This recap of The Mess You Leave Behind episode 7, “The Third Victim”, contains spoilers.

Despite all the very bad things that happened to Raquel during this episode, I think the only time I ever really felt anything for her was watching her bring the ashes of her dead dog home. However the moment does not last long, as she runs quickly into Mauro's touchy-feeling arms in the service of a very predictable revelation that suggests that this display is going to end with something of a whimper.

German, on that subject, is usually the type for whimpers, but since he's so torn up about the dog, he wants to get his bark on Nerea and Roi. He faces and threatens both of them who will come back later to spite him.

“The Third Victim” also introduces a fracturing among the trio of students, with Nerea and Roi both commenting on each other’s changed personalities, and Roi taking it upon himself to snoop around Iago’s house. There, he breaks into his laptop and finds something damning and surprising enough that he immediately calls Raquel and tells her he’s on his way to see her.

Of course, he never makes it, is badly beaten by parties unseen, and ends up hospitalized. This incenses Raquel, who takes her frustration out on Nerea in class, and later, when Iago won’t spill anything to Nerea, a rift forms between them, too. It’s the penultimate episode, folks, and every relationship in sight is being tested.

The same thing is happening in the past, with Iago trying to antagonize Viruca in class, and Viruca insisting that they’re over. Naturally, Iago has evidence of their activities, but he also has evidence against his father, which he presents to Viruca on a flash drive with a warning not to watch its contents while anyone else is around. Sounds ominous.

Naturally, given the threats he made earlier, German is arrested for assaulting Roi, and Claudia blames Raquel for her son’s arrest, driving her towards Mauro, of all people. Nobody is buying this pairing – it’s such a nakedly transparent way of endangering Raquel in the finale that it’s difficult to tolerate, in all honesty. Mauro even creepily encourages Raquel to dress up in Viruca’s clothes, which she does with nary an argument. “The Third Victim” tries to get a bit fancy in this final sequence, with Raquel and Mauro’s lovemaking segueing into Viruca watching the flash drive’s contents and being decidedly shocked by what she sees. As Mauro and Raquel lay in bed together, we see proof that it was Mauro who killed Raquel’s doggo and tossed her house looking for Viruca’s phone. She knows how to pick ‘em, doesn’t she?

We recapped every episode — check out the tag.