REVIEW: ‘Los Espookys,’ Episode 5 – “El Laboratorio Alienigena”

HBO’s primarily Spanish-language comedy Los Espookys is back this week with “EL Laboratorio Alienigena” (The Alien Lab). Having leaned into the supernatural last episode, this episode of Los Espookys continues the trend while also using scenes and pieces of dialogue to deliver humor and character development.

In “El Espejo Maldito” the Espookys are hired to fake the abduction of United States Ambassador Melanie in order to get expedited visas to travel to Los Angeles in order to work on Bianca Nova’s (Carol Kane) movie. In “EL Laboratorio Alienigena” the movie’s script turns into the weirdest and worst movie and Melanie is trapped in a mirror world – instead of on a beach – the crew has to save her and make enough money to bribe the US Embassy while also dealing with their own issues outside of the group. To make the money, Los Espookys finds themselves working for an eccentric scientist out to convince her boss that aliens are real and so is her work.

As much as the alien hijinks are in this episode, the expansion of Tati (Ana Fabrega) as a character and the continued focus on Andrés (Julio Torres) and Juan Carlos’ (José Pablo Minor) love life are the most memorable part. Well, outside of the mirror world and the Beverly Hills US Ambassador’s eventual release from the mirror which yields more strangeness than her being trapped.

For Tati, her crisis of self after being catfished by a cartoon prince who turned out to be an attractive duke leaves her spiraling down a path of weirdness that results in her buying sunglasses to change her personality and falling for another cartoon prince online. When her attempt to do something good for herself by taking on Hierbalite as a side-business result in her and Úrsula (Cassandra Ciangherotti) in danger, the latter starts focussing on selling the product to save them from CEO of the pyramid scheme who has come to collect.

As for Andrés, he’s starting to feel like Juan Carlos is coming around and accepting him as he is, even if he thinks he’ll change a bit. While Andrés is still trying to download The King’s Speech to satiate his inner demon who has information on his past, he has to decide what is best for his life and his future.

All of this is to say, that everyone but Renaldo (Bernardo Velasco), Bianca Nova’s biggest fan, is struggling to keep horror as their number one priority, complicating their plans to head to Los Angeles. With everything getting weirder, I’m starting to question where the series is going, and that isn’t a bad thing. I’m not predicting, I’m not focussing on the future, and instead, I’m along for the ride with these characters and focused on the episodic comedy happening in the moment.

While some of the humor has become repetitive, the core cast is still golden. They each excel in their roles and keep you drawn in, even when the dry humor gives you a predictable release of laughter. With Melanie back with a plus one, the more Los Espookys leans into the strange, the better the show will be.

Los Espookys airs Friday nights on HBO.