La Muerte

drowning

explosion

**La Muerte** is the 36th episode in the series. It premiered on August 23, 2018. It translates to "The Death."

## Summary

Returning to Bolivia, Teresa risks her life to prove her loyalty to El Santo.

## Plot

###### Bolivia

Teresa wakes in a pile of rubble, bloody and confused. She rises and stumbles around. Dead bodies litter the building. A baby cries in the distance. Teresa follows the sound to find El Santo rocking a child in his arms. El Santo blames Teresa for killing everyone and says that she's the Judas. He attacks her.

###### Phoenix, 48 hours ago

Teresa calls James to ask him where he is. He says that he's at the safehouse and she tells him that she just got to the motel. Pote's at the winery and James is about to deliver some product. Teresa reports that she's almost to the motel. James brings up Kelly Anne and tells her that she's been using product and skimming, asking if Teresa really wants her back in. Teresa knows that she's been using, but thinks that Kelly Anne is safer with them, and she's just going to check on her.

###### Kelly Anne's motel room

Kelly Anne opens the door and comments that Teresa got there fast. Kelly Anne rambles as she tries to cover up various drug paraphernalia in the room, but Teresa sees it. Teresa tells her to take her time and goes outside to wait. A van pulls up in front of Teresa and the door is opened to reveal on of El Santo's angels. She holds a letter and tells Teresa that she has been summoned and that she will travel to Bolivia. Confused, because she's been keeping up with her payments, Teresa asks what he wants with her. The Angel says simply that it is not a request and that she will go tomorrow at sunrise. Alone. The two men that were escorting the girl get back in the van and drive away. In the envelope is a piece of paper with El Santo's symbol on it.

###### James' compound

Teresa tells James and Pote about what happened and she decides that she has to go. Pote gives her a gun made of plastic and a card that his godfather, El Puño, gave to him, which got him through some dark times. On the card is printed "Bendito sea el señor mi roca, que adiestra mis manos para la guerra y mis dedos para la batalla." This translates to "Blessed be the Lord my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle." He reminds her that if she needs him in Bolivia, he's there. He asks her to be careful before leaving the room, though he watches from the hallway as James says goodbye to Teresa. James reminds Teresa that she won't have him and Guero there to protect her this time, and she says that she remembers saving both of them. James tells her to come back to them and she says that she will.

Teresa takes a shower and goes back to her room, picking up Guero's medallion and putting it on. Kelly Anne knocks on the door and Teresa tells her to come in. Kelly Anne picks up the card that Pote gave to Teresa and asks if Teresa's mom ever read her the Bible when she was little. Teresa says that she doesn't remember. Kelly Anne says that she used to imagine herself as the heroes in the stories her dad would read to her and cries as she admits she doesn't know how she got here and talks a bit about the drugs. Kelly Anne asks how Teresa keeps from just curling up into a little ball and Teresa tells her that she never had that option. Kelly Anne leaves and Teresa reads the words from the card aloud.

###### El Santo's Estate, Bolivia

Teresa is blindfolded and taken by boat to the 'grounds of El Santo's estate, somewhere in Bolivia.' The small boat is taken into a shed while one of El Santo's Angels sits outside. In the shed, men use metal detector wands on Teresa and her suitcase. Still blindfolded, she is led outside to a Jeep where the Angel sits in the back. From Teresa's point of view behind the blindfold, we can see that she is not totally in the dark.

The blindfold is removed in front of a large house. The Angel takes Teresa's hand and leads her inside and up the stairs to room 311. The Angel tells her that the 'guardians are watching' her and that she 'must remain there with her family until El Santo says so.' A dress is laid out on the bed for Teresa to wear that night. The Angel leaves the bedroom.

Teresa puts on her dress and checks her bag, revealing her plastic gun. Teresa doesn't notice the Angel in the room, who removes her mask and tells her that she looks beautiful. The Angel tells her that it's time for her to go downstairs and meet the others. Teresa is confused because she hadn't expected there to be others.

Teresa sits down next to Sasha and asks her if she knows why she's there. Sasha says that it's the same reason that they're all there -- he called, they came. Everyone present is a dealer and a 'cold ass killer.' Sasha runs all of El Santo's supply lines through Morocco.

El Santo enters and welcomes them to his family home. He gives a speech about how family is all they have and how important trust is. He gives them the gift of forgiveness. A projector shows pictures of the destroyed compound that has been firebombed. All of his workers died. None of the people invited to the party can leave until one of them confess.

The guests dance at El Santo's request, and Teres winds up dancing with El Dentista. El Dentista says this isn't about cocaine or business -- it's spiritual warfare and the eternal struggle between good and evil. The prison had been attacked a week ago on Sunday. The person that Teresa is dancing with is about to tell Teresa who he believes did it when an Angel leads him away.

A pregnant woman is brought down the stairs by the Angels and El Santo introduces her as the mother of his son, saying that her purity is unparalleled. El Santo says that when he's with her, it's like his heart is outside of his body. Teresa tells Sasha that they just took El Dentista and that they could be next. Teresa tells her that she has a gun in her room and Sasha says that she'll follow her lead. A woman tries to stop the two of them as they head to her room. Sasha asks who she thinks the snitch is before pulling Teresa into a doorway to hide from the guards. When the coast is clear, they continue down the hallway. Teresa pauses at an open door and calls out to a man sitting inside. When Teresa turns the chair around, she can see that El Dentista's teeth have been removed and put into his forehead. He is still alive, but Sasha pulls her away. They have to hide from more guards in the hallway, who are entering the room next to Teresa's. Sasha tries to discourage Teresa from telling the others, but she does anyway. They want to pin it on the Irish woman, but Teresa doesn't want to.

El Santo interrupts and asks Teresa if she enjoyed her stroll around his house before calling for music and dancing with her. Teresa asks if El Dentista betrayed him, and El Santo says no, that he was incapable of it. She asks why he tortured him, and he says that El Dentista was his gatekeeper and he let in a wolf. She reminds him that he was his family. El Santo says that sometimes love is not warm, sometimes violence and pain can be part of God's greater plan and that she should know that now more than ever. *Do I detect a darkness in you that I never saw before?* He touches Teresa's necklace. *Is it your old friend, the one who offered up his life for you? I'm sorry mi'ja. Speak the truth. Have the darkness overtaken you? Have you betrayed me?*

Sasha interrupts to say that yes, Teresa is the Judas, and that she brought a gun into his house. An Angel holds Teresa's gun. Sasha lies and says that Teresa tried to get her to escape, but Sasha said that she would never betray her family and then Teresa threatened all of their lives. The Celtic woman rallies behind Sasha and says that Teresa tried to get her to turn too but she told her to go slag herself. Sasha tells El Santo that Teresa's his snitch, while Teresa tells him that she didn't do this. *I think that we have found our Judas. Vamos.* The guards take Teresa as she protests and tries to get El Santo to listen to her. El Santo speaks of the voodoo doctors who used toad and pufferfish neurotoxins to control death. It can induce a type of walking coma and turn its victims into living zombies. Teresa struggles as they try to put the toxin in her mouth. A sound stops El Santo as he looks up. The house is hit by something and a fire breaks out. People fall to the floor in the explosion.

Teresa wakes up just as she had at the beginning of the episode, to the sound of a baby crying. El Santo attacks her, yelling that she is the Judas. Teresa finds the body of El Santo's lover. A knife lies next to the body, and she realizes that El Santo cut the baby out of its mother. El Santo returns to the crying child and tells her what happened. El Santo says that her people left no survivors last time. Teresa reminds him if that she were to blame, she would have left before the bombings started, and so would the others. They wouldn't bomb themselves. Maybe it was his fault. El Santo calls himself careless. A door opens and a man carrying a gun enters the room as Teresa ducks down next to El Santo, telling him that someone's there. More men infiltrate the house, killing any of the survivors. Teresa recognizes Devon Finch's voice on the radio and tells El Santo that they have to go before they kill them. He says that he has something that he must do first.

Devon releases a drone to search the property. El Santo tells his crying son to calm down and begins a ritual. Teresa comes back and asks where his son is. El Santo replies that his son has his own path. The two of them leave the building and come across a large puddle of mud. The drones sense heat, so they have to lower their body heat by taking the poison. El Santo says that he wishes that there was another way because he doesn't look forward to what awaits him before taking a swig of the poison and entering the mud. He offers the rest to Teresa, warning her that their resurrection is not guaranteed, and she hesitates before getting into the mud and ingesting it as well. Guero appears to her and speaks to her in Spanish, telling her to join him on the other side.

Devon's drone and his men patrol the property. Men are sent to check out a heat signature that the drone picked up, and a man asks if they see anything as Teresa's face sinks deeper under the mud.

In Teresa's dreamscape, Guero joins her on the couch and reassures her that he's there for her forever and that what's his is hers, giving her the deed to his house. He tells her that he asked Epifanio if they could walk away from this life, and Epifanio said 'to be careful what you wish for,' but he let them go. They can start a new life, a new family. He kisses her.

The dreamscape cuts to Teresa at the bathroom sink. Guero comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her, his hands on her pregnant belly. He says that he knows it's a girl. On Teresa's arm appears her moyocoyotzin tattoo and she picks at it before the scene shifts again.

Guero and their daughter lead Teresa down a street as fireworks go off. Teresa notices a figure in black, which distracts her from the image of Guero and their daughter. The figure begins to turns toward the camera.

In the real world, men search the mud for any signs of life, blaming the heat signature on an animal. They are ordered to continue to search for Teresa and El Santo, and as they turn away, Teresa resurfaces just barely.

In the dreamscape, the daughter tells Teresa that she loves her before going off. Teresa looks at Guero watching her leave before saying that she wishes that this was real. Guero asks if it matters, because they have another chance. Teresa repeats that this is a dream, this isn't real. He asks if she wants to go back to a life where people are trying to kill her. He says that there's nothing for her back there. The figure in the black hoodie turns to face Teresa. It's James. The Queen of the South cuts in to say that her life is painful and ugly but it's hers and she only gets one. Teresa tells Guero that she can't stay. She repeats that this isn't real and tells him that she's sorry. A firework goes off loudly and she has flashbacks of various violent scenes from the show.

Teresa emerges gasping from the mud. It is brighter outside now, and she pulls herself out, washing her face in some dripping water. She goes back to the ruined house and finds Guero's medallion. It has broken to reveal a tracker. El Santo uses a brick to trace a circle in the dust. The soldiers have taken his son. El Santo says that he is done with this business and questions how so much can be taken from them. Teresa says that as long as you're alive you can recreate yourself. El Santo says that the darkness that he saw around her has changed and that it is no longer her enemy. *We must find the people who did this to us and we must destroy them.* *Hi'ja, you have been reborn. Go in peace.*

###### James's compound in Phoenix

Pote offers James $500 each if he can shoot all of the bottles. James takes the bet. Pote easily shoots the closest beer bottles, then the next farthest at James's prompting. Pote laughs as he breaks them with guns in both hands. *Ha ha ha, that's what I'm talking about, cabron.* James asks if he feels any pain in his hand and Pote says that he hasn't since Mexico. Pote says that he's ready to go if he has to. *You thinking what I'm thinking?* James says that they shouldn't have let her go alone. Pote laughs. *You think you could have stopped her? When Teresa gets something in her head, it'd be easier to stop a freaking bullet than her.* Pote asks if he wants an michilada as he turns to go get one for himself. James says yeah. Pote laughs as he picks up money off of the truck bed and says *pleasure doing business with you, cabron.* James scratches his nose and says *hey, don't forget that thousand bucks you owe me.* Pote asks *what thousand bucks?* James shoots the farthest two bottles easily and sniffs. Pote hands him his money with a shake of his head, saying *cabron.*

Pote gets a call from Teresa on a satellite phone on a small boat in Bolivia. She asks if he's alone and tells him that they may have lost their supply. She tells him that they have a rat and that they put a tracker in Guero's necklace that Devon Finch used to track her there. Pote asks if she suspects James. She says that she doesn't know but that they have a mole.

## Characters

* Teresa Mendoza
* James Valdez
* Pote Galvez
* Kelly Anne Van Awken
* El Santo's Angel
* The Charger
* Camila Vargas (mentioned)
* El Santo
* Devon Finch
* Sasha
* The Queen of the South

## Quotes

* James: You won't have me or Guero to protect you this time.
	+ Teresa: I remember me saving both of you.

* James: Be careful. Come back to us.
	+ Teresa: I will.

* Teresa: You're stronger than you think.
	+ Kelly Anne: How do you not just curl up into a little ball?
	+ Teresa: Because I never had that choice.

* El Santo: One of you has betrayed me.
* Teresa: I wish this was real.
	+ Guero: Does it matter? We've got another chance.
	+ Teresa: But this is a dream. This isn't real.
	+ Guero: You wanna go back to a life where you have to fight and kill? That's not what I wanted for you, Teresa. There's nothing for you back there.
	+ The Queen of the South: Your life is painful and ugly. But it's yours. And you only get one.
	+ Guero: You've lost everyone you love.
	+ Teresa: I can't stay.
	+ Guero: If you let go of this you're going to be all alone out there.
	+ Teresa: I know... This isn't real. I'm sorry. I love you.
	+ Guero: Love you too. Always.
* Teresa: As long as you're alive, you can recreate yourself.
	+ El Santo: Moyocoyotzin... Teresa. The darkness that I saw in you earlier has been lifted. No, it has changed. It is no longer your enemy. We must find the people who did this to us and we must destroy them. *Hi'ja, you have been reborn. Go in peace.*
* James: We shouldn't have let her go alone.
	+ Pote: You think you could have stopped her? When Teresa gets something in her head, it'd be easier to stop a freaking bullet than her.

## Notes & Trivia

* Kelly Anne stayed in room 157.
* Ryan O'Nan produced this episode.
* Ryan O'Nan tweeted that "It wasn’t actually a flashback. It was a hallucination or a trip into the land of the dead. She’s confronted with an alternative string of how her life could’ve turned out, and maybe can if she stays dead. James is there as a reminder of what’s important to her in the real world."
* The little girl in Teresa's hallucination was one of El Santo's angels.
* Ryan O'Nan tweeted, "You wanna hear some funny ass shit. When I named the character Sasha, I had ZERO idea her name was Tasha on Power. Hahaha. Happy accident!! @naturinaughton [Naturi Naughton] and I laughed about that shit."
* Ryan O'Nan: "New episode!! I actually wrote this baby. Story by the infinitely badass @armedkandy [Natalie Chaidez] and myself. Directed by one of my favorite directors, David Boyd, who I worked with on ep 206. @naturi4real [Naturi Naughton] guest stars like a rockstar! And El Santo is back!#queenofthesouth @queenonusa #awesome"
* Writer Jorge Reyes also tweeted, "Many kudos to @IamRyanONan for creating the world of El Santo. It’s a very defined and specific, scary world that sprung from the mind of a very kind and non scary dude. #QueenOfTheSouth"
* Jorge Reyes tweeted, "A movie we referenced a lot in the writers room is The 25th Hour, and the flash forward “what if” sequence at the end. [Ryan O'Nan] did it beautiful justice with that Teresa and Guero sequence"

## Parallels (contains spoilers)

 El Santo, to Teresa: You had to die to be reborn into my family.

## Gallery

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