Season 3

**Season 3** of Queen of the South consists of 13 episodes.

The season premiered on June 21, 2018.

## Plot overview

Teresa -- a woman forced to run from the Mexican cartel and seek refuge in America -- strikes out on her own, determined to build a new empire for herself. But as enemies old and new close in, she realizes that being Queen will require more work -- and more sacrifice -- than she ever imagined. In Season 3 Teresa establishes her business in Phoenix, Arizona and removes some of her rivals, which gives her control over the supply corridor from Colombia - Culiacan - USA.

## Story

Teresa and Pote have built up a decent operation in Malta over the past six months. Currently they ar working with a banker Rocco de la Pena who deals in cryptocurrency and whose improvements are shown to interest Teresa. She has engaged Ivan, and IT guy who builds her a dark web site to distribute mail order cocaine in a safer manner.

Teresa’s delivery has issues and while trying to resolve them, Teresa gets attacked and is saved by a car that drives at high speed and comes to an erratic stop in front of the bombed café. It’s revealed that James saves Teresa’s life from sicarios who are after her. Being mistrustful of him, Teresa locks him in the trunk, but he is able to free himself again and after hurling his whole body through a window saves her life again in the 2 hour period. Pote is taken by Camila’s sicarios and tortured for information on Teresa. Pote’s shooting hands is badly damaged.

Teresa and James escape with Rocco’s help. James denies having betrayed Teresa at the cabin with the tracker and she believes him. He discloses that he has worked for Devon Finch and after a botched job in Texas, he is tired of the violence and wants to take her up on her offer to do business in a better way. Teresa takes him in to work for her. Pote has reservations about James, but has to work through them.

Teresa burns her Malta operation in order to free girls enslaved by the cartel and the three of them arrive in Phoenix, Arizona where James owns a big compound and where Teresa buys a winery to be her legitimate front. Kelly Anne joins the operation as manager of the winery.

The team targets La Commission, the group pf five narcos who run Arizona and offers them better coke and better terms. Pecas, one of the five, is shown to be working for Camila.

Camila and Cortez have teamed up against Boaz Jimenez. Cortez is shown to play games behind both the backs of Boaz and Camila. Isabella and Kique are engaged, which makes the relationship between Camila and Boaz even more complicated. Camila wants to recover from Boaz the business that Epifanio sold him, but Boaz is not eager to give in. Camila starts an affair with DEA agent Loya, whom she is feeding cartel information to both harm Boaz and to ensure he helps her search for Teresa.

La Commission and Teresa agree that Teresa will take down the corrupt sheriff Mayo whom they pay, but who does not play fair. James puts the sheriff in a the hospital with a shot but he survives. La Commission accepts Teresa’s business.

Teresa and James run the biz for a little over a month and make over $30mln revenue. They celebrate one night with a bottle of wine when Devon Finch takes over the winery and requires their presence. Devon wants James for not completing his job when working for Devon as well as an introduction to El Santo. Teresa and James find a weak spot in Devon's team and make Devon leave, however it becomes clear to Devon that they care deeply for each other. In the developments of the evening Kelly Anne is wine boarded, she gets very distraught and ends up getting close with Pote.

James and Teresa, who have grown close to each other, have a heart to heart talk after the events of the night. Hidden feelings come to the surface, Teresa comforts James who feels terrible remorse for a little girl who died when he botched Devon’s job, Teresa forgives him not telling her the whole truth and they promise each other that they are together in this biz and will not hide things from each other. They end up kissing and making love.

In the morning, Teresa is kidnapped when she leaves the house. She is sent to Mexico where Camila and Cortez put her in a cell with Guero. It is revealed that they have snatched Guero before he could reach Teresa and have kept him as bait for 8 months. Camila and Teresa have a conversation where it becomes clear that Camila has had and will have Guero tortured and killed in front of Teresa’s eyes to avenge Epifanio’s death. Teresa turns her back when they cut a gash in Guero’s leg.

Guero has hidden a knife and he and Teresa manage to escape and hide in a clinic when Teresa, despite Guero’s jealous protests, calls James and begs him to hurry. James and Pote have been looking for Teresa frantically. James and Pote help them escape and Guero gets shot. He dies in the car on the way to Phoenix. Teresa is distraught with grief and in the next few days acts crazy by almost crashing a plane during a flying lesson, not sleeping, leaving the winery alone to meet Taza, etc. James and Pote lock her up in the cellar in an attempt to make her sleep and eat. They save her life from a sicario Pecas sends after her.

Teresa gets Taza on her side and as his tribe’s reservation borders Mexico, they intercept Camila’s shipment. Later they successfully transport their own coke to Phoenix and make Pecas an offer to only buy from them. Pecas refuses and a war follows.

Teresa and James talk about their relationship and promise each other respect. Teresa shares with James her difficulties in trusting people. Pote overhears parts of this intimate conversation and later asks Teresa about them. Upon finding out that they love each other Pote seriously tells Teresa that any relationship is dangerous in this biz.

After the team defeats La Commission, Teresa and James make out and subsequently run Phoenix for several weeks until Teresa is summoned to Bolivia by el Santo. When in Bolivia El Santo’s compound is bombed and his operation is demolished. It is the CIA, lead by their undercover contractor Devon Finch who manages the operation. The CIA gets to El Santo’s location by using a tracker in a medallion Teresa took from Guero and wore on her.

Teresa knows she has a mole and when Pote finds a recording device in James’s room and accuses him of being the mole, Teresa has trouble believing it, while James uncovers the real mole – Kelly Anne who has been high on coke and whom Devon threatened. Teresa orders Kelly Anne’s death and James shoots her, however their relationship takes a hit as James is hurt by Teresa’s suspicions.

Meanwhile Cortez kills Kique Jimenez and misrepresents his fate with Isabella, turning her against Camila. Camila is on the run in Mexico as Cortez has ousted her and taken over. Camila arrives in Arizona and makes contact with Teresa. She offers her Colombian supplier in exchange for help taking Cortez down and freeing Isabella from his reach. They enlist King George and Javier Jimenez in the plan. After the success of the plan Camila ends up being sent back to Cortez and James informs Teresa that he is leaving as she has not been able to trust him. Teresa begs him to stay and he promises to think about it.

The Colombian supplier is taken over by his niece Castel. Castel presents herself to Teresa and brings Camila to her but Teresa does not have the heart to kill Camila and sends her in exile.

While Teresa becomes the owner of the corridor from Colombia to Arizona and the team is celebrating, James takes his goodbyes and leaves. It is revealed that he does not leave on his own volition but he surrenders to Devon Finch as the CIA wants him removed from Teresa’s operation. James is told that Castel is CIA and Teresa will not be bothered by the CIA as long as James works for them and as long as she is useful to them.

## Episodes

1. La Ermitaña
2. El Colgado
3. Reina de Oros
4. La Fuerza
5. El Juicio
6. Los Enamorados
7. Reina de Espadas
8. El Carro
9. El Diablo
10. La Muerte
11. Diez de Copas
12. Justicia
13. El Mundo

## Trivia

* Ryan O'Nan tweeted "...This season, every episode is named after a different Tarot card. Super fun idea of @armedkandy [former showrunner/EP Natalie Chaidez] !! Each card represents the ep in some way."
* They wrapped the season on June 9, 2018.

## Media

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