Narcos Season 2 TV Review

Narcos (2015-)
Season 2 - 10 Episodes (2016)

Watch Narcos Season 2 on Netflix
Created by: Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro
Starring:  Wagner Moura, Boyd Holbrook, Pedro Pascal
Rating: TV-MA

Plot: 
This Netflix original series is a dramatization of Pablo Esocbar's rise to power and wealth as the DEA and agent Murphy attempt to stop him.
Season two continues after Escobar escapes a prison raid and is on the run. He loses power, wealth, and influence. Being the biggest smuggler, made him the biggest target.

Verdict
It's entertaining to see the fall of Escobar, but it takes way too long. The story structure works well with parallels between season one and two. We see the rise and fall, but this season just delays the inevitable. While this season is more of Escobar and less of the DEA agents tracking him, we still see too much of the agents. We also see too much of the other cartels. I assume they are included in case this series gets a third season, which I hope it doesn't. This follow real life, so it was easy to guess where this season would end, and that unfortunately robbed this season of any tension. I have no interest in seeing another season, if one is even planned. The story season one started is finished. While season one had a good pace, this season padded the story to reach ten episodes. Is it a coincidence that Escobar wore padded sweaters and gained weight (padding) throughout this season?
It depends.

Review
Season one was entertaining (read my review). It inserted archival footage and used the advantage of hindsight to comment on the drug war. We see Escobar's rise to power as he becomes almost untouchable.

I wondered what season two would cover. Season one spanned fifteen years, but at the start of season two the real life Escobar only lived a few months after his escape from prison. Would the show slow down or would it follow someone else?

Escobar escaped the prison raid, but is now on the run. The Colombian police is going door to door to find Escobar. Escobar, once the seventh richest man in the world, is traveling by hiding in the trunk of a taxi. He's made a lot of enemies with his terrorist attacks, and not everyone is willing to follow him since he's lost so much power. Being the biggest smuggler just made him a bigger target.

The Colombian police are taking their tactics to the next level, even resorting to killing Escobar's lookouts. The new head of the task force, Carillo, gives a single bullet to a lookout, stating this bullet is for Escobar. We know what Escobar does to his enemies. He seeks to destroy them.

While season one was the build up of the wealth, so much that Escobar's crew didn't even know what to do with it all, this season is a cat and mouse criminal chase. Escobar loses everything so quickly that the series begins treading water. Pena teams up with the Moncada drug crew to bring Escobar down. In season one, Murphy and Pena seemed poised to do anything to stop the drug trade. In season two that happens.
This season continues inserting archival footage, but it never had quite the impact that it did in season one. That's largely due to how little time elapses in season two compared to season one.

Escobar has to be getting nervous as the newly formed Los Pepes, a special group of vigilantes with the sole purpose of stopping him slowly kill all of his men. This is lamp shaded by Escobar's mother and wife talking about how stubborn he is, but I still have to question why he didn't flee the country.

Much like season one, I still wish for more insight into Escobar. Maybe there is none to be had. His plan seems to be fight until death and never give up ground. That didn't work out for him. In a plot point you'll see coming a mile away, his mom brings trouble right to his doorstep. He's a in a no win situation, and the only reason he didn't die at his home is that the season has four episodes left

Escobar finally sends his family away, though refuses to flee himself. We finally see him desperate, but we know how his story ends and this season seeks to just delay the outcome. In episode eight, even Escobar's top lieutenant knows the writing is on the wall. He lies to Escobar, telling him his family is safe.

In episode ten, Escobar is hiding out on a farm and looking like a lumber jack. He gathers what little cash he has and hides out in an apartment.
When Escobar dies, this series dies. He's the only reason to keep watching. After this season, if there is another one, it just becomes a standard drug smuggling story that we've seen before.
We saw quite a bit of footage from rival cartels, and I think that was shown in case a season three happens. While it could have been padding to reach ten episodes, the final sequence definitely ends as a teaser for season three.