Narcos (2015)

Based on real events, Netflix’s Narcos tells the story of Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura) - the most feared Colombian drug lord of the late 1970’s and 80’s - and how DEA agent Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook) tries to bring him to justice. The first few minutes of the show lands you right in the middle of the action then back to the beginning of the story making you wonder how it all got to the chaos. By the end of that episode you will have a clear sense of the characters and what their motives are and when the credits roll you’ll be relieved that there are nine more to go. You won’t keep watching because of pesky cliffhangers but because you really want to know what happens next.

The main story splits into Escobar’s urge to get more powerful and Murphy’s goal to catch him. The protagonist is clearly supposed to be Steve Murphy but Escobar’s character is played so vividly that you can’t help but secretly root for him (until you remember that he was a real person). Narcos takes you deep into the Colombian crime world without tacky one-liners or stale visuals that will bore you. A great portion of the show is political but an average person should be able to get a sense of what is happening. The second season is currently in production so there is more Narcos in the future.

p.s. Unless you speak Spanish really well, you should put subtitles on because - other than the fact that the story is set in Columbia - many of the major interactions in the story are not in English.