© Netflix
The takeaway from this episode is that literally nobody is having a good time in Guadalajara at the moment, not even Rafa, who is still consuming a quite heroic quantity of cocaine.
Last episode, Kiki proved that he really does have a talent for thinking outside the box, after he figured out yet another way to apprehend Gallardo, considering they’re having trouble getting anywhere near him in Mexico. The fact that half the police force are on Gallardo’s payroll has been going against the DEA since they started, but Kiki decides to use it to their advantage instead. He plants financial documents in a raid on an aeroplane, which lead directly to where Gallardo is stashing his money in the USA, knowing that this information will get relayed back to him. So when Gallardo’s dodgy American finance guy phones him to say he needs to shift their money somewhere the DEA can’t see it, and that he needs Gallardo’s signature to do it, Gallardo takes the bait. Unbeknownst to him, the DEA have been leaning on his finance man behind the scenes, and threatening him with being charged. I have a feeling things aren’t going to end well for this guy.
Before he takes a trip north of the border to sign the papers, Gallardo is doing his best to pave the way for Colombian cocaine to pass through Mexico. He has a shipment from Escobar due, but hasn’t been able to get his government contact to give permission for it to land. The contact, Zuno Arce, seems to talk almost exclusively in mysterious haikus, and he likes golf. That’s pretty much all Gallardo gets out of them at their meeting, so he is left frustrated, with the prospect of the whole operation going to pieces.
Gallardo is having a nightmare © Netflix
There’s also trouble at home brewing, because a member of staff at a jewellery shop who’s never heard the word ‘discretion’ accidentally drops Gallardo in it by revealing to his wife that he’s been buying watches for other women. She goes a bit private detective and gets the women’s addresses from the shop assistant, then stakes out all of their houses. One of them, an art dealer that Gallardo bought a distinctive painting from, has a rather large baby bump. I wondered why we kept getting close-ups of that painting in his office…
Rumbling along beside all this drama for Gallardo is the ongoing feud with Falcón. As retribution for them encroaching on his territory, he stole a load of marijuana from Gallardo’s warehouse in the last episode. This time, Don Neto rounds up a merry band of dirty cops and steals it back, and Chapo burns down Falcón’s warehouse as they leave. In an escalating bout of preposterous tit for tat, Falcón then gets the army involved, and Rafa, Chapo and Don Neto are lucky to escape with their lives as helicopters and army trucks descend on them. This gives us Don Neto’s comedy moment for the episode. As they can hear helicopters circling overhead, there’s some panicked and unnecessary debate as to whether Falcón had said he’d come at them with “an army” or “the army”. Turns out it was the latter.
Falcón modelling some lovely tan velour. © Netflix
Gallardo needs this problem to go away, so he sends Isabella, who seems to be the only person in his operation with a brain, to go and smooth things over with Falcón. He’s stubborn, and she ends up leaving, but just as she does, he follows her and it looks like he’s about to come to an agreement. But before he gets chance to say anything the police show up, execute him and throw him unceremoniously into the boot of their car, leaving us to wave farewell to Falcón’s terrible hair and brown loungewear. I suppose that’s one way of dealing with a problem.
The time has finally come for Gallardo’s trip to the USA to sign the papers needed to shift his dodgy money away from the DEA’s prying eyes. Kiki lies in wait, just over the border, ready to arrest him as soon as he sets foot on US soil. There’s a tense moment as the border guard takes Gallardo’s passport. It’s all taking too long. Kiki is on edge, and so is Gallardo. Finally the guard hands the phone to Gallardo. It’s his government contact, who tells him that Escobar’s shipment has been given the green light, and also that he might not want to step over the border unless he wants to get arrested. Gallardo turns back, leaving Kiki dejected once again.
After his narrow escape, Gallardo returns home to find a painting by the same artist as the one in his office hanging right in the hallway. It’s his wife’s incredibly extra way of telling him that he’s been rumbled. Not a great day for Félix.
