A Rainha do Sul

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.

Warning, you can't just watch one show, you will continue watching more and more. The show is absolutely brilliant.

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.

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.

Queen of the South is an incredible action and suspense thriller about the rise of a Cartel Queen. It's not a true story so they can do anything they go anywhere they want with the story and there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you captivated. This show is so much better than I thought it would be and has only gotten better throughout the seasons!