[Movie] Santo – Season 1 Episode 4 “Os Filhos” Recap & Review

The opening scene of Santo episode 4 starts with a flashback from two years ago; Agent Millán is looking for a suspect on a train. He spots him leaving the train and chases him through the station, and his partner helps him take down the suspect. As they arrest the guy, he manages to grab his partner’s gun and kills him.

The suspect was about to shoot Agent Millán but someone saves him by killing the suspect first. The death of his partner led to him going to therapy. He was spiraling using drugs and eventually, he met Juan. Juan offered him access to cocaine if he worked for him, and that is how he started working for the drug syndicate.

Meanwhile, Cardona is remembering how he first met his lover. He met her when he was doing a family notification. She was an aunt to a victim. They soon started dating and became part of each other’s lives. Cardona tried his best to find her the answers to what happened to her nephew and deal with the grief when she lost her sister.

After that, Cardona set out to find Santo, that was why he chose to go undercover. While undercover he met Barbara and he started a relationship with her. He was also sneaking around the base to try and find out more about Santo but no one was forthcoming with helpful information. To his followers, Santo is like a father, almost a god and they have deep allegiance to him. Even Barbara confessed to Cardona that she wouldn’t know what to do or how to live without Santo.

Cardona also recalls what happened during the intervention when he managed to escape the intervention team. His cover was blown and he insisted on going back but Inspector Luis denies his request. He then went back home to his lover and tried to rest as he was ordered by Inspector Luis.

In the present, Cardona goes to buy a gun on the streets after receiving the anonymous letter. After, he heads to a location where he finds Barbara locked in a car. She gives him a message from Santo but before they are able to escape, the Madrid police show up. They arrest Cardona and take Barbara to the hospital.

Cardona believes that Santo is playing with the police. Agent Millán tells Cardona that he is lucky that he is being set free and he will be sent back to Brazil on Sunday.

Later, Agent Millán goes home and finds internal affairs doing a house search. They are trying to find evidence of his wrongdoings.

Cardona looks at the message he was given by Barbara from Santo. It is a video of the ritualistic torture he underwent when he was kidnapped. He discovers he did some things he is not proud of when he was under duress.

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The Episode Review

This episode is mostly based on memories that help the viewers understand Agent Millán and Cardona. I am not sure if Cardona fell in love with Barbara or if he was sleeping with her to get information on Santo. Where was he planning to escape with Barbara before the police showed up? The video showed him a darkness he didn’t know was in him. I think he lost his memories to protect himself from the events that went down during his kidnap. I am not sure he will be able to handle the truth of the things he did .

For Agent Millán, the death of his partner set him on a different trajectory in life. The decisions he made put his badge on the line and I doubt he will be able to save his career.