‘Narcos:’ Three compelling seasons in
TWENTY-FIVE years after his death, the world continues to be fascinated by the story of Pablo Escobar. On Netflix you can find both the Columbian production, “El Patrón del Mal” and “Narcos” seasons one and two. Elsewhere there’s “Killing Pablo,” “King of Coke,” “The Terror of Columbia,” “The Two Escobars” (which has a sports angle) and “The Sins of My Father” which involves the point of view of his son, Sebastian Marroquin.
I was instantly hooked on Narcos. Despite a few criticisms on accuracy and not having enough Columbian actors, the way they pulled off the ‘ 80s Columbia seemed so real, accessible and palpable. Wagner Moura was a standout as Pablo Escobar. I have to admit, having Pedro Pascal ( Oberyn Martell on “Game of Thrones”) on board as DEA agent Javier Peña was quite the perk as well.
The storytelling is excellent and it’s all at once fascinating, compelling, shocking and de Pablo Escobar’s grip on Columbia over that era, and just how bloody and corrupt things got over his megalomaniacal insistence on protecting the empire he built. He also let no one, not even the Columbian government or the current president, get in his way.
The fall of Escobar at the end of Season 2 and the departure of agent Murphy (“Logan’s” Boyd Holbrook) was not the end of Narcos. Season 3 continued with agent Peña now going after the Cali Cartel.
Even without the larger than life Escobar, the story of taking down Cali was just as riveting— from the likes of Matias Varela as Jorge Salcedo (the cartel’s security chief), Pepe Rapazote as New York Kingpin Chepe and Javier Camara as Guillermo Pallomari, the accountant. The acting of the international cast on the whole was top notch.
This last season had me dumbfounded at all the behind the scenes shenanigans involving the cartel, the government, police; towards the second half of the season I’d need to take a breather after some very exciting scenes. Depending on your mood, you could shake your head or hang it low while bearing the weight of cynicism just being reminded of what went down there not too long ago.
Narcos is renewed for a fourth season, which should roll out around September of this year. The show moves to Mexico City to tackle the story of the Guadalajara Cartel with new cast members Michael Peña (“Antman,” “The Martian”) and Diego Luna (“Rogue One,” “Y Tu Mama Tambien”).