# Surviving Escobar - Alias JJ (2017)

> After the Medellin Cartel collapses, Pablo Escobar's former No. 1 hitman must fight to survive and earn respect in a brutal prison hierarchy.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/61926

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 69
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: John Jairo Velásquez
- Network: Caracol TV
- Cast: Juan Pablo Urrego, Toto Vega, Ramsés Ramos, Nicole Santamaría, Natasha Klauss, Amparo Grisales, Luis Mesa, Roberto Mateos
- TMDB rating: 7.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6809396/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: graphic
- Tone: gritty, tense, sombre, claustrophobic, bitter

## What critics say

Audiences rate the single season positively for its gripping prison-set portrayal of a cartel hitman's struggle to survive.

## Synopsis

Surviving Escobar - Alias JJ (2017) is a Colombian national-television crime drama series created by John Jairo Velasquez for Caracol TV. Juan Pablo Urrego plays Jhon Velasquez, known as Alias J.J., Pablo Escobar's former No. 1 hitman, while Toto Vega plays his brother Ivan Dario Urrego and Ramses Ramos plays Tulio Galeno, figures whose loyalties shift as the story unfolds. As the Medellin Cartel crumbles, J.J. must stay alive and claw his way up a prison hierarchy where old enemies, rival gangs and corrupt guards are always watching. Each episode is built from the daily grind of cell politics, negotiation, betrayal and survival, with the cartel's violent past never far behind him. Told as a single 69-episode serialized run, the series is anchored in the memoir of its real-life protagonist and carries the dread and claustrophobia of a man whose power is gone but whose reputation still makes him a target. Its tone is gritty, tense and sombre, with flashes of bitter loyalty. Fans of Narcos, Oz and Breaking Bad will find resonance in its portrait of criminal empires and the men who survive their fall.

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