Queen of the South season 4 premiere review: Life in New Orleans

Tonight, the Queen of the South season 4 ushered in a new era for the series — we were in New Orleans, Teresa got a new opportunity to stabilize herself, but still was forced to deal with some ghosts of her past. She was getting used to being a boss, though this title, of course, comes with its mixture of benefits and hardships.

For Teresa, one of the earliest ones came with people sniffing around her new business establishment — a bar that was in process. Then, we had the world’s fanciest cockfighting event, and then eventually, a “business transaction.” Here’s a rather simple truth: Typically, business transactions mean Teresa wandering into a place where she can about to get killed.

Ultimately, Teresa showed her power and sense of strength in the aforementioned business meaning, and it’s all thanks to one simple thing — the way in which she delivers cocaine. She does it in bottles and in liquid form, which is an effective way to keep the DEA away from her. That’s a part of her value as a smuggler, and she’s proven herself to be quite effective at it.

Yet, even with her skill set, she has to do her fair share of convincing — but that is precisely what she did near the end of the episode. She managed to secure herself a new buyer, albeit if she could get a shipment from New Orleans to Miami in 24 hours. The thing that Teresa has going for her? More than anything, that she speaks a language that everyone can adequately understand: A language of money. People want to make money, and that’s what makes it so easy for her to be able to continue her business.

After the deal…

Teresa, of course, wanted nothing more than to relish in some of her victory and have a chance to be a little bit more human and less a person always in danger. She’s got a new love interest and there’s something about him that is appealing — he’s a jazz musician, and he also took it upon himself to teach Teresa a few things at the piano. There was almost a certain innocence to this moment, following what we saw a little bit earlier with her nearly getting herself killed amidst a drug negotiation.

Here’s the problem — right after spending some time with her new man, she was paid a visit from Randall over at the New Orleans police. What was the purpose? She was transferred over to a greenhouse, one that housed a man known as Cecil Lafayette. As it turns out, this man is corrupt — as corrupt as everyone. Basically, if she wants to run her “legal” business, she’s gotta pay some extra “taxes.” Basically, even though she’s found a new home, someone still wants her under their thumb.

In the end, this could just be the price of her doing business. Cecil’s only giving her two days, so we’ll see just where things go from here. The cliffhanger tonight featured Tony’s life in danger … but that’s all we have for now.

CarterMatt Verdict

We’re in a new era of Queen of the South, and it’s because of this that the season 4 premiere delivered a little bit of mystery, new characters, but also still some great notes and surprises along the way. It’s a new chapter, but one that’s every bit as exciting as what we saw before.

Want to see more of what’s coming up on Queen of the South?

Then be sure to visit the link here for some more details! Meanwhile, be sure to share in the comments what you thought about the premiere episode this time around. (Photo: USA.)