The Bridge - S1E3 - Rio
Previously, on The Bridge: “Calaca”
In a haunting opening scene, we are guided along with Charlotte in horse drawn carriages for Karl Millwright’s funeral and final resting place. A large chiseled tombstone that sits next to Charlotte’s own ready-made grave marker with the words, “Beloved wife of Karl” set in stone. As we pan across friends and family, we see an older woman watching from a safe distance.
DESERT BLESSING
We find out the deathly shrine in the desert was in indeed no blessing for the weary Mexican travelers. The water was poisoned and Sonya has found another bead, this one a bit larger than the first. Nine bodies are strewn about, but after speaking with the old couple that stayed behind, Ruiz discovers that there should be 10. Sonya takes off without a word like Sonya just does, and Wade tells Marco to follow her.
STEVEN
A quick shot of Steven Linder outside of his trailer naked, save a pair of tighty whities, and he seems to be in the middle of some strange morning bask in the sun ritual while rinsing his feet. He rubs some sort of salve or lotion on the long and vicious looking scar on his arm.
THE HILLS HAVE F.B.I.s
Back at the desert crime scene, Marco and Sonya are perched on a bluff, wait…is that a bluff? A hill? A ridge? Whatever…they are looking down on the bodies and realizing the killer probably watched the whole scene unfold. Sonya asks Marco if he is carrying binoculars, and when he jokingly says no she womp womps any attempt at humor once again. Sonya spots Steven’s trailer in the distance.
Down in the canyon (just going to keep making these natural words up, folks…it’s just all sand and dirt), the F.B.I. has shown up. Stoakes, the coyote killer, butts in and suggests they all work together and Wade puts Cooper together with him as a Team. Seems to satisfy Stoakes’ need to be involved, but its clear Wade is just using Cooper to get a read on why Stoakes keeps showing up right in the middle of the mess.
A WHORE AND HER MONEY
Kate, Karl’s daughter is throwing back a drink after the funeral. Charlotte approaches her quietly scolding that it isn’t even a noon, but Kate is drinking, dammit. Whenever it was Kate’s mother passed away, her father was in Cabo with Charlotte. Possibly trying to comfort her stepdaughter she tells her that Karl loved her very much. It works, if by Kate launching back with, “Why don’t you take your whore money, and leave me alone.” is a sign of “working”.
The sheet of ice under Charlotte just gets thinner as she approaches two women who obviously hold her in medium to zilch esteem. The socialites are curious if Charlotte is going to taker her ass back to whatever shitty Florida trash town she is from but Charlotte is staying put. Charlotte mentions helping these two Texas twats with one of the charities they Co-Chair, but they saunter off in a, why don’t you call us about that when you’re dead, attitude.
STEVEN’S TRAILER
Sonya and Marco are outside Steven’s now abandoned trailer, locked up tight with no one home. Marco would like to break the lock but Sonya follows the rules, despite the fact she is staring face first into a barrel of burned women’s clothing.
DANIEL FRYE
Back at the El Paso Police Central, Wade calls Daniel Frye in for help. Daniel looks like hammered shit, and took the time to snort a little coke before walking in. Yes. In the Police Station. Its obvious the killer wants Frye involved so Wade make him a deal: You come to us with any new communication from the killer, and we’ll keep handing you leads to follow. Wade hands Daniel a contact in Juarez that may know more about the missing traveler. Daniel takes the paper in disgust because as we are learning, Juarez in the equivalent of being strapped in the dentist’s chair with elevator music playing, but while being raped and murdered.
SONYA AND MARCO
While driving, Marco gets an email from the Attorney General of Mexico City that Sonya busted him about filing a report about him letting the ambulance pass by on the Bridge of the Americas. He wants her to drop the complaint, but no dice. He succumbs to her bullshit and they pull over to buy flowers for Kira…and I’ve already forgotten who Kira even is.
NO DEAL
The distant woman from the funeral has stayed behind and Charlotte spots her watching Karl’s prized horse, Rio. We learn she is the mysterious woman Karl spoke to one the phone that likes to bake casserole’s full of hundred dollar bills. She wants to work together with Charlotte, correction, she WILL work that tunnel whether Charlotte likes it or not. Charlotte insists the tunnel has to go, and the woman walks away, but not until glancing in Rio’s direction and saying, “Goodbye, Handsome.”
DANIEL AND ADRIANA
Daniel and Adriana are in Juarez to talk to the old couple for a lead on the missing female traveler. While Adriana is talking to Juan and Luisa, the killer calls Daniel and says he has the woman, and he’ll let her go for $1million split four ways between 4 men named Samuel Halston, Grady Moss, Buzz Larson and…Karl Millwright. Frye tries to get the killer to elaborate on why these four men were chosen and he responds with, “Dialectics.”
EL PASO BRIEFING
Wade is front and center with the news that they now know the missing woman’s name is Maria, and about the ransom demands. Apparently Sonya took it upon herself to reach out to the four names but the F.B.I. tries to pull rank. Charlotte shows up to discuss Karl’s name being on the killer ransom list and is greeted by Ruiz. Charlotte says she can’t imagine Karl would fork over a quarter of a million dollars, even though she fully admits she knows shit about what he did or didn’t want.
AN INTERROGATION
Sonya gets handed a homicide file linked to Steven Linder’s address. When they show up at Linder’s work, they ask him about his now dead neighbor, Wanda Cunningham. He admits to knowing the departed and very willingly comes along for questioning, but as he is waking out he drops the picture of the patient he took off the wall. Sonya sees it and picks it up.
Back in the interrogation room they tell Steven that they are looking for a girl who disappeared and ask if he knows Daniel Frye. Steven claims to know nothing or anybody in his own slaw-jawed kind of way, but smirks when Ruiz mentions the burned women’s clothing. Linder just claims he burns his trash, but seems agitated when Sonya whips out the discarded picture.
He explains it’s his sister Marina who he hasn’t seen in years. His answers clearly aren’t good enough for Marco, who threatens to break his everything. They release Steven and Sonya believes he is not the killer.
BACK IN JUAREZ
On their way through the market place, Daniel plays In The Way Guy right before a man shoots another man at point blank range. Oh, Juarez! Don’t ever lose your city slogan of Stay Murdery. Daniel and the intern race away from the scene and HOLY SHIT does FX love their too many commercials!
ADRIANA’S HOUSE
They arrive at Adriana’s family home for safety and so she can document the shooting they just saw. Who needs a shot of tequila? Daniel does. All of Adriana’s sisters are throwing their pussies at Daniel and he hasn’t felt this hot since never. Later, as Adriana is making up the couch for a tipsy Daniel, he wants to know how she made it out unlike her sister with 3 kids at age 20, etc. She said there are ways to not get pregnant. It seems she doesn’t like boys…that solves that strictly dickly problem.
EL PASO
Marco, Wade and Sonya are discussing the idea of dialectics and why the killer chose that group of rich white men to pony up the ransom. Sonya explains its pretty simple: Poles. Rich versus poor, legal versus illegal; the missing Maria is the opposite of every man on that list.
Marco hands Kira the flowers he bought along side the road saying they are from both him and Sonya, and Sonya has a mini social freak-out that Marco dared suggest she had any part of making someone else happy.
STEVEN’S LOST GIRL
Steven is sweeping the dark alleys of Juarez looking for the girl in the picture we now know is his sister. The man who killed his neighbor is following him, and he knows it. He manages to slip into the darkness and out of sight.
CHARLOTTE
Charlotte gets a late night visit from Marco. He tells Charlotte that he’d like her to sign a statement that she didn’t give him money on the bridge when he let the ambulance pass to help clear the complaint against him. Marco apologizes once again for her husband and the conversation turns to marriages, and how they can go up, and down, and in and out, and just like that Charlotte starts to climb Marco like a tree. En fuego!
THE LAUGH
In such an extremely intense series it must be noted that Paul, Sonya’s one night easy-peasy bar bang has shown up at the El Paso station looking to see her again. He’s greeted with a loud, abrupt and hilarious, “What are you doing here? I can’t have sex at work.” in front Wade and Cooper. Bahahaha! Its left on a, “I just fucked you, and this is crazy, but here’s my number and sorry I have Asperger’s” moment. Not awkward at all.
GOODBYE HANDSOME
After, as Marco pulls away from Charlotte’s house and her nighty, Charlotte hears a noise in the barn. Assuming its Cesar she walks into darkness all alone, of course to find Millwright’s prize horse Rio hanging in the barn with his throat slit. Message delivered. Goodbye, handsome.
THE BRIDGE BUTCHER
Sonya places an early a.m. call to Wade saying they found Maria, and to go online to the El Paso Times. A link with a Live Feed of a woman duct taped and tied down to the ground is playing, with the headline calling her The Bridge Butcher’s Latest Victim. That’s some responsible news reporting! Cut to Maria in the desert somewhere, taped, struggling all alone. The sun is beating down, and Wade just might be right.
That shit with the horse was seriously fucked up.
What shit with the horse?!
THE shit.
John…I had a bad feeling about poor Rio! But I knew we weren’t going to get out of this episode without She Who Has Yet To Be Named making her point.
Also…I’m digging this show a lot. It’s filled with a lot of anything could happen character wise, and thats promising.