Families, eh. Can’t take them anywhere. The Fullers and the Geckos learn this firsthand as they attempt to cross the border into Mexico. First, embarrassing dad Jacob almost crashes the RV, and then he actually crashes the RV, shunting another car as he joins the queue. And then there’s Richie, threatening to kill everyone all the time and bickering with his brother in the loo.
Thank the Lord for inept border control, not bothering to thoroughly check the world’s most suspicious-looking motorhome for dangerous killers or kidnapped motorists. Elsewhere, Richie gets a well-deserved thump, there’s a vicious vampire attack upon border control and Ranger Gonzalez very slowly continues his pursuit of the Geckos. In a flashback, we see what happened to Jacob’s wife that made him lose his religion. The man should be let nowhere near any vehicle, let alone a whopping great RV.
Self-Contained is a good title for the episode – representing, as it does, just how tightly From Dusk Till Dawn chooses to dole out its story. Each episode gets you a different stage of the brothers’ road trip, from Mexican standoff to border control. That’s no bad thing, although it doesn’t leave much room for surprise (save for the bits we haven’t seen before, such as Gonzalez and the vampire, and the poor motorist briefly kidnapped by the Geckos and the Fullers).
Anyhow, it’s all come down to this: The Titty Twister. We get but a short glimpse of the bar before the episode finishes, and it’s about what you’d expect. Lots of bikers, some boobs and a sign which says ‘Dusk Till Dawn’ on it. So far this version of From Dusk Till Dawn has played out in much the same manner as the last one, but surely we can’t expect it to do so all the way through? Will our (anti)heroes’ arrival at The Titty Twister schedule a departure from what has come before? Given Tarantino’s reduced influence, will Richie still get to suck on some primo vampire tootsies? Is Danny Trejo going to appear? We’ve just passed the halfway mark, but it’s all to play for.
Like previous episodes in the series, Self-Contained is well-written, well-acted and well-directed. By now, we’re far enough in that we can stop comparing it so much to the movie and enjoy it for what it is – a well-shot crime drama with some promising horror styling and good intentions. It can be too Self-Contained at times, but, hopefully, The Titty Twister should bring everyone out of their shell a little. Hard drinkers, let’s drink hard.
