Queen of Swords episode reviews--Duel With a Stranger

Duel with a Stranger

Dancing with Danger

Captain Grisham: "All he does is the Spanish Circles."

On this second anniversary of the cowardly terror attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, I am reminded of "Queen of Swords." There were a few reasons for that. One reason was the discussion on chat boards about how we wished we had a heroine like the "Queen" to save us. It was later that we realized that our heroes are not super beings, but rather, they were, and still are, our neighbors…flesh and blood human beings just like this writer and you the reader.

That is the message of the "Queen of Swords" episode Duel with a Stranger.

This was a beautifully crafted episode. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I watched the tape four or five times before buckling down to write the review. The idea is that Tessa's former love Antonio, who she lost contact with when he left for the Napoleonic wars, has lost his family fortune and has accepted the job of Montoya's hired gun (that is "swordsman") who will kill and bring in the Queen's head. He has no idea that she is the woman he is sworn to capture and she has no idea that her love has turned mercenary. That is, not until a climatic sword duel in which Antonio traps the Queen against a canyon wall and rips off her mask revealing her identity. The scene brings home to us that Tessa is merely our heroic flesh and blood neighbor living the guise of the Queen of Swords. In the end, Antonio dies choosing not to betray Tessa making him her flesh and blood hero.

Speaking of moving scenes, two especially stand out. The Queen wants to give Antonio the chance to back out of his attempts to kill her. So she goes to see him in his hotel room at night. A duel ensues and Antonio takes her rapier. In order to escape, the Queen throws a kerosene lamp on the floor starting a fire. Then she breaks out of the French windows for the room leaping from the balcony with a huge fireball following close behind her. Heroes outrunning fireballs were popular scenes in the late 1990s and this scene follows that genre, but I loved it. Although the series star, Tessie Santiago, did not perform the stunt, I always thought it should have been included in publicity photos.

The other scene that was impressive was that in which Antonio pinned the Queen and ripped off her mask to reveal Tessa. Prior to this climatic move, the Queen and Antonio dance around each other using the Spanish Circle form taught to Tessa and Antonio by their mutual swordmaster in Spain. Not only do taunt and threaten each other with blades, but the tension in Tessa and Antonio's relationship is heightened as they dance around each other. This is a family show, so romance was limited. This scene, however, was a great technique to explain the story progression to children while, at the same time, making the mask ripping shot very erotic for adults.

The acting was fun. Tessie Santiago did a marvelous job of being confused by love as both Tessa and the Queen. She is obviously stronger as the Queen, but in this episode I could see traces of the same person in both personas. Nice job. Cristian de la Fuente was marvelous as Antonio. His line deliveries associated with his charming smile made ME smile. What wonderful casting. We have a parallel here, too. The star of the series is Tessie SANTIAGO while Mr. De la Fuente is from SANTIAGO, Chile. Sweet, eh? His character's death was kind of a bummer. Had the series continued so that characters could have made reappearances, it would have been fun to see Antonio again.

"But Mr. De la Fuente can't fence! Why would we want to see him in that role again?" you might ask. That is when the marvelous editing of the series played an important role. Anthony De Longis (supreme developer of the Spanish Circles fencing form used in "Queen of Swords" alluded to by Captain Grisham in the quote above) was Mr. De la Fuente's sword double. The editing never gives any hint that Mr. De Longis is in a scene instead of Mr. De la Feunte.

In the end, the viewer knows that Tessa, as our heroine the Queen, faces danger. We count the cost she pays and hope her heroic deeds do not take her life. After all, she is merely our flesh and blood neighbor. God bless all heroes...fallen and living.

I give Duel with a Stranger 9 Rapiers and 4 daggers for a beautifully moving story.

Taram
September 11, 2003