Santo – Season 1 Episode 5 “Guilt” Recap & Review

Guilt 

Episode 5 of Santo starts with a flashback of Barbara when she was in Salvador. She went to see a fortune teller and after her reading, the fortune teller offered to help her but Barbara turned her down.

She later met a man and during their encounter, he turned violent and she killed him in self-defence. After leaving jail, she got into drugs and she unknowingly went into Santo’s territory when she was high. It was then that she got into the Santo cult.

At present time, Agent Millán tries to get information from Barbara about Santo and what happened when she went missing. Barbara is unwilling to cooperate and tells Agent Millán that there is no point in looking for Santo. She believes the police will never find him.  

Meanwhile, Agent Cardona is having a hard time coming to terms with the content of the video Santo sent to him. The Madrid police come to his place to escort him but they are attacked before they can leave his place. Cardona manages to escape but he is injured. He goes to Barbara’s hospital and they escape together. 

On the news, six children have been kidnapped and the police think it was Santo’s doing. Barbara is also convinced that Santo took the kids to perform a ritual to rid them of their guilt. She tries to commit suicide but Cardona stops her. She is feeling guilty about what will happen to the kids.

On the other hand, Agent Millán is called in for a preliminary hearing into his investigation. The police have a recording of him with Chinche. They also have evidence seized from his house and Agent Millán denies any knowledge of wrongdoing and tries to hint that he is being framed. The hearing is interrupted when he is called to the hospital after his daughter overdosed.

Susi is also called at the preliminary hearing of Agent Millán and she is interrogated on whether or not she knew of any irregularities in his case. Susi refuses to put Agent Millán under the bus and states he worked by the book. After the interrogation, she tries to trace Cardona and Barbara. She finds a clue from a stop they made and pursues it with a new partner.

The clue leads them to Barbara and Cardona but they overpower her and manage to escape. Before leaving, Cardona relays to her that he is not responsible for the death of the officers at his home. He also refuses to tell her why he is running instead of going under police security.

After leaving the hospital, Agent Millán goes home only to find Cardona waiting for him at gunpoint. Cardona tells him that he knows where Santo is and accuses Agent Millán of already having this information. He wants the police to go there before Santo kills the children he kidnapped. Agent Millán tells him that he can’t do anything as he has been suspended from the force. Cardona confesses that he was the one who killed the boy when he was kidnapped.

Agent Millán goes back to the station and asks his boss to check on Cardona’s clue. As they are discussing it, a call comes in for Agent Millán. Someone claims to have one of the kids and wants to negotiate. Agent Millán is convinced the man is a fraud and is not Santo but his boss still chooses to go to the location traced from the call.

Once they get there, the rescue doesn’t go as planned and Agent Millán’s boss and colleague die in the line of duty.

The Episode Review

It is clear that Cardona is riling from the video sent by Santo, he feels guilty about what happened to the kid. Santo is an extremely twisted man who I hope is soon captured and brought to justice. I am curious why he is still running with Barbara; technically he could have gone into hiding by himself. What is his endgame with Barbara?

Agent Millán has run out of rope but he still is in denial of his shortcomings. He thinks there is a chance he can get away with his crimes. His boss was going to blindly defend him but she is dead, I wonder who else other than Susi will try to protect him…