20 Best Netflix Original Shows

Narcos (and later its brilliant spin-off Narcos: Mexico) was, for a long time, one of Netflix's hottest commodities. Charting the rise and fall of Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura) and his clashes with the DEA, the first two seasons are a particular standout, but even when it switched things up in season three and Mexico, Narcos proved its salt as a Netflix classic.

Filmed in Columbia, the series works as a fairly typical biographical drama, as it follows Escobar's early days as drug lord and his final stand against the agencies who wished to take him down. But thanks to the career-defining performance of Wagner Moura and the sublime set pieces, the show transcends itself and becomes one of TV's most compelling character studies.

Greed, power and obsession fuels the show, as Escobar attempts to hold onto his empire and DEA agents Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook) and Javier Pena (Pedro Pascal) risk everything to cut him down. Their rivalry is violent, shocking and unpredictable, and watching the later seasons tackle the drug trade away from Escobar only adds more things to love about the series.