Narcos Mexico 2: "I Don't Have Partners"

As I indicated in my review of the first season of Narcos Mexico (itself a prequel to the three-season Narcos), I always admired the tunnel-building savvy of Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán.  Not the drug-dealing empire that he inherited and built.  But there's something about those tunnels.  Maybe because it represents a technology that goes back more than 4000 years (the qanats, that carried water) to defeat the high-tech bravado of government.  Hey, when I was a kid, before I even knew that fact about tunnels, I realized that if could build a tunnel from where I lived with my parents in the Bronx, to somewhere in the woods in say, Ellenville, New York, I could pretty much do anything I wanted and then escape with ease to the Catskills.  Of course, I had no idea what I would do once I got there but, as I said, I was just a kid.

So I've always had a special interest in El Chapo's tunnel-building - well, since 2015, when he had a tunnel built to escape from prison a second time (first time was in a laundry cart, not nearly as cool) - and I was very happy to see him building a tunnel in Narcos Mexico 2.  This one was not to escape prison but smuggle more drugs into the United States.  Alas, a rival gang in Mexico destroys the tunnel, and since it says at the beginning of every episode that, although the overall story is based on truth, some facts have been changed for dramatic effect, I can't even say for sure that the young El Chapo actually built such a tunnel.  But it was good to see.

Meanwhile, that overall story was indeed top-notch action and drama, detailing the continuing story of the handsome Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo (well played by Diego Luna), as he strives to consolidate his hold on and mastery of the drug trade in Mexico.  This is no easy thing, to say the least.  Gallardo already leveraged his weed empire into in effect becoming a middleman for delivery of Colombian coke to the United States.  Now he has to consolidate all the drug gangs in Mexico, and move ever more massive amounts of cocaine from Colombia.  His strategy is to eschew partners in Mexico - "I don't have partners, I have employees," he tells anyone who will listen.  If you know the drug war history, you know how that works out.

As in Narcos Mexico 1, and all three seasons of Narcos, there's a great group of supportive actors and actresses, playing characters in all facets of the story.  It was good to see Pacho again (well played by Alberto Ammann, the one character who, if I recall correctly, has appeared in all five seasons, playing one of the big shots in the Cali cartel in Colombia, who do believe in partners.  In Narcos Mexico, he's the sole representative of the Kings of Cali to appear on screen.

This season will keep you glued to the screen, and is highly recommended.

 

the Neanderthal cartel

Narcos Mexico: A Riveting Prequel

With Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán on trial in New York, what better time to watch - and review - Narcos Mexico, the fourth installment in Netflix's justly acclaimed Narcos series.  Actually, it's a prequel to the other three Narcos, but it's just as powerful.   It takes place (obviously) in Mexico, but it's the story of Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and the massive weed cartel he and his brother Rafael Caro Quintero put together in the 1980s.

El Chapo appears as a low-to-high-level henchman of Rafael's.   And Pablo Escabar and the Kings of Cali put in an appearance in a great episode in which Gallardo goes to Colombia to get make a deal for the coke distribution which is beginning to rival and exceed his weed trade.   Indeed, Gallardo's shift from marijuana to cocaine is one of the turning point in Narcos Mexico, and has some unforeseen and unhappy consequences for Gallardo.

The other central theme is the dedication - some would say obsession - of American DEA Agent  Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena to bring down Gallardo's Guadalajara/Mexican/world drug cartel.   In case you're not familiar with the real history, and/or haven't seen Narcos Mexico, I won't tell you how this all turns out.  But I will say that there are close calls galore, and death expected and unexpected meted out in almost every episode.

There's a narrator - Scoot McNairy - who sounds a lot like like the narrator of the first three seasons but is not.  The acting is excellent - especially Diego Luna as Miguel, Tenoch Huerta as Rafael, and Joaquín Cosio as their uncle 'Don Neto' Fonseca Carrillo. Michael Peña does memorable work as Kiki, as does Alyssa Diaz as his wife. And it was a real treat was seeing Wagner Moura as Escobar and Francisco Denis and Alberto Ammann as the Cali bosses back in the 1980s one more time.

And here's the confession I often make when I watch these series:  I know the drug cartels murdered a lot of people and did a lot of very evil things.  But in the narrative framework of the story on screen, I always feel a little bad when things don't go right for them, and a little bit glad when they do.  For that reason, I wouldn't be totally devastated if El Chapo dug a tunnel and got out his jail in New York, just as he did in Mexico, but that's another story.

See this series.  If you like this kind of stuff, you'll love it.

 

the Neanderthal cartel