Griselda

We quite enjoyed this once we got past thinking of the real life character. We have seen documentaries, this woman was a complete monster. Humanizing her and almost trying to gain sympathy for her plight was jarring. It's just goes too easy on her and almost has you thinking well who could blame her? I thought Sofia was really good, much better than i expected. Just as something to watch it's good, but if you're looking to get a genuine picture of just how awful the real woman was, don't bother! It glossed over or didn't include at all so many major things which is a shame, I feel like it was a wasted opportunity.

Sofia goes in as Griselda with 100% effort and I applaud her. The issue is the lazy production, director and script writing. It's incoherent to have 1 actress go all in yet you film in Cali vs Miami. You then mix up the names and character duties incorrectly. Yes I understand this is a more fictional story of Griselda but then again why have Sofia go all in? Bahamas was Carlos Ledger and Miami was owned by Rafa Cardona. Rivi should have been Dario , just could have been fictionally better with a little proper characterization and location shooting. Could have been award winning with some simple tweaks, pure laziness.

This series was far better than what I was expecting. The acting is done extremely well so everything feels real not like how some of these shows are so far fetched with bad lines and scenes where nothing is believable. They've done a good job with the actors outfits and the set because everything looks exactly like it did in the 70s and 80s. Honestly the only gripe I have is that everything isn't exactly accurate to Griseldas story and how things happened in real life. I suppose alot of people probably won't really know her story and it's not enough of a big deal to sway you from watching or not watching it. Since the show goes into great detail i just would have preferred them to keep true to how things actually happened instead of some of the things the show has changed. For instance, how Rivi is introduced in the show. In real life they met by chance because Rivi messed a hit up, and Rivi is super essential to Griselda so I don't really understand the way they wrote him and her husband Dario becuase in real life it was Rivi doing alot of the things the show has Dario doing. Overall I'd definitely recommend watching, it's not as good as Narcos but will definitely keep you entertained through every episode.

Overall I believe this was a good miniseries. While the character of Griselda Blanco was a bit too sympathetic compared to what she was like in real life, Vergara did an outstanding job in a lead dramatic role, and if she was typecast as Gloria Pritchett she broke from it in a strong way.

Supporting cast was very good, I felt there was good chemistry between Vergara and many of the others. Writing seemed very good, well-paced story.

I also very much liked the subtitles. This was a nice touch, and is rarely used on such a large scale. The Spanish language was needed to convey the mood and energy of the show, and it worked like a charm. Nicely done.

Only had a couple of problems with the series:

1) it painted Blanco in way too sympathetic of a light. Anyone who watched the groundbreaking 2006 documentary on the Miami Cocaine Wars called "Cocaine Cowboys" would know the real Blanco was far more vicious and cold than Vergara's portrayal. Also, I don't recall the real Blanco being a demagogue of sorts, with stirring, rebellious speeches to rouse her people to take on the rich whites who exploit them. Nice message but I don't think Blanco was like that.

2) The series was way too short. Only six episodes? There was so much to Blanco's life that you could have done four full seasons, easily. With flashbacks to her horrific childhood, particularly her upbringing by her vicious, abusive mother, Ana Restrepo. Season 1 could have been her NY days, season 2 Miami, season 3 in California (both as a dealer and her imprisonment, including her relationship with Charles Cosby), season 4 back in Colombia ending with her assassination. This was a very good, well-made series and I wanted to see more.

I give this 8/10 largely due to Vergara's chops in a dramatic, serious role, great writing for what this was (a miniseries), and great supporting cast.

I just finished watching Griselda with my brother and I can say it definitely lived up to my expectations. Anyone familiar with the Miami drug wars in the 70's and 80's has heard of the name Griselda Blanco. Her nickname is the Godmother. She is one of the most ruthless drug lords that's ever lived with over 250 murders accredited to her. I thought I was going to be distracted by Sofia Vergara's prosthetics but after a few minutes you don't even notice it. The entire cast does an excellent job but I couldn't believe how good Sofia was as Griselda. She stole every scene she was in and was terrifying as Griselda. Yes, this show plays loosely with the facts of the real story but that's ok. They did that to make the show more entertaining and watchable. There's a documentary called Cocaine Cowboys 1 & 2 that tells the exact story and it's worth a watch if you have the time.