Santo Ending Explained: Who Is Santo? What Happens To Cardona & Millan? – The Carlos López-produced criminal drama “Santo” on Netflix centers on Miguel Millán and Ernesto Cardona, two police officers from Brazil and Spain. They cross paths while pursuing an invisible drug kingpin named Santo. Cardona travels to Madrid with Santo’s mistress, Bárbara, to track down Santo and seek revenge on him for the murder of his partner, Vera.
Santo has come to Madrid to establish a new drug empire using occult techniques. The captivating Spanish television series’ first season is concluded with stunning revelations and developments regarding Santo’s identity and goals. Let us share our opinions if you’d like a closer look at the same.
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Santo Season 1 Plot Synopsis and Recap
Miguel Millan, a policeman in Madrid, is investigating a case involving a man’s murder and the subsequent kidnapping of his son. The victim was a criminal by the name of Cristobal, and the crime bears enough similarities to past similar killings to make a prominent drug lord by the name of Santo, the prime suspect. Following clues provided by the police, Millan and his team arrive at an abandoned warehouse where they rescue a man named Cardona. This individual turns out to be an undercover police officer from Brazil who has been attempting to travel to Santo.
Cardona, however, is unable to recall how he came to be in such a precarious predicament or even how he acquired the hazardous cult member Santo’s sign—crosses—on his eyelids. As it becomes increasingly clear, Santo is no less than a saint or a father to his devotees, and they will do anything to keep him safe. Santo, who frequently holds sacrifice ceremonies, including the kidnapping of young children to be beheaded and have their blood drunk to strengthen him, is so evil that he is practically pure evil. After dealing with numerous kidnapping incidents, the two police officers team together to apprehend the legendary criminal. But there’s a big catch: nobody has ever seen Santo’s genuine identity or face.
What Had happened to Cardona and Millan?
While living in Brazil, Cardona initially encountered Santo, where he first learned about his vicious deeds. The drug lord kidnapped and killed Cardona’s lover, Vera’s nephew, and it was during his pursuit of the man, his police department first presented him with an intriguing opportunity. Cardona quickly decided to give up everything from his regular life in return for becoming an undercover police officer working inside Santo’s operations. While working in one of the drug fields, he first encountered Barbara Azevedo, a lady who would become integral to his life going forward.
Although Barbara had been Santo’s love interest for a while, she and Cardona formed their own relationship. When this was discovered, the farm as a whole was burned down, and Cardona was removed. Soon after, while on a mission, the Brazilian police ambushed Santo’s group. Unaware of Cardona’s true identity, they also attempted to assassinate him. When the undercover officer approached his superiors about the unexpected attack and managed to escape, he was instead told to quit his covert work.
Though he knows Barbara is in danger, Cardona is not persuaded and is currently trying to save her on his own. After succeeding in doing so, he flees from Brazil to Spain with Barbara in tow to safeguard her. Santo’s group eventually finds them since Barbara admittedly told them where they were because she still thinks of Santo as a heroic father who would battle for others to atone for their transgressions.
However, Millan engaged in his fair share of dubious operations in Madrid. Despite working with the police, Millan had protected criminals like Cristobal in exchange for payment. Although it appears that Millan’s motivation was financial, his sad past likely played a significant role. A psychopath had slain Millan’s coworker a few years prior, and the policeman had always felt that he could have done more to save his coworker. While working with Cristobal at the time, he had fallen in love with his wife Maria, and the two quickly began an affair. The two were having a good time when Cristobal’s kid noticed them and alerted his father about it.
Cristobal was fatally shot on that same day, and it appeared that Millan may have been responsible. Susi, the police officer’s colleague in the investigation, was growing increasingly wary of the man as he warned several men engaged in the crime to withhold crucial information from the authorities. Susi was independently gathering information about Millan at the time, but she hadn’t yet informed her department.
In What Way Do the Two Men Find Santo?
Cardona and Barbara were taken to the abandoned warehouse after being held hostage in Madrid by Santo’s men. Cardona was drugged and given gang initiation by having crosses shaved onto his eyelids. Although the Madrid police had saved him, Barbara had not been located until Cardona received a letter from her outlining her whereabouts. Cardona sprints to the location where he discovers his beloved bound and gagged inside a car, but Millan and his squad also keep an eye on the situation from a distance. Both Millan and Susi had questions about the Brazilian’s motives after they had interviewed Cardona after they had rescued him and weren’t persuaded by what he had told them.
Finally, they find Cardona trying to help Barbara, who they recognize as Santo’s partner, and the police rush over and immediately arrest Cardona. Before this, Barbara had been able to give Cardona a USB stick, which he examined after returning to his safe house. The police officer learns, in a horrifying revelation to both himself and the audience, that Santo’s men had drugged him and forced him to kill one of the young boys during the ceremony at the warehouse. Cardona got blood on his hands as a result, even if he couldn’t recall it.
The Madrid police take Barbara to a hospital where she is admitted for treatment, but Cardona also follows her there. Here, they see the news about the kidnapping of a group of young children and quickly assume it was Santo’s doing. Despite Barbara’s repeated assurances that Santo’s sacrifice will purify their souls, Cardona once more considers the woman’s safety and transports her away from the hospital.
Internal Affairs launched an investigation into the incident when one of the drug traffickers Millan had been dealing with told the police about his participation with criminals. The IA takes control of the issue and suspends Millan’s employment using voice recordings that were secretly taken from his automobile. However, just as Millan is about to come under additional scrutiny from law enforcement, he learns that his daughter needs to be admitted to the hospital and decides to depart. In his absence, Susi takes charge of the case, and the Madrid police are forced to act quickly to free the kidnapped kids.
Cardona discovers the drug lord’s lair is at a site in Madrid called San Miguel, as Barbara remembers the location where she had been held captive by Santo’s men. He meets with Millan, and shares this information with her, and she then informs his department. The police team is then dispatched due to a report of another incident, which results in a gunfight in which the police chief perishes. This is terrible for Millan, who resolves to pursue Santo on his own because he feels equally accountable for her passing. He makes contact with Maria, makes every effort to learn as much as he can about Santo’s group, and makes an intrusive attempt to enter the club where they hang out.
The gang of criminals assaults the cop, and even though he attempts to flee, Santo’s men quickly kidnap him and transport him to their hideout in a car. Cardona’s former police partner from Brazil shows up to visit him in the meantime, and he is not pleased to see Cardona with Barbara. After successfully causing a wedge between the two men, the woman clashes with Cardona on her own terms. Following her through the streets, the policeman and his partner witness her being taken away by a car she chooses to get into. The two guys now make their way to San Miguel in search of Santo’s hiding place to capture him and save Barbara.
“Santo” Season 1 Ending Explained
When Millan awakens at the hideout, Barbara and two guys walk toward her. Barbara, now the group’s apparent leader, forces Millan to drink, which gradually sends him into a hallucinogenic state. He is then escorted into a sizable room where other cult members are getting ready to sacrifice one of the kidnapped children in a ceremony. They give Millan a sharp blade to behead the youngster to make him do the same crime as Cardona.
However, at this precise moment, Cardona and the Susi-led police team show there and take action. In the ensuing gunfire, numerous gang members are killed while Millan and Cardona pursue Barbara as she runs away. The trio confronts each other in a hallway, and Millan is about to shoot the woman when she appears to lure Cardona with her words once more, preventing Millan from pulling the trigger. Barbara uses this opening to flee with some of her men, who then kill Millan on the way out. Next, Susi appears to the policeman when he awakens in a hospital room where she has come to see him.
He inquires about Cardona, but Susi responds that no one knows his whereabouts because he appears to have vanished. Then, Susi passes Millan a phone playing a video, and Millan discovers, surprisingly, that a group of men has now abducted his daughter. As she records the footage, Barbara is ultimately found to be the one who did this.
According to dmtalkies, Santo was never a male, contrary to what everyone thought from the start; she was always Santo. Although she was the occult gang’s leader, she had always maintained anonymity by feigning to be the drug lord’s lover. With this knowledge, it is evident that she leveraged Cardona’s attraction to her and her feelings for her to create a smooth exit from Brazil and entry into Spain.
She is also clever enough to attempt to have the police officers who are investigating her case kill children while recording it on camera. The fact that Barbara allowed Cardona to watch the film of him killing the child suggests that she was confident in her ability to influence him, and in the end, her bold move paid off. Cardona spares her from being killed or arrested, despite knowing she is Santo and genuinely evil.
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