*A few series-premise spoilers—this miniseries is very serialized, and it’s tricky to say much without laying out some of this foundational plot stuff.*
Even though episode 1 of Maya and the Three isn’t all slapstick and fun—Zatz’s entrance is suitably creepy, and our first look at the realm of the gods would definitely be frightening for kids—episode 2 shows that this series is not playing around. There are still jokes and cool action scenes, but this story is coming in hard.
Maya is still reeling from Zatz’s revelation, that she’s actually the daughter of the goddess of death, and now the god of war wants to sacrifice her to increase his power. Her father and brothers lead the army off to do glorious battle with the gods and protect her, but fighting gods is much more intense than anyone thought. An early, costly error leads Maya to a new discovery, which sets her off on a journey to find the greatest warriors in the land, who are prophesied to be the only ones who can defeat the gods.
This whole episode is a tightrope between lighthearted fare and heavier themes. Maya eavesdrops on her parents thanks to her brothers comically dangling her from a rope outside the window…which gives her confirmation that her father had an affair with the goddess of death and she, Maya, isn’t even entirely human. Maya realizes that her people’s ancient prophecy was actually about her all along (she legitimately passes out from the excitement,) and she gets to go on a quest after all…but only after the god of war has wrought a devastating blow to her people. There’s lots of goofiness and some wildly stylish action, mixed with serious weight and genuine scares.
Speaking of the action, this miniseries deserves a definite shoutout for its fight scenes. They’re really well done and always cool to look at. At times, the characters run or leap like they’re in an anime. There might be Matrix-style slo-mo or a blur of color as the background races by. The show sometimes divides the screen between two or more characters in the fight, creating even more dynamic visuals. And on top of all of that, they offer some good character moments too. As dogged and tenacious is Maya is during a fight, she also brings to mind Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War—as in Sam Wilson’s, “I don’t know if you’ve been in a fight before, but there’s not usually this much talking.” Maya throws out insults with a shout or a smirk, she geeks out over her opponent’s cool moves, and she’s quick to apologize when a blow lands harder than she meant it to.
Adding to our impressive ongoing cast of characters, let’s look at a few of the gods. The god of war, Lord Mictlan, is superbly creepy, with a face made out of two snakes and whole skeletons dangling from the shoulders of his armor. He’s voiced by Alfred Molina with quiet menace. Meanwhile, Lady Micte, the goddess of death is voiced by Kate Del Castillo. She also played La Muerte in The Book of Life, but the depiction of the goddess is heavier here, less a benevolent goddess reigning over the land of the dead and more a complicated, powerful woman you don’t want to cross. Then there’s Zatz’s father Camazotz, the god of bats. He’s voiced by Joaquín Cosio, who costarred with Diego Luna in Narcos: Mexico as Don Neto.
Zatz proves more complex than a demigod villain working at the behest of the gods. It’s clear that Lord Mictlan’s realm is a volatile, dangerous place, and while Zatz keeps his head down and listens to his orders, he doesn’t necessarily want to follow them. In particular, every encounter he has with Maya leaves him more impressed with her. He doesn’t want to see her sacrificed to Lord Mictlan, and in fact, he’s kind of rooting for her.
Luna’s performance, and Zatz’s characterization, is giving me Princess Bride vibes all over the place, which is a lot of fun. First, there’s his recurring, “Be well, Princess Maya—I’ll see you soon,” which is totally, “As you wish.” Then he pulls his best Inigo-Montoya-with-the-man-in-black later in the episode. While he offers some comedy, Luna plays it for the most part to the earnest/serious side, which works. He brings an ominous edge to a lot of his scenes, and he displays some major gravity when the scene calls for it. In this episode, he has an okay, no more effing around moment during a climactic fight, and he is absolutely stone cold. So cool.
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