*A general
note for everything I write related to the Narcos franchise. In
discussing this show, I’m talking about it in the context of a dramatic series,
with the people in it as characters being portrayed. I know that Miguel
Ángel Félix Gallardo isn’t actually a character like Walter White or Dexter
Morgan are, but for the sake of these reviews, I’m going to talk about him as
if he is. My feelings toward the real-life person are very different.*
Excited to
revisit this show for Y tu Luna también! As I’ve said before, Diego Luna
shifted from an actor I liked to an actor I definitely wanted to see more of
during my Star Wars rewatch in 2021. However, his work in Narcos:
Mexico was what took it to platonic crush/special interest level for me.
This series is what made me go, “Oh, okay, I need to see everything this
guy is in.” Let’s get started!
In the late
1970s, the farmers of Sinaloa are responsible for growing most of Mexico’s
marijuana. When the army cracks down harshly on the growers, Miguel Ángel Félix
Gallardo hatches a plan to avoid future disruptions/pushback by partnering with
their more privileged distributors in Guadalajara. Armed with his friend Rafa’s
revolutionary new strain and the connections of the cynical boss Don Neto,
Félix sets the wheels in motion to make his vision a reality. Meanwhile, DEA
agent Kiki Camarena requests a transfer to Guadalajara after repeatedly being
passed over in Fresno, but his new posting isn’t what he expected.
We’ll start
with Kiki and the DEA side of things. The Narcos franchise has pretty
much always had a dual narrative, telling the story from the side of the narcos
as well as the law enforcement. It’s obvious that Kiki has drive, balls, and
ingenuity, but as a brown Latino in a mostly-white office, he’s not able to
advance in the way that he hopes—not to mention, when the Fresno PD break up a
sting where he’s working undercover, the cops show their entire racist asses,
calling him ”Chico” and refusing to believe he’s a federal agent until his
white coworkers vouch for him. Kiki hopes that Guadalajara will be different,
and it is, but this doesn’t exactly go his way, either. As he starts to
understand how deeply the whole operation is hampered by the corruption that
surrounds it, he quickly realizes that the DEA office very is empowered to do
very little.
Our narrator
for the series is unnamed for now, not any of the characters currently on the
show, but it’s clear that he aligns with the DEA side as well. He remarks about
marijuana, “They say it’s a gateway drug, and it is,” and he has a whole
voiceover comparing drug dealers to cockroaches. At the same time, though, the
nameless narrator doesn’t go for an easy Uncle Sam rah-rah attitude. At the
start of the episode, he introduces the story as being “about how a bunch of
institutions, some you’re supposed to trust, got together and started a war.”
Then, of
course, we have the narcos. So far, the main characters we’ve gotten to know
are the Sinaloans. They come from more working-class roots than their flashy
Guadalajara counterparts, and Félix posits that that’s why the army targets the
growers instead of the traffickers—the government can’t stand to see “a bunch
of Sinaloan farmers getting rich” off their crop. While there’s a whole
ecosystem of the marijuana business going on here, it’s clear that these men
are also cowed by the Guadalajara traffickers, not wanting to irritate them, or
worse, embarrass themselves in front of them.
A strong cast
all around. I always enjoy Michael Peña, and he gets the job done as the
intense but earnest Kiki. This show was the first place I saw Tenoch Huerta
Mejía, who’s now known for playing Namor in the MCU. He costars as Rafa, the
trouble-prone but genius “florist” who develops a game-changing new marijuana
strain. (I need to note the allegations that came out against Huerta last
year.) The show also gave me my first look at Joaquin Cosío, who I’ve since
seen pop up in Gentefied and Maya and the Three. He brings a
great presence to Don Neto, who begrudgingly arranges a meeting for Félix in
Guadalajara but then tells the traffickers there that he only came along to
“babysit” Félix. The narration is provided by Scoot McNairy, who played Gordon
on Halt and Catch Fire.
Then, of
course, we have Diego Luna. Félix is immediately an interesting character,
rolling up in a police uniform when Rafa has taken sanctuary in a church to
hide from the scorched-earth military. Félix offers to “help” the soldiers by
getting Rafa out of the church to avoid bloodshed and manages to talk his way
into being allowed to leave with him in custody, only for the show to reveal
that Félix and Rafa are actually partners.
Much of what we
see from Félix here doesn’t involve such overt falsehood, but he’s consistently
a person who isn’t what people assume he’s going to be. Whether he’s urging his
Sinaloan bosses to make a more advantageous deal with Guadalajara, making a wildly
bold move to get what he wants, or using his knowledge to concoct a story the
right people will believe, he’s frequently underestimated. But even as those
around him find him naïve, uppity, or punching above his weight class, he
manages to stay in the game based on the strength of his ideas.
In Luna’s
hands, Félix is calm and calculating, an observer of human nature who “sees the
angles,” to borrow a phrase from Scrooge McDuck of all people (not a
character I anticipated thinking of as I began my Narcos: Mexico
rewatch.) When he’s congratulated for his plan to prevent the army from finding
most of Rafa’s special strain, Félix shrugs off the praise, saying, “Predicting
is not planning.” He sees what they have in Sinaloa compared to what the
traffickers have in Guadalajara, and when Don Neto argues that they’ll be
nobodies to the traffickers, Félix argues, “We’re nobodies here, Don Neto.” We
don’t really see him rise to the insults that people toss his way, content to
stroke other men’s egos if that’s how he can get what he’s after. It’s a strong
introduction to a fascinating character.
First
impressions:
Recommend?
In General – I would. The complex dynamics and
politics of Narcos: Mexico drew me in right away. There’s some definite
copaganda at play, and it’s a series that dramatizes events that have created a
lot of suffering, so I do understand that it’s not for everyone. But when
viewed in the context of a story, it’s really well done.
Diego Luna – Yes. Even though I know this is only
a taste of what’s to come, Luna comes in strong out of the gate.
Warnings
Violence,
drinking/smoking/drug use, language, and strong thematic elements.
