The Mark of the Beast
Episode 7 of The Kingdom Season 1 begins with Candia stressed and struggling to get work out of her mind. After all, there must be a reason for the Judge moving Remigio. Well, Ramiro has a psych report for her but whether this will actually be any good or not remains to be seen. Nonetheless, Candia marches down to see the Judge. In doing so though, she overhears an estranged woman desperate to find her missing child. Candia seizes the opportunity to dig deeper, learning that there are more kids that have gone missing and are part of this church ordeal. Osorio has eyes everywhere and he receives a picture message of this meeting, informing him that Candia is onto the same lead that he is. Julio marches into his father’s office, demanding to know what’s going on with the church. According to Emilio, Remigio is the one responsible for all this and he’s actually the one abusing the kids in the church. Tadeo could well have known about this and seems to have been covering for him. On the back of this revelation, Elena and Emilio decide to shut down the home completely but want to try and keep things under wraps so the church isn’t incriminated. Julio though, simply turns and walks away. After this incident, Elena is approached by the woman tasked with recording audio for the family, Celeste.It turns out she hasn’t actually be recording these instances and despite singing an NDA for her work, hands over all the USB flash drives containing crucial information on her family. Candia reaches the same conclusion that Julio does, approaching Remigio in prison and asking him outright about the kids. Apparently Remigio didn’t know Brian had a Mother but his role was simply to look after the kids and keep them quiet about the abuse. If that’s the case then… who was the real abuser? Julio believes it’s Tadeo and heads in to confront him. Only, one of the boys – Jonathan – shows and stops him. Tadeo is not the abuser either. Elena actually wanted to shut the place down which means that it’s… Emilio. He’s the abuser. Jonathan happens to be The Fish, which is a nickname given to protect his identity. When he arrived at the home, Emilio’s whole complexion changed. According to Tadeo, the boy has powers and is able to perform miracles. The night before the last rally, Emilio showed up at the house looking for Jonathan. Remigio held him up by the throat, forcing Emilio out. This small act allowed the guy to actually start to calm down and turn away from his ramp abuse. Only, to Emilio he doesn’t see this as abuse, he simply sees it as “love.” It’s a sickening confession, one that sees Tadeo clearly uncomfortable in the car while driving Emilio home. This also explains why Jonathan is in hiding. Meanwhile, Osorio squeezes information out of Brian by using his Mother as a bargaining chip. Apparently Jonathan was well-known around the home t comfort the kids after Emilio’s abuse. Osorio is desperate for Jonathan’s whereabouts but whether Brian gives up this information or not is still unknown at this point. When Julio and Osorio do eventually reconvene, they discuss what they’ve both found out about Emilio. Given what ramifications this will have, Julio tells Ana that she needs to leave. Just before he does though, he drops the bombshell about Emilio and his abusive behaviour. As the episode closes out, Tadeo and Jonathan set out to leave the church for good. Only, as they do floodlights suddenly turn on and both Jonathan and Tadeo are separated by armed guards. Oh no…
The Episode Review
The truth about Emilio comes tumbling out and with it, the sickening realization that this man is a child abuser. It’s a nasty, sickening twist and one that finally gives an incentive around just why Remigio wanted to kill him. It seems Armando’s death was a complete accident after all and there’s no higher power of authority operating here – at least not beyond Osorio anyway. Tadeo is also completely clean of conscience and the truth about this young “Messiah” is laid bare for all to see. This chapter does well to actually fill in the blanks, showing who The Fish is, why this is happening and why the kid is in hiding. The ending though leaves things balancing on a precarious knife-edge for the finale to come.
