Grade (A+)
Another excellent season, that raises the stakes, increases the intrigues and again, delivers captivating television.
My binge watch of “Narcos” season two has ended after a few sessions, and all I can really start by saying is that this season was all you could ask for after a strong first. The continuation of Escobar’s life was told in compelling fashion once again. Like the first season, excellent performances all around, strong writing, and a perfect weaving of multiple story-arcs, create a riveting saga as Escobar begins to feel his grip of control finally weaken.
This season did a great job of seamlessly advancing all the major characters, implementing new ones, and continuing to show the emotional toll these events had on all of them. It also did a fantastic job of continuing on with the turmoil between the DEA agents Peña and Murphy, the desperation of Pena to catch Escobar, and the struggles the job created for Murphy and his family life.
From one episode to the next this second season, with strong detail, explores the crumbling of Escobar’s empire as well as the effect it had on his own family. The detailed set-pieces capture the downsizing of Escobar’s life at each place he had to run to as the walls closed in on him. A man born in poverty, reaching the highest levels of wealth, only to find himself back to his humble beginnings, was intriguing to watch in this span of episodes.
The inter-workings of the operation to catch Escobar as well as the rival cartels jostling for control in the wake of a weakened Escobar, are woven perfectly together once again. The strongest aspect of this show and what makes it so riveting to watch it its ability to weave so many moving pieces together into one fluid story-line, and this season did exactly that.
Also; once again the acting from top-to-bottom was fantastic. Beyond the three leads who continue in their strong performances, a strong standout in this season to me was the performance of Paulina Gaitan as Escobar’s wife. She did an excellent job of conveying the emotional stress on Escobar’s family during the final months of his life. More than the first season, this one relied on her for many episodes to pull off some emotional scenes and she was great in doing just that.
This season was an excellent closing to the chapter of Pablo Escobar and built the tension up nicely with each passing episode. With new additions in the cast, most specifically those in the Cali Cartel, I am looking forward to what the next step will be in the third-season.