Queen of The South Returns On The USA Network For Season 4!

The wait is over for Queen Of The South fans! The crime series starring Alice Braga as Teresa Mendoza is back for a fourth season on the USA Network! Watch for Teresa to expand her empire to the East Coast as she sets up shop in New Orleans, Louisiana!

Soap Hub spoke to executive producers Dailyn Rodriguez and Ben Lobato as to what viewers can expect this season when Teresa continues to fight for survival and her humanity in a world in which lives can easily end!

Read on for the first of a two-part interview that previews the return of Queen Of The South!

Soap Hub: What can viewers expect to see in season 4?
Dailyn Rodriguez: Teresa’s becoming the CEO of her “company” in an odd way. She’s going to have to contend with new antagonists in a new city, New Orleans. She’s going to have a bar that is her legitimate business.

Ben Lobato: This season, she’s taking over the whole Vargas cartel in Mexico and we’re playing thematically with “heavy is the head that wears the crown.” Teresa slowly starts to realize that her abilities aren’t always going to solve the problem. She’ll see that being at the top may mean having to break her own moral code.

Rodriguez: That really is her struggle this season. She’s trying to present herself as a legitimate business owner and she’ll realize that’s not possible.

It’s fascinating to see Teresa use her wits more than muscle to stay ahead.
Lobato: Yes. Teresa continues to realize that women don’t need to be as brutal men are in the world she’s in – they need to be smarter. That’s been Teresa’s superpower. She doesn’t go to the first response, which can often be violence and bloodshed. She has a moral code that she’s brought into this world. As a result, she’s often more successful than the men.

How did the death of Güero (Jon-Michael Ecker) change her?
Rodriguez: Every death changes her. Brenda (Justine Machado) dying. Güero dying. It’s the casualties of this kind of business. There’s a slow attrition of her soul. It’s the reality of her circumstances. Güero is the person who brought her into this world. We’re building to this character who will be the woman in white, the Queen. You do that by slowly chipping away at her humanity.

Does Teresa have any light in her life?
Lobato: This season we’re building a family around her. There’s been a thematic element since the beginning of the show – that love can’t survive in this world. You don’t get to be the head of a cartel and have this wonderful love affair. She’s always been someone who feels she can have both. Losing her boyfriend is a step closer to showing how she’ll have to change. This season she’ll suffer more tragedy and we bring her two steps closer to being the “woman in white.”

We’re finding this to be a very organic way to get to this transformation. I don’t want to say she’s going to despair, but she’s going to realize that she’s going to have to change. She won’t become Camila [Vargas, played by Veronica Falcon], but a different part of Teresa. The tragedies and heartbreak will lead her down that path.

Can you talk about moving the story locale to New Orleans?
Rodriguez: Yes. Another thing we were excited to delve into is our new location. At the beginning of the season, Teresa finds light there as it’s a new start. The show being what it is, we start chipping away at that.

Check back for part two of this interview in which Rodriguez and Lobato talk about additional developments including new characters who’ll appear in season 4!

Queen Of The South airs Thursdays starting June 6th at 10 p.m. (9 p.m., central time) on the USA Network.