Netflix’s Narcos and Narcos: Mexico came to a final crescendo a few years ago, years after Pablo Escobar bit it on a rooftop in the original series. The show remained a bingeworthy selection until the very end, and if six seasons wasn’t still enough in your mind, then the streaming service will soon have a treat for you on the drug-lording front.
Sofía Vergara has stepped into dramatic shoes for the first time to portray Griselda Blanco, the so-called “Cocaine Godmother,” in the fittingly titled Griselda limited series. This isn’t a direct crossover show, but I will say that it’s one of the few shows I’ve watched lately where it ended, and I thought, “Damn, a few more episodes would have been even better.” That is to say, this series certainly feels like a Narcos show in several ways that will quickly become apparent.
Plot
Vergara headlines while pulling executive producing duties for a series billed as a “cousin” to Narcos by Narcos: Mexico executive producer Eric Newman. He’s onboard for this limited series along with Narcos co-creator Doug Miro. Additionally, the Modern Family star underwent a hefty transformation in this role, spending hours in makeup and prosthetics each day.
Griselda ran the cocaine trade in-and-out of Miami in the late 1970s and 1980s after fleeing to the U.S. with her first three sons to escape her abusive husband. She soon found that she had the skills to run the joint on her own but of course, she ran into plenty of opposition in a male-dominated criminal underground. In other words, the fight to be taken seriously did not discriminate between legal and illegal professions. Once she did pass those obstacles, however, it was off to the races.
She also loved becoming known as the “Cocaine Godmother” and even chose the first and middle names “Michael” and “Corleone” for her fourth son. This, of course, was not a subtle move, yet in the series, it takes years for dogged detectives to piece together her culpability, and part of that slow pace was owing to the police force being a so-called “boy’s club,” too. In other words, few could fathom how a woman was running an $80 million per month cocaine empire in her heyday. Let’s just say that she was a talented recruiter:
Griselda was also a killer who ordered many merciless hits on her enemies and those who would stand in her way. It’s estimated that she was actually responsible for somewhere between 50 to 250 murders. She was very persuasive and charming, which was not great for her enemies when it came to her ruthlessness and savage ways. Naturally, she also had some fatal vulnerabilities — along with growing notoriety — that eventually kicked off her empire’s crumble, even after she ran though at least 20 aliases. No one could ever accuse her of not being prolific. From Netflix’s description of this show:
La Jefa is coming. Sofia Vergara transforms in this series, inspired by Griselda Blanco, a woman who rose from obscurity to become ‘the Godmother’ of the underworld. Witness her lethal blend of charm and ruthlessness in this captivating series.
Cast
The ensemble cast not only includes Vergara but also Vanessa Ferlito as Carmen and Juliana Aiden as a detective who works to take down Griselda’s empire. Some familiar faces (to Narcos audience) will also appear. Those include Alberto Guerra, who will portray one of Griselda’s husbands, Darío Sepúlveda, and Christian Tappan as Arturo Mesa, a supporter of Griselda in Miami’s cocaine trade.
Release Date
January 25 is when the binging shall begin on this series.
Trailer
A full trailer has arrived to highlight how Pablo Escobar couldn’t have all the chaos in the coke trade.
Griselda streams on January 25, 2024.