#avila | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nachocheesevarga · 1 month

Text

Sr. Ávila Season One Analysis

Word Count: 5,971

Warnings: There is a brief mention of necro and n0nc0n and a reference to suic1de, which is part of the plot. This section has a content warning, so you can skip past it!

Ávila season one starts with Roberto Ávila being already in the hitmen field. I will begin from Roberto’s childhood, at least what is known from Season One, and go from there. As a disclaimer, I am also going by what the English subtitles provided by HBO themselves have translated the show as. I know the Spanish dialogue may be slightly different for localization purposes; however, I am going by the English subtitles as I don't speak Spanish. I will post almost all the clips I mention or reference to my Tumblr blog, @Nachocheesevarga, for those interested. With all that out of the way, let's get started. Not much is shared about Roberto’s childhood in the entire series, regardless of season one. Yet here are things known about Roberto.

Roberto’s family is clouded in mystery, and there isn’t enough information given, but what is known is that he has a father and a mother. His mother will be brought up in my discussion on season three, as no information is known of her in season one. Roberto’s father seems to have respiratory issues, which an oxygen tank can see. He is seen smoking a cigarette, so it is to be assumed he most likely had gotten it from a long-time nicotine addiction. His father is also in a wheelchair however, this wasn’t always the case. In episode eleven, titled Freud and Ghosts, we get to see the first glimpse of Roberto’s father. His father is supposedly the one who got Roberto to kill first. This is because a man named Robledo shot his father, which is presumably why he is using a wheelchair and not able-bodied. Roberto claims his first kill was because of his father. His killer had his father's voice and drove him to murder Robledo with a baseball bat. The show later on contradicts this statement but I will get to that when I write my analysis on season three. Roberto claims he killed Robledo because “...he showed me in the worst possible way that my dad wasn’t immortal” (Freud and Ghosts 20:00-23:59). Roberto’s father had already paid for the hit so Roberto had gone to return the money which is how he met Moreira which there offered him a job. Once again the show later on has a different contrasting point on if this is all true, but I will mention that once we cross that bridge. Given that Roberto has been in the hitmen business for 15 years, it is assumed that 15 years ago, he killed Robledo, marking that as when Moreira hired him. Before I move on past Roberto’s biological family, I have to talk about Roberto’s sister. I don’t think this was anything more than a one-liner; however, as I am doing this analysis, it is crucial to mention it. In episode nine, titled The Child and the Spiderweb, there is a brief mention of a sister aspiring from a joke. Roberto and the man who works at the scrap yard speak and have playful banter. After this, he mentions that Roberto needs to tell his sister that he is coming over later. This sister is never once brought up again in the entire four seasons. I am chalking this up to be a one-liner, and since it was so early in the show, they didn’t think much about it. However, as it was mentioned, I had to at least talk about it. Next, I will discuss Roberto’s child Emiliano and his wife Maria.

Roberto and Maria’s meeting is talked about in season two so I will stick to season one only for now. Maria is forty years old confirmed in episode one titled Surprise Party. The episode confirms Maria is forty years old, starting season one. Roberto is confirmed to also be in his forties. While his age isn’t specified, it can be assumed that he is either exactly forty or in his very early forties. I think it’s more plausible that he is also forty, just a couple of months older than Maria. The Priest is who mentions this, stating that Roberto is already forty and should take the job as the Don (A Lousy Job 4:30). Emiliano is confirmed to be seventeen as well in episode six, Reliquaries and Vampires. This means that the youngest, Roberto and Maria had Emiliano when Maria was 23, and Roberto was at least 23, if not a few years older. Maria and Roberto’s marriage date is unknown. However, the day they got married was on August 11th, confirmed in episode thirteen, titled A Child's Gaze. Now, we will look at Roberto’s earlier life.

Roberto joined the hitman agency when he was at least twenty-five. This would make Emiliano two years old when Roberto started working for Moreira. However, Roberto worked as a police officer before his job as a hitman. In Mexico, the age to become a police officer is 18-35. This can mean that Roberto may have joined the police academy as soon as he graduated and left the police around when Emiliano was born or before Emiliano was two. Roberto worked on the police force with a man named Bermudez. Bermudez, in an altercation shown in a flashback, shot Roberto in the hand, leaving Roberto with a scar on one of his hands (A Lousy Job). Roberto, in this same episode, also seems to struggle with PTSD due to these experiences in the police force. He has a flashback while sleeping and can be seen thrashing in his sleep. He wakes up, and his hands end up on Maria’s neck. Maria isn’t freaking out, only worried about Maria, which has the undertone that this is something that has happened a few times, at least to the extent that Maria is not freaked out by what happens. She instantly calms down Maria holds him gently and tells him that it’s alright (A Lousy Job 33:00). This episode also showcases Roberto showing symptoms of a panic attack as well and when he is tasked with killing Bermudez he is visibly shaky and sweating. Roberto, as mentioned, joined the Hitmen agency around the time he was 25. He tells Ybarra that he is broke and doesn’t have a job at the moment and that is why he is joining the agency. Roberto seemed to initially join the agency because he needed money with a very young child to support and a wife (By the Book).

Ybarra, in this same episode, is also revealed to be Emilaino’s Godfather and is also the closest person Roberto had. Episode two, By the Book, has some of the most insightful information about Ybarra. Ybarra has been in the business for over twenty years, meaning he has been in the company five years longer than Roberto has. He was also Roberto’s mentor when he learned the ropes. Ybarra is revealed to have an eye problem, causing him to kill the wrong person. Ybarra claimed to have been all over the city and not a single doctor saw anything wrong with his eye (Surprise Party). This is later on in the series, so for those who are aware of what happens, I firmly believe the apostles had planned this and done something to Ybarra’s vision, which led to the mistake that pushed Roberto to kill Ybarra. Killing Ybarra is the first part in which we see Roberto’s mental health slip. When he is told to kill Ybarra, he fights it. Yet when he goes to the Priest, the Priest eggs Roberto into killing him. He also encourages Roberto to take the role of the Don. This pressure makes Roberto murder Ybarra for the rule he broke. Yet in episode one, Surprise Party, Ivan defends Ybarra’s mistake and tries to reason with Moreira on sparing Ybarra. This causes Moreira to snap at Ivan and remind him why they have rules. This is one of the more exciting points because it gets into the next section, the funeral parlor members.

Ivan was Moreira’s right-hand man. He was working there before both Ybarra and Roberto. Ivan’s relationship with Moreira is fascinating as Moreira was only in the first few episodes. However, it is clear that his death had a massive impact on Ivan. When Ivan finds Moreira’s suicide, he kisses him on the mouth. He is also seen in that episode snorting Moreira’s ashes. Whatever the relationship the two had, it was intense. Ivan becomes much more colder after this. He shows Roberto certain things but is also very reclusive about everything. He cares for the business and clarifies that Roberto is not above that. Roberto may be the Don but he is in no way above the organization. Ivan helps keep things running smoothly. He kills Roberto’s mistress, Maggie, who he is cheating on with Maria. He tortures Emilaino to find out how it will affect the organization. He threatens to put a stop to Maria in case she digs too far and Roberto quickly puts an end to the idea. Ivan is one of the most dangerous characters in the show because he stops at nothing to put the crime organization first. Ana is the mortuary cosmetologist for the funeral home business. She is close with Ivan to some extent. She is reticent in season one. She rarely speaks unless spoken to; when she does, it’s only a few words. Ana is focused on her work and loves to make people remember who they were when they were alive.

Next, I will be talking about Maggie. Maggie is who Roberto sees while he has his double life. Roberto uses sex as a coping mechanism. When things are stressful at work, and he's had a bad day, he can roughly fuck her. She is more of a vessel for Roberto, who can use her for sex when he is too overwhelmed. It’s not entirely clear when the affair started, but for a good part of Roberto’s life, he is faithful. When mentioned about whoring by Ybarra, Roberto quickly dismisses it by saying he has a wife. Roberto at some point, got into a relationship with Maggie. The affair had been going on for at least six months, as six months ago, Roberto gave Maggie the bracelet (Neither Borge’s nor God). This episode means it’s assumed that the moment he gave her the bracelet, the two officially started seeing each other and went from courting to starting their commitment to being friends with benefits. In episode one, it is also confirmed that Maggie is only thirty years old, a decade younger than Roberto and Maria. Roberto uses sex as a coping mechanism, and when Maggie mentions Maria and says she will tell her about their affair, Roberto is hostile. He threatens to hurt Maggie if she dares to touch and interfere with his family life. When Ivan kills Maggie, Roberto is distraught. He seems to show real emotions as benign distraught and calling her dozens of times. In episode six, Reliquaries and Vampires, Maria wants to engage in sex and asks Roberto as she thinks it might help her feel better, yet Roberto is too focused on Maggie’s whereabouts. He says he's too tired from work and leaves Maria alone. Later on in episode seven, titled To Kill an Immortal, Roberto and Maria engage in sex. It’s rough, and it is something he would have done with Maggie. While the sex scene plays out, Roberto imagines it as Maggie instead of Maria. He is rough with Maria, and afterward, Maria mentions they haven’t done anything that rough in ages. Maria and Roberto seemed to have an okay bedroom life. There were two scenes showcasing their bedroom life. It appears that Roberto uses sex as a coping mechanism and uses Maggie as an outlet for his rage. Roberto, later on in the show, continues these unhealthy trends of using sex as a coping mechanism, and it seems to be one of his most exciting vices. While on the topic of vices, Roberto is seen participating in a dog fight and betting on a dog, and while it is only seen in one episode, the act of violently participating and watching a dog getting torn to shreds when Maggie wasn’t available for him to have sex with is a point to mention.

Now, I wanna dwell on Sanchez. Sanchez is one of the most exciting characters in the show because of his fall from grace. In season one he starts as being very competent. He knows what to do and how to poke the hornet's nest. He can piss off Roberto just by simply being there, and he can pin out Emiliano as being a suspect very quickly. He applies pressure to Emiliano and causes Emiliano to mess up his story by mentioning how the girl is probably already dead. He also is the one who leaks Roberto’s affair with Maggie to Maria. He caused a ripple effect, and out of all the people to have caused Roberto to falter, Sanchez is one of the top characters in this category. Sanchez in A Child's Gaze, Sanchez has been bought out and becomes one of Roberto’s lap dogs after Roberto murders his partner on the police force. He is using a man on the inside of the Mexican police force and using it to his advantage. Since Emiliano is mentioned in Sanchez’s section, I wanna focus on Emiliano.

Emiliano is one of the more tragic characters as he longs for his father's approval and doesn’t have the proper guidance. Emilinao is seventeen years old. He seems to be a loner in the earlier episodes before he meets Ismael. He is seen getting made fun of and bullied. He sits alone at lunch. Emilino kicked the dog in episode two, By the Book. This was the first episode in which Emiliano clearly needed support. He needed a crutch of support for his anger issues that stemmed from Roberto. He needed a healthy outlet, but Maria’s own anxiety and fear hindered her from being that crutch Emiliano needed. Roberto is too concerned with Ybarra and the offer of becoming the next Don, which leaves him useless in his son's pleas for help. Emiliano was struggling, and he didn’t get that support. After Emiliano cuts a student's ankle with a box cutter, he is kicked out and forced to go to a rougher “delinquent” high school. This is where he meets Ismael. Yet Emiliano does get a talk from Roberto, which looks pretty heartfelt. He explained to Emiliano that holding in your anger can be dangerous. He also assures his son things will be okay. Roberto, for a split second, was human. Emiliano needed that. Yet Emiliano begins to fall into a darker path. Ismael helps him kill “the Beast” so he can date Juliana. Juliana is only playing with Emiliano, and after some pushback from Ismael, Emiliano murders her with a wooden stake. Content warning for the next section, I will be talking about the fictional rape that happens in this show. There will also be a brief mention of attempted suicide. Be warned and move to the next paragraph to avoid this. Stay safe. Emiliano reveals to Ismael that he raped Juliana after he killed her. This is one of the darkest aspects of the first season. This rape is something so dark that doesn’t have much else attached to it other than Emiliano does show to have remorse. He is seen breaking down when he tells Ismael and sobs into his jacket. I think while what Emiliano did was sickening and terrible, he needed serious help. Maria will be mentioned next, but the way she was of no help to Emiliano, and Roberto is so far away in his hitmen's work they leave Emiliano to drown. While his actions may be irredeemable, it is essential to look at how they stem. Emiliano needed to see an actual therapist and get real help when he was showing violent tendencies, but his mental health was neglected. Later on in the show, Emiliano attempts to kill himself. This isn’t a ploy for attention. Emiliano is in severe mental distress. He was abused and tortured by Ivan while being blindfolded. Maria calls Emiliano a monster like Roberto. He is deemed and cast out by his mother. Roberto isn’t much help either, as he and Maria fight, and it causes even more trauma to Emiliano. Emiliano ends up slitting his wrists, attempting to kill himself. Maria found him staring up at the ceiling, waiting to die. This is one of the heartbreaking moments. Maria accuses Roberto of being the reason and trying to get Emiliano to kill himself. Although Emiliano says, he’s alive because of his father. I take this as Roberto saving Emiliano from prison, which is why he says this. Roberto asks Doctor Montes to look after Emiliano. Doctor Montes explains to Roberto that Emiliano did try to end his life, and he wanted to die. He needed reassurance from his father. Montes mentions that Roberto needs to tuck him into bed, leave a light on, and ensure he knows he is safe. Roberto quickly failed Emiliano out of everyone else in his life. He needed that comfort and to feel protected and he didn’t have that. Emiliano dies not from Ismael but from Ivan. Ivan presses down, snaps Emilianos neck and lies to Roberto. This is the foundation of distrust Ivan and Roberto stand on. Emiliano died tragically and was dragged into this crime of life due to not having a support pillar around him.

Maria is the next person that Roberto fails. I think she has one of the most tragic stories. Maria develops anxiety in episode one. She is overwhelmed, and on the day she turns forty, Roberto has planned a surprise party for her, inviting over their friends. Maria is overcome with fear after having a rough day passes out. When she wakes up, Roberto is next to her, comforting her. His love for Maria seems strong, and he calls her loving names, like a princess, as he prepares her an excellent breakfast. Maria, however becomes more and more unwell in the episodes. In episode two, Roberto asks Maria to walk with him after he sees how stressed she is over Emiliano. The gesture is sweet and caring, but Maria declines his offer. This is the same episode where the two are not cuddling in bed. Roberto lays alone on his side of the bed and curls up alone. It is the beginning of the ending for the two. Roberto does try to reach out to Maria but she persists that she is okay. The most exciting thing is how Roberto shows concern yet never acts on it. He is worried about her. He mentions it to the Priest and Ivan, but he refuses to give any push. Roberto will be gentle with her and ask if she has gone out today, and Maria will say no and say she plans to go out tomorrow. Roberto is concerned but also doesn’t act on that. He is too busy with being the Don, and Maria falls deeper into her depressive episode and is consumed by anxiety about the outside world. What they do in the show is interesting because they use television as Maria’s fixation.

The television isn’t just a source of entertainment but a way for her to still be connected to the world. Maria uses media and the TV as a way for her to get lost away from the real world. Outside of the TV, she has a neglectful husband and a son who is unstable and getting into fights. Inside the TV, she can use it as an escape mechanism and can watch shows that make her laugh or cooking shows. This spirals from her having a panic attack and fainting at her surprise party to not going out for weeks. The television became her connection to other people. Multiple times during multiple episodes, Maria is seen breaking down and crying on the floor, isolated and without her family. They have no food in the pantry or fridge because Maria hasn’t been able to go grocery shopping. When Roberto gives up on trying to get Maria's help, he passively ignores her, with the two facing away from each other. Finally, their television service is shut off due to an issue with the autopayment not working. Maria is without the one thing helping her dissociate from reality. She panics and begins to search through the whole house and finds Roberto’s wad of cash shoved in one of his jackets. Maria ends up leaving the house to pay for the bill in person, but while there, due to the overestimation and anxiety, she breaks down and throws a trash can, attacking the clerk at the desk. That night Maria is quiet as Roberto goes to comfort her after Emilaino leaves to his room. Maria and Roberto begin to argue once she reveals she found the money. Roberto mentions that he had won it gambling on Emiliano’s birthday when he lied and said he was working. This is untrue, something Maria sees as Roberto never gambled and hasn’t in a long time. This is true as Roberto appears to gamble only in one episode throughout the show, and he does so at a dogfight.

Roberto encourages Maria to see Doctor Montes and Maria ends up agreeing. In episode eight, titled God's Whims, it is revealed Maria had seen a therapist in the past due to having postpartum depression when she had Emiliano. When Doctor Montes finally sees Maria, he is working under Roberto, focusing on making Roberto look good. He gaslights Maria into believing Roberto and trusting him again. I think how Maria is revealed to be manipulated over and over again in this show is something so profoundly tragic. When Detective Sanchez arrives to tell Maria about Emiliano’s potential involvement in the murder of Juliana. Sanchez then decides to poke the hornet's nest and reveals the bracelet Roberto gave to Maria was originally for Maggie. This throws Maria into a spiral as she slaps Roberto across the face and locks herself in their bedroom. Roberto tries to reason with her but Maria has no trust in Roberto anymore. He never told Maria about Ybarra’s death, which further puts a wedge in the couple. Roberto is sleeping on the couch, and Maria is deeply hurt.

Maria and Roberto repair their relationship somewhat when Emiliano nearly ends his life. The two reconcile at their house once Emiliano returns home from the hospital. While this should be something sweet, it is cut short when Roberto realizes Ismael is still alive. He requests that Maria go to her sister's house while they sort this out. Maria is hesitant and after a bit of pushback, she reluctantly agrees to go. As Emiliano and Roberto leave, Maria is left alone. As she gets in the car, it is revealed Ismael has been waiting for her. Maria instantly panics and reaches to take her prescribed medicine for her anxiety and panic attacks but isn’t able to. After following Ismael’s instructions, he stabs her with a tranquilizer, paralyzing her body temporarily. She is a limp doll, and Ismael decides to torture her. He first takes her to a food court, where he reveals everything. He tells Maria who Roberto is and how the funeral home is a front for the hitman business. Maria is horrified and can be seen with tears in her eyes as she is faced with the realization that the man she has been married to for over fifteen years has lied to her. Next, Ismael takes Maria to a soccer game. This game is filled with people cheering and hollering, which causes Maria distress. Her anxiety is at an all-time high with the realization that her husband has been hiding his true identity, and with her being in front of a crowd of hundreds, it is her own personal hell. When Ismael leaves to go to the bathroom she makes a break for it. She slowly begins to stumble as best as she can away from Ismael. Onlookers question her stumbling but when she sees Ismael in the corner of her eye, she begins to panic, running into the streets. There, a car accidentally hits her, leaving Maria with amnesia and unable to remember anything. When Roberto gets the call, he gets to the hospital as fast as he can, and when he sees her, Roberto decides to be genuine. He admits to his entire life. It is one of the few times Roberto seems genuine about anything. Yet there it is revealed Maria doesn’t remember who Roberto is. Roberto is distraught and hurt as he curls up with Maria holding her throughout the night.

When Maria can go home Roberto has Doctor Montes help look after her so she can regain back her memory. Maria instantly recognizes Emiliano's photo but cannot piece together who Roberto is. She becomes volatile and smashes a picture frame over Doctor Montes’ head, claiming that she will always be able to recognize her son. The next most significant moment is when Maria discovers Emiliano’s corpse posed as if he hung himself in their garage. Maria is panicked and frantic screaming at Montes and Roberto. Roberto tries to reassure her that Emiliano is sick and he killed himself, but Maria quickly grabs the gun next to her. While it is off-screen, it is revealed Maria shot Roberto and shot Montes in his left arm; thankfully, Montes is right-handed, unlike Roberto. Roberto tells the priest Maria has gone crazy and explains how he murdered Ismael. For this season, that is where Maria is left. She was deemed crazy and unstable, and living in a designated home, the trauma she went through and hurt wiped away as she seems to have a clean slate now. Now, with all these characters and episode-by-episode synopsizes out of the way, I want to talk about Roberto.

Roberto is one of the last characters I have decided to discuss because I have so much to say about him. As mentioned before, at the very beginning, Roberto joined the police academy, most likely right out of high school. Roberto was groomed into becoming a hitman and into becoming a don. I will talk about this more in-depth in seasons three and four, but it is something so important to me. His own father insinuates that Roberto is to kill Robledo. While Roberto does offer first, it doesn’t make sense why Roberto would offer this, assuming this is around the time he just left the police force. I think he does it because he looks up to his father. Roberto’s father isn’t talked about nearly enough, but Roberto claims that was the first time he was ever killed. He murdered someone because of his father, and when Roberto murders Robledo, it is so violent. He somehow got him into the trunk of his car and relentlessly bashes Robledo with a bat. When the camera next shows Roberto, he is soaked in blood, and his hands are shaking as he lights up a cigarette and dissociates. This is highly similar to Emiliano killing Juliana, covered in blood and shaking, dissociating. Roberto wasn’t always this way, and what made him this way was something shrouded in mystery and only seen in small slivers.

Roberto killing Ybarra was the first foundational stone of Roberto losing everything and would be the kickstarting point for him in his long fall from grace and descent into madness. Ybarra was more than a teacher to Roberto this is the man who was Emiliano’s Godfather and close family friend. Maria was allowed to meet and personally know Ybarra. He attended her fortieth surprise birthday party. Ybarra was close to Roberto, and whether or not that was a problem for the organization or not, they wanted to test Roberto to see if he was capable of killing someone he cared about. Roberto doesn’t deal with any trauma or grief he has. This is a recurring thing in the show where if Roberto is stressed or needs an outlet, he turns to sex.

HBO, while not ever being one to shy away from sexual content, makes it abundantly clear that Roberto uses sex as a coping mechanism. When he has to kill Ybarra, and when he does, he instantly turns to Maggie to fuck and have rough sex with. His facial expression isn’t one of love or compassion but one of anger. He uses Maggie. Roberto, in my opinion, never loved Maggie, but he loved what she stood for. Maggie was Roberto’s personal sex doll and was everything his fake life represented. Maggie is the door that stands between who Roberto is and who he pretends to be. He uses Maggie when he needs to release tension from what is happening. She is young, flirty, and cunning, a dangerous combination that Roberto soon realizes. Maggie does have feelings for Roberto. She wants Roberto to skip Maria’s party so the two can have a night together. She disregards Maria as the woman being cheated on and views her as an opponent. If she can’t have Roberto, then neither should Maria. When Maggie goes ‘missing,’ Roberto is increasingly distraught and irritable, and I think it’s because he realizes that what he had for the last six months is gone. The outlet he had for sex and the outlet that was his escape and a personification of his double life is gone. Roberto imagines while he is having sex with Maria that it is Maggie in her place. This sex is rough, and when Maria tries to take off the bracelet that was once Maggie's, he tells Maria to keep it on. He wants Maria to be just for a night, that same personification that Maggie was. A way for him to relieve his stress. Roberto and Maria’s sex life is something dying. When Maria implies that a night of love with Roberto might make her feel better, he instantly brushes it off because he is concerned about Maggie. He jeopardizes their sex life for Maggie. Roberto does love Maria but he is also a hypocrite.

Roberto and Maria have an interesting dynamic because Roberto will say some of the most breathtaking, heartwarming comments about her, and yet he still cheats. I am very biased as Maria is one of my favorite characters in the show so the way I feel so strongly about how poorly she is treated. Roberto refuses to do good pushback with Maria. He is so clearly concerned about her when she faints and, in the next scene, brings her a beautiful tray of fruits from the party and he calls her princess. He does love her. Yet when Maria refuses to see a doctor, Roberto doesn’t have much else to say and leaves Maria to deal with it on her own. Roberto gets so hyperfocused and swept up in the new position as a don, one he isn’t even sure he wants to take, that he shuts out Emiliano and Maria.

Roberto says, “And if something were to happen to her, anything, I would burn the world to the ground” (That Day). When Ivan pushes the idea of needing to take care of Maria if she becomes a problem Roberto instantly shuts it down, and he does multiple other times. Roberto loves Maria, but he is so focused on the double life he is living that he hurts and lies to Maria. He has lied to Maria for fifteen years and started cheating at least six months ago. Roberto is also distraught that killing can be an inherited trait. He talks about this multiple times with the Priest, and the Priest instantly shuts down the idea. Roberto treats the Priest's words very highly. He acts as a venting system for Roberto and it is something deeply personal to Roberto to have this outlet. Maria even mentioned that Roberto started sounding like the pope with optimism when she finally left the house. The Priest is someone intertwined with Roberto, and I wanna say more, but that gets into other seasons’ territories. However, when Roberto shares the most intimate details of his life, it is always with the Priest.

Roberto also has an interesting dynamic with Emiliano. Emiliano’s death leaves Roberto forever changed, and when he sees his son is dead, he is clearly pained. He doesn’t blame Ivan or Ana for what has happened. He is quiet, and I think it is another structure to Roberto that is being torn down. His son was taken away from him by who he thought was Ismael. Roberto trusts Ivan and has no clue about the horrors and lengths that Ivan will go through to keep the business running.

Roberto’s trauma isn’t something dwelled on much in the show, but it is a leading cause of his downfall and his spiral into insanity. He struggles with PTSD flashbacks from being shot in his right hand by his police partner. In a few months, Roberto loses his best friend, son, and the life he once knew. His wife no longer recognizes who he is and is deemed crazy after she shoots Roberto and Montes. He is alienated, and now all he has is the organization, as revealed, Ismael placed multiple hits on Roberto. I think this is clearly where we, as the audience, see that Roberto’s mental health is slipping. He isn’t sleeping much, and the role of the Don is taking a toll on him. Now, he has to face this new chapter of his life without his wife or his son.

Now, the last thing I want to do is quickly go through facts about characters that are known in the show:

Maria is 40

Roberto is at least 40, revealed by the Priest

Maria likes to garden and has roses she takes care of. There are also plants all over the Ávila household.

Roberto likes to do puzzles and has a shed in the backyard where he does them.

In the Ávila household, on their fridge, there is a Pumbaa magnet from the movie The Lion King, confirming that the movie exists in the world and Emiliano liked it as a kid or someone in the family did enough for there to be a magnet of him on the fridge.

Emiliano plays the guitar and claims Roberto isn’t supportive of him.

Emiliano is 17.

Ismael is 18.

Roberto has a scar on his right hand from getting shot by his old police partner.

Roberto was a former police officer

Roberto likes ice cream

Ivan likes ice cream, and his favorite flavor is Rum Raisin

Maria had postpartum depression after she gave birth to Emiliano

Ybarra is Emiliano’s Godfather

Brad Pitt canonically exists in the universe

The show starts in Spring

Ismael and Maria both have birthdays in the spring