From Dusk till Dawn: The Series, Season 1, Episode 10, “The Take”
Written by Carlos Coto
Directed by Dwight Little
Aired Tuesdays at 9pm (ET) on El Rey Network
“Welcome to the Twister. Can I get you anything?”
The greatest achievement of From Dusk till Dawn: The Series is that it is so magnificently weird and bizarre. It has managed to take all the best things from the film, that gonzo over-the-top bloodbath gorefest that was funny and self-aware all at once, and translate it to TV while also making its own way. There may have been a few bumps along the way, but for the most part, From Dusk till Dawn: The Series has relished its crazy camp attitude and expanded on a mythology we barely got a glimpse of in the film.
“The Take”, the season finale of From Dusk till Dawn: The Series, opens directly where we left off with last week’s episode, “Boxman”. Seth (D.J. Cotrona) and Richie (Zane Holtz) are still trying to make their way through the labyrinth and Seth is confronting Richie about their father’s murder. For all of its issues, “The Take” does bring up some very interesting questions leading into season two.
Chief among them, where do all these developments leave Richie and Seth? Their relationship has been the driving force of the series so far, and has usually been the best thing about the show. But with Richie choosing Santanico (Eiza Gonzalez) and Seth riding off with Kate (Madison Davenport), this finale leaves the brothers in a very odd place. Not to mention the fact that Richie is technically a vampire. “The Take” does give us some of the best moments between the brothers all season however, and great performances from Holtz and Cotrona.
This reviewer complained more than once during the first season that the show had a nasty habit of getting ahead of itself and becoming disjointed. That’s exactly what happens in “The Take”. It starts off strong but somewhere towards the end, there is just too much going on. Katie has been a great, fierce character but her brother and father, not so much. Jacob (Robert Patrick) and Scott (Brandon Soo Hoo) dying was inevitable and necessary to drive the plot forward, but it’s hard to care about these characters, Scott in particular. He hasn’t exactly been likeable or relatable.
“The Take” may not be From Dusk till Dawn: The Series‘ best episode, but it is a satisfying finale. There are more than a few interesting directions for the show to go next season, and satisfying resolutions to the major storylines. It’s oddly disappointing, though. With so much going on, the ending, while a good one, feels kind of rushed.
The majority of the first season, it was clear that this was a show trying to answer one question. How do you make a new history for a series out of something we already know? Mostly, the show has succeeded. The first half of the season was wildly fun and cool; once everyone got to the Titty Twister however, things got way more complicated and the series lost some of its self-aware edge. As a whole, From Dusk till Dawn: The Series has had a rewarding and exciting first season.
Tressa Eckermann