”?
This leaves Carlos and Venganza alone for a bit where
they can have a really epic scene
Carlos, basically, drags her on the carpet for what she’s
doing – hiding, letting the Geckos, nasty criminal types, doing her fighting
for her – while revelling in the protection and service of people she has
imprisoned and enslaved. Remember, the Culebras were slaves in Xibalba who
escaped, the Lords among them. Carlos hits a direct hit by pointing out she
achieved freedom only to become exactly what she tried to escape.
Now this would be a very very interesting point to follow
up and if Venganza had ever been allowed to be more than a bit character this
would have been awesome
Alas we have a fight scene to fit in as El Tatuaje
arrives and we have tattooed minions everywhere. During which we see Richie and
Seth pretty much come through unscathed, Santanico get repeatedly, brutally stabbed
(because of course the woman is the one who needs help despite being the oldest
Culebra there) and Scott shows off his mysterious martial arts skills he got
from somewhere.
At this point, Santanico finally dredges up a believable
motive for why she’s there after previously saying vengeance didn’t stop her
being mad. Seth has inspired her by his willingness to endure so much and fight
so hard for the culebras. Is this a romance I smell? Y’know if Santanico was in
a relationship with Dead Lady (she was hardly characterised as more) then the
body’s not even cold yet, can we not railroad her into a relationship with a
guy straight away?
They meet up with Venganza and Carlos for the big
revelation – the Lords ate the bones as well. The key to killing Amaru/putting
her back in her body requires Venganza’s death.
Really show? You’re going to kill another woman?
Santanico and Carlos – well mainly Carlos (why can’t Santanico
be awesome? Why?) kill El Tatuaje
Let’s check in with Freddie trying to find his family,
deciding to leave his back up behind and ending up being captured by a ranger
who is working for the Xibalbans. Oopsie. Shame you left Aiden and Burt in the
car.
Freddie bargains for his life by offering way more than
himself – since he’s not actually all that useful to Amaru, really. At least he
learns where this shiny ritual to enflesh Amaru is going to take place
What is that offer? He kidnaps Venganza form the rest of the gang who don’t even try to stop her (yes, Lord of the Culebras, one of the oldest, powerful culebras out there, is kidnapped without a struggle). He intends to take her to the ritual where he can put everyone at risk.
I rather think this is not going to lead to Venganza
expanding her insight here.
