'Queen of the South' will reign for a fifth season

Aug. 29 (UPI) -- USA Network announced Thursday that their drama Queen of the South is renewed for a fifth season. The Season 4 finale airs Thursday night.

Alice Braga plays Teresa Mendoza, a woman who escapes the streets of Mexico by becoming a drug mule for a cartel. Teresa moves up the ranks, battling her former mentor and establishes herself as a cartel leader. Flash forwards show Teresa as the Queen of the South, but the main series portrays her struggles to rise to the top.

Season 4 saw Teresa move to New Orleans to set up her operation. Using the bar Siete Gotas as a front to move her liquid cocaine, Teresa clashed with the local Judge Cecil Lafayette (David Andrews) and businessman Marcel Dumas (Alimi Ballard) while managing deals with Miami's Cuban drug dealer El Gordo (Pepe Rapazote) and Russian mobster Oksana (Vera Cherny).

The season finale will determine where Teresa's business stands as she goes after Lafayette for killing her godson in an assassination attempt on her.

Co-produced by Fox 21 Television Studios and Universal Content Production, Queen of the South is the #1 cable drama on Thursdays in Nielsen's P18-49, P18-34, P2-54 and P2+ categories. The show is based on Arturo Perez-Reverte's novel La Reina Del Sur, but the series has largely diverged from the novel.