Through narrative analysis, we found that Narcos takes the stereotypical 'hero' archetype and turns it on its head. There are quite a few episodes in the series (at least the ones that we analyzed in seasons 1 and 2) where Pablo Escobar is, for better or worse, the protagonist of the episode. While Murphy is the 'good guy' with an acceptable moral compass, Escobar is the agent through which the story progresses. Everything is centered around him, and the appeal of the show comes from the fact that the audience can go inside the mind of a complicated, scary person who believes what he's doing is right and justified.
We also noticed an intriguing binary opposition of reality versus fantasy. Escobar is an idealist at times, and will often envision the world how he wishes it to be, whether it be picturing himself as president of Columbia or speaking to Gustavo from beyond the dead. This is immediately contrasted with the harsh realities of the world, where Escobar is a fugitive and Gustavo is dead.
We also recognized within the DNA of the series, there exists an opposition between genuine and false loyalty on all sides, wether it be someone at the embassy leaking Murphy's photos to the Cali Cartel, or Salceda turning on the Cartel in the final season. These loyalties effect the shape of the story through mistrust between allies.
We continued to see a dichotomy between corrupt versus justifiable wrongdoing, particularly in how information is gained. This is shown heavily in the DEA tactics opposed to Carillo's tactics throughout the series, as well as Escobar's behavior.