Griselda has just hit Netflix, and it’s a show that I felt had the potential to go one of two ways. It was either going to be really good, or it was going to be trash and to be honest, it was neither, and it took me by surprise. But it was more edging on the side of it being a good show, which is a positive.
Starring Sofia Vergara as the godmother Griselda Blanco, I thought it would be worth looking into just how true the Netflix show was whilst also discussing the ending and its deeper meaning.
It seems as though the Netflix show did actually stick to the facts when it came to making this show, as after doing some research, many things did actually match up.
One thing that the show didn’t touch on was that Griselda Blanco had actually been to the United States with the intention of settling there before.
Here is Griselda Ending Explained:
Show vs Real Events
Within the show, we picked up in 1978. However, around 14 years earlier, in 1964, she went to the US illegally with fake documents and a made-up name to New York with her three kids and her husband at the time. She managed to set up a drug operation there, which was successful.
However, around 10 years later, in 1975, she was accused of federal drug charge conspiracy and faced jail time. So with that looming over her, she went back to Colombia so she could avoid being convicted.
But then only a few years later, just like we saw in the show, she went back to the US and moved the operation that she established in New York to Miami. So there were some slight differences in that opening section, which weren’t touched on.
The Midling Cartel, which was heavily referenced in this show, and was a part of the Miami Drug War, was something that incorporated characters that were named after and based on real people.
The likes of Fabio, Rafa, and even John Roberts were people who all actually existed and were involved in the drug war in some capacity.
Griselda’s Sons
When it came to individuals that were in the show, such as her four children, they all actually existed in reality, along with Dario and Alberto, who were actually killed too.
Whilst it wasn’t explicitly shown in the show who was behind the killing of Dario, it said that Griselda allegedly paid somebody to have him taken out and have Michael brought back to the States. Something which we did see occur in the show. However, Griselda actually denied all claims of that.
At the end of the show, we found out that three of Griselda’s sons, Dixon, Uber, and Ozzy were all killed. And this is something that was also true and happened in real life. Michael is actually the only child of Griselda, who is still alive today, and he’s in his 40s now.
Rivi Or Ayala
Within the show, we saw that she had a close relationship with somebody called Rivi, who was her personal hitman, and somebody who was arrested and actually confessed to her requesting him to carry out hits on certain people.
This was something that was actually correct. However, the person’s name was actually Georgia Ayala, and Rivi was his nickname.
Within the show, we saw that Rivi was tasked with killing Chucho because Griselda asked him to, and that was something that occurred in reality as well, actually resulting in the death of Chucho’s son Johnny.
As depicted in the show, Ayala drove up the side of the car missed Chuncho, and hit his son by accident as he didn’t expect him to be in there. This killing and the many others that were committed resulted in him being sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
One thing that meant that Rivi couldn’t be used as a key witness in the case against Griselda Blanco was because of the phone calls that he had with the DA secretary, where they were involved in sexual conversation.
This is something that actually happened in reality, and Rivi did it with not only one person but two.
Griselda’s Conviction & Death
When it came to the arrest of Griselda, was something that was depicted differently in the show compared to how it happened in reality. Within the show, she was escaping Rafa and was in a motel in Los Angeles as she feared for her life. When in reality she was actually arrested in her own home.
When it came to the time of Griselda’s conviction, she was sentenced to 15 years for conspiring to manufacture, import, and distribute drugs, and she was sentenced to a further 20 years for the guilty plea that she gave to 2nd-degree murder.
With regards to her death, the one sentence that we got at the end kind of summed everything up that happened. Once released from prison in 2004, she was deported back to Colombia, where eight years later, in 2012, she was killed at a butcher’s where she was with her daughter-in-law.
June Hawkins
With regards to June Hawkins and the Sentac unit, that was something which was actually true. June Hawkins was a real detective who worked in the unit and faced the sexist atmosphere that was present in the show. She eventually went on to retire from the force in 2004.
The real-life June Hawkins was actually married to somebody else on the force called Al. The person who was alongside her, and the individual looking out for her following Raul Diaz leaving.
Griselda Netflix Ending
Whilst this show was predominantly focused on Griselda Blanco’s hunger to take over Miami and be the godmother of the distribution in the area, what it had a key focus on was the fact that she was doing everything that she was doing for her sons.
When you think back to the first episode, she arrived in Miami after killing Alberto and was looking to sell the one brick that she took with the intention of being able to build a better life for them.
And it’s kind of what happened at the end of the season. After Griselda had risen to the top after putting in the work to get there, she had to, essentially, let it go.
With Marta suffering from what looked like some effect from taking too much, Griselda had to flee her home due to Fabio and Rafa most likely not seeing it like that, and they’d most likely blame Griselda for Marta’s death and see it as their opportunity to get Griselda out of the picture. Something which it sounded as though they were looking to try and do.
So it meant Griselda was back in a cheap motel with a brick and needed to sell it to make enough cash to get by it. That is exactly how the season opened, showing that it almost went full circle, and there was never going to be a happy ending.
With Rafa having his supply track to Los Angeles, where she was, we saw that Rafa was on the hunt to find her and was on the cusp of getting his revenge.
However, Griselda called the police on herself, which meant that she wouldn’t be killed and would at least survive. Again keeping her children out of the way and out of the potential firing line, which ultimately landed her in the position of being arrested and put behind bars.
I touched on what she got charged for and why it ultimately didn’t stand in court, but that was also replicated during the ending of the show.
Ending Explained
The last time period that was present in the show was seven years later, and we saw that June Hawkins was no longer a detective as she took the desk job that she was initially going to take before getting into the Griselda case.
Most likely because she realized that she needed to value her family, as that was something that we saw she was guilty of not doing. She spent a lot of time on the force and was working cases, so much so that her son was getting left behind. But it seemed like she’d made a choice and had stuck to it.
However, the real weight came when Griselda walked into the meeting room, and June revealed that Ozzy, Uber, and Dixon, her three children, were all killed. Killed because her enemies wanted to give Griselle nothing to live for when she got out of prison and finally had their way of seeking revenge.
With the final shot of the show being of Griselda on the beach, looking at her kids, we saw them fade away, and the camera drifted further and further back until Griselda was just alone with all of the space around her. It almost implied that everything that she ever did was for nothing.
The life that she led, and the killings that she committed and was involved in in order to gain power so that her children could live a comfortable and happy life was the very thing that ended up getting them killed, showing that it was all for nothing. It’s a powerful message that they sent at the show around.
