Michael Chiklis as the star of the series Coyote, produced by Paramount Network and Sony Network Television for CBS is the only reason I decided to watch this series about a man of the law who will be forced to work for a Mexican drug cartel.
Vick Makey's shadow from the series The Shield is still over the actor. He was too important a character, in one of the best series of the last decade. The Shield was a series that is now within any ranking of the best.
After completing The Shield, the actor has worked on many projects, including the disastrous adaptation of the four fantastic 2007 and tried to repeat the success on television, with the series Vegas in 2012, but did not have the desired success and was canceled. Secondary characters in movies and TV series during the last years.
It seems that Chiklis has the curse of actors who have made characters that become icons and that it is difficult for them to get rid of them, change their record and create another success. Something similar happened to David Duchovny, who had to wait ten years to create another character that would give him success ( Californication) and get rid of Mulder, the character that launched him to fame with the X-Files.
Chiklis has a new opportunity with the Coyote series, to offer us a new character, but is the story worth it?
What is the plot of Coyote?
Ben Clemens is about to retire, the veteran border patrol agent has had a 32-year career with the institution. He is a man who does his job well. His mission is to protect the border and catch illegal immigrants. On his retirement day, he discovers a tunnel used by the cartel, which will put him in the crosshairs of the criminal organization. Already retired, he goes to Mexico, to finish building a house that his former partner could not do, because he was murdered. He does this to help the wife and son of his former partner. But in Mexico, he helps a girl pregnant by the nephew of the cartel boss escape. The problems accumulate and the cartel decides to force him to work for them. If he refuses, they will kill his ex-wife and daughter. To save his family, the man who has dedicated his life to protecting the border from immigrants and drug trafficking will have to put himself at the service of the cartel boss. What do the drug lords want? What will he be willing to do? How will he be able to save his family?
The plot has many elements that could make it a good story. But there is one thing that fails categorically from the beginning: the first episode has no power to hook.
I didn't like the direction of the first episode, I had to watch episode two right away to make the plot a little more interesting. But still, something was wrong. It is a series that seems to have no soul.
The story takes place mostly in Mexico, with the presence of clichés and stereotyped characters, as is usual in this type of production. The drug dealers are a repetition of behaviors we have seen in better series.
In this case, the head of the cartel, nicknamed Cartin, is a young and elegant man, who also owns vineyards and his beautiful wife has legitimate businesses and an art gallery. But they are all stereotypes, we never get to deepen into these characters and they don't convey fear either.
Each episode has a small flashback, which serves as a prologue to each chapter, where they show us the past of one of the characters. It is through this resource that we discover that Ben made a mistake in his past, in 2010, that still haunts him and for that reason he is indebted to his former dead co-worker.
We are also introduced to the past of other characters, such as Maria Elena, the girl who is pregnant with Dante, the nephew of the cartel boss, who wants to kill Ben, but by order of his boss, he must leave him alone. Another important character is Sultan, a member of the cartel and who will give orders to Ben. We will see a part of his past and how he became part of the criminal organization.
The character but is Dante, I find each of his scenes unbearable, full of clichés and behaviors that seem to be copies of thousands of drug characters. The typical young rebel narco, who thinks he is better than the others, cruel and very bad. But the least he conveys is fear, perhaps a problem in the choice of actor. How badly constructed the character is.
The series touches those delicate subjects of the present time, the illegal immigration, the drug traffic, the violence. Ben will be in conflict with his principles, he is a man who throughout his career respected the law and did his job. Protecting his country's borders. Now he will have to do the opposite, he is now part of the criminal's side and will have to do everything he fought for in his past.
Ben will discover what life is like on the other side of the border, where many people put their lives at risk, must pay the mafias and the narcos, to cross that desert and enter the United States, in search of the so-called American dream.
But Ben's main task will be to protect his daughter and ex-wife; they form another family. His ex-wife is currently married to a successful psychiatrist and they have a four-year-old son. Ben's daughter is a young woman, who has a relationship with the young border agent who works with Ben, but he knows nothing about that relationship.
Finding the tunnel on the day of his retirement and then getting into trouble with the drug dealer's pregnant girl will destroy his life. His entire family is in danger, and not all of them can survive, and some of them will be killed in front of him. He used to be a man of authority, and now he is a slave to the cartel and will commit crimes.
To add to the problems, police are investigating the discovery of two bodies, where Ben's fingerprints are found. The thin cord of sanity is in favor of the break, on the one hand he must comply with everything the Cartel orders, and on the other hand he must avoid being arrested.
Coyote is the story of a man who will be forced to go beyond the limits, his moral principles, his convictions and his belief in the righteousness of his life are no longer valid. All that matters is keeping his family safe.
Chiklis is the main character, playing Ben Clements, who is played by one of the narcos in a funny way by Ben-Dejo, because in Spanish the asshole is called "Pendejo" This seems funny to me, because my main language is Spanish and I understand the joke.
But there are many secondary characters in this story.
Juan Pablo Raba plays Juan Diego "El Catrin" Zamora, the head of the dangerous drug cartel that will subjugate Ben and force him to work for the organization. I am happy to see this Colombian actor, who has always been on the rise in his career. I know the trajectory of this actor, because he lived in my country for a while and was the protagonist of several successful soap operas in my country. When the dictatorship closed the main television channel of my country, he returned to Colombia, where he worked in the successful El Cartel de los Sapos, besides starting his way in international productions, with secondary roles in American movies and TV series. I celebrate his success, he is an actor who works hard to achieve his goals. Also, it is a pleasure for me to see an actor from my brother country, with relevant characters in the United States.
Kristyan Ferrer plays Dante, the character I hate the most in the series. The young man is a good actor, but his character does not convince me. This actor has worked in several Mexican and American films, and has been nominated three times for the Ariel.
Adriana Paz plays Silvia Peña, the pentagram of a restaurant and it seems that she had more than a friendship with Ben's ex-partner, she also seems to know the cause of death. She will help Ben whenever she can. Adriana is a successful Mexican actress, winner of three Riel awards, who works in soap operas, theater and film. Her talent has led her to work in Spain, where she participated in the series Vis a Vis and Lost.
Julio César Cedillo plays a Mexican municipal police officer, who also works for the cartel, to protect his family. The Mexican actor works constantly in Hollywood, has appeared in television series such as NCIS: New Orleans and Narcos:Mexico. He has also worked in the movies Cowboys & Aliens, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada and Sicario
Cynthia McWilliams plays the cop who is on Ben's trail, knows something is up and will be a threat. She is not a famous actress, but has worked in Real Husbands of Hollywood, Prison Break and Nashville.
Canadian actress Amy Forsyth plays Ben's daughter. Kelli Williams plays Jill Kerr, Ben's ex-wife. Emy Mena is Maria, the girl who is pregnant by Dante and Octavio Pisano plays Sultan, the drug dealer who will work with Ben on all the assignments the cartel will commission. I liked this character and the actor is not known, but he does a good performance and his physique is appropriate for being a hitman for the Cartel.
I expected more from this series, it still holds my interest, because I am a fan of Michael Chiklis, but I am not optimistic, the professional reviews have not been very favorable, I do not know the audience data, but I do not think they will approve a second season.
Coyote could have been really better, the story, in its concept is good, the development has been very irregular in each episode. You can watch it, if you like the theme of the narco and the conflicts with immigrants on the American border.
If you are watching it, leave your opinion in the comments.
My Ranking: 3/5
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