Y tu Luna también: Maya and the Three: Episode 5 – “The Puma” (2021)

We’re rounding out our team today with the last of the prophesied warriors. While some nuts-and-bolts plot stuff gets a little shaky at times, this episode has a lot going for it, with a fun new character and some lovely interactions within the main group.

Having made their way to the barbarian kingdom (their word) of the Golden Mountains, Maya and her friends seek out their final warrior. They’re joined by Picchu, a brave warrior with ghosts in his past. As the four continue on their journey, connections are made, but Maya feels a little on the outside.

Picchu is a fun, sweet character, a delightful meathead with a soft side. He is easily bigger than the other three put together, and he’s deadly with his axes, but his introductory flashback features him saving a baby in the middle of a battle. (Strong Zhao Yun from Red Cliff vibes.) He’s haunted by the consequence someone else once paid for his mercy, and now he’s prepared to die for a worthy cause. Picchu is endearingly voiced by Gabriel Iglesias.

Also, I appreciate Jorge R. Gutiérrez’s ongoing commitment to the female gaze. After swoony reactions to Zatz in the pilot (not to mention Joaquin in The Book of Life,) we now get Maya and Chimi dropping their jaws at Picchu’s hunky physique, complete with a lovingly paced “getting ready for the quest” bath sequence. Gutiérrez has some handsome animated gents in his projects, and the female characters are quite happily thirsty.

The best part of most of these episodes is the character interactions, and that holds true here. Some of it is funny, like Rico’s confused-yet-dreamy-eyed reaction to Chimi kissing a spider: “You’re kinda broken, aren’t you? That’s exactly my type.” And there’s a beautiful scene of our heroes sitting around the campfire together, opening up as they all share their stories and the losses they’ve suffered, even Maya’s battle jaguar Chiapa.

This, though, is where Maya’s storyline loses me a little. It’s absolutely good for her to hear her friends’ stories and squirm a little, given how “woe-is-me” she was in episode 1, and you can feel her taking stock of her reactions to her own experiences as they open up. But at the same time, there’s a personal dilemma introduced re: their mission that feels like it comes out of nowhere. In retrospect, I can see what they’re getting at with it, but previous episodes don’t highlight this aspect of the prophecy/quest at all, so when it comes up here, my first instinct is to go, “Huh? Since when?”

Diego Luna’s Zatz continues to be used sparingly but well. Even though he’s only in one extended sequence, it’s honestly a great outing for him. He and Maya have reached the “sparks flying” stage of their relationship, and they have this fantastically chemistry-charged fight. I love it. They’re flying through the air clashing blades, and they’re flirting the entire time. When Maya declares, “I hate you!”, they’re both smiling. When one lands a good hit, the other laughs. It’s obvious how impressed they are with one another’s skills. Along the way, fighting becomes sparring becomes dancing. It’s just great to see, and Luna’s performance is predictably charming.

And, side note: Zatz’s dagger is named Crimson Moon, even though it glows green. What’s that about?

Joel Fry-days: Alice and Steve: Season 1, Episode 6 (2026)

*Spoilers from episode 5*

Hoo boy. Okay, we’re at the season finale. Big, big developments going on here, maybe too much to wrap up all at once. While Joel Fry’s performance is as wonderful as always, I do think Daniel’s story gets shortchanged amid everything else going on.

So, spoilers from the last episode. At Izzy’s ultrasound, she and Steve found out she was further along than she thought. This means her ex-boyfriend Janis, not Steve, is the father of her baby. Steve is still determined to be there for her and the baby, though, and he proposes. Oh my god…

A coach bus has brought the wedding party and guests out to a fancy old manor house in the country. (Izzy isn’t really showing yet, so this is all very quick.)  Steve and Izzy both have their own separate freakouts, and Alice is on the verge of spontaneous combustion.

I won’t get into too many details to avoid spoiling things, so I’ll keep my thoughts a little more general here. Not surprisingly, Alice is handling none of this well, and she’s not shy about showing it. The rehearsal dinner is a disaster, though only partially because of her. For part of the episode, Steve is convinced that she’s trying to murder him, with Alice not doing much to assuage his concerns on that front. 

Everything gets very twisty-turny, and while there are some hints toward where a resolution might be heading, we don’t actually arrive there. That’s because of a big third-act crisis that throws everything else into stark relief. Rather than seeing how things turn out, we end on an all-but-literal cliffhanger. I’m still deciding how I feel about the ending, which isn’t fully satisfying where the narrative is concerned but might still be cathartic in its own way. I haven’t wrapped my mind all the way around it yet.

Our last character of the week is Eilidh Fisher as Rome, the person Dom has been dating. They’re a gentle nerd, and the two characters are cute together. Here, Rome offers comfort to Dom as the pre-wedding festivities highlight the train wreck that his family has rapidly become.

When episode 5 ended with the proposal, I suspected that the finale likely wouldn’t have enough time to devote much to Daniel, and I was right. Given that it’s his daughter’s wedding, he’s around for plenty of it, and there are some good moments for his character, but his story isn’t really dealt with. None of the stuff from episodes 3 and 4 about his sexual needs are mentioned at all, and while there’s a hint toward what his resolution may be with Alice, it feels too simplistic for everything that’s gone down between them during the series.

But even if he doesn’t get much in the way of his ongoing story, there are still some strong scenes for Daniel in this episode, and as Joel Fry has done time and again in so many supporting roles, he doesn’t waste a single opportunity.

Daniel has brought Marni as a guest to the wedding, which obviously turns heads. When she’s apprehensive about being there, Daniel firmly tells her, “Seriously, [Alice] took her best friend to every single event for our entire marriage. It's my daughter's wedding, and I can invite my best friend if I want to.” So sweet! I also enjoy a soft moment the two of them share on the grounds of the manor house, and when the crisis hits, Daniel proves both brave and proactive. My favorite part, though, comes during the rehearsal dinner. As things start spiralling out of control, Alice is predictably focused on herself while Daniel’s primary concern is Izzy. There’s a fantastic bit when he steps in to give Izzy some breathing room at a point where she’s clearly distressed and Steve is just making things worse. Throughout the series, it’s been really lovely to see how Daniel looks out for her amid all the chaos and drama that’s erupted.

So that’s Alice and Steve! Is it the end? I’m guessing so—renewal doesn’t seem all that likely to me, but who knows? Personally, I'm so curious for more of Daniel's story! But for now, I’ll sign off with my final thoughts on the show.

Accent Watch

Southern British English.

Recommend?

In General – Ultimately, I think I would, providing you can handle the troubling subject matter and the strong secondhand-discomfort factor at times. It’s certainly not the most enjoyable show, considering how vicious some of the characters can be, but it’s a compelling one.

Joel Fry – 100%, yes! I’m finding that, if the role gives him basically anything to work with, Fry always gives you a performance worth watching, and he turns in fantastic work on this show.

Warnings

Strong thematic elements (including a troubling age-gap relationship setup,) sexual content, language, drinking/smoking/drug use, a bloody injury, and the general ick of messy people being their worst selves.

Other Doctor Lives: W1A: Series 1, Episode 2 (2014)

*Spoilers from episode 1*

Episode 2 follows pretty directly from the pilot. I’m not sure if we’ll see more serialized plots on W1A, with multiple episodes addressing the same crises—it’s certainly possible, especially because W1A has shorter seasons than Twenty Twelve—or if they just kicked off the series with something bigger. At any rate, this is an entertaining continuation.

In episode 1, right as Hugh was dealing with the guy accusing the BBC of anti-West Country bias, a BBC news anchor came forward with allegations of her own—she too cited anti-West Country attitudes, along with sexism and ageism, as the reasons she hasn’t advanced in her career. Now Hugh is heading up to Manchester by train to discuss the issue on a women’s radio program. Back in London, Britain’s Tastiest Village has hit a snag: despite a lackluster lunch meeting last episode, a new celebrity host is on board…only for the original host to suddenly announce she’s available after all.

Our character of the week is Lucy Freeman, played by Nina Sosanya. She’s one of the producers for Britain’s Tastiest Village and possibly one of the more competent people in the building. Her cohort is the one who never actually confirmed to the original host, Claire, that they were going to have to move ahead with someone else, a fact Lucy didn’t know until Claire got in contact to say she moved her schedule around. While the new host, Carol, isn’t yet contracted, Lucy is bothered by how readily everyone is to discard her in favor of Claire, and Lucy is adamant that she’s not the one left holding the bag here. So naturally, the higher ups leave her to twist in the wind.

Another reveal from the end of episode 1 is that the BBC has decided to reunite the “dream team” from the Olympics to handle the unfolding PR crisis over the bias claims. In other words, they’ve brought in Siobhan. Much to Ian’s dismay, she accompanies him and another member of the senior team to Manchester, pretty immediately making things worse. They’re hoping to deflect from the sexism/ageism allegations by announcing Carol as the cohost of Britain’s Tastiest Village, only for them to discover (while Ian is on air) about the whole Claire-Carol kerfuffle.

I got a kick out of this exchange between Ian and Siobhan:

SIOBHAN: “So, so you totally are on Twitter.” 

Ian: “What?” 

SIOBHAN: “As of now, you have 14,000 followers.” 

IAN: “What???”

The humor in David Tennant’s narration often boils down to one of two techniques: absurd details and amusing phrasing. The show uses more of the latter approach today:

• “Meanwhile, 180 miles south at New Broadcasting House in London, other events are happening, but at exactly the same time.”
• “For various reasons, whether they know it yet or not, this is going to be a decisive meeting for all those involved, especially for those who don’t know it yet.”