Double Crossed
Episode 4 of The Longest Night starts back at the prison as Elisa scrambles upstairs to break everyone out of the Green Cell Block, intending to move over to the Red Block. However, Ruso and the others happen to be watching on the security monitors as they move out and intend to get their first. Their mission here is, of course, Simon but that doesn’t mean they can’t stop the other inmates. Meanwhile, flashbacks show one of the inmates – Javi – being arrested. It turns out he’s actually a transgender man and if the other inmates find out, that could cause serious problems. He refuses to be moved into the women’s cell block though. Fast forward to the present and Hugo watches as Ruso’s men burst into the Green Block, storming the hallways. Hugo decides that he and Cherokee should team up, at least temporarily, to stop Ruso’s men. At the same time, Bastos heads out and tries to move the rest of the inmates across to the Red Block, all of which held up in one of the small offices along the stairwell. Hugo organizes the guards with covering up the cameras so they can’t be traced. With Sara blinded from their attacks, Ruso’s group open fire on Elisa and the rest of the inmates as they hurry down the hallway. Several of them die but she manages to hold them off alongside another guard while the inmates scramble for the Red Block. Although they manage to make it inside, with Cherokee saving Manuela (and later inviting her along with their upcoming prison escape) they’ve lost several of their prisoners, while Willy and Elisa are still alive but in a rough way. Nuria speaks up and reveals that Simon is actually a prisoner, not a guard despite wearing that uniform. Cherokee immediately realizes that something is amiss but Bastos manages to calm him down before doing something rash, at least temporarily. Hugo is reunited with his kids in the midst of all this drama, although Laura is still captured and held by this strange couple. The pressure is mounting, and no more so than on Hugo. There have been 11 inmates killed and Elisa speaks to the warden in confidence, urging him to hand over Simon to prevent more blood being spilled on their hands. Hugo decides to go on the offensive, organizing a loose alliance with Cherokee and the inmates to hit back and attack Ruso’s group. While they prepare, Macarena speaks to Bastos and tries to convince him to usurp Hugo’s decision and hand Simon over. He doesn’t go for it. Ruso’s group once again come unstuck during the offensive, taken out with smoke grenades. The inmates seize their opportunity and burst in and attack Ruso and the others, beating them all down to a bloody pulp. In the wake of this, Ruso is captured and Simon decides he wants to speak to him. Hugo refuses but once again Simon is just left alone while Willy heads outside with Elisa, holding Sara up at gunpoint and held hostage, making it into the Red Block. Alone, Hugo and Simon hold up Ruso and demand to know who has sent them. Only, Macarena appears and completely upsets the power dynamic in the room. Macarena brandishes a gun and goes full-on Anna-Lucia (shout out to fellow LOST fans here!), taking matters into her own hands. She takes Simon and communicates with Ruso, deciding to meet out in the yard in 5 minutes for the hand-over.
The Episode Review
Another fast-paced episode sees all sorts of drama ensue with our main characters. Hugo is unfortunately double-crossed in the end, with Macarena taking matters into her own hands and deciding to hand Simon over. Meanwhile, we get more characterization for Cherokee who gets a pay-off with his will they/won’t they romance with Manuela (honestly, what an odd inclusion this is) while we learn Ruso and his group have been hired by someone high up but quite what their stake in all this is, remains to be seen. Despite all that, The Longest Night continues to deliver big dollops of action around tiny snippets of character development. This time we see a big shootout around Red Block, leading to that finale, which looks set to end this chapter in dramatic fashion. But how does Laura being held captive play into all this? We’ll have to wait and see!
