# El Chapo (2017)

> A dramatized crime biography following Mexican drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman from his early cartel days in 1980s Guadalajara to his rise and downfall.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/62359

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 32
- Episode runtime: 55 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: Daniel Posada, Silvana Aguirre Zegarra, Carlos Contreras, Ernesto Contreras, José Manuel Cravioto
- Network: Univision
- Cast: Marco de la O, Valentina Acosta, Juan Carlos Olivas, Humberto Busto, Alejandro Aguilar, Hernán Romo, Tete Espinoza, James Lawrence
- TMDB rating: 7.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6692188/

## Ember's analysis

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

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series positively, praising its dramatic portrayal of cartel power and its lead performance as the drug lord.

## Synopsis

El Chapo (2017-2018) is a Spanish language crime drama series created by Daniel Posada, Silvana Aguirre Zegarra, Carlos Contreras, Ernesto Contreras and José Manuel Cravioto for Univision. Marco de la O plays Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, the cartel figure whose ambition drives the story, alongside Humberto Busto as Don Sol, Hernán Romo as Benjamin Avendaño and Valentina Acosta as Alejandra, each tied to his shifting alliances and rivalries. Across three seasons and thirty-two episodes, the series follows the engine of a drug trade built on smuggling routes, bribed officials, and armed turf wars, with each episode weaving business deals, betrayals, and violent reprisals into a single continuing arc. Set in Mexico from the 1980s through the 1990s and into the 2010s, the show moves from Guadalajara's early cartel days to the rise of a kingpin who builds an empire across the border. The tone is gritty and intense, with a sober, tense atmosphere that treats the cartel world as both glamorous and brutal. Its shape is a serialized prestige crime biography, a tradition that fans of Narcos, Narcos: Mexico and Breaking Bad will find resonance with, given its drug trade power politics and its look at how ambition reshapes loyalty.

## Shows like El Chapo

- [El Chema (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/60295)
- [La Reina del Sur (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/29091)
- [Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/39529)
- [Griselda (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/113917)
- [El Señor de los Cielos (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/40840)
- [El Mochaorejas (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1105192)
- [Cocaine Coast (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/67067)
- [Griselda Blanco: The Black Widow (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/54124)
- [The Cartel (2008)](https://ember.film/tv/6940)
- [Narcos: Mexico (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/69342)

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