- Network: USA , USA Network
- Series Premiere Date: Jun 23, 2016
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Critic Reviews
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For the most part, the success of the series rests almost entirely on the revelation of its main character. Fortunately, Braga appears to be all USA could have hoped for, and more.
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The show sells us on the idea that pretty, wide-smiling Teresa can become a capable, even vicious, defender of her own hide when threatened, and that Queen of the South might be able to tell a familiar story in a fresh way. The first hour has been beautifully directed by Charlotte Sieling, with lots of lulling silences between action scenes, creating an atmosphere in which anything--any deal, any conversation, any room--can explode at any moment.
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Queen of the South, based on the first three episodes, knows how to dawdle a little without ever slowing to a crawl. The action scenes are gripping, the language can be rough within the expanding confines of ad-supported basic cable and the glimpses of the flesh are fairly bold at times.
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Braga is compelling as the woman who eventually will team with someone from her past to take down the drug trafficking ring that has her on the run. This one is violent and frenetic, kind of like a video game.
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It’s not just the references that fly fast and furious. Queen Of The South also trades heavily in tropes, like various strong-and-silent types, the handsome devil too clever for his own good (Jon Ecker as El Güero), a woman scorned (Veronica Falcón as a rival cartel leader), and the avuncular criminal mastermind (guest star Joaquim De Almeida).
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There’s promise for Queen of the South to diverge into some quality, captivating TV – it has the protagonist to do it--but its shelf life is already reading as worryingly stale.
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The pilot is not exactly thoughtful. Queen of the South is more interested in being torrid and splashy than it is in offering the narrative gymnastics of a “Mr. Robot” or the ripped-from-the-headlines verisimilitude of “Narcos.” Rather, winning at the narcotics game seems to be enough for both the show and its heroine. But Braga is riveting as Teresa--believable and empathetic in a way that the rest of the cast isn’t, quite yet.
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What Queen needs to decide is if it wants to tell the complicated origin story of a drug lord, Breaking Bad-style, or if it’s fine being a shallow-but-entertaining thriller. Right now, it’s trying to be both, and, as the first episode shows, straddling the line can be a one-way ticket to ruin.
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It may not be “great” TV, but it could be pretty fun. For now, it’s only worth the lower price.
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Judging by Episode 1, Queen of the South faces some tough going. But it's too early to write it off altogether.
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Will seeing a female drug dealer's rise (and potential fall if that bullet proves to be fatal, although I'm guessing it won't be) be enough to differentiate this series, told from a female point of view, and justify in investing in Queen of the South? It does seem like a more complicated, different character story. But plot-wise it's less interesting than, say, "Traffic," or certainly "Breaking Bad."
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Braga is terrific in the lead role, and the supporting cast is equally capable, which helps counterbalance the unnaturally hurried pacing of the pilot. In short, a lot of stuff happens in the first episode, too much to be believed, but the character of Teresa and Braga’s performance are enough to pique our interest. And if the rest doesn’t really hit the basic credibility bar, no one’s likely to complain much.
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The pilot of Queen of the South, whose 13-episode first season begins on Thursday, flops back and forth between straightforward, violent action and melodramatic excess, and doesn’t do a very interesting or exciting job with either.
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Much of the time, the show plays as an As the World Turns remake in which the cast has been issued Spanish accents and AK-47s.
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The queenpin's past as a minor drug-trade figure's girlfriend is compressed in the pilot to the point that it's nearly impossible to avoid stereotypes. Since that's the opposite of what occurred in telenovela adaptations like the CW's Jane the Virgin and ABC's earlier Ugly Betty, Queen of the South starts off looking like a step backward, a show that instead of building a bridge between cultures--we have our Breaking Bad, why shouldn't they?--chooses instead a wall.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 25 out of 38
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Mixed: 7 out of 38
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Negative: 6 out of 38
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Sep 21, 2018
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Jul 7, 2017
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Jun 8, 2017