Netflix’s Narcos — Duo Masterpieces Of Cartel Crime
By Ethan Tsai and Rhea Banerjee
Dec. 29, 2022 — As winter break rolled in, many of us (shelving our optimistic beliefs of productivity a few days in) turned to streaming sites for entertainment. For me, I chose to watch two TV series I’d heard of before: Narcos, and Narcos: Mexico.
The original Narcos, released in 2015–2017 to Netflix, covers over three seasons, exhibiting the mid-late 1900s Colombian drug trade, and the man who ran the largest cartel in the country: Pablo Escobar. It centers around the DEA’s efforts to capture and extradite Escobar, with the sometimes dubious assistance of the Colombian police and military. Although technically a documentary, it diverges from the traditional standard of interviews and monotone narration playing over archival footage by re-creating events, much like a movie: one could say there wasn’t really a choice in the matter, since sicarios tended to dislike having cameras around when committing crimes.
Narcos is an excellent show for both its energizing action sequences and its demonstrations of political maneuvering. However, perhaps the best feature of the series is its acting. Pablo Escobar’s actor, Wagner Moura, has been especially praised for showing Escobar’s dual personalities of family man and enraged executioner. He was nominated for Best TV Actor in three awards shows: Blogos de Oro (associated with IMDB), Imagen Foundation Awards, and the famous U.S. Golden Globes. That isn’t to take away from the rest of the cast: I can’t think of a single actor that performed their role poorly.
Narcos: Mexico was released in 2018–2021 and comprises three seasons, covering the rise of Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo and his attempt to unite the regional drug lords of Mexico, while the DEA attempts to take down as many cartel members as they can. While it may sound similar, Narcos: Mexico dials the suspense to an 11 as the series takes you through the frustrations of navigating the highly corrupt Mexican law enforcement system. While the main focus is on Miguel Gallardo, the show also thoroughly develops several other characters’ stories, also featuring many figures that appeared/were referenced in the first Narcos such as Amado Fuentes and Kiki Camarena. It has similarly excellent acting, with Diego Luna (actor of Miguel Gallardo) being nominated for the Critics’ Choice Television Awards and winning the Platino Awards in 2019. The miniseries also features the more familiar name of El Chapo, who is shown to have a major hand in governing the Sinaloa Cartel — the same one that is now considered by the United States to be the largest and most powerful drug organization in the world today.
Narcos and Narcos: Mexico do contain some mature content, so keep that in mind when choosing to watch either one (that means no for you, freshies!) but none of it is excessive and is certainly manageable. If you can handle a single season of Game of Thrones, then you can definitely handle both of the Narcos series. However, it’s also important to remember when watching these two that there is much more to Colombia’s and Mexico’s history than the gang wars portrayed on the screen. With this being said, make sure not to form stereotypes based on the people whose actions make them extreme outliers in their society.
