Promised Land is a show that seems to just get better each week. The show’s fifth episode, titled “Los Rivales (Rivals),” aired on February 21st on ABC, which ends the show’s run on broadcast television. Due to low ratings, the remaining five episodes of the first season will stream exclusively on Hulu. Promised Land isn’t technically canceled, but this is a cause for concern for fans. At the end of this recap, I’ll talk about how you, a fan of the series, can help spread the word to get more eyes on this fantastic drama so we can enjoy more stories about the Sandoval familia.
Billy (Yul Vazquez) sits in the confessional with Margaret Honeycroft (Bellamy Young) reminiscing about the night he was reunited with his brother Joe at Heritage House, which was also the night he first met Lettie. He describes her as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Exiting the confession booth, Billy tells Margaret that he thought being around Lettie would be enough, but he feels bad because she believes that fate reunited them when that’s a lie. Margaret tells him that what’s important is that he’s been reunited with his son Mateo, but she adds Junior to that statement, adding that he never met him. Billy thanks Margaret for everything she’s done for him, revealing that she sent him to rehab, but he tells her that he wants to leave Sonoma. “Take care, Billy,” Margaret tells him.
Billy goes to Father Collins (Christopher Wallinger) to ask for a transfer, but their conversation is interrupted by a commotion in the hallway. They follow a rush of students to find a teenager who was knocked to the ground. Another student says that Junior got in a fight and left the school. Father Collins assigns Billy the task of contacting Junior’s parents.
(ABC/Paul Sarkis)
In 1987, Billy (Rolando Chusan) goofs off with a bushel of grapes on his head, making Lettie (Katya Martín) laugh. Rosa (Ariana Guerra) tells Lettie that she’s surprised she and Joe haven’t gotten together yet, adding that she thinks she has feelings for both Billy and Joe. She looks over at Joe (Andres Velez), who is offering water to Margaret (Kerri Medders) as Rosa talks about leaving Heritage House to pursue their real dreams. While they talk, Billy was called over by Foreman Gonzo (E. Ambriz DeColosio) to lead a crew on picking the Zinfandel grapes for O.M. Honeycroft (Tom Amandes), who refers to him as “Joe’s brother.” Billy is distracted by a car that pulls up, seeming to recognize the man who gets out of it. The man sees Joe and calls him by his real name, yelling “Carlitos!” Joe rushes to him, begging the man to call him Joe as they hug. The man steers Joe towards his car, referring to it as his “Princess.” Lettie asks Billy who the man is. “Our father,” he replies.
Carmen (Mariel Molino) sits by the pool with Lettie (Cecilia Suárez), admiring the massage therapists who are prepping tables for them. Mateo (Augusto Aguilera) arrives with Daniela (Natalia del Riego) to ask his mom to try the wine he’s working on. Lettie asks him to pour some for Carmen too and after agreeing that the wine is bad, Lettie suggests that Mateo accept Carmen’s help. He is reluctant, but she insists that Carmen go work with Mateo and leave Daniela to have a massage with her so they can get to know each other better.
Cruz Delgado (Carlos Javier Rivera) meets Veronica (Christina Ochoa) on the side of a road to give her an update on her husband. He says that Michael didn’t leave the mansion in Bel Air until 5:00 am and he learned from a valet that the owner of the house is named Seth Hanson. She gives him an envelope of cash and tells him she will call him if she needs anything else.
When Veronica gets to the office, Joe (John Ortiz) and Antonio (Tonatiuh) are already at work sampling Pinot to see if it’s ready for bottling yet. Veronica asks Joe about Seth Hanson, who she recalls didn’t seek reelection on the Heritage House board. “I asked him to step down,” Joe reveals. “Seth was into some stuff I was uncomfortable with. We’ll leave it at that.” Veronica and Antonio have a difference of opinion about bottling the pinot and Joe tells them that they’re both wrong, that it needs another week to age before bottling. Joe gets a phone call and steps away to answer it. The all is from Billy.
Carmen proposes that Mateo sell his bad wine as communion wine, showing a mockup label for “Vine Divine.” He turns down the idea, talking about how he wants to make a product that is superior to Heritage House’s finest. Carmen tells Mateo to try his wine again and say the first three words that come to his mind. The third word is “Unctuous” and Carmen gets an idea to turn the wine into bottled sangria. “People are sick of beer and wine, that’s why hard seltzer is killing it.” Mateo doesn’t want his name associated with it, but Carmen says nobody will know it was him. He says he has enough juice to make 10,000 bottles, but Carmen says she just needs 10 that she can put in the right hands. Mateo admits that he misjudged Carmen and she knows what she’s doing.
In a flashback to 1987, Billy and Joe have lunch with Manuel Rincón (Manuel Uriza), their father, who tells a harrowing tale of sneaking across the border in a Chevy Caprice that he and a friend painted to look like border patrol. Billy accuses his father of making the story up and Joe pulls him aside to talk. Billy is angry that Joe not only sent money to their father but gave him their address. Joe believes their father has changed, but Billy says he’s just there to get something from them and will leave again once he has it. Later, Margaret has helped Manuel get a job as a picker, which he complains about while doing the job. While working, Manuel sees Joe with Margaret and makes comments about how he should marry her and move into the big house. Joe tells his dad that it’s actually Billy’s dream to own Heritage House and their dad dismisses Billy’s goals as pure fantasy.
Joe arrives at Junior’s school and asks Billy what set his son off. Billy doesn’t know but says he believes her knows where Junior might be. Joe asks for the address, but Billy insists that he join him. While driving, Billy tells Joe that he wants to call Lettie to tell her about Junior, but Joe doesn’t want to worry her. Joe is cold about the prospect of his brother talking to his wife, so Billy says “She loves you, Joe, more than she ever loved me.” Billy tells Joe that he’s changed, but Joe tells him that people don’t change.
Antonio and Veronica sip wine and talk about the wine and who has the superior pallette. Antonio challenges Veronica to a blind taste test and they have fun doing it, proving to be equally matched. Veronica asks him about a face she saw him make when she mentioned Seth Hanson. “He was a year ahead of me at HBS. I know some of his Goldman buddies. His legend precedes him.” She asks what he means and he tells her that he was famous for sex parties. “No wonder pa didn’t want him on the board,” she says. Later, Veronica wonders out loud if Joe would respect her more if she had left like Antonio did. He tells her the reason their father respects him now is because he starts his own company and sold it for millions. Veronica admits that when he left and she didn’t stick up for him, she may have subconsciously done it to become CEO. Antonio reminds her that she’s a CEO in a male dominated industry with a dominant male always looking over her shoulder. “I think you did something right,” he says, before adding that he’s not going to live in her shadow and wants to be CEO, too. “I know,” Veronica admits. “It just means I’m going to fight you for it.” Their rivalry feels friendly as Carmen and Mateo arrive to have Veronica and Antonio try their sangria, announcing that Carmen already got Mateo 10,000 followers on Instagram and they have presales pouring in.
Joe and Billy arrive at a park that Billy says is where Junior would go get high. While looking for Junior, Joe tells Billy that he doesn’t believe he’s a real priest or that he returned to Sonoma by chance. Billy tells him that he got close to God after being pulled back from the brink of death. Joe accuses Billy of still being in love with Letty and Billy tells him it’s not a competition, reminding his brother that this is how their father raised hem to be, but it’s not who they are now. Joe gets angry at the thought and punches his brother’s shoulder. Billy tells him that the next time he hits him, he will hit back. When Joe does it again, Billy knocks hiim to the ground, which stuns Joe. Junior watches the scene unfold from a slide nearby, laying down so they don’t see him. Joe reminisces about how he used to bring Junior to this same park when he was younger. “And now, he comes here to…” Joe fights back tears as he continues. “When I became a father I vowed to be nothing like our old pa. I was going to be there for our kids. But who am I kidding? I put work first. And now I’ve lost him.” Billy tells his brother that he hasn’t lost Junior, he just has to meet him with no expectations. Joe says he worries that Junior can’t change. “We all can change, Joe. If we don’t change then I don’t know what I can believe in.” Junior gets up and reveals himself, saying that he came to the park to get high but remembered Billy’s advice to find a distraction, which worked. “This time,” Billy says. “Don’t ever take that for granted.” Joe leads them back to his SUV.
During their massages, Lettie asks Daniela about her relationship with Mateo, asking if they’ve been intimate, which Daniela doesn’t want to answer. “You should know Mateo loves a project, saving someone,” Lettie tells her. Later, Lettie gives Daniela a fancy dress and when she tries it on, Lettie asks Daniela about her dreams. She learns that Daniela would like to own and operate a small inn like her grandmother someday. Regarding the dress, she tells Lettie that it’s pretty, but she doesn’t recognize herself in it. “You know who you are,” Lettie admires. “That’s a good thing. Not everyone does.”
Back in 1987, Lettie showed her sister Rosa some of her clothes, including the bathing suit Margaret gave her. Rosa warns Lettie not to get seduced by pretty things, adding that she and Margaret live in different worlds. That night, they have dinner with Margaret in her backyard with Billy, Joe, and their dad Manuel. Rosa reveals that she doesn’t like wine when she’s offered some. Manuel, on the other hand, is drinking too much and Billy is enabling his father. Manuel stands up and gives a drunken toast in Spanish, saying “To marrying gringas, getting filthy rich, and sticking it up Ronald Reagan’s ass!” Joe is embarassed and asks his dad to sit down and eat and Manuel asks Margaret if he could have a different job as her father’s driver. Underneath the table, he begins to grope Margaret’s thigh. She stands up and yells for him to get his hands off her. Billy and Joe both rise up in offense, with Joe punching his dad. Joe then rounds on Billy, angry that his brother helped their dad get drunk. “No wonder he doesn’t love you,” Joe yells at Billy before leaving.
Margaret works from an office in her San Francisco hotel when her assistant (Morgan Dixon) informs her that a Ms. Perez is there to see her accompanied by Lettie Sandoval. Cut to a meeting where Margaret shares how she started her successful hotel empire, with her San Francisco location being the most recent. “It’s hard work, being an innkeeper, but being a woman takes it to another level,” Margaret tells Daniela. She offers her a job that will match what Mateo pays her and also lets her observe how her business operates. Daniela confesses that she doesn’t have papers. “I don’t give a damn,” Margaret says. As they get up to leave, Margaret tells Lettie to give her love to the family. When Daniela exits, Lettie thanks Margaret for helping her. “She’s young and she has dreams and you built something quite special here, Margaret.” Margaret agrees that Lettie did, too. As Lettie makes her way out of the office, Margaret reveals that she saw Billy at the church and that he told her he plans to leave Sonoma.
Joe drops Billy off at the church and Junior rolls down the window. “See you Monday?”, Junior asks. “Goodbye, Junior,” Billy says as he watches them drive away. When Junior gets home, he takes his gold cart to the office and finds all of his siblings there drunk. As they get in, Antonio notices Junior’s bruised knuckles and asks if he got in a fight. Junior explains that he punched a student at school who called their mother a whore when he found out that she used to be married to Father Ramos.
(ABC/Paul Sarkis)
In 1987, Lettie consoles Billy while Rosa and Joe help put his father to bed. Billy talks about how in the absence of a responsible father, he had to take up fatherly duties for his younger brother, adding that he got him to America, got him papers and a job. Lettie shares how grateful she is for what Billy has done for her and Rosa. “I’ll never forget it ever,” she says as they kiss for the first time. The next morning, Manuel wakes up and Joe tells him that he has to leave. They fight, which carries on outside the trailer. Manual agrees that he hasn’t been the best father, but says he can change. “No, Pa,” Joe says. “People don’t change.” Joe shoves a wad of cash at his dad and tells him to take it and leave. “I’d rather you take it all than spend one more minute with you.” Manuel takes the money and leaves Heritage House.
Antonio, Veronica, Mateo, and Carmen are all hungover the next morning at brunch. Veronica looks upset as she watches Michael (Andrew J. West) play with their daughter. Carmen notices and asks if her sister is okay, with Veronica telling her that they will talk later. Billy enters the scene, thanking Joe for inviting him. This seems to have been a surprise to Lettie. Carmen asks if they should call Billy uncle and he says “Call me anything you want, it’s just nice to be here.” Lettie turns to Joe and asks him what changed. “Nothing,” he answers. “Everything.” Lettie kisses Joe’s cheek and he turns his face to kiss her back. Antonio takes a picture and smiles.
(ABC/Paul Sarkis)
Margaret sits in her office when her phone gets a text. “Guess who showed up to brunch?” The message is from Antonio and she opens the image to see Billy at Heritage House with Lettie. She smiles.
Antonio gets a call and steps away from brunch, looking upset. That night, we see him arrive on the vineyard and approach Javier (Julio Macias), who is with another man. “Who else knows?”, Antonio asks. “Just Us,” Javier tells him. While digging up an old irrigation line that needs to be replaced, they found a skeleton. They believe it may be a worker, but Antonio sees something in the dirt next to it. He picks it up to find a gold wristwatch, picking it up and reading the engraving on the back of it out loud. “O.M.H… Oscar Miseratti Honeycroft… This is my grandfather.”
Promised Land will resume on Tuesdays on Hulu starting March 1st. If you’ve been reading our episode recaps, odds are you’re a big fan of the show and want to see it continue for a long time to come. If that’s the case, be sure to spread the word about Promised Land to all your friends. You can follow the show’s official social media accounts below and share their posts to help get more visibility to one of your favorite dramas.
Official Promised Land Social Media Accounts: