At one point in Episode 7 the new president of Colombia says to a group of US officials trying to have him accept more aid to hunt Escobar, "660 tons of cocaine were consumed in the United States last year. Perhaps if your resources were focused at home we'd all be better off."
Can I get an Amen? He hits the bullseye.
Netflix gives us yet another reason to stay out of the cine multiplex with this slightly fictionalized but excellent new series. It takes most of the pertinent action right out of the history from this sad era of Colombian (and American) history. Filmed entirely on location in Colombia and with a good 50% of the dialogue in Spanish this series aims to be as real as possible. The story also colors way outside the lines of the Manichean version of the Drug War most Americans have swallowed hook, line, and sinker since Uncle Ronnie started feeding it to us back in his presidency.
In the role of Pablo Escobar is Wagner Moura who actually had to learn Spanish to play the part. I wish that he would send his Spanish teacher over here to teach me because he speaks it very well. I'm sure native Colombians can tell that he's not one of them but I can't. Besides that he is a dead ringer (pardon the expression) for Pablo.
Unflinchingly brutal and set at a desperate pace this is one of the best crime dramas I've seen in a long time. This series reminds me of the two great novels of Don Winslow which chronicle the Mexican cartels, The Power of the Dog and The Cartel. The structure is almost like a documentary in concept with a voice-over by one of the principal DEA agents on the scene. I am only a few episodes into this and already hoping for another season—a very high compliment.
This series is vastly superior to the Benicio del Toro Escobar film which was pretty awful. Movies can't hold a candle to the best series. There is no way to tell this story in a 90 minute movie. Great job, Netflix!
Season 2
Is it just me or was Season 2 almost completely in Spanish? Granted, the Spanish they speak was difficult for me to understand at times but I just wonder how most of the American public feels about seeing a series in which they are almost entirely dependent on reading subtitles. I think Americans are getting more and more sophisticated in their tastes and any series in which Pablo Escobar speaks English would just be phony and stupid.
I thought the directors relied too much on music montage scenes that just took up a lot of time without adding much to the story. It just seems like an unoriginal cliché. The show worked best when they followed the real historic events of the story and when they delved into pure fiction it was much less compelling.
There was way too much of his wife and kids in the second season. I get it; Pablo was a family guy. That doesn't mean you need to have scene after scene of him playing with his kids or talking to his half-wit wife. Why should we care about the family of a monster who blew up airliners and placed horrifically powerful bombs on crowded city streets? We don't. Los Pepes should have killed them all, including his mother. There were much bigger things in the picture that could have been discussed.
I loved the CIA guy and his role in the story. He was creepy as well as totally believable for his part.
In the end you have to realize that the United States' effort in Colombia amounted to doodly squat. All we really did was to fan a drug war that took the lives of perhaps thousands of people, either guilty of some infraction or completely innocent. The two DEA agents seemed barely competent to do their jobs, whatever their jobs were. At least they alluded to this in the final scene. "The king is dead; long live the kings!"
S3
Almost binged it and I have to say this Season 3 is the best of the three by far. It's more layered and has better characters. Seasons 1 & 2 had Pablo and I really like the actor but this I never liked the gringo DEA guy much. This story is more complicated as well. I also think they make good use of their time. I love the fact that it's only 10 episodes and we can expect some sort of resolution (I hope so) at the end.
Each episode is skillfully crafted to contain a single story and then leave you practically begging for the next installment. Overall this storyline is a lot more interesting than the two previous season involving Pablo Escobar. Who needs Pablo?
The violence is chilling to the core because it is handed out sparingly, at least at first. How many people have died so that Americans can use cocaine? Half a million people? More? A lot more?
Can I get an Amen? He hits the bullseye.
Netflix gives us yet another reason to stay out of the cine multiplex with this slightly fictionalized but excellent new series. It takes most of the pertinent action right out of the history from this sad era of Colombian (and American) history. Filmed entirely on location in Colombia and with a good 50% of the dialogue in Spanish this series aims to be as real as possible. The story also colors way outside the lines of the Manichean version of the Drug War most Americans have swallowed hook, line, and sinker since Uncle Ronnie started feeding it to us back in his presidency.
In the role of Pablo Escobar is Wagner Moura who actually had to learn Spanish to play the part. I wish that he would send his Spanish teacher over here to teach me because he speaks it very well. I'm sure native Colombians can tell that he's not one of them but I can't. Besides that he is a dead ringer (pardon the expression) for Pablo.
Unflinchingly brutal and set at a desperate pace this is one of the best crime dramas I've seen in a long time. This series reminds me of the two great novels of Don Winslow which chronicle the Mexican cartels, The Power of the Dog and The Cartel. The structure is almost like a documentary in concept with a voice-over by one of the principal DEA agents on the scene. I am only a few episodes into this and already hoping for another season—a very high compliment.
This series is vastly superior to the Benicio del Toro Escobar film which was pretty awful. Movies can't hold a candle to the best series. There is no way to tell this story in a 90 minute movie. Great job, Netflix!
Season 2
Is it just me or was Season 2 almost completely in Spanish? Granted, the Spanish they speak was difficult for me to understand at times but I just wonder how most of the American public feels about seeing a series in which they are almost entirely dependent on reading subtitles. I think Americans are getting more and more sophisticated in their tastes and any series in which Pablo Escobar speaks English would just be phony and stupid.
I thought the directors relied too much on music montage scenes that just took up a lot of time without adding much to the story. It just seems like an unoriginal cliché. The show worked best when they followed the real historic events of the story and when they delved into pure fiction it was much less compelling.
There was way too much of his wife and kids in the second season. I get it; Pablo was a family guy. That doesn't mean you need to have scene after scene of him playing with his kids or talking to his half-wit wife. Why should we care about the family of a monster who blew up airliners and placed horrifically powerful bombs on crowded city streets? We don't. Los Pepes should have killed them all, including his mother. There were much bigger things in the picture that could have been discussed.
I loved the CIA guy and his role in the story. He was creepy as well as totally believable for his part.
In the end you have to realize that the United States' effort in Colombia amounted to doodly squat. All we really did was to fan a drug war that took the lives of perhaps thousands of people, either guilty of some infraction or completely innocent. The two DEA agents seemed barely competent to do their jobs, whatever their jobs were. At least they alluded to this in the final scene. "The king is dead; long live the kings!"
S3
Almost binged it and I have to say this Season 3 is the best of the three by far. It's more layered and has better characters. Seasons 1 & 2 had Pablo and I really like the actor but this I never liked the gringo DEA guy much. This story is more complicated as well. I also think they make good use of their time. I love the fact that it's only 10 episodes and we can expect some sort of resolution (I hope so) at the end.
Each episode is skillfully crafted to contain a single story and then leave you practically begging for the next installment. Overall this storyline is a lot more interesting than the two previous season involving Pablo Escobar. Who needs Pablo?
The violence is chilling to the core because it is handed out sparingly, at least at first. How many people have died so that Americans can use cocaine? Half a million people? More? A lot more?