Control Z – Season 2 Episode 3 “Needs” Recap & Review

Needs

Episode 3 of Control Z Season 2 begins with another ominous message from the hacker. “There’s nothing to celebrate,” They say ominously. So naturally Rosita decides to throw a party.

Sofia and the others try to encourage Rosita to cancel it, believing she could be the next target. Hey, this is high school. There’s no chance she’s cancelling.

Anyway, Raul soon shows up in class but both Dario and Ernesto square up to him, believing he’s the one who put them in the hole.

Susana soon shows up though to confirm she’s going to be the new principal. Quintanilla has been dismissed from his position, partly on account of what’s happened around campus. Well, Raul shows off the incriminating video of Susana in her office, giving him leverage to use in the near-future.

Anyway, Raul soon heads home and ends up talking to Gerry again, contemplating whether going back to school was really a good idea after all. The pair inevitably come to blows as things get heated, especially when Raul questions why Gerry killed Luis. Only, that’s not true as we know.

The pair shout and scream and then…Gerry kisses Raul? Okay, that was certainly unexpected! Anyway, he brushes it aside for now and quickly deflects, encouraging Raul to do something to win over Sofia.

Elsewhere, Javi shows Sofi his bedroom wall, which is full of pictures and diagrams, collating a timeline of events leading up to the here and now. With all this data, the pair contemplate who the ‘Avenger’ could be. For now, they focus on what could transpire at Rosita’s party and settle on the idea of drinks being spiked as the most likely incident.

The party gets underway and both Javi and Sofi keep a close eye on her. Outside though, Pablo tries talking to Claudia but things are awkward between them. Even worse, Raul shows up too. He bears crates of alcohol as a peace offering though, so for now he’s in the clear.

Natalia has her own reasons for being at the party, snatching up cash from different purses after her cheque stunt failed. She grows ever more bold too, even trying to steal money from a girl’s purse right next to her. She’s caught out for it though and clearly in need of a Plan B.

Meanwhile, Sofi and Raul talking makes Javi jealous. He manages to hide it for now but an extra spanner (and a helping of the inevitable misunderstanding trope) is thrown in when Natalia leans over and kisses Javi in view of Rosita and several other girls at the party.

Elsewhere, Gerry heads down to a jazz bar for the evening. If his sexuality wasn’t clear before, the sow then goes one step further as he pushes off a guy hitting on him. Apparently they met on Grindr but Gerry is clearly rattled.

Outside, he questions why “they can’t just be normal.” The guy he riffs to is actually a homosexual though by the name of Filipe. He doesn’t hit Gerry, which is surprising, but they do grow closer together.

Back at the party, Raul leads Sofi outside where she finds Javi off kissing Natalia. Sofia is not happy. She looks set to storm off but another spanner is thrown in the works. Raul claims that Maria’s baby is his, sending Pablo into incredulous rage. Suddenly, Maria collapses and starts convulsing on the floor. It turns out the bottle of alcohol she’s been drinking from has been spiked. On the base are scribbled words: ” 1, 2, 3, I spy the real culprit.”

The Episode Review

Episode 3 changes tact to add more teen drama tropes to the fold as Control Z fast approaches the midway point. The misunderstanding with Sofi/Javi with Natalia, and the implications of a love triangle, are the usual suspects here and don’t really add anything new or unique to the fold.

There isn’t a lot of development with the investigation this time around either, beyond some basic observation skills. However, it’s now clear that there’s a lot more going on than first meets the eye.

Someone at this party seems to be this “Avenger” but quite who is still a mystery. Either way, as we approach the midway point of this one everything is left wide open.