In 2015 Netflix released the first season of Narcos. The series is based on a Colombian drug kingpin ‘Pablo Escobar‘. He was the king of cocaine dealers and one of the richest men in the world.
In 2016, the next series of Narcos was released on Netflix with the title Narcos: Mexico.
People often ask ‘Narcos or Narcos: Mexico?’, ‘Which one to watch first?’.
Let me make it easy for you!
- What is the story of Narcos & Narcos: Mexico? – Both are based on a drug cartel.
- Is Narcos: Mexico and Narcos the same?– NO! The story is not the same and is completely independent.
- Is Narcos: Mexico a continuation of Narcos? – NO! Narcos is based on Colombian drug cartels and Narcos: Mexico focuses on Mexican drug dealings.
- Which one to watch first, Narcos or Narcos: Mexico? – They can be watched in any order but watching Narcos FIRST gives better ideas about the cartel world.
- How many different Narcos series are there? – There are only two series on Netflix. Narcos and Narcos: Mexico.
- Which one is better, Narcos or Narcos: Mexico? – You will find out the answer at the end of this post! 🙂
Well, you will find out the reason at the end of this post.
The Narcos series showcases a series of events that happened during Pablo Escobar’s time and the struggle of the DEA and Colombian police to arrest him.
Pablo Escobar was an influential criminal in the history of drug dealers who never left any leaks about his business. He smuggled drugs to the United States earning a net profit of $1.2 billion per year! Pablo made the people of Colombia suffer because of his violence and narco-terrorism. Colombians consider the Pablo Escobar era as the darkest time in their history.
Netflix made a series on his life and presented it in 2 seasons. Most of the characters and events are true as claimed by Netflix and it also added real clips in between to match the facts. The series includes the fights between cartels, bombings, a series of murders, drug distribution, Pablo’s relationships with his family and drug dealers, DEA efforts to arrest him, the Colombian police struggle, and everything that happened in Pablo’s life.
A drug dealer who became a nightmare to Colombia and the United States ruled the drug world openly but intelligently for almost 30 years, became one of the richest men in the world, and brilliantly escaped his arrest…
Narcos on Netflix is based on a true story but the dramatization of events will make you binge-watch the series.
What Do Colombians Say About Narcos?
The same question was asked on Quora. Some of them claim that it was not necessary to make a series on Pablo. He hasn’t done anything to Colombia apart from putting the country to shame.
Hadrien Lacroix states that Colombia has struggled a lot to put that dark shadow behind it. After 23 years of Pablo Escobar, Colombia has come a long way to become one of the most beautiful and non-violence countries. However Narcos remind them of those days, innocent lives were killed and the whole country was under drug dealers.
But they do appreciate the fact that Netflix has shown the real story focusing on the real-life events of Pablo. He could destroy other families, and kill people without hesitation but when it comes to his family he was ready to burn the money to keep them safe! Yes, during the final days of Pablo, when police were hunting him everywhere he burnt millions of money just to keep his daughter warm. That’s how rich he was!
Narcos Cast & Making
One of the main reasons for the success of Narcos is the Cast of the show. Especially Wagner Moura who enacted Pablo Escobar. He is the heart and soul of this show.
Also, they have retained the originality by shooting in Colombia and retaining the Spanish between drug dealers. If you don’t understand Spanish, the conversation between Pablo and other cartels can be understood only by subtitles.
That is the beauty of this show. If the entire show is in English it would have lost the real story touch. More than a crime thriller, Narcos would have been a comedy show if Pablo speaks in English.
Pedro Pascal as Pena, Boyd Holbrook as Murphy, Paulina Gaitan as Tata, Damian Alcazar as Gilberto, and many other characters have done an excellent job and given their best.
The last day scenes and the death of Pablo Escobar will make you feel sad. He had $30 billion in his bank account but wasn’t able to get a penny because all his assets were frozen by the government. He was chased by the DEA and shot while he was trying to escape. That is how the era of a famous drug dealer ended.
Read: Final Days of Orange Is the New Black (OITNB)
Narcos: Mexico
Is Narcos: Mexico the season 4 of Narcos?
NO!
In September 2016 Netflix announced the upcoming seasons (Seasons 3 & 4) of Narcos. Season 3 was released in 2017 then Netflix declared that Season 4 will be coming as the new series Narcos: Mexico.
Narcos: Mexico focuses on the drug trade in Mexico & the investigation around it. The first season was released in November 2018, the Second season in 2020, and the latest third season has been released on Nov 5th, 2021.
In the 80s Guadalajara Cartel takes a sudden rise in Mexico run by Félix Gallardo. The scattered drug dealers were unified under Felix’s management whose dream is to build a drug empire. The DEA agent Kiki who comes to Guadalajara to hunt Félix realizes the difficulties of this case. As the story progresses it is more interesting to watch the battle between drug dealers and officers.
Which one is better Narcos or Narcos: Mexico?
Both series are best in their own ways. However, Narcos takes the first position because of the great influence of Pablo Escobar. The way he climbed the cartel ladder and the struggle of the American DEA & Colombian police to arrest him makes everyone wonder. In my opinion, it is Narcos. Just because of the Wagner Moura( Pablo) Narcos was interesting for me compared to Narcos: Mexico.
The storyline, theme, concept, and making of both shows are similar. In fact, as I said earlier Narcos: Mexico was supposed to be the fourth season of Narcos. Hence there is not much difference between Colombia’s & Mexico’s drug trades.
Both shows will make you binge-watch and be glued to the TV until the last episode.
Loved your article! Very helpful, I enjoyed Narcos so much, but I am worried that Narcos Mexico won’t have that same fire