From the moment Griselda's face appeared on screen I thought there was something off with her appearance. "Botox? Blotched plastic surgery? Fake nose?" Then I read she was played by Sofia Vergara, who's not a big star in Europe and I hardly know her, since I just saw an episode of her sitcom and didn't like her at all, because of her nasal voice.
The fake nose was a big distraction, and dialogues in Spanish, luckily with subtitles, were a bit too much, but still, the mood of the time was caught nicely, with awful haircuts, polyester bell bottoms in bright colors and platform shoes.
What I appreciated less was the presentation of Griselda as a sort of "victim", who killed a couple of husbands because she had "good reasons", and ended up as a drug "lady" because men mistreated her, and in any case, she had to provide for her three sons. The hypocrisy of "doing it for the children" is never challenged, as it was for instance in "Breaking Bad" when Walt is told clearly that he didn't deal drugs for his family, but because he enjoyed the power.
Therefore, being a mother justifies any heinous crime. Also, kind of corny that her main antagonist was yet another Latin American woman.
I did not find Griselda justifiable in the least, but greedy, ignorant, and arrogant (calling her fourth son Michael Corleone is a real touch of low intellect), nor appreciated her mannerisms (that cigarette thing was just annoying). I found the male characters of Diego and Rivi way more interesting, nuanced, and even slightly tragic (especially the doomed Dario), as far as ruthless killers can be "interesting".
The fake nose was a big distraction, and dialogues in Spanish, luckily with subtitles, were a bit too much, but still, the mood of the time was caught nicely, with awful haircuts, polyester bell bottoms in bright colors and platform shoes.
What I appreciated less was the presentation of Griselda as a sort of "victim", who killed a couple of husbands because she had "good reasons", and ended up as a drug "lady" because men mistreated her, and in any case, she had to provide for her three sons. The hypocrisy of "doing it for the children" is never challenged, as it was for instance in "Breaking Bad" when Walt is told clearly that he didn't deal drugs for his family, but because he enjoyed the power.
Therefore, being a mother justifies any heinous crime. Also, kind of corny that her main antagonist was yet another Latin American woman.
I did not find Griselda justifiable in the least, but greedy, ignorant, and arrogant (calling her fourth son Michael Corleone is a real touch of low intellect), nor appreciated her mannerisms (that cigarette thing was just annoying). I found the male characters of Diego and Rivi way more interesting, nuanced, and even slightly tragic (especially the doomed Dario), as far as ruthless killers can be "interesting".