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"Narcos," (2015-) a Drug-Based, Crime-Adventure Series on Netflix - Depicting The Rise (and Fall?) of Pablo Escobar


DonRocks

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How to read this index:

* The pictures are my own selections of a single image that represents the episode (you can scroll through them all by clicking "Next" on the top-right of the photo).
* The links in the episodes go to the New York Times, which has a paywall, but allows ten free articles per month - the short reviews are good and worth reading.
* All names referenced for the first time are linked, either to Wikipedia or IMDB (if there's no Wikipedia entry).
* All names referenced subsequent times have a running number of episodes that they've been involved with next to their name.

Screenshot 2015-10-30 at 18.46.46.png - 1.1 - "Descenso" ("Drop") - Directed by José Padilha, Written by Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro

Screenshot 2015-10-31 at 11.59.41.png - 1.2 - "The Sword of Simón Bolí­var" - Directed by José Padilha (2), Written by Chris Brancato (2)

Screenshot 2015-11-02 at 09.53.58.png - 1.3 - "The Men of Always" - Directed by Guillermo Navarro, Written by Dana Calvo

Screenshot 2015-11-02 at 09.59.13.png - 1.4 - "The Palace in Flames" - Directed by Guillermo Navarro (2), Written by Chris Brancato (3)

Screenshot 2015-11-02 at 10.04.15.png - 1.5 - "There Will Be a Future" - Directed by Andi Baiz, Written by Dana Ledoux Miller

Screenshot 2015-11-02 at 10.08.05.png - 1.6 - "Explosivos" ("Explosives") - Directed by Andi Baiz (2), Written by Andy Black

Screenshot 2015-11-02 at 10.17.48.png - 1.7 - "You Will Cry Tears of Blood" - Directed by Fernando Coimbra, Written by Zach Calig

Screenshot 2015-11-02 at 10.22.55.png - 1.8 - "La Gran Mentira" ("The Great Lie") - Directed by Fernando Coimbra (2), Written by Allison Abner

Screenshot 2015-11-02 at 10.29.49.png - 1.9 - "La Catedral" ("The Cathedral") - Directed by Andi Baiz (3), Written by Nick Schenk and Chris Brancato (4)

Screenshot 2015-11-02 at 10.32.00.png - 1.10 - "Despegue" ("Takeoff") - Directed by Andi Baiz (4), Written by Nick Schenk (2) and Chris Brancato (5)

(Note: I put the above index in on Nov 2, 2015, with each screen shot one I chose that I feel best represents the episode. I wrote the entire index after having finished Season One; my original Oct 22, 2015 post is below.)

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This series, which debuted on Aug 28, 2015, is a collaboration between NetFlix and Telemundo. It portrays the DEA in their attempt to hunt Pablo Escobar, and was renewed for a second season this autumn. I haven't even started watching yet, but I'm going to give the first episode a go.

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It's a pretty good series. I didn't know Telemundo was involved. That would explain my only criticism-- most of the dialogue is in Spanish. I realize Escobar wasn't walking around speaking English, but it seemed strange that 75% of the show is subtitled for what I thought was an American audience.

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It's a pretty good series. I didn't know Telemundo was involved. That would explain my only criticism-- most of the dialogue is in Spanish. I realize Escobar wasn't walking around speaking English, but it seemed strange that 75% of the show is subtitled for what I thought was an American audience.

This show was clearly influenced by Goodfellas - for example, the character who narrates (Steve Murphy, played by Boyd Holbrook) sounds just like Ray Liotta.

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That would explain my only criticism-- most of the dialogue is in Spanish. I realize Escobar wasn't walking around speaking English, but it seemed strange that 75% of the show is subtitled for what I thought was an American audience.

Netflix steps up production to lure Latin American subscribers

US subscribers love Netflix's new Spanish-language shows

The show itself was entertaining. Pablo is an easy character to be invested in and root against.

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It's a pretty good series. I didn't know Telemundo was involved. That would explain my only criticism-- most of the dialogue is in Spanish. I realize Escobar wasn't walking around speaking English, but it seemed strange that 75% of the show is subtitled for what I thought was an American audience.

The show itself was entertaining. Pablo is an easy character to be invested in and root against.

I'm on episode 5 (it's a 10-episode season, each being about 45 minutes with the commercials removed). I'm loving this series, and I hope that others have watched it and can share some insights (no spoilers for me yet, as I'm not even halfway through!) I sort of know the basic story, of course, but not all that much - I love "based on real life" shows, since I feel like I'm educating myself as well as entertaining myself - with Narcos, you need to visit some websites (like this one, for example) that separate out fact from fiction. There are loads of artistic liberties taken in this series (The Cockroach, for example, didn't exist in real life), but it's still factual enough that the viewer has a very real opportunity to learn an important part of recent history, both national and international. In that respect alone, it's worth watching because it's done so well that it's an absolute pleasure - why wasn't school this much fun?

Luis Carlos Galí¡n. Kiki Camarena. Virgilio Bargo Varcas. I had never heard of these people before, and now they're part of my life going forward, thanks to this intelligent, well-done series. Camarena in particular is one person all American citizens should be familiar with, and I love the way the series refers to him as Jesus Christ, because in many ways, that's what he was - being killed by slow torture so others may live - Camarena is an American hero.

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I've never had premium cable (but I have Netflix)

...

Just wondering what shows merit my attention after I finish watching bloodsuckers.

Narcos is a good one to watch. It's a 10 part series on Pablo Escobar who was making something like $60 million dollars A DAY in the height of his business.

I binge-watched Narcos, and thought it was terrific. It's one of the few shows where I actually looked forward to the opening music.

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Season Two (Sep 2, 2016)


Screenshot 2016-09-06 at 10.14.41.png - 2.1 - "Free at Last" - Directed by Gerardo Naranjo, Written by Adam Fiero

Screenshot 2016-09-06 at 21.06.21.png - 2.2 - "Cambalache" (1 "a swap" 2 "a junk shop" 3 "chaos") - Directed by Gerardo Naranjo (2), Written by Zachary Reiter

Screenshot 2016-09-14 at 23.28.22.png - 2.3 - "Our Man in Madrid" - Directed by Andrés (Andi) Baiz (5), Written by Zachary Reiter (2) and Steve Lightfoot
Screenshot 2016-09-17 at 01.46.54.png - 2.4 - "The Good, the Bad, and the Dead" - Directed by Andrés Baiz (6), Written by: Teleplay, Zachary Reiter (3), Carlo Bernard (2), and Doug Miro (2) - Story: T.J. Brady, Rasheed Newson, and Steve Lightfoot (2)

Screenshot 2016-09-17 at 09.26.05.png - 2.5 - "The Enemies of My Enemy" - Directed by Josef Wladyka, Written by: Teleplay, T.J. Brady (2), Rasheed Newson (2), Carlo Bernard (3), and Doug Miro (3) - Story: T.J. Brady and Rasheed Newson

Screenshot 2016-09-17 at 17.13.44.png - 2.6 - "Los Pepes" - Directed by Josef Wladyka (2), Written by Julie Siege

Screenshot 2016-09-18 at 12.15.15.png - 2.7 - "Deutschland 93" - Directed by Josef Wladyka (3), Written by Carlo Bernard (4) and Doug Miro (4)

Screenshot 2016-09-18 at 12.23.06.png - 2.8 - "Exit El Patrón" - Directed by Gerardo Naranjo (3), Written by: Teleplay, Gideon Yago and Curtis Gwinn - Story: Gideon Yago

Screenshot 2016-09-18 at 12.11.20.png - 2.9 - "Nuestra Finca" ("Our Farm") - Directed by Andrés Baiz (7), Written by Julie Siege (2) and Clayton Trussell

Screenshot 2016-09-18 at 16.45.57.png - 2.10 - "Al Fin Cayó!" ("Finally, He Fell") - Directed by Andrés Baiz (8), Written by Carlo Bernard (5) and Doug Miro (5)

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3 hours ago, Al Dente said:

Article on NPR about Pablo's son. One crazy life.

"Renouncing Pablo Escobar's Sins, His Son Trafficks in Motivational Talks" by John Otis on npr.org

If Pablo was as loving of a father as he was portrayed to be in the series, there's no way his children wouldn't adore him, and by extension, stick up for him. I only have the series to go on, but he was a *great* parent (a better father than a husband, because he cheated on his wife, even though he loved her *immensely*, and when the end grew near, he returned to her with all his heart).

This said, I remember seeing a headline within the past few days of something like "27 factual errors in Season 2," written by his son - I didn't read the article, but it's out there.

Look at the picture I chose to represent episode 2.6 - I was *very* careful to choose pictures that told "the story of the story."

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Season Three (Sep 1, 2017)

Screenshot 2017-09-04 at 1.45.59 PM.png - 3.1 - "The Kingpin Strategy" - Directed by Andi Baiz (9), Written by Carlo Bernard (6), Doug Miro (6), and Eric Newman

[Commit the above four kingpins - Gilberto, Miguel, Pacho, and Chepe - to memory ASAP to save yourself some grief.]

Screenshot 2017-09-04 at 1.32.17 PM.png - 3.2 - "The Cali KGB" - Directed by Andi Baiz (10), Written by Carlo Bernard (7), Doug Miro (7), and Eric Newman (2) 

[One thing I don't understand: If David (the son who botched things) was merely trying to empty the cannisters, then why did he dump them in a creek instead of burying them on the cartel's private land (which, I think, was supposed to be the plan)? He wasn't trying to poison anyone; he had no knowledge of the poisonings when he discarded the cannisters.]

Screenshot 2017-09-05 at 8.04.58 PM.png - 3.3 - "Follow the Money" - Directed by Gabriel Ripstein, Written by David Matthews

Screenshot 2017-09-11 at 19.30.03.png - 3.4 - "Checkmate" - Directed by Gabriel Ripstein (2), Written by Andy Black (2)

["Checkmate" is, by far, the best episode of season three thus far. Since The New York Times is opting out of reviewing each episode this season, I needed to find another publication to link the episodes to, and for lack of a better option, I reluctantly chose vulture.com because it was about the only one I could find; however, after their reviewer has given "Checkmate" only 2 out of 5 stars, I'm nixing this vehicle, and hoping another,  better source of reviews comes along - vulture's have all seemed like they're being written by twenty-somethings without much critical or writing experience. For now, it looks like AV Club - at least their reviewer recognized how good this episode was.]

Screenshot 2017-09-12 at 11.50.55.png - 3.5 - "MRO" - Directed by Josef Wladyka (4), Written by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson

Screenshot 2017-09-11 at 18.38.05.png - 3.6 - "Best Laid Plans" - Directed by Josef Wladyka (5), Written by Jason George

Screenshot 2017-09-12 at 11.57.05.png - 3.7 - "Sin Salida" - Directed by Fernando Coimbra (3), Written by Santa Sierra and Clayton Trussell (2)

Screenshot 2017-09-12 at 12.00.47.png - 3.8 - "Convivir" - Directed by Fernando Coimbra (4), Written by Andy Black (3)

Screenshot 2017-09-14 at 00.29.09.png - 3.9 - "Todos Los Hombres del Presidente" - Directed by Andi Baiz (11), Written by Jason George (2), Carlo Bernard (8), and Doug Miro (8)

[Note the translation of the title, "All the President's Men."]

Screenshot 2017-09-14 at 00.43.20.png - 3.10 - "Going back to Cali" - Directed by Andi Baiz (12), Written by Carlo Bernard (8) and Doug Miro (9)

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Even though Season 3 didn't have a strong, central antagonist like Escobar, it was good historical semi-fiction, and really quite well-done for television. If you're the least bit interested in the history of the Cali Cartel - its rise and fall - 7-8 hours invested in Season 3 of "Narcos" would be a great use of your time. If anyone wants to discuss any individual episodes, let's have at it.

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