Summary
“GDL” is an absolutely iconic episode with a steady hand and cinematic eye that captures one of the lowest points in Mexico’s history.
This recap of Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico season 3, episode 4, “GDL,” contains spoilers.
Remember Pablo Escobar? Well, the Columbian military just gunned him down in a middle-class neighborhood in Medellin. He died bleeding from a polo and a pair of blue jeans. Unkempt, still overweight, with drips of blood all over his grey beard.
Narcos: Mexico season 3, episode 4 recap
Amado
Amado has a meeting with the head of the Cali cartel in Columbia. He has a proposal — pay him in cocaine. They laugh, except for Pacho, who has heard the play and wants to see how his colleagues react. Amado wants to be the distributor and be responsible for the deals and rates, so no one is competing. Why? Because this will cut down their exposure by half and avoid an abrupt death on a Medillian rooftop like their former peer, Escobar.
The men go for it, but Pancho warns him if things go sideways, it’s on his head. He wants no excuses.
Walt
Meanwhile, it’s Christmas in El Paso. I have no idea what month it is. But it’s snowing. That’s because flakes of cocaine are dropping from the sky. It was caused by a teenager who ran a red light and was hit by another car. The valuable white powder shoots from the trunk into the dry El Paso air and falls ever so slowly across the intersection. The DEA brings him in, and Walt watches from the other side of the mirror. It’s a waste of time, he says out loud.
A minute later, Jamie walks in and lets him know his transfer to the Chicago DEA office is complete and hands him the paperwork to sign off on. They later grab dinner together, and Jamie makes a point of telling him that marriage doesn’t last in this kind of work.
El Chapo
Chapo fucked up. It’s not that the plan was wrong, Mayo notes. It was his aim. Juan and Chapo plead with him to let him use his boats to smuggle their product across the border, but Mayo knows this is a death sentence for him and his business. He knows even Amado won’t take their phone call, and Benjamin will be coming for them. Hide, he says. Hide, keep your head down, and pray for an earthquake to hit Tijuana.
Andrea
This girl is the next Edward R. Murrow. She tracks down Benjamin’s family’s dealings. But he never gets his hands dirty, only the Juniors. She saw two of the Arellano business associates enter and come out of an office with stacks upon stacks of chips. This is how they are cleaning their money, she says. The casino, Vista De Oro, would have to be in on it. So, who owns it? That’s right, Carlos. The man with an eternal job greasing the wheels in the President’s office. It doesn’t matter who is elected President. Carlos is always there with hands in everyone’s pockets.
The Airport Shootout
Ramon and the rest of the Juniors get word Chapo will try and escape by catching a police escort to the airport. Chavo, the beta dog, sees him first and nervously fires a shot before backup can arrive. He immediately receives a hole in the chest for his efforts. This allows Chapo to escape through the parking lot, but not before Barron, Ramon, and his newly minted American sicarios kill everyone in their sight, hoping it’s Chapo.
El Chapo eventually escapes by going through the airport terminal and stealing an airport tarmac car. However, the Arellano cartel gunned down one man they shouldn’t have with immense political implications. Archbishop Posadas. A beloved Mexican figure and man of God. The highest-ranking religious official in all of Mexico.
Amado takes advantage of this. He meets with Carlos, who has pulled his political affiliation from the rival cartels. Amado makes his play for the Juarez cartel. He announces that he is the exclusive distributor for the Cali cartel and wants to make a business decision.
And so it goes…
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