The story of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the drug-lord who even flew 727's full of cocaine to the Sonoran desert and left them abandoned, is one of those things in Mexican folklore that reaches the whole social ladder. In this series, produced by Telemundo and manufactured by Argos, the narrative reveals what most people knew from newspapers and the official TV chain, Televisa.
In Season 1, the story and the characters are believable, true to the lore and truly scary. It's something that Colombians and Mexicans know too well. The characters are easily recognisable and the performances of some of the actors are very good. But, story-wise, it's one of those unforgettable series, along with the Caracol productions of El Cartel de los Sapos and El Señor del Mal, Pablo Escobar.
It's sad to see that, to keep the franchise going on forever, Telemundo decided to go to the lengths of creating something so badly scripted as the rest of the seasons. It's a shame to see how the characters lose their soul, the story is contrived, absurd and predictable to the smallest detail. It becomes a classic telenovela, instead of the powerful and dramatic series Season 1 was.
Definitely, the production values are good, but never on par of those from Caracol's lush environments, period props, enticing characters and the powerful Colombian actors. It may be almost impossible to have a character that instills fear as Andres Parra's interpretation of Pablo Escobar in El Cartel de los Sapos and Pablo Escobar, El Patron del Mal.
I guess you should stop when things are done and never try second parts when they're not needed. Numbers never lie. That's what happened to this fantastic story when they decided to "create" something people would never feel related to. A pity. Watch Season 1, you won't be disappointed,
