El Chapo

First of all, I have a lot of doubts when I'm starting to see a TV show and the show have a rating below 8.0 on IMDb. So, I take a chance with these one at 7.9. . . I have a lot of doubts because these show was produced by Univision in association with Netflix, and as Latin guy that love products of great quality, Univision is the last company I expect good productions or shows. They always do a bad job bringing a touch of reality and suspense in the 99% of shows they produce related with drug kingpins. . .I was expecting a lot of blood and a lot of violence in the gruesome way and I finish disappointed when I see the words "Univision", I knew in that moment that I have to change my view of what I will see in "El Chapo". So, if you read this, you need to change the mentality of expecting a lot of blood, violence, gunshots, abductions, etc; because these show is not that. It's more like a political thriller and the government corruption at all the levels. It's not as good as I expected because the story of "El Chapo" have a lot of moments that presented in the right way can make an understatement, but the producers decided to put these story in an ambiguous way. Still, is the best "El Chapo" TV show/movie to these date, but I think they could do a better job.

8/10...seems pretty high, doesn't it? For a show that has countless similarities to Narcos, is based on an already told take, and on a platform that isn't new. Well, I'll tell you why, it is because this IS new, for all of Latin America THIS is totally new!

Prior to this Univision has been known for absolutely terrible, terrible programming and this skyrockets them into a whole new nexus of quality programming. As far as the Latin America television options, this is an absolute home run! I couldn't have been more surprised and happy with what they have put out. Several reasons.

So, the show is MUCH better if you know your history surrounding the person, the country, and the drug trade. They changed basically everyone's name except for El Chapo, I am sure to protect themselves from the very real violence they might suffer if they offended the wrong people with their depictions of certain characters.

I.E. The families of "Benjamin and Ramon Arellano Félix" might not like them being depicted as the murderous bastards that they were, so they make their debut as the "Avendaño Brothers" instead. In that respect that have done an incredible job re-naming the characters but still keeping the authenticity of who they are/were.

Also, something that really hasn't been said in anyone's review. They have done an UNBELIEVABLE job with the character design, makeup, wardrobe(especially), and period appropriate set design. The outfits you see these characters wearing are pulled from actual outfits the real people wore, it is incredibly authentic, shockingly so! GOOGLE Ramon Arellano Félix and go to images, you will see pictures of him wearing the shirt they put him in when Do Chapo first goes to their club at the beginning of the series. Just amazing that they payed that kind of attention to detail.

I don't think the people that are bashing the show quite understand the level of history and authenticity that this show has, in that respect, it is 1 and 1 with Narcos. It follows a historical timeline perfectly and for those that are complaining about the bad quality English dubbing.....ALL DUBBING IS BAD QUALITY, OF COURSE THE MOUTHS DON'T MATCH THE WORDS.....HAHAHA WHAT?!?! (Sorry, I was shocked someone actually said that.)

Anyways, watch the show in Spanish. Take the time to read the subtitles and simply enjoy an incredibly authentic depiction of the most notorious criminals on the planet.

What has struck me the most about this well-acted series is the sense of impending doom under which "El Chapo" lived. He worked hard and ruthlessly as a prolific murderer to become a "Patron" only to find his position always at the edge of a precipice. He is constantly betrayed, undermined, falsely accused (of the Cardinal's murder)and pursued by assassins. His life would make one wonder why anybody would be stupid enough to want his job. There would be a ton of cash but no peace ever in site for such a man or his family. I know of his impoverished upbringing. And that growing and trafficking drugs was the only way to make money in his isolated community. Multiple generations of his family were in the trade as Marijuana and Opium growers. His cousins were in it. He was born into it. But you would think that there would enough examples of how this would not end well for an intelligent man to make the decision to get out. Apparently in El Chapo's position it doesn't matter how smart one is. And you wonder if the lucky ones are not the ones who get killed early in their careers. Instead of living life constantly on the run from everyone and under daily mental suffering. This is a tale of some one willingly allowing himself to be sucked into an abyss. He had to know that if they didn't take his life, they would still take everything else. And they did. What you might question is the mentality of some one who continues going down that road despite knowing what lies at the end. And I also must question the mentality of a popular sub-culture in Mexico that worships and admires these "Narcos." They write songs about them. Do they not have eyes to see what happens to these people? El Chapo's life was not a pleasant one.

I really loved this series. I thought it was much better than Narcos. If you know anything about Mexico during the past 20 years, El Chapo will be even more enjoyable because it does a great job of portraying the political, social and economic complexities of the country and it will all be familiar and very true to life. But, even if you don't know anything about Mexico, you can still enjoy it for the drama and excitement of this crime genre.

The casting was brilliant. Marco de la O did a great job as El Chapo. He captured the accent,the mannerisms and even resembled El Chapo so much that you could forget he was an actor playing a part. It felt like you were really seeing El Chapo. Even the clothing he wore was the same as what you see in photos and videos of El Chapo, so the attention to detail was amazing. Humberto Busto was also outstanding as the corrupt politician Conrado Sol. The actors who played former Presidents Salinas, Fox, Calderon, Peña Nieto and other recognizable politicians in Mexico were really good at creating their characters. Chapo's family, friends, and henchmen were also convincing in their roles. Overall, it was a believable cast and very well acted.. Almost everything that happens in the show happened in real life, so it's almost like watching a documentary.

The series comes down very heavy on the Mexican government and justice system, showing how corrupt everyone is. The message is clear; the drug cartels are run on a model very similar to Mexico's political parties, manipulating everything and everyone to achieve their goals. El Chapo is violent and ruthless, but so is almost everyone else in power, so there are really no "good guys" in the show, just different groups of people trying to advance their interests. It explains why the drug cartels came into existence in Mexico, why they got so out of hand, and why no one could stop them. With or without El Chapo, the drug trade continues today because it's not dependent on one man. It's a well-oiled machine that keeps running, and the leadership positions get filled by whoever is the most manipulative and ruthless, just like the political system. The most evil character in the show is Conrado Sol because he has no loyalty, no morals and no scruples, and yet he hypocritically pretends to be the savior of Mexico. As long as Mexico is in the hands of people like him, there's no solution to the problem of corruption and violence.

I appreciated that the show was from a Mexican point of view, and that the DEA characters had small roles. I'm not particularly interested in DEA agents, and am more interested in seeing how the drug trade impacts Mexican society. The violence engendered by the warring cartels and the Mexican government's war on drugs is of great importance to the Mexican people and has made life very difficult for them. While El Chapo is the recognizable name and face for the problem, the show made it clear that the problem is more widespread than that, and that the economic and social problems of Mexico created conditions in which drug trafficking became a viable way of making money. The show doesn't whitewash the violence of the narcos, but it does put it in a social context.

Overall I would highly recommend the show to anyone who likes this genre. It's violent but not overly graphic. It's definitely binge worthy.

I watched it after Narcos, like most people apparently did, and i was caught by surprised by how actually good this show is!! The acting is good, the pacing is good, the plot is good. It's more realistical than Narcos (comparatively speaking), way more gritty and less glamour. The first 2 seasons are especially good ( El Cano is a very good villain). Don Sol's storyline gets a little trite in season 3 but i absolutely recommend this show!