Zorro 1.29 - Quintana Makes A Choice

Plot: Bernardo rides into town alone early, to have a bridle repaired. The store is closed, so he sits to wait, and hears a noise around the corner. It's a bear, which sets Bernardo running for the cuartel, where he's let in by Corporal Reyes, who, upon seeing the bear, calls for Sergeant Garcia. Garcia decides he'd like a bearskin rug, and ventures out into the square with a couple of lancers. But none of their muskets will fire, so they swiftly retreat. Back inside the cuartel walls, Garcia and Reyes examine their rifles and discover their gunpowder is actually charcoal. Garcia discusses the matter later in the tavern with Diego, who suggests Garcia question the soldiers. Garcia does, but discovers nothing of use. Reyes suggests asking Raquel, since she's living inside the cuartel, and Garcia reluctantly does so, noting that nothing has left the cuartel that could hide gunpowder, except the boxes she had brought in then sent out again. Raquel grows indignant, and Garcia kind of lets the matter drop.

Raquel is now concerned he'll figure it out, and in discussing the matter with Quintana and Enrique, it is decided they'll kill the sergeant. That evening, Zorro sneaks back into the tavern's cellar, but fails to find the gunpowder. He also nearly topples the wine casks, which alerts Raquel to his presence, and she nearly captures him. Zorro is able to make her lower guard just enough she misses with her pistol by implying he works for the Eagle as well. Raquel also let slip the plan to kill Garcia, and Zorro has to dash off. In the wilderness, Quintana and Enrique have assured Garcia that if he keeps watch on the road, the gunpowder will be along. Meanwhile, they'll shoot him in the back. Zorro averts this, and when Enrique tries to flee, he catches an accidental(?) bullet from Quintana. Garcia through all this is insisting Zorro is nuts, and trying to capture the Fox. Which goes as well as you'd expect.

Quote of the Episode: Reyes - 'I think something must be wrong.' Garcia - 'This is always true. If something was not wrong, it would not seem right.'

Times Zorro marks a "Z": 0 (13 overall).

Other: We got one "baboso" this week, from Garcia to Reyes when the corporal didn't see how the useless information Garcia's questioning unearthed helped find the gunpowder.

Raquel tried to convince Zorro to join the Eagle with the "strong man" argument. You know, the people are sheep, they need a strong leader, that old line. Not all that different from the Magistrado's sales pitch when he wanted Alejandro and the other rancheros to form a vigilante group. She didn't have any more success selling it to Zorro, than Gallindo with Diego.

I'm unclear what choice Quintana made this week. That's why I put the question mark after "accidental". All I could figure was the choice was to shoot Enrique because he feared Zorro would capture him and make him talk. Except Zorro already knows Quintana is crooked, but I guess, since Garcia wasn't buying what Zorro was selling, Quintana figured he'd be safe from the authorities so long as Enrique didn't spill the beans. Except it really didn't seem like he meant to shoot Enrique. Although quite why he thought Zorro would run away from Enrique, after Enrique stole Zorro's gunpowder, I don't know. At any rate, I can't imagine he's going to last much longer, now that he's reached the point of villainy where he's eliminating his cohorts. The Magistrado did something similar in his last few weeks. I think once you've been established as so evil you kill the other people in your cause, the story can't allow you to hang around. We'll see if I'm right.

Initially, I was going to conclude this was another episode light on story, and padding it out with Garcia/Reyes hijinks. And I think that's somewhat true. The thing with the bear dragged on a bit long at the start. But in some ways, we get to see Garcia and Reyes being at least somewhat competent. They know there's something screwy about 3 muskets all failing to fire, so they investigate the weapons. They're experienced enough soldiers to recognize what is and isn't gunpowder, and if Reyes suggestion that gunpowder might turn to charcoal if left in a keg too long (he compares it to cider his family left too long, until it fermented into wine) is silly, well, these guys haven't been trained in chemistry, so far as I know. How would Reyes know whether that's possible or not? Garcia is willing to discuss it with a smart man he trusts - Diego - but he's already made a list of the people with access to the gunpowder (himself, Captain Toledano, Reyes, and the 4th man as he puts, the one who stole the powder).

Then he takes Diego's advice to question the soldiers, and if it doesn't produce useful info, he at least tries. He questions Raquel as delicately as he can, but he's at least smart enough to recognize the boxes she had brought in and sent out (allegedly to move some of her husband's things so she had room in her current lodgings). But at the end of the day, this is the wife of his commanding officer, so he has to tread lightly. And Raquel knows that, and uses it to blunt his questioning even more. I can't quite figure Garcia's unwillingness to believe Zorro's warning, though. Sure, Garcia is a trusting fellow, and Quintana and Enrique are claiming to be friendly, but Garcia knows Zorro is a good guy. And he also knows these two guys came into the cellar pistols drawn on Garcia and Reyes not too long ago. Surely he ought to be a little suspicious.