This article contains spoilers for Iron Reign episode 1, "The Law of the Port". Iron Reign is a Spanish Netflix thriller that takes us to the Port of Barcelona for a tense crime caper that revolves around Joaquín Manchado.
Joaquín has been running the port's main terminal for decades, and in that time, he's built an impressive criminal network and become a key figure in drug trafficking.
Episode 1 demonstrates exactly how much control Joaquín has of the port, and sees him making preparations for a huge shipment that is due to arrive within a matter of days. Unbeknownst to him, though, there's an undercover agent on-site gathering info about his latest move which could bring down the Manchado Organization from the inside. Here's our full recap of Iron Reign episode 1.
The Law of the Port
After setting up the port of Barcelona as being a key point in the cocaine trade, we join some dockworkers getting changed to leave after their shift has ended. One of them, Navarro, slips a bundle from his locked inside his coat and starts walking home in a storm. During his walk home, two men in a car stop and call out to him.
Flaco, the guy behind the wheel, asks where he’s off to, and why he finished late. Flaco calls him over and tells him to get in the car. Navarro refuses, but some more men bundle him into the back seat, and they drive off, whilst some other workers watch on and do nothing.
Another man, Joaquín Manchado Salas, arrives in the rain and walks up to a shipping container. Inside, Navarro’s being tortured, as he’s been stealing drugs from the Manchados. A bloodied Navarro begs for forgiveness and swears it’ll never happen again. Joaquín scolds Navarro for not following the law of the port, like his father did.
Joaquín tells his fellow men that you have to kill “the rats” at port to keep the others at bay, and warns that there can be no forgiveness in Navarro’s case, seeing as his father — a man Joaquín respected — must have told him the rules Navarro had to follow.
After the titles, Joaquín arrives at port for a new day of work and begins his rounds. He stops by an on-site bar for his coffee. Then, he goes in search of his son, Ricardo. He's a truck driver at the port, and Joaquín warns that he needs to be on top form for a big shipment that's coming in soon.
Afterwards, he checks in with Néstor, the Head of Customs, and his men conducting random inspections. He reminds Néstor to keep his men loyal and informs him of the big shipment. After that, Joaquín drops by the port office, where his daughter, Rocio, informs him that there's a bottleneck of ships waiting to come in that's been caused by a faulty container crane. If it's not fixed soon, she'll have to divert the waiting vessels to other ports to drop off their shipments.
Recognizing this could jeopardize his big score, Joaquín says he'll deal with the issue personally. He asks the workers at the crane for solutions; they tell him they would be able to swap out the crane console within a few hours, but only if they have the right part. Joaquín's contact Luis tells him over the phone he won't be able to get his hands on the parts at this short notice, so Joaquín calls in a favor.
He visits Molina, another port director, and asks him to temporarily switch off one of his cranes so he can borrow the necessary parts. Molina refuses... until Joaquín produces a video of him in bed with someone else, and threatens to send it to Molina's wife. With the part secured, Joaquín returns to the bar and orders the men back to work.
Defending the Tampico
Joaquín is seen warning Roman, one of the workers, to prioritize his incoming shipment of drugs over others. Then, we see Néstor catching up with Victor (one of the workers stationed at the faulty crane). Néstor is married to Rocio, and the three of them are old friends who are excited to learn Victor's going to be helping out around the port.
In the evening, Joaquín arrives at a glitzy awards evening alongside Néstor and Rocio held by The Consortium for Promotion and Enterprise, a European Business Association. There, he and Néstor discuss the upcoming shipment with Massimo Carfora. It will arrive within two days, aboard the Tampico. Carfora knows about the bottleneck, but Joaquín assures him everything will be okay.
We then hop over to the Tampico in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Crewmen spot a pirate vessel heading straight for them and try to call for help. Downstairs, we see a handful of smugglers drinking, but when they hear the alarm going off, they rush to grab guns to defend the cargo. This group is led by Lucía and Ariel, children of the Pereira clan.
The pirates climb aboard and start taking hostages. The captain wants to negotiate with them, but Lucía and Ariel warn him instead to find a hiding spot if he wants to make it to Barcelona alive. A firefight breaks out between the two groups. The gang members start to get the upper hand, but the pirate captain captures and threatens to execute Lucía; Ariel manages to take him out just in time to save her life. They've still got 48 hours of their journey to Barcelona remaining.
Meanwhile, we see a figure on a motorcycle arriving at a meeting spot overlooking the port. The mystery motorcyclist is Victor, who is revealed to be an undercover agent. Victor's contact warns that, if they can land the Pereiras and Massimo Carfora in this investigation, this could be the largest successful drug trafficking raid in a decade for Spain.
The episode ends with Joaquín being recognized as Businessman of the Year for serving over 30 years with the Maritime Consortium and presiding over Terminal A at the port of Barcelona. Victor, meanwhile, continues to reveal his findings to his contact: he's learned that the Civil Guard is also involved with the Manchados Organization; if he can somehow intercept the impending delivery, they reason they might also bring Manchado's reign to an end.
Iron Reign is now streaming on Netflix.
