1X10 THE COUNTERFEIT QUEEN
By Margie
[email protected]
Aired the week of January 8, 2001
A woman dressed in black wielding a sword robs the payroll gold, and news of the Queen of Swords' treachery and betrayal quickly spreads. Montoya captures the culprit, Carlotta, keeping her real identity a secret and pocketing the gold. This time, instead of saving lives, the Queen must expose the imposter to save her own good name.
WRITER: Gillian Horvath
DIRECTOR: Peter Ellis
GUEST STARS:
ELIZABETH GRACEN as Carlotta
RICHARD CLIFFORD as Viceroy
STEVE EMERSON as Padre Quinterra
IRENE GONZÁLEZ as Pira.
In one word, "WOW". An excellent beginning to the new set of episodes. This storyline written by Gillian Horvath provided an exciting plot involving a Queen imposter jeopardizing the reputation of the real Queen. It provided the right amount of doubtfulness versus faith among the people of Santa Helena. Guest star Elizabeth Gracen was an exceptional adversary for the Queen. She provided style and grace to the character of "Carlotta". Marta, once again, shows her support for Tessa/Queen by defending her reputation from Pira.
Tessa continues to demonstrate more and more her intelligence and even investigative skills in each episode . I loved how she and Marta are at the Luna Canyon area surveying the ground for clues. Her remark to Marta when she finds a footprint and compares it to herself was funny�"Except for these�too small". The storyline showed her abilities of deductive reasoning in trying to piece together what was Colonel Montoya's ulterior motive and to identify who was impersonating her as the Queen. Let's not also forget that Marta has her own way of lending a hand when it comes to helping Tessa figure out what is going on. I like how the writer gives Tessa finesse for getting the information she needs. It was interesting to see how she managed to obtain from Colonel Montoya his ultimate plan of doubling his guns and soldiers for his garrison if he were awarded his request from the Viceroy with the purpose of finally being rid of the Queen.
The writer provided in this storyline the crucial introduction of Padre Quinterra, a role which I believe is long overdue in the series. This character was a missing piece to the puzzle. Although it is not known if the Padre will be a recurring personality, it was a great idea by the writer to see that the pueblo has a religious man, a figure which is predominantly important for this time period. I hope that this character makes more appearances in future episodes.
The scene where the Queen enters Colonel Montoya's study and looks for the right book which opens the door to his gold room was amusing to watch, especially when the Queen searches and spots the book entitled "Strategies of Napoleon Bonaparte". I wonder whose idea that was to use the prop. Then the Queen even uses her knife to open the iron gate, obviously a trick she learned from Dr. Helm in another episode "Honor Thy Father".
Colonel Montoya not only has a constant battle with his quest to capture the Queen, but he is some how always threatened by a superior over his efficiency in command. Viceroy Chavez played an interesting part in this episode. He challenged and made Colonel Montoya look incompetent in his command abilities. The look on Colonel Montoya's face made it seem like he was squirming in his boots. I enjoyed how the writers continue to elaborate upon Colonel Montoya's role. I liked how the scene was played where Colonel Montoya shows his cunning to the fullest. His blackmail scheme to buy his silence and persuade the Viceroy with the payroll gold was cheer brilliance on his part. He knew how to manipulate the situation to his favor and once again he proved his genius in overpowering his opponent. Colonel Montoya's brief fling with the Queen imposter Carlotta was a refreshing sight to see. It is the first time the Colonel is attracted to a woman and gets to show it. Although his fling was for personal gain, it was interesting to see his quest of seduction.
BEST LINES OF THE EPISODE:
COLONEL MONTOYA: "Only a fool would collaborate with the Viceroy against me Capitan."
CAPTAIN GRISHAM: " Ah, Colonel�I'm shocked."
COLONEL MONTOYA: "Your pain is my pain."
CAPTAIN GRISHAM: "Ahem"
COLONEL MONTOYA: "and ah�vice versa I assure you."
MARTA: "The whole town is against you�this is not the time to be the Queen of Swords."
TESSA: "Of course not�but it's a wonderful time to be Tessa Alvarado."
The stage holdup at Luna Canyon was an excellent sight for the scene. I really enjoyed the view of the scenery, the hills, cliffs and valley. The stunt involving the Counterfeit Queen falling off from her horse was executed nicely by the stunt double. I'm sure it must have hurt, ouch!
Inside the church was one of the best background scenes in the episode. The first encounter and duel between the Queen and her imposter was a great stunt performed by both doubles. The acrobatic suspension of hanging upside down from the church bell ringer line was awesome. Also the flip made by the Queen over the church pews and the take off from the wall were nice to see. They added a little spice to the scene. Kudos to Natalie, Gaelle and Mary Jose for these excellent stunt effects. I liked how the camera panned back during the scene to allow a full view of the stunts being performed. It offered a great opportunity to see a sword duel being executed by two professional stunt performers. Ever since Anthony DeLongis mentioned the clue of the Queen's boots, I tend to notice who is doubling for Tessie and sometimes it makes me wonder. Mr. DeLongis commented that on some occasions Tessie would be up to performing her own stunts. It is sometimes hard to distinguish between Tessie and Natalia during some of the closeup shots. I would never underestimate the professionalism of a stunt performer, but it would be great to see Tessie perform any small stunt herself.
The scene at Agua Piquito where the Queen and the Counterfeit Queen duel in a sword fight was another excellent action sequence. Once again, the Queen challenged her adversary to recover the stolen gold. The roll down the hillside was thrilling to watch. I noticed how careful the stunt performers positioned the swords in their hands, up in the air to avoid any danger to each other. Both of the stunt women made the scene look so real. The way the camera shot the scene provided a nice full view of the entire action, while the closeups provided the details of the sequence. The stunt performer, who shot the scene in which the Counterfeit Queen is shot off her horse by Captain Grisham then dragged by the horse with a leg caught in the stirrup of the saddle, was another well staged action footage. It looked to me like a man dressed in the Queen's clothing versus one of the female stunt performers because the shoulders looked a little too broad for a woman, but I might be wrong.
In the end, Carlotta was impressed and admired the Queen's purpose of devoting herself to the injustice committed by the corrupt officials of Santa Helena. Carlotta knew the Queen had her hands full. The Queen, on the other hand, was surprised to see Carlotta return the gold. The Queen knew that the imposter was a thief, but with a good heart and she died with dignity. Tessa manages to restore the faith lost by the town and clear her reputation as the Queen. This episode had an excellent storyline by Writer Gillian Horvath. Both Producer Tony Thatcher and Director Peter Ellis created magnificent tv magic. It is gratifying to watch an episode where there is always a challenge of mystery, suspense, comedy, and adventure. Thanks for an excellent new episode and I look forward to watching all the other ones.
~Margie~
P.S.: I noticed two settings used in this episode that I have seen before. Didn't the Viceroy's room look familiar? I believe it is the same room used in "Duel with a Stranger". What about the view from the outside? The same one used in "The Witness."