No idea what's up with the reviews, I'm definitely in for the season after the pilot. Solid writing and acting, really good use of the setting and period, and compelling hooks to see where the stories go next. I don't know why parallel storylines would be a problem for any TV drama in 2017 (Better Call Saul? The Americans? Not to mention the obvious parallels back to Traffic?), though I can understand if the feeling is not all of them were immediately gripping -- I thought the wrestler's story was the weakest to start and Franklin's the strongest. That said, I didn't totally feel like I bought Franklin's big decision in this episode since we barely knew him, it maybe could have used a bit more development. Sepinwall had a good description for him on his podcast: he's got great screen presence even if you can't really tell what his inner motivations are.
Still, with that creative team on FX I have no reason to doubt it so far. Yes it's gritty and dark and raw and all the other cliched words usually used to describe shows about male anti-heroes in the criminal world, so it's not for everyone, but I'd still expect there to be a decent audience given how well-worn that particular sub-genre is. I also haven't seen any of Narcos, but if you have I can imagine there might be some thematic overlap and maybe that might make this show feel a bit redundant, I don't know. But just based on the pilot, I'd say it's worth a look.
