PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *psychological, sociological, metaphysical*
I hope no readers were waiting breathlessly for me to get around to reviewing the last two seasons of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN THE SERIES, given that I posted my review of the first season over five years ago.
In that review I noted that the first season was largely devoted to retelling the events of the movie, but in such a way as to set up the action of at least one more season of adventures for the Gecko brothers. I also noted that the series showed some potential to improve upon the movie's "sketchy" characters, who were after all designed for a balls-to-the-wall action-extravaganza.
The second and third seasons, which begin new storylines for the Gecko brothers (D.J. Cotrona, Zane Holtz) and their many supporting characters, certainly did generate some fertile new arcs for such roughly formed characters as Kate Fuller (Madison Davenport), her brother Scott, Ranger Freddie Gonzalez, and the "queen snake" vampiress Santanico Pandemonium (Elza Gonzalez). Whereas both Santanico and Richie Gecko died in the original film, by the end of the first season the vampiress has turned Richie into one of her snake-vamp kindred, and both of them have fled the Titty Twister where Santanico was held by her overlords as a sort of "captive queen."
The main thrust of the second season is to emphasize that this is the first time Seth and Richie Gecko have been apart for any real length of time. Though their separation gives both of them some time to define themselves-- when they're not fending off pursuing snake-vamps, that is-- this arc is destined to reach satisfaction when "Los Geckos" are reunited. Kate, an ordinary young woman, makes valiant attempts to succor her vampirized brother Scott, but these are less interesting than the bonding that takes place between Kate and Seth while Seth is separated from Richie. Lord Malvado, one of Santanico's overlords, sends a super-powerful "regulator" (Danny Trejo) to get the snake-queen and her servant.
This season is a decent mashup of tropes from both crime thrillers and supernatural horror tales, and the FX are always above average. However, the arcs of Kate and Santanico are not up to the talents of the actresses. The vampire queen wants power after having been kept prisoner for many years, but this in itself doesn't make her all that interesting. Kate Fuller has an impressive humanity that contrasts nicely with the Geckos' studied "too cool for school," but she's killed at the end of the season, apparently just to set up the arc of her impending resurrection in Season Three.
The third season fulfills Robert Rodriguez's stated ambition to expand upon the Aztec background of the snake-vamps. I'm not versed in Aztec lore, but off the top of my head I would say that the writers don't evoke the myths for any purpose beyond name-dropping. The Aztec lords have a range of more formidable powers than the other snake-people, but many of them are still playing power-games like mundane criminals. The exception is the death-goddess Amaru, who possesses and resurrects the body of Kate for a while, before regaining her own immortal body. Amaru's ambition is to break down the barriers separating the living world from the death-domain, and the Geckos must make common cause with Santanico and her forces in order to save the world. In fact, though Santanico doesn't get that much more interesting, even with the addition of a lesbian hookup, she is important enough to this season's story as to equal the Geckos in terms of centricity.
FROM DUSK TILL DAWN THE SERIES consistently delivers gory thrills and solid melodrama in each episode, though to be sure no single episode really stands out from the rest. Jeff Fahey, Wilmer Valderrama and Natalie Martinez (as Amaru) contribute strong supporting performances. Perhaps as a nod to the Tarantino style that infused the movie's dialogue, many characters make pop-culture references, the standout being when a character asks the Geckos if they're going to fight for "truth, justice, and the Mexican-American way."
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