In the second episode of Who Killed Sara? Elisa continues to search for the truth, while a few potential motives are revealed.
*Spoilers for episode 2*
Episode two picks up after Rodolfo leaves Cesar’s office. Mariana frantically enters, wanting to know why Alex is free. Cesar says he’ll take care of it, but she’s still concerned. After promising it’ll be okay, he tells his assistant, Sergio (Juan Carlos Remolina), that he knows what to do.
When Elisa leaves Chema, she follows Rodolfo to Alex’s house and witnesses the shootout. The gunmen break into Alex’s home, knocking him out in warning, and leaving. Concerned for Alex, Elisa enters the house, where she sees his entire crime board setup.
Later that night, Cesar is making rounds at the casino, checking on guests, and partying with women. Women who are clearly not his wife, Mariana. Later, when Cesar returns home, it’s after 4am. Mariana, who had been on her phone, pretends to be asleep.
At the same time, Elisa called an ambulance for Alex. While he’s being wheeled into the hospital, Alex remembers taking Sara into the hospital. When Rodolfo shows up, Alex corners him, yelling that it’s his fault for what happened. Once he comes to, Elisa introduces herself under the false name Maria. While Elisa offers to testify in his favor, Alex refuses. The two try to figure out what the other knows until Alex doesn’t answer a question, thanks her and leaves. But right before he leaves, he stops. We then see a flashback of Sara’s death being announced. A young Alex crumples to the floor as Chema tries to comfort him, and Rodolfo runs out of the building.
An older Rodolfo listens as his wife, Sofia, tells him she’s not pregnant. While Sofia is heartbroken, Rodolfo seems to not care. They’ve been trying to have a child for the past 5 years, but there’s been no success.
Cesar’s assistant, Sergio, makes his way down a dark hall. We then watch, as he leers at 12 women that are being brought into the hotel.
The next morning, Rodolfo goes for a swim. But as he does his laps, he’s haunted by visions of Sara’s body, floating in the water. We then see a young Rodolfo watch as Alex speeds towards Sara in the water.
At the same time, Alex is getting his window fixed and eating breakfast. He gets a good morning message from the private number, which tells him they go by Diana the Hunter. Diana proceeds to send Alex a video of him after the court case, and they tell him that they recorded the video.
Alex then has a flashback of Cesar telling him to confess again. If Alex takes the blame, he’ll suffer about two weeks for involuntary negligence, and everyone will end up being okay. Cesar promises to take care of Alex and his ailing mother. But as Cesar continues to push Alex, asking him if he wants his mom to die, Alex snaps. He pushes Cesar to the ground. When Rodolfo pleads for him to stop, Alex relents, letting Cesar go and essentially saying he’ll confess in court.
But the judge rules Sara’s death a deliberate homicide. Alex is found guilty of attempting to murder Rodolfo, and the court sentences him to 30 years in prison. Alex calls out Rodolfo’s name as he’s taken away.
We’re now with older Rodolfo, who is visiting Sara’s grave. On arrival, he sees Chema, who’s been waiting for him. Chema tries to connect with his brother, wanting to talk about what could happen to them. Rodolfo reveals he’s not scared of Alex because he views himself as the killer. He genuinely thinks him not being able to go first, as well as speeding up the boat, is what killed Sara. He doesn’t think the harness was sabotaged.
As Alex watches the clip Diana sent, he realizes that Mariana is looking at the person recording. He then remembers Mariana offering him support and comfort after it’s decided he’ll take the fall. She holds him as he cries, telling him that she won’t let anything bad happen to him. An older Mariana ties a spiked, metal harness around her leg, causing it to form small wounds where the spikes are.
Mariana’s assistant, Elroy, takes Rodolfo to his first apportionment after inheriting the family casino. Rodolfo walks into his office to find Elisa. She wants to know what happened and what prompted Alex to want revenge on their family. Rodolfo doesn’t answer any of her questions. Instead, he begs her to stay away from Alex, saying he hates them all. As she continues to press, Cesar arrives. Acknowledging she has questions, he makes Elisa leave. But he doesn’t answer any questions, and he ends up asking her to stay in Mexico to work with him. But his behavior pushes Elisa away.
Alex works on software that allows him to access other people’s cameras. He sends a spam email to Mariana, which she clicks on. This gives him access to her phone camera.
Meanwhile, Chema goes through his closet, searching for the video tapes from that trip. With his old equipment, he plays the tape on the TV. He watches videos from that weekend fondly. Until we get to one taken without Alex’s consent of him showering. In a flashback, we see Chema film this as he touches himself. Present Chema is interrupted from his thoughts by Lorenzo returning home. In a hurry, he hides all the videotapes and goes to greet him.
The pair talk about finding a surrogate mother and then proceed to interview several candidates. After a series of failed interviews, Lorenzo has had enough.
The other two siblings are having their own eventful evenings as Elisa show’s up to Alex’s with a bottle of Tequila, and Rodolfo confronts his father about how Cesar handled the situation poorly 18 years ago. Cesar brushes him aside, choosing to berate his son instead of taking responsibility for not keeping his promises.
In a dramatic montage, we watch Mariana put the spiked thigh harness up, while Rodolfo continues to run from his issues, and younger versions of the boys bring Sara’s body from the water. But in an interesting turn of events, a young Mariana goes to the boat after everyone rushes to the hospital. She proceeds to deep clean everything, and she stumbles upon a small pocket knife shoved into a crevice of the boat. After a moment of concern, she calls someone, saying she’ll “take care of it as usual.” With one last concerned look, she throws the knife into the lake.
This was another super intense episode! It did a lot to push the plot forward. One thing I noticed about Who Killed Sara? is that it’s super heavy on the plot. The large cast of characters and fast-paced story can make it a little difficult to connect with the Guzman’s and the Lazcanos. However, certain scenes, like when Rodolfo argues with Cesar at the end, stand out and let you into more personal and vulnerable moments, which I appreciated.
I wasn’t a major fan of Chema’s storyline in this episode. Specifically, everything surrounding young Alex. Having queer representation is great, however, the actions of young Chema were creepy and uncomfortable. While this scene is probably super important going forward, I wonder if there could’ve been a better way to express what they wanted to.
And that scene at the end! It practically confirmed Mariana’s involvement. And the inclusion of Rodoflo’s running and the use of classical music again was so intense! But the confirmation of Mariana leads to more questions. Who was she calling? Who left the knife on the boat? How many people are involved? Who Killed Sara? continues to weave a story riddled with questions. We’ll have to keep watching and hope they get answered.
You can watch Who Killed Sara? on Netflix.
