During the last 2 weeks, the show has introduced two new characters who will also be in Season 4 -- a young and corrupt Venezuelan oil dealer/heart throb, played by Gabriel Corona, and Plutarco Haza, who will be Aurelio Casilla's main enemy next season.

One person who won't be returning next season due to previous work commitments is Chema Venegas, the drug lord rival of Aurelio Casillas, played by Mauricio Ochmann, who in a recent episode surrendered to authorities and was jailed. He may return in season 5.(Yes, there will be a season 5.)

Since Chema's character is reportedly based on Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman (although I don't see the similarity), I won't be surprised if they re-shot his exit to have him escape from jail in a tunnel during tonight's finale.

While Seasons 1 and 2 were loosely based on the life of Amado Carrillo Fuentes (once the head of the Juarez cartel who was known as Lord of the Skies, who may or may not have died in 1997 during plastic surgery), Season 3 has veered far more into pure fiction. Also, drugs have become a minor part of the show. It's far more about the fight for dominance between cartels, the relationships between Mexican and Colombian traffickers, and political, military and police corruption, in Mexico and Venezuela, with a few corrupt DEA agents thrown in. There are also a lot of romances, trysts and jealousy.

The last few weeks have also featured the return of the corrupt Ramiro Silva (a character based on Raul Salinas, the brother of former Mexican President Carlos Salinas, who served 10 years for money laundering and corruption and was last seen in Season 2).

Some complications in Season 3 that should be resolved in the finale are the recent entry of "the Officer", based on Pablo Escobar's cousin Gustavo (a part played by the same actor who played Gustavo in Escobar: Patron de Mal) and Feyo, an older drug lord from Michoacán, who is connected to a Mexican vigilante group and had an affair with Aurelio's mother and dumped her, prompting her to join a convent. Since someone is bound to die in the finale, I'm thinking it will be Feyo, and maybe "the Officer."

As season 3 ends, Aurelio is badly in need of a kidney transplant. He's already undergone dialysis, which has stopped working. He has a rare blood type, so finding a donor has been difficult. The latest plan has been to search out his former lovers, hoping at least one has had his child, who may be a match. Since it doesn't look like this will be wrapped up in the finale, I suspect this sub-plot is just a way for them to introduce new women and a maybe a new son in season 4.

The sets for the show are very intricate and authentic looking, particularly the furnishings and objects inside the homes. The clothes are also impressive. Since the show airs five hour long episodes a week, and the cast is huge, it must cost a fortune to produce. Season 3 alone has 104 episodes.

I'm not sure this is a show you can pick up at the end of Season 3 and follow -- but for those who have been watching all along, the finale will be much easier to take knowing the show will be back in 2016.