Griselda

The real-life story of an exceptional woman obsessed with power. Through smarts, connections, violence and fear, Griselda Blanco rose to the top of Miami’s drug scene in the 70s and 80s. This telling of her story shows her absolute ruthlessness and drive for the untouchability of absolute power.

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Griselda Blanco was more violent and terrifying than the men who had run the drug scenes in Miami before her. From taking down a man with a baseball bat for refusing her a meeting with his boss, to the drive-bys she ordered, to the fact that she had all three of her husbands killed, we learn that Griselda was fierce. There is a scene in the cop car, when she is finally caught (on her own terms!), which boils down how she thinks and how she thinks about herself: Griselda Blanco was a bad-ass chica.

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The casting of this is excellent because they went for realism over glamour. The chosen actors aren’t especially beautiful with the notable exception of Alberto Guerra, who was cast as Griselda’s third and final husband. That guy is positively smoldering. The temperature in the room went up by ten degrees whenever he was on the screen. Whew!

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The clothes, too, are just right. Sarah Evelyn, the costume designer, did an excellent job of hitting the right note of realism over fantasy.

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The only downside to this series is that I was never able to not see the prosthetics that Sofia Vergara wore. The powdery makeup and fluffy eyebrows were meant to hide it, but I couldn’t not see the false nose and adjustments that were made to her jawline.

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Sofia Vergara pushed for this series to be made because, I’ve read, she wanted to change the idea of herself in people’s minds; to step away from the Modern Family character that she portrayed for so long. She was successful, I think. She inhabited this role with her whole body and held our attention with her intensity. Ultimately, it’s the power of Sofia’s acting (as well as the story and the hotness of Mr Guerra) that sticks with a person when it's over.