Queen of Swords episode reviews--Destiny

Originally published at TVTome

Destiny

Choices

Torres: "A flick of the wrist and I could kill you."



…and with that single opening line is set the tone for each of the 22 episodes of QUEEN of SWORDS. Characters utter marvelously, memorable lines in each episode, though this line is not one of them. No, this line is uttered by Tessa Alvarado's fencing master and friend in Spain played by series swordmaster Anthony DeLongis who went on to play her mortal foe in California, Krane, in the later episode "The Hanged Man." The line could have been spoken by either the good or the bad DeLongis character and so delineates the persistent resoluteness with which Tessa must lead her public and hidden lives in order to balance her dealings with light and dark/nobility and evil without falling prey to either state.

With that said, let me simply say "Destiny" was a very well crafted piece of television. It was the second episode filmed in the series in order to give the actresses playing Marta ( Paulina Gálvez) and Tessa ( Tessie Santiago) the opportunity to interact for awhile and better appear as if the characters had been together for ten years while Tessa grew up. This was a wise move on the producers' part as it worked.

The costumes were beautiful, the setting in Almeira, Spain to represent early California was perfect, and even the men's hairstyles stood out as exceptional. (I don't think I have ever seen a series where the men always had such fine looking hair.)

The three best aspects of this episode were the direction, the writing, and the editing. The writing and the direction worked closely together. As Tessa made discoveries and choices, the audience was introduced to all of the various characters who would play a major role in the series except for Dr. Helm ( Peter Wingfield ) to whom we are introduced in the second episode. Each choice moved the plot forward and, quite often with a single word or phrase, the action would segue to another part of the story. In addition, Tessa's choices would introduce us to characters to be used in the story. For example when Tessa decides to go home, she meets Captain Marcus Grisham (Anthony Lemke) soon after her return. When she learns (from Marta ) to flatter rather than argue, we meet Colonel Luis Ramirez Montyoya ( Valentine Pelka ) at a bizarre afternoon celebration ocurring just opposite of an execution. When she decides to seek information, we meet Don Gaspar Hidalgo ( Tacho González ) who acts both as a friend and as an obstacle. All of these are characters pertinet to the continuation of the story. Tessa had to make 8 MAJOR decisions in this episode. This was a lot to fit into 43 minutes, but the writer and director made this happen and did it well. As Tessa made these decisions, they became part of her fabric to make her the Queen of Swords, so though she had more than one persona, she was still just one person. Again, nice writing and storytelling.

The introduction of Colonel Montoya, in which we first see him playing a slow, haunting, violin solo in his rose garden, was prime work. The melody alone suggested the treachery behind his apparent gentility. I also enjoyed the introduction of the Queen of Swords through the dream and spirit world. I thought the use of Tessa's father's own wine, "Santa Rita," as the liquid gold that opened the door to Tessa's future as the Queen of Swords to be quite ingenious. For, you see, in the Roman Catholic Church, St. Rita/Santa Rita is the patron saint of the impossible – an apt description of the task facing Tessa as the Queen . The sword that had been in Tessa's family "for generations," the use of her mother's shawl for the mask, and the painting of her as a child referring to Tessa as her father's angel (to which he referred to her in Tessa ‘s dream) brought her life, and the story, full circle. In her dream about her father, Don Rafael Alvarado (played by José Sancho) tells his daughter that she would "never (be) alone" and, with these instruments of her family's past, their history would always be with her as the Queen of Swords . Finally, the matched shots of Colonel Montoya on one balcony speaking of being a "good shepherd" to the people, his sheep, while the Queen appears opposite him on the church roof asking him if this good shepherding takes place before or after he leads his sheep to slaughter was dramatic and accentuated that good and evil can look and sound the opposite of what conventional wisdom expects – a major point in this series, and in everyday life today.

Again the editing was marvelous. The interspersing of scenes of cultured flamenco dance with the execution of Don Alvarado's man servant Carlos, just feet away worked perfectly. The drumming sound built up the excitement of the moment while the simultaneous final strike of the feet with the gunshots followed by total silence accentuated the terror of the man's sudden murder. This technique was effectively used other times such as Don Alvarado's death taking place while Tessa learns to defend from death with her fencing master and when Marta read cards predicting the birth of the Queen of Swords while Tessa met her father in a dream in which he urged her to become the Queen of Swords . Perhaps my favorite bits of editing were those involving swordplay. In order to make the actors look like expert swordsmen, an experienced sword double would play opposite the actor whose face was on screen. This way the sword double could make the actor look good. In this episode, the phenomenal and multi-talented Roberta Brown performed as sword double for Tessie Santiago while Anthony Delongis (the same Anthony DeLongis mentioned above) worked as sword double for Anthony Lemke. The editing was so flawless, that unless one knew this was being done and looked very hard for either of the doubles, one could easily believe that it was Ms. Santiago and Mr. Lemke, alone, dueling to the death. Though we only ever see the sword doubles' backs, they are well worth mentioning as they were a major part of this series. Regarding the swordplay, the double' and triple' in which the Queen and Grisham engaged in the jail added to the strained relationship between them. It was as if there was an odd chemistry between the two swordslingers and they did not want to see their bout end. Future episodes built upon this only slightly.

The executive producer of the series and series creator, David Abramowitz, worked as a producer on HIGHLANDER: THE SERIES . So, many actors who appeared in QUEEN OF SWORDS are familiar from that "family." As a member of that familiar group, Mr. Pelka beautifully portrated the evil yet handsome Colonel Montoya. Ms. Santiago, Mr. Lemke, and Ms. Gálvez are new to Mr. Abramowitz' production clan. None-the-less, they did well in this opening episode. Ms. Gálvez as a beautiful, yet older and wiser friend, was subtle enough to be thouroughly enjoyed without upstaging Ms. Santiago as the lead. I appreciated Mr. Lemke's knowing glances and facial smirks. Being Ms. Santiago's first acting job, she was a bit raw around the edges in her performances, but this rawness gave her performance believability as a vulnerable young woman who wanted revenge. This made her a very strong lead. She was an excellent choice to play the demanding role of Tessa / María Teresa Alvarado /Queen of Swords .

I was always sorry that the series was not allowed to come to a conclusion (and I was especially saddened that it did not continue after one season). It was a story that allowed me to see the old desert southwest as a place where something exciting and filled with imagination could have taken place. The series was the first piece of "normal" television that aired after non-stop televised horror and sadness, 24/7, following September 11th, 2001 It was a series that gave hope and joy to many people and continues to inspire masses around the world as it is sold in syndication. So, if you ever get a chance to catch an episode of QUEEN OF SWORDS on this continent or any other, jump at the chance and ENJOY!!!

I give this episode 8 Rapiers and 2 Daggers for an excellent beginning that helped me understand the story and want to see more episodes.


Taram

July 28, 2003