# El Chema (2016)

> A wily underage drug smuggler rises through the cartel ranks to become one of the most infamous cartel leaders.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/60295

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 85
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: Luis Zelkowicz
- Network: Telemundo
- Cast: Mauricio Ochmann, Julio Bracho, Itatí Cantoral, Fernando Noriega, Arcelia Ramírez, Sergio Basañez, Alejandro Speitzer, Scarlet Gruber
- TMDB rating: 6.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5730624/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: brutal
- Tone: melodramatic, intense, tense, gritty

## What critics say

Audiences rate El Chema as a mixed but generally engaging telenovela-style crime saga, with its lead performance and sweeping rise-to-power story drawing the most praise.

## Synopsis

El Chema (2016-2017) is a Spanish-language crime drama series created by Luis Zelkowicz for Telemundo, a single-season serialized narco saga produced in the telenovela tradition. Mauricio Ochmann plays José María 'Chema' Venegas, a wily teenage drug runner whose ambition pushes him from small smuggling jobs toward the upper ranks of a cartel. Julio Bracho plays Don Ricardo Almenar Paiva, a powerful figure whose shadow and alliances shape Chema's path, while Itatí Cantoral and Arcelia Ramírez anchor the family and personal relationships that bind and betray him. Fernando Noriega and Sergio Basañez add further pressure as rivals and hard-edged operators in a world where loyalty is currency and every deal carries risk. The engine of the series is the protagonist's hunger to climb, measured against the costs that accumulate with each step: a single season of 85 episodes, each built from shipments, negotiations, and violent reprisals that keep the stakes rising. Its tone is melodramatic and intense, with sweeping emotional swings and a sense of inevitability. Fans of Narcos and La reina del sur will find resonance in its portrait of ambition, crime, and the seductive pull of power.

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