El Señor de los Cielos

Set in the 1990s, these are the life and times of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, a man who became the head of the Juárez cartel. Nicknamed “El Señor de los Cielos” (Lord of the Skies) because of the large fleet of airplanes he used to transport drugs, he was also known for washing more than $200 million through Colombia to finance his huge fleet. He is described as the most powerful drug trafficker of his time.

El Señor de los Cielos (2013-present) is a US-produced Spanish-language telenovela crime series created by Luis Zelkowicz and Mariano Calasso for Telemundo. Rafael Amaya plays Aurelio Casillas, the Juárez cartel leader nicknamed Lord of the Skies for the airplane fleet he uses to move narcotics, while Lisa Owen plays his wife Doña Alba Casillas and Guillermo Quintanilla plays Isidro Robles, a rival power player. Carmen Villalobos and Fernanda Castillo bring further family and rivalry threads into the storyline. The engine of the show is ambition: a trafficker expanding his routes, laundering enormous sums through Colombia, and defending his empire against rivals, informants and the state. Each episode mixes shipments, betrayals and boardroom-style confrontations with romance and family intrigue. The series runs for ten seasons and hundreds of episodes as one continuing saga. Set in the 1990s across Mexico, Colombia and beyond, it is a glossy, melodramatic narco soap with operatic emotion, sudden violence and a tense, glamorous atmosphere. Fans of Narcos, Breaking Bad and Rebelde will find resonance in its blend of cartel crime and soap opera passion.

Audience reception is mixed, with strong praise for the later seasons' drama and cartel intrigue and criticism of uneven earlier seasons.

• Narcosshared telenovela format with cartel crime storylines and serialized family power struggles
• Breaking Badshared drug trafficking empire drama told as a long serialized saga
• Rebeldeshared Latin American narco soap structure with a cartel patriarch and ensemble family drama

Created by

Luis Zelkowicz, Mariano Calasso

Release Date

2013-04-15

Episode runtime

45 min

Rating

6.8 / 10 (3700)

What is El Señor de los Cielos about?

A ruthless Juárez cartel boss rises through the 1990s drug trade on a fleet of airplanes in this long-running Spanish-language telenovela.

What is El Señor de los Cielos like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of El Señor de los Cielos as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.

Is El Señor de los Cielos violent?

Yes. Ember rates the violence in El Señor de los Cielos as brutal.

What did critics think of El Señor de los Cielos?

Audience reception is mixed, with strong praise for the later seasons' drama and cartel intrigue and criticism of uneven earlier seasons.

Which shows are like El Señor de los Cielos?

Shows with a similar feel include Narcos, Breaking Bad, and Rebelde.

How long is El Señor de los Cielos?

El Señor de los Cielos: 10 seasons, 861 episodes.

Is El Señor de los Cielos still running?

Yes, El Señor de los Cielos is still running.

Where can I watch El Señor de los Cielos?

In United States, El Señor de los Cielos streams on Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, The Roku Channel, Hulu, fuboTV, NBC, Spectrum On Demand.