For the Love of Pablo: Narcos Season 2 Review

By Asia Daggs
Assistant Web Content Manager

I would like to start off by giving a quick background on one of the most prominent Narco bosses in history. In the late 80s, Pablo Escobar and his Medellin Cartel were responsible for about 80% of all cocaine distribution in the United States. His earnings topped off at 30 billion and it landed him a spot on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List for seven years in a row! I have always been a huge fan of cartel-related movies and shows; the level of ruthlessness they all display never ceases to amaze me. If the term ‘Colombian folk-art’ rings any bells, then you know exactly what I mean. The action scenes, loads of money and survival strategy that was shown make the life of Pablo Escobar all what it’s cracked up to be.

The first season of Narcos was dropped as a Netflix exclusive on August 28, 2015 with 10 episodes, which is centered around Pablo Escobar’s personal life, cartel business and his run-ins with multiple governmental agencies. The story takes place in Antioquia, Colombia in the early 1970s; it is paired perfectly with the soundtrack, wardrobe and other aspects that complement the authentic Colombian culture. The producers, Chris Brancato, Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard, did an amazing job with keeping the script as factual as possible to Escobar’s remarkable life. While the show gives us insight to the Medellin Cartel, it also lets us watch the Colombian government and deployed American DEA agents strategize countless times to attempt to put an end to the Don’s high profile lifestyle.

Wagner Moura is the daring actor to take on the role of Pablo Escobar; he captured the nature of the boss man and executed it perfectly. He works together with the financial head, Gustavo, who is played by Juan Pablo Raba (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) to keep the business booming as usual and fight off extradition and their enemies all at once. On the other side, the story focuses on the time DEA agents Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook, Gone Girl) and Javier Pena (Pedro Pascal, Games of Thrones)  spent with the native task forces to help take down Escobar.

Honestly, the main characters do not take the cake in this series; It’s the supporting roles such as “La Quica” or Judy Moncada that hold the real magic in the casting selection. There have been both praise and critique for the choice of actors and actresses. Major reasoning behind the critics have to do with have the tainted spanish speaking from the ethnically diverse cast; they are from an assorted mix of countries like Brazil and Mexico which causes them to have different sounding accents. The praise has been all around for the scriptwriting, casting and cinematography, which I absolutely vouch for!

Following the success of seasons one and two, Narcos has recently been confirmed for two more! If you are a fan of action, drama and crime, then this will be the perfect documentary for you. Movies and shows such American Gangster and Breaking Bad are similar examples of what this show has in store for you. I HIGHLY advise you all to give Pablo a try, and I promise you will be on the verge of binge watching a whole season in one day. You Escobar admirers can expect season 3 some time in 2017.

I have one final question for my fellow viewers… ¿plata o plomo?