Originally published May 7, 2014. Updated April 12, 2018.
Luke Owen reviews the eighth episode of From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series…
Last week’s episode was a madcap and bloody affair with plenty of decapitations, mutilations, throat slitting and a fair amount of titillation. This week’s episode, La Conquista, slows the pace down somewhat to deliver some much needed exposition to explain the history of Carlos, Santanico and the Titty Twister. What is surprising however is that this episode was directed by Evil Dead‘s Fede Alverez.
For a good three-quarters of the episode, you have to wonder why Robert Rodriguez gave La Conquista to Alverez. The majority of the episode is people sitting around and explaining the plot so it seems a waste to use a blood-thirsty horror director to sit behind the camera – like giving Sam Raimi an episode of a television adaptation of Clerks. La Conquista does pick up in terms of action towards the end, but it’s hardly the “completely bananas” 45-minutes he promised in his interview with Collider. Instead, La Conquista is a lot of talking. Necessary talking, but talking none the less.
The amount of exposition also hampers certain moments that needed more attention. Because the majority of the episode is Carlos and Santanico explaining their backstories, the episode rushes through other plot points. Kate gets kidnapped, but is rescued in the next scene, virtually 30 seconds after the initial capture. She also has a vision of her mother killing herself, a vision she gets having spent mere moments in the tomb corridors. The crew encounter a previous survivor, but his arc is rushed to the point where his name is irrelevant and his sacrifice has no impact. But perhaps the biggest crime is in Scott’s story. While this review won’t go into spoilers, the twist in his tale isn’t handled with the greatest of grace and just ends up being a forgotten footnote as the episode comes to a close.
Thankfully, La Conquista is saved due to the great script by Marcel Rodriguez who not only pens very good Tarantino-esque dialogue to fit in with the original movie’s tone, but he also crafts the history of Carlos and Santanico beautifully. Their dialogue is hokey and very silly, but he somehow makes it seem less stupid. He does however have a tendency to fall back on pop culture references to get a cheap laugh as if writing an indie comedy in the mid-1990s, which can become quite tiresome. Having said that, his Indiana Jones joke at the mid-way point of the episode is very cute and clever.
And to match his writing, the performances from everyone are once again strong. D.J. Controna has little do as does Zane Holtz, so the episode falls on the shoulders of Wilmer Valderrama and Eiza González to deliver the goods. And while Valderrama holds his own and proves that he is more than just “Fez from That 70s Show“, González falls a little flat. She is incredibly beautiful and well-cast as the temptress Santanico, but her delivery can often be very forced which makes her already hammy dialogue seem childish.
But none hold a candle to the joy that is Jake Busey. No matter what drivel they give him to read, he makes it sound great and he looks like he is having the time of his life in the role. When it comes to ‘who survives for season two’, we can all hope that Sex Machine will be one of the lucky few.
Eight episodes down and only two remain. La Conquista ends on a big note (even if it is one we all saw coming) and it will be interesting to see how the fallout of this episode effects the other characters as we move further into the final act. It may have been a waste to give this rather tepid episode to a director who gave us one of the gorier films of last year, but From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series is still riding high and running strong.
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
