Queen of the South “Punto Sin Retorno” takes up right after Camila’s decision to kill Birdman. Now that the man’s death has been ordered everyone scrambles to make deliveries and move from their current location. There will be reprisals and Camila knows this. She heads to Mexico and Theresa runs.
Camila:
Mrs. Vargas has moved against the Jimenez cartel by taking out the despised Eric, aka Birdman. Moving her people out of harm’s way is only a precaution as she knows Epifanio will be blamed for Eric’s death.
Camila attempts to make Theresa feel better about killing the Florida drug dealer. She also reminds Mendoza that they are “family.” Theresa argues that Vargas is still in business “because of me.”
Later, after Birdman is dead, Camila talks to the Jimenez cartel leader. She explains about Eric and why she killed him. She also promises to get one of his lieutenants out of custody. They are now friends.
Epifanio:
Senior Vargas made a critical mistake in his dealings with Camila. He opened himself up to compromise when he opened up two “fronts.” Declaring war on his wife while running for governor caused him to take his eye off the ball.
Epifanio also misjudged Camila forgetting that she is strong character who never does “as she is told.” It looks like Vargas may lose whatever momentum he gained running for governor.
James:
Camila’s right hand man takes out Eric. First, however, he tells Kim to hide as there will be reprisals. She refuses. While James takes out Birdman’s guards, Brenda is inside the house trying to sell the book that Theresa was given by her boyfriend.
After killing Birdman (who dies with a threat on his lips) James finds the two pages from the book that Brenda had shown Eric. James heads to the trailer by the lake and finds that Kim is not there. He calls repeatedly until she arrives.
Somewhat amusingly, Kim rants about never knowing if he is dead or alive. Concerns usually associated with a cop’s wife.
Theresa:
Mendoza goes on the run. She keeps all her coke rather than delivering it. Theresa uses it to pay for false passports for her and Brenda. She and her best friend cannot make out what the ledgers’s contents mean.
Theresa decides to sell the ledger to Birdman and sends Brenda to his house with two pages from the book. Eric calls and asks the leader of the cartel about Brenda Parra.
Parra calls Theresa to say that Eric wants to buy the book if he can verify the information. Theresa hears Birdman’s birds going crazy and realizes that James is there to kill him. She tells Brenda to get out of the house.
Mendoza and Brenda later learn that the “code” in the book is actually longitude and latitude coordinates. They decide to investigate and leave Tony to keep him safe.
Thoughts:
It appears that James is still interested Theresa, even though he does tell Camila that she did a runner. Camila has managed to increase her business prospects and hurt Epifanio. Theresa has secured a false identity, although it will take months to be processed, and it will be interesting to see why she stops running and starts as the new Queen of the South.
This move by Camila to grow her business will keep her husband busy trying to salvage his run for office. Will this latest betrayal by Theresa cause Camila to decide she has outlived her usefulness?
And finally, what will Epifanio and Camila do when they realize that Theresa is selling information about their cartel?
Brenda, played by Justina Machado, is becoming a firm favorite in this series. Machado, besides bringing a sort of desperate, and inborn, bravado to her performance, adds beauty and strength to her character.
Queen of the South airs Thursdays on USA. There are only two episodes left in season one so keep watching to find out what Theresa does next.
CAST:
- Alice Braga – Theresa Mendoza
- Joaquim de Almeida – Epifanio Vargas
- Veronica Falcón – Camila Vargas
- Justina Machado – Brenda Parra
- Peter Gadiot – James Valdez
- Gerardo Taracena – Cesar “Batman” Guemes
- Blair Bomar – Kim Brown
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