Narcos Season 3 Netflix Series Review

Narcos (2015-)
Season 3 - 10 episodes (2017)

Watch Narcos Season 3 on Netflix
Created by: Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro
Starring:  Pedro Pascal, Andrea Londo, Matt Whelan, Sebastian Eslava, Michael Stahl-David
Rating: TV-MA

Plot
The first two seasons were a dramatization of Pablo Esocbar's rise to power and wealth as the DEA and agent Murphy attempted to stop him. Season two left us with the question of what happens to the cartel now? The answer, a new empire fills the void, the Cali Cartel moves in.

Verdict
I liked season three a lot, and it might be my favorite season. It basically functions as a reboot, with many new characters, providing multiple viewpoints on the drug war. Characters want to maintain power, escape the power, or capture the power. This leads to a lot of double dealing and tension.
We never really got to know Escobar, not like the characters this season, and this is still for a large part based on fact. The stock footage reminds us of that when we see the show recreated Miguel's clothes when he was apprehended. While a lot of the drama is manufactured, this is a television show. It needs that drama. Using the large story as a framework is the perfect way to do this.
The first two seasons were Escobar versus Murphy. Expanding the cast this season helps weave an engaging story. This was a great show before, and by going deeper and wider into the cartel, it just gets better.
Watch it.

Review
I wondered how this series could continue after season two with out Escobar, check out my season 2 review. You take down Escobar, but in a business this lucrative someone will take his place. That's the way it always happens. Crime pervades because the money doesn't run dry. This seasons drops us into the middle of a new cartel.

Episode 5: Don Miguel

The first episode introduces us to the Cali cartel. They run their business like a Fortune 500 company, staying in the shadows and avoiding violence. The cartel plans to leave the cocaine business in six months with a deal in place that lets them walk if they surrender their illegal assets. It's a hard business to leave, because you can't generate that kind of wealth anywhere else, but that's a sweet deal.
Agent Javier Pena doesn't like the deal. While he's reluctant to relish his role as the hero that captured Pablo Escobar, he wants to put this cartel down.

Episode 7: Jorge Salcedo.

We see various sides of the cartel and the resulting internal tension. The head of the cartel, Gilberto is arrested. His brother Miguel assumes power and wants people to know the new lead. Pena pursues Miguel for much of this season.
Jorge rises to head of security after his friend and predecessor is killed for a mistake. There's only one punishment in this business. Jorge wanted to get out before, but now he's desperate. He decides to get out by any means necessary, which is dangerous. With a mistake, he's killed. If he's caught in his new plight, he and his family will be killed. Jorge is a great character this season. Danger is on all sides, and you know at any second things could go bad for him.

Episode 7: Agent Pena thwarted by the law.

This season really puts us in the story. Jorge is a bit cliche, the guy that wants out, but this makes his story real. It shows us why he wants out, and you can't blame him.
The question as it has always been is how do you stop the boundless unstoppable? As Pena works to apprehend high ranking cartel members, you begin to think it's all for nothing.  Pena almost gets Miguel, but the law stops his search. He's inches away from getting Miguel, but doesn't realize how close he is. Because of that, he later sells his soul in a last ditch attempt to stop the cartel and it's all for nothing. Going outside of the law helps him, but he didn't plan for the cartel to circumvent the law as well to close the loop.

It's easy to forget that this season is based on fact too. Escobar was better known than the Cali cartel, but this season includes stock footage as well. While it doesn't seem to critique the political process as much, we do see a few presidents.

This season is relentless You know Jorge won't last, but he keeps living another episode. Pena just can't win, even if he did it wouldn't matter, but he cann't stop. The tension between Jorge and Don Miguel's son David is always intense. David is reckless and doesn't trust Jorge. That's a bad combination.

You know even if Pena catches the cartel, a new one will spring up.  New Valley is ready to fill the void, but later in the season Pena discovers he never had a chance. No charges were ever going to stick. The cartel's bribes go all the way up.
I wondered how this show could continue after season two. Now I know it can easily continue and wonder where we'll go in season three. That's part of the backbone of this show now, someone always fills the void when that much money is at stake. The final scenes of episode ten are a fitting ending. Trafficking never stops, it doesn't matter who you catch or how powerful they are.