Why Did James Valdez Kill Teresa Mendoza on 'Queen of the South'?
Why did James Valdez kill Teresa Mendoza on 'Queen of the South'? Fans are questioning if the cartel queen is in reality dead in the collection finale.


Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for the ultimate season of Queen of the South.
All is honest in love and drug wars, and Teresa Mendoza (Alice Braga) has had to be informed this the arduous method. After the deaths of her absolute best buddy Brenda (Justina Machado), her past love Guero (Jon-Michael Ecker), her godson Tony (Adolfo Alvarez), and most lately, one of her right-hand men, King George (Ryan O'Nan), it’s secure to say that Teresa has nothing to lose — with the exception of, of path, her own lifestyles.
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And contemporary episodes teased that the Mexican drug trafficker will have died at the hands of someone she loves the most. Earlier in the season, James Valdez (Peter Gadiot) risked his life to offer protection to Teresa from forthcoming risk. But viewers had been given reason why to believe that he could also be the person who kills her. So why did James kill Teresa in Queen of the South? And is she actually dead?
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Why did James kill Teresa in ‘Queen of the South’?
Longtime enthusiasts of Queen of the South keep in mind that Teresa Mendoza’s story involves an unlucky end. While we’ve identified from the beginning that Teresa Mendoza would be shot and presumably killed one day in time, however we never imagined that James would be the one pulling the cause. And that’s exactly what came about at the finish of Season 5, Episode 9.
In the episode, the cartel queen’s trade partner-turned-nemesis, Devon Finch (Jamie Hector), orders James to kill his lover to save her from a a lot more menacing loss of life, and later, he makes good on his promise. While at her mansion in Belize, James shoots Teresa in her abdomen and he or she falls to the ground. Promos for the sequence finale divulge a body bag, but any person who knows Teresa Mendoza knows that she can’t be killed that easily.
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While enthusiasts have been infuriated by the tragic cliffhanger, others nonetheless hope that Teresa’s dying is all part of James and Teresa’s plot to run away in combination, and we’re susceptible to agree. One fan wrote on Twitter, “They faked her death. It doesn’t make sense for her to turn up all flashy in a helicopter when she was once wanting to get out of the business.”
They added, “The Queen of the South is lifeless, however Teresa Mendoza is alive and will pass on to live on a seaside someplace with James, the love of her life.”
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So, is Teresa Mendoza actually lifeless?
While Alice Braga hasn’t revealed the fate of Teresa Mendoza, she promised that audience won’t be upset in the collection finale. In an April interview, the actress told Forbes, “I feel the persona, I feel it was once this sort of robust, strong woman to play from point A to indicate B, so other.”
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“I believe that adventure creating that, I'm indisputably going to pass over it. And I must say I'm excited for the finish just because I think that we finished. And I feel the fans are going to be happy with that arc that we have been ready to create, like to have five seasons of the display, it is this kind of blast and such an honor that I'm unquestionably going to omit it because it used to be a large phase of my lifestyles. It's been rather a trip,” she added.
To see what actually happens to Teresa Mendoza on the ultimate episode of Queen of the South, song in on June 9 at 10 p.m. EST on the USA Network.
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