TV Recap: “Promised Land” Episode 10 – “La Tierra Prometida (The Promised Land)” – Season Finale

Bienvenido al final de temporada de Promised Land. Welcome to the season finale of Promised Land. The tenth episode, titled “La Tierra Prometida (The Promised Land),” is now streaming on Hulu. It’s been a crazy ride for the Sandovals thus far and only time will tell if we will see them again. In this finale, the door is certainly left open for more stories, but despite the excellent quality of the series, it seems to have failed to find an audience. So if you’ve enjoyed the journey so far, be sure to tell your friends and family to check it out.

Lettie Sandoval (Cecilia Suárez) picks flowers outside of a picturesque cabin. This was once her home and she’s there with her ex-husband Billy (Yul Vazquez). As she brings the flowers inside to put them in a vase, she tells him that she’s thinking they should move back home. “Sonoma?”, he asks. “Mexico,” she clarifies, saying how she misses it and they could grow their own vineyard there. Her phone rings with a call from her son Mateo (Augusto Aguilera), who asks if she’s heard from Joe. After confirming that she hasn’t, Mateo tells her to turn on the news. When she does, a reporter announces that shares of Heritage House are down 21% following news that its founder and CEO, Joe Sandoval, is an illegal immigrant. As the coverage plays out, we hear that Joe is likely to lose the company to its majority shareholder, Margaret Honeycroft. “She did it,” Lettie whispers.

48 Hours Earlier…

Veronica (Christina Ochoa) meets with Antonio (Tonatiuh), Carmen (Mariel Molino), and Junior (Miguel Angel Garcia) to discuss her plans to join forces and overthrow their dad. The meeting is interrupted when Joe Sandoval (John Ortiz) enters, telling his kids that they’re not the first to try and take him down, but they will soon learn an important lesson: ”Joe Sandoval isn’t going anywhere,” he says. Veronica rises out of her chair to tell their father that if they combine their shares and get some shareholder support, they can oust him from Heritage House. He tells her that Margaret hasn’t been able to defeat him and she won’t be able to either, which only adds fire to Veronica’s fuel. Joe address his other kids, asking who else is with Veronica. Antonio is the only one to stand up, with the rest announcing that they won’t make their decision until just before the shareholder’s meeting tomorrow. “My two eldest, the last people I ever thought would betray me,” Joe shakes his head. Veronica tells Joe that he betrayed himself as he storms out of the conference room.

In 1987, Billy (Rolando Chusan) reads a newspaper article about Joe (Andres Velez) and the strike, bragging about it to Joe’s embarrassment. Billy says it’s good for the workers, but Joe worries that the exposure jeopardizes him as an illegal immigrant. Billy tells him not to worry, that the documents he has are solid. They’re standing around a grill cooking and Lettie (Katya Martín) excuses herself to go grab plates from their trailer. Billy gives her a kiss on the cheek, but her eyes go to Joe and they look at each other awkwardly (they kissed behind Billy’s back in the previous episode). Joe tells Billy he’s going to help Lettie and he follows her into the trailer. “I can’t stop thinking about you,” he says. Lettie tells him that what they did was wrong, that she loves Billy. “But not like you love me,” he adds, making Lettie blush. Joe tries to give her a kiss, but Lettie stops him. Looking into his eyes, though, she can’t resist giving him a peck on the lips. She breaks from him, grabbing the plates and going outside. Joe smiles to himself. Outside at the picnic table, Gonzo (E. Ambriz DeColosio) brings over a bottle of wine he stole from O.M. and he pours it in a toast to the strike. Joe examines the label, noting that it’s a single vineyard cabernet from 1985. He sips the wine, swirls it around his mouth, and spits it out. “The strike is over,” he announces to everyone’s confusion.

In the present, Lettie and Billy have a surprise visitor at their cabin, Margaret Honeycroft (Bellamy Young). Lettie tells Margaret that she and Billy are considering going to Mexico and she will be out of the picture so Margaret can have Joe back. “He still loves you, Lettie; He will always love you,” Margaret says. But what Margaret really came to tell Lettie about is that she knows Joe’s secret, she knows his real name is Carlos Rincón (Antonio told her) and that, after doing some research of her own, she discovered that Lettie’s real name is Juana Sánchez. “I want you to know that I’m going to try to protect you,” Margaret adds. Lettie says she’s not ashamed of who she is or where she came from. “All I ask is this,” Lettie proposes. “You need shares. I will sell you my 5%. Just, please, do not reveal Joe’s secret. It will destroy him.” Margaret reveals to Lettie that she vowed to destroy Joe to get justice for her father, saying revenge is all she has. Lettie reminds her that she now has her children back in her life and should focus on them instead. “You don’t need to do this,” Lettie adds. “I’m sorry Lettie, but I do,” Margaret explains. “That man needs to learn a lesson. No one steals from a Honeycroft.”

Worried that Carmen, Mateo, and Junior might not join them, Antonio tells Veronica that they might not need shares to take down their father after all. “There’s something about our father you don’t know,” he says. Veronica is shocked to learn that her father is an illegal alien. Antonio tells Veronica that if they don’t use this information against their father, Margaret will at the shareholder meeting. “If the tables were turned, if Joe knew this information about an opponent…”, Veronica thinks out loud. Antonio finishes her sentence: “He would use it without hesitation.” She looks at him in agreement, adding “Then we use it.”

Carmen meets with Nati Rojas (Gigi Zumbado) in San Francisco, filling her marketing guru/love interest in on the fact that Veronica offered to support her sangria business as a Heritage House brand if she sides with her. Her other option is to go to Joe to see if he gives her a better option, but Nati says neither would be a good fit since they’ve never really supported Carmen’s vision. Nati has a third option, a meeting with Oasis Beverage, a large company that’s interested in meeting with Carmen tomorrow. They share a kiss as they agree to set the meeting up.

In 1987, Marta (Ariella Amar) lets Lettie, Billy, and Joe into the Honeycroft home, with Margaret (Kerri Medders) joining them. As they walk down the hallway, Margaret tells Joe how much she missed him, but he is distant, looking out the window as he says he missed her too. They sit with O. M. Honeycroft (Tom Amandes) and Joe sets the half-drinken bottle of wine on the desk and pours some glasses, announcing that they are toasting to the end of the strike. O. M. is understandably confused and declines to share in a toast. Joe says he understands, he’s not a fan of blends, either. O. M. scoffs, saying that Joe doesn’t know anything about wine and this bottle is a single vineyard cabernet. Joe agrees that is what the label says, but he knows it’s a lie. “You see, your cab had a virus last year but you don’t want anyone to know,” Joe says. “So you added merlot for a soft base, cab franc for spice, and malbec for color and volume.” O. M. is stunned, asking “How the hell can you know that?” Lettie smiles, praising Joe’s palette. Billy sets the newspaper article down on the table as Joe tells O. M. that a reporter is on his side and that she’d love a scoop on Honeycroft lying about the quality of their wine. Joe has won and the workers celebrate that night with a party full of fireworks, music, food, and drinks. Billy can’t help but notice that Lettie’s attention is on Joe, who can’t seem to keep his eyes off her, either.

In the present, Joe eats dinner alone, drinking a glass of single vineyard cabernet. Lettie enters and he asks where she’s been. “You told me to leave so I left.” Billy asks if she’s been with Billy and she answers truthfully. “He broke his wedding vows to you, I guess breaking his oath to god is no big deal,” Joe says. She asks what about his promises to her and he feels like she has betrayed him, too. Lettie tells Joe that he always says family comes first, but he is now in a position where his own children are lining up against him. “So this is how it ends, huh?”, Lettie asks as Joe nods. She tells him that she just came to pack some things, saying that if her spending the night makes Joe uncomfortable, she can get a hotel room. “It’s your house,” he says coldly.

In another flashback to 1987, Lettie washes her face in the bathroom sink and looks at her reflection, sounds from the party reverberating inside the trailer. When she exits the bathroom, Billy is waiting for her. He gets down on one knee and proposes, saying that the vineyard and house on the hill are no longer his dream, only she is. He even has a ring. “Make me the happiest man in the world; Marry me, Lettie.” Lettie is shocked and says she can’t, running outside as she begins the cry. Joe sees Lettie and recognizes that she’s upset, as she blows past him, followed by Billy. Joe stops Billy, who screams at his brother to stay out of it. Joe asks what his problem is and Billy loses his temper, lunging at Joe and screaming “I see the way you look at her.” Some of the other workers pull Billy off Joe and hold him back. “Now you know what it feels like,” Joe says. Billy breaks free, promising to beat Joe up for this as he runs after Lettie.

Carmen and Nati meet with a trio of executives from Oasis Beverages, who make an extremely generous offer to buy Gitana Sangria for $19 million. The deal includes stock options that would be worth $60 million in five years and add that they want Carmen on board as CEO of her brand. “There’s one catch,” one of the executives says. “We’d like to launch a national ad campaign and working back from the Super Bowl, we’d need to get that effort started, well, yesterday, really. We need to move fast, Carmen. Like today.” Carmen and Nati step out of the room and Carmen wants to have a Heritage House lawyer look over the terms of the deal. Nati pressures Carmen into just accepting it, saying a deal like this won’t be on the table long. “Trust me,” she convinces Carmen.

Veronica waits on the edge of the vineyard as her separated husband Michael (Andrew J. West) pulls up with their daughter. “You win, V,” he tells her. “You want sole custody, fine. Just call your dogs off.” Veronica doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but he doesn’t believe her. With her daughter, Veronica looks around the vineyard and has a memory of Joe teaching her how to water the grapes when she was a child, Her mother stood by with a pregnant belly, with Joe pausing to kiss her tummy, Antonio growing inside.

Lettie visits Mateo and asks what his plans are as he unloads a truck full of soil. He tells his mother that Joe lent hiim one of his vats, likely in hops that he won’t put his shares of Heritage House to work against him. He doesn’t know what he will do yet, but asks his mother what her plans are. “Last week at the harvest, working the vines, I felt something I hadn’t felt for a long, long time. We’re thinking of maybe moving back to Mexico, planting a few rows.” Mateo tells her that she should do what makes her happy, saying that she gave her whole life to her family and deserves to think of herself now. She hugs her son.

In 1987, we see young Lettie on a doctor’s table looking at a sonogram. The nurse tells her that she’s about 12 weeks along and is expecting a baby boy. The nurse steps out of the room and we see that Margaret has accompanied Lettie to this appointment. She asks Lettie whose baby it is and she confirms that it’s Billy’s, not Joe’s. “What are you going to do Lettie?”, Margaret asks, knowing that if Lettie wanted Joe, she could easily pull him away from her. “I couldn’t choose so God chose for me. I’m going to name him Mateo.” Margaret kisses Lettie’s cheek. Shortly after, we see Lettie telling Billy that she’s pregnant and that she will marry him. He is overjoyed to become a dad, getting on his knees and kissing her belly. “I love you very much,” he says to his growing baby boy. “I will always be there for you, I promise.” Lettie looks down at him, smiling and crying at the same time.

Javier (Julio Macias) is recovering from his attack, his cheek bruised as he visits Mateo on the vineyard. The talk about how barren the place looks after the harvest, all the plants cut back for the next season’s growth. Javier shares a quote he learned from Joe: “A Vineyard in winter looks like hope.”

Another flashback to 1987 finds Lettie walking with Joe in the vineyard after the harvest as Joe talks about his excitement for being present for the start of a new growing season. Lettie tells Joe that she has something to tell him and Joe has been holding something back, too, saying he wants to go first. He takes her hand. “Lettie, marry me.” She’s shocked as Joe tells her that he’s loved her ever since he met her the day they came over the wall. “Joe,” she stops him, “I’m marrying Billy. I’m having his son.” Joe is crushed, his face going white, letting out a pained grunt, unable to look Lettie in the eyes. “Billy’s son?”, he asks, quickly changing his position. “I’ll raise him,” he offers. “Billy never has to know,” Joe adds, which angers Lettie. She says the Joe she loved wouldn’t do something like that to his brother. Joe apologizes, trying to stop Lettie from leaving, but she tells him she doesn’t recognize him anymore. As Lettie walks away, Joe collapses in the dirt, crying out and yelling “I’ll die without you!” Lettie keep walking, saying “No, Joe, you’ll forget me soon enough.”

Present-day Joe returns home to find his brother Billy waiting for him. “We’re even now,” Joe says as he walks towards his brother. “I took your dream, your house, your vineyard; You took Lettie.” Billy tells Joe that’s not how things work but Joe tells his brother to “Go to hell.” Inside the house, Joe finds Lettie packing boxes. She picks up a framed photo from the anniversary party (from the premiere episode), but sets it back on the table, leaving it behind. Joe asks Lettie if she’s going to the shareholder’s meeting and she tells him that she pledged her shares to Veronica, telling him that the only thing he and Margaret deserve is each other. Joe tries to stop Lettie from leaving, but she corrects him, using his real name, saying “Carlos, you’re the one who left.” With Lettie gone, Joe doesn’t know what to do with his anger and begins picking things up and smashing them against the wall. As he destroys things, we see the back of a photo fall to the floor. It was concealed behind a different framed photo. Joe picks it up, but we don’t see what the photo is of just yet.

Veronica takes the podium to begin the shareholder’s meeting. Margaret clinks her glass and interrupts with a point of order, announcing that since she has 30% of shares, she is allowed to address the rest of the shareholders and would like to discuss the way Joe handles the worker’s strike. Veronica tells her she can have 1-hour of their time after the lunch break.

During a recess, Veronica and Antonio round up Mateo, Carmen, and Junior, asking for their decision. Mateo has too much respect for Joe to go against him, Junior already promised his shares to their dad, and Carmen shares the big news about her business being bought, saying that she doesn’t want to take their dad down as she leaves Heritage House. Veronica hugs her as they leave her alone with Antonio. “That’s it then,” Antonio announces. “We either tell the world about Joe and blow him up or let Margaret do it.” Veronica seems to think that they risk more by being the ones to take down Joe, but Antonio has another idea.

Antonio and Veronica pull Margaret aside, telling her that they have 15% of shares (5% each, plus Letties 5%) and will join Margaret under two conditions. The first is that they each split the operation of the company, with Veronica running the current wine division and Antonio leading a new spirits division. Margaret would act only in an advisory capacity. “What’s the second condition?”, she asks. “The name Carlos Rincón remains our secret forever,” Antonio says. Margaret isn’t sure she needs this alliance, feeling confident that she will get enough sharehold support when she reveals the truth about Joe. Veronica reminds her that she’d have to run the company herself, saying that wouldn’t give her much time to get to know her kids and granddaughter, hinting that they wouldn’t speak to her anymore. “Wow, moral high ground one minute, emotional blackmail the next. You really are daddy’s little girl. It’s a deal. It will be nice to be with my children, in a purely advisory role, of course.” They hear clapping from the shareholder’s and go around the corner to see why they’re applauding.

Joe has arrived and is at the podium as he announces to the shareholders that the annual report in front of them contains a lie. “This lie is right on the first page next to a picture of my face. My story. It says I was born in Jalisco Mexico and that’s true enough. But I didn’t come here on the guest worker program. I came over the wall. And my real name isn’t Joe Sandoval. It’s Carlos Rincón. I lied to you and I am so sorry for that. I was scared that if the truth got out, I’d lose everything I built. I lost sight of the fact that the most important thing I built, no man could ever take away. But I am not sorry for coming here, for working hard, for building this company. I am not sorry for paying taxes, for giving hundreds of people jobs, or for making some of you very rich. For chasing the dream? You’ll never hear me apologize for that. So, for the people who will say I don’t belong here, that I’m illegal; If wanting a better life for me and my children makes me illegal, then I’ll wear the name with pride. You want to deport me? I’ve got a mountain of money, an army of lawyers, and two U.S. senators on speed dial. Please, try to deport me. In the meantime, there are millions of immigrants in this country who don’t have my money or my lawyers. If past prologue, I’m sure you’ll go after them instead. 150 years ago it was the Irish, then the Germans, the Italians, the Jews. Right now it happens to be my people, a term I used to reject but not anymore. You may get these people to leave, but you will never stamp out the thing that brings them here. You can’t deport a dream. You can’t keep it out with a wall or a law or a slur because this dream doesn’t live on one side of the border or the other. It lives here.” He touches his chest over his heart. He looks down and we see the photo that fell out of the frame. It’s the one of Joe as a baby with his mother, the one he appeared to burn in a previous episode. “And that is a light that never goes out,” he concludes, looking up at the faces of his children, who all beam back with pride on their faces.

Joe has returned home, picking up the anniversary photo off the floor as Veronica enters and looks at the destroyed room. She tells him that the shareholders are waiting to vote until the morning and that this isn’t how she wanted to win. He admires the way she fought back and tells her that she leads with love, which is why she’s a better leader than he ever was. “It’s your time now,” Joe tells her. Veronica hugs her father.

Carmen goes back to San Francisco to see Nati for consolation and a drink. Nati seems upset and Carmen asks her what happened. “I feel horrible,” Nati says as she explains that Oasis Beverages has shuttered Gitana Sangria now that they own it. They were about to launch their own sangria label and just wanted to buy out the competition. “I put everything into that sangria,” Carmen says in anger. “I finally had something that was mine, not my family’s.” She accuses Nati of knowing this would happen the whole time, which offends her. Carmen grabs her purse and leaves.

Joe visits the barrel room, looking around as if to say goodbye. “10 years we were married, Joe,” Margaret says as she comes around a corner. “Why didn’t you tell me? Did I make you feel like you couldn’t tell me?” Joe shakes his head, saying “You made me feel like a king.” Margaret asks him what he will do now, besides being a pain as a minority shareholder. “This is all I know how to do. I’m done with Heritage House. I want you to buy me out.” Margaret looks conflicted, saying “20 years I’ve been waiting to hear you say those words. But now that you have…” Joe doesn’t wait to hear the rest of her sentence, walking away and saying “Goodbye, Margaret.” Left alone, Margaret runs her fingers along the shelves, finding an old bottle from her father’s era on the vineyard. She pops open the bottle and pours herself a glass, swirling it in the glass, smelling it, and holding it up to the sky as if to clink glasses with her father. She takes a sip and celebrates her victory.

The next day, Carmen sits by the pool day drinking tequila and scrolling through social media on her phone. Junior comes out to ask her if this is her plan for the rest of her life. “That is correct,” she says defeatedly. He offers her a canned drink, a virgin margarita, which she declines as she drinks tequila directly from the bottle. He grabs her phone and tosses it in the pool to snap her out of her funk, telling Carmen that she has other ideas, this wasn’t her only good one. He goes back inside as Carmen picks up the virgin margarita can, examines it, takes a sip, and then seems to get a new idea. Shortly after, she has pulled out an art easel and paint and appears to be inspired as Junior uses a net to fish her phone out of the pool.

Joe is walking alone down a row of grapes at Heritage House. “I’ll sell you a book,” he hears behind him, turning around to see Lettie quoting the first words he ever said to her. She saw his speech on TV and talks about how when they came to Sonoma, her dream was to become a teacher. “I have a new dream now,” she says. “I’m going to see it through. What about you? What are you going to do now?” Joe shakes his head, saying “I don’t know.” Lettie smiles. “Well, if you’re looking for a job, my new business partner and I are hiring.” She indicates that someone is behind Joe and he turns around to see Mateo standing there. “I’ll give you a dozen rows to cultivate,” he offers. “It’s not much but it’ll be your show. You can grow what you want. Be your own winemaker.” Joe smiles and nods his head in agreement. They all turn to look out over Heritage House vineyard.

In 1987, Billy and Lettie celebrate by adding “& Mateo” to the carved “Lettie & Billy” at the workers camp. We see Joe lighting a Polaroid photo of him with Billy and Lettie on fire, tossing it in the sink. He picks up a gun and takes it to the bedroom. But when Margaret enters the trailer looking for him he hides it in a drawer. “I spoke to my father; I’d like you to sit down with him,” she says. Joe is resistant, but Margaret kisses him and begs and he agrees as she holds him. Shortly after, we see them meeting with O.M. in the backyard, who reveals that there’s a corner of the vineyard that he’s never been able to make profitable. “Maybe I just haven’t found the right man for the job,” he says. “Pues, Mr. Honeycroft, I’m your man,” Joe says (“Pues” is Spanish for “Well”). The two shake hands and young Joe turns his head to look out towards the vineyard.

Back in the present, Billy has decided to leave again, telling Lettie that she needs time and that this is for the best. “Know that I will never stop loving you,” he says as he kisses her goodbye. “Give our son a kiss from me.”

In one of the final shots, we see Margaret holding her granddaughter as she works with Veronica and Antonio in the barrel room.

In the last flashback to 1987, we see Lettie and Billy’s wedding. We don’t see Joe there, but the next shot is Joe and Margaret at the Honeycroft house, kissing. Joe looks up at the sky and the camera pans up.

When the camera pans back down, we’re back in the present-day. Joe is working the rows Mateo gave him. Behind Joe is Lettie, sitting on the ground, watching her husband work his grapes with pride.

Time will tell if Promised Land gets renewed for a second season. While it seems highly unlikely, the first season at least wrapped up in a nice way that gives viewers the feeling that everything is going to be okay. There are still a few unanswered questions, primarily concerning Michael and the “Goons” who are after him. It would also be nice to know what Carmen’s next brilliant idea is. To those of you who have been following the series and my weekly recaps, muchas gracias. Nos vemos muy pronto.