Fans Think James Valdez Will Be the Next Character to Die on 'Queen of the South'

The Queen of the South Season 5 trailer revealed that Teresa Mendoza (played by Alice Braga) has nothing to lose after the calculated murder of her godson Tony.

But now that her former partner and ex-lover James Valdez (played by Peter Gadiot) has escaped the captivity of series nemesis Devon Finch and returned to New Orleans, it seems that Teresa is at risk of losing yet another loved one. So, does James die in Queen of the South?

Unlike Teresa’s former lover Guero Davilas, who made his exit from the series in Season 3, there is no indication that James is leaving the cast of Queen of the South anytime soon. In the Season 4 finale, a bloody and beaten James was dropped off in front of Teresa’s warehouse. 

Later, viewers learned that James risked his life to warn Teresa that the CIA was coming after her. Previously, Alice Braga opened up about her character’s relationship with James, which has been complicated, to say the least. In an interview with EW, the actress shared, “In this world, love weakens you.” 

“It puts you in a very dangerous situation because it can be used against you, to hurt you. This happened to Teresa already in Season 4 when they killed [her godson] Tony to hurt her. Season 5 will show a harsher Teresa and her struggles with James's return and coping with the loss of her godson," Alice continued. 

Although executive producer Ben Lobato didn’t reveal what will happen to James in upcoming episodes, he said that there’s still a lot more of the character’s story to be told. Ben told EW, "James is back because he loves this woman." 

He added, "He proved in Season 3 when he sacrificed himself going back to Devon Finch [Jamie Hector]. When the show returns, fans will discover what James has been doing to pay off his debt to Finch and why now he's risking his life again to warn Teresa of an impending threat."

It appears that James is safe from harm, at least for now, but another fan favorite made his exit in Episode 6 of Queen of the South and his death sent Twitter into a tizzy.

On a recent episode of Queen of the South, the character King George (played by Ryan O'Nan) was murdered in cold blood by Boaz, which doesn’t surprise us after he killed his own brother. But that didn’t make it any easier for fans to say goodbye to King George. 

On Twitter, Ryan addressed his exit from the show in a tweet that read, “It was beyond a pleasure. Favorite character I’ve played in my entire career. Love you King George.”

Fans also mourned the character’s death on social media in a series of tweets that paid tribute to the trash-talking pirate. 

One fan wrote, "Thank you sir 4 bringing this beloved character 2 life 4 us. You are a brilliant actor & writer. I'm still sad, still trying 2 come 2 grips about this. I loved #KingGeorge he was a fan favorite from the 1st moment he stepped on screen. You Rock!”

So, will Teresa be able to avenge King George’s death? Catch new episodes of Queen of the South on USA Network Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST to find out!