The Return
Episode 2 of Control Z Season 2 begins with vandalism across the school. Red spray-paint is scrawled up the walls reading “revenge” while Alex is found bound and gagged in one of the classrooms. Her hair has been cut to shreds and she’s stuck in a fearful stupor. Elsewhere, Natalia is desperate to pay off the dealers and she winds up forging her Father’s signature to write up a cheque. It’s a pretty ballsy move but one that fails completely when the bank refuse to take it. At school, the hacker’s presence continues to dominate conversations. Sofi speaks to Alex and notices big writing scrawled up her leg reading “Feel my hell.” Alex however, blames herself for what happened between Gerry and Luis, believing that’s why she was targeted. Prior to her attack, Sofi finds out that Alex’s coffee may well have been spiked. However, drama soon ensues at school, halting this investigation, when Raul returns. The students are understandably angry following the video leak, and it takes Mr Guero to interfere in order to break this up. Despite being a student again, Quintanilla reminds Raul that he won’t be able to protect him this time. It doesn’t take long before Outside, Raul is beaten down to a pulp by numerous different kids. It’s recorded on social media too, but it takes Sofi kicking everyone’s cars to set off the alarms and break this off. After the attack, Raul admits to Sofi that he’s only back because of her, reinforcing his creepiness. There’s still tension between Pablo and Maria too, while back home Quintanilla’s continued presence with Sofi causes friction. When Sofia notices a black bag full of her old things (including pictures of her Father) she immediately storms off in a huff. Getting nowhere with her original scheme, Natalia heads back home and decides to steal some jewellery instead. Only, she overhears Raul and Gerry talking loudly downstairs. They discuss their scheme, with the latter confirming – in no uncertain terms – that they’re screwed. Could this be linked to the hacks? Well, Sofi shows next and gets a punch in to Raul for herself. She blames him for losing her Father again but doesn’t think he’s this new hacker. She also doesn’t believe he has the capacity to bury someone. Thanks to Sofi’s power of deduction, she realizes that there’s someone else in the house. Gerry’s identity remains a secret for now, as Natalia seizes her opportunity to greet the pair. She certainly senses an opportunity here, especially with Jordi ringing and reminding her off what they’re up against. With Sofi gone, she speaks to Javi and the pair try to come up with a list of suspects responsible for burying Ernesto and Dario. Given how selfish Raul is, they deduce that it’s not him. In truth, this is a pretty stupid conclusion to draw, especially given Raul’s twisted motives in season 1. In his eyes, he was acting selflessly to oust everyone’s secrets for Sofia. Anyway, Raul and Sofi somehow jump to the conclusion that Luis’ Mother is the one responsible. They break into his place and start looking around. When Marta heads back, a stone flies through the upstairs window, followed by a Molotov cocktail. The place is ablaze, forcing Marta to retreat out the front door with her dog. Sofi and Javi are stuck upstairs and scramble across the rooftops to safety.
The Episode Review
Whoever started this fire clearly has a big vendetta against the kids at school. Who would target Luis? Personally, I think we’re looking at a big red herring here and actually the hacker and avenger is Raul. However, we clearly haven’t seen the whole story yet so that’s just guesswork at this point. Either way, the mystery is good enough to stick with for the time being. This second season is certainly bigger and more action packed than what we’ve seen before, but it still has the same contrivances and soapy drama from before. How Sofia and Javi come to the conclusion that Luis’ Mum is responsible is a little silly. So far though, the series has managed to maintain the same teen drama vibes as the first, and although there are better shows out there in the genre, this is good enough to stick with for the time being.
