Griselda TV Review

Last Updated on January 24, 2024

Plot: A fictionalized dramatization inspired by the life of the savvy and ambitious Griselda Blanco, who created one of the most powerful cartels in history. Set in 1970s-80s Miami, Blanco’s lethal blend of unsuspected savagery and charm helps her expertly navigate between business and family, leading her to become widely known as “the Godmother.” 

Review: Sofia Vergara, the multiple-time Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actress, is best known for her comedic work on the hit sitcom Modern Family. Many may not be aware of the over-the-top accent she affected for the series and have written her off based on that and her stunning good looks. After teasing a dramatically different role in Netflix’s limited series Griselda, Vergara gets her comeuppance as she delivers what will likely be the signature role of her career. Griselda is a violent and brutal look at the life of the woman that notorious cartel leader Pablo Escobar called “the only man I ever feared.” With a neon-soaked look at Miami in the same era as Brian De Palma’s Scarface, Griselda is heavy on the melodramatics while delivering a saga that earns a spot alongside Netflix’s drug series Narcos.

As you may have seen in trailers and promotional images, Sofia Vergara dons some facial prosthetics to alter her appearance in playing Griselda Blanco. While the changes are noticeable, a quick online search will show that Vergara still bears virtually no likeness to her character. Maybe the nose and chin alterations were meant to muddle Vergera’s attractiveness and allow the audience to focus on her performance, but I found them more distracting. Nevertheless, this series showcases Sofia Vergara in the same way that Narcos put Wagner Moura front and center as Pablo Escobar. Despite their shared creative talents behind the scenes, Griselda could not be more different from Narcos. Both series tell the sprawling true crime stories of the rise and fall of criminal empires based in Central America. However, both Narcos and Narcos: Mexico could tell their stories over three ten-episode seasons each. Griselda unfolds across six hour-long chapters, meaning dramatic license is used to compress the multi-decade rise and fall of the title character. In doing so, events from Griselda Blanco’s life unfold differently than previously shown on screen.

Griselda opens with the title character fleeing her life in Colombia with her three children and moving in with her friend Isabel (Vanessa Ferlito). With one kilo of cocaine smuggled in her son’s suitcase, Griselda quickly makes enemies and friends, including longtime hitman Rivi (Martin Rodriguez). Using her connections back in Colombia to smuggle top-tier coke north of the border, Griselda’s rise is notorious due to her being a woman in a predominantly male industry. Griselda, who herself proclaims that she looks like an average housewife, is a brutal leader who revolutionizes the distribution of drugs in Miami while staying a step ahead of the police, led by June Hawkins (Juliana Aiden Martinez). We also meet Griselda’s friend Carla (Karol G), a sex worker who helps her smuggle drugs, Marta Ochoa (Julieth Restrepo), the sister of Medellin cartel leaders, and Papo Meijia (Maximiliano Hernandez), a rival trafficker. These characters come in and out of Griselda’s life and serve as pawns and roadblocks in her rise to power. Even when Griselda becomes a user of her own product, she is able to elude the authorities.

This series, which is very focused on showcasing Griselda succeeding despite gender bias in Latin culture and the drug trafficking industry, hinges on the performance of Sofia Vergara. Almost every scene of every episode boasts Vergara front and center with more screen time than Pablo Escobar had in the original Narcos. Vergara plays Griselda with a frenetic energy that takes her from tears to violence within minutes. There is not much subtlety in Vergara’s performance, but that also does not mean it is bad. Not quite as over the top as Al Pacino as Tony Montana, but pretty close, Vergara plays her role as a woman who will do anything for her children, even at the expense of their fathers. The backstabbing and doublecrosses in this series are easy to spot from a mile away. Still, the tactical and methodical manner in which Griselda Blanco finds her way out of seemingly inescapable situations makes this an intriguing series. But much of the rest is melodramatic and formulaic between the scenes of machinations and plotting.

The six episodes of Griselda are all directed by Andres Baiz, who helmed twelve episodes of Narcos, four of Narcos: Mexico, and a pair of episodes of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. Baiz visualizes this series in a way that accentuates the 1980s vibe and culture of Miami with an added emphasis on the neon colors and outrageous clothes. Baiz brings a keen eye for framing the brutal violence inherent in this series while also allowing the actors to take center stage. Doug Miro, who co-created Narcos, wrote Griselda alongside Brenna Kouf, Cassie Pappas, and co-creator Ingrid Escajeda. With the series’ plot divided between Colombia and Miami, the series is heavily performed in Spanish, with many scenes in English. The entire cast pulls off their bilingual performances excellently, and the story seamlessly weaves both languages through each episode. The biggest issue I had with the story was how compressed it was. The first five episodes unfold with a decent momentum. However, the sixth and final episode feels incredibly compressed and still ends with summary cards rather than giving us a true conclusion.

After finishing all six episodes, the story left me feeling underwhelmed. Griselda starts out strong and delivers some shocking moments from the life of the infamous queenpin, but there is room to spend more time with her most brutal moments and less on the melodramatic ones. The last episode of Griselda almost feels like it belongs in a different series. Sofia Vergara is excellent in the lead and hopefully will get more dramatic roles out of this showcase for her talents. Still, Griselda feels like a summary of a more interesting and longer tale. Had Doug Miro and his co-creators allowed Griselda Blanco’s life to unfold over three seasons, the ramifications of what happens in this story may have hit harder. This is not a bad series, but one that could have used more depth to plumb the psyche of a fascinating and terrifying character.

Griselda premieres on January 25th on Netflix.

Griselda

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