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Netflix has become the embodiment of the huge changes in television over the past five years. Across the industry we’ve seen increased quality, the rise of blockbuster series like Game of Thrones and the erasure of the line between TV and the Internet. Netflix brings all these elements together with their newest show, Narcos.

In typical Netflix fashion, the entire ten-episode season of Narcos was released on August 28th. The show tells the story of Pablo Escobar, the infamous Colombian drug baron, through the eyes of two DEA agents sent to stop him. Narcos is firmly grounded in history – along with plenty of archive footage, and an ever present voiceover – the DEA agents are both historical figures who consulted on the show. It seems foremost an attempt to broaden Netflix’s appeal, perhaps to international audiences, with majority Spanish dialogue and a setting to match. This could be somewhat undermined by firmly placing the perspective on two American characters but, with a self-awareness rare in similar dramas, Narcos manages to avoid most gung-ho clichés.

The voice-over is a perfect example of this; an overused narrative device is turned on its head. Tied through the voice over to the protagonist Steve Murphy, we not only sympathise with him, but are also forced to hear his trite justifications as his personal war on cocaine becomes steadily bloodier. The morally grey setting demands these kinds of tools. The people on both sides of the 1980’s Colombian drug war committed the sort of atrocities that would make it difficult for any viewer to connect with them. By giving us the logic behind the characters decisions, and humanising them through lengthy scenes with friends and family, the audience is made complicit and forced to ask its own questions. That is Narcos at it’s most complex; primarily it’s a compelling account of the bizarre rise of history’s wealthiest drug dealer. The show uses this rich historical background to great effect, using scenarios like the election of Escobar to public office to help characterise him without resorting to heavy-handed exposition.

Unlike some of Netflix’s output, it can be difficult to binge on, with a combination of occasionally mediocre dialogue and regular violence getting tiresome over time. Overall, it is definitely worth a watch, if only to see Pedro Pascal hunting drug barons in lush Colombian jungle.

Narcos is now showing only on Netflix.