Zorro 1.33 - The Deadly Bolas

Plot: Diego and Bernardo ride to the mission, under the pretext of Diego returning a book on the history of the Church in South America. While there, Diego mentions hearing a rumor the Cross of the Andes was stolen, which the padre confirms. Our heroes quickly depart. Back at the hacienda, Sergeant Garcia comes calling, and Bernardo foolishly answers the door when he knocks, which prompts some awkward questions Diego has to answer with discussion of vibrations. Anyway, Garcia is there to inform Diego the party he hadn't officially invited Diego to - the one for Senorita Bastinado - has been called off, because the sergeant can't foot the bill. Diego lets the sergeant hang for a moment, then insists on paying for everything.

That dealt with, Diego and Bernardo turn again to the missing jewels, as well as the continued presence of Carlos Murietta. Why is he still here if he's made his delivery? Such queries will have to wait, because they're expected at the tavern for the party, where Garcia is trying to get Reyes to memorize all the nice things he's supposed to tell the Senorita about the sergeant. In the midst of that, Murietta comes downstairs to insult Garcia for not stopping the theft of his shipment of boots. Which no one had told Garcia about until then, but why would Murietta let facts stop him from being a dick? He claims Senor Mordante reported no theft from his tannery because he's away in Capistrano. Diego finds all this protesting suspicious and prepares to leave, but Senorita Bastinado arrives, so he can't, and sends Bernardo back home to disguise himself as Zorro and investigate the tannery again. Meanwhile, Murietta's brother Pietro is on his way to Los Angeles, stopping along the way to terrify a peasant who failed to answer a question with his bolas. He isn't much more polite to Garcia when arriving at the tavern, but he's glad to see his brother, and they ride off to the tannery together. Meaning they catch Bernardo, and prepare to kill him. Only by this time Diego's slipped out, and no there are two Zorros to contend with, though one is sufficient for the Muriettas.

Quote of the Episode: Zorro - 'I hate to spoil your fun, but we Zorros must stick together.'

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

Other: Despite Corporal Reyes thoroughly charming the Senorita, while neglecting to mention any of the sergeant's virtues, there was no use of "baboso" this week.

Heck of a family, these Muriettas. Not only do they love to torment those they consider lessers with their favorite weapons, they use them to greet each other, too. Carlos wrapped his whip around Pietro's neck as a surprise greeting. Still, how embarrassed does Pietro have to be to do all that talking about how awesome his bolas are, then Zorro shows up and steals them in less than two minutes? I'd hope that next week, either Diego (intentionally) or Garcia (unintentionally) keeps bugging Pietro asking him what happened to those bolas he had? They sure were nifty. Could he put on another demonstration? No? Why ever not? Just make him madder and madder about it. I'm pretty sure Carlos would sit back and have a good laugh. They seem like that kind of pair.

I'm not going to be sorry when this subplot about Garcia and the wealthy senorita is over. Little disappointed in him to be such a gold-digger, and so blatant about it. I know he longs for a life of leisure and wealth, but it's still not a good look on him. Go back to dreaming of capturing Zorro for a big reward. Or look for gold. Or oil. That said, I can't decide whether the Corporal suckered Garcia by pretending to not know how to dance last week, or if he's an even faster learner than even he suspects.