Vampires need regulation.
The Gecko brothers are dead. At least, that's what Richie Gecko wants the authorities to think, and Texas Ranger Freddie Gonzalez (Jesse Garcia) has identified the burnt-to-a-crisp corpses - actually dead vampires/Culebras - in the car Richie rolled off a cliff to be the Geckos, buying them some time to do whatever they're doing out in the world without having the police breathing down their necks.
The title of this episode, 'In a Dark Time', comes from a quote that goes "Only in dark times can we see the demons in the shadows", but it's also an accurate description of what Gonzalez is going through these days. He's still reeling from the death of his partner Earl McGraw in the first episode of the previous season, and he's suffering a supernatural case of post-traumatic stress after his near death experience at the Titty Twister strip club/Culebra temple in the later episodes. He's haunted by nightmares and visions of Culebras, and spends his waking hours obsessing over them, a fact he keeps from his wife Margaret (Jamie Tisdale) in an effort to protect her from the horrors he has encountered.
When Margaret discovers his Culebra research, she is disturbed but still helps him decipher it with the works of Professor Aiden Tanner, a man who was also at the Titty Twister. It all has to do with astrology and mathematics, and it leads Gonzalez to a mass grave of illegal immigrants who have all been bitten on the neck and had symbols carved into their foreheads before they were buried alive. I'm not sure where the Gonzalez storyline is going, but I am sure it's going to take him through more and more unpleasant scenarios.
A lot of this episode centers on Gonzalez, but it also advances the stories of the remaining Culebras at the Titty Twister, which has been shut down while vampire leader Lord Amancio Malvado (Esai Morales) has his lackeys search for missing main attraction Santantico Pandemonium. Through writers Carlos Coto, who wrote the season one episodes 'Mistress' (which was helmed by the same director as 'In a Dark Time', The Blair Witch Project's Eduardo Sánchez) and 'The Take', as well as the premiere episode of season two, 'Opening Night', and Álvaro Rodríguez, who wrote the season one episode 'Place of Dead Roads' and the prequel to the 1996 film version of From Dusk Till Dawn, From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter, the series continues to dig deeper into Culebra mythology, here introducing a new prophecy. As it turns out, the snake-like vampires wanted the Geckos to steal $30 million in bearer bonds and bring them to the Titty Twister last season not for the monetary value but because a prophecy is written out across the paper - a prophecy of a thirst quenching storm of blood.
The Culebras don't even know how to figure out their own prophecies for themselves. They need the help of Professor Aiden Tanner, known in the clubs as Sex Machine (Jake Busey), and so he has to be retrieved from the maze-like bowels of the temple by teenage vampire Scott Fuller (Brandon Soo Hoo) and Culebra cartel leader Carlos Madrigal (Wilmer Valderrama).
Valderrama spent eight seasons and two hundred episodes playing the goofball Fez on That '70s Show, he'll always be known for that character, but with his performance as Carlos he is truly leaving Fez far behind. Carlos has just endured a hell of an experience in the labyrinth of the mind, he emerges from it looking like Rasputin the Mad Monk, and even after a shave and a haircut he has a whole new, strange, creepy edge. He doesn't have fangs anymore, though. He tore those out.
I don't generally like stories that throw heaps of mythology at me. I prefer things that are a little more simplistic and grounded. Like the story of the original From Dusk Till Dawn - bank robbers make a run from Mexico, take some hostages on the way, stop at a strip club for a rendezvous and discover that the place is a vampire death trap. Simple, straightforward, no talk of vampire history of prophecies. That works for me. I understand they have to expand these elements to sustain a television series, but this mythology stuff is going over my head.
Even the expert Tanner/Sex Machine can't give the Culebras the answer they seek. Something called a Savini Codex, named within the reality of the show after the man who created it and in our reality after the special effects legend Tom Savini, who played Sex Machine in the '96 film, is required to crack the mysteries of the prophecy. Eh, whatever. I'll just go along for the ride.
Meanwhile, Seth Gecko (D.J. Cotrona) is doing what a Gecko does best, pulling off a heist. He does so with the help of teenage Kate Fuller (Madison Davenport), Scott's sister by adoption and the only surviving, non-bloodsucking member of her family. Characters on the periphery of this heist include tattoo artist/passport forger Sonja Lam (Briana Evigan) and friendly Culebra Rafa Infante (Patrick Davis). Sonja has the hots for Seth and Rafa for Kate, but the relationships are off to a shaky start. In fact, it's certain that things aren't going anywhere between Rafa and Kate. I thought Rafa might be sticking around a little longer, but that's not going to be happening. I do know that Sonja will be back for future episodes, and I'm looking forward to seeing where things go with her. A fan of Evigan's from movies like Sorority Row, Burning Bright, and Mother's Day, I like that she has entered the world of From Dusk Till Dawn.
Another cast member I'm very glad to have in here is Danny Trejo. Trejo had been in all three of the From Dusk Till Dawn films, so I was disappointed that he missed out on the first season of the series. He finally made his FDTD TV debut as The Regulator, a seemingly ancient Culebra enforcer who was awoken from a state of dormancy by Malvdo near the end of 'Opening Night' and sent on the trail of the Geckos and Santanico Pandemonium. With his scenes in this episode, The Regulator is shaping up to be one badass character, making the arrival of Trejo worth the wait.
The mythology and prophecies are bogging down my enjoyment a bit, but this show is still providing enough cool moments and interesting angles to keep me entertained.
