Weekly Review: From Dusk Till Dawn
First post in a new blog series - Weekly Review. Every week, I will post a review of whatever I happen to be reading or watching. The review will include my general thoughts, positive and negative criticisms, and whatever else is floating around in my head. As evidenced by this post, this will shamelessly ogle actresses and actors too.Weekly Review will replace Rec Me Friday as my weekly media feature. Rec Me Friday will still be coming every month or so. I just want more time to dedicate to each series so my writing can do justice to the different series I recommend.
WEEKLY REVIEW: RIDING WITH THE GECKO BROTHERS
FROM DUSK TILL DAWN | Season 1Network: El Rey, Netflix OriginalCast: D.J. Cotrona, Zane Holtz, Eiza González, Jesse Garcia, Madison Davenport, Brandon Soo Hoo, Wilmer ValderramaWritten by: Robert Rodriguez, Robert Kurtzman,Premise: In this supernatural crime series, Seth Gecko and his violent, unpredictable brother, Richard "Richie" Gecko, are wanted by the FBI and Texas Ranger Freddie Gonzalez after a bank robbery left several people, including policemen and Gonzalez's mentor Texas Ranger Earl McGraw, dead. Heading for the Mexico border pursued by Gonzalez, the Geckos encounter former minister Jacob Fuller and his family, whom they take hostage by commandeering the Fullers'RV. Drug lord Don Carlos reroutes them to a strip club populated by vampires that all must fight until dawn in order to survive..
I've never seen the 1996 movie, From Dusk Till Dawn nor am I familiar with the movie's franchise so I started this series without any knowledge of the Rodriguez 's supernatural world.However, the TV show did pretty good job of introducing newcomers like me to into the franchise's world. In the series, Rodriguez successful established a mythology about vampires or culebras and their origins in MesoAmerican history and snake creatures. Compared to the vampire myths in pop culture today, this was a fairly unique world to step into.The thing that kept me watching From Dusk Till Dawn was always the the Gecko brothers though. The relationship between Richie and Seth Gecko was consistently compelling and fun to watch. The brothers are always fighting and bickering but you can clearly see how much the brothers need one another.
In this family of con artist criminals, Richie Gecko's the rational and smart brother but prone to psychotic behavior and hallucinations. I love Richie. He's so ridiculous sometimes, it's funny.Zane Holtz also makes for some great eye candy in the suit and glasses. I was very sad when Richie didn't need those glasses anymore because suddenly, his appeal decreased dramatically.
As Richie suffers from his psychotic episodes, Seth Gecko is left to clean up his mess and get the two of them to safety. I adore Seth and his dedication to his brother even though obviously, Richie is a handful.
The Gecko brothers decide to kidnap Kate Fuller along with her father and brother in order to safely cross the Mexican border.Usually, characters that are presented as being beacons of light and hope are 'hit or miss' situations for me. But Kate Fuller as the show's fundamentally good character works well. Madison Devanport portrays her as a well rounded and flawed character but still, clearly one that looks for the best in people. In the show's dangerous world of venomous vampires, Kate's optimism is believable and never feels like naivety.
From Dusk Till Dawn certainly provides couple of interesting characters to care about but plot wise? The show could definitely step it up. I understand the need to establish exposition for the show's mythology and characters but the first five episodes before the Geckoes and Fullers reach Mexico were are slow. I always wanted more to happen and there's was never much suspense to get me excited for when the characters finally reached Mexico.It's in episode six that things get really interesting. In episode six, Santanico Pandemonium makes her iconic entrance, the vampires come out for feeding time and all hell breaks loose. The sheer chaos of the everything in the episode was actually great to watch and almost made up for all the tedious moments in the previous episodes.
Overall, the show isn't bad by any means. It's worth checking out if you're interested in franchise or premise but know that it certainly take a while for the show to get interesting. The show establishes good story and set of characters with a lot of potential but for me, something gets lost in the show's execution. Perhaps the writers just need to pick up the pace on the plot and create better momentum, like in the series does in the second half of episodes.I don't completely love the show but I don't regret watching it either. It's definitely enjoyable at times. I'll probably end up watching season two as well in the hopes that it'll improve and Richie will put on those sexy glasses again.
From Dusk Till Dawn, Season 1: [rating=3]
From Dusk Till Dawn is currently airing on the El Rey Network. For international viewers, the series is also on Netflix.If you're bored or curious enough to check out what I'm currently watching or have watched in the past, I list practically all the media I consume here. I'm up for discussion or reviews for anything I've listed on the page.