lucanreyn-40177

A masterpiece. This is mindblowing execution. While I absolutely love the first episode, this is even better, providing a bold look at what we thought was our antagonist but now realise is an additional protagonist with some of the most artistic and creative storytelling I have ever seen in a TV show.

Not that it matters, but I am surprised that this episode is drastically lower than the rest of the season here on IMDb. My guess would be because of the daring transition between this and episode 1, by literally showing us another 90 minutes of a completely different location, set of characters and more importantly a very different feel. Episode 1 was dark and bleak, this was peaceful and otherworldly and an extremely unique portrayal of a cartel, letting us take in the nature and warmth of sandy Mexico along with the characters. Personally, I'm in love with this episode. This is Nicolas Winding Refn at his best.

An incredible start. Nicolas Winding Refn is loudly boasting every ten minutes but I love it! I can understand someone finding the self-indulgence irritating but, as a fan of Refn, it's simply a feast. The blocking here is out of this world, which you can see in every single frame, of which has obviously had 100% effort put into it; literally every frame of this is carefully lit (very neon-orientated) and phenomenally blocked...it's surprising that something this clearly staged is so hypnotic from start to finish. Cliff Martinez once again blows me away with the music; he manages to create with some of his best work here, and Cliff's score combined with the gorgeous cinematography is impressive and entrancing, as it accompanies a limited yet still engaging plot both on and off the surface, with major help from a fantastic Miles Teller, who plays a very unique and morally ambigious protagonist.

Mesmerising television. If you are wondering why I didn't rate it higher, you should know that 8 stars for me means I loved it; I certainly loved this and it looks like it's about to lead to something for the history books.

I haven't been reviewing this season, but just had to critique this episode in particular. The action, for most of the season, has been fairly poorly directed, but it hits an all time low with this episode. Its attempt at a one take fight (because, uh, you know, that's trendy now) is honestly laughable, and is also not a fitting cinematic technique for Narcos whatsoever. I hated the cinematography of the entire episode too. You can't just be glamorous for no reason. Here, none of the fancy shots have meaning and it's really distracting. In addition to all that, I hated the editing of this episode, I hated the pacing of this episode, I hated the direction of this episode and, most importantly, I hated how much this didn't feel like the Narcos I love.

This is a definite outlier of this otherwise decent season (certainly the weakest season of Narcos yet though, without a doubt).