"Narcos" season 3 has already premiered and the reviews are in. With a new drug syndicate to come after, did the show fare well this season? Here are what some critics had to say while the real Jorge Salcedo shared what the show has gotten right this season. Warning: big spoilers for season 3 ahead.
Season 3 focused on the Cali Cartel, and there was one character who seemed to be at the center of everything: Jorge Salcedo, the Cali Cartel's head of security portrayed by Matias Varela. During the season's finale, Jorge was placed under witness protection after turning into an informant, helping bring the Cali Cartel down.
That is also of course where the real Jorge Salcedo is right now. Salcedo also served as a consultant for the show's current season, and in a phone interview with Entertainment Weekly, he not only revealed his experiences while serving for the syndicate but also what the show got right in terms of the events.
When Salcedo was asked how accurate the current season was so far, he responded that the story in general is the same as what really happened. He added that there were some events in the episodes that were presented in such a way that made it look like he did everything, when he may have only been present or have had word about.
He cited the grisly scene where they took apart a guy with two motorcycles. Salcedo said that it may have been horrific, but it was not far from the truth. He added that he had people do much worse – they did it with Land Cruisers.
With that in mind, the reviews for season 3 are mainly positive. Vox cited season 3 as what has gotten "Narcos" back on track. Despite its flaws, Pascal's portrayal of Javier Peña continued to be compelling and they added that the show definitely thought about how it reinvented itself with the main antagonist from the previous two seasons, Pablo Escobar (perfectly portrayed by Wagner Moura) as dead. "Narcos" season 3 showed that the story is no longer just centered on one character but several.
Metro shared the same thoughts regarding the third season, calling it a "thrilling rebirth" that still managed to move beyond Pablo Escobar's death. In the midst of some doubts regarding how the show could move on without Moura's Escobar, a shuffling and reshuffling of characters served as a good move. This clearing out of the previous two seasons paved the way for new, lesser known drug kingpins to take center stage on the show, along with new characters who joined the fold.
"Narcos" season 3 is now available on Netflix.
