Today’s a good day for fans of crime dramas as Netflix has renewed Narcos: Mexico for a third season. The series, which was conceived as both a spiritual successor and a sequel to the original Narcos, sports an admirable 88% certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating audiences will be happy to see it return to the small screen for yet another round of drug trading.
The show first aired on Netflix back in 2018. Starring Michael Peña alongside Diego Luna, Tenoch Huerta Mejía and Alyssa Diaz, it centers on the illegal drug trade in Mexico during the origin of the modern day War on Drugs. Tension arises from economic and personal conflict between various cartels, as well as the government forces trying to apprehend them.
Its parent series, Narcos, remains one of the most successful and well-known Netflix Originals ever produced. Eclipsing House of Cards in terms of posterity, this series tells the life (and, spoiler but no spoiler) death of history’s richest criminal: Pablo Escobar, who at one point controlled the vast majority of the world’s cocaine market from his home of Medellín.
Although he was a ruthless criminal, Escobar commanded a great deal of respect. He was admired not only by his contemporaries, but Netflix subscribers as well. Whereas some were intimidated by his viciousness, others took interest in his dubious quest for justice, as well as his desire to protect his family.
While the protagonists of Narcos: Mexico likewise weigh immoral consequences of criminal actions against potential benefits that said actions might have for their personal lives, they pale in comparison to the King of Coke. Forget about Escobar for a second, however, and what you will see before you is a very well-crafted and engaging series.