Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord (Season 1)

Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord (El Patrón del Mal, 2012) is Colombia's landmark crime drama series — watch online on iFILM. Directors Laura Mora and Carlos Moreno trace Escobar's rise from a small-time street hustler in Rionegro to the man whose cocaine empire reshaped an entire nation.

Andrés Parra plays Pablo without the cartoonish menace: what comes through is the cold business logic of someone who treats murder as a budget line. The show moves through the formation of the Medellín Cartel, his short-lived stint in Colombian congress, the war with the state, and the decade-long hunt that ended in December 1993. The people around Escobar — lieutenants, family, politicians who looked the other way — get almost equal screen time, which is exactly what makes the series uncomfortable to watch.

Adapted from journalist Alonso Salazar's reporting, the 74-episode run is one of the most thorough biographical telenovelas about the cocaine trade ever produced. Stream Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord online on iFILM — every episode available now.