The Mutiny

Episode 1 of Hotel Cocaine starts with heavy action as a group of men pick up a cocaine shipment in the middle of the sea. Another group attacks and kills the first group, taking the cocaine with them. The scene changes to partygoers turning it up at the hottest club in Miami, The Mutiny Club and Hotel. Everyone who was everyone visits the club. From drug dealers to movie stars, they all live it up at the club.

Everyone putting their beef aside, The Mutiny Club was Miami’s drug scene Switzerland, where even cops partied with drug dealers. Everyone was all about that fun and no drama. 

At the club, we meet the club manager, Roman Compte, whose job it is to make sure everyone has fun. He lovs working for Burton Greenberg,  an easy, fun-loving boss. At the moment, he is jazzed that a high-profile journalist will be covering the club for a piece on Rolling Stone. He is, however, anxious that the DEA agent at the bar may cause trouble and sends Roman to entertain him. 

However, the DEA agent, Zulio, is not there for fun; if anything, he is there to wreck Roman’s life. Zulio asks Roman to get in touch with his estranged brother, Nestor Cabal. Nestor is currently the biggest cocaine supplier in Miami, and it was his drugs that were stolen. One of Zulio’s informants was killed during that raid, and he wants Roman to be his new informant.

As expected, Roman is against the idea, but Zulio uses his daughter, Valeria, to get Roman to cooperate. The first order of business is for Roman to approach Nestor’s man, Chucho, currently at the club and get information.

That proves to be difficult as Chucho refuses to accept Roman’s request to set up a meeting with his boss. In turn, Roman approaches Janice, one of the club’s female entertainers to use her tricks and get the location of Nestor’s house. Of course, Janice charms the information right out of Chucho’s mouth.

On the other side of the club,  Burton is surprised to learn that Hunter has no interest in writing about his club but his family’s legacy. Burton comes from a rich political family and is estranged from them. It shocks him that Hunter asks him for dirt on his family.

He asks advice from Janice and she suggests that Burton gives Hunter what he wants even though it will come at a high cost. She believes Hunter will find out Burton’s secret soon, and is best to get ahead of it. Burton thinks otherwise and is disappointed in her advice.

Meanwhile, Roman starts getting anxious about reuniting with his brother. He lashes at his daughter during breakfast when she says she doesn’t care about Cuba. Roman is disappointed as Cuba is their homeland, even though the government did him dirty. He blames the death of his first wife and his imprisonment on Fidel Castro. Nonetheless, he doesn’t want his daughter to forget her heritage.

The following day, Roman pays Nestor a visit and Chucho is surprised to learn that Roman and Nestor are brothers. Nestor welcomes Roman and hears him out. Although he feels Roman abandoned him, he is touched when the latter says he will feed him information in return for money to pay for Valeria’s college. However, Nestor doesn’t trust Roman and asks him to kill one of the men involved in the recent drug theft. Even though Roman is against it, he pulls the trigger and kills the man, gaining his brother’s trust. 

Later that night, he meets Zulio at the club and informs him about Nestor’s plan to get his drugs back. The people who stole the drugs have already reached out and want Nestor to buy the drugs back. Zulio is sure it won’t be as easy as a simple exchange of money and insists on knowing the location of the meet-up. Roman quickly feeds him the information, and Zulio gets his team ready. Unbeknownst to Roman, Chucho doesn’t trust him, and he convinces Nestor to change the meeting place. 

While this is going on, Burton takes Janice’s advice and tells Hunter the truth. It turns out that Burton forged his dad’s signature on loan documents to get hold of the club. If this comes out, Burton’s family will retaliate. He will end up losing the club and going to jail. This is why Burton can’t afford to betray his family. He asks Hunter to focus on the legacy of the club and what it means to the people. He thinks he has convinced Hunter and solved the problem, but little does he know he has kicked the hornet’s nest.

Away from the club, Roman meets with Zulio and his team. He suggests that Zulio and his men are not well-prepared, but the agent ignores his warnings. With everything se, Roman meets with Nestor, ready for the takedown. He is surprised when Nestor tells him that Chucho changed the location but stayed back. Roma realises that Chucho will see the police and will tell Nestor about his betrayal. However, he decided to focus on the trade-off first. 

Nestor stands his ground as Zulio expected and attacks the other team. As the bullets fly, Chucho arrives, and Roman spots him first. For a brief second, they stare at each other before Roma shoots Chucho. He is about to shoot him again when Nestor sees him and quickly summons his men to move out. He and Roman rush to dump Chucho outside the hospital. Nestor prays for Chucho’s recovery but Roman is hoping the grim reaper will do him a quick favour.

The Episode Review

Hotel Cocaine starts on a high note, keeping the viewers entertained as they anticipate what will happen between the two brothers. Sadly, Agent Zulio pushed Roman down this road. He had no idea what Roman is capable of. Based on what we know, Roman is an intelligent man with military training; he will go all the way. However, we can’t help but wonder if he will go all the way for his brother or the cops. 

On the other hand, we have Burton and his Hunter problem. There is a saying about never trusting journalists; I guess Burton missed that one. Hunter doesn’t care about the legacy of the club but about bringing down Burton’s family.

Sadly, it looks like Burton will be the collateral damage when this fight starts. I can’t wait to see what  Hunter wrote and how it will be the trigger that starts everything.