Call of the Void

**Call of the Void** is the premier episode of the Paramount Plus series Coyote. It was released for internet streaming on 7 Jan 2021.

## Synopsis

Recently retired after 32 years of service with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, Ben Clemens finds himself personally involved in a young pregnant woman's plight as she tries to escape the clutches of a Mexican Cartel.

## Plot

The premiere episode of **Coyote** opens with a scene showing a group of people in the process of being smuggled out of Mexico in a livestock truck. The truck makes a stop and the smugglers (Coyotes), give each person a vest containing drugs as it appears that the Coyotes are also drug smugglers. When one of the immigrants refuses, he is shot dead and three of his fellow immigrants run away into the night. The escapees begin the journey to the border on foot. As they approach the border wall, they see a rather unusual sight - an Anglo man walking into Mexico from the direction of a hole in the fence. The escapees give him water, but no words are spoken as the man walks past them and continues into Mexico.

Five days earlier, CBP (Customers and Border Protection) agent Ben Clemens stops into a U-Store facility on the American side of the border wall to use the bathroom. In the bathroom, he notices an irregularity with one of the floor tiles. Using a large knife, he pries up the tile and discovers a vertical shaft with a ladder built into the wall. Ben calls for backup and climbs down the shaft which leads to a large tunnel, he encounters several men who appear to be smugglers. He engages the men and subdues them with force and tear gas.

Ben's backup arrives and many law enforcement personnel assist to control the situation. Ben receives a pat on the back from his boss and is told to go back the station.

At the station, Ben walks in on his surprise retirement party that he did not want. He is retiring from the CBP after 32 years of service.

At his home the next day, the wife of his former partner, Javi, who apparently died recently, visits him with her two children. They discuss her financial difficulties that were brought on by a cabin that Javi is building near the beach in a small town called Puerto Libre. Ben has volunteered to go to the cabin and try to complete it so that it can be sold. Ben drives down to the cabin, discovering that it is still only a frame and has a lot of work left to do. Adjacent to the cabin is a trailer that Javi was living in while he was working on the cabin. The trailer is filled with spoiled food and trash and Ben spends a good amount of time cleaning it up.

Ben drives to a local Taqueria that he knew Javi liked and meets the proprietor, Silvia. Javi is well known and Silvia said that he was a good man. Several local Mexican policeman overhear their conversation and also put in good words for Javi. As they talk, a group of young Mexican men walk into the restaurant and demand food. One of the men appears to have a relationship with the young, pregnant girl who was serving the food to Ben. When the men attempt to leave without paying, the local Mexican policeman, Neto Mendez, tells them that they have to pay. The situation gets a little tense, but they eventually pay and leave the restaurant.

Ben receives a call from his ex-wife, Jill reminding him that there is a graduation party for their daughter, Katie the following day. Ben had apparently forgotten this important event, but he tells her that he will be there.

The next day at the party, Ben arrives with his friend and most recent partner, Garrett. Appearing very uncomfortable, Ben congratulates his daughter and tells her how proud he is of her.

Returning to Mexico, Ben stops for dinner at Silvia's Taqueria. Later, while driving to the cabin, Maria, the young, pregnant waitress, appears from where she was hiding in the back seat and asks Ben to take her to the U.S. Ben refuses and instead, delivers her to Neto at the local police station and asks him to take her home.

While driving back to the cabin, Ben is pursued by several vehicles and has his front tire shot out which forces him to stop. The men in the truck drag Ben over to a car where he sees Maria sitting next to one of the men from the previous day's altercation at the Taqueria. This man, Dante tells Ben to stay away from his woman.

Next morning, Ben has apparently made it back to the cabin and he is continuing to clean the trailer when Maria appears and begins pounding on his door. He starts to tell her to go away, but he sees that her face looks like she has been beaten, so he goes to comfort her. He takes her inside and then makes a call to Garrett to ask him to begin the process for asylum in the U.S. for Maria. While he is on the phone, he notices a car approaching and he tells Maria to hide.

Two men arrive and search the trailer for Maria while holding Ben at gunpoint. When Maria is discovered, she fights the man and is able to squirt expanding foam into his mouth which suffocates him. Meanwhile, Ben has started fighting with the other man and ultimately takes his gun and regains control. However, the man has a cell phone in his hand and is able to get off a text message. Ben still has the gun trained on him and is telling him to drop the phone, when Maria comes out of the trailer with a pistol and fires 7 shots at the man, killing him too. Ben reads the text message that was sent and it says "Con la migra", meaning that Ben and Maria are not safe and have to leave.

Ben and Maria are last seen driving off into the country knowing that nowhere is safe.

## Cast

* Juan Pablo Raba as Juan Diego "El Catrin" Zamora
* Adriana Paz as Silvia Peña
* Kristyan Ferrer as Dante Zamora
* Octavio Pisano as Sultan
* Julio Cedillo as Neto Mendez
* Cynthia Kaye McWilliams as Holly Vincent
* George Pullar as Garrett Cox
* Drew Powell as Joe Don Walker
* Amy Forsyth as Kate Clemens
* Michele Nordin as Valerie Lopez
* Omar Leyva as Alvaro

With* Mark Feuerstein as Frank Kerr

## Galleries

### Main Characters

Ben ClemensJuan Diego "El Catrin" ZamoraSilvia PeñaDante ZamoraSultanNeto MendezHolly Vincent
### Supporting Characters

Jill KerrGarrett CoxJoe Don WalkerKate ClemensValerie LopezAlvaroFrank Kerr