Further Thoughts on Félix (Narcos: Mexico)

I’d thought about doing another Loki-related Marvelous Wednesdays post today, but I’ve realized that whenever I see Shang-Chi is going to become Marvelous Whatever-Day-It-Is, so while we wait for that, let’s return to Narcos: Mexico and the endlessly-fascinating Félix. Today, I’m getting into spoilery thoughts on El Padrino, looking at a particular aspect of what makes Félix so compelling to watch. (The usual Narcos disclaimer – I’m talking about Félix strictly as a character on a TV show, not the actual man.)

It’s no question that Félix is usually the smartest person in whatever room he’s in. He’s got the plans, the sky-high visions as well as the contingencies-within-contingencies. He makes an obscene amount of money for a lot of people for a long time, and mch of that is down to how shrewd he is: the opportunities he sees, the alliances he forges, and the way he maneuvers through obstacles.

But for all his talents, Félix isn’t untouchable. I like that he screws up. He sometimes goes into a situation thinking he’s got it in the bag, only to find himself on the ropes almost immediately. His one-on-ones with Cali often put him on the defensive, and every dealing he has with the CIA is fraught with risk. When it comes to his own cartel, he can underestimate the obstinance of his plaza bosses, assuming they’ll follow his methodical lead when they have other, less pragmatic priorities in mind.

As such, Félix isn’t playing five-dimensional chess all the time, and even strong gambits that show a huge level of forethought aren’t a sure thing. Some of my favorite moments on the show come when Félix is backed into a corner and desperately pulls the final ace out of his sleeve, praying it’ll pay off for him.

The biggest debacle for Félix in season 1 comes when his political allies panic over Kiki and the DEA sniffing around the cartel – frantic not to be discovered, the politicians have Kiki kidnapped and tortured to find out what he knows. This only puts an even bigger target on their back, with the DEA and the Mexican police on the warpath. Félix finds himself on the run for the only time in the series, and the authorities are closing in. On his knees with a gun to his head, he plays his last card: he’s arranged to swipe the tapes of Kiki’s interrogation, the ones that name politicians connected to the cartel. Officer Calderoni can protect his bosses if he lets Félix go.

In season 2, although the Mexican police have been called off, the DEA is still digging around. Félix doesn’t want his politician friends to do something shortsighted and rash again, so he insists on handling it himself. This means appealing to the CIA for help. Félix has already had extremely-bad dealings with them, so he’s on edge as he walks into a U.S. military base for a meeting, hoping to bribe one agency to get the other off his back. Agent Stechner is “in a rush” and says he’ll only meet with Félix aboard his plane, as he’s getting ready to take off again soon. Félix knows this is a bad idea, but this is his only move and he can’t give it up, so against his better judgment, he boards the plane. Stechner immediately declares that Félix himself is a much better prize for the U.S. than whatever amount of money Félix is planning on offering him and prepares to extradite Félix then and there. He’s speaking English, which Félix doesn’t understand, throwing Félix into a panic. Shoving his briefcase into Stechner’s hands, Félix frantically repeats, “Open! Open!” And when Stechner finally does, he sees that Félix hasn’t brought him money: he’s brought maps, air-travel routes. Félix knows that one of the planes the CIA uses to smuggle arms to Central and South American rebels was recently exposed, and he’s offering up his organization to discreetly traffic guns on the CIA’s behalf.

Both of these moments are so fantastic, for two reasons. First, they show that one of Félix’s greatest assets is his ability to recognize what people want. He’s ridiculously wealthy, but he knows that sometimes information or access talks more than money. Before he makes a move, he thinks long and hard about the players involved and tries to figure out what will get them into his pocket.

But crucially, Félix doesn’t actually know if these risks are going to pay off. He can arm himself as well as he can with what he thinks will protect him, but there’s no guarantee until the plan actually bears out. You know those moments in a story when it looks like there’s no way out for the hero, and then it turns out they were five steps ahead the whole time? (Eleven-era Doctor Who is rife with these.) While they’re a nice display of smarts and foresight, I always feel a bit robbed narratively. I don’t like it when the hero’s reaction to facing their apparent end is all an act, meant to throw the baddie off the scent until the reveal that the hero’s been orchestrating everything all along. Now, Félix obviously isn’t a hero, but I find it so much more interesting that, when he’s in these dangerous situations, he’s very genuinely freaking out. I love watching this incredibly-controlled man lose his shit and try to claw back the upper hand through his shrewd strategizing and sheer force of will. Even if I can assume he’ll find a way to pull it off (until the end of his two seasons on the show, of course,) there’s a much greater tension as I watch him scramble and think, “How’s he going to get out of this one?” So good.

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A couple more good bits on Marvel folks going gaga over Tony Leung Chiu-wai (as they should.) When asked what it was like working with Leung, Simu Liu had this to say:

Like a master class in acting every single day. He is every bit as legendary as the legends say. What makes Tony so incredibly watchable is his stillness, his ability to convey such emotional colour with a single glance. For a newbie like me coming to set full of nervous energy, he really grounded me and forced me to be still and present.

Also, I just love that my job was to literally stare into Tony's eyes for hours at a time.

I also like this video from Kevin Feige, where he says Leung is “a whole different layer of movie star” and admits to being “nearly speechless” when they met. When Leung was first announced for Shang-Chi, as excited as I was for him to be making his U.S. debut at all, let alone in an MCU movie, my biggest tempering thought was, “Marvel had better not waste him.” But everyone involved in the production who talks about him recognizes just how fortunate they are to have his involvement and collaboration. I started to feel that when I saw how integral Wenwu/Leung was in the trailers, but the more MCU people discuss him, the more assured I feel in that regard.

Favorite Characters: Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo (Narcos: Mexico)

Just to reiterate what I said when I wrote about Pablo: I’m talking about Félix strictly as a character here. As a person, he’s horrible, but as a character he’s endlessly fascinating. I got way deeper into Narcos: Mexico than I did Narcos, and like 80% of that is down to Félix (premise spoilers.)

Right from his introduction, we’re shown the ways that Félix is both similar to and different from his Colombian counterparts in the original series. Like the other narcos, he smart, ambitious, and determined. Like Pablo, he comes from a humble background – part of the reason his operation is able to rise so quickly is because no one thinks a bunch of “Sinoloan farmers” would be able to accomplish what they do. Like the Cali folks, he has a strong head for business and can very willingly show you projection charts for his drug enterprise. But Félix sets himself apart too. The very first time we see him, he’s wearing a police uniform. The “drug arrest” he makes is fake, getting Rafa out of a jam with some actual cops, but the uniform is real: before he got into the marijuana game, he worked as a police officer. This is a surprising bit of backstory that frankly never gets enough play in the series, and that clever opening trick with Rafa sets up a lot about who Félix is.

It’s no stretch to say that Félix is the smartest narco we’ve met on either show. More than a drug trafficker, he’s a visionary – he’s the one who comes up with the idea to unite all the major traffickers in Mexico into a single federation, reducing violence/infighting and increasing profits for everyone. First with marijuana, capitalizing on Rafa’s botanical expertise, and later with cocaine that they run between Colombia and the U.S., Félix sets up multi-city cartel operating in numerous plazas that are all overseen by him.

He also frequently thinks five steps ahead, which serves him well when his tightly-run organization starts to wobble. Félix is hyper-focused on expansion, efficiency, and great acquisition of power, and he’s largely above the petty bullshit that we’ve seen plenty of narcos get sucked into. Unfortunately for him, a lot of the families in the federation are absolutely drawn to petty bullshit, so when they inevitably fall into grudges and retaliation, it’s up to him to get them back in line without bringing down the whole house of cards. Similarly, Félix mostly avoids impulsivity, but the same can’t be said for his partners, including the politicians in his pocket. When the politicians clumsily panic in response to possible exposure, bringing more heat on all of them, Félix repeatedly digs deep to find a way to pivot, saving his own ass along with anyone who’s still useful to him.

That last point is an important one. Although Félix starts as a warmer, more collaborative character, his journey ultimately becomes one of self-interest. Maybe it’s because he keeps having to break up boneheaded squabbles or clean up the rash mistakes of jittery politicians, or maybe it’s because his vision is continually expanding upward and outward and no one else seems to see the possibilities that he does. Whatever the reason, other people’s voices begin to count less to him. His patience for other people’s screw-ups starts to wane, and as he shores up his own power, he’s less attached to sticking his neck out for people who he thinks are getting in the way of that. The transformation is really engrossing to watch, because the slide begins so slowly and then picks up speed. By the time it’s all said and done, he’s proven himself to be incredibly ruthless, not erratically violent/retaliatory like Pablo but coldly, clinically so. The balancing act he has in managing the plazas, finessing his position with the Colombians, and pacifying the politicians is like a chess game to him, and there are few moves he won’t make if he sees the value in it.

I have more, spoilery thoughts on Félix for another day, but for now, I can’t end this post without shouting out Diego Luna. He’s just so, so good. It’s remarkably subtle work but just amazingly effective. He’s magnetic to watch in the role, like hold-your-breath magnetic during his best showcase scenes. I went into this show with a lot of affection for Luna, but I came out of it completely wowed by him. He does such a fantastic job of allowing Félix to be as horrible as he is while still being endlessly fascinating.

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The reviews are in, and hot damn, Shang-Chi! (Be warned, while I don't think any of the reviews I've read spoil anything monumental, some of them divulged more than I expected, and without spoiler warnings. Eventually, I started skimming, just looking for the parts that talk about the acting. Click according to your comfort level.)

While not as breathlessly excited as a lot of the first reactions, taking more time to point out the film’s flaws, plenty of the reviews go into all kinds of depth about why Tony Leung Chiu-wai/Wenwu steals the whole damn thing. My main takeaways from the reviews were 1) Leung did not need to bring it so hard in this movie, but 2) we’re all blessed that he did. Some choice quotes:

“Put simply, Leung never does too much in a scene, and he conveys subdued romantic longing better than almost any actor in the last 40 years. Here, he gives what is probably the best-ever performance in a superhero movie, certainly for a villain.”

“Tony Leung’s performance as antagonist is searing, singular, and faceted; perhaps the best MCU villain to-date.”

“Leung is suave, restrained and powerful. He is able to convey centuries worth of rage and heartbreak with the slightest of glances.”

“Leung is one of those performers who moves through the frame with impossible grace and sometimes doesn’t move at all; if there are other actors who can express more by doing less, who can so magnetize the camera with a flicker of an eyebrow, they aren’t coming to mind.”

“Wenwu is a supervillain who’s lived a life of crime and conquest, and in every scene, Leung imbues him with cool confidence. He’s equal parts charismatic and menacing, as if daring his scene partner to challenge him. Every line sounds like it comes with a knowing smirk.”