Netflix has more than 20 original series and at this point it's probably fair to say only one or two have really been worth watching. Even House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, their two flagship shows, fizzled out with their most recent seasons and aren't talking points at all anymore. Two years into their binge watching experiment, it's hard to come up with any positive arguments for that manner of delivering shows. Very few people are actually watching an entire season all the way through. It makes shows hard to discuss. It amplifies the feeling of emptiness and loss and confusion as to what to watch next when the season is done.
At most Narcos is a good show. Really it's an okay show. You've got to appreciate that it's filmed entirely in Columbia and that most of the dialogue is in Spanish. While it means I have to actually watch the screen to know what's happening, it does provide a layer of authenticity to the show that it probably deserves. It's also narrated. One, by a white man who can't even pronounce Bogota properly. And two, in a way that provides no deeper look into what the characters are thinking. The narration is essentially a Wikipedia entry that bridges the real life events the show portrays. That's the other thing. This could have been a fully, fleshed out show. Instead it's a glorified documentary re-enactment. Sure it's an interesting story and concept. The success of Breaking Bad showed we're all in on giant drug operations. But Narcos isn't that. Part of me wants to see how the government deals with the narcos and how Escobar deals with the enemy cartel but I also don't really care.
I'm not familiar with Escobar's actual story. Though I think I'd rather scan Wikipedia than sit through multiple seasons of the show.
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