From Dusk Till Dawn - S01E10 The Take (2014)

Review

The Gecko Bros complete their tasks under the pyramid and re-emerge into its dark and dank hallways. Richie has the power to release Panda but is facing a turncoat Carlos and the last of the Nine's emissaries. Seth is simply letting the weirdness roll as he keeps his cool and sorts things out for our would be goddess and her newest disciple. Meanwhile down in the catacombs Sex-Machine has found that old time religion but is thwarted from sacrificing Kate by Ranger Freddie.

Seems Scott has some family issues and is keen for the Fuller clan to experience his new life style choice, which proves bad news for Jacob but Kate in her new found bad arse mode is having none of it. Things don't end well for the Fullers, but at least Kate gets to go for a ride in a groovy sports car with Seth, who has broken his ties with his errant Bro. Richie releases Panda from her curse, and the two depart the Titter Twister for parts unknown, leaving Carlos, who is forced to confront the Pyramid's trials. Did the ending make any sense to anyone else?

The Take ends season one on a disappointing note as nothing much is really resolved and we are left with the major villains coming back at us next season, the show has already been renewed for another season by the way. While a few characters fall by the wayside, notably two of the Fuller clan and Sex-Machine, everyone else is either getting out of Dodge or ending up in their own purgatory. On the bright side the Producers are now no longer constrained by the original movie and can start looking at either expanding the mythology or bringing in an entirely new set of characters. I would kind of like to keep in contact with Seth and Kate and most definitely would be voting for Panda and Ritchie to begin a return engagement. The Ranger Freddie storyline has kind of run its course for mine and guess we're all over the whole Mayan/Aztec Pyramid in the Mexican desert thing. With The Strain rapidly gathering a following Rodriguez for sure has to take a few risks and throw down on the next season. Anyway that's in the future, let's chow down on The Take.

Ultimate the episode is like a first kiss from a cousin, sort of Tasmanian and not as exciting as expected

First up the episode has mucho issues in terms of pacing and leaving us hankering for more Dusk Till Dawn. The Geckos finish their tour of duty down the catacombs having overcome the trials and tribulations sent their way, the whole snake thing was pretty cool and incredibly unexpected though working in firmly with the mythology developed through the season. Only problem for mine was it was way too easy for the Brothers Grimm to overcome the tasks put before them and come up with a solution to Panda's house arrest. Seemed to me the Janitor could have wandered in and knocked that one over while dusting. Equally Sex-Machine is stopped in his sacrificing tracks before we get the full skinny on exactly what he is hoping to achieve, I was sweating on a bit more butter on that particular slice of toast. And finally the whole Fuller new life style thing is knocked over pretty smartly as Kate demonstrates her new found bad ass attitude. Anyone else find Scott to be ultimately a whiney little bitch, even with his new found Culebra super powers?

On the cool side Panda goes full on vampire with the snake like face, fangs, and some pretty fly wings, see what I did there, that had me sitting up and begging for more. One thing Rodriquez has nailed through season one is getting the mythology correct, albeit with snake like rather than bat like blood suckers. For anyone without the Cliffs Notes on the Aztec religion the whole flying serpent thing is pretty huge, worth a blood sacrifice in fact, hence everything remains pretty logical and true to the Dusk Till Dawn universe even when things are getting pretty weird. The whole season hinged around Richie getting Panda out of Dodge, and darned if he doesn't managed to do that, even with some wrinkles in the plot. Not sure where the character of Panda is going to go in the second season, if indeed she is included, but the concept is primed and ready to fire, for sure I'm going to be tuned in to see what happens.

One thing has me intrigued looking ahead is Richie's trans morphing into a blood sucking snake monster. He hasn't been sucking up any blood yet, hence he hasn't fully turned if Dusk Till Dawn follows traditional vampire lore, ergo can the maniac Gecko Bro discover redemption somehow? Equally if Seth or someone else stakes Panda will that release Richie from his new life style? Plenty to think on while we await developments next season, excellent work in developing the character of Richie and leaving an enticing possibility for future episodes. I really don't want this show to follow the JC Vampires track, that movie for sure was setting itself up for a television series, fingers crossed no one in television decision making reads this.

While there's no real satisfying conclusion to be had in the episode it does tie off a number of loose ends that for mine had been floating around for a while. Kate comes to full terms with her mother's death, no longer holding Jacob responsible; not entirely sure that plot point was handled with aplomb through season one to be honest. Notably Scott is unable to get on-board the new family dynamic and naturally pays the price. Nice scene where Kate says no to the RV and opts for Seth's sports car, our little girl is all grown up folks. The other point that hasn't been handled well during the season is Sex Machine, not quite sure what his story was to be honest, guess we're not about to find out anytime soon as Ranger Freddie goes all pointy end of the stick. Clearly the idea was to cut back on some staff heading into season two, and heaven knows what, there's no real bridging left between the seasons to be honest.

Overall I had a good time with season one, Dusk Till Dawn touched all the major points of the original movie, filled in the colours while sticking by and largely between the lines, and did exactly what Rodriquez had promised at season start. Not entirely sure anyone is going to come out of the season feeling totally satisfied, but then again the show is finding its feet and should get better in season two as it develops its own plotlines. Worth a look folks, though to be honest not vital can't miss television for even dark genre fans, more in the "this could get interesting down the line" mode for mine. Fingers crossed we get some returning characters next season in a sort of Salem's Lot fashion, now I would be up for that.

Currently we have three major vampire style shows on offer on the small screen; please note I'm excluding retarded teenage girl tripe like The Vagina Vampire Diaries. The almost finished True Blood, one season left folks, The Strain, which looks awesome to be honest, and From Dusk Till Dawn. Thankfully the modern trend, excluding tween chick shite, is for predatory vampires that are never ever going to be central attractions in a petting zoo.