"We’ve always approached these stories in pursuit of a truth"- Griselda EP breaks down the tragic ending 

Based on the life of Griselda Blanco, one of the most notorious drug cartel leaders of all time, Netflix's Griselda premiered on the streaming platform on January 25, 2024, and has since continued to entice fans around the globe. The gritty drama that Sofia Vergara led has already gained widespread critical acclaim and is also among Netflix's top new releases.

The rise of the cocaine godmother and the eventual downfall have all been captured beautifully in Netflix's adaptation of Griselda Blanco's life. By the sixth episode, it comes to an astonishing but tragic ending, which is also historically accurate to Blanco's demise, which resulted from ghosts of the past.

Series creator Eric Newman, who also previously led Netflix's Narcos to immense success, broke down this tragic ending and their purpose of depicting the truth through clever storytelling on screen in a new interview with TV Line. Newman said:

"We’ve always approached these stories, as I did for six seasons on Narcos, in pursuit of a truth that you’ll never really get...You can’t get it. Either the subjects or participants are dead or in jail or are fundamentally dishonest about why they did what they did. What we always try to do is take events that we know happened and explain them from the characters’ standpoint as someone for whom what they’ve done is defensible."

He further explained how the tragic ending was created in the last episode and how important it was for audiences to connect to the story for the series to make an impact on the viewers.

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"She loses those children in the end. For that tragedy to land, the audience has to be invested in her success"- Eric Newman on Griselda's ending

Though Netflix's Griselda is much shorter than Narcos, the curves of the characters are quite similar. Audiences generally feel sympathy for the characters and eventually lose it, like with Pablo Escobar.

For Griselda Blanco, this loss of sympathy should hit less for fans who have invested in the character from the start. Explaining this, Newman added:

"Griselda is the only woman who ever achieved this level of respect, power, fear and success, and her explanation would be that she was doing it for her children...She loses those children in the end. For that tragedy to land, the audience has to be invested in her success. They have to look at her and think, ‘OK, I don’t approve, but understand why she’s doing this."

Newman also explained that because audiences were more in touch with Blaco's emotions and perspective, they decided to end the series highlighting her loss instead of her death, which took place shortly after she left prison in 2004.

Newman also claimed that for this series, losing sympathy for the lead works slower and less effectively because of "Sofia’s performance, and because of the uniqueness of a female and a mother who’s also a trafficker."

All in all, the Netflix show managed to deliver a beautiful ending that left both fans and critics satisfied. The show will not get any sequels in the future as it is self-contained in its story.

Griselda is currently streaming on Netflix.