CREATORS : Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro
STARRING : Wagner Moura, Boyd Holbrook, Pedro Pascal
NO. OF EPISODES : 10
Pablo Escobar. Infamous drug-dealer and trafficker. Ever intrigued by his life story? Wanted to know more about his meteoric rise to notoriety? Why nobody dares to take on the DEA now? Fret not. Because here is the first season of Narcos, where you get to know all this and more in a thoroughly uncompromising biographical drama.
The plot starts off with the humble beginnings of Pablo Escobar in Columbian drug-trafficking. Well, not so humble really, as at the time of the introduction itself, the power he holds is evident enough, if his having bought out most of the Colombian police force is any proof. I reckon it is. And the DEA had no clue about Escobar yet, as he hadn’t gone on to get himself a larger-than-life aura at the time. When the DEA begins to discover tons of cocaine shipments in Miami the likes of which they’ve never seen before, they gradually begin to realize the gravity of the situation. Arresting drug-peddlers was nowhere near good enough to get things under control, and soon they discover that there is another, bigger hand behind the drugs. The situation comes to a head when Escobar begins to contest for a place in the Colombian legislature and then…well, just watch the show to find out.
Awww, look how happy he is!
The drama is bilateral, a proper mix of Spanish and English through the entirety of the series. Which is a refreshing change from all those movies and TV shows where everyone speaks English like it’s their first language, regardless of the cultural and linguistic demography of the region. And the acting, top-notch. Wagner Moura, who plays Pablo Escobar, apparently went to a Colombian college to learn Spanish in their way, just to play the drug world’s kingpin. And his dedication clearly shows. He doesn’t just act, he lives the role of Escobar. And Boyd Holbrook, playing Steve Murphy (from whose point of view the whole story is told), is impeccable as well. His narrations are especially crisp in their tone and choice of language, with all that irony and self-deprecatory humor. Pedro Pascal, Maurice Compte and Juan Pablo Raba, who play the main supporting characters, fit their roles perfectly. The series doesn’t hold back from anything at all, and is all the better for it.
Anticipation for the second season of Narcos is high, and rightly so. This is one of the best series to have graced the television in some time.
PROS :
– amazing acting
– great plot
– ambience
– pacing
– THAT OPENING!
CONS :
– makes you want to be as badass a person as Pablo
RATING : 9.3/10
gamingotaku575 