Warning: The following contains spoilers for season two of Narcos. Proceed at your own risk.
Pablo Escobar is dead. Long live Pablo Escobar.
It's no secret that in the real-world, the notorious drug kingpin is long since deceased, but, in the just-released second season of Narcos, streaming now on Netflix, history has only just repeated itself. The story of Escobar's rise to power and ultimate fall is now complete, effectively ending the captivating Wagner Moura's time on the series.
So now what?
Though Netflix has yet to order a third season of the series, the final moments of season two pointed in the Cali Cartel's direction, hinting at the possibility of Hélmer "Pacho" Herrera filling Narcos' Escobar-sized hole as the next big bad. "They're certainly teed up for that, that's for sure. This show has always been about cocaine. We purposely did not call the show Pablo Escobar or Medellin," executive producer Eric Newman told EW. "In the same way that Osama Bin Laden begets ISIS, Medellin begets Cali begets the Mexican Cartels. Though they existed at the same time, Cali really got the Mexicans into cocaine, which proved to be a much better business than heroin."
Of course, just because the show was always designed to live on past Escobar, that doesn't mean it was an easy decision to say goodbye to Moura so soon.
"We'd always intended to kill Escobar at the end of season 2, but I will be honest — I've really regretted not building it into four seasons or five seasons, and not just because Wagner is so good as Pablo Escobar. And he is brilliant," Newman admitted. "It's also because I just love the guy and I really enjoy going to work with him every day for the last two-odd years."
Not only was Moura killed off in the finale, but, with Pedro Pascal's Peña back in the U.S. and recruited by the DEA for a new operation by season's end, could we be looking at the loss of another series regular?
"We try to be as bound to what actually happened as we can—within reason, obviously. We do take some liberties for dramatic purposes, but I'd probably have to look at what Peña's role would be in the Cali, in taking down Cali," Newman said. "I love working with Pedro Pascal, so nothing would make me happier than to be back in business with him in some way."
That said, someone has to order season three, first. "If somebody wants another season of the show, we would sit down and draw from the pretty massive amount of real estate and research that we've done and do something kind of cool," Newman teased.
Your move, Netflix.
Do you want a Pablo Escobar-free third season? Let us know in the comments below.
All episodes of Narcos season two are now available for streaming on Netflix.