Almost Paradise (2020) s02e03 Episode Script

You question your
older brother's judgment?
Why are you being so hardheaded?
This could change everything for us.
We made an agreement.
The Castros do not
go back on their word.
Our word to who?
The Romeros?
Those pigs?
You think they wouldn't do the same
to us if they had this opportunity?
My decision is final.
You are a fool!
Our integrity is far more important
than any business opportunity!
And if I decide to do it anyway?
Then I will be forced to stop you.
My name is Alex Walker.
I'm ex-DEA.
One of my first assignments
took me to an isolated beach
right here on this island.
I sold what little I had and
bought myself a gift shop.
Just peace No stress, no drama.
Boy, was I wrong.
She's beautiful.
She's sexy, you know, but classy.
She's got charm. She's
got a great personality.
And for me, it was love at first sight.
What do you think?
I think you should have
called me before you got her.
What are you talking about?
Look, a boat like this is gonna
take forever to fix, all right?
You've never even owned a boat before.
Come on. She's perfect, man.
She's got, her, her
hull was just scraped.
She's got a brand-new bilge pump.
She's got no salt deposits
on her water jackets
or her cylinders or her heads.
Do you know what any of that means?
No, but the guy with the
boat said it was great.
All right. Well, let's have a look.
Be my guest.
She's great, yes?
She's great? No.
There's a ton of
corrosion happening here
and you don't want
premature impeller failure.
Well, I'm too young for
premature impeller failure.
I was talking about the boat.
I know, Ramon, I was joking.
Listen to me, I need you to
keep me in business, okay?
The only way I can make payments
is if I book charters and fishing trips.
I need you to help me with this boat.
That's a lot of responsibility, man.
Well, uh, everybody says you're the best
mechanic on the island, all right?
- You can fix anything.
- There's a ton to fix here.
Look, she's running fine now, right?
Look, when problems start,
just give me a call, okay?
You like the boat
though, right? I mean
Huh?
- I was thinking.
- Hmm?
If it's a boy, Angelo.
If it's a girl, Angela.
And you know
Oh, come on. It's cute.
We're not having anything.
Not until we're married and
that's not happening, so long as
All right, all right, all right.
Fine, we're not having anything,
but we could keep practicing.
You have to go.
I don't even know why I agreed
to meet you here at our side.
Whoa, on your side? Wow!
Uh, no one owns the beach.
That's not what my family thinks.
Well, as my great, great, great,
great grandfather used to say,
"No Romero's afraid of any Castro."
Ramon!
- What?
- Run, run!
No. Please stop!
I got him.
Why are you doing this?
I told you to stay away from him.
A Romero?
Take her home.
No, Dad, please, I'm begging you!
Please don't hurt him! He's a good man!
Please, Papa!
Mr. Castro, please.
I love your daughter.
Ramon, please! Let me go, let me go!
Hold him up.
You stay away from her!
I'm going to kill all of you!
All right, Rita, if you
run into any problems,
I will be on my boat.
And why would I run into any problems?
- I said, "If."
- Okay, just be back by 4:00.
'Cause it was hard to get the tickets.
Tickets for what?
Tickets for the movie
I really wanted to see!
Oh, right, right, right,
right, right. Pepperfish Tales.
Rita, you're a little
old for stuff like that.
It's the sequel.
But the first one's actually
my all-time favorite video.
So don't be late.
I'm not gonna be late.
Maybe you'll find one for me?
Find you what?
A pepperfish angelfish.
They're native in the Philippines.
All right, one deep fried
pepperfish sandwich coming up.
You are disgusting.
I'm back, honey.
All right, beautiful.
Take me somewhere special.
No, no!
This is a Marine Assistance
Request Broadcast.
I repeat, a Marine
Assisted Request Broadcast.
- My location
- Alex, is that you?
Ramon?
That's affirmative.
I'm gonna need a tow-in.
Thanks, man.
What happened to your arm?
Huh?
What happened to your face?
It's nothing, man. You should
have seen the other guy.
Was the other guy Manny Pacquiao?
Let's have a look at your engine, yeah?
Well, as predicted,
your cooling hump blew up.
So you're saying, "Premature
impeller failure"?
Yeah. You may have asked
little too much from her.
We were doing so great.
It's not that simple.
Lot of these parts they
don't even make anymore.
I have to cannibalize
them from a 1978 model.
Oh, great, yeah.
Let's do it.
First, I'm gonna need a 1978 model.
Brutal.
Blunt force trauma,
not just to the head.
- Someone was angry.
- Yeah.
Hey
Some of these individuals
are related to this guy.
They're accusing another family
of being behind the killing.
What is it about fishing
villages and blood feuds?
And why does it always result
in the death of someone
like Miguel Castro?
This type of pump usually shows
up on eBay every few weeks.
No wait, weeks?
No, I I can't be without her
for weeks. I'm gonna go broke.
The other option is I could, you know
machine some new parts and
Frankenstein a new pump.
Yeah, Frankenstein that.
Wolfman the radiator, you know?
Dracula, the drive shafts. I don't
You're joking again, right?
A little. How long is it
gonna take you to fix her?
Well let me get
started and see how far I get.
I should be able to give
you an estimate after that.
All right.
You're just gonna stand there and watch?
I like boat stuff.
Okay. Well, grab a beer, relax.
This, uh, this might take a while.
Tell me you didn't do it!
- Do what?
- Tell me!
Tell you what? What
are you talking about?
My father is dead.
Someone killed him.
- No, no.
- Julia Julia
- I'm so sorry.
- Did you, did you do it?
Did I No!
I was knocked unconscious
after they beat me so badly.
My brothers got me off
the beach, all right?
I was with my family the whole night.
You have to go. They think you did it.
And they're coming to
get you. You have to go.
Ramon Romero, come out!
Ramon, please.
Ramon!
Get to the back. Get to the back.
No, take the pump. Take the pump.
Ramon Romero!
We know you're in there!
Now listen to me
Run silent and run deep.
Who's this?
It's okay. He's fixing my boat.
Come on, Ramon. We know you're in there.
It's all right.
Murderer!
Out of my way.
Aah!
Wait, wait, wait, wait,
wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!
Hang on, guys.
Just take it easy. Wait
just breathe with me
for a little bit, okay?
Breathe with me. On three, all right?
Ready? One, two
This ain't your problem, man.
Drop your weapons!
Everybody out!
No, no, no.
- You'll pay for this, Amboy!
- That's him.
Listen, there's been
a huge mistake, okay?
- My boat broke down and
- Alex?
- Yeah, hi, yeah?
- Alex.
What are you doing here?
I thought you were out cruising
Nalusuan Reef on your new obsession.
My, I had a minor problem with the boat.
Guys, guys, you don't
have to take him, Sir.
- Can you stop
- He's a suspect in a murder.
He's supposed to fix my cooling pump!
I think you guys are
being too hasty on this.
We have witnesses who saw him
threaten to kill the victim last night.
There was a fight.
You guys know my instincts, huh?
I'm telling you, you got the wrong guy.
Hey, he's got alibis,
he's got witnesses.
He was with his family.
Alex, we'll look into it,
okay? But family ties run deep.
Chances are they'll back him up
whether his story is true or not.
I found this in the tool shed, boss.
And also this one,
inscribed to the victim.
You take these in for processing.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
What about bail? How about bail?
So as long as this guy
gets your boat going again,
you're okay with him being
booked on a murder rap?
Of course not. He's innocent, okay?
But let me tell you something,
I got a bachelorette party
at sunset next Thursday.
Sorry, Alex. You're gonna have
to find another boat mechanic.
All right, do you need a ride
back to the Paradise, Alex?
No, thank you.
I'm not leaving her here alone.
He means the boat.
- Oh.
- Yeah.
There's too many police here now.
With that I agree, man.
I'm meeting up with an Aussie
who says he can definitely get me
to Hong Kong on his high speed boat.
Why can't we get
some of the local people to help?
No! No one in this village can
know anything or I'm a dead man.
The big ship is now halfway
between here and Hong Kong.
Can the speedboat make two more
trips between now and tomorrow night?
Yeah, there's no problem
with auxiliary tanks.
We just need that little time to refuel.
But I hope you're gonna pay
us our money by tomorrow.
- That's the deal.
- Good.
Let's go.
We are going on the working theory
that Ramon Romero committed the murder
as retaliation for a beating
on the orders of Miguel Castro, correct?
That's right, Chief.
It appears to be part of a long-standing
feud between the two families.
And forensics?
The murder weapon appears
to belong to the suspect
and bears his prints,
but there seems to be at least
one set of unidentified prints.
And what about that alibi?
He claims to be with his
family members continuously
between the time of the
beating and this morning.
And no, uh, witnesses
outside the family?
Negative on that, Chief.
Look into the alibi.
Get witness statements
on the beating of Romero.
The regional prosecutor needs
background on this feud, okay?
Copy that, Chief.
Let's divide and conquer.
- I'll get witness statements.
- And I'll dig into the feud.
- Look, it's Captain Ahab.
- Where are you guys going?
We're going back to the
village to get statements.
I need to speak with Ramon.
Are you his attorney?
- It could it be vital to the case.
- Huh?
- What's with the backpack?
- Nothing, nothing.
- My boat pump.
- Seriously?
What?
You're bringing a file to a
guy in a jail cell with bars?
Look, I need him to help show me
how to modify a gasket for a 1978 pump.
All right, Alex, you have five
minutes, but if the chief sees you,
just tell him you're actually
helping us with a case.
I'm on it. Thank you.
Also, I'm gonna need a ride back.
Of course.
I want you to be honest with me.
Are you telling me
that I can't fix this on my own?
You could, but you
probably want to make sure
that the fire extinguisher is ready.
It's the luck I'm having, you know?
I guess we're both having some bad luck.
Look, I think you should just
wait until I'm out of here.
I'll have you going in no time.
Well, that's the problem.
They think you did it.
You may not be getting
out of here anytime soon.
I have an alibi.
Would your family lie for you?
No, they wouldn't.
Okay, yeah.
Maybe they would, but they're not.
All right, well, what about the
wrench? What about the watch?
The wrench is mine. I have
no idea how it got there.
Or the watch.
Look, someone is doing this to me, okay?
I swear on Julia's life,
I did not kill Miguel Castro.
Nobody wants you out of
here quicker than I do.
So you can help me?
Well, I don't really interfere
with police business that often, but
what can you tell me
about Emilio Castro?
I saw him talking to some
Rastafarian guy about something
that no one in the village
could find out about.
That doesn't exactly
make him a murderer, Alex.
He beat up Romero, okay?
He came at me with a broken
bottle. That's psychotic.
We'll look into it, okay?
But we're working on a theory
that it's an escalation
of this family feud.
Here's the problem with
working theories, all right?
You you you only
see the facts that fit.
- The Warren Commission? Hello?
- I said, we'll look into it.
And the Cuban connection, CIA
involvement, the New Orleans Mafia.
That's not funny, all right?
There's a man sitting in jail.
Who can fix your boat.
Exactly! Huh? Thank you.
Hey, you guys, I'm I might
need a ride back a little bit, huh?
Forget it, forget it.
- Idiot.
- Hey, chill, mate.
- Get on board.
- Relax.
Get on board!
Hey, let's go, let's go, let's go.
Hey!
Let's check this out.
What's going on, Amboy?
Oh, uh, I'm just doing
a little sightseeing.
This is Romero's friend.
The one from the shop.
He tried to cut up Uncle
Emilio with a broken bottle.
That's not how it,
you, who tried to cut up on who?
If you are a friend of any Romero,
you're on the wrong
side of the beach, man.
There's a right side and
a wrong side of the beach?
- He's trying to be funny.
- You see, the dock is neutral territory.
That side of the beach is Romero's.
And this side
this side's Castro's.
And we are the border patrols.
Now listen, you guys.
Calm down, calm down, okay?
I don't want any trouble,
guys. I don't want any trouble.
We're not gonna kill you.
You'd wish we did.
What's the Filipino term for
underestimating an opponent?
This isn't over, Amboy!
Tell your friends,
we're coming for them.
Let's go! Run, run, go!
He was my father.
You don't think I'm upset?
Then how can you still support the man
who killed him?
They're all the same.
Those Romeros!
Evil, evil, I tell you!
They're not all evil.
They're just like us,
filled with hatred over
something no one even remembers.
And our men are roaming the
village looking for revenge.
How many have to die
before this all ends?
Julia Castro?
Did you witness the actual beating?
Well, my cousins were
dragging me away, but I looked back.
My father walked away and
left it with Uncle Emilio.
Isn't your father the
leader of the family?
He was a natural leader,
but there's some things that
Uncle Emilio does better.
Like beat people up?
You'd have to live here to
understand. There is a history.
And each family, they
have their territories,
and if they get in trouble, they'd
be happy to have an Uncle Emilio.
I'm sorry, but you keep saying "they."
It's your family.
But I don't believe in this war.
And neither did Ramon, and it
was our dream to see it end.
But other witnesses reported him
threatening to kill your father.
Well, he was just saying that
when he was getting beat up,
but he would never do
something like that.
He didn't have that kind
of hate in him. I know.
Hm?
What's with all the hardware?
You don't even know
what's going on here, huh?
I need to speak to Mr. Romero.
We're all Mr. Romero.
You're related to Ramon Romero?
He's my brother.
Well, then I need to
talk to your father.
You arrested the wrong man, cop.
Be that as it may, I still
need to talk to your father.
In this village,
you are either with the
Castros or the Romeros.
Look, kid, I'm with Mactan PD
and I really need to have a
conversation with your father.
Because you're wearing a gun,
you think you can do whatever you want?
Oh, boy. Easy. Take it easy.
Be cool, all right?
Weird.
I don't feel any different.
Let him by,
I want to talk to him.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
You can understand why we
might not be very friendly
to the police right now.
I do understand, Mr. Romero.
Or that I might help you
build a case against my son.
I'm just here to piece
together the facts, sir,
Then I will tell you the
facts, Detective Alamares.
My son was beaten.
Since the time that happened
till this morning, he was with us.
Mr. Romero, it's not
that I don't believe you,
but there are gaps in that timeline,
and there's other evidence
that points to your son.
Now, that being said,
I'm here to conduct a balanced,
unbiased investigation.
How can you be unbiased?
You can see what's happening now.
You know the Castros will will
attack every Romero they can see.
One of my boys and two
nephews were jumped yesterday.
We are not the violent ones.
Mr. Romero, this battle,
this feud, what started it?
Like everything in our lives,
it started over fishing.
Fishing?
Back in the Spanish days,
both families claimed
the right to fish in the same reef.
An actual battle began.
The battle of Bago Hill.
The clans were to meet
in hand-to-hand combat.
But the Castros, they
arrive with bolos and clubs.
Many people died.
If I went to the Castros and asked them,
would they say those Romeros
arrived with bolos and clubs?
They would say that
but they would be lying,
because they are evil.
The Castros will resort to
anything to harm a Romero.
William, what's the matter?
Hey.
William!
William!
His eyes are dilated. Does
he have a drug problem?
- My William? No!
- Yeah.
He's in the church. I I
told you. It's the Castros.
He's been poisoned.
Detective Alamares, I need an ambulance
to the Romero household
right away. Right now.
Okay, let me be clear here.
William Romero is in the hospital
but there is no evidence to suggest
that he suffered from
any kind of poisoning
other than food poisoning
from tainted fish.
What are you talking about?
He was there, he saw
it! He saw what happened.
No, no. Please, please. Quiet
down. You need to trust us.
We have the situation under control.
So long as you agree
to stop any escalation.
We never escalated
anything to begin with.
Your son killed my brother.
He was with us all night. He's innocent.
But those idiots tried
to poison my other son.
Hey, wait.
Ramon Romero is in custody and
we continue the investigation,
but we cannot tolerate
any vigilante justice.
So, from now on, we are
imposing a temporary curfew.
Psst.
Yes. Let's go.
Yeah, I knew they'd be back.
He's a Romero, Get him!
We just got a 242 called in
on the other side of the village.
On route to 20, copy.
It's like Whack-a-Mole.
Let's go.
Over there. Over there.
- Hey, come here.
- Uh-uh-uh!
Don't move.
- You got him, Kai?
- Mm-hmm.
On the hood. Come on.
There's another
242 going on behind the church.
- It's gonna be a long night.
- Yep.
Great haul, boss.
What do you think you're
gonna do with all that money?
Get as far away from
this village as possible,
before everyone finds
out that kid is innocent.
Down the steps.
Down the steps. That's it. Move it.
You're gonna be here
for at least 24 hours.
Get in there.
- That's it.
- Ernesto.
We just got a call from the hospital.
The Romero brother didn't get
food poisoning from the fish.
- It was
- Cyanide.
- What did you say?
- Sodium cyanide.
How did you hear about that before me?
How'd I hear about what?
- The Cyanide.
- I didn't hear about anything.
I saw it, a lot of it
on Emilio Castro's boat.
What were you doing on
Emilio Castro's boat?
Uh, did, you're not listen
Look, I followed him and his Rasta
pal out to the reef, all right?
They're up to something. Emilio
said that he was a dead man,
if anybody from the village found out.
Now, whatever he's doing,
if it's worth dying for,
it may have been worth
killing for as well.
His prints are on this. If
you run it through, you'll
Hey, there's some unidentified prints
on the wrench in addition
to Ramon Romero's.
Check and see if there's a match
with the prints on this bottleneck.
Just like that?
You're not gonna argue with me?
Alex, we just got word that the
oldest Romero brother, William,
got poisoned by cyanide.
Emilio could have poisoned him,
but that doesn't explain
why there's so much cyanide
at the reef, or the reason
why they're meeting up
with a classic smuggler's
boat to go to Hong Kong.
What's the connection?
I have a good idea.
So, cyanide fishing?
- For food?
- No
to sell for aquariums.
You know it's been
getting a lot harder for us
to make a living from the sea.
Been pushed to smaller and smaller
fishing grounds by the Chinese.
The thing is,
the most valuable tropical fish
are indigenous to the Philippines.
Once people heard the news,
there's big money to be made.
Well, they started doing it on their own
using
cyanide to stun the fish.
But cyanide didn't just stun the fish.
It bleached the corals.
It eroded the reefs.
Even made some of the food fish toxic.
Agreement was made
between the two families.
We only fish for food.
No one's allowed to damage the reefs.
That movement was led
by Miguel Castro.
Julia said that Emilio is the
not-so-sharp hot-headed brother.
Maybe Miguel found out that
Emilio was cyanide fishing,
And then he confronted Emilio and boom.
Plus, with the fight the night
before, it was easy to frame Ramon.
And nobody poisoned William Romero.
At least not on purpose.
He just ate some fish that
got in the way of the cyanide.
Well, how much money is in this anyway?
Is it really worth killing someone over?
Here. "The most desirable
salt water species
goes for anywhere from 500 to $20,000."
And get this, "Demand is
peaking due to the release
of the blockbuster Pepperfish
- Tales "
- Tales Two.
- How did you know that?
- It's a sequel, not the original.
Pepperfish Tales Two.
Well, people have killed for much less.
We got some results from the lab.
Two of the unidentified
prints on the wrench
they're a match with
two on the bottleneck.
Huh.
- Let's go get Emilio Castro.
- Yeah.
Detectives Mendoza and Alamares,
I'm putting through Officer Hernandez.
- Hey, what's going on?
- They're all gone.
We were doing our rounds and forcing
the curfew, but it was too quiet.
We poked around. The
houses are almost all empty.
So where are they?
Only one old lady was willing to talk.
She said they were off taking
care of "unfinished business."
- Bago Hill.
- What?
It's where the feud began 150 years ago.
Right there.
What about Emilio?
This is more important.
A gang fight is more important
than collaring a murder suspect?
This is no gang fight.
The last time this
happened, 20 people died.
- That is more important.
- Mm.
Hey, the nearest
fueling dock to the village.
- Where is it?
- Why?
Because this guy and his speedboat's
gotta get halfway to Hong Kong.
It's on the wharf near Bakhawan
Point. Just down the beach.
All right. Alright, let me
out. Let me out. Let me out.
Do you want to take down Emilio or not?
Right here Right here,
here, here, here, here. Stop.
- Alex!
- What are you doing?
What?
Don't do anything stupid.
There is an innocent man in jail, okay?
He's the only one that
knows how to fix my boat.
Be careful.
Let's go.
You said the last time
they fought at sunrise.
What time's sunrise today?
Twenty minutes to go.
Let's get there before the war begins.
Castros! Are you ready to fight?
Romeros!
G'day, mate.
- Hey.
- Hey, how are you?
- Hey. Good.
- So, listen,
I don't how to say this, but
I need to borrow your boat.
- You want to borrow on my boat?
- Mm. Yeah.
Well, how about I'll
shoot you in the yarbles?
Whoa, hey, hey.
Eh? Right down there,
mate. What do you reckon?
I was kind of hoping you'd say that.
Sit down. Sit down.
Okay, I'll borrow these too, mate.
I'm just gonna take everything from you.
Mactan Police! Everybody freeze!
Hello!
Back up! Back up!
- Back!
- Back, back, back!
LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS!
I said lay down your weapons. Now!
We have something very
important to tell all of you.
You little bastards are
going to make me rich.
It's about time.
What took you so long?
You better be able to get
me to Hong Kong in this.
- Is she ready to load?
- Sure, mate, yeah.
- Let's go, mate.
- Load, load, load, load.
Let's go, man. Let's go.
Emilio Castro is behind all of it.
Why would he do that?
The murder of Miguel Castro had nothing
to do with this feud
between the families.
It was all to cover up
Emilio's smuggling scheme.
The poisoning of William Romero
had nothing to do with it either.
He just ate some
mackerel that got tainted
with cyanide and possibly
the other fish too.
So, for now,
do not eat any of it
until we get the all clear
from the Department of Health.
Do you understand?
DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
That's the last one.
I think it's time to square up.
That's the deal, right?
Everybody gets paid upon delivery.
Okay. Okay.
You'll get extra 10%, huh?
I'll see you in Hong Kong, all right?
Come aboard, mate. There you are.
Mactan, this is 3160 Foxtrot.
- Rendezvous point in 0800 hours.
- Roger that.
- What was that?
- What? Oh.
Force of habit, mate.
I used to be a Bush pilot.
Always like to ping the towers.
You rotten son of a bitch!
There.
It's out of control though.
What's he doing?
No! No!
Not my boat.
No. No. No. No. No!
Ah!
You!
I don't want him anymore. You take him.
Oh, my
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
Stay back, back. Stay cool.
Have we learned nothing
from all of this?
Okay, you guys take him.
Hey, Alex. Look on the bright side.
Ramon Romero is a free man.
Now you can have your boat fixed!
My boat!
You know, working the boat and in the
gift shop is kind of, like, two jobs.
Yeah, but it's just working on the boat,
you know what I mean? It's
more like a labor of love, huh?
For you, maybe.
But you know, last
month, I worked overtime
and I couldn't get to see my movie.
Yeah, I know. And I
already apologized for that.
I said, "I'm sorry."
I had engine trouble in
Cordova. You know that.
It's fine. I've watched
it like twice since then.
But I think I deserve a bonus.
Ooh! And maybe an equity position?
Yes on the bonus. We'll
talk about the equity.
Hey
Everything looks good.
Your hull is better than ever.
Boom! You're the man.
You are the man.
You got the man right there, huh?
We're back in business.
I mean, seriously, I gotta
thank you again, Ramon.
Ah, don't worry about it, man.
How's everything at the village?
We're just hoping we don't start
another feud with the wedding plans.
Oh, Julia and I wanted
to ask you something.
You want me to be your best man?
Well no.
It's going to be
William, his brother, but,
we were hoping that you
could come to the wedding
and bring your police friends
to help keep things calm.
- You got it. Hey.
- Thanks again for everything.
Yes. Thank you, Alex.
Oh.
And no charge this time.
No, I could Okay. Okay, okay.
But I must be living right, huh?
I'm off to pick up a charter party.
A bunch of dermatologists from Korea.
Nice payday.
Great. Well, some of us
have to pay the bills with real jobs.
You don't think I have a real job?
No. Now stop tying
up the emergency frequency.
Bye, Alex.
No!