Love Triangles

I am nearing the end of my telenovela, La Reina del Sur, and it has been up until this point in the series that I have yet to feel like I am watching a soap opera. However, the past couple of episodes I have watched have been a whirl-wind of a couple of different love triangles all linking together. This is the first time in watching my telenovela where I feel the writers focused more on the love drama between characters, rather than the violent drama associated with drug trafficking. I want to focus on the main love triangle between Teresa, Patty and Teo. Warning for La Reina del Sur watchers: read no further if you do not want spoilers!

I will start with a quick summary of how all of these characters are related. Teresa is the main character and her best friend Patty, she met while in jail. Patty is bi-sexual and has been in love with Teresa since the beginning of their friendship, but Patty settles with just being friends. Patty has a friend and ex-lover Teo, who she introduced to Teresa. Teo is married and has two children, but he is not loyal to his wife and messes around with lots of women, Patty being one of the past.

Time to jump into the love web. As Teresa’s drug trafficking business grows, her and Patty form a fake business to cover the expenses and to run their trades and have an office building. The two hire financial advisers, lawyers, secretaries, and tech guys to help them run their drug business smoothly and to keep it under wraps. One of the lawyers being Teo.

As Teresa and Patty’s business grows, Teo becomes more and more prominent as their lawyer but he also forms feelings for Teresa. Patty begins to see this before Teresa realizes her own feelings about Teo, and Patty gets extremely jealous. She is jealous for two reasons: one being Patty is in love with Teresa and she is witnessing her moving on with a man rather than with Patty and two, Patty used to be lovers with Teo. Patty throws tantrums about the amount of time Teresa and Teo are spending together and very immaturely approaches them about it. Teresa tells Patty she is more than willing to step away and keep her and Teo’s relationship strictly professional if Patty is that upset. However, Patty knows Teresa will never reciprocate the feelings Patty has for her, leaving Patty in a weird position of jealousy but also wanting her friend and the love of her life to be happy.

For a couple of episodes Teresa and Patty have a tense relationship. Patty tries to escape the reality of Teresa never being in love with her through her usual- drugs and alcohol. At one-point Patty even brings home a woman from the club who reminded her of Teresa and referred to her as “Teresa number 2” in her high and drunken state—yikes. Meanwhile, Teresa and Teo realize their feelings for each other and sleep together for the first time and Patty is not shy about insulting them both.

I have a couple of feelings about the live triangle going on. The first being, I feel for Patty. She is a woman hopelessly in love with her best friend who does love her, but not in the way Patty wishes. This is something that can be seen in moves or other shows all the time. I try putting myself in Patty’s position to imagine the internal struggle she is having with trying to be a supportive friend, while also having to accept the love of her life is not in love with her and never will be. Patty takes this hard and fitting to her character, acts very immature about the entire situation making it all about her. Patty obviously could have handled the situation more like an adult just as Teresa tries to do with Patty. Yet, I understand why Patty takes this to heart besides the fact that her love is moving on. It is evident Teresa will never be interested in women in the way Patty wishes. Since jail, this is the first time Teresa has a man in her life and this is the first time Patty is not Teresa’s priority. Patty is no longer Teresa’s rock and does not receive as much attention as she was before. Patty always knew this day would come and I think she had hope Teresa would change and fall for her; however, this crushed all hope Patty had and brought her back to reality.

From Teresa’s point of view, Teo is the first man in years that caught her attention and makes her feel alive and wanted again and as a viewer I am happy for her. Teresa does not have full information about Patty and Teo’s past together so I cannot hold that against Teresa in her decision to be with Teo. However, I do think her being with a married man is out of character for Teresa. In the past, this woman would have never put herself in that position for the sake of the man’s wife and herself. Teresa has always been one to demand respect and to set high standards for herself and women in general. The fact Teo is married and has two kids and Teresa is still okay with sleeping with him is just a very odd character decision for me. This being said, I do want Teresa to be happy and there is a bunch of messed up drama between Teo and his wife (she tried to have him killed for his 30-million-euro insurance policy). But the principle of Teresa being the “other woman” is not a concept I fully agree with. Teresa has always been a believer in giving 100% in a relationship and Teo being with his family still is a hurdle and issue for this. For the first time, I feel like Teresa is settling. Hopefully as the telenovela continues, my view on this will change.