Narcos: Mexico season 1

The original series of Narcos that lasted three seasons and focused on Columbia's bloody history with Pablo Escobar dramatised what happened into one of the most engaging, entertaining an highly addictive shows in recent years. Every episode pushed the story forward, never wasting time on filler episodes which has become a crime in many a series, and it ended where it needed to with the third season. When hearing that the Mexican cartel would receive a similar treatment with the spotlight now on Felix Gallardo, I wasn't sure if this would be a case of diminishing returns as the name Gallardo wasn't as wide spread as Escobar but with the same creators behind this, it looked like the series was in safe hands.

Narcos: Mexico stars Diego Luna as Gallardo, who was the kingpin in the Guadalajara Cartel, and Michael Peña as the American DEA agent assigned to Mexico to combat what would become America's 'War on Drugs' in the 1980s. Just like the Columbian series did before, the series is a mix of being spoken in Spanish and English while backed by a narrator to help keep the audience in tune with all the facts and details that series loves to divulge. It works perfectly again, now voiced by Scoot McNairy, and it helped introducing me to a time in history I didn't know a great deal about. While Escobar was running his empire, Gallardo was only just getting started into what is still a tragic problem today.

The series does take some time to get going, as we're introduced to a completely new cast,  and I wasn't sure if Luna would bring the same charisma that made Wagner Moura's Escobar so thrilling to watch but it doesn't take too long before the show finds its stride. Luna doesn't make Felix the alpha male who leads with an iron fist that we might expect from what this series has shown before, and it works perfectly. We've seen the likes of Escobar and the Cali Cartel, and Narcos: Mexico could have fallen into the risk of repeating itself but it finds ways to break new ground in a well-worn genre that kept me engaged and never once felt stagnant.

The talented supporting cast with Joaquín Cosio, Tenoch Huerta, Alyssa Diaz and Matt Letscher (names you might not know) help bring season one together and overall it has become rather difficult to fault. Peña's role as the hardworking agent doesn't have the same flaws as Boyd Holbrook's in Narcos which made him interesting to watch but to his talent Peña makes the dedicated family man role work.

If you enjoyed Narcos then there is no reason why you should stop there. Narcos: Mexico doesn't reinvent the wheel for crime shows but it doesn't have to either; every episode delivers the same level of quality we've come to expect and it helps to make this an easy recommend. Along with a thrilling conclusion to the first season, I'm already looking forward to seeing what comes next.