I worked in the film industry and this is a impressive achievement. The story and characterization are on the level of "Breaking Bad" or "The Wire". I watched all the episodes but skipped through some scenes that followed non-recurring characters. If you see a new character kissing his fiancé good-by before getting on an airplane, or if you see a new character lovingly embracing his wife and kids before he goes off to work, you can be assured that he will soon be dead.Anton's review accurately lists the series' flaws. I don't want to repeat other reviews so I will just add that the music is good but repetitive; the action scenes that involve guns are unrealistic because they often don't show anyone or anything hit by a barrage of gunfire; the subtitles were not written by a native English speaker.The filmmakers stretched this story out into the equivalent of 74 fourty-minute episodes. That is a slow plot pace but it remained engaging. The main draw for me was to see how the government of Columbia ended up giving Pablo Escobar his own private prison. Incarceration in Columbia is nothing like in the US. See the "Surviving Escobar" series for the autobiographical story of an Escobar gunman nicknamed "Popeye" who ended up in a Columbian prison.The series doesn't have a "where are they now" epilogue but you can find out some of that on the PrimeraHora website. The sovereignty of government of Columbia was challenged by Escobar. The same thing is happening in Mexico, now. This series has writers with a profound understanding of human nature. We have a lot to learn from them and we should be concerned about the situation South of the US border. Let's be grateful we have honest D.E.A . agents helping out there and let's hope that government does not go bad.I watched "Narcos" also. It is shorter, slicker and with better production values. It seems to show how the Americans were instrumental in getting Escobar. But the Americans are hardly mentioned in "Patron De Mal". Nationality aside, the credit goes to incorruptible cops.Andreas Parra (Escobar) gives the performance of a lifetime. He makes the character almost likable and interesting enough to continue watching. The other actors were great, also. The scene that most stands out for me was the depiction of a Ochoa brother militia leader intimidating a neophyte into going on a suicide-assassination mission.

I marathon-watched this vastly ambitious project, watching 3-4 episodes a day. Caracol television aired as many as 113 episodes, although Netflix cut it down to 74. I assume that it's the same amount of film, but without the commercial breaks they could make the episodes longer on Netflix. I hadn't planned to see the whole thing as fast as I did but the fact that I did can only add to the praise I have for it. In spite of its flaws this is easily the biggest and best production ever from Colombia. It is not perfect, but I have no idea how a perfect show would deal with this material in a coherent and responsible way. These are real people we're talking about, how do you make it entertaining and pay respect to the victims at the same time? There are several moments where you feel that the show idolizes Escobar, (a rare feeling since family members of his victims were involved in the production) but as his killings and terrorism escalates you feel that it somehow recovers in the end, and makes a more ethical portrayal of the events and the awful damage this monster made on Colombia. While the show Narcos focuses on the DEA's participation in the manhunt, this show focuses mainly on the efforts of the Colombian Police and Military. But the truth is that this was Colombias ordeal much more than it was USA's. The terror and insecurity. Knowing that anybody who did the right thing, testified against the cartel or disagreed with their actions could easily be eliminated. And that no one could guarantee their safety. In the end the DEA helped Colombia much more than they helped USA. They came to hunt down a drug-dealer when in reality the trafficking of drugs was the least of his crimes. Colombia was much more hurt by the terrorist, kidnapper and killer Escobar, than the drug trafficker. Without the threat of extradition this man could've bought, threatened, forced and manipulated his way into becoming the nations leader. There is no way a prison in Colombia could keep this criminal behind bars and isolate him from the Colombian society. I think the two shows Patron del mal and Narcos complete each other, even if "Patron" is infinitely better. Without the success of "el patron del mal" they probably wouldn't create "Narcos". And without the international success of "Narcos" to the English speaking audience, "el patron" wouldn't wake up curiosity and reach an audience outside Latin America. I rate the show highly even if it has a telenovela-feel at times, many great actors, apart from Escobar himself, the portrayals of his family, crew and most known victims such as Galan and Cano. The casting is excellent most of the time with actors who physically are mirror images of the real people. In the smaller roles and in the action sequences you can see the shows flaws, but it's forgivable. The shows theme is catchy with tasteful lyrics, once again trying to pay tribute to the victims to compensate any moments of admiration it may have shown to this Criminal. All in all the soundtrack is good but some songs too repetitive. This show was controversial in Colombia and rightfully so.However it's highly watchable and recommended.

Superb. I haven't enjoyed a TV show this much since Breaking Bad. If you speak Spanish, you will enjoy Colombian from different provinces which is a delight. Escobar role is phenomenal. The sicarios are so believable and scary but hilarious at the same time! Angie Cepeda is a bonus. She is so hot is not even funny (or it may be I can't get the image of her naked in "Pantaleon y sus visitadoras". If I have to criticize something: 50 episodes would have been more than enough. Another great thing about this series is that you get to see a lot of Colombia. Especially Medellin and Bogota and the beautiful Colombians which are a pleasure to listen to. Spanish is my native tongue (I am Argentinean) and I believe Colombians have the most beautiful and richest Spanish. . Amazing! I highly recommend it.

This would have been a ten if done in English which was it's only draw back other than it went into such depth that you wanted it to get back to the main character. However having said that you later learn that it is this seemingly apparent flaw that later makes all other films pale in comparison to Pablo Escobar del mar and clearly leaves them all lacking to the extent it is like reading the book compared to watching a one and half hour movie on the same.I could go on but believe me it will ruin you, or enlighten you--- when you watch anything else on Pablo Escobar.Drurry