Narcos

[Bengalzona]

This show is awesome!



Just finished watching second season. For all of you Netflickers out there, I highly recommend.

Anybody watch it?

[JustWinBaby]

Will probably knock out season 2 over the next week. Really enjoyed the first season.

[Millhouse]

Yup watched season 2 few days ago. Loved it. Already been renewed for seasons 3 & 4 too.

And if you to page 4 in here, you will see I made a thread a year ago on the first season lol. http://thebengalsboard.com/Thread-Narcos

Couple things though from doing a bit of interweb research. There is quite a bit of fictionalized stuff and characters, but it takes place within the non-fictional setting so to speak. I wont say who or what was to ruin it, but it isnt a 100% true to history account. I would say maybe a 70-80% truth overall, but with a 100% intent to show how both sides acted down there.

[JustWinBaby]

(09-08-2016, 12:56 PM)Millhouse Wrote: I would say maybe a 70-80% truth overall, but with a 100% intent to show how both sides acted down there.

Interesting.  Since I knew only fairly generally about Pablo Escobar, I've assumed it was mostly true.  I'd guess 20-30% "dramatization" or "artistic license" is pretty sound, though, as far as "based on a true story" type things go.

I'm wondering where they go after Pablo Escobar.  There's no shortage of material in the drug wars.  Maybe the next one will be El Chapo.  But that wouldn't be that different of a story, so maybe Noriega as there's a lot of rich material there (which would juxtapose nicely with the first two seasons).

[Bengalzona]

(09-08-2016, 12:56 PM)Millhouse Wrote: Yup watched season 2 few days ago. Loved it. Already been renewed for seasons 3 & 4 too.

And if you to page 4 in here, you will see I made a thread a year ago on the first season lol. http://thebengalsboard.com/Thread-Narcos

Couple things though from doing a bit of interweb research. There is quite a bit of fictionalized stuff and characters, but it takes place within the non-fictional setting so to speak. I wont say who or what was to ruin it, but it isnt a 100% true to history account. I would say maybe a 70-80% truth overall, but with a 100% intent to show how both sides acted down there.

Yeah, they took the base story and real events and built a fictionalized story around it. There is a lot of that anymore. But in this show, they have done it in a good way that doesn't compromise facts. I can't stand it when they rewrite facts or history to appeal to the sensibility of a modern audience. 

(09-08-2016, 01:23 PM)JustWinBaby Wrote: Interesting.  Since I knew only fairly generally about Pablo Escobar, I've assumed it was mostly true.  I'd guess 20-30% "dramatization" or "artistic license" is pretty sound, though, as far as "based on a true story" type things go.

I'm wondering where they go after Pablo Escobar.  There's no shortage of material in the drug wars.  Maybe the next one will be El Chapo.  But that wouldn't be that different of a story, so maybe Noriega as there's a lot of rich material there (which would juxtapose nicely with the first two seasons).

I've seen a couple of documentaries and read a few articles on Escobar. One of the things I really like about the show is how they portray him. You can see why the people would like him and fear him at the same time (shades of Hitler, Mussolini, etc.). Despots who rise to power always have that combination. But media and entertainment are rarely able to communicate to an audience effectively, leaving the audience to wonder just who the person ever got to where they were. 

You haven't seen Season 2 yet, so I don't want to give too much away. But they make it pretty clear that in the story line they will show the efforts to go after the Cali Cartel next.

                     

[JustWinBaby]

(09-08-2016, 02:52 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: You haven't seen Season 2 yet, so I don't want to give too much away. But they make it pretty clear that in the story line they will show the efforts to go after the Cali Cartel next.

                     

Meh...I don't know anything about them, but seems to me like it would just be a reboot of Escobar.

I'd prefer at least El Chapo, or really Noriega because the CIA angle is juicy material.  Or even one of the major drug rings in the US (although that's arguably been beaten to death in the movies).

[Millhouse]

(09-08-2016, 03:20 PM)JustWinBaby Wrote: Meh...I don't know anything about them, but seems to me like it would just be a reboot of Escobar.

I'd prefer at least El Chapo, or really Noriega because the CIA angle is juicy material.  Or even one of the major drug rings in the US (although that's arguably been beaten to death in the movies).

Im pretty sure the Cali cartel became bigger than Pablo. Pablo spearheaded the cocaine movement into the U.S. and around the world. But once his empire fell, the Cali's came in and swooped it up to combine with their already existing exports in the U.S., which was mainly the New York market. And NYC was actually a bigger market than Miami because it had way more people and more money. Cali would have both, and the west coast to boot. 

But one thing that the show hinted at, and I read up on, was that the CIA was way more heavily involved with the Cali's than it was with Pablo. So I have a feeling season 3 & 4 will have a lot more of a CIA angle.

[Bengalzona]

I remember when all of this was going down back in the late 80's and early 90's. I was in college and followed it pretty close. On the advice of my ROTC advisors, I took a course in Latin American History and a little bit of Spanish. I was set up to attend Jungle Warfare School in Panama, but I let that fall through.

We were pretty sure we would be in combat in Columbia before long. We did go to Panama, next door to Columbia, in '89 and that was a cakewalk. But we only took one city there and the natives were friendly to us. Plus, we had a very narrow and defined goal (get Noriega) and got out quick. Columbia would have been whole other ball of wax. More along the lines of the worst of Vietnam and Afghanistan combined. With some exceptions, Columbians have never liked us very much.

Eventually, Desert Storm rolled and Latin American was put on the back burner. Then there was Somalia, and the Bosnian Crisis, the Oklahoma City bombing, Ruby Ridge, the Rwandan genocide, the Branch Davidians, not to mention the collapse of the Soviet Union, etc. Public attention wasn't on the drug lords in backwater America anymore. Which made it prime turf for the CIA to come in and do their 'thing'. And their 'thing' is all about ugly dealings with bad people.