Queen of Swords episode reviews--The Witness

The Witness

Behind the Mask

Tessa: "Marta, it's not supposed to be this way. Only the Queen kills."

As the theme song by Proffer and Plunkett—sung by José Feliciano—tells us, we all hide behind a mask: a mask by which we want the world to remember us. When we hide our true persona from the world, do we also hide from ourselves? What happens when the two characters meet? These are the questions "The Witness" tries to ask and answer. Unfortunately, though the episode employed the talents of classically trained fencer, very hard worker, and famed actress Bo Derek, the story was weak.

As viewers who have seen the episode or readers who have read the synopsis know, "The Witness" tells a story in which Tessa witnesses the apparent murder of a poor young woman by a wealthy landowner's son. The landowner (Bo Derek as "Mary Rose") also happens to be a former buccaneer who travels with a sword and band of men expecting everything to go her way. Tessa promises the dead woman's brothers they she will not let threats or social standing keep her from testifying against Mary Rose's son at trial. Montoya naturally schemes to kill the young man and get both Tessa's and Mary Rose's lands by pitting them against each other. None-the-less, through various turns of events related to Vera's need to confess to Tessa that she was sleeping with another man on the night of the murder and saw the entire event, Tessa ends up believing the boy is innocent.

At one point in the story, Mary Rose sends one of her Rancheros to kill Tessa while she is riding home in her carriage. Though not dressed as the Queen, the Queen's reactions are triggered when Tessa is attacked. When she kills the Ranchero, Tessa begins to question the sanity and morality of killing in order to achieve a cause. This was a nice moment of tension. Unfortunately, rather than letting Tessa stew and worry about her choices, even making her doubt herself, this was merely a moment in the story. The tension is present and then it is gone. This would have been a nice piece of character development drawn out slowly as the story progressed. Tessie Santiago did a nice job of agonizing in front of Paulina Gálvez, as Marta, in this scene. She appeared to age 10-15 years as she spoke.

Needing a final sword duel to cap the episode, Mary Rose kidnaps Marta in order to convince Tessa to not testify against her son. While tied up, Marta is lectured by Mary Rose about the worries a mother has about her children. This scene provides one of the cuter moments when Marta is insulted by being called a "cook." As the Queen, Tessa finds Marta, duels Mary Rose in a nice sword fight in which both women are equally challenged, and wins Marta's freedom by allowing Mary Rose to kill the Queen in order to prove she is trustworthy. The Queen tells Mary Rose that Tessa will not testify against her son and Mary Rose believes her.

The next day everything works out for Mary Rose when her son is released as Tessa refuses to testify. Unfortunately, Tessa says nothing about her knowledge of Vera's statement (to protect Vera's faux marital mask of fidelity), so the dead woman's brothers do not know who the killer is, the dead woman does not receive justice, and Mary Rose doesn't learn to curb her blood-lust behavior.

I recall reading on the original show forum that an earlier version of the script had Mary Rose nicking Tessa as the Queen on the forearm during the sword duel. Then, when they meet the next day, Mary Rose sees the nick and realizes that Tessa and the Queen are one in the same. For me, the episode would have had an added element of excitement had that bit been left in the final cut. This way, Tessa would be stressed knowing that someone COULD reveal her secret someday. Having a stressed "super" hero is always more exciting.

The actors, editors, camera and lighting crew, and stunt people did an excellent job on this episode. The fight scenes were outstanding and the actor playing the dead woman's brother "Crispin" (Leo Medina) was beautifully cast. I wanted him to have justice for his sister and be safe! Unfortunately, the story and the producer's cut combined to weaken a good effort in this episode. Fortunately, other episodes of the QUEEN OF SWORDS were stronger and more exciting.

I am compelled to award "The Witness" 5 Rapiers and 4 Daggers for decent acting and stunt scenes with a moderately well crafted story.

Taram

October 19, 2003