La Jefa
Episode 6 of Narcos: Mexico Season 3 begins with contrasting scenes between Walt and Amado. While Walt gets accustomed to his newfound situation with the Mexican authorities, Amado sits pretty in his mansion. We’re up to 1994 and this is when sh*t really starts to hit the fan in Mexico. Three thousand rebels called the Zapatistas have begun a massive rebellion, beginning on January 1st, the day after NAFTA goes ahead. For the poor and indigenous people, it’s a step in the wrong direction as they believe they’re being driven out from the thin scraps of land they hold. Intending to quell their doubts, the corrupt government appoint an official representative called Colosio. This hand-picked candidate though, in a delicious twist of irony, stages a coup and begins to crusade on the side of the people. With Sinaloa and Tijuana at each other’s throats, Amada’s business booms. In fact, with Carlos by his side he manages to rise up to infamy, becoming the most prolific drug trafficker in the world. However, things can change in an instant. Part of that comes from Pacho, who strikes a deal with the government and decides to get out the game while he can. Amado realizes he’s on borrowed time. Mayo is also on borrowed time too, given Enedina is starting to tighten up her operation. She tells Mayo he needs to pay back the tax he owes. This time though there’s no leeway and things are serious. If he can’t pay it back then he won’t be able to operate – not even to move shrimp. Mayo shrugs off the threat and leaves. Alone, Enedina breaks the news to Francisco that the Cali cartel supply is starting to dwindle and that’s why they need to collect tax sharp-ish. Meanwhile, Victor is called to the morgue where the coroner believes he’s found his girl. She’s about 14 and it seems she was strangled to death. The necklace with her belongings matches that seen in Teresa’s photo, confirming the worst. When Victor breaks the news to her mum, it completely breaks him as he sees her heart shatter to pieces. Determined to try and solve this crime, he remembers Teresa had blood under her fingernails. He returns to the coroner, trying to uncover her killer but comes up trumps. In San Diego, Walt checks in with the PD where they happen to be tracking Benjamin and Ramon. They’ve arrested Alex, the judge’s son riding with them, armed with $14,000 and a firearm. For this alone, he could be looking at at least 5 years behind bars. Alex is wise to this and calls out Walt’s deception – and the fact he needs a warrant to actually make any of this legal. Realizing they’ll get nowhere with him, Walt gives the order to let the kid go. Instead, Walt decides to tail him as he heads down to the San Diego/Tijuana border. Walt watches as he rocks up at a complex, and begins a stake-out. Just like Andrea, he keeps tabs on the boy and it works dividends. He spies Alfredo Padova getting into his car; one of Ramon’s men. Feeding this back to the authorities, Walt and the gang decide to move on Ramon that night. With guns drawn, Walt sneaks inside while a big old shootout rages in the streets. One of the bullets gets Kitty, who bleeds out in the back of a car while racing away. However, Alfredo is arrested at the hands of Walt, pinned down on the floor. While all this is going on, political candidate Luis Colosio is shot dead on a campaign rally. Questions of who and why rages on, with lots of comparisons to the death of JFK in that there’s a lot of unknowns about what happened. Andrea shows up at the hospital, strategically placed to speak to Colosio’s distraught wife. She’s convinced this is an assassination, and nervously puffs her cigarette, blood staining her shirt. To be honest, everything here points toward that outcome too. Meanwhile, Victor strikes a deal with the DEA. In exchange for a DNA and blood test on Teresa’s fingertips, he agrees to spill details about Amado and his brother Vicente. However, it also means he needs to work undercover for them too, which has a number of risks attached to it. In a local strip joint, Victor meets Vicente and plays an undercover role. Vicente immediately casts doubts, asking whether the man can be trusted, which Victor nods through and remains nervous. His wide-eyed stares show a pretty poor poker face, but some of this comes from the realization that Vicente may well be the man responsible for killing these girls. If the way he cozies up to a young girl in the club is anything to go by, he seems to have his man. Andrea heads out that night from work and notices a shady man lurking around her car. He tells her to be careful, walking away as she breathes a sigh of relief. At the same time, Alex, from behind bars, rings Walt in fear. He believes Ramon is going to kill him and asks for help. Walt immediately rallies the troops, telling the General what’s going on and moving on their location. After a deal with Amado goes south, Enedina makes her move too, and decides to prove a point. She has her men burn Mayo’s shrimp boat, gun down Juan from the Sinaloa cartel, courtesy of a motorcycle drive-by, and even gun down Amado and his men at a restaurant. While Amado manages to get away, Enedina doesn’t stop there. She also makes a move on the military, blowing up their car right in front of Walt and the others.
The Episode Review
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned indeed; Enedina makes her move at the end of the episode and boy is it dramatic! This essentially sets up a massive conflict to come, with this attack essentially starting a war between her gang, the Sinaloa’s and Amado’s operation. While admirable, one can’t help but feel she’s about to feel the wrath of Amado in a big way. Before that happens though, this whole chapter is poised nicely to see the swinging allegiances between the different people we’ve been following across the season. Nowhere else is that more evident than with Victor, who has now turned from crooked cop to a man on a crusade to try and uncover the truth. His nervous approach to undercover work certainly isn’t going to win him any awards any time soon, but he’s at least in the door. It also seems likely that Vincente is the one behind killing these girls, which of course leads back to the gang violence again. The whole series is set up nicely for the final four episodes now and massive question marks remain over exactly what’s going to happen next.
