Greed, Power, and the Illusion of Control

Read Time:5 Minute, 1 Second

TV SERIES REVIEW
Cocaine Quarterback: Signal-Caller for the Cartel
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Genre: Documentary, True Crime
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 3 x 41m episodes
Director(s): Jody McVeigh-Schultz
Where to Watch: premieres September 25, 2025, on Prime Video

RAVING REVIEW: Some stories feel too far-fetched to be real, but COCAINE QUARTERBACK: SIGNAL-CALLER FOR THE CARTEL proves that truth can be more over the top than fiction. This three-part Prime Video documentary traces the meteoric rise and catastrophic fall of Owen Hanson, a Southern California native whose trajectory from walk-on football player at USC to international drug trafficker reads like a cautionary parable about ambition, ego, and temptation.

The series immediately leans into Hanson’s dual identity: an underdog athlete who made his way onto a powerhouse team and a man who couldn’t resist the allure of easy money once the roar of the stadium faded. Episode one, aptly titled Dr. O-Dog, sketches Hanson’s early life and his determination to carve a name for himself. His USC tenure gave him a fleeting taste of victory, but rather than cementing a future in sports, it acted as the launchpad for connections and ego that would fuel his next, darker chapter. What unfolds isn’t a sudden fall but a gradual drift toward the promise of wealth through unlawfulness, spurred by an association with a Mexican drug lord who saw in Hanson both ambition and recklessness.

Episode 2, "Junior DeLuca," marks the turning point in the story's unpredictability. Here Hanson is knee-deep in international trafficking, brushing shoulders with figures like the gambler Robin Hood 702 — an enigmatic presence who targeted the corrupt and became a foil in Hanson’s narrative. When a money-laundering scheme collapses, losing millions in cartel cash, the tone shifts from one of indulgent excess to one of survival panic. The filmmakers balance the drama with archival evidence and firsthand accounts, punctuating the tale with stylized dramatizations that never lose sight of the documentary’s spine.

By the time episode three, Mr. Don Corleone arrives, Hanson is a man cornered. The docuseries does not attempt to glorify his ascent; instead, it portrays it as a sequence of poor decisions, layered with arrogance and desperation. Hanson reaches the apex of his criminal empire just as the FBI begins tightening its net, leaving him forced to choose between doubling down and making a last-ditch attempt at escape. The tension plays out like a scripted crime drama, but it’s rooted firmly in reality, thanks to interviews with law enforcement, associates, and Hanson himself.

What gives COCAINE QUARTERBACK an edge is its refusal to sanitize its subject. Hanson isn’t framed as a tragic hero; rather, he’s a man whose thirst for status and wealth led him to believe he could play in a league that was far beyond his control. The docuseries avoids mythologizing him, instead holding his choices up as evidence of how quickly ambition can rot into self-destruction when untethered from accountability.

COCAINE QUARTERBACK highlights the false promises of quick wealth and the corrosive impact of living in the shadow of success. Some of Hanson’s friends from USC went on to NFL riches; his own career never reached those heights. That hunger to measure up and carve his place in the world propelled him toward shortcuts that left only devastation. The docuseries highlights this psychological undercurrent — the fear of mediocrity and the seduction of status — as the thread connecting Hanson’s decisions.

As a viewing experience, the series strikes a balance between entertainment and education. It has the appeal of a crime drama while operating firmly within the bounds of nonfiction, making it a bingeable but sobering watch. Audiences who come for the sensation will get it — the drug runs, the FBI investigation, the cartel threats — but they’ll also be faced with an unflinching look at how ego and poor judgment can spiral into a lifetime of regret.

If there’s one area where the series could have pushed harder, it’s in exploring the larger systemic factors. Hanson’s story is fascinating, but it’s also part of a bigger conversation about sports culture, privilege, and the seductive myth of invincibility. While those elements appear in passing, the docuseries is most focused on Hanson himself, occasionally at the expense of the broader context.

Still, COCAINE QUARTERBACK delivers exactly what its title promises: a shocking portrait of a man who thought he could outmaneuver both the cartel and federal law enforcement, only to discover that his playbook was woefully out of its depth. It’s gripping, stylish, and occasionally chilling, and while it doesn’t reinvent the true crime docuseries format, it executes its game plan with conviction.

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[photo courtesy of PRIME VIDEO]

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