The Red Queen (Reina Roja) – Season 1 Episode 2 “Un tatuaje” Recap & Review

Un tatuaje/A Tattoo

Episode 2 of Reina Roja starts with the mysterious man from episode 1 in a secluded warehouse. He answers a call from Carla’s father and tells him that he has his daughter. Carla’s father thinks it is a prank, but he believes that Carla might be in danger when the man describes a tattoo on her thigh.

The man says he has already hurt Carla and will hurt her even more unless her father pays a price that will cost him and not his money. Meanwhile, the Mentor calls Detective Gutierrez, informs him about Carla’s kidnapping, and sends him a location, asking him to be there in 45 minutes. 

Elsewhere, Antonia is still at the hospital on a video call with her grandmother. Their conversation hints at something Antonia blames herself for, and she cannot use the word “love” anymore because of the incident. Antonia is frustrated, but her grandmother asks her to think about the right questions, such as, “If it weren’t for her, how many people would be dead?”

Detective Gutierrez meets up with the Mentor, angry that he did not have the chance to enjoy his mother’s breakfast. The Mentor finally lets the Detective in on who they are, The Red Queen Project, and mentions that the Detective has worked in the streets for so long that he thinks he has seen it all. Detective Gutierrez agrees with the Mentor’s assessment, saying he thought he had seen it all before witnessing the case the previous night. 

The Red Queen Project investigates crimes that normal people could never imagine. Some crimes do not make the headlines since monsters exist worldwide, but the police are too slow.

The Red Queen Project fights back against these monsters using the same weapons outside the legal parameters. Mentor explains that the project started in Europe and chooses the best officers from each country to be the Red King or Queen. Antonia was the group’s Red Queen until she quit due to personal matters, but the Mentor wants her back, and he wants Detective Gutierrez to be the Red Queen’s Squire for protection.

Gutierrez is the best for the job because even though he is an awkward police officer, nobody knows the streets better than he does. He does what he wants, has the right intuition, and, most importantly, Antonia likes him. The Mentor gives Gutierrez a car, and he is to find instructions and terms of work in the glove compartment. He tells Gutierrez where to find Antonia so they can officially start the search for Carla. Gutierrez gets his gun back, and the Mentor handles his bad police record. 

The mysterious man rants in his book about his father, thinking he is weak. He says he is not evil but misses his father and cannot sleep because he remembers everything. He watches Carla through the CCTV monitor as she cries out for help, gets angry, and bangs on the locked cell door with a golf club. Carla is scared, and she stops screaming. The man returns to his notebook and continues his run, saying he is no longer weak and his father would be proud of who he has become. 

Meanwhile, Gutiérrez chats with the nurses at the hospital and learns that Antonia’s husband is in a coma, and there is no chance he will ever wake up. Antonia takes him to chat at the hospital’s cafeteria, and Gutierrez is surprised that she has figured out about the kidnappings.

She explains that the previous case is not independent or random but should be read like a text in which the writer is trying to send a message, but that case is like his first line. Therefore, more kidnappings and deaths are to be expected. 

Antonia agrees to investigate Carla’s kidnapping, and the first stop is her apartment, where the anti-kidnapping unit is questioning her father. The detectives’ prime suspects are Carla’s driver and her ex-husband, and their questions align with trying to figure out what they would gain from Carla’s kidnapping.

However, the father is certain that Carla’s driver is loyal and her ex-husband is not powerful enough to go against him. While the detectives continue questioning him, Antonia slips away and searches the house for clues. We witness the extent of her IQ as the scenarios she thinks happened in each room replay as she walks by.

Suddenly, after going through the entire house, she returns to where the detectives are questioning the father and asks if the kidnapper has given any demands. Antonia observes the father’s reaction and figures out something is off, so she pushes the questions, insisting on knowing whether the kidnapper has stated his demands. This angers Carla’s father, who breaks an hourglass on the floor before storming out of the room.

Antonia and Gutierrez are on their way out when the guard stops them, and one of the detectives comes down the stairs to ask about their identities. He already knows about Gutierrez, so the Mentor’s story about Interpol does not hold up.

However, Antonia is quick-witted, telling the truth in a twisted way that does not leave their organisation. Her truthful lie is believable as the Detective leaves believing that they are members of a research group about kidnapping cases and were sent to observe and help with the investigations when necessary. 

Elsewhere, the kidnapper, Ezequiel, asks for Carla’s password, but she tries to take control of the situation, thinking that the kidnapper is scared. However, Ezequiel cares less about money when she tries to sway him, but he pours gas into the cell and is ready to ignite it and burn her to death. Carla begs for her life, gives him the password, and receives a water bottle. 

Gutierrez thinks the next action is to question Carla’s ex-husband, but she has already discovered everything there is to know about Carla by looking through her house. Regardless, she reluctantly agrees to follow Gutierrez to the ex-husband’s hotel, and while talking, she suddenly figures out that one other thing that Carla loves besides her son is her horse.

The husband mentions that the horse was to participate in a race, and Antonia directs her investigation on the road towards the race grounds. Using her incredible senses and intuition, she finds Carla’s dead driver and horse.

Coincidentally, Ezequiel had come to the scene of the crime to hide the body and the car, and he almost ran over Antonia. Her quick reaction surprises the audience and Gutierrez, too, since she already has the car key in a swift motion, runs back to where they had left the car, and is in a fierce chase with the kidnapper. Unfortunately, they lose him on the highway when they veer off the road to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming truck. 

The aftermath of the car chase gets Gutierrez and Antonia on the news. The anti-kidnapping unit is angry about them going rogue since their action could spook the kidnapper and put the victim in danger. The Mentor asks them to stop investigating Carla’s case and focus on Truvenda’s murder case.

Back at the Red Queen Project’s base, Antonia and Doctor Aguado use the blurred images Gutierrez took during the case to figure out the kidnapper’s identity. The kidnapper has a tattoo on his arm, and Antonia asks Aguado to send it to a tattoo artist to try and locate the one who drew it. At the end of the episode, Carla hears someone else sobbing in the cage next to hers. Her name is Sandra. 

The Episode Review

The episode is thrilling and unpredictable as it introduces an amazing chemistry between Antonia and Gutierrez. The two are polar opposites, one being talkative and always wanting to talk, leading to an enjoyable comedic banter between Gutierrez and Antonia.

Although seeing a genius working with the police or secret organisations to solve the case is not a new premise, it is still mesmerising to imagine how Antonia’s mind works. She delivers an amazing performance that keeps the audience glued and gives a refreshing look into the premise.

Ezequiel is still a mystery in this episode, but we are intrigued to follow the story and determine the reason behind his actions. Is he seeking revenge, and does it have something to do with his father? Is there a connection between his victims? Who is Sandra?

We cannot wait to follow the tension and the haunting investigation in the next episode.