Synopsis of 3×01: After the Lords demote Seth and Richie to collectors, their organization is infiltrated by a mysterious new enemy bent on destroying the Geckos, the Lords, and all culebras.
Los hermanos Geckos are back!
The Lords give Seth and Richie the job of collectors, and after six months of collecting money from mid-bosses it seems like the Geckos have made themselves quite the reputation amongst culebras for their methods. Despite their success, Seth doesn’t seem settled with the job they have. He’s not a guy who likes working for the culebra Lords and shows the same sort of snarky cynicism towards Richie, especially when Richie indulges in that side of him. Despite the differences between them, it feels damn good seeing the brothers back in action again. A lot of the previous season involved two separate storylines, and as much as I liked seeing Seth’s development with Kate, you can’t beat the Gecko brother rhythm that they have.
The villain of the week, expanding the world of the culebras and their mythology, is a demon called Calavera, aka Skull Keeper. You have to admire Rodriguez for what might be an unintentional comedic element when it comes to the show. As ridiculous as the show can sometimes get, with characters like Sex Machine or a giant strip club that’s also full of snake-vampires, it doesn’t try ever try too hard. You know exactly what kind of show you’re watching. When an enemy like Skull Keeper, a demon with a couple dozen layers of practical effects and prosthetic makeup, is sitting out in the middle of nowhere around a campfire surrounded by stakes with skulls in the ground you’re not thrown for a loop.
Calavera, along with his boss Brasa, a supposed “natural enemy of culebra”, seem to have their sights set on the Lords. Calavera’s power is the ability to steal someone’s mind and take them over, he does this by literally ripping your skull out of your face. He does this with all of Venganza’s guards, and when the Lords meet, nearly all of them get killed off with the exception of Venganza herself. She gets pulled away by Freddie Gonzalez and one of her own body guards, Ximena.
Because of Calavera’s abilities, it takes the span of an episode for the Geckos to lose almost all of their allies within their organization. Those taken by Calavera need a shot to the head in order to be eliminated, which of course, leads Seth to shoot Richie in the head in order to confirm he hasn’t been taken by Calavera. Ahh, it feels good to be back.
The brothers beat Calavera, but they are left with more questions than answers. One of the men controlled by Calavera reference Seth’s heroin days, something that jars him as he is clearly still affected deeply by Kate’s death and considers the Lords’ empire built on her death. Surprised that Calavera would know of this information, it hints to the viewer of the reveal at the end of the episode.
With Brasa and Calavera freed from the labyrinth under the Twister, we see Brasa return to Calavera’s campsite after the Geckos have killed him and retrieve a blue amulet from the ashes. It’s then that we see him hand it to Kate. Surprise! Except, this is clearly not actually Kate anymore. Her body has been taken over, and whatever inhabits her is clearly not the girl we once knew. Brasa bows to her and she dons the amulet, and it turns black as it touches her skin.
It feels good to see the brothers back in action again, and seeing them actually working an operation together — complete with a secretary and sidekick. The first episode feels fresh again, with the Geckos once again in the thick of a fight they seem to be half in and half out of. It’s interesting to see them interact with each other on the regular, and it’ll be even more interesting once we see Seth and Kate reunite. He’s clearly racked with guilt and the two departed on uneven terms, there’s a lot of precious angst that can be mined there. Of course, she isn’t exactly Kate anymore, so we’ll see what this new being does with the knowledge of Seth’s demons at her fingertips.
English