The Brutal Drug Baroness
Griselda Blanco was one of the most significant drug bosses on the American continent in her time. Using intimidation and immense brutality, she managed to subdue all her competition in Miami, making the city one of the most dangerous places in the USA. Even Escobar himself was said to be afraid of her, a fact mentioned right at the beginning of this miniseries.
She was undoubtedly a very interesting, albeit very dangerous person. It is therefore no surprise that the creators chose Griselda as the inspiration for their new production.
The miniseries begins with Griselda and her three sons fleeing Colombia. She has a pretty good reason for fleeing—she shot her husband. Moreover, he was also the brother of a local drug boss who wants to take revenge on the main heroine.
For this reason, Griselda flees to Miami, where she hopes to start a new life. However, along with her children, she takes a kilo of cocaine, which she wants to sell. This step sets off a series of events that catapult Griselda to the position of the head of the Miami drug mafia.
The Second Half Stumbles a Bit
Sofia Varga took on the role of Griselda excellently, and the casting of other characters is also superb. In this regard, Netflix has scored again.
The miniseries starts great, and until the fourth episode, it's an excellent affair that should entertain at least Narcos fans well. However, Griselda has six episodes.
While in the first four parts we follow a likable and charismatic heroine trying to make her way in a purely male world, the last two episodes present Griselda as a mad, coke-soaked murderess. This is the exact opposite of how the title character was presented until then.
The problem, however, is not the character change itself but its abruptness. The creators changed Griselda in the worst possible way. They did it with a simple "Three years later" caption.
Suddenly, the main character is a completely different person, without the viewer having the chance to follow the process of this metamorphosis. This is quite a shame. Because of this, Griselda could have used at least one more episode.