The ambitious Griselda Blanco takes up residence in 1980s Miami and within a short time period controls the city, becoming known as the Cocaine Godmother as well as, due to her unscrupulous savagery, the Black Widow.
Based on a true story, Blanco (Sofía Vergara) flees her native Medellín in Colombia having murdered her abusive, cartel-linked husband. Her three young sons and a kilo of purest cocaine travel with her. But being a woman in the drug distribution business is not as easy as Blanco anticipated – even with the best cocaine on the market. Slighted by city boss Amilcar (José Zúñiga), Griselda determines revenge – and going into supply partnership with Panesso (Diego Trujillo) and old friend Arturo (Christian Tappan), she soon puts Amilcar (and others) in his place. Her simple change in the supply chain to rich white people is a game changer for the drug trade.
La madrina may eventually control Miami, but the market supply for the east coast comes from the Ochoa family, represented by Rafa Salazar (Camilo Jimenez Varon) and his wife Marta Ochoa (Julieth Restrepo). Marta may be one of Griselda’s closest friends, but in a dog-eat-dog world, nothing can be taken for granted. Particularly with the newly formed, Washington-funded CENTAC on their heels. The Miami PD may have been infiltrated but, under the leadership of Raul Diaz (Gabriel Sloyer) and analyst June Hawkins (Juliana Aidén Martinez), law-enforcement and raids on drug-storage locations are starting to hurt the organisation.
Over six intense episodes, the rise and fall of Griselda Blanco in a few short years is followed. It’s a fun if violent and drug-saturated ride. From sharing a room with her three sons in a dingy Miami motel to an estate housing her family and a private army, Blanco rises to legend status. A renowned charmer but lethal, supported by husband and former bodyguard Dario (Alberto Guerra), she takes no prisoners. But in a ruthless world, Blanco always needs to be on her guard – and too much indulgence in her own product eventually makes her paranoid and inconsistent.
Sofía Vergara is mesmerising in her first serious dramatic role, essentially disappearing into the unpleasantness that is Griselda Blanco. And Griselda in general is, overall, an impressive achievement (its fluidity helped by a singular director in Andrés Baiz). Admittedly it is guilty of a level of repetition, stereotyping and a glorification of the crazed world it depicts. But as a true story it’s engrossing.
Rating: 71%
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