The team behind the series unpack its key themes.
The brutal world of drug trafficking has proven to be fertile ground for TV dramas, with Netflix’s Griselda being the latest entry in this gritty subgenre.
The series comes from executive producer Eric Newman and director Andrés Baiz, both of whom previously worked on Narcos and its follow-up Narcos: Mexico, making this familiar narrative territory.
However, it marks a major change of pace for star Sofia Vergara, who has previously made a name for herself in the comedy world with a starring role on Modern Family and judging panel spot on America’s Got Talent.
Vergara undergoes a physical transformation for the role, applying significant prosthetics and adjusting her posture to closer resemble the fearsome crime boss.
Of course, not everything in the series is totally accurate, with RadioTimes.com talking to Newman and Baiz about the mix of fact and fiction across the six-part series.
Read on for their comments and more on the true story behind Griselda.
Is Griselda based on a true story?
Yes, Griselda is based on the true story of Miami’s so-called “Godmother of Cocaine”.
Griselda Blanco was born in Colombia and grew up in the city of Medellín, which gained some infamy due to the local criminal activity of one Pablo Escobar.
In such a hostile environment, Blanco is reported to have turned to crime from a young age, starting with pickpocketing and theft before moving onto the profitable drug trade.
At the age of 21, she illegally immigrated to New York City to launch a successful operation, but was forced to flee the country about a decade later as authorities closed in.
Netflix’s Griselda series picks up in the late 1970s, the most famous period of Blanco’s reign, when she returned to the United States and set up shop on the other end of the east coast – Miami, Florida.
On the accuracy of the drama, director Andres Baiz told RadioTimes.com: “We do all the research possible. We read books, we interview people, we watch documentaries – and once you have all this information, you’re then going to tell this story of someone.
“But you need to ask yourself: as creators, what are we saying? What is the theme of our show? And the theme of our show is women in power, women in a man’s world. So then the writing and the directing is encompassed by that theme.”
He added: “So a lot of what you see in the show – a lot of characters, events, actions – are absolutely real, but we were most interested in our theme and the inner truth of those characters.”
Was June Hawkins real in Griselda?
One element of Netflix’s Griselda that is sure to interest viewers is the role of police detective June Hawkins, who is first to understand that a spate of drug-related offences blighting Miami are being masterminded by a woman.
The male-dominated Miami police force initially considers this an unlikely possibility, with June’s uphill struggle for recognition arguably mirroring Griselda’s own treatment by certain men in her orbit – or at least, that’s how the show depicts it.
For any viewers wondering, June Hawkins is indeed a real person, who is still alive today and was consulted by the creative team during development of this series.
Eric Newman explained: “We spent a fair amount of time with her, she was an invaluable consultant [and] resource. She did have a very similar experience – obviously, with a very different ending, June’s happily married to, actually, another character in the show.
“She is a woman of Latin descent, a single mother in an almost equally male-dominated environment: law enforcement. She was underestimated and had to find her own way, using skills that the men didn’t have.”
Without spoiling anything, there’s an emotional scene between Griselda and June towards the end of the series, which Newman admits to being a “manufactured moment” designed to lean into their aforementioned theme of womanhood.
Newman told RadioTimes.com that this invented interaction reflects their shared experience as mothers, but shouldn’t be interpreted as June having any strong sympathy for or solidarity with Blanco.
He added: “I have never met a law enforcement officer or agent of either gender who truly identifies with their prey. They can’t. I think it’s part of the job.
“I do think that June’s experiences in a similarly chauvinistic law enforcement culture helped her as a cop. I think her overcoming this certainly made her better at her job and likely helped her recognise Griselda.
“I don’t get the sense that she feels any additional sympathy for Griselda, but perhaps a little bit of empathy, a little bit of understanding of the things you need to do to protect your children and provide for your children.”
How did Griselda die?
Griselda was finally arrested in February 1985, following a long investigation by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), with agent Robert Palombo finding her in bed reading the Bible when he strode over and gave her the ‘kiss of death’.
The gesture, which he claims left Griselda “bewildered”, came after her evasion of justice had placed great strain on himself personally as well as the city of Miami as a whole.
In an interview with CBS News, Palombo said that the homicide rate “dropped dramatically” following her arrest, estimating “conservatively” that she ordered the deaths of between 75 and 100 people.
In light of this, he feels that her sentencing on drug trafficking charges – 15 years in prison – was overly lenient, while a later homicide trial was stunted by a scandal involving a witness, but still added a concurrent 20 years to her term.
Only seven of the latter were served, however, after a major heart attack and other health issues convinced authorities to grant Griselda compassionate release.
She was deported back to Medellín, Colombia, where she was murdered eight years later in a drive-by shooting by a helmet-wearing motorcyclist whose identity has never been determined.
Palombo concluded: “Here we have a butcher being killed in a butcher shop. By an individual who employs the very technique, the motorcycle technique, that she kind of invented.”
Griselda is available to stream on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
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