From Dusk Till Dawn - S01E08 La Conquista (2014)

Review

Seth is not happy with Ranger Freddie, who mortally shot Richie in the previous episode, and is quite happy to slit his throat. Naturally Jacob isn't going to allow this to happen but quickly agrees to leave the Ranger roped up as Seth, Jacob, Kate, and Sex Machine make their way down a chute, over a meat grinder and deeper into the temple as they attempt to find Scott and then get out of Dodge. Naturally things don't go quite to plan but the team do receive some help from an unexpected source.

Meanwhile Panda needs Richie to agree voluntarily to becoming a vampire in order for him to attempt five trials and set her free. Turns out Panda has been cursed and cannot leave the temple. We also learn Carlos' background and how he came to be Panda's main man. Get ready for some action as the survivors lock and load on the vampire hordes.

While the season plot arcs move forward La Conquista does spend more time looking backwards to see how the temple below the Titter Twister came about and in particular how Carlos became a disciple of Panda. Seems Carlos arrived in Mexico with fellow Spanish Conquistadors intent on converting the natives to Catholicism and making off with any gold that wasn't nailed down. Naturally Carlos is lead to a certain temple by locals which is the lair of Panda, a native women who has been cursed with the whole snake vampire thing and is condemned to spend all eternity trapped in the temple. Naturally Carlos is soon all vampy, much to the detriment of Carlos' fellow Spanish. The dude explains all this to Freddie in the Twister in typical Bond villain fashion; he really needed a cool moustache he could twirl for mine.

Rodriguez delivers on the background he promised prior to the season starting

More surprises are in store when we learn Ranger Freddie is from a long line of vampire hunters, hence his ability to withstand the venom pumped into him last week. The Fullers for sure were keen on leaving Freddie hogtied as they thought he was only a couple of beers away from transforming into a blood sucking freak. Seems Freddie's abilities to throw things in randomly cool fashion, he nails Carlos with a table leg in this episode, and his inherent ability to dispatch blood suckers left, right, and center are all in his genes. Actually in one spite filled scene Carlos, who refers to Freddie as 'mal parido', tells the Ranger that he will never see his wife and kid again, though whether or not this was vindictive or some sort of prophecy remains to be seen.

Meanwhile Panda has Richie at her mercy and is trying the old seduction route in an attempt to get the Gecko Bro to join the Los Culebra team. When that doesn't work, Richie is pretty immune to the evil sex magic, she tries the old "you're dying, eternal life, yadda yadda", which appears to have our boy at least contemplating a change in life style. We learn Panda was a simple village lass who was unfortunately born on the wrong day at the wrong time and became the focal point of the local religious lunatics. When they went from delivering flowers and fruit to delivering blood sacrifices Panda did a runner, which only ended up with her tossed into a snake pit, cursed to being a snake vampire, and left to spend eternity in the Temple of doom. Troubling Richie at last sort of agrees to facing up to her five tasks as Panda proves to be a bit rapie really.

Its Fuller time folks, and things are not going to end well as the Christians find themselves definitely thrown to the lions. Scott of course is lost and alone in the catacombs that seem to make up the temple and discovers a whole new life style via the ever pesky Carlos. Kate is definitely coming into her own, she's turning into one tough chick that isn't holding back the menfolk, in fact she dishes out a lot more than she is receiving. Really enjoying this character who is growing episode by episode. And finally Jacob is pretty much a static character, though to be fair to writer Marcel Rodriguez there's not a lot you can do with dad Fuller. Strangely Kate has visions of her mom, but to be honest I'm still unsure what that was about, Mom appears to have tried to committed suicide by taking the ever popular overdose of sleeping pills which might explain the fatal car journey.

Before I forget we get an explanation for Sex Machine's handle, was it just me or was that a huge wink to the audience about the character's purpose or perhaps the strange insertion of the Sargent Frost character which seems slightly convenient for mine. Anyways as explained by the good Professor his name derives from "Deus ex Machina" with the addition of an "S". Sex Machine is definitely fitting into the role of Falstaff in the series, the engaging comedic character inserted to lighten up the mood. He was apparently most impressed that the vamper natives were still practising blood sacrifice; in short he's one weird dude.

So in essence the episode is more about filling in the background of some major characters, something Robert Rodriguez promised before the season hit our screens, and was less about moving the plot along, though we do get the team down in the dungeons, Richie moving toward his destiny, and Ranger Freddie having real problems with Carlos as their battle rages.

Director Fede Alvarez nails some classic scenes, the glowing eyes behind Scott, the almost epic battle between Freddie and Carlos, and for sure the Los Culebra hordes in the myriad confined walkways of the temple - props to the makeup team there. Even though we are spending vast amounts of time on flashbacks Alvarez ensures we are getting some way past cool action to be going on with, excellent stuff folks. About the only issue I had was with a tad overuse of coloured filters, Alvarez just can't get enough of that.

Another excellent episode in this absorbing season that has definitely got me smiling, excellent action scenes, Kate going ballistic, and enough meat on the bone in regards background stories to have the blanks being filled in. La Conquista, translation "The Conquest", did throw a few more questions on to the table, what are the trials Richie needs to pass to free Panda, how is Freddie going to get out of his slight fix with Carlos, and for sure I'm looking forward to the confrontation between Jacob and Scott over the boy's new lifestyle. As ever From Dusk till Dawn, and yes that was groan inducing when Panda added it to her sales pitch to Richie - dialogue ain't what you are in this show for, remains highly addictive and must watch television. No idea how things are going to spin out from here, will Panda gain her freedom for example, but am looking forward to finding out. Highly recommended kids, if you haven't been grooving to From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series then you need to take remedial action right now!