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calliopecalling · 2 years

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QOTS Rewatch - Season 5 Retrospective

Man, I've been dragging my feet on working on this. I've spent almost a full year on this rewatch (it really took on a life of its own; I didn't go into it planning to write involved metas or reblog a week's worth of gifsets for every episode but I am just THAT over the top) and I don't even know what I'm going to do with myself now that it's over. Watch something else?!?!?! Like what!?!?!?! Seriously though.

Anyway, where were we? Season 5. It's an interesting season to reflect back on. Sometimes it feels like my second-favorite season after season 2, and other times it feels like my second-least-favorite season after season 4. It ends up being really difficult to place. Its primary problem really in my opinion is that it's rushed, and there's so much plot to get through that the writers and editors had to leave us with sometimes frustratingly short character-driven scenes and force us to fill in the gap. But it does feel more Teresa-driven than season 1 does and, Kote notwithstanding, the non-Teresa-centered scenes still somehow feel a little more relevant or engaging than some of the Vargas stuff in seasons 1 and 3 both. (Epifanio and Batman's story took up a superfluous amount of screen time in season 1, I realized on rewatch, and season 3 has soooo much Cortez and Isabela and Loya and stuff that is way more painful to watch than Kelly Anne getting an ultrasound, even if Pote's sexist quips do make me roll my eyes.) So I don't know. I guess you'll have to give me a few more weeks to think about it. But season 5 as a whole entity in my opinion stands up pretty well on rewatch. It's the Jeresa content in season 5 that doesn't hold up as well as season 2 or 3's Jeresa. (Again, largely because of how rushed it is.)

But as always, I'll do my ranking and things:

My Top 3 Episodes

My Top 5 Scenes

Season 5 Episodes Ranked

Teresa’s Journey

Jeresa, DUH

Top 3 Season 5 Episodes

3: 5x05, Mas Dinero Mas Problemas

It actually was hard to choose the third place episode. There are several other contenders for this spot. But this episode as a whole is really fun to me. It's Teresa-centric. It features Oksana (yay female characters). It's set in Berlin. It features awesome Jeresa teamwork. It throws back to earlier show canon (Rocco de la Pena! Oleg!) and Teresa even gets to break an asshole's nose. James's all-black suit is to die for, as is Teresa's high pony, and best of all? The non-Teresa-focused material is focused on George and Boaz in Miami which, while definitely feeling sinister, gives both of them great material to work with. George buying Teresa that boat? Lol. This is an episode that I gladly watch in full without wanting to fast-forward through anything (a rarity for me among episodes after season 2) and it's a queenpin-esque version of Teresa that isn't as painful as the previous two episodes. All great stuff.

2: 5x09, A Prueba de Balas

Listen, I am not going to pretend that this is here for any other reason than the love confessions and long-awaited Jeresa hook-up, though I love every single Jeresa moment in the episode, I love that it's down to the two of them against the world (just like it was in the beginning before Teresa even knew that it was the two of them against the world), and I love that she takes out Kostya like the badass she is. We won't talk about the raccoons and peewee soccer.

1: 5x02, Me Llevo Manhattan

OBVIOUSLY. I mean: this episode might be my favorite episode of the entire series. It's perfect, classic, angsty, electric Jeresa; they actually talk to each other about stuff other than business (several times); they call back in their dialogue to earlier seasons. They KISS and it's magnetic. They dance around whatever the fuck it is that's happening between them. And they both just stumble around incoherently attracted to each other but refusing to talk about it because they are imbeciles. On top of all that, there's James back to his going-all-out-to-protect-Teresa habits and Teresa back to her taking-crazy-risks-but-earning-mad-respect bs. Teresa's whole "you work for me now; when I call, you answer on the second ring" speech to Lafayette is literal fire and even the non-Jeresa scenes in this episode are good: Kelly Anne with Judge Lafayette's business partner; Boaz with the Judge; the pregnancy reveal. My favorite scene of the episode, though, the one that makes me levitate, is the balcony scene between James and Teresa in Manhattan. Wtffffff that scene was like, designed to personally destroy me. But more about that later.

Top 5 Season 5 Scenes

This was so hard for me. The truth is that there are two types of scenes, Jeresa scenes and non-Jeresa scenes, and they belong on parallel ladders to me. The Teresa who shows up with James and the Teresa who shows up otherwise is so different (I mean: compare literally any of the 5x02 Jeresa scenes to, say, how Teresa interacts with Oksana and Oscar and the Judge in that same episode). And I love both kinds of scenes for her. The way she almost coyly greets those real estate developers in 5x06, knowing full well she's going to slaughter them? *shivers* sooooo good. But when push comes to shove, it's the Jeresa scenes that all slide to the top, because it's the version of herself she gives him that is the one we're ultimately rooting for. So without further ado:

#5:

The scene: Episode 5x02, bedroom conversation

What I love about it: Soooo muuuuuch subtext here. After Teresa in the previous episode gave James literally nothing to work with, now that she's wrapped her mind around him being back she is completely unable to keep up the act. Watching both of them dancing around what they're actually trying to talk about is so delightful, and the icing on the cake is Chicho walking in right in the middle of a particularly intimate gesture.

#4:

The scene: Episode 5x09, the balcony kiss

What I love about it: Do I really need to explain myself? I love this kiss so much because it's written all over Teresa's face what combination of fear, desire, and love is driving her. It's no longer impulsive as it was in 5x02 or tenuous as it was in 3x09 or generous as it was in 3x05, it's for her, it's because she wants him and she's terrified of dying without him knowing it. And then he returns it so wholly and confidently and damn. To me it's the moment they catch up to each other and finally land on the same page. The I love yous that follow were made possible by this kiss.

#3:

The scene: Episode 5x07, the waterfront launch party heart-eyes

What I love about it: Again, so much subtext here. The intense intimacy of a moment in which relatively little gets said (and all of it completely innocuous). The verbal callback to the season 3 finale made the fandom's collective hearts jump to our throats as we wondered, with Teresa, if he was about to say he was leaving. Teresa's clear display of vulnerability in this single 90 second scene made up for the four previous episodes of distance between them. But really.... it's all in the subtext here.

#2:

The scene: Episode 5x10, the final Queenpin scene

What I love about it: It's the perfect Queenpin send-off. It's perfectly appropriate that she shows up one last time and the way it's done here is so beautiful. She looks so serene and her nod of approval closes the circle with episodes 2x06 and 3x10 where Queenpin seemed to be nudging Teresa towards James. And THEN, as Queenpin departs, James steps in. 'You ok?' Could it be any clearer? She doesn't need Queenpin to be her guardian angel anymore. She has James. God, I must be in a mood today because I'm literally choking up as I write this 😭 Excuse me while I go rewatch this scene 28 more times.

#1:

The scene: Episode 5x02, the balcony scene

What I love about it: Was there ever any doubt this was going to be my number one scene of this season? No, there was not. It is the perfect combination of classic Jeresa--James pining, Teresa being cool and unruffled, an almost visible electric current of tension between them, and oh my god the subtexttttttt. Yes, I'm predictable. I don't even think I have enough words to convey exactly how much this scene breaks me apart and I definitely don't have the words to confess how often I rewatch it. Literally I AM JAMES when she says "you and me can't happen" and I feel my entire body turn to jelly, and then when she says "maybe in some other life" I'm like EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE GO GET IT JAMES. This scene to me is their crowning achievement as actors playing this couple of idiots. That chemistry is crazy.

Season 5 Episodes Ranked

5x02

5x09

5x05

5x06

5x08

5x07

5x01

5x03

5x04

5x10

Yes, the finale is my least-favorite episode of the season. There's just nowhere near enough Teresa, or James. Waaaaay too much Pote, and Pote is just not an interesting character. Plus it's so dominated by men. I just could not care about the fight between him and Boaz. It all felt like male viewership fan service. Ew. So, looking at episodes in their entirety, it falls at the bottom. Really though I think this speaks to honestly how strong the season is overall, when it comes down to it. I loved it on rewatch and looking back at this list I even feel sad about having 5x03 and 5x04 so low! I've grown to like even those, despite how painful some of the scenes are.

Teresa's Journey

So, this is the season that obviously brings her as close to Queenpin as she'll ever come, the season in which she faces the ultimate choice: fully abandon herself in a quest to become untouchable in her power, or fully abandon that quest in order to save her soul. Both of these are different sides of the "survival" coin. And both involve incredible risk. Having taken out Kostya, she came as close as really was possible to that untouchable power that the Queenpin visions throughout the series evoked. She would have been protected by the American CIA and would have run the largest and most powerful drug empire in the world. Of course when you're at the top, someone is always ready to take you out, so the risk of staying--despite the promise of safety and protection--was huge.

On the other hand, disappearing. So much risk there, too. So simple in concept: shed your identity, go somewhere remote, and start over from scratch. But when you're in the cartel world that deep, obviously it's not just possible to get out. Your continued existence is too threatening to everyone who stays in; you know way too much. And SO much could go wrong in the process of trying to escape.

So both of these choices offered the promise of safety and both came with a heaping side of risk. But the Teresa we were introduced to in season 1 would've had absolutely no difficulty picking between them, right? So in retrospect, her full character journey was to slowly and gradually become someone who would believably struggle with that choice, someone we would believably worry might make the "wrong" choice.

And I think they really did pull that off. Already by season 2, it's less clear that she would choose to disappear rather than become all-powerful. She'd already lost everyone she'd loved by then and felt herself to be alone, and I think loneliness was one of the biggest drivers for her in seeking power over feeding her soul. It was always loss and trauma that pushed her further into the business and, even though season 5 didn't super explicitly link her rapid power grabs to Tony's death the previous season, it was clearly the darkness of that loss (maybe combined with the unsettling reappearance of James) that pushed her over the edge.

So was it believable that, in the end, she chose her soul? Yeah. They made us worry about her for the first half of season 5, pushing away everyone she cared about and seeming like a hollow shell of herself. But by episode 5x08 her vulnerability is palpable again. Like George's loss, combined with pregnant Kelly Anne's kidnapping, and faced with the possibility of dying herself, and losing James in the process, that she gets her wakeup call. So to me, her final decision feels very earned. I just wish they hadn't wasted a full episode trying to convince us she wasn't going to make it 😂

Jeresa

And all inextricably tied up with Teresa's character turnaround in season 5 is her relationship with James. This is another thing the season didn't make super explicit, at least in the written dialogue, but on rewatch it feels exceptionally clear that his presence allowed her to make what no doubt seemed like an impossible decision to turn the train around that was fast hurtling towards a cliff. He:

showed up mortally wounded trying to save her life

stuck by her side even when she made a disappointing decision that showed how much she'd changed

tolerated her snapping at him and pushing him away because he wasn't going to just give up on her after the huge way she'd busted into HIS life and changed HIM from the inside out

gently challenged her, wherever possible, despite having had it made clear to him that doing that was risky

backed her up 100% and went the extra mile to show his loyalty (beating up Navarro's connect), care (delivering an entire army of ex-Mossad for her security), and competence (stealing the painting)

And then, when she'd sent Pote and Kelly Anne packing and it was just the two of them again (the symmetry to the beginning of the series is so lovely there), his steadiness in the face of her emotional undoing is such a visible factor of her turning everything around. Yes, she's scared for Kelly Anne and her baby. Yes, she's upset about George. But in 5x09 after she's sent Kote away and it's too late to save George, those aren't her motivators anymore. James is. You can see it in her eyes on the balcony that it's not her own death that she fears but the possibility of dying without having loved.

Teresa is a lover. We knew that from the very beginning. She essentially told us that in her own voice over in the pilot. Her drug of choice was Guero. Comparing Guero to a drug is so apt (and foreshadows all the events of the first three seasons and how Guero's actions underlie so much of what she had to go through) so that her fear of love also becomes understandable. She was so slow to fully trust James because of the betrayal she'd experienced before; she was slow to open herself up to him as a lover because the risk of that vulnerability was too devastating. But when she stares down death and realizes she's held real love at arm's-length, its pull and its promise is way too great to turn away from.

I think the writers and show runners of this season struggled with this because the love story they'd created was so powerful and yet they knew (and I agree) that this show wasn't intended to be a love story. The book that it's based on is not a love story. It's the story of a woman and her incredible journey from life on the streets of Culiacán to becoming a powerful druglord and then her final escape from that life. But Jeresa is so powerful that even without explicit efforts on the part of the writers this season it's clear that it's a story in which love wins. She gets out, because of love. She makes the choice to disappear, because of love. Yes, platonic and familial love play into it, too; and stacking up the losses of those she's loved over the years and the risks to those who remain are explicitly part of the story. But by 5x09 the only ones who remain are her and James. She's lost or sent away everyone else.

I guess I forgive the writers for leaving much of their relationship this season to the imagination. I would've loved more conversations between the two of them that were 5x02 or 3x08 caliber, but I think the writers were trying to strike a balance between the people who clearly watched the show for Jeresa and the people who clearly cared less. Do I think they should've just written the show the seasons 2-3 writers set up? Yes. Do I blame them for trying to please a broader base? No. I don't, because I think it's ultimately so obvious anyway that James helped Teresa out of the cave in the same way she did originally that it still ties together beautifully in the end.

So. Now what?

As I said yesterday, I have saved many hundreds of gifsets in my queue still to reblog that I didn't reblog as part of the "official" rewatch. And I'm sure I'll continue to find more, and will reblog any others that get created. I'm also a huuuuuge Alice fan (in case that's not abundantly obvious by now) and will stick around to reblog whatever Alice content I consumer and maybe even Peter content from time to time. I'll post a full series retrospective eventually, but I doubt it will be quite as comprehensive as these season metas because I think I've kind of covered a lot of the analytical ground by now!! But I still want to do my rankings and all that. All that to say: I'll be around. And I hope to continue to see some of you around too 🥰 Thanks for sticking with me.

#qots s5 #2021 rewatch #txt post #qots meta #season 5 retrospective #episode rankings #farewell beloved characters I shall miss thinking THIS level of profoundly about you every day #but I'm looking forward to becoming *slightly* more chill in my level of consumption of this show lol #I'll start my post-rewatch queue tomorrow #can't wait to see what the shuffle reveals lol

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nika324 · 2 years

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My non-QOTS babes said I have to stop tweeting about the show and move on so I guess I’ll start spamming y’all here. 😂🥹

Thinking out loud…

My thoughts. ⚠️

Reddit is a fucking cesspool and I promised myself a while ago I’d stay off of it. But no… here I am. 🤡 Pissed at 10pm. I’ve talked about this here briefly and on A03, regarding Teresa trading in Dumas and how she can actually quite literally rot for it. From 0503 to 0506, I called her every name under the sun. (Will continue to do so. 😌) Never in my life did I think it’d come to that. Anyways. (I was fake mad for awhile) Skksks. What I’m actually annoyed with is I’ve seen two recent posts on Reddit plus quite a few on Twitter, mainly black ppl, expressing how disappointed they were with Tere/Marcel. What is pissing me off is the fact that there are people who think that one, they can explain this and two, they can explain this away to black people. Be very clear, this is a storyline that shouldn’t have happened, especially in this racial climate. Epi 0502 showed the judge accepting kickbacks to incarcerate mainly Minorities. How insane to write an epi like that that touches on this very realistic issue then turn around & have a WOC throw an innocent dark skin black man in jail? (Studies show that darker skin ppl receive harsher prison sentences than those of lighter skin.) THEN have her bring him money like she’s some White Savior? The optics of that is crazyyy. So my beef is not even with the character, it’s with the writers for this shit. I was tweeting about this while watching live and ✨certain✨ ppl were attempting to tell me “it wasn’t about race” and “what If Marcel wasn’t black then what?” We not gonna play a game of What If, we gonna talk about what’s on the TV right now. It is about race when there’s an interview from Alice pre season 5 saying the judge brings this racial element and that Dailyn & Ben created the character before the BLM movement and she said “I'm really proud that what we discuss in season 5 amplifies this important conversation." Alice said. (Btw, I’m not dragging Alice & this is not on her. I’m just trying to make it more obvious for ppl.) Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion but stop speaking over minorities, specifically black people, is what I’m trying to say. A simple “Hm. I can see how you’d feel that way” goes a long way. To have that one BTS person on Reddit respond to the OP & say “keep watching” as if anything made up for what Tere did to Marcel? I’m annoyed. Remember: it costs $0.00 to shut up sometimes. * Completely separate but since I’m talking about social media, I’m also recalling how Dailyn pissed me off last year. Someone tweeted a celebratory tweet ahead of 05x09’s love scene. Another person found it, tweeted it to Dailyn with the caption of something like “Thank you Dailyn for always showing Teresa in respectable positions of power and not just on her back.” Dailyn & Barry interacted with that tweet. That’s sooo problematic. Anyway. Sometimes I wish I never got this heavily involved in the fandom shit bc this is the annoying side of it. 😭(obvi not anyone here lol)

At the old age of 27 😂, I’m too old to be starting arguments online with ppl but these two issues? Whew!

#I’m staying off Reddit starting now #Eye rolls forever #Tumblr will become my diary soon 😂

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mymostimaginaryfriend · 3 years

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QUEEN OF THE SOUTH ♛ 5x09

#queen of the south #qotsedit #jeresa #qots spoilers #qots season 5 #teresa mendoza #james valdez #*myqots #*myedits #if my blog disappears bc of this it was worth it #added two new gifs at the bottom bc in for a penny in for a pound

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hikarielizabethbloom · 3 years

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Her little smile! She is so happy!

#jeresa #qots season 5 #qots #teresa and james #teresa x james

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mesillusionssousecstasy · 2 years

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Queen of the South season 5

Currently on Netflix Int., but cannot get enough of Teresa and James’ scenes. Too few of them! Episode 9 wasn’t sufficient for me. I need more. More kisses, more intime moment between them.

So, any good fanfiction recommandation for me?

#qots #queen of the south #queen of the south season 5 #qots season 5 #netflix #netflix tv series #teresa mendoza #teresa x james #jeresa #james valdez

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cagefreeromanroy · 3 years

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#queen of the south #qots season 5 #5.1 #teresa mendoza #KG #alice braga

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allthingsjeresa · 3 years

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5x09 Jeresa thoughts:

I know I’m doing this a week late and right before the finale but can you blame me? It only took me that long to process everything. I mean HOLY. SHIT. What an episode. The Jeresa scenes were perfect IMO. I wouldn’t have changed much. *This is strictly speaking on the love scene. Not the season as a whole.* They gave us a lot when I was expecting way less, so props to them for that. This is gonna be very long, so read it all if you want or don’t :)

The scene where they spoke to Samara on the couch: this scene is kinda adorable to me even though in context it’s not a romantic scene at all. If you pay attention to their body language, they really operate like magnets. They’re speaking to Samara but their bodies eventually lean towards each other- heads tilted together, sitting pretty flush their thighs just about touch. I checked and it was a big couch! They remind me of two parents trying to soothe their child. It was sweet. At some point along the way these two became one unit. He really is her right hand, so it’s very fitting he was sitting to the right of her in this scene.

Brainstorming how to take out Kostya. I love that James was ready to go in and kill someone in an embassy of all places just to get them out of this mess. But she shut it down so quickly! No suicide missions for this man. I also liked that when she said this it came out as an order and not just as a statement. Because… well, she is la jefa and she pretty much just said he’s not allowed to insert himself in any situations where his death is practically guaranteed.

OK. *DEEP BREATH* OK. OK. So we’ve finally made it to THAT big moment. Well, we already knew James did not approve of this little decision she made to kill Kostya herself and his face said it all in the scene right before. Love that he knew just by her face she was already thinking up a plan of her own by the way. These two can read each other so well. Onto balcony moment! He approaches her outside, so close they can touch each other and demands to know why he should let her do the very same thing she wouldn’t allow him to do. I really think based off his serious tone and the way he came outside he was geared up to put on a fight this time. Teresa was out there alone, stuck in scary dark thought presumably and looking like the world was on her shoulders. I get the sense it hit her at some point that day she might die and she was already thinking about her feelings for James before he even walked outside. That’s why she had that sad look of longing on her face. And boy was she longing for him.. so much that she said fuck it all and just kissed him. She could die at some point but she wanted nothing else but James in the moment. He was caught off guard by her kiss at first but it’s actually funny how fast it put him in a daze. This man was so, so in love that he couldn’t hold back any longer and finally blurted out those three words. I love that her hands were right on his chest (and his heart) as he literally told her he loved her. Symbolic or what? This time he grabs her and kisses her with so much passion. No more holding back. As it pans to them making out he pulls her body even more towards him; this is a move he’s done in all their make out scenes I’ve noticed. I would say “get a room” but they did that right after ;)

The actual love scene! This is what Jeresa shipper dreams are made of. It really transcended everything- I mean that eye contact, the way he pushed her hair back, the lip touching and of course those smiles! Let me just remind you that the world was pretty much crumbling around them. Her empire crashing and burning. Devon/CIA ordering them around. Kostya and Boaz both on her ass. But for that one night, it was like the world stopped spinning. She finally had him and he had her, and everything was suddenly ok. They smiled and were both happy in their little bubble despite everything going on. He’d just said he loved her and neither of them would hide from each other ever again. That love scene was pure happiness, relief, passion and bliss all wrapped into one. Can I just say the way his hands went up and down all over her back while she was on top? I just about died. Nothing says desire like hands raking up and down your spine. Whole time he’s looking at her like she’s some goddess he’s worshiping. The heavy panting and the writhing… ok I won’t lie, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Not that I will ever complain! I mean it’s Jeresa. And the way he flipped them over and took control? Yeah I died. His hand grabbing onto her wrist while she touched his lip? Death. The nose touch? More death. Some of us were trying to figure out where his hand went at one point because it looked like it very much traveled down south to a certain…. area that I will not mention. Anyways 👀The smiles, you guys. THE SMILES. They were happily and utterly in love. As Jeresa shippers we got crumbs for years and then we suddenly got everything all at once. My brain is still catching up.

The morning after. I love that they show their clothes scattered all over the floor. Yeah they were total goners. The whole room is white so you don’t miss it! The way she caressed him so gently. Just completely basking in him and knowing she’s in love. Then it’s like she remembers it’s now the next day and she’ll have to do what she has to do. You can see the moment she gets sad because she absolutely loves this man and yet she could die. I think that moment as she stared at him in bed was when she realized she had to say it. Not because he’d already said it first but because they were out of time and she needed him to know the truth just in case she didn’t make it.

Her love confession. One thing I adore about this scene- it’s so them! It gave me James mentoring Teresa in season 1 vibes but softer. He’s completely serious because he’s intent on training her to protect herself but her attention is all on him. She was so caught up in staring at him, all deeply in love that she says the words right after he tries to hand her a gun. It’s the way both Jeresa got completely dazed by each other right before saying ILY! Her tone was everything here and this was what actually elevated the scene for me. She sort of whispered it- like it was something only meant for them, for him to hear… while her tone might’ve been soft and light as a feather, there was such a heavy bluntness behind it. She said it like it was a simple fact of the universe. As a viewer, I felt like we were watching something forbidden and intimate. It might’ve felt a little more intimate than the love scene itself. I don’t know how to explain it. Maybe it’s because she’s been a wall for the majority of the season. Maybe it’s because there was a weight of gloom behind those words since she could die. His face right after she says it tells me it might be the latter… And I love that they kiss out in the open at the island table where anyone could see them, but who cares. They’re in love and nothing else really matters. Not her crew walking in on them or some gun phone that could potentially protect her. I love how her hands end up on his chest again and he holds onto them. Everything about that moment was perfect.

Jeresa in NOLA. At first this last scene didn’t stick out to me but on my second, third (and fourth) rewatch it’s very telling! Remember what I said about them finally being one unit? I think this scene is a good example of that. She comes out and hands Chicho the keys to her business, literally. James follows right behind her and stands to her right ;) he then directs Chicho to escort Samara to the car. I feel like that scene conveyed how they are finally becoming equals- standing side by side, in black and white. Both are giving orders and there’s finally a sense of balance that’s righted itself within their dynamic. Not necessarily a queenpin and her soldier but two partners. Pote asks her if she’ll miss Nola. She undoubtedly says no, and I think James even smirks a little bit but I can’t be sure. I love that he pats Pote on the shoulder right after she gives that answer and then follows his girl out to the car. The time for “another life” has finally arrived and neither James nor Teresa are looking back. That was the message being sent in my opinion!

All I will say about that last scene.. no I don’t think he really killed her. Shipping aside, it just wouldn’t make any logical sense. Everything he’s ever done has been to keep her safe so unless the show has taken a sci-fi spin and he’s become a robot, there’s no way.

Well that concludes my analysis/meta. That was pretty long so I won’t linger but I hope you enjoyed my perspective on the best episode all season. And then we have one more to go… I’m not ready at all but here goes nothing.

#jeresa #queen of the south #james valdez #teresa mendoza #qots #otp #alice braga #qots spoilers #shippers gonna ship #peter gadiot #long reads #qots season 5 #qots meta #pote galvez #kelly anne van awken

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lirio-de-los-desiertos · 3 years

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You don't go and talk about getting out of this life and getting somewhere safe, talking about loved ones, and then throwing "maybe in another life" like... IF THAT'S NOT FORESHADOWING I'M GOING TO SUE

Give me that happy ending on a beach you cowards

#queen of the south #qots #jeresa #qots spoilers #qots season 5 #The way I screamed at that kiss #My partner thought someone died

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jxt4ever-queenofthesouth · 3 years

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everyone deserves that... - 3x05

you deserve that... - 5x02

#jeresa #james valdez #queen of the south #qots #teresa mendoza #peter gadiot #qots season 3 #qots season 5

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la-ermitana · 2 years

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It’s a long shot. It’s the only one we have.

Teresa turning to James

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jerepars · 3 years

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My QOTS 5x02 live reactions:

So does everyone live in this mansion safe house now?

“that’s not how money laundering works” Lol, you tell him, KA.

“Are you staying?” “Do you want me to stay?” IS THIS MY FIC

Jeresa tension at an ALL TIME HIGH *breathes into paper bag*

Did James just get a full on THANK YOU from Pote? WHAT IS THIS? Character development?

SMILING together about Teresa being pissed when they let KA live?

Tony was like a son? Like a son? A son who despised you?

“she needs you” DID I WRITE THIS *Kermit the frog style flailing*

James and Chicho were bonding, T-rex! (what’s up with James’ hair in this scene though?)

“Fine, but do it my way.” “K.” HNNNNGGGGG

So…a literal bloodbath?

“I’m a quick healer. I’m already back.” aka “I would literally die for you and apologize for bleeding on your shirt with my one last dying breath.”

Um…Pote is just shooting people in the head liberally now?

Teresa doesn’t want anyone’s advice, Oksana. James is uncomfortable.

Did James just…LAUGH?

“You deserve that” AGAIN DID I WRITE THIS can we talk about the EYE CONTACT

wait what a kiss right NOW?! James is dying this season for sure.

So is that part of why they all need to get out then? Does Teresa fast track getting out of the business for them? A Kote baby?

“I want you to stay and make sure I don’t die but we’re not gonna be a thing ever……..I hope you understand” Lol. Just rip his heart out now, why don’t you?

Queenpin would break his heart anyway though. She still WILL. She definitely will.

I see you keeping James at arm’s length to protect yourself, girl. I SEE YOU. “in another life” do you mean in another few episodes?

These two haven’t seen each other in a year and are more in love than ever LOOOOOOOL

Yo who decided Boaz would be this good of a character? Am I just going to end every episode reaction being excited about Boaz? I LOVE BOAZ.

#qots #queen of the south #qots spoilers #qots reactions #teresa mendoza #james valdez #pote galvez #kelly anne van awken #qots 5x02 #cecil lafayette #oksana volkova #queen of the south spoilers #qots season 5 #queen of the south season 5 #jeresa

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calliopecalling · 2 years

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QOTS Rewatch - 3x13 - El Mundo

First things first: I actually think this is an incredibly strong episode with great emotional range from a wide cast of characters, tying up the first three seasons' worth of story pretty neatly and introducing new elements to carry into the next season (whether those elements were used well--or at all--in that season is a subject for another day). Cortez got his comeuppance (and watching George go at him with a chainsaw was truly super). Camila got hers, Teresa-style, meaning no violence involved (Teresa's exasperated 'you're crazy!' was also super). James got to save the day and pass the buck to Javier. Teresa finally got to take over Phoenix and then set off for sights unknown. Basically a satisfying episode.

Except... it also breaks my heart 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Do I even really need to recap the events of the episode? I've spent over a week reblogging gifsets and I think I pretty much captured it all lol. James and Javier head off to Mexico, following the tracker on Camila to find and capture Cortez. Teresa, back in Phoenix, meets Castel, who warns her that Cortez plans to strike against her. As a result, she figures out there's something wrong with Cortez's latest shipment and narrowly survives a bomb intended to kill her. All of this leads to Cortez going doooown sucka. Then Castel delivers Camila to Teresa, Teresa banishes her, and now she's in control of Phoenix, yay! All her enemies are finally out of the picture! Pecas, Mayo, Cortez, Camila! So what does she do.... but decide to go expand, make some new enemies somewhere else.

And the thing is I get it because... the other big thing that happens obviously is James leaves her and she's gutted. She can't stay in Phoenix after this. It's his house. And ambition has always been her response to having her heart broken. It's her survival strategy. Right? She gets her first toe-hold in the business in the aftermath of Guero's first "death," and she claws her way up to being an asset to Camila so that she doesn't have to be a sex slave. Then Brenda's death is the catalyst for her staying in the business and partnering with Camila. Camila's betrayal of her is the catalyst for her deciding to fight for her right to be in the business herself. Guero's real death leads her to buckle down and fight back against her enemies, whom she'd hoped to peacefully coexist with. And now James leaving her... I think this is the catalyst for her deciding to focus on growing her business.

Or at least, the catalyst for her deciding to do it so quickly and drastically. She's had expanding in mind for a long time: it was back in 3x05 that she said, "now that we have a team, we can expand, get big enough where no one can hurt us." But I think this is a little bit different. That was before everything came crashing down around her. That was back when she still thought she could just sell on the dark web and no one would need to bother her because she wasn't threatening their street corners. That was when she still thought she could show everyone that this business could be operated like a legitimate business!

So when James leaves at the end of this episode and she takes off for sights unseen (aka New Orleans which... lol is not "a long flight" from Phoenix, but anyway...), the context is totally different. By now, she knows it's not really possible to do things all that differently. She's played a defensive game this season, sure--she hasn't instigated any of the drama that came at her--but she had to play the game. She had to kill her enemies (Camila being the notable exception, but I'll maybe get to that in my season 3 retrospective), she had to experience death and violence herself (Guero, obviously, but also the reporter in 3x04, and Bilal, and her own several near-death experiences). So if James had stayed, I kind of think she might not have rushed off to expand anywhere else. I think she might have genuinely just... hunkered down for a little while. Rested. Let things be. But... it's his house she's in, and he's gone. She can't stay. She has to compartmentalize. She has to do something with the restlessness that results from trying to keep her broken heart taped together. So off she goes, to try to keep busy and distract herself from the devastation she will surely feel if she slows down.

In other words: James's departure is directly related, I believe, to her queenpin arc. He's another in a line of devastating losses.

And speaking of James, on this rewatch it really sank in for me how much his leaving her--and not just the fact of his leaving but the way he left--was truly to save her. The way he saw that couple in the fight with Cortez, the woman who refused to leave the side of her dying lover even though it meant her own inevitable death? That was no accident. In 3x12, you could see James struggling with the knowledge that he had to leave with Devon but couldn't tell Teresa that. You could see the internal battle play out. This rewatch I really have come to believe that he wanted desperately to tell her, and he might have, even. But seeing that woman die for her lover, without hesitation, without fear--he saw Teresa. Any hope he had that he might tell Teresa that he wasn't leaving her, he was going with Devon, died with those two lovers in Cortez's hideout. He realized, as Devon put it so inelegantly, that he would have inevitably "dragged her down" if he had told her. She wouldn't have let him go. She would have fought with him to her death. And he's right.

Something about that makes it so much more devastating to me than on previous watches where I've largely just accepted that he was doing the ultimate sacrifice for her. Somehow it hits differently when I realize that it's not just him being self-sacrificing. He's doing it because she would too. If he didn't, she would. He's sacrificing himself for her so that he doesn't have to watch her sacrifice herself for him. It's like. ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING. Because it's not only the biggest statement of love you could imagine, it's the biggest statement of validation. Of forgiveness. He sees who she really is, not the version of her that mistrusted him. He leaves knowing she would die for him. And she thinks he leaves because she let him down.

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

It's just brilliant. It's so brilliant. I wish Peter hadn't up and left because season 4 could have really explored this (I mean, it should've explored this better anyway, even without James around). It could've explored more explicitly how on the one hand, James is off sacrificing himself for the version of her that would die for him, the version of her that strives to do things with integrity and trust and respect, and meanwhile, she buries that part of herself more and more because she no longer believes in it herself. Because she thinks her failure to live up to that part of herself has let down the person she loves most and needs most.

Anyway. So, off she goes. Looking staggeringly beautiful, as she does, but also wistful. Pained, almost. Queenpin gives her El Mundo--the tarot card--and looks out the window with peaceful anticipation, but Teresa? She looks heavy-hearted. And we know she has every reason to be. 🥺

#queen of the south #qots #qots s3 #3x13 #2021 rewatch #txt post #qots reaction post #qots meta #oh! I also wanted to talk about Taza really quick #because this is our last time seeing him #I really really wish they'd actually been able to bring him back for season 5 #because he was a fave of mine #and this show has a terrible track record of killing off BIPOC characters without due respect imo #anyway I appreciated that not only does she open the episode offering to double his percentage from their original agreement #but she does it so that he can get out of the business in 5 years #maybe I'm misunderstanding this? but I interpret that as meant to be a favor for him #she knows his tribe doesn't want to be in the business #they want to be legit #so this is her way of offering him that path #which I just love #so much #and I shed literal tears when I watched that part and realized that he won't get out in 5 years #because he'll die before then #and we won't even get to see him off 😢#LITERAL TEARS #RIP Taza

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