Pablo Escobar: O Senhor do Tráfico

Pablo Escobar: El Patrón del Mal is an ambitious and largely successful undertaking to portray the man who held the country of Colombia in his tyrannical grip (by the proverbial cojones) for more than a decade. The epic series (73 episodes on Netflix) details the damage and heartbreak this man left in his wake. The story of Pablo Escobar is nothing if not unbelievable, and this expansive production manages to explain the seemingly inexplicable, how a single person could essentially take over a country, corrupting countless individuals through the imposition of a ruthless ¨plata o plomo¨ (money or bullets) ultimatum at every stratum of his society.

The series is not perfect--the jarringly repetitive music riffs preceding every single pursuit scene, the sometimes bizarrely abrupt casting changes from one episode to another (the radical transformations of the wife, Paty, and the son, Emilio, were especially puzzling), and the excessive, overwrought sentimentality in the aftermath of some of the atrocities can all be criticized with good reason.

That said, the overall production is a success because the acting is very, very good, and the writers and director accomplished what they set out to do: to tell a story which needed to be told, and to do so convincingly, complete with historical film clips inserted where available to document that this is not a tale of fantasy. The series was so gripping that I watched six episodes a night continuously until I finished, exhausted by the ordeal.

I was especially impressed by the ability of the lead actor (Andrés Parra) to portray how it was that Escobar was both loved and feared to such an extent. His rise, fall and ultimate unraveling were very well paced, and the acting was perfect. Other standout performances were those of El Chile, El Topo, Fabio, Marino, Pedro Motoa, El Mariachi, Marcos Herbert, Gonzalo, Cain, Kiki... the list goes on and on.

I highly recommend this series to anyone with an interest in the history of Colombia, the cocaine trade, or organized crime more generally. All of the dialogue is in very clearly articulated Spanish, so it is linguistically worthwhile for anyone who speaks Spanish as a second language. (There are subtitles in various languages, too, so the production is accessible to non-Spanish speakers as well.) Anyone who is interested in the nature of corruption should not miss this series.

I marathon-watched this vastly ambitious project, watching 3-4 episodes a day. Caracol television aired as many as 113 episodes, although Netflix cut it down to 74. I assume that it's the same amount of film, but without the commercial breaks they could make the episodes longer on Netflix. I hadn't planned to see the whole thing as fast as I did but the fact that I did can only add to the praise I have for it.

In spite of its flaws this is easily the biggest and best production ever from Colombia. It is not perfect, but I have no idea how a perfect show would deal with this material in a coherent and responsible way. These are real people we're talking about, how do you make it entertaining and pay respect to the victims at the same time?

There are several moments where you feel that the show idolizes Escobar, (a rare feeling since family members of his victims were involved in the production) but as his killings and terrorism escalates you feel that it somehow recovers in the end, and makes a more ethical portrayal of the events and the awful damage this monster made on Colombia.

While the show Narcos focuses on the DEA's participation in the manhunt, this show focuses mainly on the efforts of the Colombian Police and Military. But the truth is that this was Colombias ordeal much more than it was USA's. The terror and insecurity. Knowing that anybody who did the right thing, testified against the cartel or disagreed with their actions could easily be eliminated. And that no one could guarantee their safety.

In the end the DEA helped Colombia much more than they helped USA. They came to hunt down a drug-dealer when in reality the trafficking of drugs was the least of his crimes. Colombia was much more hurt by the terrorist, kidnapper and killer Escobar, than the drug trafficker.

Without the threat of extradition this man could've bought, threatened, forced and manipulated his way into becoming the nations leader. There is no way a prison in Colombia could keep this criminal behind bars and isolate him from the Colombian society.

I think the two shows Patron del mal and Narcos complete each other, even if "Patron" is infinitely better. Without the success of "el patron del mal" they probably wouldn't create "Narcos". And without the international success of "Narcos" to the English speaking audience, "el patron" wouldn't wake up curiosity and reach an audience outside Latin America.

I rate the show highly even if it has a telenovela-feel at times, many great actors, apart from Escobar himself, the portrayals of his family, crew and most known victims such as Galan and Cano.

The casting is excellent most of the time with actors who physically are mirror images of the real people. In the smaller roles and in the action sequences you can see the shows flaws, but it's forgivable.

The shows theme is catchy with tasteful lyrics, once again trying to pay tribute to the victims to compensate any moments of admiration it may have shown to this Criminal.

All in all the soundtrack is good but some songs too repetitive. This show was controversial in Colombia and rightfully so.

However it's highly watchable and recommended.

This was an interestingly informative series. Unlike the new Narcos show, this show gave us a complete insight of how Pablo became the terror he was.

In my opinion Narcos has to get better with their storyline, as it is not as thorough as the Pablo el Patron series. Maybe because they telling it from the Narcs perspective and even though it is a good show, I feel like it is still lacking some pertinent information.

Pablo el Patron took me by surprise and held me tight until the very end of the series and now I feel like I need more but the story came to an end in the right way. LOVED IT!!!!!!! I hate it took me 4 years to see it.

It is a great series! Love the casting. All the actors have done a great job! El Chili grows up on you- my favourite!

While the production seems a bit cheezie on some levels (the seventies teevee serials music for example) it is easy to learn to ignore that and get sucked in hard with the exceptional acting and real-life drama.

The complexity of the criminal characters in this drama illustrate how easy it is for people to trust and become loyal to such psychopaths in real life.

The portrayal of Pablo -- an average looking and in mid-life overweight man who does not fit into any of the stereotypical movie portrayals of the gangster/bad guy is honest and fantastic. Same with the actors who portray his wife and others -- one reviewer commented that his wife could have more attractive for the show. C'mon! She was average, just like all the rest. Its when actresses and actors are chosen for their looks that exceed that of any people in real life that a show or movie becomes unbelievable and bad.

The cold, calculated way in which Pablo uses others to do his dirty work most of the time, and how its not for sadistic pleasure but more for simply power and like a any narcissistic psychopath, people are just to be used and disposed of when in the way - save for his family and yet he controls everyone, even his family tightly and masterfully because that is the all encompassing focus of a typical narcissistic psychopath.

The show is well done and binge watching should be expected as it is nearly impossible to predict what will happen next as none of this follows a writer's script, but instead, the intense and irrational machinations of a madman and his lackeys.

No doubt Columbia is still recovering from the near complete hijacking of their country and the brutal assassinations of innocents, but the US would do well to take heed to the lessons of how the rich and powerful can and will usurp democracy when it serves their interests.