Welcome to the newNarcos.
Episode 1: Camelot
NARCOOOOOOSSSSS!!
Enough talk, let’s get into it.
“I’m going to tell you a story.
But I’ll be honest, it doesn’t have a happy ending.
In fact, it doesn’t have an ending at all.”
Wait a minute, is the narrator the one and onlyScoot McNairy?!?!
Oh, why yes it is.
I was already all in, but now I’m ALL IN.
Meet Kiki Camarena (Pena), the man who will be at the center of all of this.
Nice to meet you Kiki, now let’s jump back to 1980.
After a rundown of weed in Mexico and the introduction of Sinaloa, a.k.a.
the birthplace of Mexican drug smuggling, the action shifts to the Sinaloan mountains and a weed farm.
He proceeds to beat Rafa into revealing the location of some unburned fields.
We’ve been told how important Kiki will be, so let’s get to know him better.
Back in Fresno, California, he’s conducting an undercover sting, or at least trying to.
Since no one rushes in, he says that proves that he’s legit.
Speaking of Guadalajara, Kiki’s isn’t the only one making his way there.
He offers to travel there and speak to the Naranjo brothers, who currently launch the area.
Everyone, including Neto, makes a run for it.
He reveals Rafa’s new strain of marijuana that is stronger than anything else out there on the market.
Then, the other Baranjo shows up, pissed about his brother, only for Azul to kill him.
Azul tells Miguel that he’s in.
Oh, and smartly, Neto is suddenly all in on the plan too.
Kiki, his pregnant wife Mika, and their son Kikito arrive in Guadalajara.
“You’ve seen the desert,” says Jaime.
“It’s time to meet the snakes.”
Jaime, Kiki, and the other two agents, Knapp and Sears (Ken fromMad Men!
As they wash their hands side-by-side, Kiki notifies Azul of the blood on his shoes.
You’d think cops would be better at cleaning up evidence!
Miguel’s plan is just getting started.
He declares to Neto, “What I’m doing here…is building an empire.”
This might be my favorite empire on TV sinceTaraji P. Hensonstarted as Cookie!
Kiki also happens to notice that Azul is watching from afar.
But that won’t stop Kiki, who proceeds to follow one of the trucks leaving.
Let the drug growing commence!
Miguel decides to lie and say that Aviles regrets the two men’s beef and wants to move forward.
Next up is Tijuana and the Arellano Felix brothers, led by Ramon and Benjamin.
Falcon admits to being skeptical of Miguel’s plan, but he gives his consent.
Once done, Miguel rebuffs Isabella’s advances.
I want to make some real money."
It’s now time for the big sit down.
But ahead of the crucial meeting, Miguel tells Aviles that he needs to make amends with Pablo Acosta.
The don initially refuses before Miguel begs him to do it for the greater good.
Well, that sentiment doesn’t last long.
During the roundtable, Pablo gets up and gives credit for this enterprise to Miguel.
The car is soon pulled over by the police and all of them are ordered to get out.
The DFS and Neto then arrive and Aviles and his boys are shot dead.
Well, not all the way dead.
Aviles is not a full goner yet, so Miguel takes a gun and finishes the job.
Looks like we’ve got the don of a new era.
Now with money, power, and a mansion, Rafa looks to add a lady to the mix.
Instead of being intimidated, she makes fun of his clothes and refuses to dance with him.
The narrator explains how Miguel has been taking care of business since he took over.
“He just understood the game better than anyone else,” he said of the Slim Man.
“It made them fing winners.”
As the great Randy Moss would say, “Straight cash, homey.”
Unsurprisingly, Neto isn’t being much help.
“The number two guy doesn’t solve problems,” he insists.
“He points them out.”
That makes it less than ideal timing for a DEA family barbecue.
With the DEA bonding over, Kiki goes back to the desert and waits.
After sleeping in his car, Kiki wakes up as workers are gathered to get back on the bus.
Once back at the first location, Kiki learns that Mika has gone into labor.
He rushes to the hospital and makes it just in time to see his son born.
Kiki isn’t the only DEA agent at work.
Meanwhile, Knapp and Sears are tracking Cochiloco, a.k.a Crazy Pig.
“Disco, whorehouse, barbershop,” notes Sears.
“Guy’s hitting the dirtbag trifecta.”
They end up getting lucky and follow him to a gathering of Mexico’s biggest criminals.
It’s Rodolfo’s big day, but it might as well be Miguel’s.
Miguel is left shocked and hurt by this surprising turn.
Kiki returns to work, not with pictures of his newborn son, but weed that he picked.
Then Knapp brings in photos from the wedding that they bought off of the photographer.
Miguel immediately jumps out to Kiki, who declares, “That’s our guy.”
Let the cat-and-mouse game begin!
Episode Grade: B-
Episode 4: Rafa, Rafa, Rafa!
It’s Christmas time, and onNarcos, that means kidnapping girls you’re infatuated with!
Rafa and his boys stage a break in to take Sofia, who’s in on it andveryinto it.
This is also bad news for Miguel, a.k.a.
“The Rockefeller of Marijuana,” who until now had everything rolling.
Miguel goes to see Rafa, who is living it up and playing gender-flipped Bonnie and Clyde with Sofia.
After Calderoni beats up Kiki’s informant, they know the vicinity of where Rafa is held up.
Miguel returns to his office, only to find Nava waiting for him.
Nava agrees, but Miguel must carry out the mission himself.
The cop, Sammy, drives Neto home and is told that he now works for the Don.
This is just the mistake that Kiki and Calderoni were waiting for.
But, just at that moment, Calderoni gets a call that the operation is off.
Kiki eventually retreats, and, like always, is totally pissed.
Well, that might have to do with what Miguel is up to.
He and Amado are waiting around as a group of soldiers load crates of guns onto a cargo plane.
“Let’s deliver some freedom,” an American tells them.
Wait, it’s Stechner from our previousNarcosviewings!
Can you say crossover?!
He boards the plane, which is headed to Nicaragua.
Once they land, the American spy gets lost, leaving Miguel and Amado alone on a dark runway.
Soldiers then come out of the jungle and grab them.
The men are separated, hung, and tortured.
They keep asking Miguel who he works for and repeating Nava over and over does nothing for him.
Stechner eventually comes in and orders Miguel taken down.
The Colombians need new routes and he thinks he’s the one to provide that service.
He hasn’t checked with any of his partners on this new endeavor, though.
Surely that won’t come back to cause problems!
As she screams, he talks out of earshot with young Kikito.
The incident with Mika and the DFS makes for a feisty DEA family barbecue.
The Slim Man says he both sees an opportunity and understands the consequences of this new venture.
Matta lays out the two possible suppliers.
“One’s shrewd.
Businessmen,” he shares.
“The other… he has very big emotions.”
Miguel thinks he’d be a fool to not go with the shrewd ones.
And Matta thinks he’d be a fool to not bring Isabella with him to Colombia.
Meanwhile, Miguel’s wife Maria thinks he’s a fool for getting involved with coke.
Isabella proves helpful, but Miguel is able to seal the deal.
Well, she might have actually done that since Chepe really wants to take her dancing.
That’s the good news for Miguel.
The bad news is two-fold.
At the same time, Kiki is infiltrating Hotel Americas.
He arrives just before Tomas and some DFS muscle also come on the scene.
Tomas waits downstairs as his guys go and retrieve payments from Miguel’s office.
Kiki then sneaks in and finds the ledger/checkbook and writes down the account numbers.
As Kiki hides in the corner with his gun drawn, Tomas takes a brief look and leaves.
Blackie drives up, throwing them in his car and saying his boss wants to talk.
You know what meansMedellin here we come!
Isabella stays back with Poison, while Miguel is led out to a gazebo on the water.
As he watches a hippo, a voice can be heard.
Yep, he’s baaaaaaaaack.
“We have to control this world, or it will control you,” he says.
“And if you don’t protect yourself, it makes a mess and breaks you.”
Hippos… don’t like Mexicans either."
“To be the richest man in Mexico, you have to risk a little,” explains Miguel.
Bad news for Jaime: D.C. isn’t giving them the green light to move forward.
Even more bad news: The DFS knows what they’ve been up to.
“It’s our fault,” says Kiki, sitting in front of the body.
“Cuff that motherfer ourselves.”
Seriously, it’s all he talks about or thinks about.
when Falcon hits back and Rafa is forced to leave his precious cargo behind.
After the rather explosive events of the previous episode, the sixth episode of the season feels rather languid.
“Things work differently around here,” he says, but Miguel is no fan of waiting around.
He has no choice though.
It’s a flimsy trap at best, but Miguel takes the bait.
He gets sick of waiting for Zuno to call back, so he decides to head across the border.
The episode ends with two revelations.
Maria knows about his multiple affairs, and she’s subtly letting him know about it.
Perhaps having too many hustles is finally catching up to Miguel.
Outside a boxing match, two friends watch as a man pisses on their car.
So, the friend pulls a gun out and fires off a shot as the two roll around.
The drunk dude is unscathed, and the young man is dead at the hands of his friend.
Feuds and conflicts are starting to boil over as Miguel’s empire continues to grow.
Not everyone is happy with how the business is going though.
Isabella meets with Miguel to tell him that she believes things should be moving quicker.
All of this is to say that Miguel is stretched thin.
He makes some “changes to management,” but once again, not everyone’s happy.
Rafa, for instance, still thinks his weed is being replaced…and he’s not wrong.
All in all, Miguel is simply done being nice and trying to compromise.
He’s becoming the dictator in his empire.
Then, when coming back to Hotel Americas, he runs into Nava in the lobby outside the elevators.
The man didn’t hear his name during the meeting, so he’s here for his new cut.
Miguel grabs an ashtray and beats Nava to death.
Miguel’s gained control of his empire…but at what cost?
As this episode begins though, it’s clear things are very bad for Miguel.
That raid that Kiki got approved at the end of the previous episode?
It goes down perfectly, as the DEA raids Zacatecas and shuts down Rafa’s massive farm.
At five tons it supplied one-third of the marijuana consumption in the United States.
Finally, the DEA is legitimized, all their hard work is paying off.
With the cartel taking such a massive hit, Miguel calls a meeting.
More than anything, he wants to ensure that nobody panics.
Yes, the DEA scored a huge win, but the money and coke is still flowing.
That kind of muted reaction doesn’t suit Rafa though, and it’s the final straw for him.
The detox goes about as well as you’d expect.
Everyone’s worried, including Zuno.
He wants the cartel to kidnap Kiki and torture him to find outexactlywhat he knows.
But it’s all for naught, as the Committee recommends “no further action at this time.”
Kiki isn’t even surprised anymore, but he’s still frustrated and disappointed.
And that’s why Miguel is so appalled by the kidnapping.
Episode Grade:A-
Episode 9: 881 Lope de Vega
Things are really bad for Kiki.
Then Mikaactuallywakes up and reality sets in.
It’s 4 a.m. and Kiki hasn’t been seen since breakfast.
She tries not to panic, but she knows something bad has happened.
The kidnapping has everyone panicked and wondering what to do next.
Miguel tells him he has to disappear for awhile, and Rafa does just that.
He keeps telling the cartel that he doesn’t know anything, but Zuno isn’t accepting that.
All Kiki can do is endure and hope the DEA is on its way.
“What’s a warrant?”
asks Calderoni, much to the delight of Jaime.
But who tipped off the DEA?
All the action came earlier, so this finale mostly serves to tie up some loose ends.
The finale is initially built around the search for Kiki.
Cars are being checked at the border, and the local Mexican police say they have a lead.
Something’s off though.
As the team storms the house, there’s nothing suggesting that this is a hideout for traffickers.
Instead, kids and women end up dead.
With Kiki dead, Jaime works to put the pieces together.
Neto disappears to a beachside house, and Miguel heads back to Sinaloa to regroup.
He asks the Governor, Rodolfo’s uncle, to give him a place to live for a time.
So yeah, Miguel is working from behind the eight ball here.
Calderoni, seemingly above making such a deal before, goes for it here.
Calderoni won’t get the tapes that include names of the Mexican politicians involved in the trafficking business.
That deal achieves a few things.
To say it’s a power move would be an understatement.
He takes full control of his business again, and no one is doubting his power.
That conversation between Kiki and Miguel?
It ties a nice thematic bow on everything.
It’s the start of an endless war, and the end of a pretty great season ofNarcos.
