'Wrong Side Of The Tracks' Full Recap (Seasons 1-3): Story So Far

A common man’s war against a corrupt, decrepit system to defend their family has been a favorite subgenre of sorts in recent years—and the popularity attained by Netflix’s Spanish crime drama, Wrong Side of the Tracks, aka Entrevias, is a testament to that. But the series is so much more than this simplistic outline conveys, as it handles complex themes of family, identity, generational divergence, community spirit, and class struggle. Through its gritty crime drama lens, Wrong Side of the Tracks deftly explores relatable, grounded social issues like unemployment, racism, institutionalized corruption, neglect of mental health, and gang violence—which is one more reason I feel the series clicked well with the viewers. Strong characterization is one of the aspects the series focuses on, which is highlighted really well by the way the arcs of involved characters shape up over the span of three seasons. The series will return later this week to conclude its run with a fourth and final season, so before that happens, let us go through all the major events you need to remember to catch up with the series.

Spoilers Ahead

Season 1: Nelson Takes Revenge

Wrong Side of the Tracks is set in Entrevias, an impoverished, crime-riddled neighborhood in Madrid, home to Tirso Abantos, a Bosnian war veteran whose hard-boiled, occasionally bitter and eccentric attitude has driven his family away from him. Tirso shares an estranged relationship with his daughter, Jimena, and son, Santi, and had his wife leave him years ago, so he lives alone now. He runs a hardware store in the neighborhood and overall is pretty miffed about the troubles he has to put up with from delinquent teenagers on a daily basis. Jimena’s adopted teenage daughter of Vietnamese ancestry, Irene, feels trapped inside the bubble of a superficial lifestyle while living with her workaholic parents who have fallen out of love, and tastes freedom for the first time after falling in love with a Colombian boy, Nelson—who works as a small-time drug dealer for local gangster, Sandro. Nelson’s mother, Gladys, is a Cuban immigrant who went through hell to bring her son to Spain in hopes of providing him with a better future—and Ezequiel, a local cop in Entrevias who is in cahoots with Sandro, has had a soft corner for her ever since he rescued her from a human trafficking ring. Amanda, a straight-arrow police chief who has recently been transferred to clean up Entrevias, gets the lay of the land from Ezequiel, who defends his shifting allegiance to both sides of the law by mentioning his actions to be necessary to maintain peace and order. 

Things turn bad when Nelson steals a packet of heroin from Sandro as he and Irene plan to flee and start a life together. However, Nelson entrusts Irene with the drugs as he is caught by police as a suspect. Tirso brings a distraught Irene home, and upon finding the packet—he ends up dumping it. Tirso initially considers agreeing to Jimena’s proposal of sending Irene abroad, only to later change his decision after his pride gets hurt after a confrontation with his daughter. Even though Irene doesn’t see eye to eye with her grandpa, she doesn’t want to leave Entrevias, for Nelson’s sake. Ezequiel convinces Amanda to free Nelson, who gets targeted by Sandro after the news about Nelson stealing his drug becomes public. To beg mercy from Sandro to convince him to spare Nelson, Irene sneaks out of the house and visits his drug den—she gets abducted and raped by Sandro’s men. Even though Tirso remains unaware of it, as he initially believes Irene was just beaten up by the thugs, he eventually learns the truth and is horrified. Sandro orders Ezequiel to kill Nelson to maintain his control over the neighborhood, but Ezequiel fakes his death and spares the teenager’s life. Upon learning of Ezequiel’s deceit, Sandro publicly humiliates him and later on cuts off his connections.

On the other hand, Tirso, who otherwise was acting hostile to Nelson, whom he considered a bad influence on Irene, joins hands with him, and in retaliation for what happened with Irene, the duo starts targeting Sandro’s business to weaken his control over Entrevias. Tirso and his old army buddies, Pepe and Sanchis, steal Sandro’s blood money and return it to the community, and with the help of Nelson’s friends—Nata and Loko—Ezequiel too starts planning to destabilize Sandro’s control. Ezequiel fans the flame of Nata’s ambition, given he’s wanted to assume control over Entrevias for a long time and secretly had feelings for Nelson. However, Ezequiel’s proxy war gets Loko killed—much to Nata’s dismay, who wants to seek revenge on Sandro and takes Nelson’s help to do so. 

Things get patched up between Ezequiel and Sandro for a while after the former saves the drug lord from a raid orchestrated by Amanda. However, Ezequiel soon realizes that he was getting played by Amanda all the while as she was trying to get him to pry for intel about a certain ‘Phantom’ who provides money, weapons, and drugs to local gangsters from Sandro. Also, Amanda had personal reasons for hunting down this elusive mastermind as well, as her father, a cop, was murdered by weapons supplied by Phantom. Amanda, who plans to hand Ezequiel over to Internal Affairs for his crimes, decides to give him a final chance to prove himself by extracting the intel. Meanwhile, Sandro’s henchman, Yeyo, informs him about Tirso’s involvement and tries to take him down, only to get knocked down by Nelson. Irene develops a drug addiction to cope with the trauma of her sexual assault, and finally, Tirso realizes that his pride made him blind to reality. He revealed the entire truth to Jimena, asking her to take Irene with her. Nelson broke things off with Irene, considering himself to be responsible for what happened to her. Amanda’s plan to get intel from Sandro failed when the drug lord found out Ezequiel was snitching on him, and Nelson, keeping his word to Nata, ended up shooting Sandro to death in his nightclub. Ezequiel is arrested, as Amanda is unable to help lessen his punishment.

Nelson’s mother, Gladys, and Tirso had frequent disagreements with each other—but eventually the duo started having feelings for each other. Following Irene’s departure, a heartbroken Tirso had arrived at Pepe’s bar when Yeyo, a henchman of Sandro, tried to attack him—only to get stopped by Gladys, who was injured in the process. Yeyo was knocked out by Tirso, who was able to connect with Gladys, and Irene returned for one last time to make amends with her grandpa as the first season came to a close.

Season 2: Revenge On The Phantom

Following Sandro’s death, a power vacuum was created in Entrevias, and Nata used this opportunity to take control of the neighborhood with Nelson by her side. Nelson had to abide by Nata’s rules, as otherwise she could have given him up to the authorities for killing Sandro. Irene tries to pursue her passion for dance to cope with her traumatic past. However, when she learns about her pregnancy, Irene finds it difficult to return to her old life with her mother and goes back to Entrevias to live with her grandfather once again. However, Nelson and Tirso square off as Nata’s influence on him grows stronger, much to the dismay of Gladys and Irene. Ezequiel is released on probation, and Amanda decides to seek his assistance once again to search for this elusive Phantom, given how much ground knowledge he had regarding the neighborhood. Nata’s connection with Phantom, along the video she had of Nelson killing Sandro, was discovered by Ezequiel, and Nelson was forced to snitch on Nata’s crew to keep himself out of custody. 

Jimena played a seminal role in the second season, as being a real estate agent, she was working under the business magnate Guillermo Salgado, who wanted to buy up the entirety of Entrevias—much to the dismay of Tirso and other local establishment owners of various ethnicities who were unwilling to let go of their property. Tirso became a representative of his community as he opposed Salgado. Amanda and Jimena became close, and eventually Jimena came out, and Tirso, who was previously not supportive of his daughter’s choices, turned out to have changed much as a person as he approved of their relationship. Nelson decided to make amends with Irene upon learning about her pregnancy, and although there was a question regarding the identity of the unborn child’s father, it didn’t matter to Irene and Nelson at the end. Gladys and Tirso’s relationship came into focus in this season in a stronger way, although there was a love triangle-type situation going on as Ezequiel occasionally made his presence felt in between. 

Phantom is revealed to be none other than Guillermo Salgado, who was supplying weapons and drugs to gangs to make impoverished areas inhospitable, thereby buying them at a lower price and cashing out with a huge profit margin. Salgado was supplying Nata’s crew with drugs and weapons, and upon learning about Ezequiel’s true allegiance to the authorities, he put a hit on him. A severely injured Ezequiel survived, although he was in no position to help Amanda anymore. Salgado asked Nata to kill Tirso, but Nelson stopped her from taking such a drastic step, and Nata, aware of Nelson’s recent priorities, allowed him to return to his new life. Jimena’s help allowed Amanda to connect the dots and learn of Salgado’s true identity as Phantom. Amanda was trying to find a connection regarding a series of rape incidents in the neighborhood and considered Irene to be a victim of the same as well, with Salgado being revealed to be involved—as it is revealed that Irene was abducted by Salgado’s men. However, capturing Salgado was ineffective, as threatening the lives of Jimena and Irene, he was able to blackmail Amanda to release him. However, Tirso became aware of Salgado’s role in Irene’s harrowing predicament and attack on Jimena, and taking Pepe and Sanchis with him, he was able to capture Salgado before he was able to flee. Ignoring Irene and Gladys’s repeated requests to not go down that path, Tirso decided to take down Salgado to get his revenge, and with authorities surrounding him, he had no plan to escape his predicament either, but Amanda made a judgment call at the final moments of the second season and shot Salgado to death. Perhaps the thought of her lover, Jimena, having to live without a guardian figure by her side made her act in an uncharacteristic way, or perhaps Amanda’s willingness to take revenge for her father made her take a decision in haste. In the final moments of the second season of Wrong Side of the Tracks, Tirso’s estranged wife returns to his life—much to the surprise of Tirso and Jimena—hinting at a change of pace around the neighborhood.

Season 3: A Heavy Price To Pay

Tirso’z estranged wife, Maricarmen aka Maica, annoyed by her husband’s irritable eccentricities, had left her family decades ago to explore her personal freedom and find greater meaning in life – much to the dismay of Jimena and Santi. Naturally, she doesn’t receive a warm welcome from any of the members of her family, although Santi is revealed to have been secretly in touch with his mother. The reason for Maica’s arrival is revealed to be a noble one. She tries to provide a facelift to the neighborhood of Entrevias by creating a foundation to provide direction to the misguided youths, and her methods seem effective, as Nelson is taken under her wing. Tirso and Jimena eventually let go of their apprehensions about Maica, and the family welcomes its newest member as Irene gives birth to baby Victor. However, Maica’s foundation faces adversities when the new police chief, Romero, orchestrates a feud between them and Nata’s crew. Romero wanted to climb the political ladder and replace Juan, the Internal Affairs ministry chief who had appointed him in the first place—and to do that, he needed to bolster his image, even if it meant creating a conflict just for him to solve and get credit for. 

Recovering from his injuries, Ezequiel feigns amnesia to keep himself out of trouble but finds himself in the crosshairs of new police chief Romero by inadvertently becoming a heroic figure by saving lives during the conflict. Ezequiel has his own plans as he comes into contact with Dulce, a daughter figure whom he had saved from the horrors of the neighborhood long ago, and wants her to assume control by destabilizing Nata’s influence. Nata meets her end when her attempt to kill Ezequiel is foiled by Tirso, who ends up accidentally shooting her to death. Tirso is agonized and guilt-ridden for his actions and makes an enemy out of Tente, Nata’s cousin, while trying to apologize to her family for his actions. Maica’s assistance lets Tente abandon his negative instincts and find a new way of life, but in the end, Tente is killed by Dulce’s men.

Romero had sent his deputy, Linares, to frame Ezequiel, who had been reappointed to the force, and a scuffle between them resulted in Linares’ death. Dulce covered for Ezequiel, but Romero had his suspicions, and he sought help from the chief of the rival gang, Gypsy Village, Uncle Rafael to bring down the crooked cop and take over Entrevias. In exchange, Romero did Rafael’s bidding by abducting Sandro’s killer, Nelson, who was beaten severely before getting freed and rescued by Tirso. Unfortunately, given the past history Ezequiel shared with Nelson, Tirso considered him to be the guilty party and remained unaware of Romero’s diabolical plans. Nelson got himself apprehended once again by Rafael and his men after he ignored their warning to leave Entrevias, but this time Maica was able to win over the dreadful gangster through her reason and goodwill, rescuing Nelson in the process. Romero played both sides by joining hands with Nata as well, offering her a chance to assume more power in exchange for betraying Ezequiel. A prolonged issue of misunderstanding and suspicion began between Tirso, Ezequiel, Romero, and Dulce—with Tirso being oblivious to the truth most of the time, until Ezequiel managed to convince him of Romero’s ill intentions regarding the neighborhood by showing him supplying weapons to Dulce. Eventually, Tirso turned his back on Romero and saved Ezequiel’s life. The duo worked together to free Amanda by tampering with evidence and testifying in court, and Dulce, on the other hand, refused to kill Ezequiel when Romero tried to coerce her to do so. The evidence Ezequiel had gathered was enough for Amanda to apprehend Romero and detain him. Amanda reignited her romance with Jimena, who by now was fully accustomed to living in Entrevias.

Irene and Nelson were planning to settle down by tying the knot, but Irene wanted more from her life as she decided to accept an invitation to join a dance academy in Paris. Nelson eventually accepted her decision despite having a tough time processing all of this. Tirso too had realized how much he and Irene have grown in the course of the events that transpired ever since she arrived in Entrevias. Irene suggested Jimena and Amanda marry, a proposal they were glad to accept, but during the wedding something horrible happened, which ended the third season on a tragic note. 

In Wrong Side of the Tracks season 3’s ending, Romero escaped custody, and determined to make Ezequiel pay, he crashed the wedding and went on to shoot at Ezequiel. Amanda jumped in front to save her former comrade and took the bullet, although it seemed that she would survive. As Tirso chased Romero with a gun, the scoundrel took Irene hostage and forced Tirso to put down his gun. As Romero decides to shoot at Tirso anyway, Irene sacrifices her life by coming in between them—and gets riddled with bullets. As Irene breathes her last in Tirso’s arms, she is unable to say that she wouldn’t have had to leave her family, as she had learned just moments ago that her practice could have been continued from Entrevias as well. Romero presumably goes scot-free, although it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that he will pay dearly for his actions. 

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