Vampires in chains!
Directed by Joe Menendez, who directed the previous episode of the From Dusk Till Dawn series, 'The Best Little Horror House in Texas', and the season one episode 'Self-Contained', the fifth episode of the series' second season doesn't have a movie reference for a title like the last two episodes did (the one before 'Horror House' was 'Attack of the 50-ft. Sex Machine'), but it does have a very appropriate title. Written by actress/television producer Luisa Leschin, whose writing credits include the Are We There Yet? TV show, Everybody Hates Chris, and George Lopez, 'Bondage' is an episode that features more than one character getting tied up.
First there's Santanico Pandemonium (Eiza Gonzalez), who has been captured by fellow Culebra vampire Carlos Madrigal (Wilmer Valderrama), who wants her to accept her role as a goddess to all Culebras. And to be the Queen to his King. Instead, Santanico wants to bring the whole Culebra empire down. So Carlos has her tied up and placed in a freezer - the revelation of a new weakness for the snake-like vampires. They don't handle the cold very well. Apparently that comes with having a reptile side; they're cold blooded.
Another Culebra who ends up captured and bound is the recently vampirized teenager Scott Fuller (Brandon Soo Hoo), who is chained up by Culebra-hunting Texas Ranger Freddie Gonzalez (Jesse Garcia) after attacking his sister Kate Fuller (Madison Davenport). Gonzalez doesn't stop at just chaining Scott to a post, though. He also rigs up a staking device to the teen's chest while interrogating him about the Culebra higher-ups, threatening to put a stake through his heart if he doesn't answer the questions to the Ranger's satisfaction. This device is pretty cool-looking in a homemade way; it looks like something Jigsaw from the Saw franchise would come up with if his traps were designed for vampires rather than humans.
The interrogation is not very thorough, however, because being immune to the Culebra venom gives Gonzalez an ability the average person wouldn't have - by making like blood brothers with Scott, he can see into Scott's memories rather than having to rely on his word. That's how Gonzalez discovers the prophecy of the blood storm that the Culebras are hoping to bring about, setting the stage for him to focus on stopping this prophecy from coming true in future episodes.
Santanico's lover Richie Gecko (Zane Holtz), who Carlos is intensely jealous of, is also briefly held captive by a scumbag human trafficker, but there is no bondage for him, and he quickly escapes with the aid of his shotgun-wielding brother Seth (D.J. Cotrona).
Yes, after four episodes of being on separate tracks, the Gecko brothers are finally reunited in 'Bondage', and seeing these brothers side-by-side again is a very welcome sight after we followed their shared adventures through the entire first season (and the 1996 film this series is based on).
Together, the Geckos pursue that shipment of captured illegal immigrant women Richie and Santanico planned to follow to Culebra leader Lord Amancio Malvado (Esai Morales), operator of the Titty Twister strip club/Culebra temple where Santanico was held prisoner for centuries... And this is a path that takes them to another establishment run by Malvado.
While this episode does feature some cool character interactions and wonderfully bloody violence, a lot of it feels like it's just assembling puzzle pieces, going through the story motions necessary to get us to a more interesting level in the next episode. Things definitely do need to shift into a new gear now, because as 'Bondage' comes to an end this season has officially reached the halfway point. Five episodes down, five episodes to go.
I'm excited and intrigued to see where things are going to go in the second half of the season, as we're likely building up to some sort of large battle, much like what took place at the Titty Twister in the last four episodes of season one. Although this season has to live up to that onslaught of action in some way, I hope it's not just going to be a retread. It shouldn't have our heroes getting trapped at another Malvado business and having to spend multiple episodes fighting off a siege of vampires. They need to do something that's different but just as awesome and satisfying. I'm not sure what that might be, but I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with.
And how Danny Trejo's character The Regulator plays into it.
