Griselda, in which Sofia Vergara plays real life Miami drug lord Griselda Blanco, is another big narcotic-themed hit for Netflix. The series only debuted on the streamer on January 25 and it has already become the number most watched show, with 20.6 million views and 113.8 million viewing hours in just one week.
Viewers clearly can't get enough of what Netflix is supplying, and with the streamer vying against Apple TV Plus for crime show dominance, there are plenty more crime shows to watch once you've finished Griselda. If you're looking for your next criminal hit, we have rounded up three equally addictive alternatives for you below.
Narcos / Narcos Mexico
Based on another real life drug lord, Pablo Escobar, and the memoir of a US agent who tried to bring him down, Narcos brought an incredible cast that included Pedro Pascal and Diego Luna as well as the astonishing Wagner Moura, who doesn't so much play Escobar as inhabit him. You won't love or even like him – this really isn't that kind of show, and it's almost unbearably violent and vicious in places – but in this telling he's much more than a one-dimensional villain in a series that isn't afraid to show the drug wars in all their complexity.
There's also a spinoff series called Narcos Mexico, which goes back in time from the 90s to the 80s and moves its focus from Colombia to the Guadalajara cartel in Mexico. It features a truly incredible performance from Diego Luna, who takes centre stage as the charismatic and conflicted Miguel Angel. All three seasons are superb, and the third and final season has a well deserved 100% from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Who is Erin Carter?
It's not as accomplished or as realistic as Narcos but Who Is Erin Carter? features a superb performance by Evin Ahmad as the titular character, a hot mess who needs to clear her name with some serious ass-kicking in modern day Barcelona. Part action thriller and part comedy, the show has had fairly mixed reviews, but the people who like it love it.
TIME magazine's Judy Berman loves Ahmad, who "is mesmerizing as an antihero whose experiences make her ideally suited for crime, but who wants to help troubled kids avoid the traps that still ensnare her... Who is Erin Carter? A haunted woman whose dreams and regrets make her a bracing outlier within a genre dominated by interchangeable superheroes and super spies".
El Chapo
El Chapo is another true story, this time based on the rise and capture of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. It didn't get the attention of Narcos when it was released back in 2017, but The Guardian described it well when it called it: "Netflix's gruesome, gripping answer to The Wire". It's very, very violent, often very bleak and like The Wire, isn't afraid to focus on the politicians who, through incompetence, corruption, malevolence or a mix of those things, help turn criminals into monsters.
As a bonus fourth recommendation, there's also the equally thrilling La Reina del Sur, which is based on a novel of the same that was also inspired by real life events. The series tells the story of how Sandra Ávila Beltrán became the leader of a drug cartel across three seasons.
