Watch Los Espookys or Die, Coward
be a good little consumer
Last Thursday (July 28) Julio Torres and Ana Fabrega (alongside many of their castmates) posted the trailer some of us (me) have been waiting for for three years: The second season of Los Espookys, their comedy/horror show, premieres September 16 on HBO Max.
Created by Torres, Fabrega, and Fred Armisen, Los Espookys follows a tight knit group of friends in an ambiguous Latin American country as they try to make a business out of creating real-life paranormal activity and spooky situations. If you were, for example, the executor of a will that called for a winner-take-all inheritance battle in a haunted mansion (whoever makes it the longest wins), you might call Los Espookys to create the haunted effects. It’s insane. It’s chaos. It’s endlessly rewatchable. And now, after three long years, it’s almost time for more spooks.
If you have yet to engage with the show, I cannot suggest it highly enough. Between its goofiness, aesthetic, and plot it’s hard to nail down exactly why I love it so much, but I will add this unrelated addendum to my recommendation: Los Espookys either turns my theory of chaos magic side characters on its head or is an exception to the rule. How? The show reaches such a high comedic altitude, that it stops following the rules of TV science, and the show–as a unit–becomes its own chaos magic. If you like any of the following shows/elements of them, Los Espookys is the show for you:
Succession: inheritance battles, prodigal sons, drama at weddings, corruption within the media, dueling powerful families
Hacks: glamor, Kayla
Barry: passion for the craft, murderrrr (jk), exploitation, the feral child, international relations
The Sopranos: intergenerational trauma, dealing with one’s demons, water-as a theme
Girls: choreography at the beach, pursuit of creativity, things that are vaguely British
Broad City: antics, shenanigans
Watchmen: experiencing nonlinear time
Detroiters: best friends taking care of business, doing what they love
White Lotus: intrigue
Feud: Bette and Joan: production, real effects, drama with mirrors
The Bear: pressure to succeed, good hair, respect for the craft
Newsies: hats
Aquamarine: controlling water /conversing with aquatic-adjacent spirits and creatures
Just please watch.
Here is where we left the gang at the end of Season 1: Renaldo (Bernardo Velasco), everybody’s favorite goth with a heart of gold, made it from LA in time for the back end of the wedding. Bianca Nova (Carol Kane), his former hero, proved disappointing–even poking at his gravest insecurity. However, he returns with renewed faith in his friends and their potential for spooks. After Úrsula had her sister sign the Andrés’ marriage license, Tati officially married Juan Carlos, transitioning from Versace J.Lo to Jackie O-open-convertible-pink suit seamlessly. She seems happy with her new husband and her role as princess of a cookie empire–a job for which she cannot get fired. Notably, she is able to use cookie empire money to pay off her sizable Hierbalite Nutri-Boost debt. The most unsurprising of Tati’s late in season revelations is that she experiences time non-linearly. You Go Girl!
And what of the little chocolate prince? Andrés finally gets around to showing Water’s Shadow (Spike Einbinder) (a water demon that lives inside of him, extolling truths of the universe) 2010’s The King’s Speech. As promised, Water’s Shadow reveals that Andrés is not adopted in the traditional sense. Rather, he was abandoned by his real parents during a thunderstorm at the convent, only to be adopted by the very same parents a little bit later. Spooky. Water’s Shadow returns in time to also reveal that Juan Carlos, with the Juan Carlos Cookie family and Andrés’ own parents of Valdez Chocolate, orchestrated the couple’s romantic meeting to guarantee a merger between the two families and their businesses. When Andrés realizes that he was tricked, the priest reads the marriage license for Tati and Juan Carlos–saving him from a loveless political marriage. Since he disobeyed his parents' wishes, Andrés prepares to become a little chocolate prince in exile.
What of Úrsula, the backbone of the group? After pulling off the Juan Carlos-Tati stunt and helping her sister pay off the MLM debt, we learn that she is a prime target to become MiraEsto’s next Gregoria Santos ...aka Gregoria Santos #9. Why? Because apparently MiraEsto targets medium height brunette women with bad memories to kidnap, brainwash, and use as their #1 rated on-air personality. Oh nooo. Curious about Gloria Santos #8 (Paloma Moreno)? Same. The last time we saw her she was having water/ocean related flashbacks where she heard a little baby shouting “Mama!”.
US Ambassador Melanie Gibbons is out of her cursed mirror prison but seems to be having issues with either her shadow-self or her reflection gone rogue. It is unclear whether or not she got to take her 2 week vacation, but unreleased footage points to yes. (although nothing is ever as it seems with US Ambassador Melanie Gibbons.
Tico (Fred Armisen), expert valet and Renaldo’s uncle, is back to parking cars after splitting with creative partner Bianca Nova.
Season 2 premiers September 16th so bust out your luxurious robes and newsboy caps — bc Los Espookys is one of the many things I don’t know how to shut up about
xx