‘Pedal to Metal’ Season 1: Ending, Explained: Who Killed Quique’s Father? Is Noche Dead Or Alive?

Published

Netflix’s Spanish series, “Pedal to Metal” (also known as “Dale Gas”), creates a world of lies and deceit filled with luxury sports cars and thieves who rule the streets. Amidst all that throttle, vrooms, and street racing, there are two close friends, Quique Guerrero and Ramon “Noche” Martnez, from Monterrey, Mexico, who accidentally kill a powerful businessman’s son in an illegal car race and thus have to flee to Mexico City to start anew. In a new city, Quique and Noche find themselves entangled in a web of conspiracies revolving around the Guerrero family. What will become of these two young bloods aspiring to enter the world of street racing? Will they be forever on the run for an unintended mistake, or will they find a roof and a family to start things again?


A Plot Summary for Season 1

Quique Guerrero lives in Monterrey with his grandmother, Amparo, and works in a local car garage with his best friend, Ramon “Noche” Martnez. Quique belongs to a family of racers, but after his father, Elias, died, Amparo left Mexico City and brought Quique to Monterrey to start a fresh life. However, street racing runs in Quique’s veins, and no matter how far he runs away, he always ends up on a race track.

“Pedal to Metal” Season 1 begins as Noche takes money from Ruco’s garage and decides to gamble it on a street race. When Quique tries to get back Ruco’s money, Noche persuades Quique to race against Inaki, the son of a wealthy businessman named Jorge Armendariz. Following his passion, Quique hits the race track, but Noche enthusiastically releases the nitro during the race, and Quique loses control of the car. The car crashes into Inaki’s car, leading to a devastating explosion in which Inaki loses his life while Noche is admitted to the hospital.

Some corrupt police officers take Noche away at the hospital to hand him over to Jorge Armendariz, who has sworn revenge against his son’s murderers. Quique finds out about the conspiracy and decides to save Noche. They seek help from Amparo, who suggests leaving Monterrey, and without wasting any moment, she steals the ’82 Grand Marquis and drives to their family neighborhood, Torque, in Mexico City. Torque is a shady neighborhood filled with street thugs and thieves who steal cars, refurbish them, and sell them as second-hand cars. 

Quique’s uncle, Abel, belongs to the same neighborhood and runs the family business, Guerrero Mechanic Shop. However, being a dedicated Christian, Abel tries to run a legal trade and has converted his property into a small church, where, as a pastor, he conducts regular masses for fellow Christians and survives on their small donations. Due to economic issues, Abel wants to construct a new Gethsemane Temple in the neighborhood, but he fails to lay the foundation of his greatest dream. When Quique, Noche, and Amparo arrive at Torque, Abel not only welcomes the family to his house of God but also gives the two boys a job at the garage.

The garage is a part of the church where Abel rehabilitates lost youth who also works in his garage to earn a livelihood. In the garage, Quique and Noche find Elias’ Karmann. Quique’s father and mother died in a car accident as Elias was driving his Karmann. After the accident, Abel took the car and hid it in the shop as a reminder of the tragedy. Quique decides to repair his father’s Karmann and, with it, participate in a grand racing competition called La Gorda to fulfill his father’s only dream.

However, while assembling the parts for Karmann, Quique falls in love with Abigail, the daughter of Carlos “Carcar” Carrasco. Carcar was an orphan mechanic who was adopted by Quique’s grandfather. However, after Elias’ death, Carcar bought the family business and their properties at a low rate and built his own illegal empire of stolen cars. Abel wants to build a church on a piece of conflicted property that was donated to him for the same purpose, but the property has an outstanding debt owed to Carcar. It leads to a rivalry between Carcar and Abel that pulls in Quique too. Carcar catches Quique with favor and compels him to steal cars for him. While working for Carcar, Quique finds evidence that suggests that Carcar may have killed his father to take over the family business. “Pedal to Metal” Season 1 further follows Quique’s struggle to find out about his father’s murder and the motive behind it.


Major Spoilers Ahead

Who Won La Gorda?

Though “Pedal to Metal” Season 1 tried to establish that winning La Gorda was the sole purpose of the protagonist, the priorities quickly changed as other conflicts barged in. A cop named Cordero, who tried to arrest Quique for destroying his captain’s Mustang, found out Quique’s secret: he killed Jorge Armendariz’s son in a car accident. Cordero wanted to put Carcar behind bars and thus blackmailed Quique to get evidence against Carcar in exchange for hiding Quique’s secret. Quique became an informant, and while finding evidence, Quique found an old picture of Carcar that suggested that he was the one who built Tuercas’s car. So Quique reasoned that Carcar may have tampered with Karmann in order to get Elias out of the way and take over all of the Guerrero property. But Quique needed some solid evidence to prove Carcar’s crimes, but he had none at the moment, so he decided to create evidence instead of finding it.

Abigail’s anger towards her controlling father motivated her to plan to steal all his luxury cars so that she could attend a racing academy with the money generated from the sale of stolen cars. Abigail believed that Quique’s plan was to steal the cars so that they could run away from Torque together, but Quique had something else in mind. Quique had true feelings for Abigail, but taking revenge for his parent’s death was much more important to him, and thus he lied to Abigail about the true nature of the plan. 

While everyone was busy with La Gorda, Abel’s loyal men sneaked into Carcar’s garage and planted drugs inside his luxury cars. In his act of atonement, he let Abigail win the final race of La Gorda because he knew that once she found out the truth about his betrayal to get her father arrested, she would definitely hate him for his actions.


‘Pedal to Metal’ Season 1: Ending Explained: Who Killed Elias Guerrero?

Quique had planned with Abel and Cordero to plant drugs in Carcar’s car to get him arrested, and soon after his arrest, Abel took control of the neighborhood and burned down Carcar’s garage to put an end to his legal and illegal trades. However, what Quique noticed was that, in Carcar’s absence, Abel started acting like a godman of the entire community and was deluded by his grandeur. The man who once claimed to be a servant of God started killing people in the name of God. Was Abel really a sane man or a wolf hiding in sheepskin?

The true nature of Abel’s evil demeanor was revealed by Carcar, who told Quique that after his grandfather handed over the property to Elias, Abel felt left out and left the house in anger. He only returned a few days before the La Gorda event and helped Elias repair his Karmann. Hence, it was Abel who had access to Elias’ car, and it could be speculated that he was the one who killed his brother to inherit the property, but he wasn’t a skillful businessman, which was why the family was forced to sell off everything to Carcar at an extremely low price. Carcar had loyalty towards Quique’s grandfather and didn’t want his name to perish in the incapable hands of Abel, hence he decided to buy the property and manage it as his own, considering himself a part of the Guerrero family. However, no matter what plans Carcar had for the family, he wasn’t a righteous man either, as he burned people’s shops and imposed heavy interest on the money he lent to people. He did indeed deserve imprisonment for his crimes.

But to Abigail, her father was innocent and believed that Quique framed him for the crimes he didn’t commit. In her act of revenge, she posted about Quique on Inaki’s fan page, which gave out Quique’s location to Inaki’s father and the cop investigating the murder case. The cop contacted Ruiz, a corrupt cop working in Torque, who revealed Quique’s crimes to Carcar’s loyal right-hand, Mudo, who got hold of Quique and decided to take him to Monterrey to make him pay for betraying Carcar. Abigail had also recorded Quique’s confession, in which he confessed that he had planted drugs in Carcar’s car to get him arrested. She sent the voice recording to her teacher, who would use it as evidence to rescue Carcar.


Is Noche Dead?

Noche, who was in love with Abel’s wife, Rebecca, decided to run away with her, but before leaving, he wanted to confess the adultery to Abel and seek forgiveness from him. While Rebecca waited for Noche at the bus station, Noche confronted Abel about his affair with Rebecca. At this point, the true characteristics of Abel’s unstable mind are revealed. Throughout his life, Abel suffered from existential crises and yearned for approval or validation. Neither his mother nor father had faith in Abel’s ability to run the business, and they loved and trusted an adopted son, Carcar, more than their own son, Abel. Abel found his existence in Christ and became a pastor in the neighborhood, which gave him a sense of belonging and grandeur. But nothing of it came easily. He probably killed his brother to inherit the family business and later conspired against Carcar to rule the entire neighborhood. When Noche revealed the affair to Abel, his narcissism and ego were hurt, and the pain caused by years of neglect kicked in again. In his rage or madness, Abel killed Noche to prove his superiority as a man who couldn’t be ditched, betrayed, or walked upon.


Expectations for Season 2 of ‘Pedal to Metal’

“Pedal to Metal” Season 1 ends on a cliffhanger as the two dreamers who left Monterrey to start anew find themselves trapped in the threads of the past. While Noche was killed by the end of Season 1, Quique was captured by Carcar’s men, who were taking him back to Monterrey, probably to hand him over to Jorge Armendariz, who would finally decide Quique’s fate. Abigail already hates Quique, so she probably won’t help him anymore, but there is one more person who may come to his rescue, and it is his grandmother, Amparo.

“Pedal to Metal” Season 2 will further follow Abel’s crime. He may confess to his sins, but even if he doesn’t, then he will probably face the wrath of Carcar’s rage, who will come out of prison after proving his innocence with the voice evidence recorded by Abigail. Carcar will also take revenge on Abel for burning down his garage, and then there is Quique, who will question Abel about his father’s accident. 

However, what will be interesting to catch up on will be how Quique will escape Jorge Armendariz and finally win back Abigail and Carcar’s trust. He is bound to return to Torque as he belongs to the neighborhood, but how his journey will unfold will be further explored in the upcoming season. Furthermore, if Carcar is arrested and killed in Season 2, then is it Quique who will rule Torque after Carcar and finally inherit the business that belongs to him? Maybe.


“Pedal to Metal” (or “Dale Gas”) is a 2022 Spanish Crime Drama television series streaming on Netflix.

- Advertisement -
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Shikhar Agrawal
Shikhar Agrawal
I am an Onstage Dramatist and a Screenwriter. I have been working in the Indian Film Industry for the past 12 years, writing dialogues for various films and television shows.

Must Read

DMT Guide

More Like This