The Head of Joaquín Murrieta (TV Series Review)

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

The Head of Joaquín Murrieta is set after the end of the Mexican-American War of 1846-48 with the Mexicans losing half their land. Joaquín Murrieta (Jose Manuel Bernal) rises out of the remnants to deliver vengeance to those that have wronged him, along with reward to the families displaced and left behind by the conflict. He’s an almost mythical figure like Robin Hood, with a much more brutal edge.

Murrieta rides with his protege, Adela (Becky Zhu Wu), whom he sort of acts as a surrogate father-figure to, even though they don’t really get along. She is as fierce with a pistol as he is. Murrieta and Adela are both wanted dead or alive (preferably dead) and their heads carry serious bounties.

Since this takes place after the Mexican-American War, The United States has already begun dividing and expanding the territories that have become the new South Western states, like California. The United States Military has soldiers patrolling some of those borders in question. The bad luck of the draw for the native Mexican people is that if they owned land and homes in Mexico in what is now California, they lose it all by default. Should they refuse to leave, they are killed and their property is taken anyway.

Becky Zhu Wu as Adela was awesome and one of the bigger standouts of the series. She brings a fierce and sincere presence to the show. The timeline of the show begins at the end of the Mexican-American War and start of the Gold Rush, which is why there’s a large Chinese immigrant community there. With the displacement of people there’s also a large indigenous community that is also represented on the show.

The original title of the series is La Cabeza de Joaquín Murrieta and it is a multi-lingual show from Amazon Studios. The original soundtrack is in Spanish with English, Indigenous, and Chinese languages throughout the 8-episode season. Optional subtitles are also provided. The show has a great look and has a nice budget and expansive feel; I would rank it high on my list, along with Amazon’s The English and AMC+’s That Dirty Black Bag.

I watched The Head of Joaquín Murrieta in 4K HDR / 5.1 and I have seen some people on Amazon drag the score down, because they don’t like dubbed shows. I watched it in Spanish (Español (Latinoamérica)) and I left the English subtitles on since there are more non-English languages spoken throughout the series as the episodes move along. The 5.1 surround sound is great and it does not sound “low” contrary to what the Amazon reviews say.

The Head of Joaquín Murrieta was an awesome western romp and I heartily recommend it. Embrace the western!

The Head of Joaquín Murrieta is streaming in its entirety on Prime Video

• Rating Certificate: 18+ (Nudity, violence, alcohol use, smoking, foul language, sexual content)
• Show Creators: Mauricio Leiva-Cock | Diego Ramírez-Schrempp
• Release Date: 17 February 2023
• Streaming Service: Amazon Prime Video
• Episode Run Time: Aprox. 39 Mins.
• Number of Episodes: 8
• Studios & Distributors: Amazon Studios | Dynamo | Fidelio