A hard act to follow but it does it in some style.
Considering we’re all spending a lot of time indoors these days, the JOE team has picked out viewing recommendations for TV series, old and new, to get stuck into to keep boredom at bay.
Title: Narcos: Mexico
Where can you watch it? Netflix
Number of seasons/episodes: Two seasons, 10 episodes per season.
IMDB rating: 8.4/10
Why you should watch it: Of all the topics explored in television series, particularly since the advent of streaming services, one could never say there is a shortage of offerings about the relationship between drugs and organised crime.
Because of the volume of content on that subject matter, the bar for the really exceptional series is raised higher, high enough that it has produced two of the undisputed best TV shows of the modern age in The Wire and Breaking Bad.
Narcos might not or may never have the legacy rightly afforded to those two, but it certainly deserves to be in the conversation about the best shows of the last 10 years or so.
Indeed, speaking of reaching high bars, one of the best things that can be said about the most recent edition of the series, Narcos: Mexico, is that it has maintained the lofty standard set by the three seasons of the original Narcos, which documented the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar and the emergence of the Cali Cartel.
Narcos: Mexico examines the rise to prominence of the Guadalajara Cartel and in particular, its ambitious leader, Felix Gallardo (played terrifically by Diego Luna) and efforts by the American DEA to combat its influence.
While never glorifying the drug trafficking business, Narcos: Mexico strikes a delicate balance in that the viewer can simultaneously root for the DEA in their attempt to catch the bad guys (including a man who came to be known as El Chapo) and for the bad guys in their attempts to evade capture, a tussle that provides no end of drama, surprise and suspense over two 10-episode seasons.
If all that wasn’t enough to convince you, the soundtrack is quality. One you won’t regret adding to the watch list.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGv_F9hpQ-w
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