From Dusk Till Dawn, Season 3, Episode 2: La Reina

We have a brief flashback into Kate and her slaughtering her way through a mental institution, painting the word “Amaru” (an Incan dragon) in blood on the wall before joining Brasa. She declares, most ominously, “today is my awakening” and has a nifty ability to kill with a touch. She’s super duper creepy.

In the present, Freddie the Peacekeeper and Ximena are working together with a few clashes (they are so going to have sex by the end of this season). He is outraged by the Culebras running around killing people and breaking the rules while Ximena has rogue Culebras not even appearing on her priority list since her entire species is being annihilated and the rogues have absolutely no choice, no safety or security now all the leaders are dead.

And now Brasa, the fiery handed demon, has a new target – the faith of the Culebras. The worship of La Diosa, the worship of Santanico. Brasa is raiding any safe house, any culebra place of worship where Santanico is revered is hit and burned down by his fiery magic. Freddie and Ximena follow in his wake as Brasa hones in on the meeting of the Apostles – who we assume are the head priests of Santanico’s religion (a religion, it has to be said, she is not even remotely interested in taking part in).

They don’t arrive in time – and the apostles are massacred leaving Ximena and Freddie to try and get some revenge on Brasa. It doesn’t work well – but at least Freddie saves her. She also has a nice time out moment to call him out on his bitterness and loathing of culebras. It’s a really nice call out – she wants him on side but isn’t willing to put up with the attitude to have him there.

Now to Seth and Richie who are trying to put together a force of Culebras without the lords (Richie playing softly softly while Seth trying to give hard truths). The speeches are good – but ultimately they don’t have the pull to bring the Culebras together. Unlike Santanico…

From Dusk Till Dawn, Season 2, Episode 9: There Will be Blood

1912 flashback and people digging for something – with a charismatic man convincing people to keep digging past exhaustion. But they do strike… blood. A blood well. That charismatic digger then attacks his fellows with a pick axe

Well that could have been a not-too-subtle environmental activist metaphor or it was just Dusk Till Dawn.

In the present, Aiden, Carlos and Scott and some minions find that bloodwell. Carlos uses the obsidian club key to open it, exposing a huge lake of blood (Malvado senses it open).

We have another flashback of how the bloodwell was made and why Kate wants it – just in case we’ve had trouble catching up. Which has been a major problem with this whole storyline

Richie is still being tempted by Malvado to take over his empire. Malvado going to El Rey (whatever that is) requires a whole lot of blood – the blood well. Preferably without Carlos tainting it and becoming uber powerful off it first. And Malvado still wants Santanico. The plan is for Richie to steal the tanker full of blood from Carlos after he has extracted it.

Now they just need to know where it is – so they ask Kate (who was traded last episode). Richie insists on being the one who does the blood-sharing-images thing. He gets a quick recap of everything she’s been up to and the location of the bloodwell. Richie also takes Kate of Malvado before he can turn her.

Kate very much wants to know what is going on with Richie who is full of guilt and trouble – he tries to get her to get out of the car. No way is she going to be dumped; she lays down the law, she is going to the bloodwell. She also calls him out on his motives and tries to further push the brothers back together – only to learn that Seth and Richie are in this together. She has a wonderful naïve moment of thinking the Geckos have a grand plan which will ensure everyone is super duper happy.

At the site, Aiden and Carlos are happily loading up their tanker though there’s some tension between Aiden (and his new Culebros women – because of course he has a fanclub and walking sex objects) and Carlos. Carlos has clearly been letting his ego run wild.

As they wait to move in, Kate realises that Richie is not planning a happy future for them all. Kate is furious and he puts it down to what he has to do – throwing in the bodies she’s buried as proof that she should know all about that.

She runs to Carlos and co to warn them about Malvado’s plotting. She gives them about 10 seconds warning before Richie attacks with a big vampire killing gun. He’s all alone and Carlos’s new girlfriend holds a gun to his head.