Why did Pedro Pascal leave Narcos? Reasons explored

Netflix series Narcos, which follows the emergence of the cocaine trade in Colombia, featured Pedro Pascal as Javier Peña Pascal, an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The actor departed the show after season three.

Pascal worked on Narcos for a long time before leaving the show for other commitments. He was busy with other projects, namely The Mandalorian and HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us.

The show ran from 2015 to 2017. Pedro Pascal's character on the show was assigned to take down a different cartel in season three after exerting much effort to bring down billionaire, drug kingpin Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura) throughout the two seasons.

Pedro's role appeared when the third season shifted the emphasis to the Cali Cartel. The character was last seen in season three, when he and his father Chucho (Edward James Olmos) were on the banks of the Amazon.

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“It was a part of the plan:" Producer Eric Newman on Pedro Pascal's Sudden Exit From Narcos

Television series Narcos received praise from critics with every passing season. Pedro Pascal left the show for several reasons, primarily because of the change in the show's direction, as reported by Chip and Company. After three seasons, the show changed dramatically, devoting less attention to Pablo Escobar's cocaine empire and more attention to other infamous drug organizations.

This change meant that the main focus of the story would no longer be on Peña's character. This led to the end of Pascal's tenure on the program and opened the door for 2018 shared universe spinoff series Narcos: Mexico. The creator of the program disputed rumours that Pedro Pascal's departure from the show was difficult.

Moreover, Pedro Pascal's co-star for two seasons, Boyd Holbrook, who portrayed the role of agent Steve Murphy, left Narcos before the third season to maintain the show's authenticity.

Conversely, Pascal was retained for the last season of Narcos to give viewers a preexisting emotional connection to the narrative. However, Pascal's stay on the show was not intended to be long. Pascal struggled with the idea of killing off his character versus leaving the cameo door open because he was well aware of his season 3 exit.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, show producer Eric Newman shared that Pedro Pascal was aware of his departure at the same time when the conclusion of his character's story was decided for Season 2. Eric Newman said:

"It was a part of the plan as early as Season 2. The design was always to finish out the Colombian story and the players that we've come to know there, and then start anew in Mexico."

Consequently, the show also jumped ahead of time, placing the action in the late 1970s and early 1980s, at the height of the drug cartel's power.

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According to Newman, there had been a plan in place for several years to move past Javier Peña's story. Pascal most likely did know about his character's departure but had to keep it a secret from interviewers at the time, given that he refrained from directly discussing his character's demise.