TAKING A CHANCE

Mark counters Sir Bruce’s offer with one condition. Violette and Mark find romance.  Flores entertains new guests in Iquitos and gets a welcomed surprise.

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At the bar Sir Bruce continues to pitch Mark, who asks obvious questions about the trip. Again supported by imagery, Sir Bruce narrates a sequence involving an attempt made by four Englishmen to confirm these suspicions.

At the pier in Iquitos, Flores shakes hands with Captain Wilson of the Lanfranc, the ship responsible for transporting world travelers and raw rubber exports. Wilson slips him a list detailing his passengers and motions toward four men disembarking the ship. Flores studies the men and quickly hands Wilson an envelope of cash and a pat on the back.

Sir Bruce tells of Captain Wilson likely being on paid off by Flores to spot any possible troublemakers. His story continues as the four men visit the Odellana collection center where nothing seems unusual.  Of the four who traveled in, three came back with reports of a clean operation. However the fourth man has yet to return and Sir Bruce fears the worst.

Mark is intrigued by the offer but hesitates to immediately accept. He asks if Bruce would be willing to provide half the $5m reward as a personal loan, which would allow him to regain control of Mann Rubber Company. Bruce appreciates Mark’s rational and confirms he can.

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Mark and Violette confess their feelings for each other and they consummate their relationship after an overdue evening alone in NYC. A night that makes Mark’s decision to accept Sir Bruce’s offer even more complicated.

With a new sense of admiration for Mark and his dreams, Violette accepts his decision to take Sir Bruce up on his offer and travel into the Amazon. Sam, on the other hand, chastises his partner’s decision as an irresponsible, half-witted adventure and stands firmly against it.  In fact, the day he boards the ship, Sam refuses to even see Mark off.  However Violette is there, very much in love.

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At the pier, Captain Wilson docks the Lanfranc carrying Mark and dozen others visiting the Amazon for their own particular reasons. Wilson sends his list of passengers up to Flores via Pepe Lopez, a ten year old Peruvian Indian boy who runs through the town of Iquitos and into the office of Pablo Flores. The cunning Flores studies the list then decides to invite to dinner a few of the visitors he’s curious about, including Mark.

During the dinner Flores pays little attention to Mark, or anyone beyond Baron Heinrich von Stimme, a German aristocratic visitor who is rendered awestruck in the presence of Flores’s daugher Felicidad. This unexpected crush overwhelms Flores, mostly because he’s had little hope for his daughter, who is quite homely. Flores is consumed by the prospect of this rich suitor which allows Mark to speak freely with Manual Vargas, an artist brought in to paint portraits of Flores’ family.  The gentle and intelligent Vargas surprises Mark with his knowledge of, and more importantly his concern for, the treacherous rumors surrounding the local rubber trade.

The next day, Mark is taken down river for a tour of the Odellana rubber collection station. The director comes off as ‘glib’ and the operation a bit too ‘model’ for Mark’s liking. His sense tells him there’s something sinister here, but he has no recourse for action. Until that night when he is visited by the young Pepe Lopez, whom he defended in a local scuffle earlier that day. The youngster trusts Mark and persuades him to venture into the night to his Indian village outside of town. It’s here that Mark sees Pepe’s mutilated and dying uncle and learns first hand of the inhumane and routine atrocities occurring deeper in the jungle.