The Minions of Midas Season 1 Episode 1 Recap – Dilemma

[00:01:00] A woman is typing an article about The Minions of Midas. She stops typing her article because she hears a loud noise outside her office. She sees a man dragging a dumpster on fire. The woman goes back to her computer to publish the article. She stops again because she hears a noise coming from inside her office. She stands up to look out on the office floor and sees two people standing, wearing body armor, looking like guards. They see her and immediately run toward her. The woman leaves her office and runs toward the fire exit. They chase her down a few stairs until she seemingly makes it out of the stairwell.

[00:02:00] Fifty days earlier, social unrest gripped the nation as people protested out on the streets for their rights. People dubbed the protest “The Spanish Revolt.” Meanwhile, a letter arrived at the office of a businessman named Victor Genovés. The letter said he must not involve the police or a random person would die because of him. The letter placed the random person’s life in the hands of Victor. They told him to place an ad to show his sign of agreement to their demands. He couldn’t believe someone would send him such a provocative letter. Victor went to the bathroom to wash his face. The letter came from The Minions of Midas.

[00:05:00] Victor went home and found his helper, Gloria, about to leave. Gloria asked Victor if she should start unpacking his boxes, but Victor told her they needed to do it together. Gloria told Victor he would feel much better once he settled in his new home. After dinner, Victor did some research on The Minions of Midas. Victor got a drink and tore the letter into pieces. He went to the balcony for fresh air but almost dropped his drink on the crowded street below.

[00:08:00] The woman earlier got caught and is being guarded by armed men. They escorted her to an abandoned building where a man was waiting for her. The man told her he chose her because the newspaper she works for had a good reputation. The man gave her secret information about the corrupt government he was serving. He told her about arms deals done via European and Libyan banks. All the information he had about his government he gave the woman. It was already too late, but it was all he could provide as he couldn‘t go back in time to save all the lives taken by the regime. The reporter asked the man why he’s suddenly having a change of heart. The man responded things would always worsen, but he could no longer turn a blind eye to it.

[00:12:00] Victor Genovés was a nobody until he inherited the financial empire of Antonio Malvar. The company overcame the death of Antonio under the leadership of Victor, and now everyone wanted to invest in their company. No one knew why Antonio chose Victor to inherit his company, but he’s not going to waste the opportunity given to him. It seemed the woman who did the interview was working for Victor. The interview revealed a scandal happening in the midst of one of the wealthiest banks in Europe, Banco Industrial. The bank is helping sell arms to a dictator who, in turn, is using the arms to wage war in his country. The editor of the newspaper, The Observer, thinks they have a very large story in their hands. On the other hand, Victor knew that the story is a bomb.

[00:14:30] Banco Industrial has financed the Malvar Group for over 15 years. They even helped during Antonio’s passing, and they were also turning a blind eye to the nonprofitable newspaper, The Observer. Victor didn’t want to publish the story as it would be the end of their business. The woman said they needed to publish the story — it’s the right thing to do. The woman’s name is Monica. She felt insulted that Victor chose not to publish the story. The editor warned Victor that the truth would always find its way out. He asked the editor to finish the whole story as they were still waiting on corroboration from other CEOs of other banks in Europe.

[00:16:00] Monica went to her mother for advice. She thought her newspaper company wouldn’t publish her story. She wanted to put the story on her blog so that the world would have access to it. Her mother told her to just give the story to another paper, but she knew no one would dare print it except for her. Monica’s mother was worried that publishing the story would ruin her career. Monica was no longer thinking about her career; she’s thinking about doing the right thing. After their conversation, Monica continued to help her mother remove a piano from her apartment.

[00:19:00] Victor met with a woman named Jose Alva. They enjoyed the company of one another as they ate in a discreet part of town. The next day, a woman was on her way to work when she got hit by a speeding car. The woman flew a few feet from the pedestrian crossing and died instantly. Monica met with a man named Mr. Valente. She confirmed the scandal with him, and he willingly confirmed he personally knew about Banco Industrial’s involvement with the government of Syria and the arms deals that happened. While talking, a few protesters threw stones at Mr. Valente’s car. They were startled as the car went to a complete stop as the protesters ran away.

[00:24:00] Victor received an email from The Minions of Midas. They claimed to be responsible for the woman who got ran over earlier. They told Victor he has another ten days to reach out and comply with their demands, or another person dies. Victor felt guilty, so he went to the street where the woman got ran over. He saw the woman’s picture taped to the bottom of a street lamp and a bouquet of flowers. The next day, Victor met with Inspector Conte to seek assistance regarding his issue with The Minions of Midas. Victor showed all the evidence against The Minions of Midas, but Conte thought it’s just extortion.

[00:27:00] Victor already threw away the first letter he received from them, but he told Conte the first letter contained the precise address of where the woman got ran over by a car. Conte responded there’s really no connection between The Minions of Midas and the woman’s death; they could rule it out as coincidental. He wanted Victor to cooperate so that they could capture the extortionists and put an end to their schemes. Inspector Conte wanted to tap all of Victor’s communications. He wondered if Conte was looking at him as a conspirator with The Minions of Midas, but Conte responded that he’s just doing his job based on protocols.

[00:29:00] After his talk with Conte, Victor went over to see his ex-wife and son. He told his ex-wife, Laura, that he’ll assign guards to their house because of what happened. Laura wasn’t happy about the guards watching their every move. Laura was concerned that Victor wouldn’t spend time with his son, Marcos, instead of assigning bodyguards to watch over them. Victor volunteered to tell Marcos the truth and planned to settle things with him over the weekends. Victor found out that Marcos was no longer attending the fencing club. Marcos changed in his father’s absence; he’s now focused on playing video games and didn’t feel like talking with Victor.

[00:31:00] Victor installed cameras all over his house for protection. The guards were already in position as he scrolled from camera to camera. Victor used to jog alone, but he opted to have a bodyguard with him with the current threat to his life. The next day, Victor invited his editor and Monica to a meeting with their corporate lawyers to discuss their next action plan. The lawyers disagreed with publishing the story because they’re making a new enemy with Banco Industrial. Everything the bank was doing is considered legal, even though it breaks every moral code in the book. The lawyers didn’t want to lose Banco Industrial as their financial partner; it would put a lot of lives at risk. People would lose their job, not to mention it would cause unrest among the rest of the company and its employees.

[00:33:30] Monica responded that the story wasn’t the scandal itself; it’s the fact that the scandal was being done on legal grounds, keeping a murderous dictator in power just for profit. Monica turned to Victor to make the final decision about the matter. Victor wanted to publish the story despite the disagreement from his legal team. He told Monica and his editor they needed to make the story as big as they could so that they would reach more and more viewers. On top of publishing the story on paper, they would also get media coverage. Monica was happy that her story would be published to provide a big leap for her career. Meanwhile, the police continued investigating the woman’s death who got ran over the other day.

[00:35:30] Conte and his officers were perplexed about the run-over victim as Victor was. They interviewed Victor, but they didn’t think he’s involved in any other way. Victor was as clueless as they were. Conte didn’t have any choice but to follow the lead down the rabbit hole. He told everyone to prepare for the second victim. Victor’s email from The Minions of Midas confirmed a second victim in a precise date, time, and location. Meanwhile, The Observer was preparing to publish Monica’s story. They asked Banco Industrial for their comment on the article, but they decided not to comment on it. Everyone was getting ready to publish the story; it would be a big one, and it would certainly blow the roof of households for days to come.

[00:38:00] Conte and his men went to the area to position themselves. They were anticipating the event before it happens so that they could prevent it. Meanwhile, Victor met with Luis in a nearby bar. Luis thought Monica’s story would be his final publication, but Victor assured him things would be fine. He wouldn’t approve the publication if he knew it would harm him.

[00:40:00] The next day, the police were preparing for the attack. They roamed the streets in disguises to find their target. The cops followed every lead they could find until one of the snipers on the roof saw a suspicious guy on the theater’s roof. Conte wanted the target alive despite the snipers asking for permission to kill the target. The snipers fired a warning shot to distract the assassin. He saw the snipers and ran. Conte issued the command to move in on the theater. The snipers saw the man escaping the building, giving away his position. Conte told them to hold their fire as the officers on the ground chased him down.

[00:43:30] They cornered the assassin as he pulled out a letter and gun. The police couldn’t risk anything, so they shot him down. Victor was on his way home when he saw Inspector Conte outside the Malvar Group building. He approached Conte and commended him for killing the assassin behind the letters. Conte told Victor they killed someone, but he was just a victim. The guy’s name is Manuel. He owned a food distribution business that went bankrupt. He gave his family a new life by paying off his debt with his life. Manuel went to the place designated on the letter to ensure his family’s survival. Manuel gave them a new letter, and Conte gave Victor a copy.

[00:46:00] Conte told Victor they kept the original copy of the letter. He told Victor he needed to read the letter as it was just the beginning. Victor read the letter on his way home. Victor disappointed the Midas group because he involved the police. They decreased the number of days for payment to five. They also told Victor he would not know of the victim’s whereabouts in advance. The Minions of Midas told Victor they would only inform him merely a few minutes before the victim’s death or as the victim is dying. Victor didn’t know whether he would continue fighting or give in to the Midas group.