What I’m Watching: Narcos

Narcos: Season 3, Episode 3 “Follow the Money” (B+)

This season really is revving up, with Pena doing his best to really make some progress in taking down the Cali cartel while his American comrades are actively working against him to ensure a continuation of the status quo. To think that such violence is permitted is especially disturbing considering the real-life news that a location manager for the show’s fourth season was recently killed in Mexico. The two senators who came down to find out where their money is going were familiar TV faces, Glenn Morshower, best known as Agent Aaron Pierce on “24,” and Louis Herthum, who played Dolores’ father on “Westworld.” Pena didn’t need much information to realize the scene of destruction he was seeing was staged, but it doesn’t matter, since he’s not receiving any kind of support. His agents are indeed smarter than they look, as Feistl and Van Ness toured around with a man who definitely isn’t the most honest cop in Medellin and then surprised him with a warrant. It was pretty intense to see Jorge, who is the definition of calm under pressure, get out of his car and bolt inside the building after Guillermo repeatedly refused to heed his warnings to then literally hold the dirty money in his hands behind the door so that the agents wouldn’t find it. Hearing his accent was a big win, but not as incredible as being led to the very hiding place where Gilberto was. Pena’s already on to his own leads, following Miguel Angel Silvestre’s cleaner Jurado and his wife American wife Kerry Bishé, whose passport is like gold. I’m eager to see what happens next.