‘Acapulco’ Star Eugenio Derbez on Máximo’s Twist Ending & Hopes for Season 3
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Acapulco Season 2, Episode 10, “Against All Odds.”]
One of TV’s most delightful series has concluded its second season as Acapulco‘s latest episode, “Against All Odds,” arrived on Apple TV+, and with it, one major cliffhanger.
As Season 2’s 1980s-set storyline saw Máximo (Enrique Arrizon) repair his relationships at Las Colinas after he was caught sharing secrets with Fabian Solares (Bayardo De Murguia), host of the celebrity gossip program Espectacular. It seemed like everything was on track as his mother Nora (Vanessa Bauche) got married, his sister Sara (Regina Reynoso) returned home, and he finally managed to connect with his longtime crush Julia (Camila Perez), but present-day Máximo (Eugenio Derbez) is doesn’t seem to have things so easy.
While Season 2 followed Season 1’s format, the older Máximo continued his journey to the show’s titular town for Don Pablo’s (Damián Alcázar) memorial with nephew Hugo (Raphael Alejandro). Throughout the season, Máximo’s escort and bodyguard Joe (Will Sasso) eluded to someone or something Máximo must face.
Apple TV+
Ultimately, that mystery is revealed in the episode’s final moments as Máximo approaches a door with Hugo, who believes the individual could be one of his uncle’s loves, Julia or Isabel (Gabriela Milla). Instead, it’s Máximo’s daughter; someone viewers were entirely unaware of until this shocking reveal.
The cliffhanger leaves us hungry for a third season, which would no doubt provide some answers. As for Derbez, he was just as excited by the ending as viewers likely are. “I think it’s a great ending for a second season because everyone is expecting to see Isabel or Julia, and all of a sudden you discover that it’s none of them,” the actor remarks. “I think it’s a great, great, great ending.”
But it isn’t the ending, at least not if Derbez or the show’s creatives have a choice. “Now the thing that we need to discover is who’s the mother,” Derbez poses. “So I hope we can aim for a new season.” As for Hugo’s shock over discovering this reality where he has a cousin, Derbez says, “Uncle Máximo has hidden this part of his life, and this is the first time he’s sharing everything with Hugo in a deeper way. Máximo has been having all this superficial relationship with Hugo where everything is about money,” Derbez explains. “And this is the first time that he decides it’s time to make a deeper connection.”
(Credit: Apple TV+)
Despite ending present-day Máximo’s storyline on a major cliffhanger, 1980s Máximo got a bit of a happier ending as he and Julia finally gave into their feelings for one another, sharing a kiss on the roof of his apartment building. “We wanted to end Season 2 in a place of more joy,” series co-creator Austin Winsberg shares. “I think we had been through some big emotional journeys over the course of the season, so we wanted to end on a more positive note.”
That being said, there’s definitely an ominous tone to it all as the episode bridged the gap between eras in which present-day Máximo addressed his younger self, trying to warn of big mistakes he made growing up. Despite the warning evident in older Máximo’s message, Derbez was thrilled to cross paths with cast members he doesn’t get to share screentime with usually.
“It was genius,” Derbez says of the crossover. “I remember in Season 1, I was shooting everything by myself, and we never got together. And this time, we were interacting. It was extremely touching, and the entire crew was crying when Máximo is talking to his younger version.” Viewers have yet to see the regrets that Máximo has collected in the years between his time working at Las Colinas and the present, but they must run deep for him to keep so many secrets and elicit a desire to warn his younger self.
“We wanted to understand where some of his regrets come from, and it felt like if it was just based on wrongs from 30-plus years ago, that it might not resonate in the same way,” Winsberg says of Máximo’s daughter. “So we wanted something deeply emotional from his past that one could understand why he has these deep feelings of resistance and guilt.”
Will he be able to reconcile the wrongs from his past to improve his future? We can only hope that a potential third season will provide such answers and resolutions. While we await word on a possible renewal, relive every fun moment from Acapulco Season 2 now on Apple TV+.
Acapulco, Seasons 1 & 2, Streaming now, Apple TV+
