Ingovernable

The fictional United States presidencies of shows like “Scandal” and “Designated Survivor” are nothing if not eventful. “Ingobernable,” a new Spanish-language Netflix drama, would like the world to know that a fictional Mexican presidency can be pretty lively, too.

“Ingobernable,” whose 15 episodes become available Friday (three were made available to critics), has an opening 15 minutes that are right up there with “Designated Survivor,” the ABC series in which virtually the entire federal government was blown up almost straight away. In “Ingobernable,” the goings-on are less, well, explosive but still result in a change at the top.

What can be said is that the series focuses not so much on the man who is president when it begins, Diego Nava (Erik Hayser), but on the first lady, Emilia Urquiza (Kate del Castillo). Before the premiere is half over, she finds herself on the run, a suspect in the nation-shattering event that has just transpired.

The series puts quite a lot of faith in that flight, assuming we’ll find it captivating even though we’ve learned very little about Emilia or why she’s running. You keep waiting for the show to break away from its propulsive introduction and go into a flashback that shows how the first couple, apparently once the nation’s darlings, got to the vitriolic point that we see at the start, in which Emilia hopes Diego will sign divorce papers.

And eventually there are some flashbacks, though they’re brief and coy. This series doles out its secrets slowly. It also is in no hurry to bring on the side plots that American political dramas love so much. You have to wait until Episode 3 before the cast of characters begins to branch out.

Latino audiences might have the most interest in sticking with “Ingobernable” (“Ungovernable”), thanks to the presence of Ms. del Castillo, a big star in Mexico with a colorful history. (She played a role in the infamous 2015 meeting between Sean Penn and the drug lord Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as El Chapo.)

Ms. del Castillo, though, isn’t given much to do early on other than look furtive, so viewers less familiar with her will need to bring some patience to this series (which includes English subtitles). Only by the third episode does it begin to demonstrate that it aspires to be something more than just a woman-in-jeopardy thriller. Whether the show is going to continue to deepen is an open question.

Ingobernable

Streaming on Netflix