Netflix is continuing to take full advantage of TV viewers long-term crime drama obsession with Undercover Law, premiering on Aug. 31. It’s an action-packed series about several Colombian women who work as intelligence agents. They investigate the perilous criminal activities of drug lords while maintaining their lives outside of work. It’s an interesting concept for a show but is Undercover Law based on a true story? It doesn’t seem to be based on any specific individuals, but the trailer confirms that a real-life, all-women secret agent team inspired the series. Now that's the story we all deserve!
Unfortunately, I couldn't find any concrete information about who exactly the real-life secret agents are who inspired this story, nor how the creative team learned about them. It's possible that the women this series is based on worked on some covert operations and may not want to reveal their identities for safety reasons. So, the series is going to be the closest that viewers will get to uncovering details about what it is like to be an agent on a secret mission.
Undercover Law is originally from Colombia’s Caracol International network but the details about its exact airing date and when Netflix acquired rights are not clear. The Caracol website confirms that there are 60 episodes of the series and features an extended trailer with solid introductions to the main characters.
The clip starts off with Alejandra (Alejandra Sandoval), a new drug mule whose first mission goes awry. She's arrested and has two choices: either give up information about origins of her illegal merchandise or face the legal fallout of her capture. Alejandra obviously doesn't want to go to prison, so she begins to work as an informant. But, it leads her down a dangerous path that affects others’ lives.
Viewers then meet three agents who all have different problems outside of their careers. Amelia (Juana del Río) has an ill mother and a brother whose jealous of her success. Tatiana (Luna Baxter) feels forced to choose between her career and her new marriage. And the last agent, Sandra (Vina Machado), is juggling the demands of raising her soccer player son with counting down the months until retirement.
Each woman has to assume a new identity and go deep undercover in a different location. Amelia heads to the Pacific jungle, Tatiana ditches her honeymoon to fly with mafia pilots, and Sandra slides into some professional crime action. This risky mission causes them to get in way over their heads as they immerse themselves in a web of criminal activity. Of course, the trailer has all the trappings of a crime show — exotic locations, explosions, stacks of dirty cash, unexplained running, illegal drugs, and tons of gunfire.
Undercover Law’s truth-based premise, as vague as it is, definitely adds to its overall intrigue. The show has a welcome twist with women at the forefront of an undercover agent saga since men usually occupy these roles. And, the show also humanizes the main characters by showing how their dangerous occupations have a trickle effect into their personal lives as caretakers, mothers, and wives.
Will they all make it out alive? Can they take down this intricate drug operation? And, can these women maintain their morality as they dig into this dark, underground society? All will be answered when Undercover Law drops on Netflix.
