The second season of ''
Narcos
''Narcos'' is an American-Colombian crime drama television series created and produced by Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro. Set and filmed in Colombia, seasons 1 and 2 are based on the story of Colombian narcoterrorist and drug kin ...
'', an American crime thriller drama web television series produced and created by
Chris Brancato
Chris Brancato (born July 24, 1962) is an American television and film writer and producer. Brancato grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey , Carlo Bernard, and
Doug Miro
Doug Miro (born January 20, 1972) is an American screenwriter based in Los Angeles. Miro studied screenwriting at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and graduated with a degree in English from Stanford University.
Life and career
Miro's screenpla ...
, follows the story of notorious drug kingpin
Pablo Escobar
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in h ...
, who became a billionaire through the production and distribution of
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
, while also focusing on Escobar's interactions with drug lords,
DEA
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...
agents, and various opposition entities.
It stars
Wagner Moura
Wagner Maniçoba de Moura (; born 27 June 1976) is a Brazilian actor, director, filmmaker, musician, and journalist. Wagner started his career doing theater in Salvador, where he worked with renowned directors, and soon scored some appearances ...
as
Pablo Escobar
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in h ...
– a Colombian drug lord and the leader of the
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel ( es, Cartel de Medellín) was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered ...
, with
Boyd Holbrook
Robert Boyd Holbrook (born September 1, 1981) is an American actor. He has starred in the Netflix series ''Narcos'' (2015-2017) as DEA agent Steve Murphy and '' The Sandman'' (2022-) as the Corinthian, as well as in the History miniseries '' Ha ...
,
Pedro Pascal
José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal (born 2 April 1975) is a Chilean and American actor. He began his career guest-starring on various television shows before rising to prominence for portraying Oberyn Martell on the fourth season of the HBO fantasy ...
,
Paulina Gaitán
Paulina Gaitán Ruíz (born February 19, 1992) is a Mexican actress. She is best known throughout Mexican television and movies. She is more recently known for her role in the popular Netflix series, '' Narcos'', as the devoted young wife of Co ...
,
Cristina Umaña
Cristina Umaña (born December 24, 1974) is a Colombian actress.
She studied drama from 1993 to 1995 in the Centro de Educación Artística of Televisa. In Colombia she had the leading role of telenovelas, '' Yo amo a Paquita Gallego'' and '' L ...
,
Joanna Christie,
Paulina García
Paulina García Alfonso (born 27 November 1960), better known as Pali García, is a Chilean actress, stage director, and playwright.
García debuted on television with a small role in the telenovela ''Los títeres'' (1984), but she was soon ...
,
Raúl Méndez
Raúl Méndez Martínez (born April 11, 1975 in Laguna, Torreón, Mexico) is a Mexican actor of film, theater and television.
Biography
He studied acting at the Center for Arts Education Monterrey and La Casa del Teatro with Luis de Tavira be ...
,
Manolo Cardona
Manuel "Manolo" Julián Cardona Molano (born April 25, 1977) is a Colombian actor.
Personal life
Cardona was born in Popayán, Cauca, Colombia on April 25, 1977. At the age of seven, Cardona's family nicknamed him "Manolo," which later beca ...
,
Bruno Bichir
Bruno Bichir Nájera (born 6 October 1967) is a Mexican actor and one of the members of the Bichir family.
Biography
Bichir was born in Mexico City. He started his acting career at the age of five in several theater, film and television series. ...
,
Eric Lange
Eric Lange (born February 19, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for his work on television, where he has appeared in a wide variety of both Character role, supporting and leading roles.
Lange played the recurring roles of Stuart Radzinsky ...
,
Florencia Lozano
Florencia Lozano (born December 16, 1969) is an American actress. She starred as Téa Delgado on the daytime series ''One Life to Live''.
Lozano has guest-starred in several primetime television shows, as well as films.
Early life
Florencia Lo ...
,
Damián Alcázar
Damián Alcázar (born January 8, 1953) is a Mexican actor and politician, who is best known outside of Mexico as Lord Sopespian in '' The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian''. He was a deputy in the Constituent Assembly of Mexico City.
Caree ...
,
Alberto Ammann
Alberto Ammann Rey (born 1978) is an Argentine actor. He has played various roles in films, television and theater, including the lead role in the Spanish film ''Cell 211'', which earned him a Goya Award for Best New Actor. He is also known f ...
, and
Francisco Denis
Francisco Denis (born 1961) is a Venezuelan actor and director.
Denis runs his own theater company in Venezuela, and has acted in about 20 films there.
Selected filmography
* DEMONICA (TBA)
*Takari de Chivo ( TBA) Also director and writer
*Benig ...
playing various real life based characters.
All 10 episodes of the season became available for
streaming
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
on Netflix on September 2, 2016, and were met with more favorable critical reviews than the
first season, with critics particularly praising the performance of
Wagner Moura
Wagner Maniçoba de Moura (; born 27 June 1976) is a Brazilian actor, director, filmmaker, musician, and journalist. Wagner started his career doing theater in Salvador, where he worked with renowned directors, and soon scored some appearances ...
as
Pablo Escobar
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in h ...
. On September 6, 2016, Netflix renewed the series for a third and fourth season.
Cast and characters
Main
*
Wagner Moura
Wagner Maniçoba de Moura (; born 27 June 1976) is a Brazilian actor, director, filmmaker, musician, and journalist. Wagner started his career doing theater in Salvador, where he worked with renowned directors, and soon scored some appearances ...
as
Pablo Escobar
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in h ...
– a Colombian drug lord and the leader of the
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel ( es, Cartel de Medellín) was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered ...
*
Boyd Holbrook
Robert Boyd Holbrook (born September 1, 1981) is an American actor. He has starred in the Netflix series ''Narcos'' (2015-2017) as DEA agent Steve Murphy and '' The Sandman'' (2022-) as the Corinthian, as well as in the History miniseries '' Ha ...
as
Steve Murphy – a
DEA
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...
agent tasked with bringing down Escobar
*
Pedro Pascal
José Pedro Balmaceda Pascal (born 2 April 1975) is a Chilean and American actor. He began his career guest-starring on various television shows before rising to prominence for portraying Oberyn Martell on the fourth season of the HBO fantasy ...
as
Javier Peña
Javier F. Peña (born 1958) is an American former Drug Enforcement Administration agent who investigated Pablo Escobar and the Medellín Cartel. Peña worked as a consultant on the Netflix series ''Narcos''.
Biography
Peña graduated from He ...
– a DEA agent, who is on Murphy's task force
*
Paulina Gaitán
Paulina Gaitán Ruíz (born February 19, 1992) is a Mexican actress. She is best known throughout Mexican television and movies. She is more recently known for her role in the popular Netflix series, '' Narcos'', as the devoted young wife of Co ...
as Tata Escobar – Escobar's wife, based on María Henao
*
Cristina Umaña
Cristina Umaña (born December 24, 1974) is a Colombian actress.
She studied drama from 1993 to 1995 in the Centro de Educación Artística of Televisa. In Colombia she had the leading role of telenovelas, '' Yo amo a Paquita Gallego'' and '' L ...
as Judy Moncada – a former leader in the Medellín Cartel who, after Escobar murdered her husband Kiko, led a breakaway cartel and allied with the Cali Cartel and
Los Pepes
Los Pepes, a name derived from the Spanish phrase "Perseguidos por Pablo Escobar" ("Persecuted by Pablo Escobar"), was a vigilante group composed of enemies of Pablo Escobar. They waged a small-scale war against the Medellín Cartel in 1993, whic ...
; she is based on the real-life Dolly Moncada
*
Joanna Christie as Connie Murphy – Steve's wife, a nurse who works in the local hospital
*
Paulina García
Paulina García Alfonso (born 27 November 1960), better known as Pali García, is a Chilean actress, stage director, and playwright.
García debuted on television with a small role in the telenovela ''Los títeres'' (1984), but she was soon ...
as Hermilda Gaviria – Escobar's mother, a former Colombian schoolteacher
*
Raúl Méndez
Raúl Méndez Martínez (born April 11, 1975 in Laguna, Torreón, Mexico) is a Mexican actor of film, theater and television.
Biography
He studied acting at the Center for Arts Education Monterrey and La Casa del Teatro with Luis de Tavira be ...
as
César Gaviria
César Augusto Gaviria Trujillo ( ; born 31 March 1947) is a Colombian economist and politician who served as the President of Colombia from 1990 to 1994, Secretary General of the Organization of American States from 1994 to 2004 and National Di ...
– a Colombian economist and politician and the 28th President of Colombia
*
Manolo Cardona
Manuel "Manolo" Julián Cardona Molano (born April 25, 1977) is a Colombian actor.
Personal life
Cardona was born in Popayán, Cauca, Colombia on April 25, 1977. At the age of seven, Cardona's family nicknamed him "Manolo," which later beca ...
as Eduardo Sandoval – the Vice Minister of Justice in President Gaviria's administration
*
Bruno Bichir
Bruno Bichir Nájera (born 6 October 1967) is a Mexican actor and one of the members of the Bichir family.
Biography
Bichir was born in Mexico City. He started his acting career at the age of five in several theater, film and television series. ...
as Fernando Duque – a Colombian lawyer who represents Pablo Escobar, acting as his liaison with the Colombian government
*
Eric Lange
Eric Lange (born February 19, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for his work on television, where he has appeared in a wide variety of both Character role, supporting and leading roles.
Lange played the recurring roles of Stuart Radzinsky ...
as Bill Stechner – the CIA Station Chief in Colombia
*
Florencia Lozano
Florencia Lozano (born December 16, 1969) is an American actress. She starred as Téa Delgado on the daytime series ''One Life to Live''.
Lozano has guest-starred in several primetime television shows, as well as films.
Early life
Florencia Lo ...
as Claudia Messina - DEA agent and Murphy and Peña's supervisor
*
Damián Alcázar
Damián Alcázar (born January 8, 1953) is a Mexican actor and politician, who is best known outside of Mexico as Lord Sopespian in '' The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian''. He was a deputy in the Constituent Assembly of Mexico City.
Caree ...
as
Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela
Gilberto José Rodríguez Orejuela (30 January 1939 – 31 May 2022) was a Colombian drug lord, who was one of the leaders of the Cali Cartel, based in the city of Cali.
Cali Cartel
Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela, along with his brother Miguel ...
– the Leader of the
Cali Cartel
The Cali Cartel ( es, Cartel de Cali) was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca. Its founders were the brothers Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela. They broke away fr ...
and one of Pablo Escobar's primary rivals
*
Alberto Ammann
Alberto Ammann Rey (born 1978) is an Argentine actor. He has played various roles in films, television and theater, including the lead role in the Spanish film ''Cell 211'', which earned him a Goya Award for Best New Actor. He is also known f ...
as
Hélmer "Pacho" Herrera – a Colombian drug lord and high-ranking member of the
Cali Cartel
The Cali Cartel ( es, Cartel de Cali) was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca. Its founders were the brothers Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela and Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela. They broke away fr ...
*
Francisco Denis
Francisco Denis (born 1961) is a Venezuelan actor and director.
Denis runs his own theater company in Venezuela, and has acted in about 20 films there.
Selected filmography
* DEMONICA (TBA)
*Takari de Chivo ( TBA) Also director and writer
*Benig ...
as
Miguel Rodríguez Orejuela
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Orejuela (born August 15, 1943) is a convicted Colombian drug lord, formerly one of the leaders of the Cali Cartel, based in the city of Cali. He is the younger brother of Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela. He married Miss Colo ...
– a high-ranking member of the Cali cartel and Gilberto's younger brother
Recurring
* Diego Cataño as Juan Diego "La Quica" Díaz – an assassin routinely hired by the Medellín, based on
Dandeny Muñoz Mosquera
Dandeny Muñoz Mosquera (born August 27, 1966), also known as "La Quica" (Colombian slang for "the fat girl", a childhood nickname), is a Colombian former hitman for the Medellín Cartel, a drug trafficking group. He was described as at one poin ...
* Leynar Gómez as Limón – a pimp and taxi driver from Medellín who becomes one of Escobar's ''sicarios'', based on
Alvaro de Jesús Agudelo (a.k.a. "El Limón")
*
Martina García as Maritza – an old friend of Limon's roped into unwittingly helping Escobar
*
Brett Cullen
Peter Brett Cullen (born August 26, 1956) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Dan Fixx in ''Falcon Crest'' (1986-1988), Sam Cain in ''The Young Riders'' (1989-1990), Governor Ray Sullivan in ''The West Wing'' (2005-2006), Goo ...
as Ambassador Arthur Crosby – A former Navy officer sent as US Ambassador to Colombia by
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
in 1992, replacing Noonan
* Konstantin Melikhov as Edward Jacoby - A U.S. intelligence officer attached to
Centra Spike
*
Stephanie Sigman
Stephanie Sigman is a Mexican-American actress. Her breakthrough role was in the 2011 Mexican crime drama film '' Miss Bala''. She has gone on to appear in ''Pioneer'' (2013), ''Spectre'' (2015), ''Going Under'' (2016), and '' Annabelle: Creatio ...
as Valeria Vélez – a Colombian journalist who also serves as Pablo Escobar's mistress, based on
Virginia Vallejo
Virginia Vallejo García (born 26 August 1949) is a Colombian author, journalist, television director, anchorwoman, media personality, socialite, and political asylee in the United States of America.
On 18 July 2006, the DEA took her out of ...
* Maurice Compte as Horacio Carrillo – a Colombian police chief, based on Colonel
Hugo Martínez
* Julián Díaz as ''El Negro'' or "Blackie" (né Nelson Hernández) – a member of the Medellín Cartel, who is frequently seen by Escobar's side
* Juan Sebastián Calero as Navegante – a violent associate of the Cali Cartel who works as their top henchman
*
Jon-Michael Ecker
Jon-Michael William Ecker (born March 16, 1983) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Aaron Morales in '' Popland!'', Pablo Peralta in the telenovela ''Corazón valiente'', Nicolás de la Vega in '' Gossip Girl: Acapulco'', Marlon Br ...
as ''El León'' or "The Lion" – a childhood friend of Escobar's who becomes his first drug smuggler into Miami and subsequently runs Escobar's Miami operations
* Germán Jaramillo as
Gustavo de Greiff
Gustavo de Greiff Restrepo (b. June 20, 1929 – d. July 19, 2018) was a Colombian lawyer, educator and activist, who served as Attorney General of Colombia during the Gaviria presidency and later as Ambassador to Mexico during the Samper pre ...
,
Colombia's Attorney General and vehement critic of President Gaviria's drug policy
*
Juan Pablo Shuk
Juan Pablo Shuk Aparicio ( hu, Shuk Aparicio János Pál; born 7 November 1965) is a Colombian actor who lives and works in Colombia and Spain. He is married to Ana de la Lastra.
He is of Hungarian descent from his father's side, he mentions h ...
as Colonel
Hugo Martínez – Carrillo's successor as the commander of Search Bloc
*
Alfredo Castro as Abel Escobar, Pablo's father
Episodes
Reception
The second season of Narcos received more favorable reviews than the
first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
with critics particularly praising the performance of
Wagner Moura
Wagner Maniçoba de Moura (; born 27 June 1976) is a Brazilian actor, director, filmmaker, musician, and journalist. Wagner started his career doing theater in Salvador, where he worked with renowned directors, and soon scored some appearances ...
as
Pablo Escobar
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in h ...
.
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gives it a score of 92% positive, based on 16 critic revies: "''Narcos sophomore season manages to elevate the stakes to a gut-wrenching degree in what continues to be a magnificent account of Pablo Escobar's life." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, Season 2 holds a score of 76 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
gave the second season a score of 7.4 out of 10 saying it "Good" and reads "It may go overboard with its love of Pablo Escobar, but I can't truly fault the show for taking advantage of its best performer and character – or for scrambling to find an emotional core on a show that can feel rather clinical."
Season two received generally positive reviews from many media outlets. Joshua Alston of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' lauded the performance of Moura's and said, "While the show never soft-pedals the havoc Escobar created, it makes him surprisingly sympathetic, thanks in part to Moura’s shrewd, affecting performance." Mark A. Perigard of ''
Boston Herald
The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...
'' said, "Moura’s performance anchors this show." Critic
Neil Genzlinger
Neil Genzlinger is an American playwright, editor, book reviewer, and theatre and television critic who frequently writes for ''The New York Times''.
Family
Genzlinger is a grandson of the late ''The Philadelphia Bulletin'' columnist Don Rose. ...
of ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' said, "Mr. Moura is inscrutably brilliant at the center of it all." Writing for ''
IndieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...
'', Liz Shannon Miller said, "The show has figured out how to balance its ostensible heroes. The buddy cop energy between Peña and Murphy was one of Season 2’s most enjoyable side dishes--enough to make one hope for more." ''
The New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
''s, Robert Rorke said, "Without
scobarthere’s a gaping hole. So allow yourself to be mesmerized and appalled at one of the most outrageous true crime dramas ever filmed." Emily VanDerWerff of ''
Vox'' said, "The second season of ''Narcos'', Netflix’s historical drama about drug lord Pablo Escobar and the law enforcement officers who worked to bring him down, is a marked improvement over the first."
''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
''s
Jeff Jensen
Jeff Jensen (born 1970) is an American writer and journalist.
Early life
Jensen is a native of Seattle, Washington, and a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
Career
Jensen is a screenwriter, journalist and author based in ...
also reviewed the series positively saying, "Where season 1 spanned 10 years, season 2 captures Escobar's last days on the loose. Each tightly packed episode moves quickly without sacrificing richness, chronicling the uneasy alliances and gross tactics employed to snare Escobar." Television critic, Tim Goodman of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' said, "What works in the early going of season two is that the fall is almost always more thrilling, if not engaging, than the buildup. Escobar senses the loss of power and Moura does some of his best work as viewers read the worry and interior thinking on his face." John Anderson of ''
Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' wrote, "The sense of desperation among all the characters is heightened; the stakes are higher; the politics more sordid. Other aspects of the series, however, have remained disappointingly the same." However, Writing for ''
Collider
A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators.
Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...
'' Chris Cabin expressed that, "There are potent and provocative ideas that lie frustratingly dormant throughout this series, which seems to be just happy to play a competent but only occasionally compelling Michael Mann riff.
References
External links
*
*
{{Narcos
Narcos
2016 American television seasons