‘Narcos’ Recap: Let The Drug Wars Begin

“Magical realism is defined as what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe… There is a reason magical realism was born in Colombia.”

The quote above fades in then out of the opening shot of Narcos, Netflix’s newest drama that depicts Pablo Escobar’s rise to power of Colombia’s infamous Medellín Cartel. After the quote disappears into the fog of the Andes Mountains (its relevance comes later on in the series, don’t worry), we’re greeted by DEA agent Steve Murphy’s (Boyd Holbrook) voiceover explaining just how this whole mess began. The Wire-like in its plethora of characters and cat-and-mouse narrative, Narcos lays the complexity on thick from the get-go and adds non-sequential storytelling to the mix: beginning with a takedown of Escobar’s (Wagner Moura) most trusted right-hand men in the late 1980s then leaping back in time to 1973 when the future drug kingpin was first introduced to cocaine.

In addition to the overarching war on drugs, stamped into effect during the Reagan Administration, Escobar’s influence created multiple mini wars that fed into a larger system of dubious and dangerous corruption that affected the population across two continents. Being that Medellín Cartel is such a twisted web, reiterated by Murphy’s reminder to “pay close attention,” we’re going to breakdown the pilot in terms of who’s warring with who so you can easily refer back when Escobar’s influence grows even more complicated. Needless to say, spoilers ahead.

Steve Murphy vs. the Miami Drug Scene

Murphy (who’s still alive and kickin’) is our far removed, yet wholly affected, invitation into Pablo Escobar’s drug-riddled world. Though living 1,500 miles from Colombia in Miami, Murphy has watched his Magic City paradise turn into a coke-fueled wasteland in roughly a decade. Obsessed with the thrill of the chase, Murphy lets us know early on that he’s done his homework on Escobar and his posse, who turned Peruvian paste into pure white powder and changed the faces of both North and South America forever. Through Murphy’s soothing yet matter-of-fact voiceover, we’re invited into the folds of a violent storybook detailing America’s history with cocaine before America even knew anything about cocaine. In short, it was Nixon’s fault for helping Augusto Pinochet seize power in Chile and slaughter citizens who didn’t agree with his staunch anti-Communist views. After a massacre by Pinochet’s men, a lone drug trafficker, nicknamed “El Cucaracha,” or The Cockroach, fled to Colombia and weighed his distributor options. He ended up seeking a partner in young Pablo Escobar, who already had Colombia law enforcement in the palm of his hand.

The NPC vs. Pablo Escobar

According to Murphy, the NPC is like Colombia’s version of the FBI, and they hated Escobar. The future drug kingpin, however, began as a tact and insightful businessman who did all of his homework. We’re first introduced to Escobar (brilliantly portrayed by newcomer Wagner Moura) as he attempts to cross the Colombian border with trucks full of contraband: TVs, speaker systems, and other now-outdated ’80s technology that no one but the rich could afford back then. The leader of the pack, Colonel Jose Luis, refused to let Escobar and his caravan through, sending the young businessman into his, erm, terrifying version of business mode. In a calm but menacing tone, Escobar recited all of the officers’ names as well as the names of their children, which succeeded in impressing us and sending shivers down our spines. So yeah, the NPC gladly opened the gates after that and received the first monetary installment for their silence.

Pablo Escobar vs. Magic City

When El Cucaracha initially pitched his modified Peruvian paste, Escobar criticized him for his lack of vision: “If we can sell this for $10 a gram here, imagine what we could sell it for in Miami.” And so began a monumental phase of the international drug trade: shipping out thousands of kilos via planes, trains, automobiles, and pregnant women who swallowed bags worth of cocaine before getting on a plane and inconspicuously smuggling it into the U.S. (sometimes with tragic consequences, especially if a bag opened inside of them). Murphy’s land of “pot dealers in flip flops” soon turned into a battlefield full of Escobar’s drug runners armed with semi-automatics and bail money set aside.

Pablo Escobar vs. “El Cucaracha”

Like most business relationships, if one partner supersedes another over time, there’s bound to be bad blood circulating between them. That’s precisely what happened when “El Cuca,” as Escobar endearingly referred to his initial connect, got cocky. Following Escobar’s immediate success, El Cuca lashed out and tipped off the NPC about how much their daily contraband was worth, causing Colonel Jose Luis to arrest Escobar and demand more money for his silence. Escobar, who never showed his hand throughout the entire ordeal, simply asked the Colonel for a name and he gets to keep $1 million for himself. Like clockwork, the Colonel gave up El Cuca, and Escobar shot both of them and kept his money pocketed.

Steve and Connie Murphy vs. Medellín Cartel

As soon as Murphy and his partner Kevin made headway in taking out one of Escobar’s prominent Miami dealers, the kingpin suspected he was being screwed over (which he was) and sent a hit man to gun down his disloyal employee. All was going according to plan until Murphy and Kevin got caught right in the middle of Escobar’s puppetted execution, and poor Kevin was instantly killed. Murphy and his wife (played by Joanna Christie) who had seen enough of Escobar’s influence in her Miami hospital emergency room, decided to fly down to Colombia and take on the cartel from their home base. “My dad volunteered to fight in World War II because of Pearl Harbor,” Murphy explained in the pilot’s closing moments, “Cocaine in Miami? Kilos from Colombia? This was my war. This was my duty. And I was ready to fight it.”

Field notes: 

1. Boyd Holbrook, who, up until this point has been a pretty-boy supporting actor at best, is perfectly cast as the good cop archetype. Right away it’s clear that the series would be incomplete without his Scorsese-like voiceover.
2. No Pedro Pascal yet. He appears briefly in the first few minutes and from what can be gathered, he fills the bad cop gap.
3. The soundtrack — which is a mix of ’70s boogie, ’80s pop, and Spanish sonatas — is fantastic.
4. If you aren’t bilingual and despise subtitles, this is not the series for you.
5. It’s very early to assume such a thing, but you can venture a guess that Wagner Moura will be nominated for his performance. He’s demythologizes Pablo Escobar while at the same time staying true to his legend as one of the most powerful criminals in history.

 

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Photos: Netflix/Everett Collection