La reina del sur ("Queen of the South") is a Spanish-language Telenovela produced by Telemundo and starring the actress Kate del Castillo. It is based on the novel of the same name by Arturo Pérez-Reverte.
The premise is Teresa Mendoza (Kate del Castillo) is a young woman from Mendoza who marries a cocaine smuggler. After he's murdered by the cartels for stealing from them, Teresa runs for her life to Spain and ends up becoming involved in the world of narco-trafficking herself. The story follows her Rags to Riches story as she eventually becomes a cartel boss in her own right.
The series is available on Netflix with English subtitles. An American remake titled Queen of the South, starring Alice Braga as Teresa, began airing in 2016.
La reina del sur features examples of:
- The Cartel: The concept is examined from multiple angles with some members being treated as Always Chaotic Evil while other members, like our heroine, being more of an Anti-Hero.
- Central Theme: Season 2 is all about family ties and whatever you would do to save or avenge them.
- The Don: Epifanio Vargas serves as this and is the leader of the Cartel. He has far less control over his subordinates than he'd like to imagine, though.
- The Dragon: César / Batman serves as this to Epifanio Vargas. He's the smartest of the group but easily bullied around by Ramiro.
- Foreign Remake: A English language version was made called Queen of the South.
- Happily Married: Teresa was this with her husband before his execution by his godfather's men.
- Interrupted Bath: Teresa in taking a luxurious bubble bath when she gets interrupted by the news about her husband's death over the phone.
- Moral Myopia: The Cartel's killers want to kill Teresa for murdering her rapist.
- Ms. Fanservice: The show is not afraid to show off Teresa's body, especially her legs, with many scenes having her wearing a bikini. In the very first episode, she takes a bubble bath and then walks around with a tiny Modesty Towel barely covering her and later runs for her life in her lingerie. Sadly, the latter follows Teresa's rape
- Pet the Dog: Lupo when he warms up to Sofia.
- The Queenpin: Teresa becomes the leader of her own drug trade empire.
- Rags to Riches: The story follows Teresa going from being a woman on the run from her life to a cartel boss.
- Rape as Drama: Teresa is raped by one of her husband's killers at the start of the series. She kills her attacker and unwittingly sets off his accomplices in an act of revenge.
- Red Baron: There's lots of these through the series. El Guero, El Gato, El Ratas, Batman, and others. Teresa, herself, becomes "El Mexicanas".
- The Starscream: Ramiro Vargas is an Ax-Crazy Smug Snake who is the actual murderer of Teresa's husband.
- Telenovela: An extremely successful one that ticks all the boxes. It's a soap opera with murder, sex, drugs, and constant drama.
