Go here for our previous recap of the Dallas-set TV show Queen of the South, airing on USA.
Strength can be found in the darkness, and that is exactly what happened in the newest episode of Queen of the South.
As the show begins, Teresa is getting another pep talk from her future self, appearing as a reflection in the mirror. She tells her about a flower that grows in the dark, called the Lily of the Valley — this is a symbol for Teresa, although right now she looks like a sad, drooping flower disconnected from its roots.
James walks in and leads her to another part of the warehouse where a female drug mule hands her a bottle of juice, but surprise, it’s actually filled with drugs.
“It’s your first delivery alone. You’re moving up in the world,” James says as his words fade into the title sequence, and that’s when the audience knows things are about to go down. After the title fades, James instructs Teresa that she must complete this task, no matter what.
“I don’t care if you hit something, a cat, a dog, a priest, you do not stop.” Words of wisdom by good ol’ James.
Teresa begrudgingly accepts the mission — she doesn’t really have a choice anyway — and starts her car with a screwdriver, which is quite resourceful. Off she goes into the city. As she drives away, you can see part of the Dallas skyline on the dusty road she drives onto.
Brenda and Tony have reached Dallas, and at one point we see them scamming people as they wait for Teresa. In a weird way, this actually adds a comedic element to the show.
Teresa arrives at her destination. A man answers the door and warmly invites her in, saying Sandra is on her way back. That’s already a red flag. He starts telling her stories about his visits to a casino, and Teresa sees someone he has kidnapped through the mirror hanging on a door. It’s Sandra, tied up against the wall. Teresa slides a small knife into a newspaper on the counter and pushes it onto the floor as this man keeps talking.
This creepy coke head offers Teresa some blow and says, “I like my women high. They can cook.” Wow. If there is any line that could make someone hot and bothered, it’s that one.
Suddenly Sandra jumps up and whips the knife at him and it lands in his chest? And then a burly man comes down the hallway with a huge rifle, and she shoots him too, because of course she has a gun. Teresa grabs the rifle off the ground, and from that point, they call James and let them know there is a problem. He shows up with Camila and she instructs Sandra to “turn the stove on” once they leave. As Elizabeth Shue said in 1987’s Adventures in Babysitting, “don’t f— with the babysitter.”
The Sandra scenes aren’t the only intense ones in this episode. Cesar, a part of Epifanio’s crew, at one point kidnaps Teresa. Once Camila catches wind of this, she sends state troopers on her payroll to capture him and save Teresa.
Later, Camila informs the tied-up Cesar of her plans and expectations to overthrow her husband and seize his business. We are four episodes in, and there hasn’t been a single glimpse of fear in Camila’s eyes. Epifanio wants her to give in, but she stands her ground as the reigning Dallas drug queen. “Women are vengeful by nature,” she tells Cesar.
If Camila is any preview of what Teresa will become, I’m scared. If she is even tamer than Teresa will be, then I’m terrified.
Episode No. 5 of Queen of the South airs at 9 p.m. next Thursday, July 21 on USA.
