What I’m Watching: Narcos

Narcos: Season 1, Episode 8 “La Gran Mentira” (B+)

I would love to see just how the history of Pablo Escobar and the DEA’s pursuit of him was broken up into these episodes since every hour feels so self-contained and themed, easily distinguishable from any other hour (another benefit of watching one episode per week, although I’ll admit that as I write this review the same day as I watched the episode, I fully expect to watch episode nine within the next forty-eight hours since it’s already available). The legacy of the kidnappings came to a swift and devastating ending when a successful operation by Carrillo and his men turned into the tragic death of the number one hostage when she was struck by police bullets after Gorilla told her to hide in the closet. Gaviria was evidently under a lot of pressure to make peace and negotiate, but he wasn’t the only one who caved. Carrillo took things to a whole new level by gathering up a group of people who hated Pablo more than he did to beat Gustavo to a pulp and then to finish him off when he proved to be uncooperative. That being the straw that broke Pablo’s back caught me by surprise, but, as Steve said in his narration, the sight of Pablo being taken into custody really was a big lie since he’s not going anywhere that’s truly going to prevent him from continuing to be the omniscient criminal that he is. There are two episodes left this season and then more after that – I really can’t imagine where it will all take us.