Narcos: Mexico - Television Season 2 Review

In both my reviews of the last season and Narcos (season 3), I'll admit that I had pessimistic attitudes going in. On both occasions, my expectations were soundly demolished. When I went into this season, I felt I had learned my lesson, which was helped by the awesome way that the first season ended. I wanted revenge for Kiki, and the sight of Scoot McNairy smuggling assault rifles into Mexico (while listening to Bob Seger) made me incredibly excited. Unfortunately, it's starting to look like the series is finally losing some steam. As always, I checked this out on Netflix, where the entire series is available for streaming.

*

General Information

Narcos: Mexico season two was released 13 February 2020 on Netflix. As of this writing, the reception for the season is still up in the air. Something I learned about this spin-off series though, was that apparently one of the location scouts for the show, Carlos Munoz Portal, was murdered on 15 September 2017. According to El Pais, Munoz was shot to death after he was observed taking photographs of the landscape in central Mexico (aka "his job"). The investigation is still pending and does not seem to have a very optimistic outlook.

The Story
The show picks up almost exactly where it left off as Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo (still played by Diego Luna) has solidified his hold over most of Mexico's plazas as the head of the Guadalajara Cartel. Things aren't looking too good for him though as violent rivalries are breaking out between the Sinaloa and Tijuana plazas, while the Juarez plaza boss seems to be asleep at the wheel. It definitely doesn't help that the US is now calling for Gallardo's blood over Kiki's death, and they're not taking the Mexican government's "no" for an answer. 

Filling Kiki's shoes is Scoot McNairy's DEA Special Agent Walter "Walt" Breslin. Walt is on a mission of vengeance and is ready and willing to break whatever rules he needs to in order to get the job done. Even with that said, he's in for a rough fight as he'll have to contend with dirty politicians, CIA interference, and a state department official with the most nasally voice I've ever heard.

**

Others may have forgotten Kiki's sacrifice, but Walt sure as hell didn't

This season seemed to be less scattered than any of its predecessors, as it focuses most of its time to a very limited cast of characters with Walt and Gallardo eating up most of it. This approach acts as a double-edged sword as I found Walt to be on par (possibly even better) than Michael Pena's Kiki. He brings the weariness and sincerity of someone who knows that they're losing the war, but badly needs a win. Gallardo remains a cipher for much of the show, however he starts to actually show depth in the later episodes (better late than never). We see a lot more of Amado Carillo Fuentes (played by Jose Maria Yazpik), whom I started to really enjoy watching by the end of the season.

***

He may be a drug dealer, but Amado earned his paycheck in this season

Overall, this season's story was good, but sputtered at times. Walt's segments were generally great, while Gallardo's plot lines were middling-to-good. Although I liked Fuentes as a character, his story with Juarez plaza boss, Pablo Acosta Villarreal, was pretty boring and pointless. It was one of those situations where I felt they could've cut most of the Juarez parts and the story wouldn't have been impacted by it.

Special Effects/Atmosphere

The show-runners seemed to take what they learned from last season and improved upon them. The firefights were tighter and far better choreographed, while we got to see a lot more different locales. If season one was mostly about deserts and Guadalajara, this season is looking at Mexico as a whole with examinations spanning across the border and Mexico City. The helicopter raid on Pablo Acosta Villarreal's compound was pretty impressive, but the shootout at the Juarez airstrip was probably my favorite.

I would argue that this season's set-design outclasses all the others as well. The show kicks things off with a marching band and a live tiger, and viewers are treated to inside looks at Mexico's corrupt 1988 election, as well as some of those famous tunnels the cartels now use to move drugs north (thanks a lot, Guzman...).

The Acting
In my opinion, Scoot McNairy makes this season worth watching. Apparently, Walt is not based off of any one individual agent, but acts as more of a combo of numerous historical figures that fought the good fight back then. Despite that, I found myself able to connect more with Walt than real-life characters like special agents Pena and Murphy. I don't recall ever seeing McNairy in much, however his performance makes me want to check out his other works and I hope we see him at the center of another show soon.

Diego Luna did a pretty great job with what was made available to him. In season one, I wasn't sure if it was his personal talent, or the writing, that made his character so boring. After this season, I now believe it was the writing as we got to see him shine more. It's a shame Gallardo didn't start to really interest me until near the end of this season.

Some final mentions would be Jose Maria Yazpik's portrayal of Amado Carillo Fuentes and Gerardo Taracena as Pablo Acosta Villarreal. It's strange of me to say that, as the Juarez plot line was fairly bad, but I don't believe it was due to acting. Taracena was incredibly well-cast as he matches appearances with the real Villarreal pretty well, and I liked his more calm and brooding demeanor over the more erratic personalities we see more of from other characters.

The Best of the Best: Walt getting the DEA's pound of flesh from everyone who was involved with Kiki's death.

The Worst of the Worst: Every scene that involved Isabella Bautista (played by Teresa Ruiz). Her character had nothing to do with the plot through the entire season and felt forced. Ruiz is a beautiful and talented actress, but this season would've been better off without her.

Would I Recommend?

****

El Chapo seems to be a fan

This is likely my least favorite season of the series, but it's still pretty damn good. If you liked season one, this one is worth a watch as well, but be ready for some depressing scenes. I wish I could say that this one has a happier ending than last season, but I'd be lying.

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

• That brief monologue by Gallardo to Walt was pretty chilling and foreboding.
• I was thinking that Amado was maybe just a little too deferential through the show, but then we hit that surprise betrayal and it all made sense. Amado walked away running a plaza with a brand new airport. Not too shabby!
• The 1988 Mexican election plot line was pretty revolting. So damn shameful they got away with that.
• So I guess Gallardo's driver, Clavel, didn't get murdered for ruining the plot to kill Palma's family, but he decided to change occupations from driver to shoe salesman? His death scene was cool and all, but I was so confused about how he got from point A to point C.

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

*IMDB. (2020). Narcos: Mexico season two cover image. Retrieved from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8714904/.

**Sanyal, P. (2020, February 13). Walt Breslin image. Meaww. Retrieved from: https://meaww.com/narcos-mexico-season-2-episode-1-review-scoot-mc-nairy-diego-luna-salva-el-tigre-netflix-410193. 

***Cobb, K. (2020, February 19). Amado Carillo Fuentes image. Decider. Retrieved from: https://decider.com/2020/02/19/narcos-mexico-jose-maria-yazpik-amado/. 

****Netflix. (2020). El Chapo gif. Giphy. Retrieved from: https://giphy.com/gifs/netflix-mexico-narcos-cNMn41Z2yynSOUslfS.