‘The Get Down’ Recap, Episode 3: “Darkness Is Your Candle”

“Darkness is your candle.”

Ah! Who knew there was another broken heart among the group? Ah! Tio Cisco!

Books isn’t the only man in The Get Down awaiting for the love of his life to run into his arms. In episode three, we’re introduced to another love story, that of Mylene’s mother, Mrs. Lydia Cruz, and Cisco, Mylene’s father’s brother (Jimmy Smits).

Lydia pays Cisco a visit, walking in on Cisco threatening the life of a man indebted to him (“Get rid of him or I’ll get rid of you!”) “[It] only reminds me of who you are,” Lydia says when he apologizes for seeing him with such temper. She continues to plead him, “Get out of our lives. You don’t need us. You cling to us because you have no one for yourself…It’s time for you to make your own family. Stop with the girlfriends. Find yourself a real woman.”

“I got a real woman. I’m waiting on her, but she’s stubborn. But me, I’m loyal.” Wait, what?

She looks down, as if she knows but doesn’t want to know, what he meant. She begs him to “bring” her daughter home, who at the time of their conversation is in the studio, revitalizing the career of formerly loved but now hated (presumably because he’s screwed people over) industry producer Jackie Moreno (Kevin Corrigan). Mylene offers Moreno hope for a comeback when she entrancingly sings The Supremes’ “Up the Ladder” as he’s behind the keys.

“You’re suffocating her. She’s my niece, and I love her. My brother is crazy, and you…You’ve become like a slave. Between the two of you, you’re killing Mylene’s soul,” he angrily tells Lydia. You can sense the desperation in how her arms waver before slapping him, in how she scrunches her eyebrows. There’s truth in his words, and she knows it. She’s sadly aware that the fear of her daughter being exploited or having her dreams crushed has, in turn, led them to entrap her.

She turns around, runs to pound Cisco’s chest with desperation, and falls into his arms.

The lights go out. The legendary New York City blackout of 1977 hits, and hits hard. “A city rages in an unforgiving darkness. A night of horror. Thirty-six hours of darkness while $155 million dollars lost in business, over 3,000 arrests, 132 injured police officers, 1,000 fires recorded. For New York City, nothing will ever quite be the same again,” informs a reporter.

With Lydia in his arms, Cisco, gradually confesses that while she may think he’s a “bad man,” he’s “sacrificed the only things that are dear to me.” Yes, he may have a drink, a dance, or a woman on his arm from time to time, but, “I sleep alone Lydia, every night, since 1960. Make no mistake.”

“I will make sure you never lose your daughter. I will make sure that my brother is looked after, and that his family stays in tact. I promise you that. And I will close my eyes when my heart is crying.” And that’s when my heart breaks, for Cisco has been loving someone who he can’t ever be with, whether she loves him or not, because she’s the wife of his brother.

And if it wasn’t clear enough, as she’s ready to walk out, Cisco pulls her back to slow dance closely, to Héctor Lavoe’s “Que Lio.” A song of unrequited love, of loving a friend’s lover, guides their dance: “No puedo casar porque es novia de mi amigo, y eso si da que pensar/ Odio todos los que aman, y que felices estan/ Porque yo no puedo tener un amorcito que me comprenda.”

Meanwhile, as Lydia and Cisco dance in their truth, a part of Books’ innocence is scraped away as he and the guys realize that there’s a body of a dead kid they once encountered out on the streets in the back of the car that Cadillac ordered Shaolin to get rid of. They dump the truck in what seems like the Hudson River, and make a pact to never speak of the incident again, as well as to always stand beside one another. Especially when it comes to taking revenge against Cadillac.

“Fantastic Four Plus One is done. We’re starting over. From now on, whatever goes down, we go down together. That’s how we’re going to go down. That’s how it gotta be. If one man fall, we all fall down together,” Books proclaims. “You gotta stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything. We’re brothers now. The Get Down Brothers. We got to get ours. Do or die. First chance we get, Cadillac is goin’ down.”

And while Books has hesitantly curbed every one of Mylene’s attempt to get close to him, he finally lets her in when he breaks down. As she walks through the doors after her session, she notices him in tears, and writing of the night’s events. “I tell you my secrets all the time. You always listen. It’s my turn to listen now.” Episode three closes in in darkness, and with flashes of Mylene and Books wrapped up in one another on the rooftop.

[Watch the “Darkness Is Your Candle” episode of The Get Down on Netflix]

Erika Ramirez–born in San Jose, CA and based in Brooklyn, NY–is a freelance writer, editor, and producer. She’s the founder of digital magazine, ILY, which is about love. She’s held editorial positions and written for various outlets as Billboard, ROOKIE, NPR, Milk Studios and more. Follow her on Twitter: @3rika