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calliopecalling · 2 years

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QOTS Rewatch - Season 5 Retrospective

Man, I've been dragging my feet on working on this. I've spent almost a full year on this rewatch (it really took on a life of its own; I didn't go into it planning to write involved metas or reblog a week's worth of gifsets for every episode but I am just THAT over the top) and I don't even know what I'm going to do with myself now that it's over. Watch something else?!?!?! Like what!?!?!?! Seriously though.

Anyway, where were we? Season 5. It's an interesting season to reflect back on. Sometimes it feels like my second-favorite season after season 2, and other times it feels like my second-least-favorite season after season 4. It ends up being really difficult to place. Its primary problem really in my opinion is that it's rushed, and there's so much plot to get through that the writers and editors had to leave us with sometimes frustratingly short character-driven scenes and force us to fill in the gap. But it does feel more Teresa-driven than season 1 does and, Kote notwithstanding, the non-Teresa-centered scenes still somehow feel a little more relevant or engaging than some of the Vargas stuff in seasons 1 and 3 both. (Epifanio and Batman's story took up a superfluous amount of screen time in season 1, I realized on rewatch, and season 3 has soooo much Cortez and Isabela and Loya and stuff that is way more painful to watch than Kelly Anne getting an ultrasound, even if Pote's sexist quips do make me roll my eyes.) So I don't know. I guess you'll have to give me a few more weeks to think about it. But season 5 as a whole entity in my opinion stands up pretty well on rewatch. It's the Jeresa content in season 5 that doesn't hold up as well as season 2 or 3's Jeresa. (Again, largely because of how rushed it is.)

But as always, I'll do my ranking and things:

My Top 3 Episodes

My Top 5 Scenes

Season 5 Episodes Ranked

Teresa’s Journey

Jeresa, DUH

Top 3 Season 5 Episodes

3: 5x05, Mas Dinero Mas Problemas

It actually was hard to choose the third place episode. There are several other contenders for this spot. But this episode as a whole is really fun to me. It's Teresa-centric. It features Oksana (yay female characters). It's set in Berlin. It features awesome Jeresa teamwork. It throws back to earlier show canon (Rocco de la Pena! Oleg!) and Teresa even gets to break an asshole's nose. James's all-black suit is to die for, as is Teresa's high pony, and best of all? The non-Teresa-focused material is focused on George and Boaz in Miami which, while definitely feeling sinister, gives both of them great material to work with. George buying Teresa that boat? Lol. This is an episode that I gladly watch in full without wanting to fast-forward through anything (a rarity for me among episodes after season 2) and it's a queenpin-esque version of Teresa that isn't as painful as the previous two episodes. All great stuff.

2: 5x09, A Prueba de Balas

Listen, I am not going to pretend that this is here for any other reason than the love confessions and long-awaited Jeresa hook-up, though I love every single Jeresa moment in the episode, I love that it's down to the two of them against the world (just like it was in the beginning before Teresa even knew that it was the two of them against the world), and I love that she takes out Kostya like the badass she is. We won't talk about the raccoons and peewee soccer.

1: 5x02, Me Llevo Manhattan

OBVIOUSLY. I mean: this episode might be my favorite episode of the entire series. It's perfect, classic, angsty, electric Jeresa; they actually talk to each other about stuff other than business (several times); they call back in their dialogue to earlier seasons. They KISS and it's magnetic. They dance around whatever the fuck it is that's happening between them. And they both just stumble around incoherently attracted to each other but refusing to talk about it because they are imbeciles. On top of all that, there's James back to his going-all-out-to-protect-Teresa habits and Teresa back to her taking-crazy-risks-but-earning-mad-respect bs. Teresa's whole "you work for me now; when I call, you answer on the second ring" speech to Lafayette is literal fire and even the non-Jeresa scenes in this episode are good: Kelly Anne with Judge Lafayette's business partner; Boaz with the Judge; the pregnancy reveal. My favorite scene of the episode, though, the one that makes me levitate, is the balcony scene between James and Teresa in Manhattan. Wtffffff that scene was like, designed to personally destroy me. But more about that later.

Top 5 Season 5 Scenes

This was so hard for me. The truth is that there are two types of scenes, Jeresa scenes and non-Jeresa scenes, and they belong on parallel ladders to me. The Teresa who shows up with James and the Teresa who shows up otherwise is so different (I mean: compare literally any of the 5x02 Jeresa scenes to, say, how Teresa interacts with Oksana and Oscar and the Judge in that same episode). And I love both kinds of scenes for her. The way she almost coyly greets those real estate developers in 5x06, knowing full well she's going to slaughter them? *shivers* sooooo good. But when push comes to shove, it's the Jeresa scenes that all slide to the top, because it's the version of herself she gives him that is the one we're ultimately rooting for. So without further ado:

#5:

The scene: Episode 5x02, bedroom conversation

What I love about it: Soooo muuuuuch subtext here. After Teresa in the previous episode gave James literally nothing to work with, now that she's wrapped her mind around him being back she is completely unable to keep up the act. Watching both of them dancing around what they're actually trying to talk about is so delightful, and the icing on the cake is Chicho walking in right in the middle of a particularly intimate gesture.

#4:

The scene: Episode 5x09, the balcony kiss

What I love about it: Do I really need to explain myself? I love this kiss so much because it's written all over Teresa's face what combination of fear, desire, and love is driving her. It's no longer impulsive as it was in 5x02 or tenuous as it was in 3x09 or generous as it was in 3x05, it's for her, it's because she wants him and she's terrified of dying without him knowing it. And then he returns it so wholly and confidently and damn. To me it's the moment they catch up to each other and finally land on the same page. The I love yous that follow were made possible by this kiss.

#3:

The scene: Episode 5x07, the waterfront launch party heart-eyes

What I love about it: Again, so much subtext here. The intense intimacy of a moment in which relatively little gets said (and all of it completely innocuous). The verbal callback to the season 3 finale made the fandom's collective hearts jump to our throats as we wondered, with Teresa, if he was about to say he was leaving. Teresa's clear display of vulnerability in this single 90 second scene made up for the four previous episodes of distance between them. But really.... it's all in the subtext here.

#2:

The scene: Episode 5x10, the final Queenpin scene

What I love about it: It's the perfect Queenpin send-off. It's perfectly appropriate that she shows up one last time and the way it's done here is so beautiful. She looks so serene and her nod of approval closes the circle with episodes 2x06 and 3x10 where Queenpin seemed to be nudging Teresa towards James. And THEN, as Queenpin departs, James steps in. 'You ok?' Could it be any clearer? She doesn't need Queenpin to be her guardian angel anymore. She has James. God, I must be in a mood today because I'm literally choking up as I write this 😭 Excuse me while I go rewatch this scene 28 more times.

#1:

The scene: Episode 5x02, the balcony scene

What I love about it: Was there ever any doubt this was going to be my number one scene of this season? No, there was not. It is the perfect combination of classic Jeresa--James pining, Teresa being cool and unruffled, an almost visible electric current of tension between them, and oh my god the subtexttttttt. Yes, I'm predictable. I don't even think I have enough words to convey exactly how much this scene breaks me apart and I definitely don't have the words to confess how often I rewatch it. Literally I AM JAMES when she says "you and me can't happen" and I feel my entire body turn to jelly, and then when she says "maybe in some other life" I'm like EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE GO GET IT JAMES. This scene to me is their crowning achievement as actors playing this couple of idiots. That chemistry is crazy.

Season 5 Episodes Ranked

5x02

5x09

5x05

5x06

5x08

5x07

5x01

5x03

5x04

5x10

Yes, the finale is my least-favorite episode of the season. There's just nowhere near enough Teresa, or James. Waaaaay too much Pote, and Pote is just not an interesting character. Plus it's so dominated by men. I just could not care about the fight between him and Boaz. It all felt like male viewership fan service. Ew. So, looking at episodes in their entirety, it falls at the bottom. Really though I think this speaks to honestly how strong the season is overall, when it comes down to it. I loved it on rewatch and looking back at this list I even feel sad about having 5x03 and 5x04 so low! I've grown to like even those, despite how painful some of the scenes are.

Teresa's Journey

So, this is the season that obviously brings her as close to Queenpin as she'll ever come, the season in which she faces the ultimate choice: fully abandon herself in a quest to become untouchable in her power, or fully abandon that quest in order to save her soul. Both of these are different sides of the "survival" coin. And both involve incredible risk. Having taken out Kostya, she came as close as really was possible to that untouchable power that the Queenpin visions throughout the series evoked. She would have been protected by the American CIA and would have run the largest and most powerful drug empire in the world. Of course when you're at the top, someone is always ready to take you out, so the risk of staying--despite the promise of safety and protection--was huge.

On the other hand, disappearing. So much risk there, too. So simple in concept: shed your identity, go somewhere remote, and start over from scratch. But when you're in the cartel world that deep, obviously it's not just possible to get out. Your continued existence is too threatening to everyone who stays in; you know way too much. And SO much could go wrong in the process of trying to escape.

So both of these choices offered the promise of safety and both came with a heaping side of risk. But the Teresa we were introduced to in season 1 would've had absolutely no difficulty picking between them, right? So in retrospect, her full character journey was to slowly and gradually become someone who would believably struggle with that choice, someone we would believably worry might make the "wrong" choice.

And I think they really did pull that off. Already by season 2, it's less clear that she would choose to disappear rather than become all-powerful. She'd already lost everyone she'd loved by then and felt herself to be alone, and I think loneliness was one of the biggest drivers for her in seeking power over feeding her soul. It was always loss and trauma that pushed her further into the business and, even though season 5 didn't super explicitly link her rapid power grabs to Tony's death the previous season, it was clearly the darkness of that loss (maybe combined with the unsettling reappearance of James) that pushed her over the edge.

So was it believable that, in the end, she chose her soul? Yeah. They made us worry about her for the first half of season 5, pushing away everyone she cared about and seeming like a hollow shell of herself. But by episode 5x08 her vulnerability is palpable again. Like George's loss, combined with pregnant Kelly Anne's kidnapping, and faced with the possibility of dying herself, and losing James in the process, that she gets her wakeup call. So to me, her final decision feels very earned. I just wish they hadn't wasted a full episode trying to convince us she wasn't going to make it 😂

Jeresa

And all inextricably tied up with Teresa's character turnaround in season 5 is her relationship with James. This is another thing the season didn't make super explicit, at least in the written dialogue, but on rewatch it feels exceptionally clear that his presence allowed her to make what no doubt seemed like an impossible decision to turn the train around that was fast hurtling towards a cliff. He:

showed up mortally wounded trying to save her life

stuck by her side even when she made a disappointing decision that showed how much she'd changed

tolerated her snapping at him and pushing him away because he wasn't going to just give up on her after the huge way she'd busted into HIS life and changed HIM from the inside out

gently challenged her, wherever possible, despite having had it made clear to him that doing that was risky

backed her up 100% and went the extra mile to show his loyalty (beating up Navarro's connect), care (delivering an entire army of ex-Mossad for her security), and competence (stealing the painting)

And then, when she'd sent Pote and Kelly Anne packing and it was just the two of them again (the symmetry to the beginning of the series is so lovely there), his steadiness in the face of her emotional undoing is such a visible factor of her turning everything around. Yes, she's scared for Kelly Anne and her baby. Yes, she's upset about George. But in 5x09 after she's sent Kote away and it's too late to save George, those aren't her motivators anymore. James is. You can see it in her eyes on the balcony that it's not her own death that she fears but the possibility of dying without having loved.

Teresa is a lover. We knew that from the very beginning. She essentially told us that in her own voice over in the pilot. Her drug of choice was Guero. Comparing Guero to a drug is so apt (and foreshadows all the events of the first three seasons and how Guero's actions underlie so much of what she had to go through) so that her fear of love also becomes understandable. She was so slow to fully trust James because of the betrayal she'd experienced before; she was slow to open herself up to him as a lover because the risk of that vulnerability was too devastating. But when she stares down death and realizes she's held real love at arm's-length, its pull and its promise is way too great to turn away from.

I think the writers and show runners of this season struggled with this because the love story they'd created was so powerful and yet they knew (and I agree) that this show wasn't intended to be a love story. The book that it's based on is not a love story. It's the story of a woman and her incredible journey from life on the streets of Culiacán to becoming a powerful druglord and then her final escape from that life. But Jeresa is so powerful that even without explicit efforts on the part of the writers this season it's clear that it's a story in which love wins. She gets out, because of love. She makes the choice to disappear, because of love. Yes, platonic and familial love play into it, too; and stacking up the losses of those she's loved over the years and the risks to those who remain are explicitly part of the story. But by 5x09 the only ones who remain are her and James. She's lost or sent away everyone else.

I guess I forgive the writers for leaving much of their relationship this season to the imagination. I would've loved more conversations between the two of them that were 5x02 or 3x08 caliber, but I think the writers were trying to strike a balance between the people who clearly watched the show for Jeresa and the people who clearly cared less. Do I think they should've just written the show the seasons 2-3 writers set up? Yes. Do I blame them for trying to please a broader base? No. I don't, because I think it's ultimately so obvious anyway that James helped Teresa out of the cave in the same way she did originally that it still ties together beautifully in the end.

So. Now what?

As I said yesterday, I have saved many hundreds of gifsets in my queue still to reblog that I didn't reblog as part of the "official" rewatch. And I'm sure I'll continue to find more, and will reblog any others that get created. I'm also a huuuuuge Alice fan (in case that's not abundantly obvious by now) and will stick around to reblog whatever Alice content I consumer and maybe even Peter content from time to time. I'll post a full series retrospective eventually, but I doubt it will be quite as comprehensive as these season metas because I think I've kind of covered a lot of the analytical ground by now!! But I still want to do my rankings and all that. All that to say: I'll be around. And I hope to continue to see some of you around too 🥰 Thanks for sticking with me.

#qots s5 #2021 rewatch #txt post #qots meta #season 5 retrospective #episode rankings #farewell beloved characters I shall miss thinking THIS level of profoundly about you every day #but I'm looking forward to becoming *slightly* more chill in my level of consumption of this show lol #I'll start my post-rewatch queue tomorrow #can't wait to see what the shuffle reveals lol

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commanderdazzle · 5 months

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Fanfiction Update

Hi, it's been a while since I've done one of these, so I'm back with another update!

COMPLETE :

Queen Of Time ; 13 chapters, crackship of Miranda Lotto and Sheril Kamelot I treat completely seriously.

A Fevered Vision ; 31 chapters, headcanon origins for Sheril and Tyki following QoT in continuity.

Kingdom Of The Lost ; 49 chapters, more of the same, pretty much.

Giving Flowers To Boys ; 20 chapters, the men of D.Gray-Man recieving flowers from the women and each other. (Still kind of continuous to QoT.)

ONGOING :

Empire Of Dark Music ; Currently 17 chapters, continuing adventures of treating Miranda and Sheril as a serious ship.

Meta-Textual Evidence ; Currently 20 chapters, follows Allen in a modern AU where I deliberately make really stupid references.

I also have two things I'm writing that aren't D.Gray-Man related, and another DGM one following Miranda in a Fantasy-world type AU.

#d.gray man #dgm #d.gray-man #d.gray-man fanfiction #dgm fanfic #allen walker #miranda lotto #sheril kamelot #kachi writes #dgm miranda #dgm sheril

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mymostimaginaryfriend · 3 years

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QUEENPIN: visions vs. reality

Okay, so this might be a stretch but I couldn’t help but notice Teresa has been making some mistakes that Queenpin has warned her about in her visions. The nature of having a show with so many callbacks is that you can basically find “evidence” for any perspective and I’m sure this wasn’t even on purpose but: one of my favorite Queenpin vision theories is that they are her future self warning her of her mistakes to try and prevent the Piloto opening scene. Who knows, guess we’ll see, etc etc but I thought these were interesting either way.

#qotsedit #queen of the south #qots season 5 #teresa mendoza #qots spoilers #qots meta #qots #*myqots #*myedits

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teresa-moyocoyotzin · 3 years

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QOTS 5.09 “I Love You” Scenes Meta

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR 5.09 OF QUEEN OF THE SOUTH ABOUND

Okay this is basically just me trying to place James and Teresa’s ILY scenes within the larger context of their relationship and other kisses, and analyzing their respective reactions!

(Also just a disclaimer that obviously this is just one fan’s interpretation, there’s no right or wrong here! This is just how I see it and hopefully it’ll connect w some of y’alls insight too!)

Oh boy okay so I’m just gonna do this in the style of my old Bolivia visions meta b/c I think the best in bullet point form, so we’re just gonna go thru the scenes like super in depth, w/ way more detail than necessary. Think of it as a close reading, but instead of a piece of writing, it’s a tv show, and it has no sources except My Opinions lol

I’m still planning to actually write out my reactions to the whole episode when I re-watch it, but I can’t stop picking apart the I Love You scenes b/c honestly there’s so much going on there! Come on y’all this has been building since the second episode of this show there’s a lot to unpack here. I’m mostly focusing on how these kisses are vastly different from any of their other kisses IMO and how that affects the love confessions!

THIS IS GONNA BE UNNECESSARILY LONG AND NOT VERY ORGANIZED, BE WARNED

Let’s start when James says “You wouldn’t let me do it, so why should I let you?” shall we? B/c THIS MOMENT

SO as others have pointed out, this line really feels like a love confession in and of itself, and I’m sure if they hadn’t confessed their feelings in the same scene we would all be obsessing about it. I low-key am anyways..

Sure they’ve acknowledged that they do things to protect each other etc. etc. but this is really James making sure that she knows that he knows that SHE knows that they both feel the same way, and he’s not dancing around it anymore, not when she’s throwing herself into danger yet again. Teresa doesn’t have an answer, but it does make something click in her brain. No matter what moral code she’s following these days, if James was walking into a death trap like that she wouldn’t want him to go and would try to stop him. And right now, he’s feeling the same thing for her, he knows that she cares as much about him as he cares about her and that it’s a LOT, and he’s telling it straight to her face.

When she kisses him, I think it’s an acknowledgment of that, as well as her sort of trying to return the sentiment. And also, she doesn’t have a good answer to his question and wants to kiss him so she does!! James is clearly surprised by the kiss, as evident by his posture and slowly relaxing into the kiss. But THEN

After James’ brain catches up, he kisses her again, and even tho it’s short it looks to me like a pretty powerful, strong kiss!!?? (hard to tell b/c as usual…. they filmed it in a black hole..) and to me, it reads like he really let all his true feelings come through in that kiss POSSIBLY FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER

Now, lemme explain. Their first kiss in 3.05 was undeniably full of feelings and emotions, and I’m sure that night was super passionate and full of love! However, knowing what we know now about how everything plays out, I don’t think they were really at the point of saying ILY yet. Even if they did both love each other then, and I think they did, they had a lot of trust issues and abandonment issues to work through first. And as we all know, after that night everything goes to shit and they go about 12 steps backwards. My main point here is that I think both James and Teresa are still feeling generally unsure about each other’s feelings during their first kiss. This is also true for.. literally all of their kisses? Until now. Because in 3.09, they’re just super horny from taking over Phoenix but Teresa is just barely getting over Guero’s death in that episode.. I think that kiss was more about them feeling like the King and Queen of phoenix and less about their Actual Feelings (just imo obviously). And then they kiss after Teresa gets back form Bolivia but Teresa is suspecting him then and he’s certainly feeling her hesitation so no big feelings in that kiss either. Then of course there’s the goodbye kiss at the end of s3, and yes in that one I do think they were both letting their true feelings show in their kiss but they were both misinterpreting the other’s feelings and both were in a way lying to the other in that scene. James about his reason for leaving, and Teresa about her true reasons for wanting him to stay. And THEN, the kiss at the beginning of s5 is very much a “I’m happy you’re back, I want to be with you, but we can’t” kind of kiss, and again, there were feelings there but they were both still holding something back, and still not on the same page about what they wanted and were working towards. But in this kiss, they are on the same page , working toward the same thing, which is to get themselves OUT, together. Ever since they made that decision, there is an implicit agreement between them that they’re getting out together, and I think they both know that they want to be together if they make it out. And they both are desperate to have the other know their feelings before any potential deaths. However, they don’t really KNOW that they’re on the same page until that KISS.

SO ALL THIS TO SAY that in my eyes, the main reason Teresa’s so shocked is that this is the first time that James didn’t hold ANY of his love for her back when he kissed her, and she FELT IT babeyy. Teresa initiates this kiss to show him her true feelings, which takes him bit by surprise, but then he returns the feelings Full Force which takes Teresa totally by surprise.

I mean just look at her face after they part, before he says ILY. She looks shocked and confused, almost a little angry? I don’t think it’s really anger though, so much as it is being taken aback by the emotions that James is laying all out on the table for her to clearly see. Her face here is actually what drove me to write this meta, because at first I was so confused as to why she looked so shook up after the first kiss, cuz like girl U INITIATED IT?? I think part of it is that Teresa was a bit taken aback by the strength of her own feelings in that moments and the urge to kiss him despite them not being out of the business yet. She’s realized that if she’s gonna die tomorrow, she wants to kiss James first, and she wants that like, really bad. And also she loves him and was overcome w the urge to show him. But mainly, I really don’t think she expected to be met w/ such strong love from James’ kiss, because all the other times, he had been holding back his feelings.

James’ face after the kiss totally plays into this theory for me - he looks like he just got CAUGHT. She’s looking at him like what the Fuck was that!!! And he’s like oh SHit now I just gotta say it. The way he looks at her and shakes his head a little like, wow I’m really about to say it. I think it’s been on the tip of his tongue all episode, but he realized he just totally showed his hand with that kiss and there’s no going back now.

But omg you guys his face when he says it just SENDS ME TO THE FLOOR his little smile???? Like he’s thinking “how did we end up here? am I really about to tell Teresa I love her? YEP”

I don’t think she had any intention of telling him her feelings so outright yet, to me it totally makes sense that he tells her first. At the beginning of the season, Teresa made it clear that she does want to be with James, but she felt restricted by their life. So, James has spent the past season coming to terms with a) that Teresa still wants to be with him if they can get out of the business, b) that she’s changed a lot and no longer follows her old moral code, and c) that he still loves her even if she’s not entirely the same person he fell in love with originally.

Meanwhile Teresa came to terms w/ the fact that she wanted to be w/ him early in the season but pushed that Right down after indulging in 1 kiss (which I think was also meant to be a reassurance that she did want to be with him) but spent the rest of the season trying to grow her business, which in her mind would forever keep her from being able to be with James. So even if she acknowledged her feelings, she was not letting herself dwell on them. James, however… oh boy has he been dwelling. Especially since Dumas so kindly pointed his feelings out to him lol. So I think Teresa’s strong feelings for James have been building under the surface but she wasn’t allowing herself to acknowledge them at all, and therefore I think she kind of surprised herself a bit by kissing him, was then even more surprised by how strongly her feelings were showing, and then James hits her with a Big Feelings kiss and then an I Love You??? Oh boy

Taking this into account it totally makes sense that she looks super shocked after James tells her, even if they both have ~known~ for a long time. Y’know?

Okay so then there’s the sex scene which I LOVED omg, like absolutely zero complaints, super hot, exactly what they and we deserved. I’m not gonna get into it b/c I think it speaks for itself, but like, would happily read a meta about it if someone wrote it 👀

Anyways I think the morning after, when Teresa is laying in bed admiring James, is when Teresa is really digesting all of these feelings and the fact of them being out in the open, and she’s deciding that she needs to tell James she loves him, like ASAP. She is also at the same time having to accept that she’s going on a super dangerous mission today that she night not come back from, and if she does come back from it, they’re gonna have to still find a way Out. All in all, safe to say she’s got a lot going on in her mind, but it’s clear by her gazing at him that James is a big factor in all of it.

I love the next scene so much omg

They’ve gotten ready for the day and James is once again pulling tricks out of his bag to ensure her safety, and she’s just.. staring at him. My personal headcanon here is that Teresa’s intuition was telling her that a) the phonegun was gonna be irrelevant, and b) that she had about 30 seconds before her phone rang and she had to leave for potential death. Therefore it just blocked out literally everything but James and needing to tell him that she loved him. The moment I love the most is actually when James says “Here, try it” and he steps closer and she sort of jolts like they’re physically connected. The first time I saw the scene I literally gasped from that one step he takes because they just had this electric pull between them that was so obvious that I literally felt it. The chemistry!!!!

She’s just so focused on him in that moment and that whole scene, and the way she whispers “I love you” likes she just HAS to say it, she has to make sure he KNOWS she loves him before she runs off to risk her life. And the fact that it happens while James is actively trying to set her up for protection??? POETIC CINEMA I tell you. Kudos to Alice for that because apparently it was her idea and it’s my FAVE

Another thing that I really don’t know how to interpret but I find interesting from a cinematic point of view: James and Teresa are literally left in the dark during James’ love confession. It’s at night, and there is NO DAMN LIGHT AT ALL ON THEIR FACES (I bet the gif makers really appreciated that one huh…) so we can’t even see their reactions very well. Meanwhile, when Teresa confesses her feelings, it’s super brightly lit, in a white room, she’s wearing white, we can see all of the emotions on their faces. IDK what this is meant to symbolize exactly, so if anyone has thoughts PLEASE share them.

James seems a little in shock after, I think he really didn’t expect her to say it, even if he assumed she felt the same. And I think he was okay w/ that and had accepted it, knowing it would be really hard for her to say. After all, once she acknowledges it, it’s that much more painful if they have to say goodbye…

I think the way she says it perfectly captures how hard it is for her to get the words out, even if she feels an overwhelming urge to say them and make sure he knows. She seems very sure of her feelings, and I don’t think she hesitated to tell him at all, but it’s still a big step, and presumably the last person she said ILY to, in this context, was Guero. And his death destroyed her, so ofc she’s be scared to admit that she’s in love and put herself at the risk of losing it again. God Alice did such a good job w/ that line it really gets me every time. So sure, and soft, but with no room for doubt. Like she knows he doesn’t expect her to say it, but she can’t bear to let him think she doesn’t love him back. And it’s so simple too, like she’s saying “of COURSE I love you, how could you think I don’t?” AHHHH

And just the way she stares at him the whole time like she’s just waiting for him to stop talking so she can say it, and while she waits she’s perfectly happy to ignore the situation at hand and think about how she loves him and he loves her and also probably how good he FUCKS cuz like……………y’all saw his hand goin’ down there after he flips her over right 👀 okay ANYWAYS

So she finally tells him!!!!!! That she loves him!!! And kisses him!! Just to really drive the point home. And because, again, I think something was telling Teresa to kiss her man and tell him she loves him because she was about to get a call from Kostya’s men any second.

I really think James’ sort of blank look after she tells him is just him being in shock that she actually said it. I would have loved to know what he would have said after that, but alas.

That final shot before the phone rings though ❤️ their foreheads together, her hand on his heart and his hand on her hand, also the way that visually her arm (clothed in white) is across his body (clothed in black/gray) and vice versa w/ his arm is across her body, sort of continuing the sort of yin-yang theme they have going this season, I just think is a cool touch on the behalf of whoever choreographed/directed the scene.

I also interpret it as a very grounding moment for both of them, rooted in physical touch but not sexual in any way, just comforting. They finally can completely take comfort in each other because their feelings are out in the open and they’re completely connected. AGH they really have me in a chokehold lol

Anyways this is so fucking long and rambly, I don’t know if it makes sense but I did my best to proofread, I’m so sorry but thank you for reading if you’ve made it all the way here, or like even if you made it thru 1/16 of it lol I APPRECIATE YOU

I’m not sure what the main point is here, but anyways I think the actors, writers, directors, etc. did an amazing job w/ their I Love You scenes and I’m personally feeling v satisfied w/ it!

#i have no idea if i'm even saying anything new here but somehow i could not rest until i wrote it down lol so here ya go #qots meta #queen of the south meta #queen of the south #qots #jeresa #jeresa meta #qots spoilers #queen of the south spoilers #jeresa spoilers

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allthingsjeresa · 3 years

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5x09 Jeresa thoughts:

I know I’m doing this a week late and right before the finale but can you blame me? It only took me that long to process everything. I mean HOLY. SHIT. What an episode. The Jeresa scenes were perfect IMO. I wouldn’t have changed much. *This is strictly speaking on the love scene. Not the season as a whole.* They gave us a lot when I was expecting way less, so props to them for that. This is gonna be very long, so read it all if you want or don’t :)

The scene where they spoke to Samara on the couch: this scene is kinda adorable to me even though in context it’s not a romantic scene at all. If you pay attention to their body language, they really operate like magnets. They’re speaking to Samara but their bodies eventually lean towards each other- heads tilted together, sitting pretty flush their thighs just about touch. I checked and it was a big couch! They remind me of two parents trying to soothe their child. It was sweet. At some point along the way these two became one unit. He really is her right hand, so it’s very fitting he was sitting to the right of her in this scene.

Brainstorming how to take out Kostya. I love that James was ready to go in and kill someone in an embassy of all places just to get them out of this mess. But she shut it down so quickly! No suicide missions for this man. I also liked that when she said this it came out as an order and not just as a statement. Because… well, she is la jefa and she pretty much just said he’s not allowed to insert himself in any situations where his death is practically guaranteed.

OK. *DEEP BREATH* OK. OK. So we’ve finally made it to THAT big moment. Well, we already knew James did not approve of this little decision she made to kill Kostya herself and his face said it all in the scene right before. Love that he knew just by her face she was already thinking up a plan of her own by the way. These two can read each other so well. Onto balcony moment! He approaches her outside, so close they can touch each other and demands to know why he should let her do the very same thing she wouldn’t allow him to do. I really think based off his serious tone and the way he came outside he was geared up to put on a fight this time. Teresa was out there alone, stuck in scary dark thought presumably and looking like the world was on her shoulders. I get the sense it hit her at some point that day she might die and she was already thinking about her feelings for James before he even walked outside. That’s why she had that sad look of longing on her face. And boy was she longing for him.. so much that she said fuck it all and just kissed him. She could die at some point but she wanted nothing else but James in the moment. He was caught off guard by her kiss at first but it’s actually funny how fast it put him in a daze. This man was so, so in love that he couldn’t hold back any longer and finally blurted out those three words. I love that her hands were right on his chest (and his heart) as he literally told her he loved her. Symbolic or what? This time he grabs her and kisses her with so much passion. No more holding back. As it pans to them making out he pulls her body even more towards him; this is a move he’s done in all their make out scenes I’ve noticed. I would say “get a room” but they did that right after ;)

The actual love scene! This is what Jeresa shipper dreams are made of. It really transcended everything- I mean that eye contact, the way he pushed her hair back, the lip touching and of course those smiles! Let me just remind you that the world was pretty much crumbling around them. Her empire crashing and burning. Devon/CIA ordering them around. Kostya and Boaz both on her ass. But for that one night, it was like the world stopped spinning. She finally had him and he had her, and everything was suddenly ok. They smiled and were both happy in their little bubble despite everything going on. He’d just said he loved her and neither of them would hide from each other ever again. That love scene was pure happiness, relief, passion and bliss all wrapped into one. Can I just say the way his hands went up and down all over her back while she was on top? I just about died. Nothing says desire like hands raking up and down your spine. Whole time he’s looking at her like she’s some goddess he’s worshiping. The heavy panting and the writhing… ok I won’t lie, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Not that I will ever complain! I mean it’s Jeresa. And the way he flipped them over and took control? Yeah I died. His hand grabbing onto her wrist while she touched his lip? Death. The nose touch? More death. Some of us were trying to figure out where his hand went at one point because it looked like it very much traveled down south to a certain…. area that I will not mention. Anyways 👀The smiles, you guys. THE SMILES. They were happily and utterly in love. As Jeresa shippers we got crumbs for years and then we suddenly got everything all at once. My brain is still catching up.

The morning after. I love that they show their clothes scattered all over the floor. Yeah they were total goners. The whole room is white so you don’t miss it! The way she caressed him so gently. Just completely basking in him and knowing she’s in love. Then it’s like she remembers it’s now the next day and she’ll have to do what she has to do. You can see the moment she gets sad because she absolutely loves this man and yet she could die. I think that moment as she stared at him in bed was when she realized she had to say it. Not because he’d already said it first but because they were out of time and she needed him to know the truth just in case she didn’t make it.

Her love confession. One thing I adore about this scene- it’s so them! It gave me James mentoring Teresa in season 1 vibes but softer. He’s completely serious because he’s intent on training her to protect herself but her attention is all on him. She was so caught up in staring at him, all deeply in love that she says the words right after he tries to hand her a gun. It’s the way both Jeresa got completely dazed by each other right before saying ILY! Her tone was everything here and this was what actually elevated the scene for me. She sort of whispered it- like it was something only meant for them, for him to hear… while her tone might’ve been soft and light as a feather, there was such a heavy bluntness behind it. She said it like it was a simple fact of the universe. As a viewer, I felt like we were watching something forbidden and intimate. It might’ve felt a little more intimate than the love scene itself. I don’t know how to explain it. Maybe it’s because she’s been a wall for the majority of the season. Maybe it’s because there was a weight of gloom behind those words since she could die. His face right after she says it tells me it might be the latter… And I love that they kiss out in the open at the island table where anyone could see them, but who cares. They’re in love and nothing else really matters. Not her crew walking in on them or some gun phone that could potentially protect her. I love how her hands end up on his chest again and he holds onto them. Everything about that moment was perfect.

Jeresa in NOLA. At first this last scene didn’t stick out to me but on my second, third (and fourth) rewatch it’s very telling! Remember what I said about them finally being one unit? I think this scene is a good example of that. She comes out and hands Chicho the keys to her business, literally. James follows right behind her and stands to her right ;) he then directs Chicho to escort Samara to the car. I feel like that scene conveyed how they are finally becoming equals- standing side by side, in black and white. Both are giving orders and there’s finally a sense of balance that’s righted itself within their dynamic. Not necessarily a queenpin and her soldier but two partners. Pote asks her if she’ll miss Nola. She undoubtedly says no, and I think James even smirks a little bit but I can’t be sure. I love that he pats Pote on the shoulder right after she gives that answer and then follows his girl out to the car. The time for “another life” has finally arrived and neither James nor Teresa are looking back. That was the message being sent in my opinion!

All I will say about that last scene.. no I don’t think he really killed her. Shipping aside, it just wouldn’t make any logical sense. Everything he’s ever done has been to keep her safe so unless the show has taken a sci-fi spin and he’s become a robot, there’s no way.

Well that concludes my analysis/meta. That was pretty long so I won’t linger but I hope you enjoyed my perspective on the best episode all season. And then we have one more to go… I’m not ready at all but here goes nothing.

#jeresa #queen of the south #james valdez #teresa mendoza #qots #otp #alice braga #qots spoilers #shippers gonna ship #peter gadiot #long reads #qots season 5 #qots meta #pote galvez #kelly anne van awken

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folie-lex · 3 years

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#qots #queen of the south #qots S5 #qots meta

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kalena-henden · 4 years

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I can't wait to see how Teresa's gonna react when she finds out why James really left. How do you think she's gonna take it?

Anonymous asked: I just watched 4x13 and wow I didn’t expect so see James in the end. What did you think about the reunion between james and teresa ?

Anonymous asked: QOTS?

Hello, nonny! I hear you. LOL I’m here. I know many people have extra time during this pandemic but I’m not one of them. Still working my full-time job but now from my living room. At least, I can do that.

I feel so rusty on the QOTS front. I have to confess, I haven’t watched the show in almost 2 years (since S3 ended). When James left, so did I. I meant to start watching again if he came back. Since that didn’t happen until the end of S4, I planned on catching up right before S5. But with S5 getting delayed... uh, I don’t know when exactly I’ll be catching up. That being said, I’m really touched you want my opinion and I do have thoughts. *grin*

I expected James to return at some point. The writers kept hinting at it on Twitter. Whereas if he was off the show for the foreseeable future, there would be no reason not to tell us that.

I have so many questions about James reappearance. Wasn’t he locked up by Devon and the CIA? Did he escape or is he working for CIA? If he’s working for the CIA that worries me. I don’t want them to turn him into Guero 2.0.

It doesn’t surprise me in the least that James would show up out of nowhere to warn and protect Teresa. He loves her and would sacrifice everything for her. Even his life, as Pote begrudgingly admitted. Honestly, you win over Pote that’s saying something. lol However, when Teresa learns the truth she will be upset. Both from a business and personal standpoint, James’s unilateral decision means he didn’t include his ‘partner’ when it mattered most. As much as they love each other and are ride or die in a very literal sense, they still both have trust issues. There are many thoughts and feelings they’ve kept to themselves that truly need to be shared to be successful partners. At times this has left Teresa and James open to doubt the other’s loyalty and love. Though I don’t think either of them doubt their own loyalty or love for the other person. There will be some relief in being reunited and strength in fighting side-by-side once more.

Still James needs to tell Teresa the truth of where he’s been before someone else does. She’s not going to be happy but it’s worse if he keeps it hidden from her. Hopefully, they can work through their personal stuff while they’re fighting their next cartel battle. I really want to see them in a committed long-term relationship. It won’t be all smooth sailing but it will be worth it. The will-they-or-won’t-they is overrated in storytelling. Let my ship be together!

Anyway, so happy Peter Gadiot is back!

#queen of the south #qots #qots meta #jeresa #my post #my meta #replies #Anonymous

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northcountry39 · 5 years

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QOTS Tarot Symbolism 3x08-3x11

Eyyy so I got way behind on these, and since I really want to wrap it up before the start of S4, here is a more general overview of the tarot card symbolism for the back end of S3 (eps 8-11). Will hopefully finish up the last two tomorrow - thanks for all your support for this series. It’s been fun!!

Let’s get started with Episode 8 “El Carro” or “The Chariot.” Very fitting for an ep that is full of fast cars!

Episode 3x08 El Carro/The Chariot

This tarot card depicts a warrior riding a chariot and symbolizes victory, determination, and achieving your goals. The fact that he’s driving the chariot without reins shows that he’s achieving success through strength of will, and his standing position indicates that he’s all about action and moving forward.

If this card turns up in a reading, it can indicate that you will win an upcoming battle and that you will be able to overcome any setbacks through hard work, aggressive action, and courage.

This episode we see Teresa making some moves and laying a lot of the groundwork for the defeat of Pecas and takeover of la Comision in the following ep. And there are certainly bumps in the road - losing some of their product, KG’s capture, Tonto’s death and Lil T’s injuries, to name a few. But their strategic move in making a deal with Mayo at the end of the ep is setting them up nicely – as Teresa says, “when the time is right, we’ll kill them all.” Victory is ahead!

From a relationship standpoint, this card emphasizes the need to work through rough patches with good communication. We see Teresa having some honest conversations with James (both in the car and in the bathroom later) as well as with Pote to help clear the air after everything that went down in the previous ep (wine cellar etc).

Episode 3x09 El Diablo/The Devil

The Devil card shows, well…the Devil! This one is interesting. It can appear when you are on the verge of a big breakthrough or upward movement, which is certainly the case for Teresa in her takeover of Phoenix. She’s also making a “deal with the devil” (however briefly) in working with Mayo to eliminate Pecas.

The Devil can represent entrapment, too, and Teresa and the gang pull off a clever ploy that ends with their enemies all dead otherwise “trapped” in jail. Plus my main man KG is sadly languishing in captivity, imprisoned by Cortez and his goons.

Teresa is also flirting with the “dark side” in her ruthless elimination of her competition - this card can symbolize a conscious choice to embark on a darker path with confidence and courage, and I think there are shades of that here (in particular executing Pecas + her phone call with Mayo at the end).

Pleasure, lust, and raw sexuality are also associated with the Devil, and the final moments of the ep do get pretty steamy... ;)

On that note, in terms of relationships, the Devil encourages you to break free of any anxieties and inner fears that might be standing in the way of achieving your desires. And throughout the ep, we see James and Teresa coming back together (we’ll run Phoenix how we want, we’ll do it together) and building towards that epic moment where they tear off each other’s clothes and...yes.

Episode 3x10 La Muerte/Death

A skeleton riding a white horse, but not as ominous as it looks! Death is about new beginnings, change, and transformation - it symbolizes closing the door on a certain phase of your life and embracing new possibilities. Letting go of the past can be challenging, but it’s to make way for a richer and more fulfilling experience in the present.

I think this is really the essence of Teresa’s hallucination experience. While in El Santo dreamland, she makes the choice to leave the familiarity and security of her memories and fantasy what-might-have-beens with Guero to embrace the life she actually has. To keep going despite all the pain and hardship and uncertainty. Quote Queenpin: “Your life is painful and ugly, but it’s yours.”

When El Santo tells Teresa that the darkness that he saw in her before had is gone, I think it’s referring at least in part to that weight being lifted. Rebirth is also kind of El Santo’s schtick, which fits well with the death card - the old version of yourself has to die so the new one can emerge and thrive. The past is behind you, and the future is up for grabs!

Episode 3x11 Diez de Copas/Ten of Cups

Oh boy. The Ten of Cups is the “happy family” card. It depicts a loving couple with their children, and it is all about joy, contentment, and being surrounded by loved ones. Which is how we open this ep - Teresa and her gang having a delightful family-style BBQ pool party with lots of laughs and tequila.

Sadly, this idyllic scene doesn’t last. When reversed, the Ten of Cups represents increased distance between you and your loved ones, poor communication, and breakup of familial or romantic relationships. By the end of the ep, James and Teresa have had a falling out over the mole situation, and we all know the sad way in which Teresa’s friendship with Kelly Anne ends. :(

This card can also mean you are deviating from your personal moral code. Ordering KA’s execution, for example, is not necessarily in keeping with Teresa’s earlier idealism of “a better way of doing business.” But doing what is necessary to survive AND staying true to your heart is certainly no simple matter.

Thanks for reading! Last two eps coming soon. :)

#queen of the south #qots #qots meta #kat rambles about tarot symbolism #qots season 3 #my posts

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floresdeldoza · 5 years

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Hi, sorry if you've already been asked this but I just wanted to know when you think both and James and Teresa started to fall in love with one another, pretty early on there's a connection but at what point do you think it turned into more?

I honestly can’t remember if I’ve been asked this before, so… I shall attempt an answer—also, forgive me, I’m a little bit rusty when it comes to QOTS meta!

Teresa keeps her true (romantic) feelings under wraps far more effectively than James, so I feel way more confident saying that James’ feelings become obvious far sooner and are solidified with a lot less ambiguity than Teresa’s. In my opinion the height of James’ romantic feelings really come to fruition after the standoff with Devon in 3x05 (which I just watched, btw, still iconic). I think he does a pretty good job downplaying his feelings for her up until that moment. And, obviously, they finally “get it together,” at the end of that episode.

Again, Teresa is way harder to pin down, but there are several moments where you can see her kind of pause and reevaluate her estimation of this man that appeared in her life at a very traumatic time. And ya know, we gotta be honest, he doesn’t make the best first impression. I think she takes note of his somewhat… aggressive (?) concern for her life during the airport episode, but I think it’s one of those things she files away to consider at a less stressful time. And tbqh, I think that’s how she starts to genuinely care for him—by taking note of his slip-ups; moments where his “hardness,” kinda slips in her presence (and obviously, that’s a betrayal of his true feelings, which I don’t think Teresa wants to take advantage of in the same way Camila does, so she’s careful with having that responsibility, which is part of the reason why I love her so much).

All this to say, having just watched 3x05, I’m not sure Teresa is “in love” with James, even at this point. I think she cares a lot for him, I think she’s considering their potential, I think she’s going through that backlog of mental notes she’s taken about him, but… not sure she’s ready to admit to full Love™ yet, especially if you consider her shit with Guero. At this point, I think the closest we’ve gotten is the end of S3, when he tells her he’s gonna leave, and even then, she seems uncomfortable with having to reveal her romantic feelings to James (ya know, if he’s gonna leave anyway, why be that vulnerable with him).

In conclusion, anon, I 100% don’t disagree with ur assessment that they’ve been falling in love with each other since S1, I just think it’s a slower burn, and a far more emotionally complex relationship than most of the ones we’re used to seeing on television. I love them. They deserve happiness.

#*concorona #asks and replies #anons #qots meta #james x teresa #jeresa

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ablindingsupernova · 6 years

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My QotS finale thoughts jeresa flavor

So I’ve been mulling over the finale and where the show left us vis a vis jeresa and I have some thoughts.

I’ve been thinking that a separation was coming for awhile now. And not because it’s a tired trope to keep the main couple apart but because of where I see each characters’ story going. We know Teresa becomes the Queen. We know that she becomes a harder person to get there. I’ve seen some speculation that the flash forwards aren’t what actually happens but are more visions of Teresa’s. I don’t know how on board I am with that theory, but that’s the subject for another post.

This turned out to be a long one, so I’m putting this under a cut. :-)

My first reaction to Teresa’s reaction to James leaving was extreme disappointment. After all of the emotion from 3x12, all we got was a hug a kiss and ‘I’ll miss you’. It was such a goodbye that my heart broke. I just expected more from their parting.

But then I thought on it some more and taking into account everything Teresa’s been through and where we know she’s going, I started to feel better about it. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not happy about it, but I think I see what’s happening here and I’m okay with it. For now.

So, Teresa’s lack of emotion. After thinking on it, I fully believe that Teresa knew after her conversation with James about running Phoenix, that he was going to leave. She knew how much she hurt him when she suspected him, and while he didn’t confess his love, asking her if that was just a business offer was pretty telling. And while I feel pretty confident in Teresa’s feelings for James, she just wasn’t in a place where she could be that open and vulnerable with him. Just this season alone, she lost Guero and was betrayed by Kelly Anne, someone she obviously felt very close to (”You said we were sisters”). I think after losing Brenda Teresa’s need for another female friend was so acute that she never even considered the most obvious person among them was the mole. All of the reasons that made her the likely candidate - her relative “innocence”, having no background in the drug business, etc. - also made her someone that Teresa believed she could trust. So when the truth came to light, she was devastated. Now, Teresa’s feelings for Kelly Anne and her feelings for James are quite different, but I think that if that situation had played out differently, she and James would’ve stayed together. But Teresa has suffered so much loss and she’s so determined to not just survive, but to thrive in this business, that she’s closing herself off emotionally.

And that brings me back to my initial comment about her reactions in 3x12. Teresa’s tears when James told her he was leaving were real. Teresa’s “I want him to stay” comment was real. As was her “I don’t want to lose you”. But I think she had been steeling herself for what she saw as the inevitable - James leaving. She built up her walls and resigned herself to the reality that she was in fact going to lose him. And I think a part of her realized that she had to let him go. She made her offer, he knew she meant it, and yet he still chose to leave. Of course, we now know WHY James actually left, but Teresa doesn’t and so she protected herself by burying her feelings.

Now, why I’m okay with it (told you this was going to be long, if you’re still reading, you’re amazing and thank you!). The separation I foresaw was a result of their characters going in two different directions. Teresa is becoming harder, cooler, more ruthless. While James is doing the opposite. He’s become more open emotionally, wants to do things differently, and in general, be better. And Teresa was the one that inspired him to do it. James did things he never did before in an effort to protect Teresa. Lied to Camila, risked his life on multiple occasions, and jumped through hoops to prove himself. All because he believed in Teresa and what she was trying to do. But the reality of the situation is that this is a ruthless business and while Teresa wants to do things differently, that doesn’t mean that everyone else will. As Teresa’s business and power grows, I think she’ll see that it will come at a price, one she wasn’t originally willing to pay. Which, IMO, will eventually lead to her wanting to get out and that’s how I see she and James reuniting. I have absolutely no idea where James storyline is going but I feel confident that their stories will come full circle and he and Teresa will find each other again. Their love story is not over.

#jeresa #queen of the south #my thoughts #my VERY long thoughts #haha #thanks for sticking around to the end #qots meta

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junostjames · 7 years

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James was cooler toward Teresa in 2x10 than he had ever been before and the assumption has always been that it was due exclusively to Camila taking digs at him and favoring Teresa instead, that he was insecure. And while I still think that played a role I don't believe it was the only factor. I rewatched 2x08 and you guys, James realized Teresa was going to take off with Guero. As Teresa and Guero are preparing to leave Devin's people burst into their room and Teresa and Guero drops their bags in plain view. When James comes back to the room and moves to stand behind Teresa he can see the bags. (And if he didn't see them then he would've seen them soon after anyway. They're right in the middle of the living room and there's no good reason for them to be.) Which explains his comment in 2x10: "I chose Camila, you chose Guero." Like, that's pretty loaded. (And backwards; she chose Guero while Camila, hilariously, was his rebound.) She was going to leave with Guero and that hurt him so he shut himself off from her, went back to just being Camila's right hand and pushed her away. By the time he tried to course correct in 2x11 it was too late, things had already gone off the rails between Teresa and Camila.

#queen of the south #james valdez #qots meta #mqotsm*

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calliopecalling · 2 years

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QOTS Rewatch - 3x11 - Diez de Copas

This episide is NOTHING BUT PAIN. It's one of the most painful episodes of the entire series to me. I did not enjoy rewatching it 😂 Even though I know it all turns out okay it's like--this episode is where it really starts to tank for Teresa. I mean I guess 3x10 really was where it started to tank and this is the one where the tanking accelerates and really shows how bad it's going to be. I don't like it. I don't like watching her suffer, or James suffer; I don't like seeing her past coming back to haunt her in a way that it is so damaging to herself and her happiness. It's just so painful and not the pain of 2x11 or 2x12 either, where it's so hard watching her walk away from James and then watching James walk away from her but you can still admire her strength. In this episode though, it's almost like her strength is exactly what gets in her own way and it's not something to admire, but more to pity, or even (if you're a less generous person towards her than I am, lol) to resent. Like maybe if she were a little softer, she wouldn't have isolated herself away from James so devastatingly. But... that's not who she is. Not at this point in her trajectory.

Soooo because it's so painful, I'm genuinely going to try to keep this shorter than usual. I've said most of what I want to say about it in gifset tags already and I'll just rehash a few of them here in one place. I don't even want to go through my usual bullet list of basic series of events in the episode because IT HURTS OKAY.

So here's the first thing I want to say about the terrible pain.

I BLAME KELLY ANNE AND POTE.

Seriously. Kelly Anne may be a pitiable creature and surely she's not "strong" in the way Teresa is strong but for her to sit there, James having outed her as the mole, and try to insist to Teresa that her feelings for James were blinding her? Fuuuuuuuck no ma'am. She was definitely put in a terrible position by Devon so I could've forgiven her for falling for his bullshit, even though it almost got Teresa killed. But I can't forgive her for sitting there trying to blame James, and Teresa's feelings for James. (If she hadn't lied so egregiously to Teresa there, I think Teresa might've actually spared her, too.) It's just a whole other layer of appalling. As Teresa says to her: "I trusted you. I don't trust anyone." 😭 First horrible thing about this episode then: it makes Teresa--the one who has already admitted to not being able to trust people--even less likely to trust anyone.

And Pote. FUCKING POTE. Pote is just not smart. He is muscle. He does not deserve to be involved in any strategizing or for Teresa to seek his counsel in any serious matters. I feel like it should've been fairly easy for him (but it obviously wasn't) to use his rational brain, the one that Teresa doesn't have access to because she's in trauma response mode, to be like hmm, let's see, there are numerous people around who might have access to Teresa. Yes, James is one. So is Kelly Anne. So is Charger. So is Lil T. Taza. Etc. Not that I want to go around pointing fingers at innocents, but Pote needed to use his rational brain to be like, hmmm, James is Mr. Loyalty himself, so does it really make sense for him to be the mole? Or at least, does it make any more sense for it to be him than any of the others?

I mean: the surface answer here is yes, it does make more sense for it to be James. I think their assumption is that the mole would have to be someone in the inner circle and would have to be someone really smart and really skilled at deception. Obviously James meets two of those three qualities, and if he were the mole, he would've clearly been really skilled at deception, too. But as I said in my tags on this gifset, rationally, it just doesn't add up for James to be the mole. James has consistently displayed that loyalty is his number one value. Above all else, he has integrity with respect to his sense of duty and honor to the person he serves. This is why (as I interpret what the source material has to say about the original tracker issue) he ultimately used the tracker on Teresa in season 2--because he worked for Camila, and Camila ordered him to track Teresa down. As soon as he did, he resigned, because he couldn't any longer reconcile working for a woman whose enemy was the woman he'd accidentally fallen in love with. And then he showed up to work with Teresa and everything he's ever said on the matter just reinforces how important loyalty is to him. (It also makes me remember his comment to Guero in 2x06, "you have no idea what loyalty is.")

So for Teresa and Pote to suspect him of being the mole, they are going wildly out of character in their interpretation of James, lol. For Teresa, it's an emotional hot button issue. She sees the tracker in Bolivia and all her alarm bells go off. I can't blame her for that. But I think she did start to back off it, I think she did realize she was wrong (like in the car scene with Pote, waiting for James to show up to their trap) and yet Pote dug in his heels. Pote who had allll the same information Teresa did and yet who couldn't possibly fathom anyone other than James would be capable of betraying Teresa. Pote who sneered at Teresa for sleeping with James as he blames her for being blind to what she was letting into her bed. Fuck off, Pote. And the worst part is he never apologizes. Not to Teresa, not to James. Not even slightly. Not even a sign of remorse to Teresa! For digging in his heels and insisting it must have been James and thereby throwing a major wrench in Jeresa's personal relationship.

To Teresa's credit, though, she at least apologizes, to James. I'll talk more in the 3x12 meta and gifset reblog tags about her feelings and why she can't just open all the way up to James at this point, but I feel like at the end of 3x11 she feels so heavy with what she's put him through that she honestly just believes him that he wants space. I can't imagine really that James wouldn't have forgiven her pretty fast--after all, he knows what her trauma is (at least a lot of it, if not all of it) and he knows she has trust issues, partly due to all the trauma and partly due to her relationship history (*cough Guero cough*). He must understand that getting almost killed because of a mole would be enough to severely unnerve anyone and force them to look at the people they actually do trust the most and see them differently. And he loves her so much I don't think he could possibly hold a grudge (in fact I suspect he already knows he's going to have to go with Devon at this point). But yeah... for the moment, at least, he needs space. He's hurt, and understandably so. And she is not only feeling remorse for having doubted him, but is obviously also grieving Kelly Anne (and assuming he just killed her on top of everything else). So there'll be more angst and pain next episode with all of her trying in various ways to get him to stay while still holding back a little.

Just gonna end this with a gif of that kiss, because that kiss is such a sweet, gentle, achingly tender moment if you strip away all the context. Please get back to this ASAP guys. Even though I know you won't 😭😭😭

Ok I thought I was done but I just want to say one more thing. James told her on the balcony at the end of the episode that she should've come to him first. I actually disagree with him here. I don't really understand how she was supposed to "talk to James first" if he was a candidate for being the mole… because if he WAS the mole, it would've made everything since his return to Malta a lie, and thus talking to him first would've been stupid. She was in no way trying to be duplicitous with him. She felt genuinely afraid. But at the same time there was the part of her that knew it couldn't be him, and this part of her also didn't want him to know that she suspected him, because she knew how badly it would hurt him. She was just all twisted up in knots. And their relationship is so new--and she told him she couldn't trust people--I mean how much clearer could she be? Did he deserve her trust? ABSOLUTELY. But is it understandable that she thought, yikes if he's the mole, we need to be super careful? Yes. I mean, James is a dangerous, dangerous person.

What do I think Teresa should have done? Honestly... I don't really know. I really don't. I have been thinking about it all week and I still don't. If he were the mole, then telling him she knew there was a mole and suspected him--the communication he was asking for--could have been extremely dangerous. The whole thing about a mole is that it destabilizes any kind of trust because a mole is by its sheer existence unpredictable, dangerous, untrustworthy. And James would've understood that. So I guess what he's upset about is that there was even any question at all in her mind that it might've been him. Yeah, that's super painful for a man who is deeply in love with her and has been showing her that in all the ways he can find ever since he found her in Malta. And given what we know of James and loyalty, I think they should have been way more certain than they were (they being Pote and Teresa) that he had nothing to do with it. But 100% certainty? Man. I just don't think that would've been smart, either, not for someone with so many potential enemies out there.

Okay that really wraps it up. I thought this was going to be short, but it is actually impossible for me to keep things short, so my sincere apologies.

#queen of the south #qots #qots s3 #3x11 #2021 rewatch #txt post #qots reaction post #qots meta #the other big thing in this episode is Camila going down #Loya confesses that he was playing her and tries to get her to become a witness for the DEA #literally the way trust plays out for them is opposite and parallel #Camila puts too much trust in both men who surround her this season and ends up getting played by both of them #(meanwhile she herself is manipulative and calculating and untrustworthy)#and Teresa doesn't put enough trust in James #which ends up hurting her in a different but ultimately equally damaging way #anyway Camila's story finally gets interesting to me again next episode #because it intersects again with Teresa's yayyy

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