Sebastian Marroquin, now a 40-year-old architect, seeks to set the record straight about his father
The second season of Netflix’ hit series “Narcos” has been met with overwhelming public acclaim and rave reviews from critics for its deep look at one of Latin America’s darkest periods. However, praise has not been universal for the show, which is based on notorious drug-lord Pablo Escobar’s rise to power and subsequent downfall. Most notably, Escobar’s own son, the 40 year old architect Sebastian Marroquin, has recently posted a list of 28 mistakes the series made when portraying his father.
Getting The Details Right Matters, Says Son
“Narcos” had a successful first run in 2015, which depicted Pablo Escobar’s story from his origins as a petty smuggler, his rise as a ruthless cocaine exporter, all the way to his position as one of the richest men on Earth and his epic escape from prison. For its second season, launched Sept. 2, the plot follows the tense months of his life as an outlaw, the ongoing turf wars between cartels, and his family life – which was the toughest pill to swallow for Alberto Marroquin.
In a massively-shared Facebook post, Marroquin accused the show of being “insulting” and of containing more fact than fiction. As part of his statement, Marroquin said that he wished to honor his country’s real history and the victims of the rabid violence that overtook Colombia in between the ‘80s and the early ‘90s.
Many of the inaccuracies pointed out by Sebastian Marroquin are actually major plot points of the season, and as such, the show’s creators defend them as part of the challenge of creating an enticing, vibrant story that can keep audiences entertained while remaining true to the overall plot arc.
However, other seemingly minor details – such as Pablo Escobar’s favorite team, or the scenes depicting his wife carrying a gun – while seemingly irrelevant, were key to showing Escobar as a real person and proof that the scriptwriters were not committed to accuracy, Marroquin said.
In addition, Marroquin showed special indignation at the portrayal of many real-life honest characters as criminals. For example, Pablo Escobar’s brother-in-law Carlos Henao is depicted in several scenes as one of the chief lieutenant of his drug empire, when in reality he was “a doctor and an honest man who was never involved in anything illegal” and had apparently cut off all contact with Escobar.
A Bloody Legacy He Seeks To Escape
Although he admittedly loved his father, Sebastian Marroquin has never shied away from condemning his actions, business, and methods. He points out that other major plot points shown in Narcos, such as Escobar’s especially gruesome targeting of the police, were real.
Forced to escape Colombia immediately after his father’s death, under threats from the Cali cartel, Marroquin, his mother, and sister left for Argentina when he was just 17. Now an architect, writer, and advocate for drug reform, Marroquin has publicly and repeatedly apologized for his father’s crimes.
