Behind Bars: The World's Toughest Prisons Season 1 Episode 2 San Pedro Prison, La Paz, Bolivia
- October 2, 2016
- 47 min
Behind Bars: The World's Toughest Prisons is a gripping docuseries that takes viewers through a journey of some of the world's most dangerous prisons. In season 1 episode 2, viewers are taken to San Pedro Prison in La Paz, Bolivia.
San Pedro Prison is a unique prison in the sense that it is a city within a city. Inside its walls, the prisoners manage their own affairs, including housing, commerce, and even bringing their families inside. This episode takes viewers inside the prison and shows how the prisoners manage their daily lives while serving their sentence.
The episode starts with an aerial view of the prison, showcasing its unique structure. The host of the show then meets with a former prisoner who served time at San Pedro. The former prisoner explains how the prisoners manage their own affairs and how they seek protection from powerful inmates.
The episode then takes viewers inside the prison to see its living conditions. The narrator explains how inmates are both the guards and the prisoners, and how they are responsible for building and maintaining their cells. We meet a father who lives inside with his family and see how they manage to make a life for themselves inside the prison walls.
The episode also delves into the darker side of San Pedro. The prison is known for its drugs trade, and viewers get to see how drugs are smuggled in and sold to other prisoners. Violence is also a common occurrence inside the prison walls, and viewers witness a violent altercation between two inmates.
One of the most captivating aspects of this episode is the way it highlights the contrast between the freedom of the prisoners within the prison walls and the poverty outside. The host interviews a woman who lives near San Pedro and struggles to make ends meet. She remarks that the prisoners inside have a better life than she does.
Overall, season 1 episode 2 of Behind Bars: The World's Toughest Prisons offers a fascinating insight into one of the world's most unique prisons. The episode showcases the resilience of the prisoners who live there and highlights the importance of understanding the complexities of the prison system.