El Señor de los Cielos

The story of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the drug-lord who even flew 727's full of cocaine to the Sonoran desert and left them abandoned, is one of those things in Mexican folklore that reaches the whole social ladder. In this series, produced by Telemundo and manufactured by Argos, the narrative reveals what most people knew from newspapers and the official TV chain, Televisa.

In Season 1, the story and the characters are believable, true to the lore and truly scary. It's something that Colombians and Mexicans know too well. The characters are easily recognisable and the performances of some of the actors are very good. But, story-wise, it's one of those unforgettable series, along with the Caracol productions of El Cartel de los Sapos and El Señor del Mal, Pablo Escobar.

It's sad to see that, to keep the franchise going on forever, Telemundo decided to go to the lengths of creating something so badly scripted as the rest of the seasons. It's a shame to see how the characters lose their soul, the story is contrived, absurd and predictable to the smallest detail. It becomes a classic telenovela, instead of the powerful and dramatic series Season 1 was.

Definitely, the production values are good, but never on par of those from Caracol's lush environments, period props, enticing characters and the powerful Colombian actors. It may be almost impossible to have a character that instills fear as Andres Parra's interpretation of Pablo Escobar in El Cartel de los Sapos and Pablo Escobar, El Patron del Mal.

I guess you should stop when things are done and never try second parts when they're not needed. Numbers never lie. That's what happened to this fantastic story when they decided to "create" something people would never feel related to. A pity. Watch Season 1, you won't be disappointed,

This is a soap opera strange to the western world: characters going through everyday trauma within the violent milieu of "los narcos." While the titular character is based on a famous Mexican Narco who reportedly died while undergoing plastic surgery in the 90s, the characters themselves are fairly stock, the dialogue acceptable but often predictable, episodes ending in a melodramatic manner. What makes this series different - and realistic - is the viciousness and violence of the characters: Aurelio Casillas, and those he works with, and/or against. Casillas is treacherous; he kills and tortures at will. This is one of the series's strengths: these are not nice people; portraying them otherwise would be dishonest. Casillas does have feelings for his mother (Lisa Owens), his wife and children, but few others. Those trying to bring him to justice, such as super-cops Marco Mejias and Leonor, are sympathetic in battling not only criminals but corrupt politicians. Apart from the viciousness, there are several attractive females in leading roles, along with a small army of leggy strippers and call-girls whom the narcos have at their beck and call. This series could be considered something beyond entertainment: a sociological phenomenon that reveals a fascination with a parallel power structure that most people would really be better off viewing that participating in.

Well as season 9 just finished. I hate to admit I'm losing interest. It's the same old. As in the real world people get tired of it so they move on. Well for me I'm feeling all the best characters who help make this show great well they all gone except for Aurelio of course. But even they tried killing him off and the show was flopping so yeahhh. I miss the gun fights even tho their props manager has no idea what firearms to use and teach these fools properly how to pretend to shoot or the proper stance. I hate how Cabo fires the AK. I would slap him stupid for that alone. And in no way with a mini uzi will over a .30 caliber.

Rafael amaya's masterful performance is worth seeing in El senor de los cielos alone. He reminds me so much of al pacino's performance in scarface. He's that good and el senor de cielos is an amazing action packed series. Its no wonder it won an emmy in 2013. Once rafael leaves the series dies with him. Best seasons are 1 to 5. I hope telemundo gets Rafael back for a season 8 or a least for a movie on netflix ending el senor de los cielos the correct way with rafael in it to beginning to end.

Telemundo series are terrific and this is one of the best. Its so engrossing, though, its hard to watch something else and season 3 has over 100 episodes!

I love that Telemundo isn't controlled by Big Tobacco with cigarettes always in use. Yes, its very predictable in many ways but the acting is outstanding and storyline is fun and always interesting.