From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series is an action/horror series that is an adaptation and expansion of the 1996 film From Dusk Till Dawn. Using the same characters and basic story, the first season of From Dusk Till Dawn retells the story of the film while fleshing out story elements into a ten-episode saga. It’s debatable if this adaptation was necessary in the first place, but the first episode of the series definitely intrigued me enough to give it a chance.
The episode begins with a woman running from some tribesmen through a jungle. The tribesmen catch up to the woman and throw her into a deep pit of snakes, which then proceed to wrap around her and enter her body. This sequence in and of itself can be hard to watch, but it allows the show to begin with a type of cinematography that is very common in a B-movie, and that seems to work really well for the story that’s being presented in this series. The story then moves to Texas Ranger Earl McGraw (Don Johnson) talking to his partner, Freddie Gonzalez (Jesse Garcia), about the upcoming baptism of Freddie’s daughter while Freddie looks through photos of a crime scene. The pair pulls up to a liquor store because Earl has to use the restroom. Inside the store, Earl has a bad feeling, and he begins to question the cashier about whether or not he has seen the criminals that he and Freddie are looking for. The criminals are the Gecko Brothers, Seth (D.J. Cotrona) and Richie (Zane Holtz), who are on the run after robbing a bank, killing police officers, and taking a bank teller hostage. The cashier says that he hasn’t seen them, and Earl goes to the restroom. While washing his hands, Earl finds a knife on the sink with an odd symbol. He questions the cashier once more about the Gecko Brothers but is shot in the back by Richie before the cashier can answer.
After the title sequence, the story flashes back to the beginning of the morning with Earl getting ready for work. A voice-over on top of this sequence of Earl telling Freddie a little of his backstory really gives Don Johnson a chance to shine. Even in just a couple of scenes, Johnson really brings an air of believability to the role of beleaguered Texas Ranger, and his conversation with Freddie about spending time with his newborn daughter is all the better for it. As they return to their car, Earl and Freddie hear about the Gecko Brothers on the radio, as the story then turns to the Gecko perspective. Seth and Richie are arguing about their current situation as they pull up to the same liquor store from the beginning, and this argument immediately establishes a great rapport between the two brothers. Seth blames Richie for what happened at the bank and talks about trying to simply make it to Mexico without being caught by the police.
Inside the store, Seth goes to the restroom, leaving Richie alone. Seth flashes to the bank robbery, clearly bothered by the sequence of events leading to their escape. During this time, Richie begins flirting with a young lady that comes into the store, and he hallucinates that she is someone else. He immediately begins acting very creepily toward Jessie, the young woman, and she walks up to the counter, where her friend is talking to the cashier. Before the girls can leave, Richie appears at the front door, holding a gun. Back in the restroom, Seth leaves a knife on the sink, determined to get to Mexico with his brother. When he walks out, he sees Richie holding a gun on the two girls and the cashier, convinced that he was recognized by them. Seth tells the girls to stay quiet when a car containing Earl and Freddie pulls up to the store.
Seth and Richie hide with the girls, giving the cashier the assignment of getting the Rangers away. The brothers listen on as Earl questions the cashier, and Seth threatens the cashier once again, while Earl is in the bathroom after Richie misinterprets their conversation as a tip-off that the brothers are there. Outside, Freddie chases a piece of paper from the car to the store after the wind catches it from his hand. Richie once again hallucinates while looking at Jessie, and it causes him to walk up behind Earl and shoot him. Freddie hears this shot, and a gunfight ensues. Richie and Seth begin to argue, and Richie shoots the cashier as Seth threatens Freddie. Earl, not yet dead, lectures Freddie, who reaches for his phone that he realizes is still in the car.
Seth continues threatening Freddie as Richie once again hallucinates that the two girls are supernatural beings. Seth leaves Richie to watch the hostages while he walks away to call the mysterious Carlos (Wilmer Valderrama), who is revealed to be the man who orchestrated the bank robbery and Seth’s prison break. Carlos agrees to help the Geckos get to safety, telling Seth to trust Richie, who “sees things you don’t.” The cashier secretly crawls to a safe, trying to find a gun to get to Earl. Seth walks back into the room and says that everyone will live if Freddie surrenders. The story flashes back to the start of Freddie’s morning to show him interacting with his wife and baby daughter. Back in the liquor store, Freddie has surrendered and is trying to stop Earl’s bleeding. Freddie reassures Earl that he has a plan as the cashier finally opens the safe containing a gun.
Richie tries to convince Seth that the two girls were sent to spy on them, but they are interrupted as Carlos calls Seth to tell him that the plan has changed and that the brothers will have to meet Carlos at a bar in order to get them to safety. Seth tells Richie that they have to leave now as Earl makes Freddie promise that he will kill the Gecko Brothers. Pete tosses Earl the gun from the safe just in time for Earl to use it to shoot Richie in the hand. Another gunfight ensues, ending with Freddie shot and Earl and the cashier dead. This sequence is a classic example of Robert Rodriguez violence, and it works spectacularly in the context of this series. Richie has another hallucination as the two girls repeatedly kick him before telling Seth that there is something “seriously wrong” with his brother. Seth shrugs this off as he sets the liquor store on fire while he and Richie get in their car to head to Mexico. Freddie recovers as they drive away, determined to fulfill his promise to Earl.
This first episode of From Dusk Till Dawn takes a very short sequence from the film and expands it out to the length of a full episode. Surprisingly, the episode never feels overly long, and the backstory that is added in works extremely well. The episode is full of witty dialogue, and the cast really shines with the material that they are given. As expected, the violence is a major point in the episode, but, as mentioned before, it really works well in the context of the series. There’s still a long way to go until the story catches up with the ending of the first film, but this first episode proves that From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series will be a wild ride, and I’m very glad to be along for that ride.
[Photo via El Rey Network]
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