Acapulco Season 2 Episode 6 Review: Hollywood Nights

We’re a little over halfway through the season, and story arcs are finally starting to come together. Acapulco Season 2 Episode 6, “Hollywood Nights,” is connecting dots, but still finding space for characters that haven’t gotten the spotlight yet.

When the episode enters on a young blonde named Beatrice Gruszczynski in 1958, it’s a little confusing as to how this relates to Maximo’s story. As always, our voice of the audience, Hugo, points this out.

But leave it to Diane Davies to have reinvented herself from a sweet midwestern gal to an in-demand starlet. It shows that she’s not just another vapid actress, but rather a girl with a plan and the determination to succeed.

It’s no surprise that she’s managed the Las Colinas resort for so many years with at least some semblance of success.

What is a surprise though is just how protective she’s been of Chad’s parentage and how sought after the secret is by the public. It’s never been a hot topic in the story, so it always seemed like either Chad’s parents are divorced or his father is out of the picture.

It’s a little bit of mystery introduced later in the game, which is keeping this series fresh even as the season is winding down.

It also might be another key in leading us to the big reveal of who Present Day Maximo is avoiding. Maximo learns who Chad’s real father is. Does something happen where he betrays Chad and/or Diane? Maybe Maximo is trying to avoid one of them, and that’s why he is hesitant to visit Acapulco.

It’s great to get more backstory on one of our main characters and to explore a new location and time period. The guest stars in this episode are also a breath of fresh air in a story that can edge close to repetitive if it’s not careful.

This pseudo-bottle episode focusing on Diane gives Acapulco the perfect excuse to drive forward the season’s underlying conflicts. Don Pablo’s issues this season can be tied back to Diane and it’s becoming evident that Maximo’s issue with the Gossip reporter is also directly related to his boss.

Six episodes into the season, it’s the perfect time for both conflicts to come to a head.

I still can’t see how Maximo’s problem is going to resolve itself in a way that gets him from 1980s poor Maximo to Present Day, rich Maximo. There’s a piece missing to connect the dots, and no hints in sight as to what that piece looks like.

The most significant story on Acapulco Season 2 Episode 6 is Don Pablo’s. It’s not surprising that he finally became fed up with Diane prohibiting him from taking PTO (I don’t blame him!), but it does feel rushed through.

It was only at the beginning of Season 2 that he told Maximo he was going to train him to become his replacement. And with a Chad-centric episode and a Sara-centric episode, it doesn’t feel like Maximo has been trained much at all.

I’m hoping the pacing makes sense in hindsight when we reach the end of the season, but it’s a significant shake-up at Las Colinas that could have been a season-ending cliffhanger. 

Acapulco Season 2 Episode 6 has one of my favorite endings so far. The sophomore outing has had a lot of clever timeline crossovers with the ’80s actors bleeding into the present-day storytelling. But this is the first time an ’80s actor appears as a present-day character.

Earlier this season Memo and Maximo’s relationship seemed to teeter towards rocky ground. Naturally, with all the mystery surrounding who Maximo is scared to visit in Present Day Acapulco, I was worried it could be Memo.

We can cross that name off of the list because we are introduced to Present Day Memo and his son Benito.

It’s a good sign that Acapulco is introducing more of these older versions of the ’80s characters, and it has me really excited to see who else pops up in the back half of the season.

It does seem concerning that Benito has no clue who Maximo is, so maybe Memo and Maximo aren’t that close in the present day. However, Memo’s house looks massive and very nice, so it’s going to be interesting to see what he’s been up to, and how that relates to Maximo’s own wealth, if at all.

With Memo crossed off the list this week, and Maximo’s mom seemingly removed last week, the list of Maximo’s mystery friends is tightening. Julia still seems too obvious of an answer, so after Acapulco Season 2 Episode 6, I’m betting on Chad or Diane. We’ll see.

Stray Thoughts

• Julia is actually really funny when she’s with Chad. I kinda like them together.
• Don Pablo is absolutely in the right for walking away after his boss denies him his earned PTO multiple times. I wonder if that’s the last we see of him though.
• I really hope Maximo doesn’t betray Diane and Chad about Chad’s dad, but I fear he might.
• Diane might be self-serving, but props to her for defending another young woman in the industry from the gossip vultures. Women supporting women!
• Where is the mystery bracelet in this episode?

What did you think of this episode of Acapulco? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Acapulco airs Fridays on Apple TV+.

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