Queen of the South “Billete de Magia” (Magic Ticket) follows through with last week’s plan to steal 25 kilos of coke from James’ Florida friends. In yet another move designed to show that while there may be honor among thieves there is none between drug dealers.
Not only is Camila stealing from “friendlies” but she continues to play Cesar against Epifanio. Like an icepick chips away at a block of ice, Camila keeps chipping away at Cesar. She convinces him once again that Epifanio has plans for him as well as her. Vargas’ second is beginning to show some cracks in that confidant exterior.
Theresa’s escape plan is put on the back burner as she is drafted into helping James pull of the coke robbery. Brenda gathers the ingredients to make meth and her second watches a tutorial on the Internet on how to make the stuff.
Unlike “Breaking Bad” the man and his assistant do not allow for fumes and he uses some pretty unsafe equipment to manufacture the meth. As Brenda orchestrates a sale over her cell phone, her second sets himself on fire when the bottle he is swirling explodes into flames.
In a more comical moment, Brenda grabs her “cook” and shoves his burnin head in the toilet. Later, when Tony comes home from the “Y” the hotel room has been cleared of all the materials, the cook and his assistant. Brenda looks worried as Tony tells her about all the different police and firefighters outside the hotel room.
Back at the hotel, James takes photos of all the Florida players and tells Theresa when they check-in which room they are in. Her job is to plant a tracker on the bag full of coke.
Marco (Jorge A. Jimenez) is sent in to intimidate Reggie (Stephen Monroe Taylor) which he does very well. He tells the man he is with the Jimenez cartel and that Reggie should not sell coke to Camila.
Theresa trades clothes with a hotel maid and goes to the room to plant the tracker. Reggie tells John about Marco. John then calls James about the confrontation. Valdez tell the man not to worry. The meet is set up.
Reggie, John (Travis Johns) and their minder all go, via taxi, to the meet and the sale takes place. The Florida men all leave and Flaco (Edgar Arreola), Marco and others drive up to the cab and shoot a gas grenade into the moving vehicle.
The taxi cab crashes and catches fire. James’ men rush the burning vehicle and grab the cash. One of the men is shot by the minder who is then killed. Reggie also dies in a hail of gunfire.John is wounded and as James drives up to lend a hand, the last survivor of the Florida gang sees him. John gets away.
James calls Theresa at the hotel, she has given the terrified maid back her uniform, and he tells her to head up to John’s room and keep him there. The wounded man enters his hotel room. John removes his guns and starts to use his cell phone.
Theresa enters, with a gun, and tells him to put the phone down. John tries to psych her out and goes for a weapon. She puts three rounds into the wounded dealer and he dies on the floor; eyes open.
Rushing out of the hotel she is met by James. He just got Flaco out of the city by giving him directions to the expressway onramp. Camila calls just as James picks up Theresa. He tells Vargas that “she is messed up.”
As he tells Theresa to wipe the blood off her face she sees her future self in the reflection of the side mirror.
Theresa Mendoza has killed her first person. Apart from getting the man’s blood all over her face, this action has moved her further into the organization. Camila will trust Theresa even more now.
Camila looks to be getting on top of Epifanio’s subterfuge. She is still “working” Cesar and she has Teo (Mark Consuelos) leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for Epifanio to follow.
Clearly Theresa’s latest move has taken her closer to “queenpin” status as evidenced by that cool look from her future self in the car.
Queen of the South airs Thursdays on USA. Tune in and see what Camila has planned next for Theresa and whether or not Brenda solves her “meth problem.”
CAST:
- Alice Braga – Theresa Mendoza
- Joaquim de Almeida – Epifanio Vargas
- Veronica Falcón – Camila Vargas
- Justina Machado – Brenda
- Peter Gadiot – James Valdez
- Gerardo Taracena – Cesar “Batman” Guemes
Mikes Film Talk 