Calaca
Episode 6 of The Mosquito Coast begins with Allie awakening to find Calaca before him. He’s held captive, tied to a wheelchair while Calaca refuses to disclose Margot’s location. Lucrecia learns about Allie going missing too, eventually tasking Bill with the arduous job of tracking the pair down immediately. Allie is abused by Calaca, who smacks him across the mouth several times and decides to try and get the man to talk. He doesn’t believe his alibi and thinks Allie is holding out on him. The Alec Finn situation in the news doesn’t help, giving Calaca grounds to believe he has been compromised. This is enough for Allie to open up to Calaca. He mentions how he bought into the government’s ideals, including an algorithm that uses climate change projections to track changes in bird migration patterns. With this information, he was offered a position at the NSA after but he refused. Now Allie is on the run. Well, Calaca wants answers and in order to get that he shows a live stream of Margot tied up at a house across the way. He has Allie’s wife held up at gunpoint while he quizzes Allie over the location of Casa Rojo. Allie repeatedly tells him he doesn’t know but Calaca doesn’t believe him. In fact, he counts down from 10 and has the gun fired right by Margot’s head. She’s still alive but the after-effects see her ears ringing. This sees Allie pass the test, as Calaca agrees to show him the road to Casa Roja after all. When Allie shows up to see his wife, she’s still reeling over the torturous ordeal she’s had to endure and clearly not in a talkative mood. She ignores her husband before eventually slapping him hard in the face. He brushes it aside though as he tells her they’re en-route to Guatemala. Margot calls him out for his false promises, walking away as she tells him this is over. Back in town, Dina and Charlie find themselves wandering around while Agent Jones sets up shop in Mexico, keeping tabs on Dina. Given the cartel are after the kids as well, Dina and Charlie just casually decide to eat out in the open. Neither of them are particularly fussed about finding their parents, as Dina ponders her past and the gaps in her memory. Eventually she rings Agent Jones, playing up this story about her parents to get Dina to give up her location. When Dina heads back to see Charlie, the pair race away without paying for their food. They make themselves a big target, laughing all the way up the street. Well, they certainly won’t be laughing for long. Lucrecia and Bill learn that the pair are staying at Hotel Isabel. However, Agent Jones is already there, as Allie and Margot show back up at the hotel room. The family realize they’re at the end of their road. Or are they? Bill rocks up to the Hotel and immediately begins firing. A shootout ensues as Allie protects his family and manages to get away. Again. While the police arrive on the scene… again. Agent Jones is eventually stabbed to death by Bill’s associate, as this child looks down at his handiwork with indifference. It also marks an end to this disappointingly under-utilized character. Allie and the gang meanwhile, manage to slip away down to the parking lot. They jump in a car and head back on the road again.
The Episode Review
The Mosquito Coast returns with its penultimate episode, one that continues this endless cat and mouse chase for another chapter. This time we see Allie and Margot both captured and close to breaking point. There’s some nice moments between the two characters here but it’s unfortunately cut short by more running and chasing. There have been several times where this show has been on the cusp of actually slipping into compelling storytelling motifs but every time it looks on the verge of doing so, the series sinks back into another action set piece. The trouble is, Allie just isn’t that likable a character. He’s pretty selfish and he’s dragged his family halfway across America to evade the authorities without even bothering to update them on exactly why. Even worse, Dina and Charlie just gallivant across Mexico like it’s nothing and ultimately end up paying the price when they’re tagged by Bill and Lucrecia. Of course, the gang get away scot free again but this time it’s Agent Jones who meets an untimely demise. Her character was built up to be a formidable force early on, but instead that’s completely squandered in favour of this shoot-out at the end. With one final episode to go, The Mosquito Coast looks set to stagger over the finish line, leaving this disappointing series an echo of what it could have been.
