The fourth and final season of acclaimed Spanish crime drama series, Entrevias, aka Wrong Side of the Tracks, has finally been released on Netflix, concluding the emotional journey Tirso Abantos and his extended family have been on in a somber, bittersweet manner. With the way the third season had ended with gut-wrenching tragedy as Tirso’s granddaughter, Irene, sacrificed her life to protect her grandpa from the murderous crooked cop, Romero, the long-term repercussions of the incident were bound to affect Tirso and everyone close to him. The fourth season pits the veteran war hero against his toughest battle yet, one where he has to cope with Irene’s loss, his own mortality, protect his loved ones all over again—and confront his inner demons all the while. As the arcs of all the major characters culminate in a satisfying end, Wrong Side of the Tracks receives a fitting send-off, which will definitely please viewers who have been following it since the beginning.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Rene Gutierrez Arrive At Entrevias?
A former member of FARC, the deadly Colombian Revolutionary Army, Rene Gutierrez was sent by the internal affairs ministry as an advisor to Entrevias police chief Amanda, and as he himself reveals to her, he was employed by corporate moguls to clean Entrevias up for good. Entrevias is potentially a logistics haven due to its navigational network, being so well connected with the rest of Madrid via railway and roadway. But the ever-persistent antisocial elements of the neighborhood discouraged investors from considering the place a feasible option to build necessary infrastructure, which could have provided jobs to thousands of youths and given a much-needed facelift to the area.
Rene was employed by Matilde, one of those corporate moguls, to reduce the crime rate in Entrevias using any means necessary. However, he had a secret personal reason to arrive at Entrevias as well, as it is revealed that he is Gladys’ ex-husband and Nelson’s biological father, and wanted to return to his family once again. Rene had a violent past, and the brutal methods he put to use against the Colombian paramilitary forces made Gladys distance herself from him. However, according to Rene, he had found faith and had reformed since, and only had the best interests for Gladys and Nelson at heart.
On the other hand, Ezequiel gets paired with a rookie cop, Camilla, to investigate a fire breakout incident at a warehouse in dreaded Quini gang territory. What the duo comes across is much more horrifying, as an unidentified person is found shot to death and burned at the location. Initially considering the deceased person to be a Quini gang member, Ezequiel fears this could trigger a conflict between Quini and Dulce’s gangs. Surely viewers will remember Dulce, Ezequiel’s gangster goddaughter who rose to power following Nata’s demise in the third season.
How Did Tirso Lose the Hardware Store?
Irene’s death had shaken up the Abantos family pretty badly, and Tirso took it the worst. Unable to forgive himself for failing to save his granddaughter, he became emotionally detached from everyone, pushing away Gladys and becoming totally unmindful about his son Santi and daughter Jimena. Tirso’s guilt and remorse manifested in hallucinations of Irene as he completely shut off the world around him. Tirso’s best buddies weren’t around at this point in time, as Sanchis was busy taking care of his ailing mother and Pepe had settled in Cadiz after handing over his bar to Gladys. Every one of the Abantos family members was trying to cope with Irene’s passing in their own way. Jimena made herself busy with the foundation’s work after its creator—her mother, Maica—left for Sudan to do more charitable work. Nelson remained busy in the foundation’s affairs as well, in order to avoid facing his infant son, Victor, who reminded him too much of Irene. Gladys took it upon herself to hold everything together at the direst hour.
Unbeknownst to everyone, the Abantos Hardware shop was facing heavy losses, and Santi, whom Tirso entrusted to take care of the business, couldn’t bring himself to reveal this to his father. Santi himself was trapped with financial burdens, providing for his children and paying alimony, and at this point he got himself addicted to gambling. Santi gradually started taking money from the store funds and, on one occasion, took all that was left before disappearing all of a sudden. It was only on Santi’s birthday when Tirso was asked by Gladys to visit the store, and he became aware of the situation. With the family fragmented, no one checked up on Santi’s whereabouts—and after a proper investigation began, it was revealed that Santi had gotten himself entangled in the wrong company.
From the surveillance footage outside the bank, Santi was seen handing over money to Sebas, a member of Quini’s gang, and given the bag found beside the corpse at the warehouse matched Santi’s, everyone assumes the worst. A distraught Tirso couldn’t have forgiven himself had he lost Santi as well, but fortunately Santi is revealed to be alive and well. Santi had cooped up in a gambling den in vain hopes of getting back all the money he lost and was finally located by Camilla, who was perceptive enough to realize Santi had developed a habit of gambling by taking a look at his bank statements. The brutally murdered person found in the warehouse is revealed to be Sebas, who had Santi’s money but got himself killed even before he could have delivered it to his gang.
The incident with Santi proves to be a wake-up call to Tirso, and Gladys is finally able to reach him by showing how, much like him, everyone else was trying to process the pain as well. Gladys herself was struggling to run the bar all alone but found a bit of respite when Jimena decided to cope with Irene’s loss by taking care of Victor. Tirso decides to take matters into his own hands and rebuild everything from the ground up. At this point, Pepe returned to the neighborhood and started helping Gladys, which almost made it seem that things were going back on track. However, members from the Quini gang started terrorizing Santi as they never received the payment he owed them, and Tirso found himself locking horns with them a couple of times. In his desperation to get his family out of the misery he himself has brought in, Santi ended up using the deed of the hardware store as a wager while agreeing to gamble with the Quini gang once again, only to lose the store in the process. An aggrieved, bewildered Tirso tries to threaten the gangbangers by shooting at their hideout and gets run over—without sustaining any severe injuries but slipping into a temporary coma.
Why Did Tirso Accept Dulce’s Offer?
Admitted to the hospital, after recovering, Tirso learns that a tumor has been growing in his brain, which had caused the occasional hallucinations, sharp pains, and random instances of losing consciousness. Unless the tumor is operated on, his condition will prove to be fatal—but Tirso, always the stubborn, proud guy who refuses to share his burdens with anyone else—doesn’t reveal anything to his family. Instead, the sudden confrontation with mortality makes him create a to-do list to ensure that, in the worst-case scenario, his family and loved ones can get by even without him.
On the other hand, Ezequiel’s fear comes true when Pantera, lieutenant of Dulce’s gang, is killed in a similar manner by getting shot to death and burned—and this almost incites an all-out gang war. Ezequiel arrests Quini (the gang leader) as a means of preemptive intervention, and Dulce gets Pantera’s young brother arrested as well, to run a hit on Quini in custody in retaliation for Pantera’s murder. However, Quini survives with minor injuries, and it becomes clear to Ezequiel that someone proficient in combat tactics has been killing the rival gang members to incite a war. It is revealed to be none other than Romero, the dastardly killer who became a fugitive after murdering Irene, and now he was operating as a contract killer under Matilde’s command. Yes, the same corporate head honcho who employed Rene to legally clean up Entrevias secretly used such contract killers to eliminate small-time gangs by causing infighting. Also, Romero had all the reason he could have needed to target Dulce—who turned her back on him in the previous season by refusing to kill Ezequiel, whom Romero considered his nemesis of sorts. Ezequiel and Camilla decide to get to the bottom of things, but they mistakenly consider Rene to be the killer after learning about his background and the fact that the killer is revealed to have had access to confidential intel pertaining to the investigation. Ezequiel takes it upon himself to mitigate the rivalry between Quini and Dulce by revealing the truth about someone setting them up and secures a momentary truce. In the course of events, Camilla gets emotionally dependent on Ezequiel, and the duo gets close.
Dulce wants to steal a set of luxurious, high-priced watches that Quini’s gang had robbed from a jewelry shop previously, but being unable to get herself or her gang involved due to the truce, she decided to approach Tirso of all people to steal them. Dulce knew that Tirso’s family was going through a financial crisis, and in desperation, even good men end up taking hasty, rash decisions to provide for their family. Tirso was initially unwilling to compromise on his moral compass, but desperate to get his hardware store back from the Quinis, he eventually agreed to steal the watches for Dulce. However, after a couple of botched attempts while infiltrating one of Quini’s hideouts, Tirso was able to get his hands on the watches and witnessed Romero murder Quini and another member of his gang. The desire to take revenge on Romero was of the highest priority to Tirso, and seeing Romero back in Entrevias, that urge grew stronger than ever.
Rift In Family
Tirso and his family face a hard time balancing the emotional dynamics between themselves, as changing situations create rifts among members. Jimena’s foundation faces a setback after the municipality revokes their license and denies entry to their base of operation, which puts her at odds against Jimena and the police force. A clash erupts between a SWAT unit and members of the foundation, when Nelson decides to knock out a police to protect one of the members – which results in his incarceration. Having a troubling past with the law, Nelson faces the possibility of a prolonged sentence, when Rene decides to step in and offers his help to Gladys.
Gladys is unwilling to take his assistance, but she too is already struggling with loss at the bar. As the original owner of her apartment, an elderly Alicia decides to rent the apartment, Gladys suddenly finds herself all alone with nowhere to go. Even though Tirso suggests she move in with him, he deliberately keeps himself distanced from Gladys to save her the inevitable pain which she will be subjected to when he meets his end. Alicia’s worst crisis appears to be coming from Jimena, who has assumed a maternal role to baby Victor to cope up with Irene’s loss, effectively pushing Gladys aside without even knowing. Gladys at last takes Rene’s help and is able to free Nelson, who takes his mother and Victor away and engages in a conflict with Jimena and Amanda regarding the custody of his son. It should be mentioned that even while having his reservations about Rene, Tirso agrees to let him help Santi get rid of his gambling addiction.
Who Was the Mole in the Police Department?
Tirso got his store back and was able to convince Dulce to act as bait to bring Romero to his hideout; however, that plan went horribly wrong due to Tirso’s condition, and Dulce was almost killed by Romero. Tirso’s timely intervention saved Dulce’s life, and he agreed to let her stay in the basement of his store for a couple of days. Dulce, who had put up a strong face all her life to cope with the trauma of getting sexually assaulted in her younger days, found the mortal fear creep inside her mind once again—but Santi was able to help her control her fears. She too helped Santi stand up for himself and claim shared custody for his children from his ex-wife.
Ezequiel, who was able to recognize Tirso from the surveillance footage outside Quini’s hideout, suspects Tirso is involved in the gang member murders—and suddenly Tirso finds himself in the crosshairs of the serial killer investigation. Ezequiel was concerned about Dulce’s safety, as she was the only family he had and vice versa, and had tried to keep her under protection in fear of the serial killer’s assault. Upon finding her to be missing and seeing telltale signs of the killer’s presence in the hideout, Ezequiel directly goes to Tirso and threatens him with consequences as he believes him to be the killer. Tirso takes him to meet Dulce, who mentions the reason for her keeping Ezequiel in the dark being the fact there is a mole in the police force. Taking the stolen luxury watches from Tirso, Dulce flees from Entrevias for the time being.
In reality, Camilla, widow of Javier Linares, Romero’s crooked deputy who was accidentally killed by Ezequiel in the previous season, was the mole all along. Camilla joined hands with Romero to seek revenge upon Ezequiel, but eventually she found herself genuinely in love with him. As Romero becomes restless to find out about Tirso and Dulce, he pressures Camilla to use her position as a cop to pry out intel. Camilla tries to incriminate Tirso by convincing Amanda about his involvement and frames him by swapping Romero’s weapon with Tirso’s. However, Tirso is perceptive enough to realize Camilla is the mole, but as he reveals the truth to Ezequiel, he seems too blinded by his feelings for Camilla to recognize the truth. A scuffle ensues between Tirso and Ezequiel, which results in Ezequiel accidentally getting shot, and Tirso escapes after taking Camilla hostage.
Was Tirso Able To Take His Revenge?
Amanda leads a manhunt against Tirso, believing him to be the serial killer in question, and during a search in his room, she comes across the to-do list and reports about Tirso’s tumor diagnosis, which she reveals to the family members. Gladys, who was pushed away by Tirso, is convinced of his innocence after learning all this and seeks help from Rene to find him. Rene had tried to patch things up with his family, and Tirso wanted him to be there for Gladys and Nelson in his absence. Rene and Nelson manage to approach Tirso and take him into hiding, and a captive Camilla is able to contact the force—resulting in her getting rescued.
Rene learns about the truth of Romero and Camilla working together to set all the plans in motion, and he is able to corroborate his words, as he knows how Matilde has used death squad members like Romero previously as well. Rene reveals the intel to Ezequiel and Amanda but gets himself in trouble when it is revealed that he was secretly helping Tirso. Ezequiel, however, gets to the bottom after he finds Camilla meeting up with Romero, and Romero ends up shooting her to death before fleeing.
At long last, Tirso is brought safely to his family by Amanda after she realizes how badly she was manipulated. Tirso agrees to undergo surgery and let the authorities handle Romero, following an emotional reconciliation with his loved ones. However, Rene and Amanda’s plan to bait Romero using Matilde’s money fails badly, and out of nowhere, Dulce robs them of the cash. Tirso finds Romero, who wanted to take revenge against Ezequiel, lurking in the hospital where Tirso and Ezequiel have been admitted, and Tirso saves the goofy cop.
Tirso takes the money stolen by Dulce to set another trap for Romero, this time informing Uncle Rafael of Gypsy Village, who used to be a close associate of Romero. Tirso nearly ends up taking his life by trapping himself with Romero in a soon-to-be-demolished warehouse bunker, but Ezequiel saves him at last. Tirso finally takes his revenge by shooting Romero to death.
Did Tirso Die At The End?
In Wrong Side of the Tracks’ finale, Amanda’s foundation is rebuilt, much to the happiness of her and Nelson, who will dedicate themselves to the betterment of the community once again. Gladys and Nelson have agreed to let Amanda and Jimena be with Victor after they reconciled with each other and especially after Jimena returned their apartment to them as a gesture of goodwill. Santi is doing well in the hardware shop—finally owning his birthright and prepared to pass the legacy to his children when the time comes. Tirso has agreed to undergo surgery once again and is at peace with his reality. However, in the concluding moments, Tirso breathes his last sitting in a chair in his apartment, as his spirit reunites with his late granddaughter Irene. A soldier through and through, the grumpy old man didn’t want to breathe his last in agony or be trapped in a feeble body. Although Tirso didn’t go down in a blaze of glory like he’d wished to, the final moments of peace were everything the man deserved after a life of hardship and pain. As the credits roll, Ezequiel is the first person to learn about Tirso’s passing, and he pays his respect to the departed.
