TV Review: ‘FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, Season 1 Episode 4: LET’S GET RAMBLING’

We’re four episodes in now and we start off this time with a voice over flashback of Jacob’s wife introducing her husband. She’s talking about long roads and uncertain paths while Gonzalez is driving down the highway, Seth is covering the bank teller’s body with a sheet, and Richie is just smiling like the asshole he is. Then we cut to the church itself and Kate, emotional as she watches her mother and father. We cut back to the present and she’s driving the Winnebago and, making decisions in the place of her drunk father, states they’re stopping at the first place they come across.

As you may have guessed by the title of the episode, this is where the Geckos meet and kidnap the Fullers. That’s really about all the movie and show have in common during the episode. The interactions have been expanded a great deal, plus we have Ranger Gonzalez to contend with. He’s still hot on the Geckos’ trail, determined to fulfill his last promise to Earl.

Fans of the movie will appreciate the homage scene where the motor home almost runs Seth over. He’s swigging from his beer, evaluating the situation, and smiling that smile. DJ Cotrona has nailed Seth Gecko from the start.

The Fullers check into the Dew Drop Inn and en route to their room, Scott calls Jacob half-drunk. Tension rises as Jacob grabs Scott by the collar and shoves him against the wall, telling him they’re still a clean family and they don’t talk like that. Scott needs to show some respect. Once they’re in the room, Kate goes into the bathroom to change into her bikini (she’s gonna hit the pool). Jacob bangs on the door and demands that she open it, like she’s ten, and so she does, standing tall in her bra, which clearly embarrasses Jacob. He apologizes for getting drunk and she tells him she no longer feels safe with him, that she doesn’t trust him anymore. He’s not himself. Being the typical teenager, she ends up closing the door in his face, changing clothes, and going to the pool.

While she’s sunning herself in a chair, he’s reading the full accident report from the night her mother died. We come to find out that Jacob wasn’t legally drunk (yes, he’d been drinking but was well under the legal limit) but the details still don’t support his story about avoiding a deer. We find out that Jacob did fight with his wife just before the accident, as evidenced by the defensive wounds on his arms. While Kate is reading, we see the accident in flashback, along with a time when Kate watched Jacob pray over her mother, asking God to help her find her path again. When Kate confronts Jacob after the prayer, he tells Kate that her mother just has another migraine. Back at the pool, Kate wants to know what Jacob is hiding and so do we. Whatever it is, I can’t see Jacob being responsible for his wife’s death. That doesn’t wash with the faithless preacher. Ultimately, it’s going to have to come back to something that was out of his control and in “God’s hands.” God failed Jacob and his family, at least that’s what he believes. Spitball idea… (and while I know this review is way late, I haven’t seen Episodes 5 or 6 yet) Jacob’s wife has an incurable disease, she wants Jacob to kill her, and he refuses. They fight about it in the car, she becomes enraged, slapping at him (hence the cuts) and while defending himself, trying to calm her down, the car accident occurs. It’s cliché, but reference Seth and Richie’s past. They’re not above using clichés.

Throughout Kate’s time at the pool, Seth and Richie are busy. They dupe the clerk and get the Fullers’ room number. Keeping on task, they find Scott and Jacob alone, barge in, and take over. I really missed Seth saying, “It’s called a punch.” Richie is dispatched to the pool to get Kate while Seth schools Jacob in acting lessons. The scene played better in the movie, mostly because Seth is cool and Jacob is resistant and they have to play “who’s the boss.” It’s toned down here a bit, and I’m finding more and more the tamer versions aren’t doing the movie justice. I also think it’s because there’s no respect between Jacob and Seth in the show, at least none that’s evident. In the movie, the two respected each other almost from the beginning.

Richie catches up with Kate at the pool and strikes up an easy conversation with her. They talk about this and that, share a smoke, and Kate opens up to Richie. At first, I didn’t understand why she’d do something as idiotic as open up to a complete stranger, but then I remembered Richie can see things and he’s certainly seeing things where Kate is concerned. He’s able to guide the conversation just the right way to keep her talking. That is, until he puts his foot in her mouth and does an impromptu psychic reading and gives away details he shouldn’t know. Kate gets freaked and heads back to the room. That’s a disaster vacation spot as she’s caught between Seth and Richie. They formulate a plan to get to the Fullers’ motor home. A plan Richie implores Seth to change (mainly, Richie wants the RV in the back of the hotel instead of the front) and which Seth leaves as is.

Gonzalez isn’t sitting idle during all this; he’s still driving. When he stops for gas, the cultist knife starts playing hell with him and he remembers his third day on the job. He’s with Earl, looking for a girl, and they get into a tight spot. Earl saves Gonzalez’s life by shooting a perp in the neck. Arterial blood sprays him from head to toe and he ends up vomiting. Earl tells him it’s one sign he’s got the soul of a Ranger.

More driving (remember, he’s on an uncertain path) and he ends up at a stop sign. The knife once again rears its head and he finds the dead perp from the previous flashback in the passenger seat, who tells him he needs to return the knife to its rightful owner and that the path is stained with tears and blood. The ghost starts shouting a word in Spanish and, as it turns out, it’s the street name at the stop sign. Gonzalez listens and turns that way, which leads him to a hostage situation at a Big Kahuna Restaurant.

Vanessa, Seth’s ex, is letting hostages out while still holding a gun to a cop’s head. Gonzalez appeals to her love for Seth, telling her Richie is dangerous and showing her the photos of the murder victims. He tells her wants to stop Richie before anyone else gets hurt, including Seth, but he needs to find them first. She surrenders and tells Gonzalez they’re at a hotel nearby, but she doesn’t know which one.

Despite there being numerous hotels in the area, Gonzalez picks the Dew Drop Inn. He confirms with the clerk the Geckos are there. He proceeds to their room and finds the bank teller all laid out under the sheet. The maid tells him he heard Seth’s voice upstairs in Room 207, which happens to be the Fullers’ room. By this time, Jacob, Richie, and Scott are all in Winnebago waiting on Seth and Kate.

Gonzalez, along with several local law enforcement officers, engage Seth in a gunfight. Seth is outnumbered and hopelessly outgunned with his revolver, but Richie, ever the know-it-all breaks the plan and comes to Seth’s rescue. The Geckos are pushed back into one of the rooms. Gonzalez comes to their adjoining door, but once again the dead guy shows up, distracting Gonzalez long enough for the Geckos to get out of the room.

Gonzalez gives pursuit again and Seth takes a bullet in the arm. Gonzalez chases Seth to the roof while Richie and Kate head to the Winnebago. On the roof, Gonzales and Seth tussle (Seth finally ran out of bullets and so did Gonzalez) and fall off the back of the hotel…

right onto the top of the motor home, which Richie had Jacob move behind the hotel. Seth throws Gonzalez to the ground and the motor home leaves the Dew Drop Inn.

We’re left with Kate and Richie talking in the back of the motor home. She asks if he can really see things and his answer, rather simple and poignant, is, “Only when I look.”

It’s kind of like that for all of us, isn’t it?