From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series has had a spectacular second season so far, and it’s been even more fun than ever before. Let’s check out the latest episode, “Attack of the 50 Ft. Sex Machine.” As usual, I’ll limit spoilers for this review.
The episode opens with Richie and Santanico taking captive an unfortunate young lady during a montage of Freddie Gonzales researching the Culebra history while Seth hallucinates during a heroin trip. It turns out that the tattoo artist that Seth had been dealing with before has tied up Seth after the mishap at the end of the previous episode, deciding to use him to reimburse herself for the damages. Seth will have to get clean beforehand, though, which proves to be a challenge in and of itself.
Richie, meanwhile, uses connections from his previous life in order to continue his and Santanico’s plan. One fun thing about this season (at least, so far) is that we’re getting a lot of separation between Seth and Richie. Last season, the two were written in such a way that they played off of each other while showing the mounting tension and differences between them, but the writers have wisely taken them away from each other for a while, giving the audience a chance to understand that, in spite of everything that’s happened to them so far, they really do need each other. We always have to see the bad before we can appreciate the good, and it seems like this is the thought process behind early Season 2 circumstances.
I mentioned in my review of the previous episode that the return of Sex Machine was done in a way that really made his character work better for me than it it did last year, and this episode continues that trend. One small thing that I really loved was Sex Machine’s use of the Culebra ability to “possess” (for lack of a better word) the body of another person. This was something that we sort of saw last season with Carlos, but this episode visualizes that power much more than we’ve seen before. It works really well here, and it helps to continue to build the Culebra mythology that is taking such a large role in Season 2. The confrontation between Freddie and Sex Machine toward the end of the episode manages to provide some subtle exposition that explains this ability without ever seeming like exposition for the sake of exposition. The action sequence that follows is as riveting as you would expect from this show, and it allows us to see even more of what the Culebra are capable of.
As always, the use of Danny Trejo’s The Regulator is wonderful. I can’t put into words exactly how much he brings to this show, but his presence as a performer provides an element to the character that few others would be able to properly capture.
The visual effects on From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series tend to be pretty solid, but there have definitely hit-or-miss moments throughout the show’s first 13 episodes. “Attack of the 50 Ft. Sex Machine,” though, shows some pretty impressive effects via Seth’s drug withdrawal process, and it’s nice to see the show go even wilder than usual with some of the craziness that Seth sees.
Overall, “Attack of the 50 Ft. Sex Machine” was a slower episode of From Dusk Till Dawn than the two that preceded it this season, but it still managed to be incredibly enjoyable while providing some very fun story progression. Even during a slower episode, this show has proven time and time again that it will be a wild ride no matter what happens.
What did you think of “Attack of the 50 Ft. Sex Machine?” How are you hoping this season of From Dusk Till Dawn plays out? Let us know in the comments down below!
[Photo via El Rey Network]
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