In the first scene of Episode 5 of Season 3 of Turn of the Tide, Frias approaches a couple who are drunk at a market stand. She asks questions that seem random in order to match their voices to a voicemail. The couple is nervous, but she doesn’t do anything because there are so many people around. Eduardo says they should go to court, but Frias says that’s not a good idea because it would be hearsay without proof.
Instead, Eduardo acts like he’s trying to get the pair to join the Night Vigilantes. He puts narcotics in their cups, and Frias holds them down. She has Eduardo help torture them by reminding him that he owes her. She says that she wasn’t present for Mariana since she was trying to get Eduardo’s attention.
The pair repeats what they heard on the message when they are under pressure. A flashback shows Billy Bob saying those things after he found a file in Frias’ desk. As Frias and Eduardo are about to leave, they hear Mariana’s name again, which makes Frias even more determined.
Right now, Frias is making Eduardo drive and telling the pair to take her to Mariana’s body. They say the death was an accident and say they will testify against Banha, who they say hired them. But Frias is more interested in hearing about how Billy Bob supposedly tortured Mariana, even though he makes up details. Billy Bob accidentally gets Bruna’s pepper spray during the journey and keeps it a secret.
Francisco shows Banha CCTV footage from Cruz’s home and asks him about the people who killed Cruz. Banha seems like she’s really upset.
In the jungle, Frias makes the couple dig for Mariana’s body. Eduardo doesn’t want to carry a pistol, but Frias reminds him of what he did in the past. She says she feels cursed since she’s always running after other people and ignoring her family because she’s so focused on work. Frias won’t listen when Eduardo tells her to stop her vendetta and pay more attention to her daughter Sara.
The pair tries to buy time by digging in different places, not knowing where the body is buried. When an earthquake hits out of nowhere and it starts to rain, things get crazy. The pair tries to get away. Frias shoots Billy Bob in the shoulder and runs after Natercia. A fight breaks out, and Natercia has the upper hand for a short while with pepper spray, but Frias wins in the end.
The pair ultimately takes Frias to Mariana’s burial since they know they can’t get away. The body has rotted away, leaving just clothes and a jewelry. Frias falls apart. Even though Billy Bob says the death was an accident, Frias shows no mercy and kills them both. Flashbacks show that the pair lied to Mariana before killing her to hide who they were.
In the present, Eduardo runs away and tells Bruna that Banha is in danger. Frias, heartbroken, tries to call Sara, but her husband won’t let them talk so late. The scene turns to Francisco getting a call from the Director.
Bruna tells her dad, who tells her to leave. When Eduardo gets to Banha’s place, he finds him waiting with a gun. Banha thinks Eduardo is after him, but he is wrong. Frias gets there a little while later and grabs for her phone, but Banha shoots and kills her, thinking she is going to attack. Then Francisco shows there and takes both Banha and Eduardo into custody.
At the police station, Banha says he never meant for things to go this bad, and Eduardo says the same thing. The episode ends with a frightening picture of dead fish on the beach.
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Episode 5 has all it needs to be a great second-to-last chapter. It has strong emotional beats, a tense and unpleasant mood, and a mystery about what happened to Mariana that keeps you interested. Maria João Bastos has a great performance that carries the program with a real and believable portrayal of Frias’ anguish and passion.
But the last act takes away a lot of that drive. The section with Banha seems rushed and not well described, especially how the authorities were able to step in so rapidly. It’s hard to understand how Eduardo’s behaviors fit with his stated character growth. His choice to warn Bruna feels like a step back instead of a step forward after seasons of improvement.
Even though Eduardo has made mistakes in the past, it doesn’t make sense that he would risk letting Banha get away with it, especially because Banha is responsible for the pain he and his friends have gone through. This choice of story makes an otherwise exciting episode less interesting, and the ending feels more jumbled than clear.