Who is Lil’ Ricky in On My Block?
In the lore of the show, Lil’ Ricky was one of the trio of people responsible for the ‘81 RollerWorld heist, the money from which was discovered by the core four in Season 1. All three of these criminals were thought to have died, but in Season 3 Chuchillos revealed that she thought Lil’ Ricky was still alive and blackmailed the show’s heroes into finding him.
Although they do not find out the identity of Lil’ Ricky, a number of characters may in secret be him according to fan theories:
Cesar’s father
One new cast member who shows up in On My Block Season 3 is the dad of Cesar (Diego Tinoco), who we know has some gang affiliations and is mysterious enough that some fans have filled in the gaps about his identity by supposing he is Lil’ Ricky.
One Reddit writer summed up the main points behind this theory: “We have only heard about their mother and how she wasn’t around much which is why Oscar practically raised Cesar himself but we don’t know anything about their dad. Cesar said that their family crest was a gang sign and that there were other members of his family in the gang.”
However, other fans have pointed out the timings are a little off with this theory—as Lil’ Ricky went missing in 1982, which meant that his children would have to be at least 36 if he had them before going into hiding.
Chivo
Another mysterious character who fans have speculated about is Chivo (Emilio Rivera), who shares a number of personality traits with what we know about Lil’ Ricky. Both have a link to gardening, for example, and Chivo is the person who led Jamal (Brett Gray) to the RollerWorld treasure—something that only Ricky in theory would know about.
However, some fans have discounted this as being too obvious a reveal. One wrote on Reddit, for example, “Tbh that would kinda be cliche and predictable.”
The man who gave Cesar’s dad a job
Another big theory is that Lil’ Ricky is not Cesar’s dad himself but the man who gave him a job in Season 3. One fan summed up the theory: “We know he [Lil’ Ricky] escaped the gang life and wanted to help people reach their potential. What’s a better way of doing that than reaching out to ex cons (especially ex Santos members) and help them get a fresh start in life?!”
Compared to other theories, there has not been that much in On My Block that goes against this theory, though one viewer speculated that the character was maybe not Latinx which might exclude him as a candidate.
On My Block Season 3 is streaming now on Netflix.
