Zorro: Capítulos 98-101 (July 2-6)

Xenameralda and Diego/Zorro are finally together again! Although one of the appealing things about this telenovela's Zorro is that he's often kind of clueless about things. Especially when it come to the Sanchez de Moncada sisters. So he doesn't quite realize that his true love, Xenameralda Sanchez de Moncada, is back in town. Having gone through the Amazons' legendary "Become a Warrior Princess in One Week" program, she's become a female Zorro. At the end of the week, she saved the original Zorro from being blasted by royal riflemen.

Everything is building up to the Queen's masquerade ball, which is likely to be the event that sets of the mother of all Alta California battles. Xenameralda and García are holed up in a villa in town, having purchased titles as count and countess, with Kamba along as their valet and coachman. Xenameralda is no longer just plotting revenge but putting it into action. Apparently the Amazons trained her on the crossbow, as well, because that's been her main weapon as the female Zorro so far. She left el Comandante Montero a threatening note via crossbow. And she clobbered three of his soldiers using only legs, arms and fists, taking each of them out with a single blow.

The big day arrives: Olmos was eager, and so was Mangle

But the aftermath wasn't quite what Olmos had expected

Diego and Bernardo (who thanks to Yumalai achieved one of this novela's many rapid recuperations from near-fatal wounds) see Contessa Xenameralda in town one day. But neither of them recognize her. Because, as Jen la novelera writes at Caray, Caray!, "you can’t tell it’s Esme at all, because the sheer black lace fan that covers only half her face makes it impossible, combined with her finely tailored dress, her height and figure, and long, thick, curly hair". We might also question why someone undercover would be walking around the market square in the middle of the day with García who's also on the lam from el Comandante and Pizarro. But I'm sure there's a logical explanation.

Xenameralda got some definite good news at the cemetery, though. When García and Kamba dug up what they all thought was her dead child, she realized from the blanket in which he was wrapped that it wasn't Baby Zorro at all! Going immediately into Nancy Drew mode, she rapidly deduced that the dead child was Mangle's baby and that the baby at the hacienda really is her own Baby Zorro. I had kind of thought that the dead baby would turn out to have fangs and horns, given that his parents were Mangle and el Comandante, but, oh well.

The Angel of Death pays a visit to María Pía (actually, it's a monkified Fernando but he looks like the Angel of Death here)

This week Olmos finally got his wish. Mariángel/Mangle finally made love to him. And, as Selenia had set it up, as soon as they both climaxed, the hypnotic spell wore off and she went back to her pre-love-potion attitude toward Olmos. Which means Olmos' ecstasy was very short-lived.

Former Gobernador Fernando continued to atone for his sins this week. El Comandante Montero busted him at the church where he was sitting in his brown friar's cowl waiting for people to donate alms. Montero wanted to impress el Duque Jacobo by getting Fernando under wraps. I'm not quite sure why, but Montero arrested him for high treason ont he grounds he abandoned his governor's post. But Fernando's snake of a daughter Mangle also let Montero know that Fernando wanted to stop the bloodbath that Montero is planning. So Montero took him to the prison El Callao and tortured him, finally throwing him in a cell with Laisha the gitana and Olmos. (What's with the co-ed cells in that prison?)

Tobías tries cross-dressing in his latest sure-to-fail plot to get revenge on Pizarro

The only good news for Fernando right now is that María Pía left poor devoted Alfonso at the altar. She just can't get that murdering bad boy Fernando out of her heart.

In other subplots, Diego's dubious friend Santiago covers for him on his Zorro identity with Mangle. But he seems to be willing to play along with Mangle's scheme to snatch Baby Zorro.

Yumalai comes to say goodbye to Wife #1 (Almudena)

Tobías, our comic relief stalwart and sometime swishy Zorro imitator, has a new scheme to kill Pizarro. He's going to go to the masquerade ball dressed as a woman. Hopefully he remembers to shave his beard first. His plans seems to be to get Pizarro to make a pass at him and then kill him. Or maybe he plans to do The Crying Game number on him and when Pizarro is stunned at discovering his new blond girlfriend has male equipment, he'll stab him. Or something.

Tobías schemes always go wrong. But at least his wife Catalina prefers to stay with him than run off with Pizarro. Pizarro, though, plans to kill el Comandante Montero at the masquerade ball and then run off to Spain with Catalina, whether she likes it or not. Her expressions now when Pizarro's around are great: dread mixed with ever-increasing amounts of horror.

Regina/Toypurnia appears to Almudena in her role as psychopomp (the mythological term for a being who guides the spirits of the dead to the next world)

The big mystical action this week was with Yumalai. She was back at the hacienda treating a dying Bernardo when Alejandro discovered Almudena was on the verge of death from the big ole dose of poison that Olmos gave her on behalf of Mangle. Then she came to see Almudena who woke up and acted affectionate. Yumalai told her she came to say goodbye to her.

But my prediction from last week is already wrong on those two. Almudena didn't die. She was seeing visions of Regina/Toypurnia's spirit coming to take her across the Big River. But Yumalai ran off into the night and went out to the actual crossroads that Almudena was seeing in her dream. She calls Toypurnia and says she's ready to go with her. Back at the hacienda, we see Almudena suddenly gasp and sit up in bed, totally cured. So it looks like Yumalai is dead.

Tangled up in blue: Yumalai meets Toypurnia's spirit at the crossroad

But not so fast. Almudena and Alejandro drive by the crossroads during the daylight in a day or so. And they notice a bed of yellow flowers that Alejandro says he's never noticed there before even though he drives by there every day. Later at the Indian village, Almudena sees some more yellow death flowers and then Yumalai shows up, looking all ghostly.

She and Almudena have a talk, all is forgiven and Yumalai says she has to go to the mountain and they hug. Alejandor shows up after Yumalai is gone and says that Yumalai took all her things but nobody has seen her. The fact that she took all her stuff tells me that she's still alive and is off doing some spirit quest or something.

Almudena and Alejandro discover the yellow flowers of death - or the yellow flowers of Toypurnia, maybe

A ghostly-looking Yumalai drops by to chat with Almudena

So Alejandro's Big Love arrangement isn't over; it's just on hold for now.

Okay, why'd you poison me, you ungrateful little harpy? A newly-healthy Almudena confronts Mangle

But now Almudena is safe as Wife #1, Wife #2 is off at the Spirit Mountain and Almudena takes the opportunity to go confront her red-haired viper of a neice about that little poisoning incident.


Not your Walt Disney's Zorro: this Zorro doesn't just carve Z's on the bad guys' clothes; here he runs through one of el Comandante's men (ouch!)

"Esto no es mi hijo": Xenameralda realizes that the buried baby is not her son and that Baby Zorro is still alive


A jungle idyll ends: Xenameralda bids farewell to her Amazon warrior sisters

After fencing practice: Xenameralda and García relax while a discreet García inspects her cleavage

Padre Tomás has one of his heart-to-hearts with Diego and makes an expression that says, "I'm glad all my parishioners aren't this much trouble"

La Rosa Oscura? Xenameralda adopts the rose as her symbol in her female Zorro mode - the telenovela's subtitle is "la espada y la rosa"

Tags: zorro, zorro telenovela