Warning: This article contains SPOILERS forLa Màquina
Hulu’s first Spanish language series,La Màquinaends with a glorious bout between Esteban Osuna (Gael Garcia Bernal) and his title challenger, with the threat of death literally hanging around the edge of the ring. The miniseries, which reunites Garcia Bernal with frequent collaborator Diego Luna (as his flamboyant manager Andy Lujàn), really hits its stride in the final episode bringing together a number of bold ideas.
While it’s a show about boxing,La Màquinais about more: it’s about legacy, the weight of expectation, fear of mortality, and above all else, about how loss of control changes people.La Màquinatells the story of very real corruption, but in an indirect way, focusing more closely on Esteban’s story and his unwitting involvement with a shady organized crime group who come calling for repayment on a debt he didn’t even know he had. Here’s what the explosive final episode really means, as well as a breakdown ofLa Màquina’s overriding themes.
Why Esteban Loses The Final Fight But Isn’t Killed
Shouldn’t He Have Been Killed Anyway?
La Màquina’s six episodes all build to one moment: Esteban facing “Handsome” Harry Felix (former boxer Christopher Evangelou) as the champ wrestles with the impact on his legacy of potentially losing. In the end, that battle is taken out of his hands, as Andy uses his savings to pay off the fight judges to ensure that Esteban loses no matter what, for his own good.
Andy ultimately knew that Esteban couldn’t put aside his fears over his legacy and reputation, correctly predicting that he would refuse to throw the fight. Touchingly,he was clearly also convinced that Esteban would win, despite his failure to prepare for the fight, and accounted for that fact in his plan to sacrifice himself.
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Andy is, sadly, killed by the faceless forces of corruption who previously murdered Saul (Andrés Delgado) and Esteban’s father before him. He sacrifices himself, making it clear that he orchestrated everything, and Esteban had no part in things. Ultimately, despite his grim fate, it’s a bit of a fairy tale ending that doesn’t quite work logically, until you realize that Esteban was always a lot more powerful than he ever thought.
Throughout the show, Esteban is greeted like a hero, and has an obvious connection with the people of Mexico - he is, to lean into a cliché, the People’s Champion (and it’s no accident that he’s called that in the final episode.While Andy pays the ultimate price for reneging on his Faustian bargain, Esteban is protected both by the fact that Andy ensures nothing will come out about the corruption behind boxing(and elsewhere), and the fact that his death in the wake of his glorious loss to Felix would have drawn too much attention.
Still, you have to wonder if Esteban will get away fully free of his past: the mysterious cartel promised that Esteban and Andy and their families would die in ways that wouldn’t look like murders (despite shooting Esteban’s father), after all. Esteban arguably still knows too much, though the cartel is equally protected by Esteban’s own obsession with legacy and tarnishing his own reputation.
Unfortunately,just as Andy used institutional corruption to save Esteban, the champ, too, will lean on the benefits he gained from corruption. Revealing that his fame was ill-gotten (at least partly) would destroy everything he built, and ruin the lives of his children, his greatest anxiety throughout the show.
Who Killed Saul & Was Behind The Threats To Esteban And Andy?
Why We Never Find Out Who La Màquina’s Villains Are
By the end ofLa Màquina,we never discover who was pulling the strings behind the scenes of the world of boxing. The killers of Saul and eventually Andy remain off-screen, their identities preserved despite Irasema’s evidence of their influence in the world. The journalist is silenced by the threats to her family and the revelation that her own father was killed off for trying to expose corruption, and burns all evidence that remains on Andy’s suggestion.
So who were the mysterious underworld group behindLa Màquina’s drama? It’s established that theyseemingly have influence right to the top of Mexico’s government, able to use police as part of their organization, and unafraid to kill off anyone who threatens to uncover too much. That list also includes Esteban’s father, Gato (Francisco Barreiro), who briefly reunites with his son only to be killed off rather spectacularly when he hints at a wider conspiracy.
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The biggest question remaining fromLa Màquina’s final episode is what Gato knew and why his son was seemingly marked as a target for the corrupt cartel even before he turned pro. Unfortunately, it seems Gato was embroiled in something dark with the same people who come after his son, and chillingly, Esteban’s fate was settled well before Andy even asked for his first title win to be fixed. And that’s the biggest point, and the reason we never discover who is behind the murders or the corruption:it’s so institutional that it’s fate.
Why Esteban Sees Andy At The End Of La Màquina
Andy Is A Ghost Who Will Haunt Esteban Forever
In the final moments ofLa Màquina’s final episode, Esteban is shown training his children in the ring - a major hint that he will continue his legacy by delivering on Andy’s dream to createLa Màquinitoto replace him.He then looks over and sees Andy standing by the side of the training ring, seemingly unharmed.
Unfortunately, it’s then immediately revealed that Andy - like Juan Carlos - is a figment of Esteban’s imagination, as he disappears when the camera pans back around.Like Juan Carlos, the suggestion here is that Andy will remain part of Esteban’s psyche, a ghostwho is framed quite positively. Strictly speaking though, Andy is a reminder of a very dark time in Esteban’s life, and just as Juan Carlos is created as a trauma response to his father leaving, Esteban will carry Andy round as a reminder of what happened, good and bad.
The thing that’s not really explored in the finale is the fact that Esteban’s brain trauma is part of the reason why he has visions. Even though Sixto (Jorge Perugorría) uses his strange military technique to help unlock Esteban’s memories, we can’t really ignore the fact that the show starts with Irasema investigating CTEs in boxing. She only learns about corruption as a secondary revelation, and then moves on from her initial investigation.
It’s a slightly frustrating move, because it removesLa Màquina’s ability to explore the cost of boxing on Esteban in a more tangible way. Ultimately, like the corruption bubbling under the surface, the idea of brain injuries in boxing is brushed aside to preserve the status quo of the sport. AndEsteban’s apparent ignorance of his own issues (and the likelihood that they will come back to ruin his life in future) makes him an unwitting accomplicein the system he rails against.
What The Ending Of La Màquina Really Means
Fundamentally,La Màquinais most interested in two issues that meet in a heavyweight bout: control and legacy. Both Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal have made a number of movies (often together) that center the idea of institutional corruption and rebellion.La Màquinabelongs alongside those other more overtly political projects, because it subtly explores the idea of agency and control in a very interesting way.
The miniseries is also partly a commentary on fame and the institution of Hollywood. Esteban’s bodily autonomy is taken from him; he’s forced to fight (and almost forced to lose), despite what he knows it will cost him.He’s part of a machine - hence the hidden meaning of the title - that seeks to exploit him, and the entire plot about corruption and being chased by unseen, unknowable enemies reflects how he is forced to give himself up for the entertainment of others.
Ultimately, corruption inLa Màquinais reinforced as a tragic but concrete reality. No fight against it will succeed, because of how insipid the forces behind it are. And while Esteban gains a moral victory that restores his glory and preserves his legacy, he ultimately does it by embracing the system of corruption, and not burning it down. This was not a happy ending.
La Máquina
Cast
Boxer Esteban “La Máquina” Osuna struggles to revive his career after a devastating loss, with the help of his manager, Andy Luja. As a dangerous organization threatens their efforts, Esteban must confront personal demons and protect his family, including his ex-wife, who becomes entangled in the dark side of boxing.
