Discuss Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord
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El Patron del Mal vs Narcos
posted by BenedictSTAFFMOD on February 19, 2017 at 6:59 PM
I confess to thoroughly enjoying them both, but they're clearly hugely differing depictions. Narcos is more gritty, yet somehow far less realistic in my view, and closer to propaganda. I also think it's a foreigners view of Colombia and plays to stereotypes. My long term SO is Colombian and she far prefers El Matron del Mal. I think I do too, but largely because I simply love the humour and accents of the cast. Each show delivers great performances, but the budget and production value is far and away superior on Narcos, and its much tighter in terms of pacing too (some would say too tight and thrifty with the detail).
I could envisage myself watching and rewatching El Patron del Mal, there's something to its humour and its melodrama that is alluring and surprisingly gentle given it's subject matter, whereas characters in Narcos are quite unlikeable and some of that brushes off on the show. Ultimately, I couldn't see myself rewatching that one.
What do you guys make of the two?
Reply by write2topcat
on February 13, 2021 at 7:04 PM
I don't think El Patron del Mal is very accurate concerning Pablo's personality and his relationship with his wife based on what I have read of him from people like JJ who spent time with him. Pablo was not fearful, even with a gun in his face. And his wife adored him. She wasn't a ballbuster the way she is depicted in this show. I think the director took liberties with that. She knew there were whores at the parties with the guys. I am sure Pablo didn't screw around in front of her, but she knew his guys went with whores all the time at those parties. So I thought the scene in episode 8 where Paty, in this show she is Paty, told the pilot to fly her to Hacienda Napoles and Pablo had that "oh shit" look on his face was far from reality. Pablo rushed the whores away on a plane while Paty was coming in the door and Pablo was almost stuttering "Naked women? No, there were no naked women". Paty was glaring at him and acting like she was in charge. I just don't see anything like that happening between them. I think the director tried to make their relationship look more like what an ordinary couple is like. But Pablo was a sociopath; he wasn't normal. And Maria, or Tata, was his complement. She adored him.
I think, in that regard at least, Narcos had their relationship closer to the truth.