The Burning of Judas
Episode 7 of The Mosquito Coast starts with Margot offering a cup of coffee to Allie as a peace offering. She’s decided to work with Richard going forward but he doesn’t think it’s a good idea. She knows she can’t trust the government but Allie has a job of his own, having been summoned by their landlord to work. Before he goes, Dina confronts Allie about the past and tells him she wants to leave camp immediately, given Allie and Margot have only thought about themselves. Allie calls her bluff and decides that yes, she can go… but also she’s not coming back and will be on her own. Dina calls him a bully when he brings up how cliched and average her life will be if she goes, and after a cursed goodbye, Dina walks out. Well, not the whole camp but just mulling about from place to place, to be honest. She speaks to Charlie, who seems to have found religion to be a comfort, before speaking to Adolfo by the river. She laments her situation, angry at her parents and unsure what to do. Richard shows up to see Margot while she’s mucking the stables, admitting that he’s worried about Charlie. He brings up their confrontation and how he had a gun. Margot is pretty surprised and apologizes all the same. Richard admits he’s been brought in by Isela to “do something important for someone” and then he promises to be gone. In order to show her what, Margot is encouraged to follow him. Richard shows her a jeep he has stashed in the jungle and encourages her to wear a tourist T-shirt and a hat. At the same time, Allie is back out with William as they go about their job. And that job brings them to Memo, who’s associated with the cartel and earlier summoned by Andrea Bautista to her house, where she demands to know the names of the guys who tried to sabotage the project. Memo wants Allie’s help in getting rid of the police escorts along a route. He’s joined by a guy called Caleb, who knows all about Allie’s tech and is pretty impressed by it. They want his algorithm and to use Sandpiper to track law enforcement agencies so they can go about their shady work without police interference or problems. All Allie needs to do is download it and show Caleb how it works, then he can go about his life and not worry again. But given Allie’s work being misused is what got him into this whole mess, will he be willing to do it? Allie is forced into a corner and reluctantly agrees to do it himself, where he’s given 72 hours to make it happen. Meanwhile, Richard shows Margot what’s happening out in the jungle, leading her out to where a whole bunch of diggers and workers are tearing up the jungle and creating more industry. Richard points out what happened that night at the lab was awful and he too is haunted by this. As the pair watch, Richard brings out his camera where Andrea and Carter show up in a car. This is very clearly their project with Virid and Richard is part of this eco-terrorist group that wants to tear them down. Upon seeing this, Margot decides she’s all in with helping now. She’s even more shocked to learn that traffickers help themselves to whatever they want in the village when they show up. Back at the village, Margot tells Allie about the gun and the attempt on Richard’s life. While they talk, outside in the village Isela leads the charge for their ritual, which Charlie takes to heart as the devil is burned. Anyway, Allie has another solution, coming in the form of some documents he’s uncovered while working on Sandpiper. A way out perhaps?
The Episode Review
The Mosquito Coast returns this week with another episode that ekes out the drama and takes it sweet time to get to the good stuff. There’s a whole bunch of character drama in here that’s dragged out, and Margot’s journey has been one of contradictions and annoyance. Margot has now decided to work with Richard after seeing the forest being knocked down, believing this is the way to go… even though this is what got her into this trouble in the first place. We’re nearly there now guys but with 3 more episodes still to go, it’s fair to say this second season has definitely not lived up to expectations.
