SERIES REVIEW – Miguel Angel Felix (Diego Luna) has been the protagonist of Narcos: Mexico for two long seasons. After his arrest, the story focuses on the cartel’s divided leaders: Amado, Benjamin, El Chapo and Ramon. Their story is mainly told in Narcos: Mexico, but this time the focus is also on politics, the largely corrupt cops and a few honest but almost hopelessly struggling police officers, and this time the media.

 

Narcos: Mexico was run by Felix. Now in prison, season 3 will find out what happens to the cartel and the drug mafia he runs. The series begins with precisely what Felix warned of in season 2 – a kind of farewell – the unfolding chaos. As you might expect: this initial chaos soon leads to vicious betrayals, ruthless tactics and bloody showdowns.

 

 

Amado is not a wild animal, but an intelligent, “sympathetic,” and cunning drug lord

 

The first episode is set in a vast desert, with Amado Carrillo Fuentes at the centre. He was already in the main series and played a big part in season 2, leading Mexican drug lords towards division with his little schemes. While Amado is portrayed as a powerful, concise character by others (or history), Jose Maria Yazpik is surprisingly understated: Apart from a single-handed showdown, he is not ruthless, and his acting portrays a relatively quiet, private, introverted but at the same time sympathetic character, in contrast to the highly charismatic and ruthless Felix of the previous two seasons, played by Diego Luna. Compared to Amado, Benjamin, played by Alfonso Dosal, Ramon, played by Manuel Masalva, and Enedina, played by Mayra Hermosillo, are much more formidable and cruel – but still, it soon becomes clear that they are not as clever as Felix.

The Mexican humour is still present in the series, which makes Narcos entertaining, but there’s no lack of gruesome violence and gritty realism, making the atmosphere unbeatable.

 

 

Old faces and new faces among the bad guys

 

One of the interesting characters is the Professor, aka Carlos Hank, who makes his debut in Narcos: Mexico. His name keeps popping up in the first half of the series, but he hasn’t been on screen as much so far, but he’s all the more so in the third season.

El Chapo (who was also the subject of a separate series) will have a much more significant role in the third season. He is the same arrogant and seemingly dumb bastard who is a ruthless snake who can strike out at his unsuspecting ‘friends’ when his interests dictate. Alejandro Edda (if possible) is even more brilliant in the role this season, and I find it hard to imagine any other actor playing the character, even though he is no longer playing a role in the particular series.

Then there’s El Mayo, a very laid-back fishing enthusiast, as a new character. Fortunately, Alberto Guerra is also a pro in the role because, together with Chapo, he becomes an important character who changes the story of the drug trade.

Finally, we must not forget Alberto Ammann, who plays the role of Helmer Herrera, aka El Pacho, and has already shown how formidable he can be. Even though he admitted homosexuality is a handicap in this macho, cruel world, he still commands enough authority to strike fear into the hearts of even the cartel leaders.

 

 

Burnt-out, hopelessly fighting “good guys.”

 

Of all the cops chasing the Narcos, the most significant focus this time around is on the personal and professional life of Walt Breslin (Scoot McNairy). Those who have followed Narcos know precisely what it means to portray family in the series. Either to give the character background or because the family will play an important role later in the story. Breslin is a highly burnt out and often depressed DEA agent with self-esteem issues who would love to retire but can’t stop hunting. He’s nowhere near the “daredevil” that Boyd Holbrook and Pedro Pascal were as Steve Murphy and Javier Pena, but his constant “torment” and struggle despite his problems is still sympathetic.

The story of Victor Tapia, the initially extremely resigned and corrupt cop, is a gripping, separate serial killer and detective story. Tapia is not interested in anything except his wife and the bribe money. Still, as he becomes more and more obsessed with the serial killer case – he too undergoes a phenomenal character development.

 

 

Adios, Narcos!

 

Sadly, with the third season of Narcos: Mexico, we have to say goodbye to the world of Narcos (the creators have revealed that this was the last season). However, there is still plenty to tell as the drug trade continues to thrive in Colombia and Mexico. But Narcos is at once vivid, realistic, cruel to the extreme, instructive (the parallels are there in our country too…) and, of course, extremely entertaining. It’s worth watching the film in its original languages, English and Spanish, even if you don’t speak either of them very well (after a while you even learn Spanish) because of the tasty turns of phrase, the swearing (“puta di madre!”, “pinche Felix!”) and, in general, the original voices and accents of the actors in this series are unmissable. As is this series: if you have any illusions about the system of crime, drug trafficking and political corruption that permeates a country, watch all seasons of Narcos and Narcos: Mexico for a good head nod.

-BadSector-