The Bridge: Yankee

August 19, 2014 3:01 PM - Season 2, Episode 1

This thread will be for discussing Season 2, Episode 1 of The Bridge, as well as the entire first season. Summaries of Season 1 in its entirety and Season 2, Ep 1 below the fold.

The Bridge is a crime drama on FX based on the Danish/Swedish series of the same name. The second season is currently showing on Wednesday nights at 10pm. Past episodes are available on Hulu or for purchase on Amazon streaming.

Focused on the El Paso/Ciudad Juárez border area (and the bridge that divides the cities), the show won a Peabody award for raising awareness of border issues, including such things as "drug cartel violence, labor issues and the hundreds of women who have been murdered or gone missing in and around Ciudad Juárez since the mid-1990s. The second season started last month amid headlines of the child and family migrant crisis in which thousands of unaccompanied Central American minors have crossed into the United States."

Alan Sepinwall's initial series review.

Here are the Sepinwall and AV Club recaps for all of Season 1:

Ep 1 - "Pilot", AV Club review

Ep 2 - "Calaca", AV Club review

Ep 3 - "Rio", AV Club review

Ep 4 - "Maria of the Desert", AV Club review

Ep 5 - "The Beast", AV Club review

Ep 6 - "ID", AV Club review

Ep 7 - "Destino", AV Club review

Ep 8 - "Vendetta", AV Club review

Ep 9 - "The Beetle", AV Club review

Ep 10 - "Old Friends", AV Club review

Ep 11- "Take The Ride, Pay The Toll", AV Club review

Ep 12 - "All About Eva", AV Club review

Ep 13 - "The Crazy Place", AV Club review

All comments from this point forward assume you're up to date on the entire first season.

Season 2, Ep 1 - "Yankee"
Sonya meets a man connected to her past as Marco discovers he is no longer safe in his own department. Frye and Adriana investigate the origins of the "money house." A mysterious woman crosses The Bridge into El Paso.

Sepinwall review
AV Club review

posted by triggerfinger (5 comments total)

I love this show! Thanks for posting. I'll come back and comment when I have my thoughts together.
posted by desjardins at 6:31 PM on August 19, 2014

I liked the first season and am looking forward to doing a serious binge watch of the second, but there is one thing that I just could not get out of my head: the drug lord Esteban Reyes on Weeds was actually an undercover cop the entire time!?!
posted by sammyo at 7:04 PM on August 23, 2014

This show is intense and I'm glad to hear that it won a Peabody!

I was enthralled with the "Maria of the Desert" and just recently came across this Atlantic article about the phenomenon:

Rise of the Narco-Saints

Santa Muerte looks nothing like your typical saint. A strange hybrid of the Virgin Mary and the grim reaper—statues and other pieces of contemporary folk art show her decked out in flowers or a bridal gown, brandishing a scythe—she might be at home on a Santana album cover, or the wall of a tattoo parlor.

Also, as an SLC Punk fan, I am loving Matthew Lillard's character so far.
posted by cardinality at 10:05 PM on August 24, 2014

Is the story also based on the original ? Because I love "BRON | BROEN" and "BRON || BROEN".
posted by Pendragon at 2:31 AM on August 29, 2014

Yes, but it quickly veers off into American-and Mexican-specific trajectories since the history and culture are so different than Danish and Swedish.

Watching one won't spoil you for the other (much like The Killing and Forbrydelsen).
posted by desjardins at 9:22 PM on August 29, 2014