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Any Xena:WP fans on the boards?

Episode 68 season 3 # 22 SACRIFICE II

Part 2 commentary by Hudson Leick:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R8LxCiyUrw&feature=related

(loved Hudson's comment, "Listen to your wife, Xena.)

Part 3 commentary by Hudson Leick:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaONXVGvsV8

(And howled when she said... "this is the begging scene... where Callisto turns into Joxer.)

The above vids are no longer available, here is a mere taste of the commentaries.

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(Hope has just hatched from the egg, and revealed herself to be a "clone" of Gabrielle's.)
Callisto: “Ooh-- now, she’s scary. And you just lost your one chance before she hatched, Xena.”
Xena: “It ain’t over, yet.”
Gabrielle: “Xena! If you kill her, she... !”
Xena: “Get back, Gabrielle!”
[Fight]
Xena:
“Hope is just using ya, Callisto. I wouldn’t turn my back on her.”
Callisto: “Like you turned your back on precious little Gabrielle? Yeah, guess you speak from experience, huh?”

(How reminiscent of "The Bitter Suite". )

After Callisto spirits Hope from the war god's hall...


Gabrielle: “Look, Xena you can’t kill her... ! Xena... ”
Xena: “Well, you protected your daughter well, didn’t you?”
Gabrielle: “Look, you don’t understand.”
Xena: “Why you released that monster that killed my son on all the children of the world? Well that, I do not understand.”
[ACT I]
Gabrielle: “Xena just listen to me. Ares came to me. He called in my debt. He said that I had to stop you from killing Hope, or you were going to die.”
Xena: “Don’t you get it? I would gladly die to rid the world of that thing.”
Gabrielle: “Well, I had to do something. I had to think quickly. I, I just couldn’t stand the thought of losing you.”

That little reminder was for those people who missed "The Bitter Suite", and "One Against An Army".

And for those of us who DIDN'T miss those two eps... this scene ender was for us.

Xena: “I hurt her in there. And when it happened Saraphin returned to normal for a minute. Gabrielle, whatever happens, I must stop Hope. And if I have to die doing it, then so be it. Do you understand?”
Gabrielle: “I understand.”
Xena: “You saw her face, didn’t you?”
Gabrielle: “Mmm.”
Xena: (Reaches up to touch the side of Gabrielle's face/hair) “It’s strange, the one I love most in all the world and the one I hate-- look exactly the same.”

The followers of Dahok are rounding up innocents to be blood sacrifices welcoming him into our world. So naturally Xena and her sword are busy fighting the baddies and releasing the victims.

Gabrielle, on the other hand, is being distracted by the god of war, just in case you forgot what he told her at the end of part 1. They are watching the Warrior Princess fight.

Ares: She never gives up... ”
Male Voice: “Yeah!”
Ares: “Even when it’s hopeless. Time was, it was a quality I admired about her.”
Gabrielle: “How’s life as a slave to your new master, Dahok?”
Ares: “I consider it a partnership. You know, he’s not so bad, once you get to know him. He’s ruthless, decisive. We got a lot in common.”
Xena: “Uhhh!
Ares: “I’m here to remind you that our deal is still in place.”
Gabrielle: “I know that Hope has to die, no matter the consequences.”
Ares: “Even if that means saying goodbye to your beloved Xena? Think you can just let it happen? I don’t.”

Anything.

Everything.

Well, I'm sure Callisto is glad Xena isn't around to say,"I told you so." since she's just learned Hope doesn't plan on granting her "oblivion" anytime soon, which makes her a bit peevish. and Ares a bit smug.

Callisto: (To Hope, re the hinds blood dagger) “I want it, now!”
Ares:
(Just appeared) “Just like old times.”
Callisto: “You remember when I killed Strife, that look in his eyes? You’re next, Ares.”
Hope: “Enough! Ares you and I have unfinished business. Callisto, I will deal with you when I say, not before.”
(Hope then puts the moves on Ares, when he finally comes up for air...) :wtf:
Ares: “You are so not like your mother.” ;)

So Callisto splits and heads out looking for Xena. Needless to say, Xena isn't pleased at being found, and like any good Mother, Gabrielle isn't pleased about hearing about her newly hatched daughter's sexual exploits.

Callisto: “Oh, well done, Xena. I’m not here to fight with you, Xena, just wanna chat.”
Xena: “Let me guess, things didn’t work out with Hope quite the way you expected.”
Calisto: “No, actually the sight of her and Ares rolling around like weasels made me sick.”
Gabrielle: “Hope and Ares?”
Callisto: “Oh yes, Gabrielle, it seems your daughter is in heat.” :devil:

And soon we hear what Hudson describes as the begging scene, where Callisto turns into "Joxer".

Callisto: “Look, I know about Ares deal with the Fates. After Hope dies, you’re not gonna be around much longer. And we can help each other out right? You know where that dagger is, don’t you? You could just-use it and do the job on me.”
Xena: “I could, but I won’t.”
Callisto:
“No, you want it for Ares. You’re willing to take Ares out to get to Hope. Well, why not let me help you? And then it would be so simple to just turn it on me.”
Xena: “Because, I like the idea of you living with your suffering.”
Callisto: “Oh, please! Who said anything about suffering. Really, it’s more of a boredom thing, an emptiness, really. Anyways, I’m disappointed in you, Xena. The sensible thing would be to enlist me on your side. You’re taking this far, far too personal.”

And Gabrielle agrees... and makes Xena agree to Callisto's offer to help.

By the by... Joxer has arrived and plays several welcome parts. In this one, its as the unwitting tool of Hope masquerading as Gabrielle to learn intel about her "mother".

Hope [Aside to self]: “Strange-- there wasn’t enough love in her to let me live yet people love her. [Out loud, as Gabrielle]: What would you make of my feelings towards Xena?”
Joxer: “Xena? Well you know, you love her more than anybody in the whole world.”

Way to go, Joxer. Sometimes it pays to keep your mouth shut, my friend.

Of course, he also plays Xena's scapegoat, finally ticking the WP off so much she chases him from their traveling group, as they head towards Dahok's newest temple. :eek:

Of course part 2... like any good shumck, he runs afoul of the Dahok priests and is taken prisoner to be a blood sacrfice to Dahok. :scream:

Meanwhile... back with Xena & Gabrielle, an unwelcome visitor arrives to give Gabby some news.

Ares: “Congratulations, Gabrielle. You’re gonna be a grandma.” :barf:


So now the unlikely trio of Xena, Gabrielle and Callisto are about to enter the Temple of Dahok and do battle with Hope and her followers. This is when instead of allowing Xena to FOCUS, Callisto decides to splinter her concentration.


Callisto: “Try not to die before doing me first or I’ll make Gabrielle wish you had. How’s that for incentive?”

Xena must not be too impressed, since she's already been distracted by that person who looks just like the woman Xena hates most in the world.

Xena: “Gabrielle, stay here.” (Outside the Temple)
Gabrielle: “No way. After all we’ve been through, I am with you till the end.”
Xena:
“Then just one thing. When I’m gone, I don’t want you to feel any guilt.”
Gabrielle: “Xena... ”
Xena: “Listen to me. A lot’s happened to us over the past year, and there were times when we were both very confused. But I want you to know that I still think you are the best thing that ever happened to me. You gave my life meaning and joy and you will be a part of me forever. Ready?”
Gabrielle: “Yeah.”
Xena: “Let’s go.”

Xena was so busy, asking Gabrielle to "listen" to her... she neglected to listen to Gabrielle.

Xena was so busy planning the destruction of the being that killed her son, she forgot what she witnessed months ago after Gabrielle poisoned her own daughter.

Anything.

Everything.

Joxer, the bumbling fool is kneeling in the temple, ready to be sacrificed with the other victims of Dahok.

Xena: “Joxer! Did you get it?!”
Joxer: “I got it.” (Tosses her the hinds blood dagger)
Follower: “Ahhhh! Uh!”
Xena: (Warns Ares off) “You want a taste of hind’s blood, huh?”
Ares: (Backs away, but is hit by Callisto's bolts) “This isn’t over yet. Ahhhhh!”
Callisto:
(To Xena) “Do it! Gut her! Then it’s my turn!”
Hope:
You can’t stop the will of Dahok.”



Suddenly we see Gabrielle's memories of the three fates, and the debt she must pay to Ares, the god of war who loves Xena as much as Gabrielle does.

Clotho: “If Xena kills Hope... ”
Lachesis: “ Xena...”
Atropos: will die.”


Ares: “You know the stakes, Gabrielle. Xena’s fate is in your hands.”
Xena: (Struggling against Hope's mind control of her physical movement, she's finally winning as she brings the hinds blood dagger up at strike at Hope) “Ahhhhhhh!”
Gabrielle:
“No!" (Pole vaults her way up the stairs, and rushes towards her daughter as she stands above the lava pit.) "Hope!”

Xena: “Ahhhhhhh!" (Gabrielle rushes by Xena with dagger raised, and bearhugs Hope in a twisting fashion. As they piroutte on the rim of the lavapit, we see Gabrielle look back at Xena one last time and Xena finally awakens to what has happened as the two women topple into the lava pit.) Gabrielle!”

Gabrielle: (As she falls down the flume towards the lava)Xenaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
(Xena falls to her knees on the rim of the pit. She can see nothing but the burning lava far below.)

Xena: “Gab--”
Joxer: “Gabrielle!”


Anything.

Everything.

:wah:

(Those who love Gabrielle are in shock. One is not)
Callisto[Laughs]: “I never thought I’d feel so good again! Seeing poor, dear Gabrielle sacrifice herself makes it all worthwhile. It finally gives me a reason for living, and I have you to thank for it, Xena!” [Laughs]
(Was she manipulated, or was it always Xena's intention? You decide as we watch Xena stand up from her penitential position on the side of that lava pit, and turn to drive home that hind's blood dagger into Callisto's midsection.)

Xena: “Ahhhhhhh!”
Callisto
: “Uh!”
Xena:No more living for you.”
(And as Callisto falls at Xena's feet, she does the one thing Gabrielle couldn't do as she died... we see Callisto reach out to touch the face of the woman who granted her dearest wish.)


Holy Crap! What a Freaking Awesome Season!

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Needless to say... there are SO many advantages to watching a series for the first time on dvds.

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You DON'T have to wait 5 months between a season finale like THAT one, and for the next season's premiere.

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Sacrifice 2 Interviews:
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Are you seriously telling me you STILL haven't bought this series yet????

:brickwall:
 
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No one ever thinks they're evil, everyone always thinks they're justified or the victim. Frankly life is so rotten in classical times for most people you wouldn't wonder that some folks might want to end the world.

Frankly Ares does what's best for Ares. He loves Xena, she may be his daughter but he loves himself a whole lot more and is prepared to sacrifice her and the Olympian gods for his own sake.

The importance of the Fates is that it gives Gabby a reason to stop Xena, we've already seen she's willing to kill Hope so she needs some other motivation.

The Hinds blood dagger comes pretty much from left field, I had no idea what it was because I'd never watched Hercules.

Poor Callisto, she's so wretched she just wants oblivion, she's beyond revenge now. Hope's remarks about love are rather strange though for someone who's supposed to be incurably evil

Joxer pulls it off! Hooray! In fact Xena entrusts him with the most vital mission he'll ever have. His shared grief with Xena is a profound moment. I always thought it would a nice touch if Joxer caught Callisto as she fell and lays her on the floor, caught between his grief and his compassion.

"Oh no, no more living for you!" Great line! Was Cally just goading Xena into killing her? A question left to the ages....

I'd get the DVDs if you could get the commentaries in the UK but so far you can't:confused: I'll stick to Youtube
 
Hudson's performance right after Gabby takes the plunge is just wonderful. To this day, Callisto is my favorite villain, and that scene, when she starts laughing at Gabby's death and Xena's pain, shows one reason why - she takes such unapologetic GLEE in being a total sociopath.
 
Next up - my favorite 2-parter (though it's a close call between Sin Trade and The debt).
 
No one ever thinks they're evil, everyone always thinks they're justified or the victim. Frankly life is so rotten in classical times for most people you wouldn't wonder that some folks might want to end the world.

Frankly Ares does what's best for Ares. He loves Xena, she may be his daughter but he loves himself a whole lot more and is prepared to sacrifice her and the Olympian gods for his own sake.

The importance of the Fates is that it gives Gabby a reason to stop Xena, we've already seen she's willing to kill Hope so she needs some other motivation.

The Hinds blood dagger comes pretty much from left field, I had no idea what it was because I'd never watched Hercules.

Poor Callisto, she's so wretched she just wants oblivion, she's beyond revenge now. Hope's remarks about love are rather strange though for someone who's supposed to be incurably evil

Joxer pulls it off! Hooray! In fact Xena entrusts him with the most vital mission he'll ever have. His shared grief with Xena is a profound moment. I always thought it would a nice touch if Joxer caught Callisto as she fell and lays her on the floor, caught between his grief and his compassion.

"Oh no, no more living for you!" Great line! Was Cally just goading Xena into killing her? A question left to the ages....

I'd get the DVDs if you could get the commentaries in the UK but so far you can't:confused: I'll stick to Youtube

That makes no sense to me what so ever, why wouldn't they put the commentaries on them? :cardie:

I rewatched a "featurette" this am and enjoyed listening to the director talk about the final piroute of Gabrielle and Hope. He shot it highspeed, and told Renee what he wanted/needed from her... that final LOOK of goodbye, but didn't know they GOT IT until they watched the dailies that night. Seems their monitors on set couldn't slow it down enough to "make sure". :bolian:

"She nailed it!" Jacobsen praised O'Connor, and then he praised Rob Tapert for making sure that section of the scene was reprised in Xena's mind as she watched Callisto's reaction to her stabbing/death.

Was there ever a concern, in Fandom back then, that Gabrielle might NOT come back in season 4? :confused:
 
Hudson's performance right after Gabby takes the plunge is just wonderful. To this day, Callisto is my favorite villain, and that scene, when she starts laughing at Gabby's death and Xena's pain, shows one reason why - she takes such unapologetic GLEE in being a total sociopath.

Have you seen the extended version of the Callisto/Xena campfire scene on the dvd? Gabby is trying to sleep, Callisto looks up and tells Xena that "this" is probably the last night sky she or the WP will ever see. (Just before Ares shows up with the news for Gabby re: impending her Grandmotherhood)

In the extended scene... after mentioning "last night we ever see", Callisto brings up Solon which gets a quick rise from Xena. After basically telling the WP to chill... Callisto tells her how she felt absolutely nothing, when she heard Xena's cry of pain over her dead son.

Nothing.

She noted that since Xena created her, since her parents died, she had felt nothing except rage/hatred for Xena. Now, she didn't even have that... to look forward to? to reassure her she was alive? Whatever she was trying to say... Xena understood and looked pained.
 
A fun news show on H&X

Part 1: Herc/Xena interviews:
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Part 2: Herc/Xena interviews:
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Episode 69 season 4 #1 Adventures in the Sin Trades Part 1

Credits redone for AiST's:
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For those who've been reading along with me these last 20 pages or so, you probably have figured out that I really like it when TPTB fill in Xena's back story.

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They did that with abandon, in AiST's I&II

And what surprises me so much about this backstory, is that we learn it because of Gabrielle.

Xena had PROMISED Gabrielle in their first year together, that she would not become a monster, intent on revenge if anything ever happened to the young woman.

She VOWED in their third year together, that even death would not separate them.

And now, at the onset of Xena's fourth year of seeking to work for the greater good, we see her try to make good on those promises, first by seeking out Hades... and then by traveling to the Amazon land of the dead.

The switch from the Olympian gods to the world of shamanism was striking, but Xena's transformation during part 1 was in a sense reminiscent of her transformation in Ming Tein's watery prison. Killing the deer, making the shaman cloak and headress, praying over the dead young woman, all were meant to prepare her for her trip to the land of the dead. As she mourned over the dead girl's funeral pyre, you felt her heart as it was rent asunder by Gabrielle's death. A death THIS time she couldn't erase no matter how many times she beat her breast over it.

I was confused the first time through, at the young girls watching Xena from afar. Later I realized they were the remnants of the Amazon tribe that we meet in Xena's past. I was REALLY confused at "where" this all took place, and had to learn from the interviews etc that Xena had gone to Siberia and the lands of the "Northern" Amazon tribes. Evidently, Xena and Borias tackled them sometime AFTER Xena met Lao Ma and Akeme.

And finally, after watching Xena kill the deer, make the shaman's cloak, rescue the dead girl from her ignominy, smear herself with blood and hold not just a funeral but a crossing over to the land of the dead... what I STILL have yet to figure out is... to WHAT the freaking TITLE refers!

Sin Trades?

Trades as in "craft"...

Or "Trades" as in exchanging one "sin" for another.

If you have a theory, I'd really like to know.

Part 1 was a lesson in memory... and not just Xena's distant memory.

That voice that kept calling her, made me feel for the "Warrior Woman".

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(Xena has crossed over to the land of the dead. The first person she meets, is the young Amazon who's body she rescued and who's funeral she staged on the funeral pyre. She is giving Xena homage.)
Xena: “What are you doing?”
Dead Amazon: “You’re the one who gave me a decent funeral. Now you, too, are in the land of the dead. I thank you, mourn for you.”
Xena: “Don’t mourn for me. I’m not dead.”
Dead Amazon: “If you’re not dead, then why are you here?”
Xena: “I’m looking for a friend. She should have passed through the gate into eternity by now.”
Dead Amazon: “So, you plan to follow her into eternity?”
Xena: “That’s right.”
Dead Amazon: “So, will you be able to get back from there?”
Xena: “That, I don’t know.”
Dead Amazon: “She must be a very good friend.”
Xena: “She’s the only friend.”
Dead Amazon: “How come you know so much about the land of the dead? Have you been here before?”
Xena: “Let me tell you a little story.”

One of the things "we" learn, is that Xena who had fallen under the spell of Lao Ma (and will eventually learn was to be touched by Akeme) enjoys not only the attention of Borias, but the association with Alti and her young apprentice Anokin. Anokin may have caught Xena's eye, but the affections evidently were not returned as Xena learned during her first foray into the land of the dead 13 years ago.


Present Xena’s Voice: (In the land of the Amazon dead) “Gabrielle’s not the first I followed here. I came once before.”
Past Xena: (Comes up to Alti's apprentice in the land of the dead) “Anokin! Oh!”
Anokin: “Uh.”
PastXena: “What’s the matter?”
Anokin: “Stay away from me.”
PastXena:
“Why?”
Anokin: “You poisoned my soul. I want nothing to do with you.”
PastXena: (To Alti as Anokin walks away) “I hate the dead. You can’t take vengeance on them.”
PastAlti: “Ah, but you can.”

One of the things I like about this show, is that it doesn't shy away from revealing Xena's evil history. It reminds us, time and again, that Xena isn't being humble when she refuses to allow the urn of Apollo to let forgiveness flow over her and wash away her sins. Her sins ARE too great for a mere mortal, or a mere Olympian to "forgive" them. That is why she works day after day trying to "atone" for her sins, to honor those who suffered at her hands.

Borias: (points to a dead body in their yurt) “And who is this?”
Xena: “Alti needed a human body in order to get us to the land of the dead.”
Borias: “You’re killing people, to help that demon cast her spells?”
Xena: “Come on, Borias. After all the people we’ve killed, what’s one more corpse

I loved this next exchange in present Xena's land of the dead storytelling..

Dead Amazon: “What is it? (Pointing to a Warrior standing watch on the mountain side.) Who’s that?”
Xena: “Cyane, Queen of the Amazons.”
Dead Amazon: “Cyane?! She’s a legend! You knew her?!”
Xena: “I killed her.”

That's my Xena, responsible for everything in the history books, and quite a few things that never made it into the books!

I really liked, and certainly can't do justice to the intercutting of storylines in Part 1... how Xena's current trip to the land of the Dead allows her to tell the story of not just her last trip there but of the events surrounding that trip i.e. Alti, Borias, the Northern Amazons and an evolving Xena, not to be confused with the current living Amazon wannabe's who have taken Xena's body to their hideout while her spirit walks in the land of the dead. I like how their "leader" Oteri was once a child who's life was decimated by Xena... and yet THIS one didn't grow up to be just another Callisto.

[The Past]
PastAlti’s Voice: “She must die.”
PastXena's Voice: “Her, what’re you talking... ?”
PastXena: “... about? She’s just a child.”
PastAlti: “She will take your power away from you, one day. Have I been wrong with my predictions, so far?”
PastXena: “You think Borias is trouble, now you should wait and see if we knocked off his little orphan girl.”
PastAlti: “Control your destiny. Kill her now and avoid the day she takes your power.”
PastBorias: “No! Get out of here. Xena.”
[The Present]
Amazon’s Voice: “So, she would have killed you if Borias hadn’t shown up.”
Oteri: “Nope, I don’t think she would have. She didn’t kill me because she knew what Alti predicted must happen.”
Oteri’s Voice: “I am destined to take her power.”
Amazon’s Voice: “I’m glad you’re so sure about it.”
Amazon Yakute: “I’m gonna have my ax ready when she starts to come around.”

Ahhh, the impertinence of youth.

Sounds like someone else I've come to know and love.

And that was something I wondered the first time I watched this ep.

Were TPTB trying to fake fans out, that "maybe" Xena was going to replace Gabrielle with this young band of women, or pick one from the tribe and have her follow the WP a'la that youngster from Potadiea so long ago?

Reading through the whoosh site, I've decided that despite removing Renee's name from the opening credits ( like TPTB did to Nimoy in "The Search for Spock") there appears to have been enough reassurances from the Xena staff to the Xena fandom, that no-one seriously thought Gabby was about to be replaced.

While in the land of the dead, Xena learns that her sin, her murder of these poor women has been compounded by their inability to go through the gates of eternity.

Two years ago, an anguished Xena knelt in the dark and prayed.

Xena: “If anyone’s listening, you know, I’m not much for praying.
But I don’t know what else to do. I was ready to give up once,
and, and Gabrielle came into my life. Please don’t let that
light that shines out of her face go out. I couldn’t stand the
darkness that would follow.”


Now, an anguished Xena has crossed over to the land of the dead in search of her "only" friend... and while there she has an epiphany.

Xena: (towards the gates of eternity, where she thinks Gabrielle awaits her, calls to her.) “I can’t. Gabrielle, I can’t. You know, nothing would make me happier than seeing you again. You were my light. But I just realized what it was that you gave me, a light of my own. There’s something I gotta do, something you’d want me to do. I love you.”

And finally, my princess begins acting like the warrior I've come to know and love.

Cyane: “I thought I told you that the gate was over there.”
Xena: “Some other time. I’m going back to stop Alti.”
Cyane: “Our holy word should have been strong enough to undo whatever it was that kept us from eternity, but still, we can’t pass through the gate.”
Xena: “Maybe you need a new holy word, one stronger than the last.”
Cyane: “Our holy word is ‘Courage’, Xena. Nothing’s stronger than courage.”

That's what you think, Cyane.

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Interviews:
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Great ep, love Alti although why does Borias refer to her as a 'hag', Claire Stansfield is BEAUTIFUL! Alti's relationship with Anokin (anyone else think Star Wars?) is probably the most suggestive yet, especially the hair-stroking scene. Anokin another beautiful young girl Xena develops an intense relationship with, Gabby wasn't the first by some margin.

Love the junior Amazons, they're so cute, rather remind me of the Potentials in season 7 of Buffy. Cyane is GORGEOUS, don't blame Xena for playing the voyeur with her. Met Vicky Pratt and she's just as lovely in real life although actually very petite, looking at her onscreen you think she's statuesque but she's quite tiny.

Best line; (bad old Xena) "I hate the dead you can't take vengence on them":wtf::eek:

Interesting that Borias actually has moral objections to Alti's human sacrifice (Marton Cosakas currently on the London stage in Twelth Night). Hard to watch Xena gleefully slaughter the Amazons.

It only get's better!
 
The photography in this 2-parter is astounding. I especially love the shots of the Amazons waiting on the desolate mountainside, with Cyan standing on a rock in the foreground looking majestic and pissed. If ever there was a definitive image of pergatory...

amazons1.jpg


amazons2.jpg
 
The rugged beauty of New Xenaland, tropical in the northern Bay of Islands and arctic in the South
 
Great ep, love Alti although why does Borias refer to her as a 'hag', Claire Stansfield is BEAUTIFUL! Alti's relationship with Anokin (anyone else think Star Wars?) is probably the most suggestive yet, especially the hair-stroking scene. Anokin another beautiful young girl Xena develops an intense relationship with, Gabby wasn't the first by some margin.

Love the junior Amazons, they're so cute, rather remind me of the Potentials in season 7 of Buffy. Cyane is GORGEOUS, don't blame Xena for playing the voyeur with her. Met Vicky Pratt and she's just as lovely in real life although actually very petite, looking at her onscreen you think she's statuesque but she's quite tiny.

Best line; (bad old Xena) "I hate the dead you can't take vengence on them":wtf::eek:

Interesting that Borias actually has moral objections to Alti's human sacrifice (Marton Cosakas currently on the London stage in Twelth Night). Hard to watch Xena gleefully slaughter the Amazons.

It only get's better!

I discovered at IMDB that Victoria is married to the director of "The Adventures in the Sin Trades"... TJ Scott. I guess he figured if Rob could marry Xena, he could marry Cyane. :bolian:

Alti was descibed as "a hag, an old bag of bones" in the initial script. When Rob fell for Claire during an audition for Hercules, he decided to rewrite the "hag" for her. When Claire first read the script, however, she thought she was reading for the part of Cyane... since she didn't see herself as an old hag. :rommie:

Speaking of size differential... Claire is 6'1", which puts 5' 9 1/2" Lucy at a disadvantage. ;)
 
Episode 70 season 4 #2 "Adventures in the Sin Trades" II

And the teaching continues, this time between Oteri and the WP, in the sweat lodge that Xena has helped the Amazon whelps build.

Xena: “The ancient Amazons used to use this time to purge their spirits, like the steam purges their bodies. To beat Alti and to learn the new holy word, we have to have spiritual powers of our own.”

I liked this passage.

Again, its not enough to be "spoonfed" a holy word... one must prepare the body and the soul to receive it, to understand it, to embrace it as one's own.

(More storytelling from Xena's past, this time about the first time she met and was beaten by Cyane, Queen of the Amazons.)

PastBorias: (Arrives to find Xena in a chokehold) “Hey! I am Borias. You must be Cyane, the Queen of the Amazons.”
PastCyane: “Yes.”
PastBorias:
“That woman you’re trying to kill,she’s with me.”
PastCyane: “You sent word that you wanted to talk peace”.
PastBorias: “That’s true. But peace would be impossible if you kill her.”
PastCyane: “Sh! She tried to kill me.”
PastBorias: “Is that true, Xena?”
PastXena: “Ahhh!”

Once again we discover in the past a Xena that's brash and coarse and full not only of anger but of herself.

Which makes one wonder, when did she start to learn how to temper her anger, when did she begin to teach herself "manners", and when did she decide it was no longer "okay" to kill women and children?

(Cyane has just released Xena into Borias' care.)
PastBorias: “You went directly against my plan. You almost ruined everything. Trying to assassinate her was idiotic.”
PastXena: “You’re right. she’s much too tough to die. We should definitely hang with her for a while. Besides, she’s got some fighting techniques I just gotta learn.”

Well, at least we see that Past-Xena can be a quick study, when she wants to be.

To see her juxtaposed with present day, thoughtful Xena crying in the sweat lodge, is just mindboggling.

From where she was...

(The present times, Xena & Oteri in the sweat lodge.)
Oteri’s Voice: “Xena?”
Oteri: “Xena, um-- there’s something you may not remember that I‘ve been wanting ”
Xena [Interrupting]: “Your father died defending his village against my army.”
Oteri: “Mm...hmm.”
Xena: “You must feel a lot of anger toward me.”
Oteri: “Yes... but in some strange way, I owe you something. I mean, you taught me how to stay alive.”
Xena: “No. No, Otere. If you learned anything from that monster I used to be, it was how to stay dead, how to be numb to anything that is beautiful, or meaningful. And I can never ask your forgiveness. But I do ask that you let me help you build a new life. That’s what my friend, Gabrielle, did for me.”
Oteri: (Looks confused, but willing) “All right.”
Xena: “Thank you." (Xena turns away from her newest acolyte, with tears sliding down her face) "I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Adv's in the Sin Trades:
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I enjoyed some of the commentaries on whoosh that pointed out how Xena (Destroyer of Nations) actually worked to ressurect a nation she literally had destroyed. By teaching these Amazon whelps their heritage, their religion, their dances, their ceremonies, she was giving the Northern tribes another chance at life. Just as her search for a new holy word would give the Amazon dead a new chance at an afterlife.

Just like Cyane TRIED to do for Xena, once upon a time.

PastCyane’s Voice: “You know, you have the potential to be the greatest of women warriors.”
Cyane: “At heart, you’re an Amazon, whether you believe it or not.”
PastXena: “It’s not for me, Cyane.”
Cyane: “Oh, uh, what is for you, then? Life with Borias?”
PastXena: “You think I deserve better than that, huh?”
Cyane: “No, I think he deserves better than that. He’s trying to change, Xena. Let him. If you two stay together, you’re just gonna end up killing him. And you don’t want that baby inside of you to grow up with a murderer for a mother, do you?”
PastXena: (Dripping with disdane) “I’m already a murder, Cyane. Becoming an Amazon won’t change that.”
Cyane: “You’re a murderer because you still think and act like one. Join us. We can teach you a new way, a new code to live by. We live for each other not ourselves. We’ll be seeing a lot more of you, now that we’re allied with you and Borias. Think about my offer.”

She had a chance in China, when Lao Ma reached out her hand, and she simply batted it away as she tried to kill Lao Ma's child.

She had a chance in Siberia, when Cyane offered her a new home with the Amazons, and we know how that turned out. (No wonder she never "joined" Gabrielle's tribe, what a disgrace she would have brought into the fellowship/sisterhood with her.)

PastAlti: “That’s why we have to destroy the Amazons. I must-- ”
PastCyane: “Ahh! Don’t put your soul in her hands, Xena. She’ll destroy it.”
PastXena: “You won a spiritual duel. How’d you do that?”
PastCyane: “Your choices are simple, Xena. Side with us and find life, or side with Alti and find death.”

Sigh. It would take nearly another 10 years of missteps, mistakes, not to mention a demigod and a very young woman from Potadiea to finally break the cycle of hate she'd fallen in to for so many years.


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(Alti has invaded Xena's mind, and she's found memories of Gabrielle. She attacks Xena's mind with questions.)
Alti: “Tell me who she is! Tell me who the blonde one is! Tell me who she is!”
Xena: “She’s goodness and innocence, Alti. And she’ll live inside meforever. She frightens you ‘cause she represents what can defeat you.”

When seeking absolution, one of the trials one must go through is opening up to the evil you have done, acknowledging it before your self, and the children who look to you as their new leader.

(There's no more hiding from the truth when one is about to embark on a spiritual duel with a formidable shamaness.)
Xena’s Voice: “I killed all the Amazon leaders.”
Xena:
“Without them, the Amazons were easy prey. They were all but wiped out, except for you. I didn’t know it then but what Alti took from Cyane allowed her to keep their spirits in the land of the dead. I believe that Alti’s great power is derived from their spirits. She’s a spiritual parasite she’s-she lives off their strength and turns their light into darkness. And I am responsible for it all. Alti’s forces are close at hand. We don’t have time to work up to releasing our spirits.”
Oteri: (Xena runs throughout her tribe of whelps, putting the pinch on each and everyone.)“So, what are you doing?”
Xena: “Killing us, sort of.”

And with that, she then puts the pinch on herself. She calls the spirits of the Amazonian whelps to join her, and together they battle Alti's spirit. Even in spirit form, Alti has impressive powers, and she uses them to show Xena her future...

Alti: “Do you know why I’m taking you into your future?”
Xena: “You wanna kill me by making me experience my death?”
Alti: “Oh, you’re so clever! Xena!”
Xena: “Uh! Ahhhhhhh!”
Alti: “What was that all about, huh? They almost got you. Just a little further, and we may get to the real thing.”
[Alti Laughs as she share Xena's visions while she has a deathgrip on Xena's throat.]
Xena: “Uhhhh! Uhhh!”
Alti: “That was interesting, huh, Xena?”
[The Future, we see a Roman shield with Xena's reflection as she is laid upon a cross. We see another cross nearby, with another woman on it, a woman with short, blond hair. She turns to look at Xena, before the nails are driven home.]
Xena: “Gabrielle-- you’re the best thing in my life.”
Gabrielle: “I love you, Xena.”
[The Present, Alti still has the deathgrip on Xena's soul.]
Alti: “Your little friend is dying with you, Xena. How does
that make you feel?”
Xena: “Good.”
Alti: “Good?”
Xena: “‘Cause if she’s dying in my future, that means she’s
alive! Ah! Ahh!”

"Hear me, Gabrielle!"
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And that word they were seeking?

You know it well.

We first heard them say it to each other at the end of "The Debts".

The only thing in their two lives stronger than their courage.

"Love."

Interviews:
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Oteri: “Where are you going?”
Xena: “Home. She’s alive.”

:hugegrin:
 
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Lucky old director! What is it about straight girls and a man in charge?:p

Wow! 6'1? She's even taller than Lynda Carter.

Xena and Oteri have a spiritual experience in the sweatlodge together. Or as a tabloid journalist might put it "Xena spanks nubile, sweaty, scantily clad, teenage Amazon" Amazing how they take the opportunity to slip the kinky in wherever possible.

The spider with Gabby's head effect is terrible as Renee points out in her commentary. Alti demands to know who she is, jealousy? Love the Amazons especially when Yakut gives Oteri a playful bop on the nose to test if she's inherited Xena's powers and get's a vengful dig with an elbow in return.

Personally I think we all guessed the Amazons secret word.

So, back to Potidea!
 
Lucky old director! What is it about straight girls and a man in charge?:p

Wow! 6'1? She's even taller than Lynda Carter.

Xena and Oteri have a spiritual experience in the sweatlodge together. Or as a tabloid journalist might put it "Xena spanks nubile, sweaty, scantily clad, teenage Amazon" Amazing how they take the opportunity to slip the kinky in wherever possible.

The spider with Gabby's head effect is terrible as Renee points out in her commentary. Alti demands to know who she is, jealousy? Love the Amazons especially when Yakut gives Oteri a playful bop on the nose to test if she's inherited Xena's powers and get's a vengful dig with an elbow in return.

Personally I think we all guessed the Amazons secret word.

So, back to Potidea!

You know... my definition of "gratuituous" has certainly changed in the week between watching Xena:WP, first time through, and watching Spartacus: Blood and Sand. :eek:

As for that spider, there's some things about this series I'd just as soon forget... and that's definately one of them. :lol:

I did love the nose bop, followed by "Nope, if you had HER powers I'd never have got that one by you." and that elbow dig. That's one of the reasons I decided to call them Amazon whelps. They are like playful "puppies", trying to act like "grownups". :rofl:

I didn't notice it the 1st or second time through, but a commentary at whoosh alerted me to a nice little thing at the end of AiST's II. As Xena turns to leave Oteri, Oteri gives her the Amazon salute our Warrior Woman refused to accept earlier.:bolian:
 
Episode 71 season 4 #3 "Family Affair"

This has one of my all time fav scenes... Joxer on the side of the Lava pit, throwing in flowers, when suddenly :scream: a HAND REACHES UP AND GRABS HIS ARM!

Xena: "She's alive!" :beer:

Loved the way Xena sensed Gabrielle's presence even before she saw her. It was like what she does with Ares.

Also...I just love the way Lucy's face shows emotion, and the actress was masterful that first time Xena sees "Gabrielle" in the marketplace at Potadiea.

I wonder how many Xenites put a heavy object through their TV screen when Xena's miraculous reaction is suddenly obscured by JOXER! :devil:

Joxer: "Gabrielle?! Gabrielle? I don't believe it! You're, you're alive. You're, and you're here. You're here!"

At least he quickly realized he was a third wheel, and absented himself from the scene. Or, quickly realized AFTER he fainted from the "pressure" of Gabrielle's lips on his. :rofl:

As happy as the two women were to see each other at the beginning of act 1, something felt off to me, and I realized "what" is was at the end of Act 2.

Neither were crying.

:confused:

What did I like about this ep?

Well, I loved the Father's reaction to Xena's return...

Xena: (Gabby's left them alone) "So, how's she been?"
Herodotus: "Without you, just fine."
Xena: "I meant, after everything she's been through."
Herodotus: "You should know, seducing her away from home with your heroics? Filling her head with strange ideas. `How's she been?' Changed forever, `cause of you."

(Brief Q&A ) "Fankit 12: Renee Oconnor & Chris Manhiem, Liz Friedman" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc3hQJwv_BE


He's got a point.

Gabrielle has been changed forever. She's "not a little girl anymore", willing to do whatever her parents asked. She's seen the world, battled monsters and talked to gods, killed and nearly been killed. Married and widowed, given birth. And now, the woman who captured Gabrielle's imagination 3 years ago is back. Can you blame Herotodos for wondering....

"How are you gonna keep them down on the farm, once they've seen Paree?" :vulcan:

The two stand watch in the gristmill that night, trying to capture the monster. When he finally arrives, he nearly wins as he lifts the tall Xena several feet off the ground and tries to crush her.

Love Xena's defiant reaction!

Xena: "You shouldn't play with your food.

The good news for Xena et al, is that evil monsters never like the light of day, and dawn soon breaks as he is trying to break down the walls/doors of Gabrielle's house to get to Xena.

The bad news is... Xena has figured out who he is.

Xena: "That thing is Dahok's grandchild-- the Destroyer."
Joxer:
"Destroyer, Uh Xena let me go get Gabrielle. Why don't you sit down for a while?"
Xena: "That thing is the destroyer. And that means that the girl in the other room is not Gabrielle. It's Hope."

Once Xena catches on to Hope.. her mind runs at warp speed and she quickly discerns Hope's plan when the two "sisters' go for a walk. Xena arrives in time and when Hope literally leaves Lila hanging, Xena saves the day with yet another of my fav catch phrases.

Lila: "Oh, thank the gods! And you! Thank you for saving me!"
Xena: "No thanks needed. You all right? Good now, go home. Call off the alarm. Your parents will be worried."
Lila: "But, what about you? What are you gonna do?"
Xena: "Some search and destroy."

One of the best intercut scenes was when Joxer in one meadow, sees Hope walk by, and Xena in another area of the woods sees her in the distance. The two friends who have vowed to kill her "for" Gabrielle, set off in separate pursuit. Both finally drawing their swords at the same time each emitting their war yells as Joxer approaches from behind and Xena from the front.

Except, in the final clash, Joxer can't see Xena, and vice versa.

Joxer is attacking Hope from behind, and Xena is about to kill Gabrielle in a frontal attack.

Gabrielle just stands there, stone still as Xena's sword hand raises high... and she stops.

Spidey sense going into overdrive!

Xena [whispers]: "Gabrielle? Gabri-- is that you? I'm sorry." (The sword drops to the ground as she reaches for her friend) I'm so sorry. Oh." [They cry.]

Xena, who cried like a child when Gabrielle came back to life after being dead for 2 minutes in that Aesclepian Temple, cried even more when her friend came back to life after being dead to her for months.

:wah:

Xena: "I could've had faith. You would have. I should've known you'd survive."
Gabrielle: "How could you? I didn't know that I was gonna survive. I'm not sure I have, really."

:weep:

Just in case you didn't think Hope was evil :evil: enough, she pretends to have been physically abused by Xena when Lila was absent.

Xena: "Herodotus, Hecuba-- can I, um-- can I have a word?"
Her: "Why? So you can do to us-- what you did to Gabrielle?"
Hecuba's Voice: "And you're supposed to be her friend! What kind of friend does this?!"
Herotodos:
"Get out. And don't come back, ever."
Xena: "But, Herodotus... "


At least Xena learns from this encounter that Joxer is in danger but while she rushes off to save Joxer, Gabrielle cannot bear to stand by and watch her mother cry. She sneaks into the house and convinces her sister they are in danger, but while awaiting her parents arrival she hears a dreaded voice.

Hope: "Hello, Mother."

Gabrielle has one last talk with the fruit of her loins...

Hope: "... Dahok's flame rising to save me. But then, I've always been Daddy's little girl, haven't I?"
Gabrielle [Whispers]: "Always."
Hope: "Is that why you never loved me?"
Gabrielle: "I love you, Hope. I just had to stop you."
Hope: "For Xena?"
Gabrielle:
"No,for us all." (Gabby vaults out of an open window to escape) "Uh!"
Hope: "Bye-bye, Mommy."


[Xena arrives back at the Grist mill, Gabrielle is gone but the Destroyer isn't and they fight until he has her pinned against the back wall]

Xena: (Defiant to the end)"Bite me."
(Before he can kill her, a voice rings out.)

FauxHope: "Wait! Let's do it together."

As she reaches out to stroke the gnarled hands, the Destroyer starts to calm, and as she reaches up to embrace him, his wildest dreams have come true.

Then Xena, like some avenging demigod rises up behind him, and drives her sword deep into his back. As he screams, Gabrielle twirls under his flailing arms and comes to stand with Xena. Suddenly before him, the Destroyer sees his Betrayer and as she comes closer he impales her with his 20 inch spikes. It isn't untill she's dying by his hand, that he realizes his error, turns to see Gabrielle and Xena behind him, then falls to the ground in his Mother's embrace.

I thought it quite telling, that as they died, Gabrielle tried to go to them and Xena held her back. The Warrior Princess was taking no chances that they might still be able to kill with their final breath.


Gabrielle: "It's over, or is it? Xena? Do you ever? Do you get the feeling that sometimes nothing is really over? You know, it just keeps coming back around, but it's-- it's wearing a different face. It's it's the same underneath. Do you know what I mean?"
Xena: "Sure. I was trapped in a cycle of violence and hatred. And no matter how I tried to break free, something always pulled me back-- until you."
Gabrielle: "Xena-- "
Xena: "No, it's true. You talk about trying to find your way, but to me, you are my way."
Gabrielle: "How can I be your way, when I, I'm lost, myself?"
Xena: "I'm searching for answers, too. But how we look for them doesn't matter as long as we look for them together you and me."

:beer:


Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

From season 1, "Athens City Academy for Performing Bards"

Xena: “Oh, you’ll get in, Gabrielle. You’re a good storyteller. I only remember one story told me when I was young. It was about two orphans who decided to search the world for their families. And it’s all about their adventures and how they kept searching. But the part I remember most is the end.”
Xena and Gabrielle: “And when the first man... ”
Gabrielle: “-- reached the end of his journey, he found himself...”
Xena and Gabrielle: “-- at the beginning.”
Gabrielle: “The family he had sought had travelled the world with him. The only family he had ever known-- ever needed-- was standing right beside him. I know the story.”
Xena: “Thanks for being my family.


A Family Affair:
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Family Affair Interviews:
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