When Netflix announced that it had renewed Narcos for a third and fourth season after the end of season two, I thought they were beating on a (quite literally) dead horse. Perhaps that’s why they have made it clear in their marketing for the third season that the show is called ‘Narcos’ and not ‘Pablo’ or ‘Escobar’.
In doing this, however, I’ve come to think that they’ve marketed this season all wrong and too on-the-nose. All they needed to do was cut out a two minute clip from anywhere in the whole season and call it a trailer. Everyone would be lining up left and right to watch the show.
Following the death of Pablo Escobar at the culmination of season two, season three shifts the entire focus of the show to the Cali drug cartel, who were introduced in the middle of the second season and are based in a different part of Colombia, Cali. There are significant changes to this season, including Boyd Holbrook not returning as Steve Murphy, and Pedro Pascal stepping up to fill the shoes of the main protagonist single-handedly. This is a welcome change, because Pascal’s performance (not taking anything away from Holbrook) and character have always been more intriguing. His character this season is no different, and he is definitely able to step up and carry his own.
The antagonist dynamic also changes drastically. While Pablo Escobar was the sole head of the Medellin cartel, the Cali cartel was run by four leaders: Gilberto Rodriguez, Miguel Rodriguez, Helmer “Pacho” Herrera and Jose “Chepe” Santacruz.
What this results in is a more compact and complex Narcos. This show does a good job of understanding all its characters, and doesn’t shy away from internal conflict or anything as such.
Another character in the show, who probably gets the most screen time, is Jorge Salcedo, who is the Cali cartel’s head of security. The importance and depth given to his character is the strongest selling point of season three, as it highlights the effects of working for a drug cartel and trying to keep your family safe at the same time. The directions his character goes is truly gripping (this is praise despite it being historical fact), and you care about him so much that (no spoilers) in episode nine, you are biting your nails and on the very edge of a heart attack. Matias Varela delivers a performance that stands out.
As much as I think this season is better than the previous two overall, there is one particular aspect in which it is noticeably weaker, and this is to do with the four leaders of the Cali cartel. There is substantially more importance given to some than others, and even for the more important ones, there is simply an inability to care for them like one did for the portrayal of Pablo Escobar in the first two seasons. This is not to say that they are bad – they are in fact excellent – and it is possible that the point of humanizing these characters less is to paint them as simply bad people, but for a show that was able to make you feel bad in the season two finale to see the most famous drug lord of all time die, it is a bit of a letdown that as a viewer, one wouldn’t really feel so bad when anything negative happens to a leader of the Cali cartel.
On that note, however, it should be noted that the way this series is written is spectacular. Suspense is the key and there is not a single filler episode in all ten. The progression of the story is smart and always has a viewer on the edge of their seat.
Season three of Narcos is the best season of the show so far, even if only marginally. It manages to stand on its own two feet, even with the missing Pablo Escobar, whose absence isn’t even noticeable. It is as addictive as it is excellent.
At the end of season two, I was skeptical for season three. At the end of season three, I can’t wait for season four.
On a scale where M is the lowest and R is the highest possible rating, with the highlighted letter being the rating:
The Geeky Critic 