The first episode of From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series piqued my interest more than enough to keep watching, and the second episode, “Blood Runs Thick,” continues to expand the story of the show out from the source material.
The episode opens with a flashback from before the events of “Pilot” with Seth and Richie arguing over food, continuing to establish the great rapport between the two characters that was introduced in the first episode. The conversation turns to the five years that Seth spent in prison, with Richie being disappointed that Seth didn’t accomplish anything while incarcerated. Eventually, Richie admits that he is upset that Seth did not let him plan the bank robbery, but Seth reassures him that they will be making history. Immediately afterward, the brothers walk over to a bank, taking a bank teller hostage and knocking out a security guard.
After the title sequence, the episode jumps forward past “Pilot” to the Fuller family: father Jacob (Robert Patrick), son Scott (Brandon Soo Hoo), and daughter Katie (Madison Davenport). The Fullers are in a RV on their way to Mexico, and Katie is disappointed that Jacob doesn’t seem to have a specific destination in mind. Jacob is equally disappointed in Katie’s communication with Kyle (Collin Fish), a boy from their church. After an argument with her dad, Katie and Scott express their equal concern over Jacob’s spontaneity, revealing that their mother has been dead for the past six months. Eventually, the Fullers pass by the liquor store from the first episode as Freddie finally makes it to his cell phone in his car. Freddie calls in the incident before commandeering a passing SUV. Seth and Richie are on their way to Mexico to meet Carlos, arguing about both what happened at the liquor store and what happened at the bank. Seth asks Richie if he is on drugs, trying to figure out why his brother is acting this way. Richie gets mad at Seth for leaving his knife behind before wrapping his hand wound in duct tape. He warns Seth that “something’s coming,” as banging from the trunk of the car reveals that the bank teller is still being kept hostage.
Around this time, Kyle is in his truck, driving to catch up to Katie and the Fullers. On the phone with Kaite, Kyle reassures her that he is on his way to get her. In an awkward segue, Katie questions her father about his wedding ring, only to learn that he pawned it to buy the RV. She tries to talk to Jacob about the night that her mother died, but he brushes off her questions. Freddie has returned to the liquor store, and he questions the two girls about what the Gecko brothers said while they were hostage. They reveal that a man named Carlos planned everything, and they also show Freddie a symbol (the same “eye” symbol that was on the knife) that Richie drew on the palms of their hands. A Texas Ranger shows up to tell Freddie that he is being taken off the case after the events from the previous episode, but Freddie ignores these orders to continue his search for the Gecko Brothers. On Earl’s dead body, Freddie finds Richie’s knife.
Seth and Richie continue to argue about the hostage in their trunk, and Richie pulls the car over after thinking that he hears a woman talking to him. Flashing back to the morning of the bank robbery, the bank teller is passing out paychecks as the Geckos burst through the doors. Before this happens, though, she discovers her daughter’s cell phone in her pocket. Richie takes the teller, Monica (Samantha Esteban), hostage and shoots out the bank’s security cameras. Seth takes all of the employees’ cell phones, but he doesn’t know about the one that is in Monica’s pocket. He tells Richie to bust the back door to give them an easy exit, but Richie gets distracted when he finds an iced coffee in the break room. They find out that they can’t open the vault because Richie knocked out the man with the combination, but a mysterious voice tells him that one of the ladies also knows it. When he threatens one, Monica speaks up. Back on the road to Mexico, Richie and Seth get into a fistfight after Seth calls his brother crazy. At this time, the Fullers stop to eat at a restaurant, but Katie calls Kyle to tell him her location after her dad and brother leave. Back with the Geckos, Seth calls Carlos to complain about his brother, but Carlos reassures him that he should trust Richie. Carlos hangs up, flagging down Kyle’s truck (noticeably, his hand burns when the sun hits it). Saying that he’s out of gas, Carlos gets in Kyle’s truck. They have a conversation about souls and religion before Carlos drains Kyle’s blood with retractable fangs.
At the bank, Seth and Richie wait on Monica to open the vault, but she realizes that she doesn’t know the new combination. Richie pushes her aside and begins to manually crack the safe with the help of the mysterious voice that he keeps hearing. He gets freaked out, causing Seth to try to open it with a drill. In the bathroom, Monica tries to convince Richie that Seth doesn’t trust him. He begins threatening her, only to be interrupted by the bank’s alarm as Seth has broken into the vault. They prepare to leave, but they realize that Richie didn’t bust the back door as he had been instructed. Luckily, Monica’s fingerprint can open the lock. Back in the desert, Richie continues to hallucinate, this time seeing a vision of a dead Monica with her eyes removed. He worries that something is wrong with him, but Seth reassures him that they will be okay.
At his house, Freddie watches the security footage from the bank, now convinced (based on the eye symbol) that one of the Gecko brothers is a killer that he and Earl had been searching for. On the footage, he sees Monica holding her daughter’s phone. Back in the desert, Seth and Richie discover the phone as it rings when Freddie calls it. Freddie threatens the brothers as he has the call traced. After figuring out the location, he packs his gear and heads out. Meanwhile, Katie meets up with “Kyle,” who is actually Carlos in disguise. Jacob and Scott catch up to the pair, and “Kyle” tells Katie and Scott that Jacob, a reverend, left his congregation as he feels he has lost his path. “Kyle” and Jacob briefly fight, and Katie decides to stay with her father. The Fullers walk back to their RV, and Carlos leaves in Kyle’s truck. By now, Freddie has gotten to where the call was traced, but the Gecko Brothers are long gone. In the sand, however, is a blood pattern identical to the eye symbol.
This episode of From Dusk Till Dawn continues to do a really good job at building the relationship between the Gecko Brothers while simultaneously showing the major points of contention between the two. It also introduces the Fuller family in a great way, immediately establishing the dynamic in this quickly fracturing family. It also keeps Freddie in the mix, ensuring that the main characters on the show are slowly but surely reaching a point where they are all together. The pacing was more of an issue in this episode than in the pilot, but it still moves along quickly enough to not be boring. The short scene between Freddie and his wife and daughter gives more explanation for his character motivation, and it is definitely needed to keep him relevant. Carlos is still a mysterious presence at this point, but his character serves to keep a supernatural element in the plot during this first half of the season.
[Photo via El Rey Network]
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