Y tu Luna también: La Máquina: Episode 6 – “La Máquina” (2024)

*Episode premise spoilers. CW: suicide.*

I just…wow. Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal, and everyone involved in this production should be so proud of what they built together. I saw an interview where Luna and García Bernal were asked to rank their onscreen collaborations, and they put La Máquina at the top, above Y tu mamá también. At the time, I was hopeful if a little skeptical—like, “So the thing you’re currently promoting just so happens to be the best thing you’ve ever done together? That’s kind of convenient.” But now that’s I’ve seen the full miniseries, I totally get it. And I 100% agree. While Y tu mamá también is of course a masterful film, these two have grown and matured so much as actors and artists, and that experience is reflected in the show. Stunning work all around.

Esteban’s fight with Felix is rapidly approaching, and he and Andy have just gotten another brutal demonstration of what the Otras Personas are capable of. They both feel backed into a corner—the thought of giving in and having Esteban lose the fight makes them sick, but more than just their own lives are at stake here.

I won’t get into specifics on the ending here. I’ll just say that, going into this last episode, I had no idea how they were going to resolve it, but I’m pleased with the result on the whole. There’s some triumph, some loss, some ingenuity, and some luck. Things come full circle in significant ways. It’s definitely compelling to me, and overall, I find it pretty satisfying—I teared up near the end.

All the issues that have been bubbling up for Esteban the entire show come to a head. He agonizes over his legacy as a boxer and who he wants to be as a person. He considers how little control he’s had over his own life and career. He nurtures hopeless fantasies, saying, “Imagine dying in the ring, it would be great. Heroic. Mythical.” He feels trapped by the demands of the Otras Personas but longs to end his career on his terms, showing everyone what he’s made of. Gael García Bernal’s acting is as superb as always, understated and reflective, and while I admittedly know very little about boxing, I thought he looked great in Esteban’s climactic fight against Felix.

Pretty much everyone gets at least one excellent scene in the finale. Like Esteban, Irasema feels penned in when she faces threats over her investigation. Ghoulishly, she’s told, “You’re just like your father. Remember what you felt when he died? Don’t do the same to your kids.” Sixto proves once and for all that he’s the dad all these messy 30- and 40-somethings need, coming through for both Esteban and Andy at critical moments. And Carlota shares a lovely scene with Andy as they reflect on the end of their marriage.

Then there’s Diego Luna. This episode gives us Andy at his most introspective. Throughout the miniseries, he’s been avoiding and denying a lot, wanting to evade culpability even as he scrambles to try and fix things. Here, he’s forced to confront so much about himself, and he digs deep as he searches for a way out of this.

So many highlights for Andy/Luna here. There’s yet another incredible scene between Andy and Esteban at the start of the episode. This one is quieter and more heartfelt than a lot of their scenes together, and there’s a real gut punch moment when Esteban admits that he feels Andy has been taking control from him his entire career. “Man! I didn’t know you felt that way,” Andy says. And his wordless reaction to Esteban’s reply is so beautifully done.

Over the course of the episode, Andy goes from dejected to determined. The moment that shift happens is another serious highlight—it’s just soooooo good. Even though it’s relatively understated, I felt my bones that this was it. Sitting alone, Andy says to himself, “Last round. How are you going to finish? What should I do?” On the other side of that scene, we see a different Andy.

There are more highlights that I don’t want to mention for the sake of spoilers, so the last one I’ll talk about is Andy’s heart-to-heart with Carlota. Andy’s wildly unhealthy relationship with his mom had already been interfering with his marriage, and everything that goes down during the miniseries is understandably a bridge too far for Carlota. But I really like seeing Andy acknowledging his continued love for her, not because he thinks he can paper over what he’s done, but simply because he wants her to know she’s loved. This is such a good exchange between them:

Andy: “It’s just that our marriage always was—”

Carlota: “Weird?”

Andy: “No, not weird. I mean, it was a mess, but a pretty one.”

Love it! Okay, final thoughts.

Recommend?

In General – Absolutely. This miniseries is fantastic, and everyone involved just crushed it.

Diego Luna – Yes. I know, I know, recency bias, but I think this is Top Five Performances material. Luna does incredible work as Andy from start to finish. This character could’ve been gimmicky, but Luna plays him with such humanity!

Warnings

Violence, sexual content, language, drinking/smoking/drug use, and strong thematic elements (including suicidal ideation and emotionally abusive parents.)

Y tu Luna también: La Máquina: Episode 5 – “Last Minute Trip” (2024)

*Spoilers for episode 4.*

Excellent penultimate episode, with some important answers and good emotional catharsis. On the one hand, I’m sad that there’s only one episode left, but on the other, I’m so excited to see how this story ends!

After Esteban’s session with Sixto in the last episode, he went to Irasema’s house and took his two sons on a trip. Irasema doesn’t know where he and the boys are, and she calls on Andy for help. While they search, Esteban takes Estebancito and Walos back to the place where his story began.

Look, the deeper we get into the story, the bigger and scarier this whole Boxing Illuminati thing gets, and that makes it all a little silly. At this point, there may be no force in the world more powerful than the mysterious figures who rig fights from the shadows, and that’s like some Riverdale shit—but good Riverdale shit, the cracked/fun stuff like maple syrup blood feuds. But for all the incredulity, the character stuff is so rock solid. I absolutely love this show!

There are two things going on here for Esteban. First, his session with Sixto prompted the admission that he thinks he’s a bad father who’s failing his family. So he’s desperate to connect with his sons and spend time with them, which he does—he could’ve avoided so much grief if he’d just, you know, told Irasema instead of taking the kids out of their bed and stealing off into the night with them. Like, man, I know how much you’ve been going through right now, but take a beat! Second, Esteban’s feelings about his failings as a father are intricately entwined with his relationship with his own dad, and that’s tied to his origins as a boxer. So when he takes the boys to La Fonda, a carnival in Jalisco where he boxed as a child, they play games and eat candy and ride the carousel, and the boys hang on his every word as he analyzes the amateur boxers fighting in the outdoor ring, but he’s on his own personal journey too.

In his previous hallucinations, we’ve gotten brief flashes of Esteban’s past, but here, the backstory plays out in an extended fantasy sequence that’s wonderfully well done, both dramatic and emotional. We see Esteban’s past in a dreamlike ring, where all the characters—with the exception of his dad—are played by other characters on the show. Estebancito stands in as young Esteban, Irasema is a sports analyst, and Esteban himself plays the ref, while also watching the story play out from the deserted stands.

In this dream sequence, Andy plays the announcer. He commentates, not just on young Esteban’s fights, but on his unfolding life story. “The asshole will squeeze him dry,” he remarks about Esteban’s demanding dad. As the ref, Esteban retorts, “He won’t be the last to do so.” An added piece of interest here is that the announcer isn’t Botoxed and tweaked like Andy is—for the only time in the miniseries, we see Diego Luna without the facial prosthetics he wears as Andy. Now, I obviously know what Luna looks like in real life, but while watching the show, you get sort of acclimated to Andy’s face, and so it’s startling to jump from that to Luna’s real appearance. Besides the costumes, he’s the only character who looks markedly different in the fantasy—I’m not sure why, but it’s an interesting choice.

Out in the real world, Andy is going through it. At the end of episode 4, Carlota told him she wanted a divorce (she’s guessed that he was in some way responsible for her brother’s death,) and at the start of this one, he has it out with his mom. There’s a shouting match and his mom throws plates at his head(!), but Andy manages to get out of the house, taking a single bag and his samurai helmet. This is a huge step for him and will obviously be so much better for his well-being, and it’s great to see him have enough self-awareness to leave. The show strikes such a good balance of not sugarcoating how mean and toxic Andy’s mom while also allowing these bits of gallows humor in their unhealthy relationship. I love the moment where he storms out to his car—as his mom yells, “Don’t come back, you son of a bitch!”, he screams back, “I’ve already left, asshole!”

That’s the state Andy is in when Irasema calls him in a panic. It’s a testament to just how messed up he is that Irasema’s kids are missing, yet she’s the one who drives as they race to La Fonda. They both probably realize that not much good will come from Andy driving at the moment. Up until this point in the series, Andy and Irasema have only really related to each other on opposite sides of Esteban. They argue with each other over what he needs and who has his best interests at heart, and it’s easy to get the sense that their relationship is purely tangential and only exists because of Esteban. So it’s great to see the two of them together without him in this episode. Yes, they’re in this situation because they’re both looking for Esteban, but here, we finally get a good look at them as actual friends. Irasema is sympathetic to Andy’s situation with his mom while also helping him to see how ridiculous she is. Andy reassures Irasema that Esteban would never hurt the kids. Back in the first episode, I remember getting just a flicker of a Three Musketeers/trio vibe during the karaoke scene, so I’m glad to see that feeling validated as Irasema and Andy support each other here.

As usual, though, Luna’s best acting comes in the scenes where he’s playing against Gael García Bernal. Andy and Esteban continue their pattern of getting into loving fights, with the balance shifting even more towards love this time around. Andy has spent most of this miniseries on the ropes where their relationship is concerned—because he’s the one who first made the deal with the Otras Personas, Esteban has understandably been viewing this whole shitstorm as Andy’s fault, leaving Andy in a position to constantly defend himself. But here, he stands up for himself more. Andy tells Esteban, “What the hell have I done all my life? I’ve protected you. I’ve put myself on the line for you, asshole!” Throughout his mistakes and dumb moves and selfishness, he’s never stopped caring about Esteban and trying, in his misguided way, to help him. Not to mention, he’s also stayed with Esteban, as a friend and a manager, through Esteban’s addiction issues, keeping him on as a client when plenty of managers would’ve cut their losses.

This time, the fight culminates in some really sweet moments between the two. Andy comes through for Esteban in an important way, and Andy is able to unburden himself to Esteban, who’s in turn supportive and affirming when his friend is in a vulnerable place. You love to see it!

Y tu Luna también: La Máquina: Episode 4 – “In Memorium” (2024)

*Major spoilers for episode 3.*

And the hits keep on coming! While I get that my definite biases play a role, I am loving this show, and I think it’s fantastically done. This is a shorter episode, but it still packs a punch. (Honestly, I’m not making intentional boxing references here—they’re just apt descriptions.)

Big things went down in the last episode. Esteban, fresh off a devastating diagnosis about his hallucinations, does a TV interview where he hints at the idea of a shadowy conspiracy to rig fights. And in retaliation, the Otras Personas have Andy’s brother-in-law Saul killed. Now, everyone is reeling. Andy’s wife Carlota is falling apart with her grief, both Esteban and Andy are scared and guilt-ridden, and Irasema is more determined than ever to uncover what’s going on and expose those responsible.

In episode 3, Esteban learned that he has pretty severe brain trauma. It’s what’s causing his hallucinations, and through her investigation, Irasema has seen firsthand what other symptoms might be coming as his condition worsens. He’s kept away from Saul’s funeral out of concern that he won’t be able to hide his situation, so instead, Esteban goes to the gym with Sixto, who takes him through a kind of treatment to “untangle” some of the issues buried inside his hallucinations.

Given what Esteban has been seeing and hearing throughout the miniseries, it’s no surprise that his injured brain is stirring up traumatic memories from his childhood. We’ve seen flashes here and there, and while this episode doesn’t give us any answers, it more clearly puts Esteban in a position to face them. His session with Sixto is interesting to watch. As Esteban hits the speedbag in rhythm to a metronome, Sixto asks him a series of rapid-fire questions, digging deeper when Esteban tries to deflect. The longer it goes on, the more gets stripped away. For instance, he initially answers, “Yes” to the question, “Do you deserve to be happy?” The next round, that one gets a “no.” The crux of the matter, the question he can’t yet bring himself to answer, is, “Who fucked you up?”

It's interesting—thinking back on it, most of the episodes so far have only had a few scenes where Diego Luna and Gael García Bernal are together. They spend the majority of their time in separate plots, but every time they do come together, it’s just fantastic to watch them play off each other. I love that, for much of the miniseries, Andy and Esteban been angry and arguing, and yet that doesn’t lessen their obvious love for each other in the slightest. Here, Andy is upset that Esteban never told him about the hallucinations. “I would have helped you,” he insists. I doubt that either of them knows what kind of help he might have been able to offer, but it’s clear that he means what he says. It’s also apparent that each knows the other better than they know themselves. Individually, each has personal blind spots that they’re avoiding dealing with, and so both can see the other’s messy parts. “I’m in denial?” Andy asks, scandalized, when Esteban suggests he gets his own house in order before trying to fix Esteban’s.

As Andy and Carlota attend Saul’s funeral, we get some really great character stuff for Andy. I’d been suspecting it for a couple episodes now, but this one crystalizes it: yes, Andy’s appearance is more than a little absurd, but the show itself doesn’t treat it as a joke. We’ve seen how much his mom has obviously messed up his self-image, and we’ve seen how his first instinct when he’s stressed is to check his face for imperfections. That comes to a head in this episode. After arguing yet again with Esteban and preparing to head to the funeral, Andy makes use of some emergency Botox vials in his glove box. But it’s not until after he arrives that he realizes he’s screwed it up—he pinched a nerve in his forehead and over-injected his lip.

Andy’s panic when he realizes this is palpable. There’s anguish in his eyes as he physically tries to hide his face from others, and his attempts at damage control in private are increasingly agitated. When, after several tries, he finally gets his doctor on the phone, He pleads, “I’m at a funeral, doc. I can’t go right now…. I can’t wait till tomorrow. I have to go downstairs!”

I love this—the storyline itself, and especially Luna’s acting. As a society, I feel like it’s easy to be unsympathetic to people who get a lot of work done, particularly if it’s obvious. But this miniseries is taking its time to really show us Andy’s point-of-view here. We see how much his injections are fueled by his anxieties and insecurities, and we see how desperate he is for other people to think he looks good. In the list of Andy and Esteban’s problems, “bad injection” ranks far below all the other drama they’ve got going on, and that doesn’t mean it’s not hugely important to Andy.