Things only intensify for everyone as we dive into episode 5 of, “Hotel Cocaine.” When we last left off, Burton’s sister, Constance, was murdered, while Roman’s family were made targets by Yolanda. Roman, Marisol, and Valeria are now staying at Nestor’s for protection, and Burton decides to take matters into his own hands on getting justice for his sister. Nestor’s plans on bringing down Yolanda goes awry when he finds out that three of his men are given a, “Columbian Necktie,” as he discovers their throats slit. Of course, we assume that Yolanda was behind this. However, this takes a turn later in the episode.
Burton is soon questioned by the police about Constance’s death, as they believe he had a motive just as much as Ray Dorado. Burton even goes as far as to confront Dorado about his possible involvement with his sister’s murder, but that really did not work out so well for him. Dorado punches him in the stomach, and tells him that not only was he not involved, but need to stay out of grown folk’s business.
As Roman tells Janice to also watch her back when it comes to Dorado, he takes matters into his own hands on trying to find Yolanda. He seeks out Jeronimo Rojas, who was last seen with her at the Mutiny Hotel. Roman plays it up as trying to get her address to get her a Mutiny Card…as well as some sex on the side. Jeronimo proceeds to give him a location on where to find Yolanda, and would soon give Nestor. However, this plan was foiled when Nestor, Roman, and his men bust into the wrong house. That’s right… Jeronimo gave Roman a fake address. Not only that, but it was JERONIMO who had Nestor’s men killed, not Yolanda. It was revealed he went behind her back and disobeyed orders. Yolanda wants to have him offed, but his cousin, Gilberto, advised against it.
Let’s pivot to Valeria, because if I am going to talk about people staying out of grown folk’s business… She definitely is one of them! This is the episode where she finds out just how deep her padrino’s life really is! First, her boyfriend, Andrew, asked her to find Nestor’s cocaine stash, which she eventually does. As she goes to see Andrew, they both take a hit, and proceed to have sex. I mean, you think you could slow your roll just a bit here? Not to mention Marisol is starting to show her protection of Valeria as well as Roman. She is becoming very suspicious of just how involved Roman is in Nestor’s business, which she also makes note of how Valeria is reaping the benefits from it. This does not sit well with Marisol at all, and it is only making matters worse with Roman trying to diffuse the situation.
We are going to come back to Valeria and Marisol, but let’s move back to Jeronimo for a second. After the plan to get Yolanda was a bust, Roman spots Agent Zulio at the club, and informs him about Jeronimo and to put a trace on him. This would prove to be successful as Zulio and his team capture Jeronimo and his crew, but not before Zulio had to kill one of Jeronimo’s men as he was about to strike. Word spread like wildfire to Yolanda, and Gilberto, with a bit of hesitation, gave her his blessing to do what she needed to do to stop Jeronimo in his tracks. This is how sadistic this chick is. Check this out… she goes to visit Jeronimo in jail, and he is telling her to get him out. You know what she does? She gives him a gift…a cyanide pill! She said, “Kill yourself, because it will be less messy.” She went into full detail about someone who disobeyed orders and how that was pure unadulterated torture. For your sake, I will save the gory details, but as Jeronimo was begging for his life, Yolanda said, “It’s either this, or bloody massacre. Take your pick.” Not the best news to leave him with as she walks out, don’t you agree?
Let’s flash it back to Ray Dorado. He is a cutthroat, isn’t he? After Janice decided to help Burton on his quest to get justice for Constance, Dorado gave her a bit of a warning to stay out of this because he does not want to see her hurt. He also revealed that the people he works for are killers, and as soon as he closes a big deal he has lined up, he is selling the bank and getting out of dodge. Janice told Burton that he has to back off on this mission for now, and he agreed, much to his dismay. We would then see Dorado visit with Congressman Landon, who is also given a warning to know which side of the fence to play on. Dorado advises that he knows Landon is working with Nestor but may soon not be a formidable player. In the words of Walter White, Landon needs to, “tread lightly.”
As Zulio prepares for a press conference on the capture of Jeronimo and the war brewing between the Columbian and Cuban drug cartels in Miami (sidebar, how awesome was it to see Zulio’s wife in this episode), Roman spots Yolanda at the Mutiny. She asks for a meeting with Nestor, with four of their men each in attendance, to work together. If all goes accordingly to plan, Yolanda’s gift to Roman would be to… do her. I am not sure this is something you would find on, “The Price is Right,” but it is definitely priceless. As Nestor reluctantly agrees to the meeting, he tells Roman to make sure he has good aim from hundreds of yards away and shoot every last one of them.
Now, here is when it completely jumps off!
During the press conference, Jeronimo is seen in his jail cell praying with the rosary beads in hand, and slowly takes the cyanide pill. Zulio and Landon continue to speak on the cocaine war in Miami, as Yolanda and Nestor meet face to face. Roman is seen many yards away with a sniper ready to take them down. However, what they don’t know is that right before this… Valeria is missing! Marisol is trying to find her, but Valeria’s nosy self decided to sneak into the van to either search for more coke or something else. One of Nestor’s men shuts the door with her still inside and they drive off. As Jeronimo succumbed to the effects of the pill, Yolanda and Nestor are still in talks (however, we are unaware of what is being said in the scene), and Valeria steps outside of the van! As soon as she does, all hell breaks loose!
Shots ring out amongst everyone, Roman takes out some of Yolanda’s men, and Nestor is trying to make sure Valeria is protected and not hit by gunfire.
With Valeria now knowing the seriousness of what Nestor does, and Roman seeing his daughter in the crossfire, how is he going to get himself out of this? When he faces Marisol with this information, how will she react?
As I said before, there is no going back after this!
What did you think of the latest episode? We will be back next week for another recap after episode 6, “Homeland or Death.”
“Hotel Cocaine” streams new episodes on Sundays on MGM+.
