User Reviews

I think that the big action scene here was way too over the top. There was not a big battle between the army and the cartel, or maybe there was but I didn't hear of it.

Still, exciting TV. They really are building up to that one character meeting his demise and making you want to see it happen.

I have to admit that I can't stand the Kiki character, maybe because I dislike Michael Pena, but also because of what he is doing. He has no regard whatsoever for the people whose lives end as collateral damage because of his actions. He got his neighbor killed then went directly into a plot that will get the eradication program pilot killed.

In the scene where he's going along with the soldiers to burn down a pot field, I was hoping he'd fall out of the helicopter onto his head from 2000 feet. I mean, this is fiction, right? There's no real resemblance between what was actually done in the "big bust" and what the writers portray. Rafa and Kiki both being on the scene and trading shots is absurd.

As I have wondered aloud before: is the point of telling this story to reveal that the DEA are the villains in Mexico in the '80s? This whole "drug war" thing in Mexico was the invasion of a neighboring country with bureaucrats carrying guns and bribe money.

Pena won't be in season 2 because the story of Enrique Camarana's death is already common knowledge. Otherwise, I fear that the writers would continue his story in more fictional ways.

The most significant parts of the episode are at the beginning and the end, but that's not to say there aren't bits in between that have merit. There's the moment Gallardo is compared to an Aztec god (I wish Gallardo's character was explored even more tbh). There's Gallardo's gradual fall from grace, starting with the awesomely shot field burning that kicks off the episode and culminating in a loss of power. He's not the one who made the call to capture Kiki, and his order to released him is ignored. I doubt these were the circumstances in which he expected to see Kiki, and vice versa. It's a fantastic cliffhanger of an ending because as well as it being shocking to see Kiki about to be tortured, you can see the way Gallardo looks at Kiki and reluctantly gives the order.

Rafa's half of the story, again, continues to stall. After being told by Gallardo to get himself together, he's determined to do so. But the way he's been presented up to this point is as a completely unsympathetic person means it's actually quite boring watching him try to stay off coke. He has visions, sees Sofia, but why should I care? I don't have any interest in whether he kicks his habit.

8.1/10

In "Just Say No" the DEA leads a bust on Rafa's massive weed field, getting the largest bust in DEA history, sending Rafa into a downward spiral. This angers Felix's partners and he must back them down from retaliating against the DEA. Meanwhile Kiki and Jaime meet representatives from Congress doing their own investigation into what's going on down in Mexico. Kiki plans his relocation to San Diego but is kidnapped by Rafa and Azul beforehand. They want to know everything the DEA has on them. The episode closes with Felix giving them the nod to interrogate Kiki.

We've been building up to this point ever since the season teases this in the premier's cold open. Kiki has fallen into the cartel's clutches and who knows where we go from here?

While the ending was quite exciting, that initial action scene of the bust has to be one of the worst scenes of the show's history (including the other seasons of Narcos). It's shot like a straight-to-streaming Nic Cage action movie and looks like complete garbage. I couldn't believe my eyes. This director has no idea how to shoot realistic or even exciting action scenes. It sort of ruined everything that came after it, even when the quality improved.

The raid on the marihuana-plant is one of the most unrealistic ones filmed....ever....beautifully filmed i do admit...sort of one-take scene sone right...script on this scene is horrendous....not Narcos-worthy...