Narcos: Season 3

 

Ooooo Welcome back to the Wonderful World of Snow White! Nah seriously, this world gets grittier, more complicated than ever in the wake of Pablo Escobar.  Yet, you know what… this is the plot that deserved its own spinoff, and so it was done!

 

Enter the rich diverse world of the Cali Cartel:

 

For the most part, I already was a big fan of the character Pacho Herrera way back in season 1, when I thought he was the direct head of the Cali Cartel. This was way before he even had character development. I just always thought he was a cool character by the looks alone, never did I think he was the most dangerous of them all.  Yea, in real life this guy killed his father… over some bad business deal that his dad tried to walk away from.  Now I’m sure there’s more back story there, maybe similar to the show, but that’s the gist of it.  It was nice to see them flesh out his homosexuality this time around, it shined a dark light into his past, and what fuels his fire to some of his grizzly actions.

 

Chepe, this guy who ran the New York operations, man this was one ruthless Godfather.  Although not as dangerous as Pacho, Chepe was still Crazy as $h^t!  Every time you start to like one of these guys as a human being, that humanity card is stripped away quickly; especially when they literally start killing up entire barber shops of other people.  The dope game is truly a dead end, even for those who are trying to play fair ball; there is no fair ball in this life.

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Miguel Rodriguez, younger brother to Gilberto, and the more under the radar type of head to the cartel.  The burden of power falls on his shoulders early on, and he must set forth to keep the balance between business, and the allies associated with that business.  When it comes down to it, he wastes no time to order that loose ends be tied; even if it’s against the wishes of his older brother.

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Gilberto Rodriguez, the main head of the 4 Godfathers of the Cali Cartel.  His business is straight forward, holding the perfect balance of cold calculating thinking, ruthless business management, and knowing how and when to play his hand with precision.  Sadly for him, his awesome plan of retirement was set asunder when he was captured.  This takedown began the inevitable fall of the Cali Cartel, as he didn’t have the ability to make prominent demands, not as he once did when he was a free man. So with him behind bars (and still in negotiations for surrender with the government,) not only his business partners, but also his other founding members saw his actions as a weakness.

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What made this show work the most was that all four men were different in so many ways.  It’s like watching separate movies unfolding as one unit.  Then as Agent Pena was promoted, we saw the Gringo Duo return in the form of Agents Feistl, and Van Ness.  They say “the second team is never as good as the first.”

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Wrong.  Especially once the duo is united with Jorge Salcedo, (Cali Cartel’s head of security), the dynamic of their team is given a powerful twist.  Now there are really no good guys on this show, and with the exception of the fresh DEA faces, Salcedo is a character that you can kind of sympathize with.  He is no saint by a long shot, and has never killed anyone (in real life).  This means nothing though, working for someone like the Cartel, your hands are never truly clean, especially when you are responsible for handing off information and names to people that make those people behind those names… disappear.  This guy is all for his family though, and when the cartel gives him basically a do or die choice… he decides to do, but under his own hidden terms.  He literally becomes the deciding factor in bringing down the entire cartel!   

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****SPOilER AlerRrrRt****

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Obviously this ends badly for almost everyone, heck… even Jorge somewhat.  Salcedo manages to live, save his family.  He even kills off Navegante, yea I was use to the heartless muscle of the Cali Cartel too… but let’s face it, he had to go… dude was borderline heartless.  He didn’t waste a second killing women and children most of the time.  Once again, he was just another face that still tied us back to the Escobar seasons; I always wondered how he’d meet his end. Anyway, Jorge ends up in the United States; under the witness protection program… he did do an interview about the season though.  No one knows who killed Navegante, Salcedo wasn’t even there to pick up the accountant that night, and he was actually hunkered down with his family that entire evening. He thought DEA agents did it, and DEA don’t have a clue, it’s actually a mystery to this day.

Chepe, died by the hands of the paramilitary group, as he basically let himself out of jail after his surrender. Its portrayed on the show that he partnered up with the familiar Guerilla group, only to be soon executed by them from bad business cuts.  Another real life version is that he was shot after being tailed outside of a shopping mall.

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My favorite Cali character, Pacho, had an unfitting end to his reign of terror.  He was assassinated in prison, shot several times, once in the back of the head, all in front of his lover and other inmates on the basketball court.  This was a pretty accurate depiction.  Except in real life, Pacho was playing soccer, stopped the game to greet his would be assassin when he saw him coming his way, after they hugged, he shot him 7 times in the head… then taken away by other inmates, Pacho died in the hospital.  Uribe the person responsible for the execution was assassinated 13 yrs later in 2009.

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As for the Rodriguez brothers, well they were the first big examples of the return of Extradition, the one thing all who dived into that underworld, feared the most.  They were brought back to the U.S. and brought to justice, where they both are still alive to this day.  From what I understand, they weren’t consulted for anything dealing with the show… heck, I mean… I don’t blame the producers for whatever the reasons are.lol.

 

This is one great show that keeps on giving, even if they have to bend the truth in some aspects, just to get a glimpse into this muck of a universe is appreciated. Yea I miss the Pablo seasons, and I miss the Pena/ Murphy team, and I’m sure I will miss the Cali storyline and it’s vibrant characters… but the show must go on, long as it can go on in style!

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As of this post (9.10.17,) Narcos has not been renewed for a 4th season.   If so, the obvious bet is that their taking the drug wars to Mexico next.  Yea, there will always be a Narcos Story to tell, as long as there are always drugs to war against in this shady world. The show’s creator made sure to say that much.

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...That guy from Seinfeld was on there :P

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#Just Say Blow… I mean… NO! ;-)