Although the people of HBO Max have already served us on a platter the fantastic first two episodes of their no less spectacular ‘¡García!’, I still hadn’t had the opportunity to tell you my impressions about what, without a doubt, is the cathodic production that I have enjoyed the most this 2022; even above two titans like ‘The Rings of Power’ and ‘The House of the Dragon’.
And it is that the creation of Sara Antuña and Carlos de Pando is one of the three great miracles that the Spanish industry has left us in this film coursejoining ‘Unicorn Wars’ and the enormous ‘Irati’ by Paul Urkijo thanks to the courage of its proposal, its impressive technical and formal bill, a magnificent cast —the Veki Velilla and Francisco Ortíz is to frame— and a very successful tone that shape a perfect cocktail.
With its third chapter, the show directed —wonderfully, everything is said— by Eugenio Mira continues to raise the stakes and complicate its plot to unsuspected levels while continues to exploit the virtues that raised its first two installments; combining his priceless adventure of pulp essence with an accurate look at our sewer sociopolitical reality.
- From here the recap begins, and there will be spoilers for the third chapter of ‘¡García!’.
Past and present
That the third episode starts the way it does gives us a good clue as to where the shots will go during its intense sixty minutes. The introductory sequence takes us back in time with its 4:3 monochrome photography for take a closer look at the relationship between García and Feli, conditioned by the work of the secret agent of La Novena; office that postpones the promises of marriage until he completes one last mission… from which we know he will not return. At least not in the short term.
After receiving the report about the operation, García decides to inform his partner Ortíz about his intention to leave the division after capturing Neffenberg. Despite presenting him with cufflinks as a gesture of appreciation and goodwill, Ortiz does not take it too well, unleashing his anger against a mirror before moving to the present, in which both spies meet again.
The subsequent interactions between the duo serve to bring to the fore the current status quo—Neffenberg died in a plane crash and his son is still alive and well—and a new mission that takes us straight down to the sewers of the state while a conspiracy is hatched to manipulate the power structure in a polarized country that is about to explode.
Using the kidnapping of La Capitana as an excuse, Ortíz orders García to capture the left-wing candidate for the presidency, considered by some to be responsible for the disappearance of politics. The extraction completes successfully, but García’s doubts about the legitimacy of the operation make Ortíz explodewhich bursts out again to confirm that he is not at all trustworthy… despite the fact that he entertains our protagonist with the current address of his beloved Feli.
broken love
Leaving aside the political-criminal plot, the second mainstay of the episode lies in the father-son relationship between Antonia and her father, which weakens momentarily when the journalist manages to talk to the contact whom she tried to meet through Aquilino. A man who knew Ortíz and who explains that he became a tyrant when he took the reins of Section Nine.
Antonia, although she doubts the words of her informant, decides to confront her father, who cleverly manipulates the situation by taking her to his field. After listening to and deleting the message that García left for Antonia, she gives her daughter a ring —which, probably, will surprise her— and decides to invite her boyfriend Riki to meet him and play happy family. .
In the meantime, Garcia goes to visit Feli -magnificent Lola Herrera- and, between nerves and fainting, she explains how she rebuilt her life almost by inertia after waiting for him for years. A really tender moment concludes with a dance that links directly to the opening sequence -another great narrative success- and that opens the way to a final firework of those that leave ojiplático.
To the rhythm of ‘Alma, corazón y vida’, a montage sequence begins that shows us in parallel Antonia, Riki and Ortíz enjoying a pleasant evening while Feli’s apartment is attacked by a group of agents armed to the teeth. Ortiz manages to neutralize them in another beautifully shot action scene, but a butane canister and an unlucky shot result in an explosion that leaves the floor in smithereens.
It was all a trap by Ortiz. Feli has died, and the tragedy, which coincides with the arrival at the halfway point of the season, completely changes the rules of the game for a Garcia who will not sit idly by; anticipating a second half that promises to be really exciting. And boy, will it be.