I have just exhaled from this episode because I spent the hour plus holding my breath. The show just keeps topping itself each week and it is a shame when the credits roll. This episode saw a possible alliance from left field, an 11th hour save for EZ and Coco committing an an act that will scar him from here on out. Let's Discuss!
Covering Up
Oh Angel Reyes, you sure do know how to make this reviewer sweat. Thanks to EZ overhearing a conversation between Hank, Bishop and Chucky last week, team Rouge now knows that the prez thinks something is up with Coco. Angel needed to give them something so in an effort to reduce the heat, he told what I would define as 1/8 of the truth. He gave them the tunnel that Gilly discovered and that he was sorry for not coming forth sooner. The big wigs at the table seem to buy it and Angel may have been able to turn the knob down to simmer instead of boiling. The next bomb to defuse was that Chucky was mistaken about the mystery woman Coco has been talking to, so they bring Letti to the club and introduce Coco's offspring to his brothers. Chucky was able to confirm that this was the mystery woman Coco has been running off to see and with that, Bishop seemed to buy it. I know I had a theory about Bishop knowing, but at this point I am going to say it is just that, a theory because the prez seems to have no idea what is going on. What happens later in the episode though may just get Angel out of this jam thanks to Adelita. Speaking of Adelita (I am still going to call her that for now) she was a busy woman and her story becomes more compelling with each new turn.
Do you know who I am?
Last week we got a sliver of Adelita's past, but here we learned a whole more. She texts Angel to meet her and he and EZ sneak her across the border. As they drive, she questions the brothers Reyes about their family and they talk about their mom and their pop. She seems very interested in what they have to say and it makes sense given what she does next. She bid the boys adieu and heads off into parts unknown. The next time we see her, she is at the Reyes homestead keeping company with EZ and Angel's mother's ashes much to the bewilderment of Felipe. Felipe is shaken when he sees his love's urn missing and discovers Adelita at his table, and wants to know who she is, but she is very much aware of who Felipe is. Remember last week when Adelita revealed her name is Luisa Espina and Felipe said his partner's last name was Espina? Well as expected, this is not a coincidence, Adelita is Felipe's former partner's daughter. She believed that Felipe gave up her father and that led to the slaughter of her entire family when she was just six years old. It was no accident that she chose Angel to be her go between, it was planned for this moment because she wanted to kill Felipe to avenge her family's death. Felipe however has a history lesson for her which devastates Adelita. Now am I the only one who thought in this exchange that she might reveal she was Felipe's long lost daughter? I was crossing my fingers that wasn't the case, because I am really liking the chemistry of Angel and Adelita, so I was thanking the writers that Adelita was not related to any Reyes, but I digress. Adelita learns that there was a third party involved in the bad things Felipe and her father did, a priest who is now a bishop and the man Adelita confided in a few episodes back. He helped Felipe get out, so it stands to reason he helped her father when it was his time. Adelita is shaken and realizes she pinned vengeance on the wrong party, and quickly departs the Reyes family home even offering a sorry for the mistake. Once she collected herself, Adelita was all business and possibly struck a deal that was completely unexpected yet brilliant.
With Miguel cooling his heels in lock-up with no end in sight, something had to give. He had to endure getting urinated on, showing a man his brutal side and finally meeting with the woman who took his son. When Adelita sauntered through the door of the jail, I knew it was going to be tense. It never seemed possible that those two could sit down without it turning brutal, but it happened and the tension was nothing short of incredible. Adelita showed Miguel that she is no slouch when it came to calling his bluff and destroyed several of his operation sites, when he scoffed at her small potatoes move, she then showed him that she has eyes on all of his sites and can easily get to them. It felt that in this moment, Miguel almost respected her resolve but still felt a deep resentment for taking his son. That was all part of getting to this moment for Adelita, she had gotten his attention and he knew she was a formidable foe. Adelita informs Miguel that she is not dumb, she knows that there is no way to stop the vicious cycle that has poisoned the area for decades, but if they can work together and improve things for both sides, it may bring some sort of peace. This idea seems impossible, but she did mention a third party and earlier in the episode, Angel seemed to know what she was doing when he talked to Gilly, Coco and EZ. Could the Mayans be the third trusting party, thereby helping Angel? There is no deal yet, but with what happens to Miguel at the end, could
Los Olivdados be a useful alliance? Crazier things can and will happen. Speaking of things that are bonkers, EZ continues to skirt the line of his secret and his loyalty to the club.
I'm EZ Reyes
EZ's deal is on fragile ground and Lincoln Potter's task force decides to take him out of the game because he hasn't given them anything useful. Jimenez finally got out of his feelings and tries to advocate for EZ, but it is too late, the feds are moving on him and won't care if the Mayans are around to see him brought in. When the club gets wind that Miguel is in jail, EZ lets his handler know and it saves him from disaster. JD Pardo has impressed me each week with his portrayal of EZ. The many faces he must wear are daunting, but Pardo plays each side flawlessly. This is showcased again when EZ is being pursued by police after a BOLO is put out to bring him in. He masterfully makes the club believe he taking heat off of them after a gun pick up from a charter of SOA and the cops pull them over. For the second week in a row, EZ leads the cops astray and when he surrenders, he is brutally beaten. At the same time, Jimenez infiltrates the Potter operation after following his boss and tells the task force about Miguel. They had no intel on this and EZ once again proves his worth and the BOLO is rescinded. EZ is safe for now and the club is impressed.... Not that they can let him know.
Bishop dresses down EZ when he returns for going rouge and lets him know that he is skating on thin ice and that if he keeps it up, there will be no full patch and the exit from the Mayans will make the beating he took look tame. This of course was a tactic to let the prospect know he needed to accept his place, but there is no denying the club appreciates what EZ offers. The huge shadow looming over him is that he isn't the good soldier they think he is and if they ever find out why he is truly so good, it will get bloody. I also feel for Angel here, he has let EZ in fully and has no idea what his brother and also his father is hiding. Yes, it is for his own good, but with the relationship they've showed us, something tells me that Angel may not totally buy in to club being thicker than blood when it comes to his baby brother. At some point secrets will come out and it could fracture that relationship badly.
I Know You Will
Coco is making good on his word to make things different with Letti and it showed in the most shocking sequence of the episode. As mentioned before, Letti is introduced to her father's club and for the first time, she seems to feel safe. When Coco must bring her back to his mom's temporarily, that safe feeling turns to devastation. When the two show back up at Celia's, the reality Letti knows comes crashing back in and she does something I honestly can't blame her for. Celia is angry about the car from last episode and picks up that Letti and Coco are bonding. She obviously feels threatened and left out so she spits venom and tells them that she will say Coco was the one that stole the car with the body, and with that rap sheet, the cops won't question it. Coco tells his mom that it will be different and to give him time to get some money together for Letti, this seems to enrage her more. When Coco gives Letti all the cash in his wallet and promises to return, she almost tastes a new life until her not so loving grandmother ruins it and basically tells her it won't last and she needs to get back to selling her body and quick. Letti is desperate and brutalizes herself to show Coco how unsafe her life is with Celia. I honestly cannot blame this girl, Celia has done rotten things to all her children and instead of being a mom and trying to fix things with her son and granddaughter, she threatens both of them to get hers.
Letti shows up to the junkyard battered and when EZ tells Coco, he sees red and takes off. He shows up at his mother's and has had enough and in a brutal moment, he kills Celia. This was very hard to watch for Coco because he only saw his rage and I imagine the years of neglect and toxicity that came from his mother. Still, it was his mother and he took her life. Coco is obviously a character that has deep scars formed from birth, and perhaps this outcome was already written by the type of mother Celia was to him. The cancer of her is finally gone from their lives, but how will Letti settle what happened within herself? Celia was guilty of a lot, but ultimately she was not guilty of the catalyst that led to her death. Something tells me Coco may blame himself if he ever does find out because he's only made this decision to become a presence in Letti's life now. This story is the most surprising to me so far and the most compelling.
Other odds and ends:
* The good news for Emily is that Miguel did get Cristobal back, the bad news is that by episode's end her entire family is being taken into custody by Lincoln Potter's task force. It seems those hours in the wind gave the feds the perfect opportunity to pounce and raid.
* With Bishop off Angel's scent, the club found one of its members using the tunnel he let them know about to traffic people across the border. This could be the opening act of showing how Bishop deals with those who don't let him in on their side pursuits.
* The cockroach was our creature this week and there was no need to guess its meaning. So who are our cockroaches? The Mayans? Galindo? Los Olvidados? Maybe there is a piece of all of them in the symbolism of the cockroach.
* EZ found Felipe's box of secrets. Did Pop leave it there on purpose to finally absolve himself of his past life? And where is Felipe headed? Next week should be interesting for the Reyes family.
* With each passing episode I find myself caring more and more about Kevin Jimenez. He really is a good man with strong moral compass.
So what did you think? How did you feel about the revelation regarding Adelita? Will Miguel agree to her deal? Is Angel still doomed? Where does Coco go from here? Let me know!
