Take Three: Narcos

Narcos: Season 1, Episode 3 “The Men of Always” (B+)

Every installment of this show really does feel like a movie, and a fascinating historical epic at that. This can’t be the whole of Pablo’s political career, but what a meteoric rise and triumphant fall it was. It’s a fact that Pablo runs the show and makes things happen around him, forcing people to do his bidding and ensuring that no one gets away with double-crossing him. The fierce intensity of the public official going after him initially seemed like bravery, but he made it very clear to Steve that it was much more brazen and he had no interest in letting the United States take credit for it or accepting their recommendation to wear a bulletproof vest prior to his assassination. I liked the introduction with Javier explaining the history of the DEA against the Narcos and classifying the deceased cat as DEA for whom vengeance would be sought. I’m intrigued to see Elisa in a hospital setting which just happens to also feature Steve’s furious wife, and that’s sure to get interesting. If Pablo is poised and smart, willing to bide his time and pretend to be an alternate so that he can get himself elected, Poison is the opposite, hungry for fame and glory from the start, so eager to keep up his reputation for killing that he swerved a car to kill two more innocents just to cement his status and prove a point. These are dangerous people, no doubt, and the DEA has an immense uphill battle ahead of them.