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Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord poster

Shows that feel likePablo Escobar: The Drug Lord (2012)

Pablo is a man with a natural ability for business. Early in his life, Pablo is introduced to the business of cocaine and the power it yields. A young life of crime lands Pablo in and out of jail as he builds his criminal empire. Pablo expands his power through politics but it is not long before his conflicts as a Congressman and a drug lord collide. Pablo has his enemies executed, but not before the United States activates its own war on the Medellin cartel.

If you loved Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord, the closest series we have are Rosario Tijeras (2010), El Capo (2009) and Mayans M.C. (2018). All three share Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord's gritty and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Power (2014).

★ 8.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗1 season · Caracol TVcreated by Carlos Morenogrittycontemplative
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Hulu
Stream it:Netflix ↗

If Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord hit the spot, these will too

Rosario Tijeras poster
Rosario Tijeras
2010 · 1 season · RCN
★ 8action & adventure · crime · drama

Colombian violence told at full telenovela pitch

The difference: A woman's revenge story, romance-led rather than empire-led

This is the story of the legendary Rosario Tijeras, the beautiful warrior from a slum who fell in love with Antonio and Emilio, two handsome and wealthy young men. Antonio, a young architect, desperately rushes the dying Rosario Tijeras to a nearby hospital. The beautiful Rosario has been shot four times by a hitman. While he waits for his beloved Rosario to be saved from her wounds, Antonio recalls how Rosario, a beautiful teenager, became the murderer Rosario Tijeras. And how he, a dashing young man, makes her his obsession. The woman of his dreams.

El Capo poster
El Capo
2009–2014 · 3 seasons · RCN
★ 7.2crime · drama

A kingpin cornered, declaring war on the state that wants him gone

The difference: Invented rather than a real life retold, and tighter around the manhunt

El Capo, the most wanted drug dealer in Mexico, has been intercepted while hiding with his trusted men, his wife and his lover. During his escape, he declares war on the government and his own past.

Mayans M.C. poster
Mayans M.C.
2018–2023 · 5 seasons · FX
★ 7.5crime · dramaHulu

The border trade seen from the men who do its dirty work

The difference: A prospect at the bottom of a club, not a boss building an empire

Set in the aftermath of Jax Teller’s death, Ezekiel "EZ" Reyes is fresh out of prison and a prospect in the Mayans M.C. charter on the Cali/Mexi border. Now, EZ must carve out his new identity in a town where he was once the golden boy with the American Dream in his grasp.

Sons of Anarchy poster
Sons of Anarchy
2008–2014 · 7 seasons · FX
★ 8.5crime · dramaHulu

A criminal family business where loyalty and bloodshed run together

The difference: American bikers across seven seasons — gun-running, not a cocaine empire

The Sons of Anarchy (SOA) are an outlaw motorcycle club with many charters in the United States and overseas. The show focused on the original and founding charter, Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original, often referred to by the acronym SAMCRO, Sam Crow, or simply Redwood Charter. The charter operates both legal and illegal businesses in the small town of Charming, California. They combine gun-running and a garage, and involvement in porn film industry. Clay, the charter president, likes it old school and violent; while Jax, his stepson and the club's VP, has thoughts about changing the way things are done. Their conflict has effects on both the club and their personal relationship, especially when Jax goes on a personal quest to cleanse the SAMCRO name and image.

El Chapo poster
El Chapo
2017–2018 · 3 seasons · Univision
★ 7.8drama · crimeNetflix

One man's climb from errand boy to kingpin, and the cost of staying up

The difference: Mexican cartels, and a cooler, more procedural telling of the story

A look at the life of notorious drug kingpin, El Chapo, from his early days in the 1980s working for the Guadalajara Cartel, to his rise to power of during the '90s and his ultimate downfall in 2016.

La Reina del Sur poster
La Reina del Sur
2011– · 3 seasons · Telemundo
★ 7.8drama · crimeNetflix

A nobody rising through trafficking into something like a legend

The difference: Follows a woman across continents, glossier and more fugitive thriller

After years of blood, sweat and tears, a woman of humble origin ends up becoming a drug trafficking legend, with all that that means...

Rosario Tijeras (Mexico) poster
Rosario Tijeras (Mexico)
2016– · 5 seasons · Netflix
★ 6.2drama · crimeNetflix

Class rage and violence told at telenovela pitch, night after night

The difference: A woman's revenge story in Mexico, romance-led rather than empire-led

Worlds collide when a vengeance-obsessed young woman from the other side of the tracks captures the attention of two well-off friends.

Power poster
Power
2014–2020 · 6 seasons · STARZ
★ 8.1crime · dramaHuluStarz

A businessman running an empire he can never admit to owning

The difference: Slick New York nightclubs and betrayals — no politics, no real history

A successful New York entrepreneur lives a double life as the head of a drug empire that serves only the rich and influential, all while wanting to escape the underworld and keep his family safe.

Narcos poster
Narcos
2015–2017 · 3 seasons · Netflix
★ 8.7crime · dramaNetflix

That Colombian rise and reckoning, cocaine and politics entwined

The difference: Told largely through American agents in English, and far more polished

A gritty chronicle of the war against Colombia's infamously violent and powerful drug cartels.

The Penguin poster
The Penguin
2024 · 1 season · HBO
★ 8.6drama · crimeMax

A criminal's climb, and the family always in the blast radius

The difference: Comic-book Gotham, tightly plotted and invented

With the city in peril following the seawall's collapse, Oswald "Oz" Cobb seeks to fill the power vacuum left by the death of Carmine Falcone and finally give his mother Francis the life he's always promised. But first, Oz must confront his enemies and his own demoralizing reputation as "the Penguin."

The Sopranos poster
The Sopranos
1999–2007 · 6 seasons · HBO
★ 9.2crime · dramaMax

The same preoccupation in both: organized crime

The story of New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads. Those difficulties are often highlighted through his ongoing professional relationship with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. The show features Tony's family members and Mafia associates in prominent roles and story arcs, most notably his wife Carmela and his cousin and protégé Christopher Moltisanti.

Without Breasts There Is No Paradise poster
Without Breasts There Is No Paradise
2008 · 1 season · Telemundo
★ 6.9action & adventure · drama · crime

Common ground: telenovela

The difference: Leans further into action & adventure

The tragic story of Catalina Santana, whose ambition is so strong that she will risk her life due to her obsession with having bigger breasts to attract drug lords and have all the luxuries in the world.

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The best-reviewed series that share Pablo Escobar: The Drug Lord’s defining feeling.