Six hours after Ernie vanishes, Art confronts federale Colonel Vega and threatens war. Vega orders raids across Guadalajara but nets no senior Federación figures. At Tío’s condo, Art finds a Mexico Federal Judicial Police (MFJP) photo of Ernie, confirming police involvement in Ernie’s disappearance. Meanwhile, in a safe house, a former DFS interrogator known as “the Doctor” tortures Ernie with an ice pick, demanding the identity of Source Chupar, a source Ernie knows nothing about.

Tim Taylor dispatches Antonio Ramos, a notoriously brutal DFS officer, to assist. After Art agrees to “the fast way,” Ramos beats suspects until they admit Ernie was delivered to Güero Méndez, Raúl Barrera, and Doctor Álvarez. Art asks Archbishop Parada to issue a public appeal; Parada goes on radio and threatens excommunication to intimidate people into providing them with leads. A subsequent raid yields an address, but Ernie has already been moved to Güero’s Sinaloa ranch. Tío arrives to oversee the torture as the Doctor burns Ernie with a white-hot iron, also pressing him about “Cerberus,” a term Ernie doesn’t recognize.

Ernie’s disappearance triggers a bust in the United States, allowing the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to arrest Peaches. Reviewing photographs from the Peaches bust, Art spots Sal Scachi, whom Russ Dantzler identifies as a Cimino Family soldier. Adán suddenly calls Art and, with Parada guaranteeing safety for both men, arranges a meeting in a cathedral confessional. Art offers to shut down his operations, resign from the DEA, and leave Mexico in exchange for Ernie’s release. Before Art can follow through, Güero gives Ernie a final heroin dose to sedate him for transport; it kills him. Art finds Ernie’s tortured body in a Badiraguato ditch. Ramos tracks Tío to El Salvador, where Art and Ramos seize him, but CIA-backed operative Sal Scachi intervenes, revealing Tío is part of Operation Cerberus, a guns-for-drugs scheme funding the Contras.

On September 19, 1985, Nora Hayden wakes in her seventh-floor room at the Regis Hotel in Mexico City as a massive earthquake hits. She fights down a swaying stairwell; in the lobby, debris buries her, but a fallen beam creates an air pocket. Rescuers pull her free moments before a gas leak ignites and the hotel collapses. Ten miles away, Archbishop Juan Parada is saying Mass when his cathedral’s towers collapse, killing 25 worshippers. He stands unscathed at the altar and feels a profound rupture in his faith. He is sent to Mexico City to lead relief efforts.

That night, Nora joins volunteers digging through rubble. In La Alameda Park, she stops Parada from lighting a cigarette near a gas leak; they introduce themselves to each other. When Parada voices his doubt, Nora advises him to act as if he believes and use his authority to help. At the papal nunciature, Parada leverages Church aid for a promise to normalize diplomatic relations with the Vatican, then threatens to expose the government’s exploitation of the crisis unless he leads the relief effort and is made a cardinal.

In Tijuana, Adán Barrera meets with officials from the ruling government party, Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and, by channeling drug money into earthquake relief and future elections, secures Tío’s safe return from exile. It is agreed that García Abrego will head the Federación; Tío will retire. Following Tío’s strategy, Adán and Raúl move to take the Baja Plaza from Güero Méndez. Raúl cultivates the sons of Tijuana’s elite, also called “The Juniors,” drawing them into the business. One recruit, Fabián Martínez, murders a boxer and a promoter; Raúl dubs him “El Tiburón.” Publicly, Adán and his wife Lucía build a respectable image, laundering money through a growing restaurant chain, while Raúl enforces collections with extreme violence.

In December 1985, Sean Callan works as a carpenter’s apprentice in New York, trying to leave crime behind. Peaches has been indicted for cocaine trafficking but hasn’t implicated Callan or O-Bop. With underboss Neill Demonte dying, a succession struggle looms between Johnny Boy Cozzo and Big Paulie Calabrese’s choice, his chauffeur Tommy Bellavia. Months earlier, Callan fell in love with Siobhan, a woman from Belfast who despises gangsters, and agreed to go straight. After Demonte dies, Callan attends the funeral despite Siobhan’s objections; Peaches confronts him but ultimately blesses his exit.

The next night, Sal Scachi forces Callan into a car and orders one last hit: Calabrese and Bellavia. When Callan refuses, Scachi threatens Siobhan. Callan agrees, but Siobhan finds the submachine gun Scachi gave him under their bed. Unable to explain his job without endangering her, he leaves with the gun and travel documents Scachi provided. Siobhan tells him she no longer loves him.

Nora flies to New York with other sex workers for a party that turns out to be Peaches’s farewell at Sparks Steak House, a sit-down between Cozzo’s faction and Big Paulie brokered by Scachi. Outside, Scachi signals Callan. As Calabrese and Bellavia arrive, Callan guns them down in the street and escapes in a waiting car. Inside, Scachi announces the boss is dead; Cozzo calmly pours champagne, implying his involvement in the hit. In the getaway car, Callan finds cash, a passport, and tickets to South America. Crossing the Triborough Bridge, he looks back at Manhattan and thinks of the life he has lost with Siobhan.