Narcos: Mexico

Engaging and at times thought provoking amid all the gunfire. I loved the look and feel of the series, the trashy culture and over the top lifestyles. I appreciated the artful use of swearing and the intro montage - a clever trail of cocaine powder on a map outlining the path of cocaine through Mexico. The music is inspired--including the insipid pop songs that accompanies some of the mayhem. You gotta love the track suits that some of the drug lords sport. The acting is top-notch and the grainy footage reminds us the story is vaguely based on real events.

'Narcos' told the story of the rise and fall of the Colombian cartels this, as the name suggests, does the same for Mexico. As the story starts a keen DEA agent, Kiki Camarena, gets a posting to Guadalajara in Mexico. At the same time Félix Gallardo, a cop turned marijuana producer from Sinaloa is moving his operation to Guadalajara along with his friend Rafa, who has produced a superior strain of the plant which needs to be grown away from other plants. Félix works to unite the various regional crime syndicates, the 'Plazas'. Inevitably his operations attract the attention of the DEA. There is frequent violence but nothing compared to the level after he decides to shift the operation to smuggling cocaine for the Colombians. Inevitably there are various power struggles and some arrests despite the corruption in the local police.

The first two seasons only get us to 1989 so there is still a tragically large amount of the story to cover. I didn't know much about the events being shown so had little idea of which characters would survive. The story is gripping from start to finish; the way it intertwines the stories of the traffickers and their DEA opponents keeps things interesting. The characters, on both sides of the law, are interesting to watch and are depicted in a fairly non-judgemental way... their actions speak loudly enough without the need to make them more villainous. The cast does a great job bringing the various characters to life; most notably Diego Luna as Félix Gallardo; Michael Peña as Kiki Camarena; and Scoot McNairy as DEA Agent Walt Breslin. Given the subject matter it isn't surprising that there is a fair amount of violence, some of it quite shocking. As season two come to an end one chapter of the story clearly comes to an end but there is far more to tell; I look forward to future seasons.

I really enjoyed Season 1 and 2. With season 3 it's almost like you're watching some kind of cheap replica and you're wondering if it is actually the same show. Some of the actors are familiar, some of the story seems familiar, but it's just not the same quality as the previous two seasons. The narration is bad, and the episodes in S3 are pretty unwatchable to be honest. It's really a great shame.

As far as the show goes it's fantastic but what really stood out in my opinion was the performance of Joaquín Cosío as "Don Neto" I believe this is one of the best supporting performances in any Netflix series to date! The arc that he goes through and the performance that he turns in cannot be ignored. He is a very talented actor and displays this in every scene he's in! He is the most believeable character in the show shining brightly over an already brilliant cast of actors.

First two seasons were great. If you enjoy the genere, just watch them.

In the third one, the narrator's voice is simply out of place. The journalist's storyline to which the voice belongs is also ludicrous and forced - another twenty something year old explaining the injustices of the world.

Nobody needed another one of those.

Very poor choice.