A nightclub, El Cielo, burns down, killing fifty-three Latinos, most Salvadoreans, mostly working class, and mostly illegal. Cerreta and Logan find that it was deliberate arson and finally track down the fumbling executor of the plan, Luiz Guzman, he of the broadly pinched face. The arson was designed as revenge for someone's having peddled badly faked green cards. Guzman's confession draws in a friend of Ben Stone's in the local INS office. Ben's friend refers to their college experience "in New Hampshire." In more than one episode, there is some sly reference to Michael Moriarty's real alma mater, Dartmouth, in Hanover, New Hampshire. The trail leads to the Cuban Godfather and a subordinate of his. Everybody gets what they deserve, except the victims.
Well up to the standards set by the other episodes in the early years. One of the features that made this series distinctive is on display here. The writers appear to have done their homework. They know their way around the Latino milieu in New York City, or at least they appear to.
For instance, we learn the Spanish slang term for green car. We also see the superior attitude shown by some Cubanos towards recent arrivals from Central America, like the Salvadoreans. The older Cubans were disproportionately wealthy professionals fleeing Fidel Castro. They were, by and large, quiet, respectable, and gangless. When I was a kid you could walk without trepidation through Cuban neighborhoods, and buy a cup of espresso for a nickel. You would hesitate before trying that in some other Latino neighborhoods.
This episode lacks a trial but it isn't missed. The denouement is given in a printed epilogue.
Well up to the standards set by the other episodes in the early years. One of the features that made this series distinctive is on display here. The writers appear to have done their homework. They know their way around the Latino milieu in New York City, or at least they appear to.
For instance, we learn the Spanish slang term for green car. We also see the superior attitude shown by some Cubanos towards recent arrivals from Central America, like the Salvadoreans. The older Cubans were disproportionately wealthy professionals fleeing Fidel Castro. They were, by and large, quiet, respectable, and gangless. When I was a kid you could walk without trepidation through Cuban neighborhoods, and buy a cup of espresso for a nickel. You would hesitate before trying that in some other Latino neighborhoods.
This episode lacks a trial but it isn't missed. The denouement is given in a printed epilogue.
