Zorro 1.19 - Death Stacks the Deck

Plot: We open on a funeral, but sadly, not the Magistrado’s. It’s for the previously unseen Don Luis Santil, whose son Ramon is now left in charge of a ranch he can’t pay the taxes on, a fact he was forced to confront only a half-hour before the funeral by the always compassionate magistrate. On the way to the cemetery, the procession is blocked briefly by a newcomer, boldly wearing an eagle feather in his hat. He rather rudely rebuffs Garcia’s attempts to determine his business, but we do learn he is Carlos Urista.  Later, Diego approaches his old friend Ramon, to try and convince him to accept a loan from Alejandro, but Ramon has no need. He sold all his cattle for 11,000 pesos, which will cover his taxes. As for what he’ll do with a ranch with no cattle, Ramon considers himself a lucky fellow.

Inside the tavern, Garcia is striking out with Clara the barmaid (what happened to Maria?), even though he actually has money to pay for drinks. Ramon observes Urista losing badly at bruja to our old friend Senor Barca, and steps into the game, despite Diego’s warning that Urista handles the cards like a pro. So Diego sits with Garcia and Reyes, and encourages the sergeant – who is thinking of marriage – to think more positively of himself, and it will encourage others to do so as well. Garcia’s attempt to bolster his self-image through song is promptly shot down by Clara, who is not into fat guys. By this point, Ramon has lost all the money Urista paid for the cattle, and desperate to make it back, he puts up the deed to the entire ranch. Which he loses, and Urista goes on to build a tannery on the land, and dump the refuse into his spring, which poisons the water supplies of all the other rancheros. Of course, the Magistrado insists the law can do nothing. Which means it’s time for Zorro to take action, as he bursts through Urista’s window that night, and forces him to play Ramon again, with Zorro dealing the cards. Garcia – who was the only other patron of the tavern – tries to get Zorro with a wine bottle, but gets a pistol barrel in his gut.

Urista loses – not surprising, since Zorro promised to kill him if he won – but Reyes has peered in the window and noticed the situation, and the lancers are ready to barge in. Before then, Zorro tells Ramon he better work that ranch well, and not gamble, or else. The lancers burst in, Zorro fends off four of them, Garcia tries again and gets a wine bottle over his head. Zorro escapes across the rooftops, as the Magistrado’s yelling fails to inspire the lancers to capture him.

Quote of the Episode: Carlos Urista – ‘Why should I show respect for someone I do not know?’

Times Zorro marks a “Z”: 0 (9 overall).

Other: Zorro may have jumped the gun this week. Right before he comes in through the window, the Magistrado asks Urista to meet him outside the cuartel in 3 minutes. It’s doubtful they’d discuss anything that would give Zorro any more clues as to their mysterious boss and his goals, but you never know. It’s a bit of a reversal from the last few weeks, where Zorro has seemed willing to be patient. He let Garcia make his attempt to rescue the possible slave labor, and he took his sweet time rescuing Paco.

Speaking of last week, Alejandro upbraided his son again this week, when he told Diego to set a better example for Ramon by taking more of a hand in the ranch. Diego didn’t help by responding with the quote about those also serve, who stand and wait. Diego is more consistently attending these meetings the Dons keep having with the Magistrado, at least. Not that Alejandro seems satisfied with that.

Not clear on why, if he wanted Zorro taken alive, the Magistrado tried to shoot him. I guess he could have been trying to herd him back to the lancers in pursuit, but that’s a pretty ambitious shot for a man with no particular skill with the pistol, at night, aiming at a guy dressed in black, on a walkway on a level above him, with the shitty firearms of the early 19^th Century.