The Night Belongs To Us
Episode 5 of Somos Season 1 begins with Carlos putting pressure on Oscar. With his Mother and wife both on the cusp of being put bars, Oscar has a big decision to make. As Carlos puts it, he’s simply a worm on the end of the hook. They want the big fish and that includes using Oscar to take out the big players in the cartel. Oscar heads in to see Hector, feeding back the news about the DEA and the Blackberry phones. As predicted, Hector hands over a supply drop to Benjamin, forcing him to make the delivery. However, that delivery has been marked, given Oscar knows the PIN numbers. Benjamin shows up at the estate, where he finds Cesar there waiting for him. There’s certainly no love lost between them, especially when he mentions Isildro sorting out Anselmo’s funeral. For now, he hands over the bag and is sent on his way. Back in town, Benjamin is manhandled by Cesar’s men. They beat him down – clearly on orders from their boss – who’s now taking the reigns of this operation and not messing about. Benjamin is dropped off at the brothel that night, where he refuse treatment for his wounds from Nayeli. When he passes out, she takes his wallet and stashes the money within the familiar loose brick in the wall that Flor Maria kept originally. Oscar continues to play a risky game, with his blackberry PIN numbers handed over to Carlos on the phone that night. Isidro meanwhile, arrives to pick up Benjamin, forced to hand over cash to the brothel owner for the pleasure. Well, this sends Isidro on the war path, determined to find out who’s responsible for beating his son. He waits by the church for Cesar, warning him to stay away from Benjamin. Unfortunately this doesn’t go well, especially when he learns his son is in over his head. By night he belongs to the cartel and that’s not an easy thing to break free from. Elsewhere, Chema arrives to pick up Ronaldo from the bar. He’s drunk and shamed from his experience last episode with the fire engine. Chema stays sober but almost ends up in another fight when Ronaldo starts berating the men who beat him down in the bar. Back home – and in secret – he confesses to Irene that he’s worried. He can’t face Rosalia right now, especially in this depressed state. This fight against El Diablo and the cartel has been hard-fought and he begins to despair. As one last roll of the dice, Isidro sets up a job with his Uncle for Benjamin to walk into. Isidro wants to save him from danger but it’s no good. Benjamin knows he can’t leave even if he wanted to – the cartel’s reach stretches far beyond his ability to run. Well, Benjamin heads into the brothel and pays his way to sleep with Nayeli. Meanwhile, Hector and Oscar are both picked up from the motel and bundled in the back of their car. They head across the border without being stopped and are smuggled in with the DEA on the other side. With Hector gone, Cesar’s men burst into his house with guns. Cindy is obviously shocked but she lets them look around before realizing that he’s gone. The DEA continue to work on Carlos’ command. The operators however have managed to uncover a pretty widespread network across the US. They’ve also figured out a call three hours before to Federales Headquarters. In particular, the SIU (Special Investigation Unit.) After that call, everything went dark. The damning truth is revealed as it’s revealed that Carlos’ superiors have leaked key details of the investigation, betraying the trust he put in them. The result is not good. Hector calls Carlos panicked, claiming people will die because of what’s happened. With the cartel lusting for blood, an enraged and incredulous Carlos heads straight into his boss’ office and punches him square in the jaw.
The Episode Review
With the operation now hanging on a knife-edge and seemingly compromised thanks to the recklessness of the DEA, Benjamin and Hector’s fate hangs in the balance. Of course, it runs deeper than that too, with Isidro potentially the scapegoat for the cartel if they can’t find Benjamin. The DEA are certainly closing in on the cartel though and it seems we’re gearing up for a dramatic finale to follow this. So far the show has been a simmering hotpot of different subplots that have worked well to complement the main plot line. The character writing has been really strong too and the shades of grey each character adopts walks a fine line between right and wrong. This is what the show excels at the ruthless nature of the cartel helps t ramp up the tension during some of the more dramatic moments. With everything looking set to spill over into all-out drama, the ending leaves things wide open for this extended finale up next.