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| Edited By: Rucha Sharma |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: Sep 01, 2017, 04:40 PM IST
Netflix is streaming the third season of its one of the most popular original series Narcos on Friday. Let's take a look at how it unfolds.
Season three of Narcos picks up after the death of Pablo Escobar, brilliantly played by Wagner Moura in first two seasons of the show. It focuses on the works of Cali cartel. We saw the Cali cartel make its space in the narcotics markets under the nose of Escobar in season two.
The new season begins with the Gentleman of Cali, the title these kingpins prefer, negotiating a deal with the Colombian government to get out of drug business with measly penalties and later make the family completely legitimate. The cartel and their associates have six months before surrendering to mint as much they can. Sounds like a run-of-the-mill corporate structure, doesn't it? Cali cartel runs the business the same way.
Four partners of the cartel Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela (Damian Alcazar), Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela (Francisco Denis), Pacho Herrera (Alberto Ammann), and Chepe Santacruz Londono (Pepe Rapazote) run the business like a well-oiled conglomerate. If Escobar was about populism and playing Robin Hood, Cali cartel is about being elegant, preferring to bribe government officials and keeping its violent actions out of the headlines.
Orejuela brothers want to retire. But Pacho and Chepe are having second thoughts about living their Don Pacho and Don Chepe status behind.
On the righteous law side of the show is Javier Pena (Pedro Pascal) with new recruits of the Drugs Enforcement Administration (DEA). Pena is our link for the transition from previous seasons to the new setting. Instead of getting his hand dirty in the action, he is now stuck dealing with the politicians and crossing Bogata CIA station chief Bill Stechner (Eric Lange) over how the 'War on Drugs' should be handled. In reality, Pascal's Pena was not a major part of the operation to take down the Cali cartel. But one can allow that much leeway to keep the seasons of the anthology connected.
New players on the horizon are -
1. Jorge Salcedo (Matias Varela) - The cartel's head of security who very slowly realises that self-preservation is a must for him and his family.
2. DEA agents Chris Feistl (Michael Stahl-David) and Daniel Van Ness (Matt Whelan) - They are smarter, funnier, and better than the pairing of Pena and now not in the show anymore Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook).
3. David Rodriguez (Arturo Castro) - Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela's son. If the Orejuela brothers are all about keeping it discreet, David is ready to jump the gun and Scarface the entire situation.
First things first. A gem this show has brought us is Matias Varela. His storyline is gripping, no doubt, and his moral sense keeps one rooting for Jorge Salcedo. You cannot miss Varela's nuanced performance.
Something along the same lines goes for Arturo Castro. The boyish charm Castro has on his face becomes lethal when his David decides to take charge of the situation from his father.
Pedro Pascal is the connecting link and one can't swoon enough. He is handsome and there is no denying. Even when he is frustrated with the shady AF working style of CIA station chief Bill Stechner in the middle of Colombian forest, swearing in Spanish, English, yours truly had nothing but heart eyes for him. Pascal's body language changes when he is in the close quarters of Embassy — dealing with politics — as compared to when he is out in the field raiding cartel's hideouts, gathering information, tailing a suspect. It's subtle, but hard to miss.
Alberto Ammann and Pepe Rapazote deserve a special mention. They play the brutalities and insecurities of their characters to the hilt. Show deals with homosexuality of Ammann's Pacho with the no-holds-barred approach and that gives a nice emotional padding to his menacing ways of working with a cartel.
First reason should be a good introduction to modern history served with the actual added footage.
The second reason is the cat and mouse chase between the cartel, DEA, CIA, and Colombian police.
Third, is the shifting loyalties of the characters make for a gripping television experience. After episode four, the show becomes addictive. Keep your snacks handy and bladder empty before episode five if you are planning on a weekend binge.
There are a few reasons one might avoid watching the show.
The latest season is subtitle heavy. It is a necessity for the non-Spanish speaking audience. But it distracts a lot from the action going on screen. It is also narration heavy in the beginning when setting up the table, which slows down the pace of what could be an interesting ride.
Under the name of cinematic liberty, the showrunners go over the top when it comes to the dramatisation of the situation. If a DEA agent is nabbing a kingpin from under his bathtub, will that kingpin have time to look in the mirror contemplating his image and all these years of work he has put in to build a cartel? Think not.
Even after so much of narration, there are bits when one has to stop and google what the incident was about. It's a problem if you are the human incarnation of a curious cat.
Endure the subtitles issue because it's good TV. Not the one to be missed.
