The Enemy Within – As the finale of The Mallorca Files begins, Max Winter (Julian Looman) and Miranda Blake (Elen Rhys) guard a party. Gunshots break out. Max gets shot and goes down. After the intro, it’s 36 hours earlier. Max asks Miranda if she’s going to show him her pot. She says it’s a bowl and the colors might be too much so she may end up taking it back. Max tells her not to overthink it. They speak to Empar’s boyfriend, Mateo (Jimmy Castro), who reports her missing. Empar (Olivia Delcan) is a journalist who always has her laptop with her. She writes for Viva Mallorca! Mateo shows them a note he found urging Empar to “drop the story”. Empar was working on an interview with Alexander Sundberg (Gijs Scholten Van Aschat).

Miranda knows Alexander is holding the upcoming environmental event. Mateo is convinced she is in danger. Meanwhile, the organizers get ready for the upcoming summit. Max and Miranda question Alexander who remembers that Empar annoyed him. He explains she started asking questions about his family and his son. Alexander argues his son has a sports car which will soon be sold off for charity. He claims Empar still came looking for dirt. Ellis Sundberg (Christian Fandango Sundgren) interrupts their conversation. Alexander reminds his son he’ll be meeting Lila Beck at two. Max is surprised to hear that Lila Beck (Yaritza Reyes) is their ambassador. Ellis learns the detectives are there to talk about Empar Rodrigues. He says he didn’t meet her. As they leave, Miranda says Alexander had a factory in Brazil. The runoff pipes were contaminated with industrial waste.

The incident killed everything within miles including children. Lila Beck is also into climate activism. They discuss Ellis who speeds away in a fancy sports car before deciding to follow him. A hitman arrives by boat, changes his appearance, and begins unloading his rifle. Max gets a picture of the man who meets Ellis and sends it in. They also notice someone else is watching Ellis. Miranda moves in for a closer look while Max keeps an eye on the café. Miranda stops the woman who happens to be Empar. She isn’t cooperative when they question her at the station. After they threaten to arrest her, Empar says the man with Ellis is Yago Carbera (Xisco Arreza). Empar has been following him because he’s a suspected eco-terrorist. She explains that Alexander kicked her out when she started asking questions.

They eventually get Empar to reveal there’s an assassin in Mallorca. They’re going to kill someone at the summit, but Empar isn’t sure who the target is. The assassin is called El Juez (Carlos Robles) or The Judge. Empar believes she killed two industrialists last year. Ellis asked Yago to act as a go-between. Last week, Empar followed Yago to a meeting with The Judge. Miranda and Max speak to Ines (Maria Fernandez Ache) about The Judge. Ines is on a video call with DI Robbie Turner (Osi Okerafor). Robbie tells them that it sparks curiosity when they request an Interpol file. Although they doubt the assassin is in Mallorca, they want the team to liaise with them from now on. After the video call, Miranda makes it clear that she doesn’t like Robbie. Empar is told to stay put for her safety although he gets her phone back. Max and Miranda visit Alexander again. Ellis and Olivia Levant (Momo Yeung) join them.

Ellis is asked about Yago who is described as an eco-extremist with terrorist links. He argues that Yago is an activist. Ellis was trying to get Yago to be on their side. Miranda wants to know where they can reach Yago. As they leave, Miranda tells Max that Ellis is lying. She doubts he’ll do anything in public now that he knows he’s being watched. Ines calls to say Empar is gone. Her phone will tell them her location though. At the station, Ines reveals Empar has called the same number eight times since Monday. It’s registered to Yago who must be her source. Miranda wants to use the call logs to see if they can find The Judge. Ines wants to speak to Yago and Empar. Mateo calls asking for an update. Ines is told to tell him they’re on their way to talk to her now. Miranda urges Empar to help with their investigation. Empar reveals they’ve been talking about killing El Santo or The Saint.

Miranda suspects they’re talking about Sundberg. Ellis may be setting his father up. The Judge walks by as Empar leaves. Miranda sees him and tells Max. They see Yago meeting Empas who speeds away in her vehicle. Seconds later, the car explodes. At the station, Miranda says The Judge is on the island and she was looking right at him. Turner and the rest of Interpol arrive to handle the case. He tells Miranda this is a handover instead of a collaboration. They argue about it in private. Miranda hopes this has nothing to do with her turning him down. Turner thought Miranda would be higher up by now. She goes outside to apologize to Mateo who is with Max. Mateo complains that they just had to protect her. Max tries to cheer up Miranda later.

She believes what Mateo said was fair though. Miranda says Max didn’t say much when Turner was trying to take their case from them. Max argues that he’s with Interpol. Miranda doesn’t want to let the case go. She says ambition is not a dirty word. Max says he’s sorry for not being more like Mancuso. Max complains she’s always judging the locals. Miranda says people don’t take him seriously. She claims Carmen knew that they’d still be drifting around. Max reminds Miranda she turned down the chance to return to her old life. Max wants to be there more than anywhere else, but Miranda doesn’t know what she wants. At the station, Turner is going over the details of past assassinations. Max listens to the details. Meanwhile, The Judge appears to be 3D printing something. Turner says they have three hours until the summit launch. They shut the door on Max.

Turner finds The Judge on CCTV entering a motel room and leaving with a different appearance. He refuses to give Max and Miranda any credit but he might have something for them to do. Ines sends Max to speak to Miranda because they have a job to do. They’re tasked with being security guards. Max refuses to wear a bullet-proof vest since they’re about the arrest the guy doing all the shooting. Turner’s team rushes in to take down The Judge. Max and Miranda keep an eye on Lila Beck and the others entering the summit. The man believed to be The Judge is apprehended in his motel room. Ines tells Miranda and Max. Miranda approaches Ellis and tells him that the assassin has been arrested. They take him into custody believing he was involved too. Turner finds the 3D printer equipment. Ellis insists he would never have people killed.

He admits he arranged a publicity stunt to bring attention to a VIP’s cause. Ellis reveals the original plan got hijacked, but it doesn’t matter because the woman is in custody. They ask about the woman. He only knows that a woman was hired to take the shot. Rosa (Shaina West) finds the gun hidden by The Judge. Ellis doesn’t know who the target is. Ines finds out what is going on and is told they need more people on the roof. Max tells Miranda not to be a martyr. They wonder who the target could be. Miranda says Beck is the only target that makes sense. Miranda goes to the rooftop and finds the guard down. Rosa begins shooting at her. Alexander tries to escort Beck somewhere. Max ends up getting shot by Rosa as he moves towards Beck and Alexander. Miranda remembers her argument with him. She rushes in to stop Rosa before she can shoot Beck.

They end up fighting for the gun. Rosa is eventually shot. Max pulls Miranda to safety so she doesn’t fall to her death. Max reveals he was wearing the vest after all. Ellis and Alexander are arrested. Alexander yells about global warming. Turner is forced to admit that Max and Miranda did well. In private, Max and Miranda apologize for what they said during their argument. Miranda was wondering how it felt to almost die. Max says it made him realize what was important to him. Miranda agrees. Max doesn’t think she could find another partner who would put up with her weird ways. They laugh about the bowl she broke.

 

The Mallorca Files Review

The third series of The Mallorca Files hasn’t been perfect considering the quality depended heavily on the episode. Nevertheless, it’s clear the show and its team are trying to do things right. For starters, the series actually tries to showcase the natural beauty of the area and it does it well. It’s great that the series is set in Mallorca and actually filmed there are well. In other words, it’s not trying to prevent something it’s not.

This is Julian Looman’s show since his character and portrayal fit it so well. Elen Rhys is a good partner most of the time and usually when it matters the most. It is a little corny and there are certainly believability issues, but that’s the nature of the game with a series like The Mallorca Files.

Recurring themes keep popping up in episodes so there needs to be a little more diversity here. For instance, the cases often revolve around climate change-related issues. Not every crime is going to be linked to such topics so that seems to be overdone. The finale was one of the better episodes of the series.

Along the way, the dots are being connected as the writers attempt to use Miranda and  Max’s relationship to their advantage. If viewers feel for these characters, some of the scenes will be emotionally effective and the action scenes were decent enough. As a whole, the third series was watchable although there were some very trying episodes throughout.

Temper your expectations and you might just enjoy the series but perfection is rarely achieved in The Mallorca Files. The finale scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Mallorca Files can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying here.