This Netflix series charts the rise and fall of the Colombian drug lords as their power increases as they earn billions of US dollars supplying the United States with cocaine and the actions of the DEA as they try to bring them to justice. The first two seasons are centred on Pablo Escobar and his Medellin cartel and DEA Agents Steve Murphy and Javier Peña while the third sees Peña leading the hunt for the 'Gentlemen of Cali', the cartel which eventually took over from Escobar.
The story shown is based on reality but the makers never pretend that it is entirely true... a pre-title card informs us that some characters are entirely fictional. That doesn't stop it feeling real thanks to the way events are depicted. The characters are shown in a matter of fact way leaving it to the viewer to judge them... of course given what we see some of them do it isn't hard to condemn many of them. Even so surprisingly few characters are totally unsympathetic at all times. The cast does a really impressive job bringing their characters to life; most obviously Pedro Pascal as Javier Peña and Wagner Moura as Pablo Escobar. Many people have commented about incorrect accents but I doubt this will be a problem for non-Spanish speakers; it was certainly better than having all characters speaking English. Overall I found the series really gripping; I'll certainly be watching 'Narcos: Mexico' soon.
