1X07 WITNESS

By Margie
[email protected]

Aired the week of October 30, 2000

A peasant girl lays dead by the hand of her well-moneyed lover, Anton, and the only witness is Tessa, who vows to testify against him. But Anton's mother, ranchero and former pirate Mary Rose, is determined to save her son from the hangman's noose - even if it means murder. This time, the one who needs the Queen's protection is Tessa herself.

WRITER: Steve Roberts
DIRECTOR: Peter Ellis

GUEST STARS:
BO DEREK as Mary Rose
NEIL NEWBON as Anton
CHRISTOPHER DE ANDRÉS as Arsenio
PILAR ABELLA D'ARSTEGUI as Carmina
LEO MEDINA as Crispin
RICHARD CRUZ as Geraldo

Just thought I would make my comments about the episode "The Witness". I must say the show is getting better and better each time. This production, written by Steve Roberts, Directed by Peter Ellis and Produced by Tony Hatcher has a lot of interesting and illuminating stories.

I don't know about you'll, but all that dust had me choking. Aacchhoo! :-) The chase scene in which the riders were following the wagon was hair raising. There was some really good mastery of the wagon. I thought when the wagon went over the log in its path that it would lose control, but it worked out rather nicely. The chase sure did stir up a lot of dust and on top of that the wind must have been working overtime during the scene. When Tessa says "I wish I could be my other self for a few minutes" and Marta responds "I wish I could be somewhere else for a few minutes" made the exchange of dialog during the chase look as if they were defenseless. It was interesting to see how the writers are exploring with this side of Tessa.

Bo Derek's guest appearance as Mary Rose on the show was an interesting opponent for Tessa and the Queen of Swords. I really liked the costumes Bo was wearing on the show. Very commanding as a former sea Captain. Tessa's first encounter with Mary Rose was so intense because she knew her opponent was a strong woman with a purpose. For the first time, Tessa showed her vulnerable side. She wasn't behind the mask as the Queen to deal with Mary Rose and she knew this woman was a force to be reckoned with.

Paulina had an exciting story in this episode too. It was very nice to see that Marta is not always so serious in her role of Tessa's guardian and mentor. Marta can flirt, and kick some ass when needed. I really enjoyed the scene where Marta defends herself against Mary Rose's men. She showed that under the sheep's wool is a wolf. Marta's fighting was amazing. Maybe she learned from Tessa? Hum? Marta's dialog with Mary Rose was funny when she tells Mary Rose that she is not a cook. The other favorite line was after the Queen rescues Marta and Mary Rose tells her "Please accept my apologies" and Marta tells her "As a cook, I'll think about it". Very entertaining!

Elsa was intriguing in this episode. I was happy to see that the writers are giving more background information about Vera. Elsa is a very talented actress with an impressive repertoire. It seems the writers want to shed some light about Vera's personality. Vera showed understanding and compassion and at the same time she was scared and vulnerable. It was interesting to see how the story showed Vera trying to tell Tessa information about the murder and her plea for Tessa's help. Vera desperately wanted to help, but knew that she couldn't. Montoya confirmed it when he started telling her how she would go back to being a simple person if she spoke and would lose her position of wealth. Montoya sure knows how to control and manipulate Vera with his knowledge about her flings of infidelity. I think the writers are doing an excellent job is slowly revealing Vera's past.

Colonel Montoya's ulterior motive to have Tessa face off against Mary Rose was the work of a pure genius. His ultimate plan to gain both Tessa's and Mary Rose's properties for himself was cunning. Too bad his plan failed at the end. :-(

The fight scene in which the Queen and Mary Rose confront each other was fantastic. Roberta and Gaelle did a magnificent job of sword dueling. Up close you can see Tessie executing some of the stunts with her sword and when the camera pulls back for a long view, you notice two talented stunt doubles performing a sequence of swordplay in such a professional way. Roberta did an excellent job doubling for Bo Derek. It looks like Gaelle doubled for Tessie. Kudos to Roberta and Gaelle for a job well done.

It was good to see in this episode how Tessa was worried that she killed a man when she knew that as Tessa she shouldn't have, even though it had been in self defense. It made our heroine think real hard about her motives in her role of Tessa, the rich aristocrat and her alter ego behind the mask Queen of Swords. Tessa's fight scene with the ranchero was remarkable. If Tessie did her own stunts, very cool! If not, bravo to the stunt performer. As Tessa, she was not suppose to know how to fight. The look of despair on her face after killing the ranchero and realizing that she had killed, but not as the Queen was fantastic.

I saw "The Witness" episode again and the second time around I noticed something interesting that I missed when I first saw it. The scene is when Tessa goes to see Montoya about seeing the accused and her testimony in the trial. Did anyone notice how Montoya introduced a bit of information that left Tessa with a look of suspicion on her face? Montoya tells Tessa "Death like a conscience makes cowards of us all, you must be strong, your noble father Don Alvarado would rather have chosen death before failing to tell the truth". It looks as if the dialog between Montoya and Tessa seemed to have given her some insight about her father's death.

I must say I did miss Dr. Helm in this episode. Next episode looks really good. Tessa's identity is placed in jeopardy by someone in her past. Can't wait to see it.

In the words of Mary Rose: "Fair winds and safe anchorages!"

~Margie~