THE latest, much-heralded original series from Netflix has finally appeared on subscribers' screens.
Set amid the real life cocaine-fuelled carnage of the US-led 'war on drugs' in the early 1980s, Narcos is well worth a watch for fans of crime drama – particularly those with an interest in the remarkable true story of how Pablo Escobar rose from small-time smuggler to Central America's premier drug kingpin / folk hero and the scourge of the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
Directed by Jose Padilha, the Brazillian film-maker behind the excellent Elite Squad movies (and the so-so RoboCop re-make) and penned by Chris Brancato (Boomtown, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, First Wave), the show-runners wisely devote most of their time to Escobar (an excellent Wagner Moura) and his fast-expanding Medellin cartel.
He's a much more interesting, morally complex character than Floridian DEA agent Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook), who also functions as the voice-over narrator for the series – though the cops do get a dramatic boost from the presence of his broody Colombian partner Javier Pena (Pedro Pascal), who introduces Murphy to crime fighting methods not found in the DEA manual, or indeed any law-based code of conduct.
With all 10 episodes currently available for viewing, Narcos has clearly been tailored for binge-watching: the opener' fast-paced blur of exposition peppered with drug deals and shoot-outs is more about setting up the Narcos universe than engaging story-telling, so be sure to block off enough time to consume the first two or three eps to get a taste of its true flavour.
:: Netflix.com.
