What I’m Watching: Narcos

Narcos: Season 1, Episode 6 “Explosivos” (B+)

It’s a testament to the richness of this show that an entire episode can transpire with Pablo appearing in only a scene or two. That’s the way these things usually go down, of course, with a major lieutenant targeted by government agencies either for death or to be turned against the boss, and Gacha was in the crosshairs here. His paranoia was legitimate, though his son shooting the maid in the head because she didn’t want to have sex with him was probably almost as worrisome as a joint task force storming his palace and making him flee from the guns and the helicopter above. It’s so interesting to see the relationship between Javier and Carillo, as they both do things differently and agree to trust each other, which is why Javier made the call to take Gacha out rather than attempting to bring him in alive despite strongly advocating for the latter route. Steve getting his car bugged by American agents didn’t signal anything good, but fortunately he was perceptive enough to send his wife with Elisa to spirit her to safety. His insistence on protecting Gaviria was extremely legitimate, and it’s a good thing that his head of security opted to cancel the operation based on his gut. The moment we met the young, bright-eyed new father, it was evident that he was going to be sacrificed, though blowing a plane out of the sky is quite the declaration of war that will linger much more than targeted killings of the police.