Narcos

Beautifully shot and with Swiss-watch timing, this (let's just say it) addictive drama on the drug trade is historically accurate, with the beats of a particularly mesmerizing thriller. Escobar emerges immediately as a man to be reckoned with: a thug, yes, but a sympathetic one with big, sad, puppy-dog eyes. He's nice to his wife (even if he's cheating on her with the Colombian anchorwoman who convinces him to get into politics) and respectful to his mom, and he even gives money to the poor. Is he so bad of a guy? As you watch Narcos, awestruck, as Escobar builds his empire on smuggling vehicles, hapless drug mules, bribes, threats, and murder, you soon realize yes -- yes, he is. You'll love watching him anyway.

Meanwhile, our hero (not much of a hero, he points out himself in the Goodfellas-esque narration), Agent Murphy, tries to unravel Escobar's schemes using the limited means available to him at the time, walking viewers through the finer points of snitches and drug busts and double agents and crooked cops. It's all mostly for nothing, he also points out; even though the Medellin Cartel was brought down, another cartel almost immediately took its place. But watching all the sound and the fury of the way it really happened is mesmerizing, in the grand drug-drama tradition of Breaking Bad and The Wire. One final note: Much of the action takes place in Spanish, with subtitles.