#qots s4 e13

[mymostimaginaryfriend]

What do you think of the James mention in 413 by Teresa then George comes in and squashing it by saying he lies but Javier has a reason.

Hey anon! Here were my thoughts on that kinda out of nowhere line by KG in 4x13 back when it aired. Basically I think PG became available and they had to shoehorn some James references in there last minute after they basically dropped him and every single mention of any character or plot line related to him for 2/3 of the season.

The mentions were kinda clunky—KG doesn’t canonically even KNOW about James’ lies?? Javier “lying to protect the woman he loves” wasn’t even the issue??—but I took it as more of a nod to the audience that out of everyone in that scene, WE knew the real reasons James left, and that (hopefully) the writers remembered too.

Gosh I wish they had been able to plan for PG’s return longer so they could have built in more little scenes building up to it over several episodes or ideally all season. The whole Teresa/Kelly Anne/James scenario for one example could have been amazing even w/o James physically present. I’d have loved to see Teresa working thru a) James leaving, b) finding out he spared KA, c) an actual slow reconciliation where she sees if it’s even possible to trust KA again and d) what that could teach her about her struggles with trusting James that preceded his s3 departure. Just a different perspective even with time and distance? Idk idk and oops went on a bit of a tangent there.

I’m really hopeful everything that was shelved for Jeresa in S4 gets picked back up again in S5 and I’m just so excited about them (god hopefully) sharing scenes together again! Thanks for the ask!

[mymostimaginaryfriend]

QOTS 4x13 Reaction Post

It’s the finale AKA  my very own reenactment of that taste-testing kombucha reaction meme!  

Yup, that’s the one lol. 

I feel like this ep will require a few rewatches to process BUT the good news is: Marcel lives! Oksana lives!  King George lives! Chicho lives!  (er...the Judge lives?) and the unexpected guest we’ve all been waiting for...LIVES.  James ends the season alive and in Teresa’s company and fully available for S5.  It’s a miracle.

About that--well damn guess we know now why the crew was piiiiiissed the network released those promo pics.  They kept James out of the previouslies and Peter out of the opening credits because he was supposed to be a literal last second surprise.  They even shoved an Eddie red herring in there last minute to throw us off (bless Bailey b/c THAT is a thankless role omg.  I can count on one hand the number of people who needed an Eddie update and they’re all related to the actor).

But gotta love the writers knowing they finally had PG for the finale and then packing the ep with as many James parallels/references as possible.  Oh did Javier lie to protect the woman he loved? Fancy that. Interesting choice of goodbye between Javier and Pote, can’t put a finger on where we’ve heard “Take care of her”/”Always” exchange before.  And O RLY to “If you had trusted me I could have protected you” and on and on.  Who knows if the specific parallels mean anything or the writers were kids in the James-is-finally-available-to-reference-in-the-script-again candy store but I’m looking forward to finding out in S5.

What’s weird is going out of a finale we don’t really have a clear view of S5.  With the Judge surviving the season, I’d think Teresa would stick around in NOLA for unfinished business.  But with Oksana’s scaryass cousin beckoning Teresa further down the Queenpin path, NYC sounds like an option as well.  Can’t wait to see who they cast as Kostya.

And as thrilled as I am that James showed up to tell Teresa the title of the episode (very considerate of him lol), who is this “they he speaks of? It’s a cliffhanger but a wide-open one.  We have no idea really what is next.

One hopefully good omen for Season 5 is Teresa had FIVE scenes with three different women characters this episode and I hope in my heart that  those dark Bechdel Test failing times of midseason are gone forever more.

As for the rest of the episode--

Damn, I knew Javier’s death was pretty much inevitable but what a way to go. And in true Javier fashion, he managed to double down on the deception consequences til the bitter end, backing Teresa well and truly into a corner before confessing.

And wow, the confession scene was amazing for Alice and Alfonso.  I loved both of their acting choices.

Good thing James is back though because apparently he is the only person on this entire show who can successfully shoot someone?

All that Randall/Javier chase scene needed was some Benny Hill music. What in the world lol. 

Okay I might be using humor to heal the sadness of seeing Alfonso go because Javier levitating amidst the flames to take down Randall made me scream and not in the way they intended.  To be fair, I guess Javier’s athletic ability of jumping out of trunks was foreshadowed last week.

SEE YOU IN ANOTHER LIFE, BROTHER. There has to be a take Ryan used the Desmond accent on that line, right?!  Give us the deleted scenes, QOTS! Oops he said other side. I still want deleted scenes tho.

Hellloooo S2 Queenpin outfit.  So it’s gonna be like THAT, huh.  And did anyone else think Eddie was wearing a wire at first in that scene??

But at the same time, the Queenpin transformation wasn’t as literal as I feared going into S4.  She’s still OUR Teresa too.

Curious to where her journey goes next

And curious to see how they fill in the James blanks.  What’s he been doing the last 9 months?  Is he a free man now or on the run?  And the really important questions such as: does he have like 10 extras of that exact same leather jacket stashed in safe houses across the country?

SO glad it got early renewal so we can find out.

And just like that we’re in hiatus again.  While this Season may not have been what I wanted it to be, or what I believed it could have been, at the end of it I’m still so thrilled I get to spend at least one more season with these crazy fools and you wonderful people.  THANK YOU to everyone who messaged me, commented, reblogged, tagged and to everyone who posted content--you made this season more fun than it had any right to be lol and I’m so grateful for you!  

Here’s to a fic-filled hiatus and an amazing Season 5! 

[mymostimaginaryfriend]

Hello ! I just wanted your POV on something. The other day, I read on one FB group a girl sayin that there was 3 months between the Eddie "I run a drug cartel" scene and the James scene. She said that because of what Pote say to Teresa :"we doubled our shipment in 3 months". For me, this line was just there to picture how big Teresa's become since she is on herself. But maybe the girl is right ? Maybe we jump in time between the 2 scenes ? and that would explain how James came out of nowhere...

Hey there!  Pote says: “Phoenix, Atlanta, Miami.Now, New York. We doubled our operation in three months.”  I personally took that as Pote saying it’s been three months since 4x01 rather than three months since the Eddie scene.  I could be wrong though.  The timeline on this show is a bit of a mess tbh and changes whenever they need it to lol.  Thanks for the ask!