‘Queen of the South’ Season 3 Promises More Power Plays and Hit Jobs

Alci Rengifo

It’s hard to get a business going, particularly when the business happens to be illegal. The third season of USA’s “Queen of the South” opens like a “how to” and “how not to” guide for starting your own cartel. People get whacked, cops get bought off, and macho men in jeans make references to how the heroine has cojones. It’s soap opera absurdity elevated to a very entertaining level.

Teresa (Alice Braga) is still hiding out in Malta trying to set up her own cartel operation. Teresa wants to be a humanitarian narco, convinced that you can operate a trafficking operation without needing to kill so many people. A SWAT raid on her lavish yacht forces Teresa to flee, but not before her Bolivian-based product has already started selling in France and Italy. Meanwhile Sinaloa governor moonlighting as narco queen Camila (Veronica Falcon) is still trying to keep her reputation intact after the death of her estranged husband, the head of the dreaded Vargas cartel. Camila confesses to confidants that she feels it is time to take the cartel away from Boaz (Joseph T. Campos), who is a trigger-happy lunatic (aren’t they all?). Waiting back in the states for Teresa meanwhile are Pote (Hemky Madera) and Ivan (Dominic Burgess), who are ready to help set up the new operation. Of course this sort of business is tough considering Teresa has to deal with Camila and an armada of corrupt cops and Mexican soldiers.

“Queen of the South” is a tough-talking series where you simply bask in the characters sipping drinks, smoking cigars and occasionally playing soccer with someone’s head. Season three transitions into the inevitable plotline of the gangster genre: Inter-faction civil war. Teresa wants to do her own thing, because she’s the nice narco, while Camila will represent the darker, more violent faction. One imagines real Mexican drug lords chuckling when they tune in, but the show is a guilty pleasure because it also looks very slick, scored to an 80s-sounding synth score. The opening scenes of the season premiere are pure gangland bliss as Teresa relaxes under sunshine on her yacht, when a handsome waiter reveals he too is Mexican and knows the feeling of exile she promptly takes him into bed. Drug queens shall have what they wish. The series loves to hang out in the halls of corrupt characters, especially Camila who does TV interviews feigning at being the grieving governor, then quickly going off to talk to some lieutenant about the drug business. Some scenes are pure, hilarious pomp, as when Teresa and Pote walk into a club to meet a shady chap named Rocco (Jordi Mollà), who apparently admires the style of Muammar Gaddafi and has female bodyguards in red berets protecting him. He recites a weird little poem when Teresa walks into the room, gun drawn. Pass the popcorn, this is never boring.

Beyond style, what will drive season three is the turf war between Teresa and Camila, which is groundbreaking in a way considering TV mobsters tend to be tough guys. Here the women rule the scene and the men simply bow to their blood-soaked whims. Camila as played Veronica Falcon is a great character, with the look and swag of a real gang leader. She coldly looks at the corrupt General Cortez (Yancey Arias) and tells him to send all his sicarios after Teresa (“no more cat and mouse games, I want blood”). There are also family developments afoot, as Camila’s daughter is getting married, and the business of trafficking narcotics and whacking enemies doesn’t stop the governor from making a toast at the reception.

This episode works as a journey, as Teresa tries to leave the far off shores of Europe to get back to the hemisphere where all the action is. There are some moments where the soap opera stuff is put aside and some real drama shines through. While waiting to bribe a dock official (how else to get back?), Teresa asks Pote if he has any family, he reveals he was indeed married once, but it didn’t work out. He also reveals to the audience for the first time that he has no kids. It’s hard out here for a sicario.

“Queen of the South” season three promises to give you your narco thriller fix. Everyone is back for double dealing, ruthless power plays and cool poses, cigar in hand. The thrill is in finding out which queen will stay on top.

“Queen of the South” season three premieres June 21 and airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on USA.