Written By: Robert Rodriguez, Diego Gutierrez
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Cast: D.J. Cotrona, Zane Holtz, Jesse Garcia, Robert Patrick, Wilmer Valerrama, Madison Davenport, Brandon Soo Hoo, Eiza Gonzalez, Jake Busey
Synopsis: Santanico Pandemonium makes her appearance and the Gecko brothers see what really lurks in the club.
This episode began with the snake dance made famous by Salma Hayek in the original film but I’m finding Eiza Gonzalez a poor substitute and I don’t feel she has the strength to play Santanico. The dance is lacking and the added dance pole just makes it look cheesy, but I did enjoy the Spanish version of ‘After Dark’ though.
Now this is where the film takes a different road to the original FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, Ranger Freddie Gonzalez spots Richie and a massive fight ensues. However instead of Richie getting bitten, Gonzalez is bitten and falls down a trapdoor.
The fight scenes are surprisingly gory and Gary Busey’s Sex Machine firing his crotch gun is hilarious. Scott has suddenly turned into some kind of ninja fighting off vampires with pool cues and chair legs and Jacob and Kate are pretty bland and useless.
We learn that the club is on top of a temple and Sex Machine gives a little history on what we are dealing with, Scott has also read up on it, I just love these kind of coincidences. Underneath the club Carlos and Santanico are hosting some kind of meeting with a group of head vampires, things turn hostile pretty quickly and another bloodbath occurs.
After a dream sequence Gonzalez awakes on top of a pile of bodies getting grinded up. I’m not sure why he isn’t a vampire yet but I am just happy that he is still alive. He is probably the most interesting character on the show and losing him would be a mistake.
After another vampire battle Scott falls through trapdoor and Santanico appears to tempt Richie again. The episode ends with Gonzalez shooting Richie and Santanico dragging his body off.
I quite enjoyed this episode, the acting was a little hammy at parts but overall it was fun. I really enjoy watching Gary Busey in anything so I just think his version of Sex Machine is hilarious. Robert Patrick and Madison Davenport were disappointing. Jacob is such a great character but he is so boring here, I just feel they butchered Harvey Kietel’s performance. The series Kate has been pretty annoying throughout, she did kill a couple of vampires with a chainsaw but I just cannot seem to take to her.
I really enjoyed how the club locked everyone in with heavy bars and doors and the inclusion of the trapdoors is interesting. The club is seen as a ‘juicer’ so all the blood from the dead feeds the vampires. We are told that two brothers will head down to the underworld to fight. So I see a kind of dark search and rescue mission occuring in the last three episodes.
It will be interesting to see how Seth interracts with Gonzalez, they must pair up to get out of there. The conflict between them is sure to be a great watch. I honestly can’t think how this will end, any clues from the film seem to be defunct now. The show has many flaws but it is entertaining and I look forward to seeing how the story will pan out.
[usr=4] From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series can be found now on Netflix. Click here to get involved.
