Netflix’s newest original series “Narcos” is a show that will have the audience on the tip of their seats through every episode, cheering for both a lovable bad guy bent on conquering Colombia and the Drug Enforcement Administration agent sent to stop him.
Pablo Escobar, played by Wagner Moura, is a 1970s Colombian trafficker with a dream. He ships out everything from electronics to marijuana all over South America and even to the sandy beaches of Miami, Florida. But in the ‘80s he started shipping cocaine.
Steve Murphy, played by Boyd Holbrook, is a U.S. DEA agent from Miami. Once cocaine starts showing up in his turf he heads down to Colombia to cut off the head of the snake.
What ensues is an all out war for Columbia and a fantastic show.
The show is packed full of action and suspense with gang shootouts, drug raids and even a firing squad all in the first episode. As well as possibly the most intense and somewhat disturbing speech ever given by Escobar to Colombian authorities proving he owns them.
I did find that the show starts to slow down about halfway through the first season, as Escobar becomes more and more predictable.
It turns into almost any other show where there is some great grab for power, similar to one of Netflix’s other original hit shows “House of Cards.”
On a different note, I feel the show is not for everybody. Netflix gives it a rating of TV-MA, for mature audiences only. The show is filled with violence, drugs, sex, and the occasional swear word.
Also about 80 percent of dialogue is in Spanish. If I looked away for one second I got lost because I missed the subtitles, which happened to me more than once.
The story of Escobar and his Medellín drug cartel has been showing up a lot lately in pop culture. From documentaries to movies, even being mentioned in songs on the radio.
I went into this series skeptically but it managed to capture my interest. I am happily waiting for a second season hungry for more to come of the infamous Pablo Escobar and his narco empire.
