What to Watch on Netflix: Narcos, Narcos Mexico & El Chapo

I love getting into a TV show and just binging it for hours and hours.

If you are looking for hours and hours of streaming TV to watch then I refer to it as Long Watch Format! I think I’m like a lot of people who like to work on their computers with the television on.  So, if you’re like me and you want hours and hours of streaming television then the Long Format television shows are up your alley.

Narcos
Narcos: Mexico
El Chapo

Each season in what I describe as the Narcos franchise has ten episodes and each episode ranges from 45 to 60 minutes. I’m just going to average them out and call that an hour an episode. That is a gift of 80 hours of a related storyline for you to engross yourself within.

Why Should You Watch Narcos?

We all have different reasons for what we choose to watch and I don’t believe that one is right or wrong but it’s simply a matter of taste. For example, I like chocolate. I like Milk Chocolate and I like Dark Chocolate. However, at different times I choose one type of chocolate over another. In this case, Netflix, Narcos Franchise is dark chocolate. It’s not overly sweet, it’s bitter and it’s delicious.

I’ve enjoyed watching it because it explained what’s happened in the ’80s and ’90s with America’s War on Drugs albeit in an entertaining and dramatic way, Yes, I realize that it’s entertainment and not a factual documentary. However, it does a good job showing the conflicting US policies the impact that United States culture on other parts of the world and how huge and powerful these drug cartels are in Columbia and Mexico.

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What Is Narcos about?

This show is not everyone’s cup of tea. It’s the story of how the Columbian and Mexican Drug Cartell’s evolved into existence. The show explores how the drug cartels operate and the US Government’s response to them. The shows mostly focus on the DEA but they interject other United State’s departments and agencies. 

The shows are somewhat narrated and follow the stories of both the Cartell members and the DEA agents. The show has cool features interjecting actual historic film footage of the events within the show. When this happens you realize the detail that has been placed into the show You see that the actors have been dressed in the same outfits as in the historic television coverage. When the show transitions the actors are placed in the same manner as what was depicted on the late-night news. I find this to be very satisfying. Both sides of the drug wars have archetype heroes and anti-heroes. It’s easy to get sucked into the storylines very quickly. As you watch the shows you’ll see bad people do good things and good people do bad things. I find it fascinating. 

Roughly half of the show is spoken in Spanish, but don’t worry subtitles are provided, and the other half is in English. Normally I avoid subtitles but somehow I don’t mind. It provides an air of authenticity. 

What You Should Know About Narcos

You need to understand that these shows are dark, violent and graphic. The sense of realism can be very disturbing. Insidewink strives to “share the good” and I debated if I should include these shows. However, they are excellent shows and as Shakespeare created Titus Andronicus, as a dark and gritty story of revenge and the human condition, so does Netflix provide us with The Narcos stories. The Narcos stories are closer to The Wire, The Sopranos, and Oz then Shakespeare but I think you get my point. But if you consider King Lear… well, you get my point.

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