Narcos: Mexico - Television Season 1 Review

After the impressive feat that was Narcos: Season Three, I had to keep the ball rolling and immediately segued to the spin-off. Like Narcos: Season Three, I had some doubts about this series being able to keep up its momentum. The casting of actor, Michael Pena, for a central role in the show made me worry as I typically view him as more of a comedic actor than serious one. Like the original series, this spin-off exceeded my expectations, however it did have some issues. Once again, I watched this show on Netflix, however it is also available to purchase on DVD/Blu-ray. 

Spoiler Warning: From what I can tell, this show is supposed to be watched after finishing Narcos. Although both shows take place in different countries, the original series mentioned that a main character in the show dies at some point in the show. I have no intention of pointing out when that particular character dies, however I will mention who that character is as it's sort of given away. If you haven't checked out the original Narcos, I really recommend it. You can check out my reviews for the first two seasons here, and for the final season here.

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General Information 

Narcos: Mexico was released 16 November 2018 on Netflix, and is a historical crime thriller like the original series. It was originally designed to be the fourth season of the original Narcos, however it was eventually designated as a spin-off instead. I've never really understood why this choice was made, as the show retains several actors from the original series and once again focuses on a new narco-trafficking cartel like season three of Narcos did too. I believe that the official reason is that Narcos: Mexico goes back in time and centers on a new country as opposed to the original's main look at Colombia. Like the previous seasons of Narcos, the show was received incredibly well and was green-lit for a second season, which released on 13 February 2020.

The Story
Once again, we have a show that primarily takes place from dual perspectives of ill-fated DEA Agent, Enrique "Kiki" Camarena (played by Michael Pena), and the founder of the Guadalajara Cartel, Miguel Felix Gallardo (played by Diego Luna). We go back to the late 1970's when marijuana was more of a big deal than cocaine and the DEA was only just getting its start. Agent Kiki is sent to the seemingly sleepy city of Guadalajara to join a relatively small-time DEA office that spends more time buying drinks for local cops than actually stopping narco-traffickers. Meanwhile, Gallardo devises a plan with a small group of supporters in his bid to unite Mexico's dealers under one banner, along with the incredibly corrupt Mexican Federal Judicial Police.

This season outperforms the others in the aspect that they made the DEA's perspective incredibly interesting as you could literally feel the frustration behind Kiki's struggle to get any policework done. This show is not kind to the nation of Mexico, as there are very few local heroes to point to in the season, and Kiki's untimely demise hangs over the show like a black cloud. I thought the corruption in Cali, Colombia was bad, but Mexico's makes it look like the peak of professionalism. It left me incredibly intrigued to actually read up on the actual events the show covers.

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Kiki and the rest of the gang

Unfortunately, while the DEA shines in this show, the cartel does not. In Narcos, we had incredibly fascinating antagonists like Pablo Escobar and Pacho Herrera, however Gallardo is just plain uninteresting. I get that this is based on a real person, but Gallardo had very few characteristics beyond the fact that he was a charismatic opportunist who wanted to build a narco-trafficking empire. We see signs that there's more under Diego Luna's performance, but it never really shines through, which is a disappointment. Gallardo's partners, Rafael "Rafa" Caro Quintero (played by Tenoch Huerta) and Ernesto "Don Neto" Fonseca Carillo (phenomenally played by Joaquin Cosio) pick up the majority of the slack but the show still stumbles due to Gallardo's blank-slate style. This issue is most glaring when Gallardo visits Colombia and actually meets with Escobar and the Cali Cartel (seeing Wagner Moura as Escobar again made me salsa dance in excitement).

Special Effects/Atmosphere

The atmosphere is noticeably different in this season as compared to the original series. In Narcos, we had a lot of lush jungles with mountains. Narcos: Mexico brings its own cultural charms with expansive shots of dusty deserts and a musical score that stands out from all the others. Most of the narco-traffickers are dressed like cowboys, while the 1970's sideburns are in full display by nearly every character in the show. I did notice a few hiccups with time though as there's a scene near the beginning of the season where Rafa is watching Brian DePalma's Scarface, however that movie didn't come out until 1983. It wouldn't be too big of a deal, however it impacts Rafa's character quite a bit and had me frequently wondering what year it was in the show.

***

Rafa, I get it, I love the 80's too, but it's still 1979, dude

There's quite a few cinematic shoot-out scenes like the previous Narcos, however these were somewhat hit-or-miss. The raid on a beach safehouse probably stands out as one of the best scenes in the overall Narcos series. On the opposite end of the spectrum though, there's a lengthy shoot-out at a marijuana field that was just not done well. People were not behaving right, and the special effects were noticeably off. Despite that, I felt that this was fairly fine as the set-design is spectacular as viewers will see both the ugliest and the prettiest parts of Mexico.

The Acting
Michael Pena made me a believer in this show. I've never been particularly taken with his acting abilities, but I really liked him in this show. Kiki desperately wanted to prove himself, and Pena's performance really makes that apparent. I'll be keeping an eye out for him in future serious roles.

The true rock stars of this show were Tenoch Huerta and Joaquin Cosio though. Both of their characters are incredibly unlikable, but it's all organically shown. Huerta specifically deserves a mention as he goes from being a quiet and soft-spoken botanist to a cocaine-crazed drug lord through the season. I've only ever seen Cosio in one other performance (he played a minor villain in Quantum of Solace), but he cracked me up in this show with his crotchety old-man schtick. I was consistently amazed with every second that no one killed him just for being a nuisance.

****

Don Neto just wants to smoke his grass in peace

Some other minor mentions are Alyssa Diaz (plays Mika Camarena), Matt Letscher (as DEA Agent Jaime Kuykendall), and Teresa Ruiz (plays Isabella Bautista). I'd only ever seen Letscher play scumbags in other shows, so it was nice to see him play against-type for a change. Diaz knocks her role out of the park by juggling the incredibly stressful role of Kiki's wife. Ruiz is one of the few women to play a narco-trafficker, and she also provides an excellent performance as someone who can go from flirting to negotiating cocaine prices on the turn of a dime.

The Best of the Best: The police raid on Don Neto's beach safehouse. What a magnificent combo of music and special affects.

The Worst of the Worst: Narcos dragging Escobar back from the grave to question Gallardo's motivations and getting a bullshit vague answer. He should've fed him to the hippopotamuses...  

Would I Recommend?

*****

I didn't think it was possible, but Narcos: Mexico is even darker than the original Narcos, but it's still great. Michael Pena turns in a great performance and this show gives you a great reason to press on to season two. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoyed the original series.

-------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments-----------------------------------------------------

• The scene at the airport runway where the DEA attempt to stop Rafa and the police enable the bastard to get away with a smile on his face made me so incredibly angry. It reminded me of the ending of the first episode of Miami Vice.
• It felt good to see Rafa get his comeuppance by the end. I hope his shoulder really hurt.
• Well Actually: It would appear that Rafa got away with it in the end, as he was actually released in 2013 when the Jalisco state court ruled he was improperly tried. He's been on the run ever since.
• There's something about that Joaquin Guzman... I'm not sure what it is, but I feel like he's going to be a big deal later in the show...
• Teresa Ruiz is pretty.
• It's always fascinating when you get to see the protagonist and the antagonist actually interact in this series as it's so rare. Wagner Moura's Escobar never met Javier Pena or Steven Murphy (with the exception of when he died). There wasn't much hero-villain interaction in season three either with the Cali Cartel. I may not like Gallardo as a character, but it was cool seeing Diego Luna and Michael Pena play off each other.

----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------

*Marani, S. (2020, July 12). Narcos: Mexico cover image. Spoiler. Retrieved from: https://spoiler.bolavip.com/extra/Narcos-Mexico-cuando-se-estrena-la-tercera-temporada-de-la-serie-en-Netflix-20200712-0004.html.

**Netflix. (2018). Narcos: Mexico DEA image. Retrieved from: https://www.netflix.com/title/80997085. 

***Nicolaou, E. (2018, November 26). Narcos: Mexico Rafa image. Refinery29. Retrieved from: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/11/217804/rafael-caro-quintero-now-jail-release-2018-narcos-season-4.

****Sawyer, J. (2018, October 18). Narcos: Mexico Don Neto image. Highsnobiety. Retrieved from: https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/narcos-mexico-trailer/. 

*****Netflix. (n.d.). Narcos: Mexico salud gif. Giphy. Retrieved from: https://giphy.com/gifs/netflix-mexico-narcos-elVJ3bzUoIhVN6Sd9V.