Reine du Sud

Queen of the South is a USA Network production about a drug cartel run by a fictional woman named Teresa Mendoza played by Alice Braga. Teresa flees Mexico after her boyfriend is murdered and she settles in Dallas and builds her empire to become the biggest drug smuggler to the states. The first few seasons start out strong with Teresa having to fight for her life against Vargas family and takes over the territory. She eventually ends up controlling the southeast corner of the country. The later seasons were less for certain and very well over the top. The cast members over the years included Peter Gadiot, Hemky Madera, Joseph Campos, Joaquin de Almeida, David Andrews, Ryan O'Nan, and Brett Cullen. Overall it was a very entertaining series and unlike most cartel movies, this series does not end on a bad note. God series, good cast, definitely check it out.

I found "Queen of the South" (2016) to be very similar to "La Reina del Sur" (2011) with both portraying Teresa Mendoza's life story surrounded by corrupted cops, politicians, drug traffickers and dealers wrestling for power and control of Colombia's cocaine import business to Mexico and the United States but the story line and events ave very different. I enjoyed them both very much but am partial to the earlier version which is more colorful and authentic in my opinion even though it is in Spanish with subtitles. Both are currently available on Netflix.

I really enjoy this show. It's harsh, violent, realistic and suspenseful. Interesting perspective to have have a female drug smuggler fight her way to the "top". Also interesting to see a multi faceted person, a good person doing bad things. A drug lord with a heart. The acting is good and the story lines are also very strong. I also appreciate that the writers seem to know when the story becomes monotonous, so they change it up with new characters and locations. I would agree with some of the other reviewers that think Camilla has run her course as I I'm ready for her to go. This show has some some very interesting and sinister villains, El Santo, the sex trafficker, Deven, and she has been around the longest, yet she's my least favorite. Despite Camilla, I'm really surprised that this is not rated higher on IMDb. One of the best shows on cable.

I am honestly very surprised at the low rating for this show. I consider myself a movie and TV snob who completely dislikes the same old same junk from CBS, NBC, and Fox, etc. I love Breaking Bad, Fargo, True Detective, Happy Valley, Sherlock and other quality shows that are similar. This show is no Breaking Bad, but it is enjoyable! For the first 2 episodes I have been pleasantly surprised. Give it a shot! The episodes move quickly and so far, I'm blue at the end that I have to wait another week to see what happens next. The acting is solid, the script is good so far, and if they can keep it up this will be a great show for the long run! I hope it stays around!

Ok. Now, for the bad part. Every performance except for one is exceptional. Unfortunately, the one-dimensional performance by Veronica Falcon diminishes the whole series because she is the co-star. She plays Camila, head of her own cartel. The hype says she's on of Latin America's best actresses. Hell no! She has no depth of character whatsoever. Zero personality with every line delivered it the same way. Can't blame it all on her. Didn't the Director and producers sit down with her and get her to commit to a more rounded villain. God, she's just terrible. I have seldom disliked the performance of a leading character in a series I liked. When she's off screen, the series is a 10.