Mexico's first female police force returns to action in the second season of "Las Azules" ("Women in Blue"), with a storyline woven around two massacres of student protesters that helped define an era of heavy-handed state repression.
The Spanish-language Apple TV series centres on four women in pursuit of personal growth and social change in patriarchal Mexico of the 1970s.
The sophomore season opens a day after a paramilitary force known as Los Halcones attacked a student protest in Mexico City in June 1971, killing or wounding dozens of demonstrators.
When a young man is found dead in murky circumstances, the four "Azules" indirectly take the lead in an investigation that points to the police force and ties back to the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre, in which dozens of leftist student protesters were gunned down by the army shortly before Mexico hosted the Olympics.
"The investigation is going to delve deeply into the subject, not just the institution of the police force itself, but also the 1971 student massacre, bringing all of that back into the present to see what was behind it all; what wasn't seen, what wasn't said, what wasn't resolved, because the killings continue, and people are still disappearing in Mexico," said Bárbara Mori, who plays María, now promoted to lieutenant.
"It's a pretty intense season, just talking about it gives me goosebumps."
The show's co-creator, writer, director and executive producer Fernando Rovzar wanted to tell a gritty crime story with a touch of traditional Mexican melodrama that exposes wrong-doing in the establishment. A lot of research went into ensuring the events were portrayed with honesty, responsibility and respect, he said.
"One of the things I love about Mexico is that it's one big grey area. I think this season was an opportunity to really test the moral compass of the four 'Azules'," said Rovzar. "Do they defend the system that they know is wrong or do they defend their own principles, even though they have to go against the system?"
The eight-episode season shows the foursome navigating new territory on and off duty, said Ximena Sariñana, who plays Ángeles, with "all going through transitions, trying to adapt to what the expectation is of a woman in their specific situation."
Season two starts streaming on August 12, with one episode released weekly through September 30, and Rovzar is ready to carry on.
"There's so many stories we can still tackle, issues from the past that are also relevant today that we can continue to take over," he said. "The pen's in my hand and I'm ready for another one."
