Least Concern Species
Episode 2 of The Mosquito Coast Season 2 starts with Allie teaching Dina how to drive the boat. Margot is still out on the dock but she notices menacing black clouds in the distance. Still, they press on but thunder and lightning soon begins to swarm around them. The water becomes much more choppy as they end up in rapids and the family find themselves struggling to survive… again. In the confusion, they glance past a huge rock that could have taken them out. Instead, they lose gas and find themselves drifting. Allie heads down to check the electrics but it soon begins sparking and sputtering. Just to interject here, the music is absolutely phenomenal to heighten the tension. Antonio Pinto has done a great job. Anyway, the boat does eventually crash into a large rock, thanks to its drifting, and the hull pours water inside. Allie keeps his nerve and manages to get the electrics going, which allows them to continue on and at least make it to land. However, their boat is in desperate need of repairs, and they only have a few hours until the water rises and it causes an even bigger problem with the engine room. We saw it earlier but now, it materializes properly. A crocodile shows up and begins stalking Allie, right off the back of him tying a rope a winch on the other side of the river, intending to use it to pull the ship to safety. Thankfully he makes it over without being killed, but the tree ends up falling, nowhere near strong enough to sustain the weight of the boat. Allie suddenly collapses though, as he ends up with a nasty bite on the back of his neck. It seems to be really bad and the only solution is for the gang to head out in search of salvation – and medicine. Margot leaves the boat with Charlie while Dina sticks around to look after her father. The thing is, the water level is continuing to rise and they don’t have much time. But there is time for Margot and Charlie to have a heart to heart, discussing the trauma the latter is suffering following what happened last season. Together, the pair make it to the source of the smoke and find the settlement completely empty. Naturally. They just march up nonchalantly and make their way inside, through the electrified fences which aren’t switched on. Bullet holes through the glass serve as an ominous warning, while blood inside only exacerbates the problem. It’s dried though, and has been for a while, so Charlie decides they should press on and find some medicine. And they do too! What are the odds, eh? Meanwhile, Dina works to try and patch up the damage, using makeshift materials like lifejackets and duct tape inside the boat to try and prevent any more flooding. It seems to do the trick and everyone reconvenes on the boat, with Allie back on the mend after his medicine and lavishing praise on the family for their heroic efforts. Naturally, the gang head back out on the water again after to continue their journey.
The Episode Review
The Mosquito Coast returns this week with another episodic slice of action as the family try to fix the boat and continue on their way. This detour basically splits the family up, gives Dina more to do and also allows Allie to have a well-earned rest after throwing the family into disarray last season. Beyond that though, there’s really not a lot going on here. Sure, there’s a bit of urgency but it mostly comes from plot contrivances that just randomly pop up to try and inject some excitement into this. The crocodile is a great example. Sure it could pose a problem but it’s only there once while Allie is in trouble and then never seen again. What about with Dina trying to patch up the boat? Why isn’t it still hovering around? However, it does look like the rest of the season is going to start picking up and hopefully it does soon as so far, there hasn’t been a whole lot to really reaffirm why this was renewed for another round.
