History of the Occult

The late-night show 60 Minutos Antes de la Medianoche begins its 11 p.m. broadcast in a Buenos Aires studio. Host Alfredo is set to interview Senator Matías Linares, sociologist Daniel Aguilar, and Adrián Marcato, while the journalists watch from a safe house, anticipating a revelation that could expose Belasco’s alleged crimes and occult ties.

The show's producers and journalists monitor the live broadcast from a secure safe house. Natalia is out in the city searching for a secret base that supposedly houses the critical evidence the investigation needs. The mounting tension centers on whether Marcato will confirm Belasco’s involvement on air.

On air, Marcato presses Linares about how many daughters he has. Linares answers two, but Marcato insists there is a third, one he doesn’t remember, hinting that she has been 'given up' and suggesting realities beyond the current one. The exchange deepens the sense that manipulation and hidden truths steer the political landscape.

Von Merkens Labs supplies four doses of hallucinogenic tannis root to the journalists, intended to fuel a ritual that will help Natalia locate the elusive evidence. The root’s power is presented as a necessary tool to pierce the conspirators’ veil. Natalia’s mission hinges on obtaining this evidence before midnight.

Marcato calmly admits that he is a warlock, having been initiated into the dark arts as a child by his grandmother. The confession reframes the conspiracy as a personal pact with occult forces rather than a simple political scandal. The revelation raises the stakes for everyone involved in the broadcast.

Under Abel’s guidance, Maria, Jorge, and Lucio participate in a séance-like ritual. They experience disturbing visions — a flashing red light, a burned figure, and a tentacled being — which blur the line between reality and occult influence. The visions foreshadow a larger cosmological conspiracy behind Belasco’s rule.

A flashback reveals Marcato was cast out of his coven and struck a deal with the journalists: they would help unmask Belasco on national television if they obtained one of the coven’s artifacts hidden in secret bases across Buenos Aires. The memory reframes the journalists’ alliance as a centuries-old bargain with occult powers.

Back in the present, Lucio goes missing and Abel is found dead. Maria asserts Abel was a warlock infiltrated by the coven, and she killed him after he killed Lucio and attacked her. The internal conflict within the team escalates, and trust fractures under the pressure of the investigation.

Natalia has already retrieved the coven’s artifact but is being stalked by a coven member. She shoots the pursuer, securing the artifact for the final moments of the broadcast. The pursuit underscores the immediacy of the threat closing in on the journalists.

Natalia makes it back to the studio with the artifact — a modern smartphone that serves as the centerpiece of the evidence. She hands it to Alfredo as the tension peaks, marking a turning point in the live investigation. The studio becomes the focal point for the revelation.

Marcato phones his daughter and reveals that Kingdom Corporate is a coven of warlocks who engineered Belasco’s rise to power. He explains their plan to seize control and urges his daughter to read a word from a book aloud. The confession reframes the political crisis as a metaphysical conspiracy.

As Marcato addresses the viewers, he utters the word from the book, and the broadcast ends in a jarring moment of transition to color. Marcato has seemingly vanished, leaving Alfredo and the audience stunned. Maria and Jorge, still in black-and-white, stare at the TV in silent disbelief.