Eva Lasting – Season 1 Episode 12 “The Asphalt Jungle” Recap & Review

The Asphalt Jungle

The Acuna twins help them break into the school and leave. Camilo is passing in every grade and Eva admires him for coming with her regardless. They smoke marijuana and have a great night together before she goes back home. Nothing happens between them but Camilo feels ever closer to Eva. Alicia reprimands the students the next day at assembly. She declares that certain report cards are missing. They call volunteers with information to come forward, or else the police will have to be informed. Alicia also says they also have clues against the intruders.

The twins say they will go to Alicia with the information. But Camilo convinces them not to go. He says they must protect Eva’s name, otherwise, they risk her going away. He confesses his love for Eva and the two finally kiss! It is a special moment in the series and Camilo cannot wipe the smile off his face. He goes to Alicia and confesses to the twins. She suspects Camilo is lying because the janitor told Alicia that there was a young woman that night with two boys. Alicia goes to Eva to guilt her into telling the truth. But she does not budge. Jose and Ana get the notice of suspension from school. Jose wants to send him to the military academy.

Ana talks to him privately and describes the idea of Michael Foucault’s book Discipline and Punishment. If they punish Camilo, he will become more rebellious. He has already been suspended and there’s no reason to give him more headaches. She is able to convince Jose to allow Camilo to stay. He is only allowed to communicate with Rodrigo and not leave his room at all. Rodrigo brings to and fro the love letters Camilo and Eva write each other. She seems as smitten and attached to Camilo.

His suspension is finally coming to an end. Jose reminds him that he is to come back straight to the house after school to avoid trouble. With the rise of the Medellin cartel, the use of drugs gets national coverage in Colombia. The times are tumultuous. At the breakfast table, Camilo looks up the newspaper and finds the headline: “Colombian businessman arrested in Spain; accused of money laundering.” The picture attached to the clip reveals it is Eva’s father, whose photograph he saw when he was in Eva’s room during Luisa’s incident. Jorge Eduardo Samper is charged with money laundering the profits he received from drug trafficking through his established companies in Colombia.

He does not find her at the school. His mates do not know about it either. Back home, Jose picks up the paper and is confused about why is it in the bathroom. Camilo returns all the books to Sara and asks if he could use the phone. Camilo tells her the truth in order to use the phone and swears her to secrecy. Will she keep the secret? For now, Eva does not pick up. After school, he goes straight to Eva’s home. But she isn’t there. He finds her at Miguel’s house. Camilo also tells Eva about his meeting with the two weird guys he saw following them. They are actually US DEA officers, who asked Eva to find them to help her father.

Eva says she is complicit because she did not reveal the nature of his work, even though she knew what was going on. She didn’t approve of what he did, though. Camilo calmly explains to her that she does not need to feel like hiding and promises to accompany her the next day to school. When he comes back home, Jose confronts him. He also slyly ekes out the admission that Camilo smoked marijuana at Eva’s house. Ana defends him again and Camilo remains behind Eva under all circumstances.

Sara could not keep her promise and the entire school knows. Martin berates Eva in public and Camilo stands up for her. They even exchange blows outside class. Eva asks Camilo to resolve things peacefully if he wants to stay with her. He accompanies Eva to the prison after school. The meeting goes not go well as Jorge calls Eva complicit in his drug scheme, as she consumed it as well.

She shows up at Camilo’s house. It is another bombshell to end the episode as Eva says that the government has placed her with Jorge’s next of kin; an aunt who lives in the United States.

The Episode Review

Is this the end of the great romance – even before it could materially begin? It is incredible how far Eva Lasting has brought us in this tepid love saga only to leave us hanging like this. There is definitely a shift in the latter episodes from the previous ones. The shift is mostly in tone and focus. Before, the canvas was more expansive and getting to know the cinematic universe was fun.

Once that was established, the makers veered towards putting the final touches on a particular set of the story, that perhaps ensured the show lose the charm. The screen is not as bright when we saw the students in their full flair taking on each other like hot-headed, confused teenagers. Eva Lasting has matured emotionally and the coming-of-age element has been stronger. Maybe that is how we must accept the change and appreciate Eva Lasting; nothing lasts forever.