Arka Mukhopadhyay
With Leticia López Margalli at the helm, the contagious Spanish-original erotic thriller series ‘Dark Desire’ (original title: ‘Oscuro Deseo’) takes the audiences to an uncanny realm. After meeting Dario Guerra, professor Alma Quintana’s life turns for the worse. The steamy and scandalous story is equally puzzling, and the masks of the characters make it all the more difficult to decode the story. The enticing sex scenes and the psychoanalytical underbelly of the story keep the interest alive, while the complex characters propel the drama. Following the heart’s whisper often leads to dark alleys of passion, but is there a way back for Alma? Or can she “never escape something like this”? Let us decode the underwhelming ending of the cautionary tale. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Dark Desire Season 2 Recap
The tables have turned in the second season, yet again. You may have remembered Esteban saying in the season finale of the first installment that he has done it all. The story picks up from the conversation between Esteban and Dario in New York, and we see that Esteban initially appointed Dario to meet Alma, baiting fifty thousand bucks. Esteban was also given a prison sentence, but he got out only three months later, thanks to orders from higher authorities. In the meantime, he has also survived a church shooting incident using the bible as a guard, which has made him revere God. Esteban has also given up on cigarettes and alcohol, as has Alma.
Esteban walks out of prison and meets Zoe, who finds shelter for him in Karina’s apartment. Alma’s PTSD takes a turn for the worse, and she keeps seeing Dario in her dreams. Tormented, Alma ends up in a support group presided over by Monica, where she meets another woman named Lys Antoine. Lys tells the group about the myth of Eros and Psyche and how Eros’ seduction trapped Psyche in a realm of confusion. Alma jumps to the conclusion that Esteban or Dario set her up to this. Lys later confesses that she has also had a tumultuous relationship with Dario.
Dario gets engaged to Julieta, and Alma receives an invitation to the wedding. Alma later warns Julieta about Dario’s damned past, but Dario catches a glimpse of Alma, making the latter retreat. Later, Alma ends up at Dario’s bachelorette party. Julieta Lazcano is the daughter of Inigo Lazcano, who has been a family friend of Dario. Therefore, the marriage has been in the books for quite a while, but Alma tries to convince Julieta that she and Dario are lovers. Dario plans to flee with Alma because things have changed since her appearance in the picture. They copulate, but Dario leaves when he gets a text on his phone from Julieta.
Moments later, Julieta jumps off from the rooftop. Alma comes onto the rooftop to find Dario lying unconscious and urges him to escape the scene. Detective Montano and her team take over the case, which seems like a suicide at the outset. However, the autopsy reveals that it may have been a homicide. Montano knows Esteban from their time in the police, and they decide to share the leads. Meanwhile, Zoe flirts with Mauricio, her friend at the morgue, to look at Julieta’s body. She finds one of her nails missing, which has gone for autopsy. Dario’s fingerprints are seemingly all over Julieta’s homicide when the report comes back.
With conviction, Esteban and Montano implicate Dario for the murder, while Alma still considers Dario innocent. Meanwhile, Dario apparently may not be who they think it is, or there may be a doppelgänger. Leonardo tries to warn Inigo about Dario, but he knows more about Dario’s past than Leonardo. It eventually comes out that Dario is the nephew of Lys, wife of Alberto, although Dario calls her his “mother.” After Dario, the spotlight falls on Alma since the police have found Benzodiazepines in Julieta’s body. The drug is administered for reducing stress and may have belonged to Alma. They find Julieta’s phone and the compromising video of Dario and Alma in it. Alma and Dario attempt to find Lucinda’s suitcase, but Esteban stages a fake police operation to stop them midway.
While Alma suspects Esteban of the murder since he was present in the venue, they eventually clear their doubts. New footage from Julieta’s bachelorette party reveals that Alma and Dario were on the rooftop, while a blue light suggests another person. It was Lys, who went to deliver the wedding dress, using the identity of Beatriz, and possibly also sent the video on Julieta’s phone. Dario leaves with Lys, while Alma reaches Dario’s room to find a revealing video. On Dario’s 18th birthday, he was having sex with Lys, and Alberto caught them in the act.
While the video ends there, flashbacks later reveal that Dario ran for his life, but Alberto caught up with him midway. Alberto wanted to shoot Dario, his nephew and adopted son, but Lys shot Alberto first. After that, Lys and Dr. Gorrea poisoned Alberto to a slow death. Lys planned to flee to Paris with Dario following the murder, but Dario betrayed her and robbed her chest. In the present, Alma feels more and more puzzled as reality slips under her feet. Dario tries to convince Alma that someone uses his identity to rob him of his fortune, possibly Lys. Meanwhile, the “doppelgänger” enters Alma’s apartment and attacks her.
New footage reveals that Lys was in the party, and Alma realizes Lys’s involvement in the story. They find Lucinda’s suitcase after all, and a photo shows that Lucinda gave birth to twins, which, we come to know later, is fake. After Zoe sleeps with Mauricio, her relationship with Karina heads towards a cliff. Esteban and Montano also catch a glimpse of the fake Dario, Mark Jennings. Trailing the identity of Mark Jennings reveals a case of identity theft. Esteban brings everyone together to hear Lys’s story. With the incriminating pieces of evidence, she goes behind bars. But the finale reveals the killer, and it is not Lys.
Dark Desire Season 2 Ending: Who Is The Killer?
In the end, Alma comes to realize that Dario is the killer. At this point, Dario’s lies are becoming gradually apparent. As much a manipulator as he is, the doppelganger story starts showing cracks and fissures. Dario later admits to Alma that he fabricated the twin brother, apparently to escape Lys. He has also withdrawn money from his Andorra account since he thinks Lys will rob him of his money. However, Lys’ confession to Alma in the final minutes reveals that Dario stole her money. She also confesses that Dario made her kill Alberto, and she warns Alma to escape the fiend while she can.
Alma ends up at the same rooftop where Julieta jumped, using a voice changer to call Dario. She accuses Dario of killing Julieta, and Dario goes to the rooftop to find Esteban in the neighboring building. He enters the other building searching for Esteban, but he finds Alma. Till the last moment, Dario maintains that it was a conspiracy by Alma (a classic case of victim-blaming) until she injects the truth serum in him. As twisted as he is, Dario does not confess the truth even then, but telltale signs remain. Julieta threatened to tell Inigo about Dario’s affair with Alma, and Dario could not allow her to expose him. Throwing Julieta off the terrace was seamless since Lys had already drugged her.
Is Dario Dead or Alive?
In the end, Dario shows his true colors when cornered. He pins Alma to the ground and resorts to hurting her. Thankfully, Esteban is early to reach the venue and shoot Dario down. Does Dario survive the bullet wound? It seems that he does and ends up at a hospital. Alma takes a balloon, similar to one Dario took to Alma’s anniversary in the first season. The balloon has a middle finger drawn on it, and even though Dario lives, his hands remain tied to cuffs. While it does not seem that Lys gets released, Dario ends up in jail. What happens to Dario’s money, you wonder. Maybe Inigo has something to do with it, but hardly anything can compensate for the loss of his daughter.
Read More: Where Is Dark Desire Filmed?
