'Narcos' season 3 spoilers, news: Plot to focus on Cali cartel's reign; Mexican cartel to be explored in season 4?
Following Pablo Escobar's (Wagner Moura) demise, the Cali Cartel will take over the reins in "Narcos" as the upcoming third season delves deeper into the consequences of widespread corruption in Colombia.
Based on the history books, the Cali Cartel had a very different way of operating the drug business compared to Escobar. Spoiler reports note that due to the program's realistic nature, the third season is likely to be more political and less violent.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, executive producer Eric Newman described Escobar's way of managing the Medellin cartel and how the Cali cartel had a more effective system. "Unlike Escobar, who had positioned himself as an outlaw, Cali was very much a part of the system. They had bought their way in and they enjoyed a different kind of protection than Pablo did. Pablo was protected by the people who loved him and Cali was protected by a political and economic system that they had rather ingeniously built."
After the program's successful sophomore run, "Narcos" easily earned a back-to-back renewal from Netflix. Although season 3 is still a year from its premiere, fans are already talking on what lies ahead for season 4. Because of the Cali Cartel's brief but influential reign as drug lords, their story arc will likely be covered in just one season instead of two.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Newman mentioned about the future of the acclaimed crime drama and strongly hinted the possibility of exploring a Mexican cartel arc.
"We purposely did not call the show 'Pablo Escobar' or 'Medellin,'" he said. "In the same way that Osama Bin Laden begets ISIS, Medellin begets Cali begets the Mexican Cartels. Though they existed at the same time, Cali really got the Mexicans into cocaine, which proved to be a much better business than heroin."
The third season of "Narcos" is expected to premiere in August or September 2017 on Netflix.
