Between Lands episode 4 recap: María turns detective

Maria and Manuel talk behind bars in Between Lands episode 4.
María wants to get to the bottom of a murder mystery in Between Lands episode 4. (Image credit: Netflix)

Between Lands (Entre Tierras) episode 4 sees María investigate a murder mystery in a bid to prove her husband's innocence after he becomes the main suspect in a crime.

Secrets and lies run rampant in the town as María battles to expose the truth and get justice for the victim.

Here's everything that happened in Between Lands episode 4...

The episode opens with a flashback to Llanos walking down a dark road and wiping away her tears as a mysterious car pulls up behind her.

Back in present day, Manuel picks out a blue dress from Llanos' wardrobe to bury her with and Justa struggles with the death of her friend.

María asks Justa if Llanos spoke to her about someone called Jorge and mentions that she found a letter Llanos wrote to him, adding that he may want to know what happened to her.

"So you've also realized. If she didn't leave, what happened? That's what the whole town will be wondering," Justa says.

At her funeral, Llanos' brother Alonso arrives, who hasn't been in the town for years and Manuel is arrested for Llanos' murder. Ramón is hellbent on proving Manuel's innocence and Pepita warns María not to come into the town for her safety.

Ramón and María visit the police station where they find Alonso talking to the police sergeant about Llanos' inheritance. A furious Alonso gets into an argument with Ramón when he accuses Manuel of killing her and keeping all her inheritance for the farm.

The sergeant soon drops the bombshell that Llanos was pregnant and if Manuel is found guilty, he faces the death penalty.

María visits Manuel in his cell where he promises her that he didn't kill Llanos and she believes him. She tells him about the letter Llanos wrote to another man, which confirms his suspicions that she had someone else. He admits that they were too young when they got married and life on the farm was too boring for a woman like her. 

Manuel also confesses that he realized too late that he had lost Llanos as he was busy working all the time.

In another flashback, we see Nicolás interrupt Llanos as she is about to leave the farm. He asks where she's going and if he can come with her, but she tells him that it's a secret and promises to come back for him.

Manuel runs after Llanos and begs her for answers, trying to persuade her to run away with him and Nicolás to start a new life far away from the farm. However, she tells him the crushing news that she's leaving with someone else and that is the last time Manuel sees Llanos.

In the cell, Manuel realizes that Llanos was in a hurry to leave because she didn't want him to notice she was pregnant, to which María suggests that Jorge killed her. Manuel is doubtful to María's claims as he says no one knows who Jorge is and that he "only exists in rumors."

Determined to prove Manuel's innocence, María sets out to expose Llanos' lover and asks Ramón if he knew anyone that worked for him called Jorge, but he is too distracted to give her an answer.

Justa brings food to Manuel's cell and is also convinced that Jorge killed Llanos. Manuel says that if they can find Jorge he could be spared the death penalty.

Alonso pays a visit to his nephew Nicolás, who he has never met due to an argument with the Cervantes before he was born. Alonso is eager to put the fractured family relationship behind him for the sake of Llanos and Nicolás, but María becomes irritated with him when he asks her what she will do when Manuel is executed.

Maria wearing a black veil in church as Alonso sits behind her.

Llanos' brother Alonso shows up in the town. (Image credit: Netflix)

He is certain that Manuel killed Llanos and is trying to protect María as she reminds him of his sister. Alonso manipulates María by telling her that she will be left with no money after Manuel's death and that if she helps him get the money Llanos put into the farm, he will give her a share. 

María asks Alonso about Jorge, but has no luck in getting an answer. Later on, Justa confesses to María that she knew Llanos was seeing another man and asked her to look after the letters he wrote to her.

As María looks through the letters, she finally gets some much-needed answers as Justa tells her about Llanos' lover, Jorge Ortuno. She explains he is a lawyer from Guadalajara and that he also had a wife and children. Justa feels guilty that she thought Llanos was still alive after receiving no news and assumed it was because she was happy and well. 

María and Justa both have the same goal in proving that Manuel is innocent, so María goes to Guadalajara to see Jorge. In his office, he swears that he didn't have anything to do with Llanos' murder and is blindsided when María tells him that Llanos was pregnant.

Jorge has no idea about the baby and says that he never saw her that night she disappeared. In another flashback, Jorge is seen waiting for Llanos by his car, but she never arrives. 

Jorge tells María that he kept quiet about Llanos as the rumors didn't align well with his job and he had a family to go back to. Before she leaves, María gives him a letter Llanos wrote to him.

Back home, María looks at the letters Alonso wrote to Llanos about the dowry and the family's inheritance, concerned that they might have got it wrong. But Justa is trying to solve another mystery about Llanos...

"Of everything you told me, there's something I don't get. Llanos' pregnancy wasn't showing. She was only a few weeks along. Not even her lover knew about it. So why run away so hastily? Manuel wouldn't have realized for weeks," Justa tells María.

Justa looks at Maria.

Justa and María try to solve Llanos' murder. (Image credit: Netflix)

Their suspicions grow even more when María reads a letter from Alonso threatening to pay Llanos a visit if she refuses to answer him about the family's inheritance.

Later on, Alonso meets María at the church after agreeing to help him get Llanos' money back from the farm. After convincing him that she is on his side, she hits back that she knows all about his threatening letters to Llanos.

Backed into a corner, Alonso admits she's right but insists that he didn't do anything, but María catches him out by saying they can both benefit from her death and he eventually confesses the horrifying truth that he murdered Llanos.

The flashback shows Alonso pull up behind Llanos in his car as she walks to meet Jorge. They argue about the family inheritance and Alonso demands that she get back the money from the farm because he spent all of his inheritance. 

Things take a terrifying turn when Llanos refuses to do as Alonso asks and he kills her in a fit of rage. He then disposes of her body in the river.

Alonso threatens to kill María in the empty church, but María is one step ahead and the Civil Guard have heard his whole confession as they emerge from the shadows to arrest him.

In a shocking turn of events, it's revealed that Justa saw Alonso kill Llanos that night and has been keeping it a secret for years.

Manuel is released from jail and he and María nearly kiss in bed when they're interrupted by the phone ringing. María answers it and her sister Luisa tells her that Guillermo has typhoid and she needs to come home right away.

As Maria packs her bag, Ramón protests her decision to leave but Manuel defends her, causing his uncle to back down. Nicolas voices his fears to María that she won't come back and she's quick to reassure him by giving him a special book to look after until she returns. 

After learning that he can't read or write, María promises to teach Nicolas when she comes back and as Nicolas helps her pack, a picture falls onto the floor.

María is in for a shock when she sees Manuel and Justa together in the stables as she waits for him in the car. Just as María is about to get on the bus to Almería, Manuel tells her that she doesn't have to come back and will send her the money.

Having rumbled his affair, she's not interested in what he has to say when he tells her that he wants her to come back and marry her.

An angry María claps back that he should ask Justa to marry him, revealing that she knows all about their affair. Manuel tries to stop her and explain, but she refuses and he watches the bus drive away.

When she arrives in Almería, María is stunned to find her former lover José in her home who tells her that Guillermo is better.

Between Lands is available to watch on Netflix now.

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Grace Morris
Staff Writer

Grace is a freelancer writer with WhatToWatch.com, and she now writes for our sister site TechRadar. She graduated from Anglia Ruskin University in 2020 with a degree in Writing and Film Studies, which only made her love for creative writing, film and TV grow stronger.

You'll usually find her watching the drama unfold in the latest reality series or much-loved UK soaps (usually with chocolate by her side!). She's an expert in EastEnders, Emmerdale, Coronation Street and everything reality-related from Selling Sunset and Married At First Sight UK to 90 Day Fiancé UK. Plus Netflix megahit Virgin River!

Grace also likes to explore new places with her friends and family and, of course, watch and read about the latest films and TV series.