Zorro 1.24 - The New Commandante

Plot: A single lancer rushes to the Magistrado’s office. Inside, Figueroa informs Gallindo that Garcia left for Santa Barbara to greet and escort the new Comandante. The Magistrado hopes this new fellow will be more malleable than the ‘stupid, incorruptible sergeant’. Under Garcia’s command, the soldiers and prisoners are reasonably happy, in no small part because Garcia has made certain the food for both is improved. Figueroa is ordered to put something in the food to taint it so everyone will be unhappy when the new top man arrives.

Speaking of which, Captain Toledano and his wife Raquel run into a spot of trouble on their way to Los Angeles, as their carriage gets stuck in a mudhole that wasn’t there when the sergeant came to get them. In the process of getting the carriage unstuck, Toledano falls in, which puts him in a sour mood. We also learn Raquel has a wandering eye, as she’s quite interested in Diego, who helped get the horses moving again. In town, Toledano wants to avoid meeting the citizenry until he can change, but can’t avoid the Magistrado, who immediately starts in with stories of how Toledano must be firm with these unruly peasants. Right on cue, the prisoners start complaining about the lousy food, though Garcia promises he’ll fix it if they quiet down. Raquel is more concerned with the less than impressive housing accommodations, and though Toledano promises to have the room expanded by shrinking his office, she opts to stay at the inn. At that point, Figueroa throws a bucket of water on the prisoners, and their shouting catches the Comandante at a bad time, as he orders them tied up outside the cuartel as a message, an act observed by Bernardo.

That night, as Toledano, Raquel, and Gallindo dine at the inn, the Captain regrets his action and prepares to order the men released. But Raquel making googly-eyes at some vaquero at the bar, combined with the Magistrado going on about the peasants being likely to revolt, and will regard such an action as a sign of weakness, causes Toledano to decide to leave them there. At which point Zorro throws a knife at the table, gives Toledano a warning, and dashes out a window, stopping to free the prisoners before riding away.

When the story picks up again, it is some time later, and Garcia is reporting back that his patrol found no trace of Zorro. When Toledano mentions no one has seen him in weeks, Garcia explains that Zorro only appears when there is a wrong to be righted. Since his actions the first day, Toledano has committed no abuses, following the rules, but doing so fairly. Thus, Zorro has no need to appear. Toledano is touched by Garcia’s praise, and gives him and his patrol the remainder of the day off. Meanwhile, the Magistrado is trying to figure out how he’s going to get the soldiers to help the Eagle if they all (save Figueroa) love their new Comandante. He settles on using the unwitting vaquero, Peralta, having his partner slip a note to a barmaid, for her to deliver to the young man. It will appear to come from Raquel, asking Peralta to serenade her beneath her window that evening. The Captain will be alerted, find Peralta, challenge him to a duel, and though a fine swordsman, die because Peralta is even better. Fortunately for everyone, Diego and Bernardo are enjoying a drink, and observe the note passing. Diego goes over to chat with Peralta and get the scoop, then leaves. So it’s no surprise when Peralta’s singing is interrupted by Zorro, who removes his sword and guitar, and sends him packing. Oh but that wasn’t enough. Inside the inn, he has Bernardo place a note under Garcia’s cup, telling him to serenade Raquel. Fortunately, when Toledano arrives and finds his sergeant, he takes it well. Especially when Garcia tells him he received a note supposedly from the Captain, asking him to serenade her on her saint’s day.

So everything is fine, right? Wrong. Peralta’s feeling sulky, and snitches to Gallindo that Zorro is in that courtyard. He alerts the lancers, and soon everyone is after Zorro. Peralta even borrows a friend’s sword and steps in. They chase him into the inn, then back out the way he came, then into the cuartel, before Zorro makes it over the wall and off to safety, to Toledano’s admiration, and the Magistrado’s disgust.

Quote of the Episode: Toledano – ‘I’m beginning to understand why they write songs about him.’

Times Zorro marks a “Z”: 0 (10 overall).

Other: Garcia used “baboso” twice, both times while the carriage was stuck in the mud.

I really enjoyed this episode. It’s nice to see a commanding officer who is a decent fellow, for the most part. The one before Ortega might have been, but he died five seconds after he got there. And the real Ortega was supposed to be a good guy, but he was killed en route. Toledano loves his country, and believes in doing his duty, but isn’t cruel about it. He really seems to believe respect and compassion will be more effective in maintain peace than force. If he can only control that jealousy. Or Raquel could try maybe not being so obvious about the fact she’s interested in other men. I get it, she’s from a Catholic country, she can’t divorce him, even though she hates being a soldier’s wife. But maybe just try not to get him killed, over your wandering eye, OK? I’m still no fan of philanderers, and that goes regardless of gender.

Beyond that, we got to see what felt like a little more of a serious plan from Gallindo. I mean, the whole passing notes thing was a little silly, but the overall idea that they want to make the soldiers so discontented they’d actually be willing to turn against the King and serve this mysterious Eagle isn’t a bad idea. There was the theft of the soldier’s pay in “Garcia Stands Accused”, but that seemed as much about getting some gold, and having Garcia killed as anything else. The latter seems like petty larceny (I can’t imagine regular soldiers were paid that well back then), and I like Garcia, but even if he is incorruptible, he is also stupid, so I’m not sure he was that big an impediment to their plans. It was nice of the Magistrado to compliment him like that, even if he didn’t mean it that way.

Also, we got to see Garcia actually buy someone else a drink for once, Bernardo no less. Which is why I was so dismayed when it turned out the note was for Garcia to serenade Raquel. I was terrified Zorro was about to get the sergeant killed, not realizing just how jealous Toledano might get. As it turned out, Zorro either knew Toledano wouldn’t be threatened by Garcia, or knew Garcia would explain why he was doing it, and have the note to back him up, that was a relief.

On top of that, I really enjoyed Zorro’s introduction to Toledano. We see Bernardo observe the prisoners being tied up outside the cuartel, but there isn’t the usual scene of him trying to explain things to Diego. Instead we get the Magistrado trying to turn the Captain to his way of thinking, while Raquel puts the screws to Toledano’s pride, and then BAM! Knife embedded in the table, and here’s Zorro, handing out warnings then dashing off without so much as a by your leave. It’s quick and it’s effective, and it plays up him as the force that appears without warning from the night to right wrongs and fight injustice, then vanishes. Usually Zorro has a bit of sport with it, plays around more than he probably should. He was all business here, and it makes a nice change of pace, and probably a good first impression. Toledano needs to believe Zorro is serious, not just someone playing around, even if the Captain isn’t the sort to normally get crosswise of the Fox.

Oh, and I thought it was funny when Gallindo told Toledano the previous Comandante “lost his commission” for failing to capture Zorro. That’s a funny way of saying, “fell off a roof while trying to flee with gold he stole from me because his cover was blown.” Unless he meant Monastario, in which case it’s a funny way of saving, “got imprisoned for massive corruption and falsely accusing the Viceroy’s old friend of being a notorious outlaw.” Whichever.