User Reviews

When Don Neto gets captured listening to his music knowing what's going down around him. The cinematography in the scene is amazing.

In "Leyenda", the first season's finale, the DEA discovers the body of Kiki and the US government starts a full-blown onslaught against the cartel. Things look to be crumbling for Gallardo before he's able to negotiate his way to freedom with some heavy payments to the military. He gives up Don Neto and kills the governor's son in revenge. Cops begin being arrested for corruption within the system, others assassinated. The cabal of drug dealers start planning life without Felix before he shows up unexpectedly and puts everyone back in line. The DEA creates a more covert operation to take Felix down, bringing in a slew of new operatives who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. Jamie is relocated and the new crew sets up shop as the season ends.

If you thought Season 1 was violent, it appears things are only going to get worse in Season 2. We end on a weird note. Felix looked doomed, only to reemerge stronger than ever. That's what money will do for you I guess. But we see the end of the line for Neto here and a few other secondary characters. That last scene with Kiki is pretty brutual. It was a tad cheesy though, he looked like he'd been put through the ringer but he sounded fine for a man on death's door. But I'm nitpicking... This was a good episode and a good season finale.

The most amazing thing about "Leyenda" is that it manages to top the already brilliant penultimate episode in pretty much every way. I expected it to tie up the narrative threads, and it does that, but it is also filled with twists and amazing moments that keep you hooked till the credits run.

Let's start with the obvious. Kiki's death is handled graciously by the show. The way his body is found lying there, beaten and bloody, is brutal to see, but it doesn't feel exploitative because of the very human moments that come after. Mika is in tears, yet she's strong enough to survive this. Kiki's colleagues in the DEA are mournful, but they promise justice. And the reveal of who the season's narrator is couldn't be better. It was a DEA agent, who plans to avenge Kiki's death. It's a wonderful final scene that makes this season feel like a tribute to Kiki Camarena. Narcos couldn't have handled the death and life of this heroic DEA agent better. But this episode is about far more than Kiki. It ties up character arcs well while setting the stage for Season 2.

Don Neto, for example, gets the perfect send-off. I think my favourite scene from this whole season is his last moment of freedom. As the Americans raid the place and chaos ensues, he savours the freedom he has. The waves hitting the shore. The women. The music he's listening to on his headphones. Even as blood splatters over his face, he savours his freedom. Don Neto, like the other drug traffickers, is an evil man, but I can't help but be swept away by the sad humour of this scene. And it's such a fitting end for him, too. No one else would react to inevitable capture the way he does. Ah, it was good while it lasted - a summary of a drug lord's lifestyle.

Gallardo, on the other hand, can't take no for an answer. Against the odds, he has a clever back-up plan that saves his skin. And it's sad to see him allowed to escape by the Mexican who had been doing such a good job up until then. His epic return is an awesome moment, perfectly executed. You can feel the silence of the drug traffickers who thought it was their turn. The scene is well shot, with a one-shot traveling round the table capturing the atmosphere.

Gallardo's scene with Kiki is another powerful one. It's our last chance to see Kiki alive. The words they exchange are wonderful, and it's just enough to give Kiki a good send-off without being too long to get self-absorbed. Particularly the words about Kiki's identity, while brief, give us one last insight into him before he's gone for good.

And of course this finale delivers all the action you could want, with the Americans finally taking action against the drug lords. It's all well shot, with plenty of dark humour such as when a bikini-clad woman is an unfortunate victim of collateral damage.

And that's it for the first season of Narcos: Mexico. As always, it has delivered fantastic performances, intelligent storytelling and a great vibe. What a great finale. 9.5/10

Best finale for the series. Death of Camarena? Oh, its clear from 8th episode that he's dead. Felix turning his men was a great turning point, especially Don Neto. Who were the men receving guns at the last? Are they DEA, special task force or Govt. High officials.? Thats a good point to start next season. What about Mika at the hotel? Stay in a Suite? Will be finding out in the next season.

It became obvious through this episode that they were building toward Season 2 and not wrapping everything up. That is fine, but it did hurt the effectivenss of this episode.

I was worried that we would not see Kiki's final confrontation, but they gave us that big moment with Felix. Just wish we saw the actual moment he perished. It would have made Felix even more of a villain.