| “ | He doesn't know. Man, I been sitting here trying to figure it out. Are you a cop pretending to be Mexican or a Mexican pretending to be a cop? But now I get it. You don't even know yourself. [...] Right. No, can't let your hermanito go to the gas chamber, just me. | ” |
| — Diego to Tiago | ||
How It Is With Brothers is the sixth episode of the first season of Showtime's Penny Dreadful: City of Angels and the sixth episode of the series overall.[1]
Synopsis[]
Tiago and Lewis interrogate Diego, seeking a confession, while Lewis senses Tiago is hiding something from him. Adelaide warns Molly about her personal desires jeopardizing the Temple's future. Townsend learns of Kurt's surprising past. Peter Craft makes a dramatic decision about his marriage with Linda. Maria tracks down Mateo and pleads with him to come home.
Plot[]
Lewis and Tiago are standing outside their police car and Lewis tells his partner to not beat himself up. He goes onto say that the guy gave Tiago the slip and it happens. Not knowing that his partner purposely let his younger brother get away. Lewis asks if Tiago has ever seen the guy that got away, and the younger detective lies and tells him that he never has. Lewis pats him on the back as he points out that they at least got Diego Lopez and sooner or later they will get the rest.
At the police station, Lewis and Tiago walk in with Diego and all chatter and action stops as they take the scene in. Arguments break out as the rest of the cops are out for blood due to Officer Reilly’s death. Tiago steps in when one of the cops tries to get violent with Diego. But Officer Murphy sneers and says that the suspect is probably Tiago’s cousin. Nevertheless Tiago stands his ground and tells Vanderhoff that he saw what they did to Diego last time. But Officer Murphy continues on his angry rant saying that if it wasn’t for Tiago, Reilly would still be alive.
Inside the interrogation room, Tiago uncuffs Diego and speaks to him in Spanish, asking him if he wants a drink. He sits down and tells him that he knows Diego is scared and is not going to hurt him. That he just wants to hear his side of the story. He explains that the cops out there are Reilly’s boys and it will get ugly if he doesn't fess up. Tiago goes on to say the people outside this room just want someone to blame who looks like the two of them. He argues that these people won’t be happy with just sending Diego to jail. That they will try their hardest to send Diego to the gas chamber. Eventually Diego realizes that Lewis doesn’t know that Mateo and Tiago are related. So he gets Lewis to fetch him a drink, which allows the two of them to be alone together.
Elsewhere, Molly and her mom discuss how they were so poor years ago but are better off now financially now. Molly then tells her mother that she has strong feelings for Detective Vega. Adelaide asks if these feelings for Tiago are stronger than her daughter’s feelings for God. Molly simply says that God wouldn’t ask her to choose. Nevertheless, Adelaide says that God asks a lot from those that he touches. She goes onto say that while it may not be God who makes her choose, it will be Molly’s flock that ultimately does.
At a Californian beach, Townsend is fawning over Kurt, who is doing some surfing in the distance. Once he comes back to shore, Townsend asks the younger guy where he learned to surf. Kurt answers that it was near Hamburg, the mouth of the Elbe. He casually mentions that it is the first thing they teach them in Gestapo training. He eventually smiles and says he is just kidding and made that previous statement up. In reality, he grew up in Hermosa Beach, where he learned to swim before he could walk. Which inevitably led him to get his first surfboard not long after that. Kurt continues by saying that his favorite thing to do used to be paddling out just past the break in Hermosa Pier or Long Beach, turning around to look at the strip of clean white sand under a blue sky. But then according to Kurt, the mongrels came in references to Chinese and Latino people that moved into the areas he used to frequent. Kurt eventually reveals to Townsend that he read Mein Kampf and this led him to move to Germany. Where he was very happy for a while until he was given his first Gestapo mission. Which ended up being to come back to the wretched city he had left behind. Townsend says he loves the city of Los Angeles, and talks about how he saw Fred Astaire just walking down Robertson. He reveals that he wanted to be a dancer like him, but also a song man too. But unfortunately, he’s too big. Charlton continues by saying that LA doesn’t care who you are when you arrive. It only cares about who you make yourself into.
At the Craft residence, Maria is tending to Tom while unbeknownst to him, his parents are inside the house talking about proceeding with a divorce. Linda tells Peter that she can be happier if that’s what he wants. But Peter has already made up his mind. He informs her that the boys will stay with him. When Linda mentions that the boys need a mother, and Maria is nothing more than a maid. Peter is quick to say that they will have a mother figure in Elsa. Linda realizes that Peter is having her committed to get her out of the way and move Elsa into her house. Undeterred, Linda smirks and says she knows Peter. That he may be acting all strong right now, but in reality he is anything but.
Back at the police department, Diego’s interrogation continues. Tiago shows him the pictures of Reilly’s corpse and tells the other Chicano how the jury will see Diego. He brings up a guy named Luther Jones who killed some people in Nevada the year before. To further intimidate the Pachuco, he shows him the picture of how Luther came out of the gas chamber in Carson City. Tiago continues by saying that the gas they used was cyanide, which he guesses turns one’s skin purple. Diego taunts Tiago by saying that if he wants him to lie that he killed the Hazletts and Reilly, Tiago will have to beat it out of him because he didn’t kill any of them.
In his office, Vanderhoff says that Lewis and Tiago have about 45 minutes to talk to Diego before Officer Murphy goes and beats up Diego. Vanderhoff argues that all this wouldn’t have happened if the two of them would have given a scapegoat to pin the Hazlett murders on.
Meanwhile, Fly Rico, Rio and Mateo are held up in a shack, listening to the radio. Mateo gets so angry at the fact that they left Diego to die that he rips out the radio and throws it on the ground. Fly Rico says that they have to say goodbye now to their friend. Mateo is different from Diego because he didn’t get caught. Some heavy knocking on the door is heard, and eventually Rio opens the door. Maria is on the other side and declares that she needs to talk to her son. Rio tells her that she’s not welcomed there, but Maria doesn’t budge. She tells Rio that if she knows better, she should step aside. Eventually Mateo asks Rio to let her in and Maria gets inside. She grabs her son’s face and tells him that she doesn’t care what trouble he is in, but to just come back home to her. She pleads with him and says that Rio and Rico aren’t his family. She asks multiple times but Mateo tells her mom that she’s not welcomed here. Maria nods and tearfully walks out.
Tiago goes inside a restroom stall at the police station and takes out his gun. He removes the bullets inside and is about to put it back when Murphy and the other cops walk in. They laugh and say that they can’t wait to use Diego as a piñata. One of the cops asks how many whacks it will take. Another one answers that it all depends on what they use for a stick. Murphy though says that he’s not wearing no blindfold because he wants to see Diego’s face. He goes on to say that he is keeping Diego’s teeth. For Reilly’s kid, as a present when he gets a little older. Other cops wonder what they’ll get when they bust Diego open. He even asks if it could be candy. All Murphy says that they ought to ask Vega because as he being Chicano, he probably knows. The cops walk out unbeknownst to them that Tiago was inside one of the stalls. Tiago seems to have changed his mind as he puts the billets back in the gun. He walks out of the bathroom while Murphy continues to taunt him by whistling to the tune of the song "La Cucaracha".
Tiago joins Lewis and Diego back in the interrogation room. One thing Lewis has learned in all his time as a cop is that when someone’s telling you a story, usually there’s something in it, such as Diego’s story about the mud hens. The part about Diego’s brother doesn’t add up. He suspects that maybe Diego’s brother is the other guy that Tiago chased after. However, Diego says that it wasn’t his brother. With only 30 minutes left before the other officers have at Diego, he’s becoming more and more concerned. When Diego reveals that his brother is dead, Tiago takes off his jacket. Lewis questions why Diego even involved his brother in the story and how Reilly’s involved.
Just as Diego is about to reveal the truth, Tiago tries to get too rough with him to get a confession out of him. Lewis slams Tiago into the wall and pulls him out into the hallway. He realizes that the fourth guy is Tiago’s brother. Lewis is understandably angry at not being told since he stuck out his own neck to defend Tiago. He goes onto say to his partner that Mateo was there when he shot his brother Raul. Ever since, his younger brother has just been so angry and Tiago says that in the end, he can’t even blame him. But that once upon a time, Mateo was a good kid. Lewis asks him about Diego, if he wasn’t a good kid at one point. All Tiago says that the kid in there is not his brother. Tiago continues by saying that for him, none of what has happened is easy. Despite being angry at him, Lewis tells Tiago to not say anything.
Eventually, the two go back inside but it’s Lewis now doing the interrogating. He tells Diego that he grew up back East himself. Jersey City to be precise. But it wasn’t so different from Belvedere Heights. It was crowded and poor. He finishes his story by saying that even though time has passed, it’s not any different because at the end of the day, poor folks will always be left with the shit. He brings up James Hazlett and talks about his big construction outfit and his house the guy had in Beverly Hills. So when a guy like that turns up dead on the wrong side of town alongside his wife and kids, it spells nothing but trouble for everyone. He brings up the riot, the four dead cops, the eight dead Mexicans, and Reilly cuffing Diego to a chair. In the end, shit begets shit and so on and so forth. Lewis then tells Diego that he is going to San Quentin prison no matter what. So, he can decide now if he’d like to be there as a rat (and snitch out Mateo) or as a legend for taking credit of the Hazlett murders. He explains further that rats don’t do so well in San Quentin, and eventually they tend to hang themselves with the bedsheets after the other convicts fuck them bloody for a while . On the other hand, guys who take the weight, end up having pretty good up there. So, if Diego confesses to the Hazlett murders and to killing Reilly, it’s safe to say he might be king in San Quentin. Diego cries as he admits to killing the Hazletts and Reilly even though he didn’t do such a thing. In the bullpen, the other cops celebrate the arrest and even cheer for Tiago.
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