Jorge Gil’s statement in the first episode of Who Killed Him? made sure that Mario Rodriguez, Paco’s longtime sidekick and best friend, got arrested. The second chapter of the show focuses on Mario and how his life has been since meeting Paco.
Spoilers Ahead
Why did Mario get arrested?
Mario seems pretty certain that he’s innocent, and he even reassures Brenda that there’s nothing to be worried about. Brenda insists that he should take a lawyer with him before he makes the statement to the police, but Mario feels that innocent people don’t need lawyers to protect them. Just when he’s finished talking with Brenda, police surround his house and arrest him for murdering Paco Stanley. When he asks the reason for his arrest, Saul says they got a tip from Foreign Affairs that Mario and Brenda tried to renew their passports and flee from Mexico. The media doesn’t let this go, and Mario makes all the headlines in Mexican media that night.
How did Mario become friends with Paco?
Brenda hires Gustavo Pascual, a famous criminal lawyer, to represent Mario. When Gustavo comes to visit Mario in the hotel he’s being kept in, he asks Mario if he’s a rapist, kidnapper, or drug dealer. Mario says he’s none, and Gustavo assures him that he shouldn’t worry about the accusations. Gustavo asks Mario how he and Paco got acquainted, and Mario starts telling the story, which dates back to 1991. Mario was an aspiring stage artist who wanted to make it big, but he had no connections. He’d recently married Brenda and moved to Mexico City, and Brenda was worried about whether they’d be able to survive financially. Mario first saw Paco at a theater where he was performing, and soon Paco took Mario under his wing. Paco hired Mario as the stage director of his show Ganatelo, and Mario worked for four years as a stage director. He didn’t love the job, but his input was well received, and he made good money and changed his fortune.
How does Mario become Paco’s sidekick?
When Paco’s band director and sidekick Benito Castro got banned by the channel, Paco found himself without his main man and unable to continue the show. Mario, who has always been ambitious about being a star, offers to step in, and Paco gladly agrees. Together, they started appearing on a new show called Pacomania, and it turned out to be a huge hit. Mario’s entire life turns on its head, and he receives unimaginable money and success. Brenda had never liked Paco, and Mario’s closeness to him starts to affect their marriage. Paco introduces Mario to a life of glamour, models, and cocaine.
Why did Brenda and Mario drift apart?
Mario buys a new, luxurious condo and provides Brenda with everything money can buy. The only thing Mario forgets to give Brenda is his time. Mario starts to spend more and more time with Paco and possibly cheats on Brenda pretty much every day. When Mario starts to realize that he’s losing his wife by doing all this, Paco manipulates him into thinking that Brenda is jealous of his success. Paco thinks that, being a former beauty pageant winner, Brenda wanted everything that Mario has, and now envy is reigning supreme over love. Mario gets convinced, and his guilt vanishes into thin air. Brenda decides to confront Mario when he comes back home at 6 in the morning, and she can see that all of his work excuses are nothing but lies. Brenda humiliates him when Mario says that she’s acting jealous and calls him the laughing stock of the whole country. Mario gets angry at her and throws his wristwatch at her. The watch doesn’t hurt Brenda, but she’s had enough of Mario’s madness. The next morning, Mario apologizes to Brenda and tells her that he will stop working with Paco. What seems like a good realization of a man is nothing but a charade, as the channel had cancelled their show. He used this opportunity to win Brenda back.
How does Paco get Mario back on his show?
When the door of television closed on him, Mario chose to go back to acting in theater, where his true talents lie. Brenda is supportive of him doing this, and we see a lovely glimpse of Mario performing a monologue as Macbeth. Just when it seems like Mario is getting his life back together, Paco shows up after the end of his play with an offer. Paco has talked with Miguel Tello from Azteca TV, and they’ve offered him a new show. Mario hesitates at first, resisting the idea of giving in to him, but Paco tells him that the channel wants both of them. Mario realizes that there’s no show without him, and this huge ego boost compels him to join Paco again.
Is Mario the main suspect?
Gustavo asks Mario if he ever consumed cocaine, and at first he denies it. When Gustavo tells him that the police found cocaine in his blood the day Paco died, he gives in, saying he’s only done it occasionally so that Paco doesn’t get offended. Mario says Paco wasn’t himself in the months leading up to his murder, and he had a feeling that Paco got mixed up with some bad apples. Mario thought that if he stayed closer to Paco, he might prevent something bad from happening to his best friend. Gustavo tells Mario not to utter any of this in court, and he must stay consistent with the fact that he is innocent. The day finally arrives when Mario appears in a legal confrontation with Gil. Gil claims that before Mario’s stomach got upset, he received a call. As soon as Mario came back to the table, he started behaving like he was having stomach problems. Mario is furious with the accusations, and he attacks Gil, and both of them fall to the ground. Mario only makes his case worse than before, and to add to his wounds, Benito Castro makes a return from his hiatus. Benito tells the media that Paco and Mario were involved with drug trafficking, and the news spreads like wildfire. Gustavo refuses to defend Mario anymore, as defending a drug dealer goes against his ethics. Mario finds himself in quicksand, and there’s nothing he can hold onto.
