The Student News Site of Sonoma State University

Sonoma State Star

The Student News Site of Sonoma State University

Sonoma State Star

The Student News Site of Sonoma State University

Sonoma State Star

Netflix nails it with new thriller: ‘Narcos’

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As the weather cools down, more weekends will be spent inside curled up under the covers, marathoning T.V. shows for hours on end. Netflix is the go-to source for watching countless hours of superior T.V. programs.

facebook.comNetflix’s new series “Narcos” enhances a very real part of history.

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Netflix’s new series “Narcos” enhances a very real part of history.

Netflix’s first hit shows were “House of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black.” Both had viewers on the edge of their seats, glued until the final episode.

Netflix’s newest series, “Narcos,” is the next show viewers won’t be able to stop watching. It depicts the criminal and gruesome escapades of notorious Columbian drug lord, Pablo Escobar in the 1980s.

The story is told in a narrative style, from the perspective of two DEA agents played by “Gone Girl”’s Boyd Holbrook and “Game of Thrones”’ Pedro Pascal. The infamous Pablo Escobar is played by Wagner Moura.

Because it’s told in this style, the audience gets to see both sides of the story and really gets a varied view of the way Escobar changed drug trafficking forever.

For some background, Escobar dealt primarily in the cocaine business in the 1980s, when cocaine usage was at its peak. Escobar is credited for creating narco-terrorism in addition to making Columbia the murder capital of the world at the time.

The show is mainly in English, but it also targets a Spanish audience by keeping a lot of the dialogue in Spanish with English subtitles.

One of the most unique things about this show is that it cuts to bits of real footage of Escobar and his cohort throughout the show, acting as a constant reminder that the show depicts true stories and events.

This show, however, isn’t for the faint of heart, as it is gruesome at its most timid moments and induces eye and ear covering at it’s worst.

To be fair, it isn’t violence just for violence’s sake. The show really captures an important part of America’s history.

To quote the character DEA agent Steve Murphy, “ When I started, a one kilo grass bust was cause for celebration, before long we were seizing 60 kilos of coke a day.”

This series strength is its dual story lines: On the one side you have Escobar, an extremely violent, business-oriented and fast-paced character. His world in the drug cartel is completely fascinating. One the other side ,we have the DEA agents. The agents give a viewer a protagonist to root for. They are on a mission to defend the United States from the insane amount of cocaine coming in and they are ready for war.

In contrast to many shows on television today that glorify the usage of drugs, “Narcos” doesn’t hold back in showing the horrible repercussions the drug industry can have in both the places they come from and the places that they arrive.

Viewers that like high intensity, violent, male-driven, dark television shows like “Breaking Bad” or “Sons of Anarchy” are bound to love “Narcos” as well. The main difference between this show and other ones in the same genre is usually these shows have you rooting for the bad guys, while this show has you rooting for the good guys which is a nice change of pace.

Squeamish, sensitive viewers who enjoy female character driven shows, and like to watch T.V. with their parents would certainly less likely be a fan of “Narcos.” It does have a good amount of explicit language and sex, so it would be a good idea to keep from watching this Netflix series with granny after Sunday night dinner.

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