Summary
Griselda is an elevated crime drama series featuring an award-winning performance from Sofia Vergara as she brings a complex yet human touch to the saturated drug lord stereotype. The series depicts the horrors of the drug trade while offering hope and salvation in the same breath.
Sofia Vergara (Modern Family) is almost unrecognizable in Netflix’s crime drama series Griselda, where in Season 1 she plays the titular character, based on the notorious, real-life cocaine trafficker Griselda Blanco from Medellin, Colombia. Thanks to some nifty cosmetics work and a truly bad-ass portrayal, Vergara completely loses herself in the role, delivering one of the standout performances of the new year.
This action-packed gangster epic from Narcos producers Eric Newman, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro, alongside new collaborator Ingrid Escajeda (Silo), brings the ruthless crime world to our TV screens, yet the writers build upon this fascinating backdrop with heartfelt emotion and an authenticity that most crime dramas ignore.
The Netflix miniseries tells the full life story of Griselda Blanco, starting in the late seventies as she forges an unstoppable drug empire in the heart of Miami, Florida. Her operation quickly grows, becoming extremely efficient and profitable, as she makes her way to the top of the pecking order. Still, there are violent consequences to all of her actions.
Griselda’s huge success means that she has many enemies in both the drug trade and law enforcement. Many gangster-type dealers want her dead and Griselda is forced to fight dirty herself if she is to stay on top. These nasty Narcos come in the form of vengeful, aggressive sociopaths, such as Amilcar (Jose Zuniga), Rafa Salazar (Camilo Jimenez Varon), and Papo Mejia (Maximiliano Hernandez).
There’s also the Miami PD’s well-meaning task force CENTAC hot on her tail, led by Raul Diaz (Gabriel Sloyer) and wannabe detective June Hawkins (Juliana Aiden Martinez). These determined and dedicated individuals see the death and destruction that Griselda has caused and desperately want to put a stop to it. They want her behind bars for the crimes that she’s committed.
Griselda doesn’t take these attacks lying down though, she fights back with smarts and strength that make her one of the most compelling characters of 2024. Sofia Vergara is magnificent as the brutal yet likable lead. Her performance will blow you away, elevating this standard storyline into an award-worthy product. Vergara is assured some award nominations for this standout portrayal as she loses herself under the heavy makeup, fully committing to this intense role.
Griselda has emotional depth mixed in with all the action
There’s an emotional depth to the series as well. We are shown Griselda’s heartbreaking backstory and the filmmakers focus on strong themes of family values, crafting this complex character into a criminal that you also want to root for. This sympathetic edge is then bolstered with the introduction of June Hawkins, who provides an outsider’s perspective on all of the chaos. The cop and mother despairs at all this bloodshed and endeavor to make a real change in the community.
Griselda is fast-paced, highly entertaining, and unpredictable throughout its six-episode run, utilizing the common tropes of the genre to its full advantage, but it is this heartfelt angle that solidifies the miniseries as a must-see TV spectacle. The entertainment industry is renowned for glorifying these types of historical figures, but the writers concentrate on the emotional toll and the madness of the era instead and Griselda is all the better for it.
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