About 20 years ago, Gael Garcia Bernal and Diega Luna collaborated on Alfonso Cuarón’s “Y tu mama también.” This tantalizing portrait of youthful energy helped all their careers soar higher. Now, the two actors have reunited on “La Máquina,” a boxing drama series on Hulu that follows an aging boxer and his manager and close friend. It explores the corruption in this profession while offering a journey through the minds of their characters. Besides Garcia Bernal and Luna, the miniseries also stars Eiza Gonzalez, Lucia Mendez, Karina Gidi, and Andres Delgado in key supporting roles.
Spoilers Ahead
La Máquina (Hulu Miniseries) Recap:
“La Máquina” on Hulu is a two-hander sports drama that revolves around an aging boxer and his manager trying to revive his career. Gael Garcia Bernal plays the titular boxer character whereas Diego Luna plays the manager.
Episode 1: A Little Play
Initially, we get introduced to its lead characters and their usual surroundings. Esteban ‘La Máquina’ Osuna (Gael García Bernal) is a revered Mexican fighter, being affected by aging. His childhood friend, Andy Lujan (Diega Luna) works as his manager. Andy’s brother-in-law, Saul (Andrés Delgado) works as his assistant despite the wealth his father left for him and Andy’s wife, Carlota (Karina Gidi). Saul parades around Andy, who parrots much of what Andy says and shares invaluable suggestions. Esteban is divorced from his wife, Irasema (Eiza González), a virtuous journalist. They share custody of their two sons.
The series begins with a fight where Esteban gets brutally punched down and loses it. Two months later, Andy faces its repercussions. His managerial team hopes to drop Esteban as their client and instead, bring in some fresh talent that they can depend on in the long run. Andy’s mother, Josephina (Lucía Méndez) has a big influence on his life as she controls most decisions in his life. She expects Andy to let Esteban go if it affects his career. However, Andy refuses to do so since Esteban is his best friend. Instead, he plans a rematch for Esteban to make people trust his abilities.
Esteban’s Rematch
Esteban gets 12 weeks to prepare for his next match against Protasio (Mercito Gesta). To be eligible, he needs to reach a weight requirement. Somehow, with Andy’s help, he manages to fulfill it. At a party, he crosses paths with Zamira (Dariam Coco), who doesn’t recognize him as an iconic boxer. So, he immediately falls for her. Later, because of a recent mental health diagnosis, he spirals out of control, drinking too much. His coach, Sixto (Jorge Perugorría) pushes him to look beyond his pain and suffering. It makes Esteban confident enough to punch Protasio down with a heavy blow and win the fight.
Esteban’s victory pleases Andy but his pleasure is short-lived. Soon, he realizes that Esteban is now slated to fight ‘Handsome’ Harry Felix, the current British champion for the world championship. However, by the end of that night, he receives a cryptic message from a match-fixer, who forces him to make Esteban lose his upcoming fight to settle his debt to the fixers.
Episode 2: Shock to the System
Andy learns about Esteban dating Zamira. He tells Saul to keep a watch on them out of concern for Esteban. On the other hand, Andy is deeply concerned about the fixer trying to ruin his & Esteban’s lives. He sees Andy looking forward to the win, which worries him even more. As it happens, Irasema realizes that the boxers are being forced to throw punches far more in recent years unlike decades before in this sport. This happens since punches make up for a spectacularly thrilling show even if it may hurt them beyond repair. So, she connects the dots about the prevalent corruption of match-fixing. She speaks with her editor about pursuing the case in this direction.
Andy realizes that his mother will not provide any valuable advice. Instead, she will only pressure him, making him guilty of not living up to her expectations. Carlota senses the seething tension in Andy’s life but Andy doesn’t open up to her about it. After bottling up his frustration for years, Andy finally comes clean to Esteban. He reveals that Esteban’s victories or failures were part of the fixers’ plans to earn off of him. Even recently, Esteban got accepted in the new weight category because someone fixed it for him. Esteban takes this news personally and calls Andy a liar. However, he soon goes through the footage of his old matches and realizes that Andy is telling the truth.
Episode 3: With the Fishes
After Andy drops the truth bomb about match-fixing, Esteban gets drunk. He is carried away and ends up in jail. There, he meets Juan Carlos (Raúl Briones), a cop who speaks ill of Andy. Juan makes Esteban suspect Andy is not looking out for him as his manager. Once out of jail, Esteban asks Andy about the fixers’ identity. Andy reveals that he has never met them and knows nothing about them. Soon, he tells Irasema this, who gets predictably mad at him. Later, Josephina makes Andy worried about his plummeting sperm count which can affect his chances of having a baby with Carlota.
Esteban does not want to lose the upcoming match. So, he seeks help from Juan Carlos to settle the score with the fixers. Juan Carlos tells him to get hold of a significant amount of cash. Esteban cannot take out money from his own account due to his past issues of substance abuse. So, he takes out money meant for his son’s future. Then, he goes to a bridge to hand over the bag of cash to Juan Carlos. While there, Andy finds him and stops him from doing so. Andy makes him realize that he has been hallucinating and that there is no such person as Juan Carlos.
Esteban was so desperate to solve the situation that he made up a person in his mind. It doesn’t come as a surprise to him considering his recent psychological diagnosis. Soon, he realizes that a brain trauma has been causing him to hallucinate. So, he decides to speak about match-fixing on live TV. Someone from the network stops it from going on air. However, it forces Andy to take a reckless step to save his and Esteban’s lives. Soon, Saul gets killed by a woman he loves.
Episode 4: In Memoriam
Irasema gets furious at Esteban for taking out funds meant for their sons. Carlota reacts erratically to the loss of her brother. Andy and Esteban get into a fight over how to solve their troubles. Instead of finding a solution, they keep blaming each other. Andy confesses to his mother his involvement in Saul’s death to close a deal for Esteban’s benefit. Josephina tells him not to tell any living soul about it. Upon Saul’s death, Irasema’s editor warns her not to get involved in the match-fixing story any longer considering a possible threat to her life.
Sixto tells Esteban about Plato’s Cave Theory to make him realize that he is only afraid of the shadows of danger so that he doesn’t remain fixated on his worries and hallucinations and becomes optimistic. He pushes Esteban to confront himself and realize the root of his misery. It leads to his painful childhood memories associated with an event called La Fonda and his father, who abandoned him. So, on a whim, he decides to take his two sons to the place of this event. Meanwhile, Carlota suspects Andy is behind her brother’s death. So, she seeks a divorce.
Episode 5: Last Minute Trip
After Saul’s funeral, Josefina throws Andy out of their house. Right outside, he receives a call from Irasema. She is worried as to what happened to her kids. Sixto tells them that Esteban talked about La Fonda before abruptly leaving. Andy immediately realizes where Esteban is. La Fonda is where Esteban decided to be a fighter. So, he joins Irasema on a drive to this place. She learns how terrified Andy is of his mother. Along the way, an officer, likely connected to Otras Personas, stops their car and warns them not to go look for Esteban. Despite the threat, Irasema and Andy drive there.
Meanwhile, Esteban sees a boxing match in La Fonda with his sons. By spending a day with them, he tries to get over his guilt of not doing enough for them as their father. He does not want to be like his absent father, who chickened out from his fatherly responsibilities. The next morning, Irasema arrives there and warns him to lose his upcoming fight. Soon, Andy confronts Esteban for blaming him for everything wrong while being selfish. Andy could have worked with a few young fighters and earned more by training them. Instead, he stuck with Esteban out of respect for their friendship.
What happens between Esteban and Andy?
Esteban acknowledges his fault and makes peace with Andy. On their way back home, he asks Andy how he is doing. He realizes that Andy has been addicted to injecting things in his face that make him look peculiar. Andy also opens up about his plummeting sperm count, adding to the complications in his marriage. Midway, he and Esteban stop by a ramshackle place and walk in to meet Esteban’s father, Gato Osuna Viejo (Álvaro Guerrero). The father starts opening up about his guilt and helplessness in the hands of the Otras Personas who forced him to take the steps he had taken. Moments later, he gets shot in the head.
La Máquina (Hulu Miniseries) Ending Explained:
What lies in the fate of Esteban and Andy?
The final episode of “La Máquina” follows Esteban returning home after witnessing the brutal death of his father. It makes him aware of the gravity of the situation and what’s at stake. However, he also doesn’t want to throw away the match and emerge as an aging loser. In the wake of this dilemma, he regrets even entering this sport. He feels that Andy should not have made him hopeful about it. Andy introspects and allows Esteban to take the right action to preserve his legacy. He realizes the inevitable and starts preparing for it. Soon, he meets Carlota to share his regrets.
Irasema meets one of the Otras Personas, who warns her not to write even a word against them. She shows up at Esteban’s gym to see him fight his hallucination, Juan. While healing his wounds, she tells him her decision to move away with their kids for their safety. Later, Sixto mentally prepares Esteban for potentially his last fight in the ring. During the match, Esteban initially falters but eventually takes the lead.
He shows consistency in his techniques which gives him an edge over his opponent. The crowd cheers for him and believes he will win. As it happens, Andy receives calls from Otras Personas. They threaten him with what awaits him if Esteban doesn’t lose the match. However, instead of forcing Esteban to win the match, he leaves the venue to take care of this issue.
Does La Máquina win the big fight?
After the fight, the judges share their respective scores. By then, the crowd had already figured Esteban ‘La Maquina’ would win. However, the judges unanimously score him lower than his opponent. So, Esteban loses and Harry Felix retains his World Champion title. Meanwhile, Andy urges Irasema to burn all the evidence she has against the Otras Personas. He transfers all his money to Sixto’s account and leaves Esteban and Irasema free from misery. Then, he submits himself to the fixer, who presumably takes his life.
After Andy’s loss, Esteban starts teaching his sons how to fight, as Andy wants. He accepts his present situation and prepares them for the future. At the end of “La Maquina,” Esteban hallucinates Andy standing near the boxing ring admiring his drive and passion to teach his kids.
La Máquina (Hulu Miniseries) Review:
“La Máquina” is a much-anticipated project for anyone who loves “Y tu mamá también,” an effervescent classic that projects the allure of youthful recklessness. This show, reuniting Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, follows a bittersweet relationship between two childhood friends, who went on to have a lucrative working partnership. Garcia Bernal plays Esteban, a beloved and revered boxer, whereas Luna plays Andy, his distraught manager. After years of a fruitful career, Esteban is an aging has-been boxer with a dedicated fanbase but a worsening skillset. Andy remained loyal to him through thick and thin, ignoring more lucrative opportunities to honor their friendship.
While following their intersecting narratives, “La Máquina” also talks about the corrupt practice of match-fixing, prevalent in the sport. So, the film simultaneously becomes a story of revival and sustenance. Whenever focused on the aspects of brotherhood, the film excels with its two neatly fleshed-out characters. It explores their struggles with masculinity, fatherhood, ambition, and childhood trauma and remains compelling on the dramatic front. Besides them, the series also stars Eiza Gonzalez, known widely for her roles in “Baby Driver” and the recently released “3 Body Problem.” Unlike the Netflix drama, she is underwhelming in this miniseries.
The Performances
Gonzalez remains in the shadows of Garcia Bernal and Luna since her performance pales significantly in comparison to them. Her character of a righteous reporter could have been far more compelling if she had explored aspects of Irasema beyond what the script offered to her. In her hands, Irasema unfortunately feels one note with very little to root for. Instead, we feel far more for its flawed male characters who are skilfully portrayed by Garcia Bernal and Luna. Alas, despite a few flashes of brilliance, the series is inconsistent and sadly forgettable beyond the two leads.
Despite exploring corruption through its plot, the series offers nothing new in terms of insights or execution. On that front, Garcia Bernal’s recent “Cassandro” is a far more thrilling, politically-charged portrait of a fighter. In the case of “La Máquina,” we are left only with Bernal and Luna’s poignant performances.
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