Netflix - Narcos S03 : A great season for one of the best original Netflix series

By Mulder, San Diego, 01 september 2017

The third season of Narcos, an American crime thriller drama web television series produced and created by Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro, follows the story of Cali Cartel. In its explosive third season, Narcos explores how eliminating one notorious drug kingpin – Pablo Escobar – only makes room for four more to take his place. With the Cali Cartel, all rules have changed, and the DEA must prepare for the ultimate takedown. All 10 hourlong episodes of Narcos ’ third season will become available exclusively to Netflix members on Friday, September 1, 2017 , at 12:01 a.m. PST.

“I think Season 3 is very different than Season 1 and Season 2 for our audience and for the surviving characters involved,” says actor Pedro Pascal , who returns as DEA agent Javier Peña. This season finds Peña promoted to a managerial position in Miami, though it’s not long before he’s back on the ground in Colombia. Executive produced by José Padilha , Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard , Narcos chronicles real-life stories of the cocaine trade in the ‘80s and ‘90s. While the Cali Cartel played a minor part in the first two seasons, it now takes center stage, introducing viewers to the four “godfathers” who helped build the richest drug trafficking organization in the world. “We’re not dealing with one king, we’re dealing with four,” Pascal says. “So it’s a new fight, it’s a new war, it’s new tactics. I think the characters are discovering that at the same time as the people watching the show.”

Leading the cast this season are Damián Alcázar as Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, Francisco Denis as Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela, Pêpê Rapazote as Chepe Santacruz Londoño and Alberto Ammann as Pacho Herrera. Michael Stahl-David and Matt Whelan join the mix as two American DEA agents, and Matias Varela plays Jorge Salcedo, a Cali Cartel employee with valuable information.

“This is the thing about Narcos : you think it’s about one cartel, and then you realize it’s just bigger and bigger and bigger,” says Stahl-David. “Whenever one goes down, another pops up. It’s this never-ending cycle.” Eric Newman serves as the series’ showrunner, with Paul Marks and Andi Baiz as co-executive producers. This season’s directors include Baiz, Gabriel Ripstein , Josef Wladyka and Fernando Coimbra . Narcos is produced by Gaumont International Television for Netflix. In its first two seasons, Narcos amassed a global fan base captivated by the show’s reality-based storylines, suspenseful twists and compelling performances. With Season 3, fans won’t be disappointed. “When Pablo falls, the government gets stronger,” Ammann says. “And instead of stopping the chase, it just gets more intense.”

Our Review (5/5):

*Disclaimer: This review is based on the first three episodes of Season three with knowledge of seasons 1 & 2 of Narcos. There are spoilers, proceed with caution*

There is a calmness as Narcos begins, like a shot of morphine prior to the blade. Rodrigo Amarante’s composition Tuyo entrances our senses as we mentally prepare for the newest season of the Netflix drama.

We begin by mourning the loss of Pablo Escobar (exceptionally played by Wagner Moura), whose death on a rooftop, battered, a sliver of the great man we both feared and reveled in for two seasons, felt so final. As FBI agents Javier Pena (Pedro Pascal) and Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook) stood over the culmination of their work, we couldn’t help but hate them for a moment, ending a chase as intoxicating as the drugs they sought to eradicate. But as the US helped to end one reign, another was ushered in, one led with all the precision of a surgeon, The Cali Cartel.

Season three of Narcos focuses on the organized cartel post Escobar, taking a more political view to organized crime, and creating an empire for its top elite. FBI agent Javier Pena has been re-instated in Columbia to track the very family he used to help bring down Pablo, more as a pawn while the true chess players work to legitimize the Cali crime family. His frustration mounts more and more as complaints of the brutality of the Cartel come to light, but the system remains stacked in favor of the powerful. The Cali themselves seek out ties to the American CIA, in hopes of turning their ill begotten gains into legitimate, acceptable power.

While most Netflix’s drama have stood strong on the foundation of the writing, Narcos strength lies in the actors portrayals. Wagner Moura’s Escobar was strong, vindicate, and fearless, all to the point that he reminded us that Pablo was born a boy of little means in a country of less options. Season three seems to have less of that impact on individual characters, that is until we witness the glory that is Pacho Herrera (Alberto Ammann). In the first episode of season 3 Pacho, the deadliest head of the Cali Cartel, seeks revenge on a lesser drug lord. Once given the green light, he seeks out the target in a club, and upon assuring the man he forgives him, he asserts his dominance in a way that only a man about to quarter you via motorcycles could. It’s a sheer feat of visual brilliance on the part of Ammann, and makes it all the more depressing when he is sent away, and out of the storyline (hopefully temporarily) in the next scene. As we are introduced to some of the view plot lines we can’t help but hope for the artery to return.

From it’s continuous in Spanish Language, lending reality to the storyline, to the amazing character portrayals from its cast; Narcos season three promises to bring us the mind behind the gritty world it portrays, even if it lost the heart.

Synopsis:
Season 3 was released on September 1, 2017.The story continues after Pablo Escobar's death and shows the DEA's fight against the Cali Cartel. With Escobar out of the way, business for the Cali Cartel is booming, with new markets in the USA and elsewhere. To everyone's surprise, Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, the leader of the Cali Cartel, announces that within 6 months the cartel will leave the cocaine business entirely to focus on legal business interests. The decision is met with mixed reactions within the cartel.

Narcos (season 3)
Created by Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro
Theme music composer Rodrigo Amarante
Composer : Pedro Bromfman
Production Executive producer(s) : Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro, Katie O'Connell, Eric Newman, José Padilha, Elisa Todd Ellis
Producer(s) : José Luis Escolar, Paul Eckstein
Cinematography : Mauricio Vidal
Running time : 43–60 minutes
Production company(s) Gaumont International Television
Distributor : Netflix, Lionsgate Home Entertainment (Home video releases)
Picture format 1080p, 2160p (16:9 HDTV)
Starring Damián Alcázar, Pedro Pascal, Michael Stahl-David, Matt Whelan
No. of episodes 10

We would like to thank Stuart Gurr, Shannon Buck and Alison Gross