The Great Escape – The episode opens with Officer Noguera (Victor Rios) accompanying an inmate, Aled Mallory (Charlie Higson), to another penitentiary. Mallory hums happily because he is thrilled to be transferred back to the prison. The driver, Alonso Garcia (Toni Rodriguez) shows a security guard Mallory’s transfer papers. As the paddy wagon exits through the security gate, two motorcycles pull in behind it. A short time later, a motorcycle pulls out in front of the paddy wagon. The driver drops the bike. Alonso blows the horn multiple times. Mallory begins to count down from five. When he reaches one, someone wearing a helmet drops a smoke bomb on the ground. Alonso cannot open the driver’s door. Noguera emerges from the van and is immediately punched. Someone tosses Mallory the handcuff keys. The three assailants flee on their motorcycles. Dressed in civilian clothes, Mallory runs to a waiting vehicle. The driver drives away.

Detective Miranda Blake (Elen Rhys) reads from Mallory’s prison file. A former accountant, Mallory was sentenced to prison for defrauding his clients. She questions why he was being transferred from Barcelona to Mallorca. At the crime scene, Detective Max Winter (Julian Looman) tells Miranda that Noguera has been working for the prison for only three days. He suggests someone on the inside helped with Mallory’s escape. Mallory’s things are still inside the prison. Miranda discovers a poster of the Juno Moneta statue. Detective Benito “Benny” Mancuso (David Mora) says Mallory’s summer home is named after the Roman statue. Holding up a signed document, Benny informs him the that Chief of Barcelona Police gave him jurisdiction over the case. Miranda argues Mallory is a British citizen on their island. A short time later, Ines Villegas (Maria Fernandez Ache) tells Max and Miranda that Benny has permission to utilize their uniform officers. Miranda thanks her for being on their side. Ines sarcastically asks if they should protest the commissioner’s decision. Max remains neutral. Miranda questions why Barcelona puts its best detective on the case of an escaped convict.

Miranda tells Max that Noguera worked at the Barcelona prison where Mallory was an inmate until two months ago when he was transferred there. Max believes Noguera is a victim, not a player in Mallory’s escape. Realizing Noguera is a Mallorcan citizen, she says his assault took place in their jurisdiction. A short time later, they question Noguera about the incident. He denies any connection to the escape. Max discovers real estate brochures from local properties. Noguera claims his sister and brother-in-law received an inheritance and he is helping them to find property in Mallorca. Benny shows up unexpectedly. Miranda says Noguera is a Malloracan citizen, so it is their responsibility to take his statement. Benny gives Miranda a piece of his mind. Nogurea receives a call about a delivery. As Miranda and Max are preparing to leave, they hear him screaming. They emerge to find a man trying to pull Nogurea into a white van. As the van backs up, Max fires several shots at its tires. A delivery truck pulls blocks it from leaving. Standing in the road, Max fires several shots as the van speeds toward him. Benny pulls him out of the road and the van speeds past them. Noguera is nowhere to be seen.

Benny confronts Ines about Max and Miranda’s involvement in his case. She demands he tell them everything or she will go to the commissioner for answers. He claims Mallory fixed tax documents for his clients and defrauded a Barcelona firm out of millions of euros. He was offered a plea deal that would let him transfer to Mallorca if he gave up his important clients. Benny suggests the leak came from the Barcelona Police Department before leaving to take a call. The van utilized in the attempted abduction has been located but it is clean. Benny wants Miranda and Max to set up surveillance at Mallory’s villa. Miranda argues that Mallory would go nowhere near the villa and suggests they investigate Noguera’s near-kidnapping. She asks for a copy of Mallory’s client list. He agrees but only if they keep him in the loop.

Miranda learns Noguera called the luxury villa, no one else. Max questions if Noguera was trying to find Mallory a place to hide out after his escape. She refuses to alert Benny of their suspicions. They believe Noguera has a burner phone. They discover a business card for Los Ultimos Mohicanos with Lupe (Godeliv Van Den Brandt) written on the back. Later at Lupe’s Bar, they show Lupe a photo of Noguera. She denies knowing him. Max compares the handwriting on the back of the business card with Lupe’s handwriting. It is a match. Miranda threatens to have her arrested if she doesn’t talk. Lupe claims Noguera offered her a 10-euro tip if she told him her real name. Miranda believes the motorbikes utilized in the escape were rented from the bar. Benny sends them a redacted list of Mallory’s clients. A vehicle trails from them from the bar. A short time later, they arrive at Mallory’s villa where they discover a Juno Moneta statue and an empty folder for Cocodrilo. While Miranda is on the phone, Max spots the vehicle from the bar. The pursuit ends when they lose sight of the vehicle.

Miranda and Max learn that Cocodrilo is a local construction company, registered by Elsa Navarro (Tara Marie Linke). They arrive at the highly secure Cocodrilo to find Leon Grec (David Lifschitz), a Barcelonan mobster, with his Friesian horse, Castille. Miranda tells Elsa and Grec about Mallory’s escape. Max says the vehicle in the driveway was at the biker bar and then, Mallory’s summer villa. Elsa claims her staff works all over. Grec offers them to search the villa but they decline. Upon leaving, Miranda suggests Mallory was planning to give up his former client, Grec. A vehicle pulls out in front of them, and irate Benny gets out and accuses them of wrecking his case. Later at a local café, Benny admits to having a wiretap installed on Grec’s associate’s phone. He says Noguero offered Grec Mallory’s location for 200,000 euros. He claims the deal is set to go down today. Max is forced to intervene between Miranda and Benny and demands they work the case together. They reluctantly agree. Max demands they take his vehicle but is forced to sit in the backseat. Lupe’s phone record reveals four calls to the prison guardhouse while Noguero was on duty. She received three calls from an unregistered number in the last week. Max says it could have been Noguero’s burner phone.

At the biker bar, Max, Miranda, and Benny confront Lupe with their new evidence. Lupe admits to lying but denies any knowledge of the escape. While Lupe is looking at photos, Benny slips a wiretap in her purse. Miranda witnesses his deception. Upon leaving, she reminds him that a court order is required to utilize wiretaps. Benny sarcastically says it would take a week to get the judge to approve it. Max agrees with Benny. With the help of the wiretap, they learn Lupe is planning to be gone from the bar for an hour. Max believes Lupe is going to drop the 200,000 euros for Grec and Noguero. They pursue her to a passcode-protected drop box in town. When she removes a bag from the box, Benny steps forward and orders her to put it down. Max restrains and arrests her. Miranda retrieves Lupe’s phone. The bag contains cash. Lupe claims Noguera paid her to pick up an English man in Alcudia and transport him to Raiguer. The money is to help Noguera leave Spain. Benny says Noguera has already notified Grec of his location.

In Raiguer, Max, Miranda, and Benny discover Noguera deceased in a luxury villa. They receive an alert that Grec is on the move. Later, Elsa and Grec inform them that they are returning to Barcelona for business. Grec apologizes to Benny for his partner, Alicia Rodriguez’s death. Benny suggests that Grec’s hired hitmen are going to kill Mallory while Grec is en route to Barcelona. At the police station, Ines informs Max and Miranda that Benny released the guard at Mallory’s villa of his duty. Max says Miranda teased Benny about his partner who may have been one of Grec’s victims. Miranda denies any guilt. Later, Miranda arrives at a shooting range to find Benny already there. He offers her his gun to fire but she declines. He tells her that Alicia died of cancer. She asks why he is so destined to put Grec behind bars. He says when Mallory was his informant on Grec’s case, he got spooked. She asks why Mallory was arrested. He claims it was his bosses’ decision. Mallory felt Benny betrayed him. She asks to fire his gun.

Ines informs Max that Lupe is going to be charged for her part in Mallory’s escape. He suggests Lupe cared about Noguera. She believes it had something to do with Lupe believing he was going to get a million euros from Mallory. Looking at the poster of the Juno Moneta statue, he questions if Mallory hid money in Mallorca. A short time later, Max arrives at the shooting range to see Benny and Miranda together. He tells them about his suspicions. Grec and Elsa are still in Mallorca. They arrive at Mallory’s villa to find Grec, Elsa, and two armed men holding Mallory at gunpoint as he chips away at the statue. Mallory pulls a metal box out of the pedestal, opens it, removes a bundle of cash and a USB stick, and hands them to Grec. Max, Miranda, and Benny order the men to drop their weapons. Within minutes, Grec and Elsa find themselves surrounded by cops. Mallory thanks them for rescuing him. Benny leaves a battered Mallory at the ambulance.

At the police station, Miranda, Max, and Benny scan the files stored on the USB stick. Ines informs them that Mallory escaped from the hospital. Miranda recalls Benny cuffed Mallory. He assures her that he will not have any problems sleeping. Later at Joan’s Bar, Benny departs ways with Miranda and Max. Miranda leaves Max in the capable hands of Roberto (Alex Hafner) and Ines. Max catches Benny and Miranda kissing outside the bar. He goes back in for another drink. When Miranda returns for her jacket, he doesn’t mention it.

Mallory is sailing a sailboat as the episode ends.

 

The Mallorca Files Review

A Barcelonan prisoner, Mallory, pulls off a daring escape during a transfer to Mallorcan prison. Max and Miranda are on the case when a Barcelonan detective, Benny Mancuso informs them that the commissioner has given him jurisdiction over the case. Max willingly accepts the commissioner’s decision, not Miranda. She doesn’t stop until she finds a way to inject herself into the case. Benny is not happy but agrees to work with them. Unfortunately for Max and Miranda, it just isn’t that simple.

Mallory was Benny’s informant while he was investigating a Barcelonan mobster, Grec. A prison guard, Noguera, who aided in Mallory’s escape is later murdered. Benny insists Grec is responsible and fears Mallory is next. Max suspects money is hidden in a Juno Moneta statue on Mallory’s estate. Grec forces Mallory to hand over his hidden money and a USB stick containing evidence that would put him behind bars for a lifetime. Benny, Max, and Miranda stop the exchange and save Mallory’s life only for him to escape their grasp once again.

Max is disappointed when he learns Miranda is attracted to Benny. The episode deserves a 5.5 out of 10.

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