The Bridge - S1E5 - The Beast
Previously, on The Bridge: “Maria of the Desert”
This week’s The Bridge opens up with Fausto Galvan in a deep dark room filled with buckets of money to be counted. While one of his men is doing just that, Fausto is reading the paper and following the serial killer story. In a “What does it all mean?” kind of way, but more murdery, they’re discussing what it means to be a serial killer. His man assures him that serial killers are depraved sexual and mentally perverted monsters that enjoy killing, but Fausto? Nah, Fausto is a businessman.
Fausto then walks into the next room, interrogates and shoots someone dead. Whoever met those bullets gave up Steven Linder’s name. Poor Steven.
“I do not enjoy this.”
Table Manners
Sonya reminds us she’s Sonya by showing up at Marco’s home just as they are about to start Sunday dinner. She accepts his gracious invitation to join them, and returns the hospitality by asking his son Gus why he keeps eyeballing her, then tosses Marco’s wallet out onto the table telling him he left it at Charlotte Millwright’s, then tells his wife Alma her food tastes like shit. Way to get invited back.
Later, as Marco is getting undressed for bed, his wallet falls out while he’s pulling down his pants. Stupid wallet…always falling out when he’s about to get naked. Alma is all over that shit and kicks Marco out.
Old El Paso
Back at the police station, where Marco slept the night before, the FBI nut-huggers are still bogarting all the evidence and pissing Sonya off. Linder is no longer a suspect for anyone except Marco, who isn’t one bit convinced. Meanwhile, a young girl was arrested for shoplifting the night before and is just now getting picked up by her father. Her mother hasn’t bothered to come home in few days when she asks to stay with him instead she gets brushed aside. The new wife/girlfriend/whore /whatever isn’t “used” to kids. Nice. He offers her a ride but she’d rather walk.
Maria
A still unconscious Maria has yet to speak anything but delusional pleas for help. Sonya and Daniel are outside her hospital room and it’s been 2 days with no contact from the voice and zero minutes since Daniel has made a snide remark. Sonya asks him about his drug use and he scoffs that, shit…they are there, why not. The drugs make him hate himself a little less, and Sonya walks off because his answer makes her hate him more.
Ironing Things Out
While Steven Linder is ironing in his tighty whities, Calaca appears from the other room demanding to know where Eva is. Except we aren’t sure how bad he wants to finds the answer because he immediately attacks Linder with his death whip and tries to choke him. He almost does until Linder gets a hand on the iron and flattens Calaca’s head with it. Burn!
There’s a knock at the door, and its Marco ready to question him about his trips to Juarez. Linder manages to send him off by playing dumb through the chain lock. Linder plays great “dumb”.
Partners
Sonya and Marco are still getting stonewalled by the Feds and Sonya wishes they could just tap Daniel’s phone for the lead. After breaking the news to Wade that Marco used the station as his doghouse, she asks what their marital spat was about. Marco explains to her distant sense of how words work that she dumped his affair with Charlotte right under his wife’s nose. Thanks, Partner. She extends a jittery offer to use her couch for the night. Pretty surprised she didn’t offer it by saying, “My couch, not my vagina. We aren’t going to fuck or anything. Also, please don’t pee on it.” She has a way with words.
Bienvenidos
Our little shoplifter girl ended up walking right off into Juarez across the bridge. Seems a bit drastic to rebel at your shitty parents by heading into a place where girls come up missing more times than a set of keys.
Marco hits up Daniel’s office and manages to swipe his phone for Sonya. She’s going to be so happy she might not offend the entire room.
She Lives
Maria is giving her statement to Marco and Sonya with Marco translating. Before she offers up too much, we discover she has a baby in Houston. Marco tells her not to say anything until she is granted Political Asylum. Turns out, Wade knows someone at Homeland Security and he can reach out and help her get a Visa, and he does.
Can You Hear Me Now?
Sonya gets a late night call from the voice on Daniel’s phone. She answers it saying her name and that she is El Paso P.D. and he hangs up, then immediately calls her desk phone. Sonya tells him she knows he knew Agent Gedmen well, but the voice says he is no one special; anyone could find out Gedmen’s secrets just as well as they could cover them up. FBI?
Dinner Date
Marco meets up with Charlotte at a place called Hearts Coffee Shop. Isn’t that precious? Charlotte tells Marco she’s now mixed up with Graciana Rivera, which is seriously no bueno. He doesn’t want to know too much, but he tells her to ride it out for years if she has to. Charlotte promptly gives him a “You know you could tap this right now.” look, but Marco takes a pass on the ass, for now.
Some good news, Wade got Maria the Visa. Some bad news, Marco is heading home with Sonya. Oy, the company he’ll put up with just for a couch.
The Little Wanderer
Meanwhile, our clepto wandering waif, Gina has just been sitting on a stoop in the middle of Juarez. A man who lives there offers her some beer if she wants to come up to his place. Have her parents that don’t give a fuck about her taught her nothing? She takes a beer and when a woman that lives there questions why this grown man has a teenage gringa, he tells her to have a glass of mind your own business.
Later, after Gina has passed out the man is seen making a phone call that sounds like a kidnapping plan to get a ransom for Gina’s head. The woman from the other room sneaks past him, wakes Gina up and motions for them both to get the fuck out of there. He tries to chase them down after hearing the door open, but they get away through an alley. Even though a dark alley in Juarez sounds worse than being kidnapped.
She tells Gina the story of “The Beast”. Its what they call whatever is responsible for all the missing, kidnapped and murdered girls of Juarez. They ride out the night and the next morning she tells Gina not to come back Juarez. Gina walks home to America like a good girl.
The Cage
Now with Asylum, Maria is talking. She never saw the killer’s face because she was in the back of the car. She does remember that it had a cage, possibly like a police car. Sonya and Marco wonder if it could be one of their own responsible.
The Hot Widow
A night of wine drinking and drunk dialing seems to have landed Charlotte one of her former flings back on the ranch, and on her everything else. He’s come to visit and show her his new tattoo. Marco was a married man, but its clear this is about ten steps down on the rung of douche bag. Anyone else siding with the stepdaughter yet?
The Beast
After wrapping Calaca’s head in plastic wrap and his body in a rug, Linder is seen dragging his body through the desert. While digging him a not so proper grave, a car speed’s up directly at him and its Fausto Galvan and his crony. Fausto points to the grave and demands, “That…is mine.”
With Gedmen’s file in hand, Sonya and Marco now know the FBI had sent Gedmen to a head shrinker, named Peter Meadows. They race off to his home and fine police units have already arrived, oh! and it’s the same home Gina walked to after her night of bad decisions. They walk in guns first casing the place, and find Peter Meadows in a chair with a Colombian Neck Tie. Or is it a Juarez Neck Tie?
They hear a noise in the closet, and they find Gina crumpled in the corner and shaking.
