Reviewed by Alicia Glass 

When a plane bound for Houston crashes in the jungles of Guatemala, nine dead bodies wind up in a Mexican morgue, presenting authorities with a gripping mystery of how they died. 

Presented over six episodes in a series of past event and present investigation vignettes, the show is fairly similar to the beloved if incomprehensible Lost series, being set with plane crash survivors lost in the jungle. Each and every person is a suspect in this whodunit, so make sure your seatbelt is buckled, and lets dive into this! 

So the Aero Lux plane flight from Guatemala to Houston is experiencing turbulence while still in the air, and the pilot does his best but ultimately the plane crashes in the jungle, killing the stewardess outright and wounding the pilot pretty grievously. And thus we begin meeting our cast of survivors, beginning with the Doc, Kevin (Eric McCormack), whom the others insist that, despite being a former Doctor now in disgrace, Kevin needs to do his best to treat the obviously failing pilot. Next up we have Zack (David Ajala), who claims to be some kind of insurance claims adjuster but ends up taking on a leadership type of role awfully quickly. Our proud MAGA married couple Travis (Olafur Darri Olafson) and Lisa Davies (Siobhan McSweeney) exemplify right wing values, right down to breaking out the hunting rifle they tried to hide so that our survivors may have meat to eat, though they do surprisingly share the bounty amongst everyone. The PTSD-laden Amy (Jan Le) and her former driver turned new husband Dan Maclean (Adam Long) are lying to both each-other and the other survivors, mostly about their past exploits. Sonja Blair (Lydia Wilson) is the rather taciturn Brit who, as with the rest, knows far more than she’s letting on, but whether any of it is relevant to their current circumstances remains to be seen. Carlos (Peter Gadiot) is a bit of a wild card, but given the luchador training regimen he sticks to even in the jungle and the reverence for his heroic luchador mask and role, it seems unlikely he’s the killer. 

One could posit that the death of the pilot is the first official kill of the number of survivors, though it could be explained away as non-survivable injuries from the crash. So, who’s next? Pill-popping large man Travis, he who provided a monkey for meat for their first official meal here in the jungle, appears to have gotten some black angel mushrooms in his food, and it’s highly unlikely that that was any kind of accident. Then while some of our survivors trek up a mountain to see if they can’t transmit a signal from their jerry-rigged equipment, severely unhelpful confrontations ensue between those who stayed behind. And when our beloved heroic luchador Carlos, even with muscles on his muscles and his continual training, gets got by someone wearing his own mask and a hoodie, it’s clear that someone is killing the survivors of the Aero Lux plane crash. The question ultimately is, along with who of course, is why? 

Back in the present, the Mexican military forces are investigating the deaths of the survivors, led by beleaguered Captain Gabriel Vega (Angel Lopes-Silva) and his Second Lieutenant Ignacio Lopez (Sebastian Capitan Viveros). Right away they both despair of the mysteries the several bodies now inhabiting their morgue presents, most especially when it’s pointed out that while there might be nine bodies resting in the morgue, there are 10 passports in the Captain’s possession, which means, someones missing and may still be in the jungle. Cora De Leon (Carolina Guerra) claims to be the owner of Aero Lux flights and wants to be involved in the investigation, and while it’s clear she has a vested interest in what happened to the survivors and the plane itself, her reasons for such interest are much more murky. Dr. Sofia Guijarro (Gloria Garcia), the Medical Examiner from Monterey, is sent to examine the bodies, though it becomes rapidly clear that the good Doctor is involved in some sort of government conspiracy concerning the survivors’ corpses too. And finally we have Claire Sundiata (Deborah Ayorinde), spouse to the obviously-not-an-insurance-claims-adjuster Zack, herself a law enforcement officer, worried out of her mind for her man dealing with all this nonsense in some godforsaken Guatemalan jungle. 

Plenty of clues as to the real reason for the survivor executions are sprinkled throughout the jungle scenes, its even mentioned by the Mexican government and law enforcement several times as a possibility, but is officially shown so there could be no doubt to the viewers in episode 3. Things kind of degenerate from there with some rather brutal confrontations and executions, but pick up again in the 6th and final episode, where the entire conspiracy – plane crash, systematic survivor executions, transportation of illegal goods via wicked means, fiery cover-up – is laid bare for the viewers delectation. And if you’ve dutifully watched and paid attention this far, the very-very ending of the final episode offers up an irony worth grinning over. 

Rifle through Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue to see who you think did it, on the MGM+ channel now!