Narcos on Netflix is framed around the real DEA agents chasing down drug dealers in Colombia. The narrator of Narcos, Steve Murphy, is one of the most interesting characters with some of the best quotes about life taking down the Medellîn cartel. He enters this dangerous world out of a sense of duty and service with a killer attitude. In real life, Steve Murphy just as blasé about his accomplishments.
Murphy is, from certain points of view, the protagonist of the Netflix series. His character certainly wants you to see his point of view above others. However, whether you're rooting for him or not, you have to admit that he's got style. Despite the dark subject matter, he sets a tone that's just light enough to engage us while also taking the reality of the situation seriously.
Sure, his narration about wire taps and cell phones practically not existing in the 1980s sounds a bit like an op ed raging against millennial, but pretty much everything else out of Murphy's mouth is on point. Here are some of Steve Murphy's best quips and observations on Narcos. Be warned: while I'll avoid major details (and Murphy's amazing last line of narration) there are mild spoilers as you read on.
1. "Who checks out a cop's a**, right?"
Right from the start, Murphy is introduced with a kind of depreciating charm.
2. "The hippies had been replaced by Colombians, and these guys didn't wear flip-flops."
Television is already a visual language, so it's fun to have narration that evokes just as many images.
3. "It was modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, with the three things Carlos liked most: sex, drugs, and Nazi sympathizers."
Welcome to Colombia! Well, part of Colombia decades ago.
4. "Just like that, an honest man blinked."
Again — what a great image!
5. "When you get too close to the sun... your dreams may melt away"
I can't imagine how good at reading people you'd have to be to detect corruption in such a tempting era and environment.
6. "Despite his threats, many brave men defied him. And true to form, when the pen failed... Pablo was always ready with the sword."
I don't think that's exactly how the saying goes, but okay.
7. "Communists. Remember them?"
His sarcasm is too much, sometimes.
8. "It's been said that nothing gives the fearful more courage... than another's fear."
Empathy is a powerful tool, y'all.
9. "By protecting a communist, we were traitors. Go figure."
Clearly, Murphy isn't beating himself up about it.
10. "Technically, the room isn't white. It's more of a burgundy."
That's the way everyone should respond to CIA secret facilities, isn't it?
11. "Remember how I told you that no one in their right mind would ever kill a DEA agent? Well, to be honest, after they snatched me, I'd forgotten that, myself. But then, I calmed down and realized that if they wanted to kill me, they would've blown my brains out right in front of my house. This... was something different."
I love it! Clearly, history can tell us that Steve Murphy will survive the drug wars. As he himself says, "good guys only need to get lucky once." It's smart of the Narcos writers to include quippy lines like this to fill the gap left by that fear.
Image: Daniel Daza/Netflix; snogbox (2), ethan-talbot, jamiesfraser (2), cinemagaygifs, vixlad, felox-i, giffingnarcos, gifstorp/Tumblr
