‘Narcos’ Finale Recap: “Despegue”

“We have three options. One: I leave with you peacefully. Two, I take you hostage. Three, I shoot you, and then, he really would have a good excuse to kill me.” — Pablo Escobar

Though slow in comparison to the high-octane episodes leading up to this season finale of Narcos, “Despegue” — or “Takeoff” — has set up a cliffhanger for nearly every subplot the crime drama has laid out thus far. The episode centers on Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura) taking the Vice Minister of Justice, Eduardo Sandoval (Manolo Cardona), hostage. When negotiations predictably sour, Sandoval, President Gaviria’s right-hand man, is left to fend for himself inside a prison that will soon to be raided by Colombian Special Forces. “If he dies, let it be at the hands of his own government,” Escobar warns his henchmen before discreetly escaping through his mass system of underground tunnels. That’s right, the same tunnels that Murphy and Peña were told weren’t there by the CIA. Hmmm… honest mistake or rigged information?

In case you missed it, Netflix has renewed Narcos for a second season, so for the purposes of this last recap, let’s break down where next season has a chance of picking up.

Will Sandoval remain loyal to Gaviria?

The Special Forces succeeded in swiftly taking down the remaining members of the Medellín Cartel and being that they made it look so effortless, it’s a wonder Gaviria hadn’t used them sooner. Escobar, however, also succeeded in planting a seed in Sandoval’s head that Gaviria has betrayed them both by sending in the troops while the vice minister was inside. Sandoval retorts that he would have done the same, but it’s not totally clear if he was saving face and protecting the liberty of his boss, or if he actually believes (a very persuasive) Escobar. Had Gaviria taken advice from Sandoval earlier in the cartel’s saga, perhaps the raiding of the prison — or the building of La Catedral in the first place — could have been avoided entirely. But if Narcos has taught us anything about the taking down of the Medellín Cartel, it’s that it involves a whole lot of should have, could have, would have, mentality across all sides.

Are Murphy and Peña done?

Peña tricked us all — especially Murphy and Connie — trying to track down who kidnapped his partner, yet he was the one who set it up in the first place. Twist! Pacho Herrera of the Cali Cartel obtained photos and a recording of Murphy setting up Carrillo’s raid on the restaurant where they killed Poison (and an innocent mother of two). Hoping it would lead the Cali Cartel to partner with the Americans to take down Escobar, Peña offered up the blackmail, hoping Murphy wouldn’t put two and two together. As the series has unfolded, however, Murphy’s character has made a complete 180-degree turn from the naïve “gringo” to a calculating hothead. Needless to say, he figured it out. Something tells me that the dastardly duo will remain in cahoots, however (all historical accuracies aside — after all, this is a dramatization), because despite their current rift, they’re both driven by the same, obsessive mission of catching Escobar.

How will Escobar operate?

The kingpin’s army of bandits has been whittled down to just a few loyal brothers in arms after the Special Forces stormed La Catedral. One of the very last shots of the season shows Escobar trekking through the woods with three of his closest partners in tow. Right before that, however, we see Tata and Pablo’s mother, Hermilda, filling crates of cold hard cash. Escobar is obviously making his way to another hideout — we would have been silly to think he hadn’t seen this raid coming — but it’s not a matter of where he will survive and thrive, but how? The Medellín Cartel is almost completely dissipated as far as we can tell in the closing moments of the season, but one thing Narcos reminds us of continuously is that this man’s influence permeates far beyond Colombia’s borders.

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Photos: Netflix