El marginal

El marginal is an Argentine crime drama television series created by Sebastián Ortega and Adrián Caetano through Underground Producciones for the channel Televisión Pública. Its first season, consisting of 13 episodes, starred an ensemble cast featuring Juan Minujín, Nicolás Furtado, Claudio Rissi, Gerardo Romano, Martina Gusmán, Carlos Portaluppi, Abel Ayala, Brian Buley, Daniel Pacheco, Marcelo Peralta, Emanuel García, Jorge Lorenzo, Mariano Argento, Gerardo Otero, Adriana Salonia, Maite Lanata, and Aylin Prandi, and was broadcast from 2 June to 8 September 2016, later becoming available on Netflix on 7 October 2016. It received the Golden Martín Fierro award, a Tato award, a Series Mania award, and was also nominated for a Platino Award for Best Miniseries or TV series.

Following the success of the first season, a second season was ordered, with Esteban Lamothe, Nacho Sureda, Roly Serrano, Diego Cremonesi, Verónica Llinás, Rodrigo Noya, and Daniel Fanego joining the cast. A prequel, it premiered on 17 July 2018, consisting of eight episodes and concluding on 4 September; it was released on Netflix on 28 September. An American adaptation, The Inmate, was released later that year on Telemundo.

The eight-episode third season premiered on 9 July 2019 and concluded on 27 August, with Lorenzo Ferro, Alejandro Awada, Osqui Guzmán, Ana María Picchio, Denis Corat, and David Masajnik as new cast members. It was released on Netflix on 27 September 2019. The fourth and fifth seasons were released exclusively on Netflix on 19 January 2022 and 4 May 2022 consisting of eight and six episodes, respectively. Rodolfo Ranni, Luis Luque, and Ariel Staltari joined in the fourth, with María Leal added in the fifth. A female-led spin-off series, En el barro, is currently in production by Netflix.

Series overview
In the first season, former cop Miguel Palacios is jailed at San Onofre under a fake name and a fake judicial case. His mission is to infiltrate a criminal gang of prisoners and prison guards and gather information about the daughter of a judge kidnapped by said gang.

The second season is a prequel that takes place three years before Miguel Palacios infiltrated San Onofre. Mario Borges and Juan Pablo "Diosito" Borges are sent to San Onofre where they plan to overthrow the leader of the prison, "El Sapo" Quiroga. To achieve that, they ally themselves with the "Sub-21" gang and with Patricio Salgado, a doctor with a mysterious past.

In the third season, the Borges brothers are tasked with taking care of Cristian Pardo, the son of an important businessman, who killed his friend while drunk in a car accident. While Diosito is tasked with the boy's care, the "Sub-21" joins with "Pantera" and Bruni to take down the Borges.

Cast and characters

 * Juan Minujín as Miguel Palacios / Osvaldo "Pastor" Peña (seasons 1, 4–5, guest season 3)
 * Nicolás Furtado as Juan Pablo "Diosito" Borges
 * Claudio Rissi as Mario Borges
 * Gerardo Romano as Sergio Antín
 * Martina Gusmán as Emma Molinari (seasons 1–4)
 * Carlos Portaluppi as Morcilla (seasons 1–3)
 * Abel Ayala as César
 * Brian Buley as Pedro "Pedrito" Pedraza (seasons 1–3, guest season 4)
 * Daniel Pacheco as James "Colombia"
 * Marcelo Peralta as Barny (seasons 1–4, guest season 5)
 * Emanuel García as Arnold (seasons 1–4)
 * Jorge Lorenzo as Capece
 * Mariano Argento as Cayetano Lunati (season 1, recurring season 3)
 * Gerardo Otero as Fernando Palacios (season 1)
 * Adriana Salonia as Lucrecia (season 1)
 * Maite Lanata as Luna Lunati (seasons 1 and 5, recurring season 3)
 * Aylin Prandi as Sofía (season 1, recurring season 3)
 * Esteban Lamothe as Patricio "Doc" Salgado (season 2)
 * Nacho Sureda as Pantera (seasons 2–3)
 * Roly Serrano as "Sapo" Quiroga (season 2, guest season 3)
 * Diego Cremonesi as Quique "Cuis" (season 2, guest season 3)
 * Verónica Llinás as Rita (season 2)
 * Rodrigo Noya as Nicolás "Oaki" Olmos (season 2)
 * Daniel Fanego as Garófalo (season 2)
 * Lorenzo Ferro as Cristian "Moco" Pardo (season 3)
 * Alejandro Awada as Oliverio Bruni (season 3)
 * Osqui Guzmán as Ramos (season 3)
 * Ana María Picchio as Estela Morales (season 3)
 * Denis Corat as Marquitos (season 3)
 * David Masajnik as Juan Carlos "Tubito" Rodríguez (season 3)
 * Rodolfo Ranni as Benito Galván (season 4)
 * Luis Luque as Coco (season 4)
 * Ariel Staltari as José "Bardo" Muriazo (seasons 4–5)
 * María Leal as María Virginia Piñeiro (season 5)

Distribution
The series was initially aired on the Televisión Pública channel. It was acquired by Netflix after the end of the original run, becoming available for Latin America, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal. El Marginal and Estocolmo were the first Argentine television series acquired by Netflix in 2016.

A second season was confirmed in 2017. It debuted on Argentine television on 17 July 2018 to high ratings. The third season was confirmed in September 2018, and premiered on 9 July 2019.

The fourth and fifth seasons were released exclusively on Netflix on 19 January and 4 May 2022, respectively.

Awards
The program received eight nominations for the Martín Fierro Awards, and won for best miniseries and best writers. One of the producers thanked for the award, but criticized the organization of the nominations, as they sometimes include television programs from very disparate genres. Actor Gerardo Romano used his brief time to ask people to vote for Cristina Fernández de Kirchner at the 2017 legislative elections. At the end of the ceremony, the program received the Golden Martín Fierro Award.