‘Queen of the South’ Season 5 Writer Explains What Kelly Anne’s Pregnancy Means for Pote
Queen of the South Season 5 is pulling out all the dramatic stops in the USA TV show‘s final season. Not only is Teresa Mendoza (Alice Braga) resolving her empire, but everyone in her circle has big drama, including Pote (Hemky Madera) and Kelly Anne (Molly Burnett).
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Queen of the South Season 5.]
In the second episode of the season, Kelly Anne revealed to Pote that she is pregnant. It’s come up in every episode since and is sure to be a major subplot as Queen of the South reaches its conclusion. Co-showrunner Benjamin Lobato spoke with Showbiz Cheat Sheet about what Kelly Anne’s pregnancy means for Pote.
The ‘Queen of the South’ family is growing
Family was an important theme for Lobato. Queen of the South lost some family members in season 4, as nobody is safe in Teresa Mendoza’s world.
“We wanted to explore family in a big way,” Lobato said. “In reality, that’s what gangster and crime shows generally are. They’re about dysfunctional families, right? But we wanted to bring that thing into this world. We wanted to bring that sense of innocence, particularly after losing Tony because Tony and Pote had such a strong relationship, a father and son relationship.”
Lobato said the Queen of the South writers’ room decided early in the planning of Season 5 that Kelly Anne should be pregnant. Then they plotted her announcement.
“We want to explore when we bring that in, when Kelly Anne is pregnant, how does that affect Pote?” Lobato continued. “How does that affect Kelly Anne? How does that affect Teresa? We knew we wanted to explore that aspect but then the question is what’s the most interesting way that somebody can announce their pregnancy?”
Kelly Anne made the most dramatic birth announcement possible in ‘Queen of the South’ Season 5
In the episode, Pote thinks that Kelly Anne got sick because she saw him kill people. He’s worried that she can’t stomach his line of work, but it turned out she’s totally fine with that.
These two people come together, they’re in this impossible situation. There are literally bodies right behind them in the back of the truck and this announcement comes. I feel like in many ways for Pote, he’s a guy that doesn’t scare easily. He’s a sicario, he’s seen everything, he’s kind of done everything. I think in this moment he’s literally shellshocked and it’s a real honest moment that we get from him because what does this mean? Just earlier in the episode we have him express to James that he would never allow a child in this family. He would never lower his guard again. He would never allow them to become vulnerable. Now suddenly here’s this surprise announcement of a baby and for Pote, he’s literally shellshocked in the moment. We’re going to explore what does this mean going forward for the two of them and the entire family.
Benjamin Lobato, interview with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, 4/15/21
Will we see Pote as a dad?
Kelly Anne is still several months away from giving birth. Lobato would not spoil whether or not Queen of the South has more than nine months left in its narrative timeline.
“I’m not going to say because I think that’s going to be one of the things, of course everyone’s going to have that question,” Lobato said. “I’m not going to say but I will say this to your point. Yes, it’s not only used for dramatic purposes but really an exploration of what it means to be family, what it means to accept the responsibility of being a father in any world. Those are the things we’re exploring.”
