Any Xena:WP fans on the boards?

JanewayRulz! · Mar 19, 2011

"Motherhood" Act 2, 3 and slight 4:

Athena is NOT pleased with her fellow gods who tried to kill Xena & Eve, rather than wait to allow HER plan to work.

Meanwhile, Gabrielle is intent upon finding out why Xena can suddenly kill a god!

Gabrielle: "Xena, you can kill gods! How is that possible?!"
Xena: "While Eve was being initiated, I was visited by a spirit. He said that Eve's cleansing gave me the power to kill gods."
Gabrielle: "What do you mean? What kind of spirit?"
Xena: "It was sent by the archangel, Michael."
Gabrielle: "Michael?"
Xena: "He said that Eve would prepare the way for the rule of the God of love."
Gabrielle: "And you're to protect her?"
Xena: "I was chosen as the mother of the messenger. As long as Eve lives, I have the power to kill gods."

Eve is less interested in the power to kill, than in trying to understand the transformation she feels taking over her life. Mom's been down this road herself, and decides to face the hard facts right on, so she brings her daughter back to Joxer & Meg's tavern/Xena&Gab museum. Most of the family has left for Athens, but Virgil is still there. He's happy to see X&G... but has only one response when he sees who's with them.

His sword would have cleaved the kneeling Eve in two, but for the quick intercession of her Mother.

Eve: "If my death could bring your father back, I'd accept it-- joyfully."
Virgil: "You know... in my entire life, I never saw my father be cruel to a man, woman, child, nor beast! He brought joy to everybody who knew him and you? You killed him." (After pointing his sword at her in exclammation, he turns on his heel and leaves.)
Xena: (Been there, done that, got spit upon. She turns to her daughter...) "That kind of reaction comes with the territory."

Virgil and Gabrielle have a moment, before he hops on board his horse and leaves for Athens and his family. We do find out, before he leaves, that Meg was "mad with grief", and that Virgil has at least 2 brothers and 2 sisters.

Its nightfall in the deserted Tavern, and Eve is reading Gabrielle scrolls that had been collected by Joxer for his museum/shrine. She's enjoying them, not noticing her Mother and Gabrielle are on high alert for intruders. Xena runs outside into the rainy night to deal with Ares, while Gabby deals with her own nightmare.

Joxer is back, and he's not alone.

Gabrielle: "Joxer. Y... you're, uh... "
Joxer: "Uh, yeah-- I'm dead."
Gabrielle: "I miss you, Joxer."
Joxer: "Then you shouldn't 'a let Eve kill me."
Gabrielle: "Joxer, I didn't let Eve kill you."
Joxer: [Whispers] "Kill her, Gabrielle. [Normal Voice] Kill her before she kills somebody else."
Hope's Voice: "Good point." Hope: "Hello, Mother."
Gabrielle: "Hope?"
Hope: "Xena's making a terrible mistake... trying to save Eve. The same mistake you made... when you didn't kill me when you had the chance."

Those DAMNABLE FURIES!

Lots of interesting editing going on in this scene, transferring from Gabrielle indoors with the FURIES and Hope egging her to kill Eve, and ARES outside watching Xena get increasingly wet in the cold rain as he tries to convince her of his good intentions.

Ares: "You're not gonna kill me, are you?"
Xena: "Why ever not?!"
Ares: "Because I love you. Yeah-- I love you."

The FURIES are having more success with Gabrielle than ARES is with Xena. Suddenly Xena smells a divine RAT and rushes back into the tavern to see GABRIELLE plunge one of her sais into Eve's back, as her daughter sat unaware, reading a scroll.

WHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THWACK!

Goes Xena's chakram and SPLIT goes Gabrielle's skull, before she falls to the ground. We watch as the FURIES leave Gabby's head, and Xena runs first to Eve and then to Gabrielle to check on the women.

(ASIDE: Tapert discusses how the director changed things from the script, and it was too late for them to reshoot it when TPTB realized what he'd done. The script called for Xena... while OUTSIDE the tavern, to see a SHADOW through the window, raising its arms to strike Eve. Xena was THEN supposed to throw her chakram at said shadow and unknowingly nearly kill Gabrielle. Rob was disappointed in the filmed version, since "Xena DOES have many skills and would have found a way to stop Gabby without killing her", IF she knew the assailant was Gabby.

Ok, sounds fair. On the dvd's the director defends his choices, and his spin makes them sound "ok" too.

Now... the reason why we're having this "sidebar".... I REALLY liked the director's "extended/deleted scene" of the Gab attack, and YES!!!!!!! I found it on the internet for people stuck in other countries without "goodies" on their dvds.

What's different about it?

Well, for one, Gabrielle plunges the sai 3 times into Eve. I always wondered "why" Xena flung the chakram at Gabby AFTER she impaled Eve, and now we know. She was stopping Gabby from delivering ONE MORE blow.

The second thing different, was when Xena leans over Gabrielle to check the wound, she not only looks up and says... "FURIES"... she goes on the HUNT for them, and even though they are invisible her sword/chakram finds at least 2 of them before they wink back to Olympus.

The third was... heartbreaking, as Xena comes back to stand next to Eve, she looks down at Gabrielle's unmoving body. She just stands there, and the sword drops to the ground. Xena's in SHOCK at what SHE'S done.

Yeah, Rob... I would have LOVED that version, but I understand... one can shove only so much story in 42 minutes of TV. )

Xena is busy trying to tend to the wounds of both young women, as the gods on Olympus have a pow wow. The funny thing about this Olympian conference is seeing APHRODITE dressed in black. Yup, the god of love is in mourning for her husband Hephaestus and (?) her fellow god/goddess Poseidon & Discord.

Athena: "All you had to do was distract her. How was she able to stop Gabrielle?"
Ares: "How does Xena do anything? She just does."
Athena: "All right, now we have no choice. We launch a full-scale attack."

And SHE'S the goddess of WISDOM!!!!!

Athena leads Artemis, Hades & Deimos to Joxer's tavern where an awesome fight erupts between 4 gods and one VERY determined Mother, not to mention "best friend".

Athena: "There's no need for you to be hurt as well, Xena. Give us your daughter. It's true you can kill gods, but at 4-to-1, it's not great odds."
Xena: (Growls) "Not for you."
[A Fight occurs as gods toss bolts of lightning et al, and Xena bats them back or ties them up with her spinning chakrams. As she and Eve hide behind a wooden table (THAT'S going to protect them from a god's lightning bolt???) she notices a black garbed Aphrodite has materialized next to Gabrielle. Xena grabs her dagger to impale the goddess of love when...]
Aphrodite: (Raises both hands to plead for the warrior to stay her throw) "No! I just wanna help!" (I love the fact that Aphrodite likes the "bard" so much.)

Xena turns her attention to those 4 gods who DON'T want to "help" her, as Aphrodite spirits Gabby away to the next room where she cradles the dying bard in her lap.

The fight continues, much to Hades dismay as Xena envelopes him in a flame she's blown from her mouth. (I am soooo glad the producers started using CGI for this "trick" in season 6 and STOPPED endangering their star!) Xena takes a moment to grab her daughter and settle her in the room where Gabby is sprawled across Aphrodite's lap, giving her instructions to "watch" them both.

Aphrodite is "watching", alright. Her eyes look like they will bore right through Eve's skull as Xena goes back to the fight in the next room. Xena finally succeeds in killing Deimos, which makes Athena FINALLY reconsider her strategy as she and Artemis wink away. Unbeknownst to Xena, however, ANOTHER god has materialized next door and has a sword raised over Eve's head to kill her.

Xena doesn't waste anytime after Athena leaves, running back to check on the two mortally wounded women in her life, and grabbing that bloody chakram to fling it at ARES before he can kill Eve.

The god of WAR is miffed that not only did she stop him, that damned chakram cut his arm in its flight! (Loved the commentary when Rob said TPTB caught a lot of grief that Xena nearly kills Gabby, but only marks Ares, and the two actresses just laugh. It reminds me of the teaser, when the actresses also noted there wasn't a hue and cry over the "Eve" drag behind a horse like there was after the "Gab" drag in "Bitter suite". BUT I digress!!!)

ARES isn't pleased, and he winks away, followed by Aphrodite. The tavern by the way, is engulfed in flames. Joxer's family not only lose HIM, but now they've lost their livelihood. Virgil better start selling those epic poems!

With the chains of Hephaestus over her shoulder, her daughter carried in her left arm, and her best friend being dragged through the mud and rain with her right hand, Xena finally comes to a stop in the middle of the tavern's "front yard" to make an impossible promise, and an impassioned plea..

Xena: (All three are wet through and through in the cold rain) "Neither of you is going to leave me. Gabrielle you're the most pure thing in my life... (and turns to Eve) and you're my great hope. So, I'm not gonna let either of you go!"
Aphrodite: (The dry, and ever beautiful) "So sad."
Xena: "Well, if you care so much, why don't you cure her?"
Aphrodite: "Gods can only heal with Athena's blessing. That's not gonna happen."
Xena: "Then take us to Olympus."
Aphrodite: "Why?"
Xena: "I want to offer them a deal."
Aphrodite: "And you'll...kill them if they don't accept?"
Xena: "Please? Gabrielle doesn't have much time."
Aphrodite: (For Gabrielle) "All right! I'll take you to Olympus!"

Upon arrival on Mount Olympus, we see Xena sweetly thank Aphrodite, before encouraing her to "leave" before things get ugly. We see Aphrodite sweetly say goodbye to the bard dying at her feet, and we see Eve do something she always wanted to do, but never had.

Eve: "Mother?"
Xena: "What is it, Eve?"
Eve: "Nothing. I just wanted to say it. I-I've never called anybody Mother before."
Xena: "I just wish I had 'a seen you grow up. I bet you were a beautiful little girl."

And now... for the conclusion...

JanewayRulz! · Mar 19, 2011

"Motherhood" ACT 4-conclusion

Mother and daughter bonding is flagrantly put to a close when ARES shows up with murder on his mind. He'll make Xena a god, bargain with her for the safe return of Gabby. But Eve? Eve's GOT to die. He's obviously feeling pretty cocky, as he taunts Xena when she puts the crossbow to his chest.

ARES: ...You know? Uh, this is the second time since you became-- "Xena, slayer of gods", that we've faced off, one-on-one-- and you still haven't been able to pull the trigger. (Xena's had it, and she fires the crossbolt into the War god's leg.) Ooh! You shot me! I'm the god of war! Nobody shoots the god of war!" :scream:

As he's crying over the crossbolt, she uses the chains of Hephaestus and binds him to her, before pushing him ahead towards the great hall of the gods. (Remember the chains from "looking Death in the Eye" where she used them to bind Celesta, angel of death, herself.)

Finally, she faces Athena, alone in the throne room.

Xena: "I have a deal for you, Athena. You heal Eve and Gabrielle and I'll leave you alone."
Athena: "Xena wants to make a deal. I don't think that's going to be necessary." (Sees Artemis coming from behind a pillar, and draw her bow on Xena)
[Fight]
Xena: [Yells and throws the two arrows she caught, BACK at a very confused Artemis, goddess of the hunt AND the Amazons]
[Artemis dies]
Xena: "You sure you don't wanna reconsider?"
Athena: "Never!"
Xena: "Goddess of wisdom, you got two choices, either you heal my friends and I leave you in peace-- or you die now."

Xena finally manages to impale her adversary in the gut with her sword... but there is no pain in her features, no blood bubbling up her throat, in fact... Athena is QUITE alive, which means the woman the Hephaestus chained god is crawling towards... is quite dead.

For now. As the mortal continues to fight the god, Ares lays his hands on both Eve and Gabrielle, healing them of their wounds WITHOUT Athena's permission. Which means... he had to give up his godhood.

WHY? wondered Athena after Xena thrusts her sword once more into her abdomen, and THIS time its being drenched with blood. WHY, Ares?

Ares: "I'm sorry... but I got a thing for her."

Xena happily hugs both resurrected women before turning slowly to the man who saved their lives. No kiss. No hug. Just the heartfelt gratitude of a friend and Mother.

Xena: "Thank you."

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Just a little bookend scene at the end... where Eve apologizes to Gabrielle for killing Joxer, and Gabrielle forgives her. As Eve walks towards the beach to release a "pet" spider... Gabrielle turns to Xena as they both watch Eve.

Gabrielle: "Looks like you got your daughter back."
Xena: "No, we got our daughter back."

( Corn sells, Lucy! )

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Final thoughts.

Season 4 seemed to be all about finding their "way", both for Xena AND more especially for Gabrielle, whereas season 5 seemed almost exclusively about XENA... and the life she was bringing into the world... then the life she brought into the world... then the life she LOST for 25 years until she could reassert her sheparding role over that "new" life.

There really was, and for understandable reasons, very little "Xena/Gabrielle" relationship building outside Gabrielle's decision to protect Xena and the child in this fifth season.

For that reason, I thought it was shocking? amazing? telling? when Xena leaned over Gabrielle in that rainstorm on Joxer's front "lawn / muddy driveway" and told the unconscious woman she was the most pure thing in Xena's life.

I wonder, did those subtexters still clinging to the show at the end of the 5th season, feel as if they too were resurrected by that proclamation?

I wonder.

Then again... :confused:

I wonder about that "sick bastard" (see last ep's frequent epithet) ... the one who gave up his immortality to save Xena's daughter and her friend from his own sister. :wtf:

Xena, Ares, Gabrielle... "bi-text"
Well... I guess we'll "just have to wait" for season 6 to see how this all plays out.

JanewayRulz! · Mar 20, 2011

Episode 116 (??? or is it 113?) season 6 #1 "Coming Home"

I liked the interviews on this one. Sorry guys, I haven't found them on youtube yet.

Evidently they filmed "8" eps (including the Norse trilogy) and decided they hadn't addressed the SHOCKING events in the finale of season 5... i.e. Xena nearly killing Gabrielle, Ares giving UP his immortality to save Eve and Gabrielle. One of the things they cut out of the finale, was a tete e tete between Xena & Ares over their "future". It was cut due to lack of time, but TPTB really liked it, so they decided to recreate it in this ep... but I digress.

After spending 25 of nearly the first 26 years of Eve's life in Rome or its provinces... and after the girls had spent 25 years in that ice cave on Mt Etna... it was finally time for the trio to go home to "Greece". It helps that they are answering a call from Ares... and Gabrielle wonders if he's calling in a favor.

Enroute they run into the Amazons... NOT the Siberian ones we've seen in the previous 2 years... but the Greek ones. Gabrielle recognizes the territory, so they may be the descendants of her original tribe.

Trouble is, Eve recognizes it too, but doesn't say why.

As they crest a hill, they realize the entire forest has been razed for no apparent reason, and soon they are drawn to the sounds of a nearby battle. The Amazons are fighting an unknown army, and are barely holding their own until a warcry splits the air and Xena jumps into the fray, followed closely by Gabrielle. Eve, the former CHAMPION of ROME holds back until she sees an Amazon down and about to be killed. She jumps between the Amazon and her attacker and knocks him out. Using only hand to hand techniques she dispatches the foes surrounding her, much to the appreciation of the Amazon QUEEN lying at her feet. (Its not just important that you SAVE someone, its important WHO you save!)

After the soldiers run off, introductions are made. Its nice to see that even after 25 years, the Queen recognizes Gabrielle's name. The Amazon 2nd in command isn't interested in Gabrielle, she's interested in Xena and her new found power to kill gods, since the Amazons have one they need to be rid of.

ARES.... god of WAR!

TEASER ENDS:

I love the set up in this ep. Ares, the formerly immortal god of War has to resort to pretending he's still an all powerful god to keep his army on task. The task? Find the Amazon's ambrosia and turn himself back into a god!

The only problem... the Amazons don't have any ambrosia... and the FURIES know it! LOVED LOVED LOVED the way we are introduced to the FURIES. Xena shows up in Ares tent and basically verbally tortures him about his current state of... "disability" and then offers to take his army and lead his war against the Amazons.

Now, to be fair, we HAVE seen Xena do just that in season 1, so we can be forgiven for thinking THIS Xena is legit... but when Gabrielle enters the tent...

"Xena": "And all because you did a good deed. Was it worth it?"
Ares: "Let me get back to you on that one."
"Xena": [Chuckles]
"Gabrielle"'s Voice: "What are you doing?"
Ares: "To think... I actually saved your life."
"Gabrielle": "Xena. "
"Xena": "Gabrielle... I thought you were watchin' the Amazons."
"Gabrielle": "The Amazons know what you want. They're not giving it up."
"Xena": "Then we'll just have to take it from them."
"Gabrielle": "Yeah. Thay're weak. It won't take much."
Ares: "What happened to the peace- loving blonde chick you used to be?"
"Gabrielle": (Snuggles under his left arm) "Ares-- that Gabrielle's been gone a long time. You and Xena showed me that warriors rule the world, not philosophers."
Ares: [Yawns and puts his right arm around Xena] "I could get used to this. I could."
"Xena": "Hm-mmmm."

And in case the audience is still wondering why Gabrielle and Xena are acting so out of character, a few scenes later we are treated to an appearence by Eve who is busy trying to seduce the god of War.

"Eve": "I should be leading your army, not her."
"Xena": "Get in line."
Ares: "Oh, this just gets better and better. Say, what happened to your new path?"
"Eve": "I got over it. Those Amazons really rub me the wrong way. So, when do we start?"
Ares: "I'll tell my commander to prepare for an all-out assault. [Chuckles as he realizes he can't just beam himself to his officer's tent] I have got to get that ambrosia. I will never get used to walking everywhere."
"Xena": "Oh, and Ares-- when we do get the ambrosia-- why don't we split it four ways? We could create Olympus on Earth."
Ares: "Four ways? Nasty. Sounds great. You know, when I told my commanders that I had sent for you, they thought I was crazy. Can you imagine? Here I am spinning brilliant and those idiots think I'm insane! What a joke!" (He walks out of the tent)
"Xena": "If he's not insane-- then I'm not a Fury." [They laugh,
then morph into Furies.]
Alecto: "Xena and Ares, one against the other. One of them has to die-- maybe both. Then the Olympians will be avenged-- and the path will be clear for us to rule mankind." [They laugh.]

This is a REALLY funny ep, with Ares talking to his "head Xena" (Years before Gaius Baltar did it in BSG) while his troops/support personel stand around trying to figure out WHAT the heck is going on. When the real Xena (and for some reason Gabrielle) show up to talk with Ares, the farcical line starts to really ramp up, but at least SOMEONE has her head on straight.

Ares: "I thought I told you to wait outside."
Xena: "You haven't told us anything yet. What's going on?"
Ares: "I am getting my sword, just like I told you. `Ares, ditch the armor. Ares, what's going on?' Honey, sweetie, I love you, but you are suffocating me. Now, get ready. We're gonna roll right over those Amazons just like you said."
Gabrielle: "Ares, what are you talking about?"
Ares: "War, baby! Come on. You were hot for it before."
Xena: "Ares, there's not going to be any war."
Ares: "Oh, you are such a kidder. No war. Don't touch me." (He runs out of his tent)
Gabrielle: "He has lost his mind."
Xena: "Maybe he had a push in that direction."
Gabrielle: "The Furies?"
Xena: "I'd bet on it."

Once outside, the FURIES and Xena have a tug o War with the War god's pysche,and the FURIES win. Xena delays the arrival of Ares army at the Amazon camp by causing a rockslide which blocks the pass before she and Gabrielle run back to the Amazons.

A handy thing, that chakram!

Oh, and speaking of the Amazons.... Varia, the second in command, is still bugged by Eve's familiar face. She tries to engage Eve various times in small talk and martial arts instruction, but was frequently rebuffed. Eventually Varia breaks down Eve's defenses, and Eve pulls out a trick from her LIVIA days. An unusual move that Varia identifies immediately as belonging to that Bitch of Rome. By the time Mom and Auntie Gabrielle arrive, Eve is in her own crown of thorns (more like a wooden wheel necklace graced with huge spikes) and being led through the village by the taunting Amazons.

Xena: "Hold it! Get out of here! Cut her free!"
Marga: "Can't do that, Xena."
Xena: "You take on Eve, you take on me."
Varia: "Good, it was you who brought her into our village."
Eve: "They know who I am, Mother."
Xena: "We don't have time for this. Ares' army is advancing. You're completely outnumbered. So if you wanna save what's left of the Amazon nation, you'll flee, now."
Varia: "Your daughter, Xena? She is the reason we are so few in numbers."
Marga: "Her army attacked us at night and many of our best warriors were killed."
Varia: "They were the lucky ones."
Gabrielle's Voice: "Lucky to die?"
Xena: "Eve..."
Eve: "The Amazons I captured, I sold into slavery."
Varia: "Now she must pay."
Marga: "Our law says Eve must die."
Gabrielle: "I can't let that happen, Marga."
Marga: "Are you challenging me."
Gabrielle: "If it comes to that, I am challenging you."
Marga: "That Roman did save my life, and we do need Xena. We'll wait until after this is resolved before we deal with her."

Smart move, Marga, smart move! Unfortunately, Varia isn't nearly as smart as Marga, yet.

(In the Amazon tent that serves as a jail... Eve is tied to a center pole)
Varia: "Mommy won't save you this time."
Eve: "If that's my destiny, so be it."
Xena: "That sword had better be for Ares' men. What Eve did to your people is unforgivable-- but she is my daughter. And if anything happens to her while she's in your custody, you'll have me to deal with. And trust me, you ain't ready for that.

I love it when Xena stares down a wannabe! Almost as much as I love it when she turns on the maternal charms.

Xena: "... Eve, Eve, sweetheart, why didn't you tell us?"
Eve: "I couldn't. I know how much the Amazons mean to both of you."
Xena: "Did you think we would love you less?" (Xena, sweetie , EVE'S still getting used to the idea that anyone COULD love her!)
Eve: "What I did was unforgivable, you said so yourself. If only they knew how sorry I am."
Xena: "I know how hard it is to say you're sorry, especially to someone you love... "

(And now comes the "apology", the thing that was missing from the first 8 eps of season 6, and the thing that made Tapert et al decide to make THIS ep the season opener. According to a Q&A session with the writer... Melissa Good (Missy Good of fanfic fame) Lucy and Renee "wrote" the apology scene themselves.)

Xena: (She turns from her daughter, still tied to a pole, and finally faces the woman she tried to kill not so very long ago.) "...Gabrielle, when I hit you with my chakram "
Gabrielle: "Xena, it wasn't your fault, it was the Furies. They drove me to try to kill your daughter. I've forgiven you. You should, too."
Xena: "I nearly lost you."
Gabrielle: (Takes Xena's hand in hers) "But you didn't, and now the Furies are back."
Xena: "Only this time-- we've gotta take 'em out."

(Well, I hope THAT scene revived the subtexters who felt like they were left dying on the vine "last" season. The only advantage of NOT showing Rick Jacobson's entire chakram/FURIES scene in the finale was that it allowed the FURIES to survive and give us THIS episode. But I, well, I digr... oh heck...You know. )

Well... Ares Army finally clears the rockslide and has advanced. Marga's Amazons have come to meet them, and they are soon joined by Xena who challenges the god of war to a bare knuckle contest. After getting a few licks in, she escapes on horseback with Ares in hot pursuit. The Amazons and his army start fighting in earnest, while Auntie Gabrielle is back at the camp, freeing Eve. At first you think Auntie is there "just" to free Eve, but no... she needs Eve's help to save Xena!

Ares & Xena's final fight: http://www.mrshowbiz.com/news/todays_stories/970403/4_3_97_5xena.html

Xena has lured Ares to the top of a mountain, where an ice pond is partially frozen over. She laughs at his braggadocio "Been there, DONE that!" she cries as she flings her chakram at him and uncharacteristically "misses" as it flies away without doing ANY damage. Then the fist a cuffs return as the two warriors duke it out. Again, uncharacteristically, the woman who can usually hold her own against a godly Ares, is beaten by an insane Ares. She is knocked into the partially frozen pond, and ends up under the ice, pounding on it, asking for help until she finally succumbs.

Ares looks confused... and not just because the FURIES have just vacated his mind. He's still kneeling on the ice, looking at the lifeless body of Xena under the ice as the FURIES brag about their accomplishments.

WWWWHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ...goes the chakram that was thrown over FOUR MINUTES AGO, decapitating three FURIES mid cackle!

Ares finally wakes up to the "tool" he's been in the FURIES grand scheme, and he dives into the pond and under the ice to retrieve the dead body of the mortal he loves.

As he keens over her lifeless form, the calvary arrives in the form of a "best friend" and a daughter, carrying furs to warm her, and the knowledge to revive her.

(In modern medicine, boys and girls, there's no such thing as "cold and dead". You have to be WARM and dead before they give up the ghost after an ice water drowning.)

Gabrielle pays back the gift Xena gave her at the end of season 1, by successfully resuscitating the Warrior Princess with the ancient Greecian form of CPR.

Oh... and that chakram the Warrior princes threw as her fight began with Ares? it took over 4 minutes to come back and kill the FURIES... and THEN it took another 3 minutes to come back as Xena was being resuscitated. Our Warrior woke up JUST in time to CATCH the damned thing.

A throw that easily beat out that previous amazing throw from season 3's "Been there... Done that." (sound familiar?)

But the end of the ep isn't the subtexters dream of X & G... but its "close" as Xena seems to finally close the door on her former love. The god she always had a "thing" for... but who was never "good" for her.

Loved his question... "do I have a chance? 1 in a thousand?"

Loved her response... smiling, "More like 1 in a billion."

Loved his interpretation of 1 in a Billion... he STILL has "A" chance!
Coming Undone: Ares/Xena:

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It strikes me, that Ares and Joxer occupy the same position in the Xenaverse. That of unrequited lover. The difference between the two, especially after "Looking death in the eye", is that Ares KNEW who his competition was, and Joxer didn't. Well, that's not the only difference. Joxer didn't put his life on hold for 25 years, he didn't "make the same mistakes" over and over as Ares did.

JanewayRulz! · Mar 20, 2011

Addendum....

Re: That AMAZING chakram throw at the end of "Coming Home".

Although we don't know WHERE that chakram WENT for 4 minutes... here's a possible explanation. (2:25 is from THIS ep, when the FURIES meet their timely end. :bolian:

)

I got to admit... 3:31 would have been MY reaction! :rommie:

I don't know what the prevailing opinion is/was in the xenafandom re: the two different chakrams over the 6 seasons... but I got to say the 2nd one is my fav.

I liked its ying-yang appearance and the fact that it could "split in two", but more importantly

I liked the fact that Xena could catch it without risk of amputation. (Never could figure out how she could catch the old one. Hey, it could mow down spears and cut chains... so why not her hand?

)

Xena's chakram stuck! (Loved Princess Diana's "throw". :rommie:

)
Xena & her crazy chakram:
Xena: Chakram power: (More subtexty than chakram throwing, despite the title. :rolleyes:

)

Power of Xena (Chakram shows up in the 2nd half.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ2UwCs_ivc&feature=fvwrel

And finally, that boomerrang effect of the chakram in this last ep really does show Ares that what goes around... comes around.

He gave up his immortality to save Eve (and Gabrielle), and Xena gave up her mortality to save him.

Thank "God" Xena's friends/family were standing by to bring her back.

Hero: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBrce7SBJVY&feature=related

:lol:

ETA: Season 5 bloopers... I love the one with Eve getting swept away by the tide during her baptism! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6ikhsNrt1w&feature=related :bolian:

JanewayRulz! · Mar 22, 2011

Episode 114 (See, I WAS right, the last one was #113!) Season 6 #2

"The HAUNTING of Amphipolis"

This one was "hard" for me, and if you're read through a few of these reviews, you can guess why.

I DO love Cyrene, which was why I "cried" when I rewatched this scene in "Siege of Amphipolis".

Cyrene: (She's changing her grandbaby's diaper) "Listen, no matter what happens thank you for letting me see my granddaughter. She is so perfect."
Xena: "No, Mom, it's me who should be thanking you. Standing up to Athena like that was very impressive."
Cyrene: "Please, facing down a god I can handle. Well, I raised you, remember? Terrible twos, terrible threes, terrible fourteens."
Xena: "Sorry I made it so tough for you."
Cyrene: "Oh now look, just listen for once, you know, in the end it's worth all the heartache in the world just to see your child grow up strong, proud. I'd like you to know what that's like, Xena."
Xena: "I will, Mom. I will."

If Xena was 16 at the original battle of Amphipolis, and 26 when she turned to good, and 31 "now" at the seige of Amphipolis... then one would assume that when she returns to her home town with her fully grown daughter, Cyrene would be 73 ish, if she lived.

But old age doesn't make ME cry. :weep:

TEASER opens... two Archangels we met a year ago are discussing someone we love.

Michael: "Xena is finally coming home to Amphipolis. She has no idea what awaits her."
Raphael: "I'm more concerned about what awaits us if she should fail in her destiny. If the realm of Hell should spill onto the Earth we will be the ones to face it."
Michael: "Xena has killed most of the Olympian gods. She is the only mortal prepared to face this."
Raphael: "I hope she is prepared, for all of our sakes."

[Me too! ]

Our trio are riding into Amphipolis, and Mom is telling Eve stories about that Stalwart Icon... Grandmother Cyrene! :techman:

Xena: [Hums] "Eve, you were just a baby when your grandmother took you in her arms and sang the anthem of Amphipolis." ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYa8YhozKyY Anthem of Amphipolis)
Gabrielle: "She stood up against Athena. She was very courageous."
Eve: "I can't wait to see her."
Xena: "Me neither. You're gonna love Amphipolis. It's... so full of life... What happened here?"
Gabrielle: "It almost feels deserted." (She looks up at the deserted tavern, which DEFINATELY gives me a "Bates Hotel" shudder)
Xena: "My mother would never leave this place."

:evil:

The girls split up once inside, Xena goes upstairs, Gabby checks out back, and Eve hangs out in the entrance. Xena thinks she sees her mother being dragged down the hall, but when she follows there's no-one there. Eve, however, is downstairs and sees her own vision.

Mephistopheles's Voice: "Livia."
Eve: "Who's there?"
Vision of Villager: (He carries a lit torch) "Light the fire!"
Vision of Cyrene: [Moans as she's dragged down the stairs and right THROUGH Eve. A neat effect, when she passes through Eve, Cyrene's head is replaced by a skull.]
Xena: (Mom comes running down the stairs) "Eve? Are you all right?"
Eve: "Grandmother?"
Xena: "Did you see her, Eve? Eve!"
Eve: (In shock) "I felt her. I could feel her spirit. She's dead, Mother."

TEASER ENDS:

Portugese trailer:
Now, before you ask... NO this wasn't shown on Halloween... at least that's what Whoosh says... although it WOULD have been appropriate!

Eve is grilled by Xena and Gabrielle for the little she knows.

Eve: "She's in so much pain. She wanted to be at peace, but she was helpless. She's trapped in this house."
Xena: "Mother."
Eve: "She's not alone. There are other souls here. This house, it's... it's a gateway or a spiritual crossroads or... "
Xena: (Cuts to the chase!) "It's haunted."
Eve: "There's a stillness. It's like before a battle. It's as if I can feel the realms of Heaven and Hell taking up sides."
Xena: "If my mother's not at peace I'm going to find out why."

Xena leaves Gabrielle with her daughter in the deserted inn. Now, if it was ME, I sure wouldn't want to be left behind with a bunch of ghosts... but then again, who's to say going to a mausoleum full of the dead is any safer?

Xena: [Whispers] "Mother. Oh! What did they do to you? They've taken everything. Now you can't rest. And where was I? Oh, Mother. I will find you. Wherever you are, I will find you. I'll make it right. I'll make this right."

The mausoleum sure wasn't safer for Xena, when after finding her mother's sarcophagus desecrated, bones strewn about and charred, she hears someone approaching.

Well, to be fair, "not safer" for the flesh and blood guy approaching either, after Xena gets the drop on him. :klingon:

Beggar: [Startled as Xena grabs him] "P-please! I ...I didn't mean to spy. I come in here when there's a storm."
Xena: "What happened to my mother?"
Beggar: "You're-- Xena. Cyrene waited years for you to come home. Mephistopheles sent evil spirits to Cyrene's tavern a long time ago. Over the years she... she went mad."
Xena: "Why are her bones charred black?"
Beggar: "When the crops failed people blamed the evil in the tavern. They said Cyrene was a witch for Mephistopheles!"
Xena: (It finally dawns on her) "They burned her at the stake." :wah:

Beggar: "I tried to tell them she wasn't a witch, but, but, uh-- who was gonna listen to me? Cyrene was a good person. She was kind to me, even near the end. Those evil spirits they were never in her. They were in the house-- and they're in there still."

And "class"... WHERE did Xena leave her only daughter and her best friend????? :scream:

The two women are sitting and chatting about Cyrene, as they begin to eat a lunch of "fresh" fruit. Suddenly, the fruit is covered with mealy worms which seem to multiply quickly. Gabby runs off to hurl in private as Eve picks up the rest of the meal and tosses it outside, where the worms continue to multiply geometrically, then logarthymically. Gabrielle finds a water bowl and begins washing her mouth and hands... then notices the mealy worms coming OUT from under her skin of her hands... then watches her hands be eaten away to the skeletons. Outside on the ground, surrounded by thousand of squiggly worms, Eve prays for assistance, and eventually the worms disappear AND Gabby's hands returen to normal. Eventually Gabby wanders "out back" and she falls into/is swallowed by a devil marked paving stone as Xena tries to knock down the locked front door.

If Gabrielle thought eating a pear filled with mealy grubs was bad, she's discovered something much worse. :devil:

The cadavers and skeletons in the green sewage holding her captive are REALLY disgusting! Even worse... she realizes they DON"T want her, they want Eve.

As Eve and Xena run through the house looking for Gabby, they enter the back and Xena notices the devil marked paving stone. She notices it because that devil mark was graffitteed all over her family's mausoleum. Squatting down, she thinks she hears Gabrielle's call and WHAM! she slams her fist through the devil portal and reaches into the sewage pool underneath to grasp Gabrielle's arm. Once she's pulled her part way through the portal, Eve grabs on to Gabrille's other arm and helps her mom rescue the bard.

To call Gabby distraught is an understatement. :barf:

She's on fire from that green sewage from hell.

(On whoosh.org is a comment from a 2000 teaser by the fan club president: "Lucy mentioned I should ask Renee about the pureed asparagus, KY jelly and vegemite!"... and I take that to mean the green sewage from hell :ack:

is made of that stuff. Hmmm. One MORE reason NOT to eat pureed asparagus & vegemite!

)

The one amazing thing about abandoned haunted taverns from ancient Greece... they STILL have functional showers. Even HEATED ones! :bolian:

And for those who find a sports bra and short skirt to STILL be too much for Gabrielle to wear :rommie:

... we see Eve and (Mostly) Xena wash the sewage from the naked bard. :rolleyes:

Gabrielle: (Shivering in the water streaming over her) "Xena, why would he (Mephistopheles) attack your family? He has an entire world he can rule."
Xena: "He's preparing for war."
Eve: "It's no accident I'm in this house." (She runs from the shower room)
Xena: "Eve." (Torn by where she should be, with Eve or Gabrielle)
Gabrielle: "Those things they said, they said that they seek the blood of the messenger. This is Eve's battle."
Xena: "No, if he picks a battle, he's picked it with me. I won't lose my daughter the way I lost my mother."

(When will these gods EVER learn??? )

To be continued. (I'm going to do taxes! But for those who need a peek at the 2nd half of the ep... just watch this excellent vid! "I' m with you": )

JanewayRulz! · Mar 23, 2011

"Last time on Xena"... Cyrene is dead... burned at the stake while waiting in vain for her Warrior Princess to rescue her. She saved others... why didn't she save her own Mother? We all know the reason why... but it STILL did not keep that daughter from asking herself the same question... "And where was I?"

Xena and Eve have just rescued Gabrielle from the putrid green sewage of Hell flowing under the paving stone's in Cyrene's back yard, and the subtexters not to mention more than a few gentlemen in the audience were blessed with the ultimate Gabrielle shower scene of the last 114 episodes. Xena can't enjoy it, since she knows the King of Hell wants her daughter.

Gabrielle has calmed down enough for Xena to leave her alone in the shower... and as anyone who's seen a horror movie knows, you NEVER leave someone alone in an haunted house!

Eve is out back where the mealy bugs once were, and is praying...

Xena is downstairs in the tavern, looking at the dining room....

Gabby is still rinsing vegemite from her skin...

And it starts.

Blood is flowing between the paving stones and falling UP!

Xena sees the dead corpse of her brother Lyceus laid out on the dining room table.

Gabrielle catches water in her hands from the shower, and draws them over her head... BUT the hands are now full of BLOOD and she's coated her scalp with it.

Her hands are bleeding... bleeding from the nail marks the centurions placed on her when they crucified her. Later we see her feet are bleeding from the nail marks once placed there, too.

Xena sees a vision of the 16 year old self standing next to the table were her brother's body is laid out. She's wearing the clawed epulets we saw in the Hercules trilogy that introduced Xena to the world. Suddenly her mother arrives and begins to mourn her baby son... She refuses to accept Xena's apology, and blames her for his death as surely as if she placed the sword into his wounds.

Cyrene (from 40 years ago!): "... He was the only thing I had left...and... you took him from me." She SLAPS Xena hard across the face before turning back to her dead son, whimpering...) "Lyceus."

In an erie "breaking the 4th wall moment", Xena from 40 years ago turns from her mother and looks into the living room where she SEEMS to SEE our Xena, before the vision of the past fades from view!

Outside, poor Eve is fightng a rising tide of blood, and threatens to be overcome by it despite her pleas to "ELI and ALL THE POWERS OF HEAVEN..."

Xena has seen enough downstairs and runs back to check on Gabrielle... but Gabrielle is gone. Replaced by a naked blonde demon that hangs upside down from the rafters like a bat, and attacks Xena as soon as the WP enters the room.

Halloween Horror:
Now.... don't get me wrong... I KNOW Xena has MANY SKILLS... but tell me... WHO PRACTICISES dressing a naked demon and hogtieing their hands behind their back in under 8 seconds????? (Oh, right... ) I hear the subtexters in the background suggest its a skill she's previously learned "in reverse?"

Eve vanquishes the blood and goes looking for Mom and Gabrielle. Xena is holding Gabrielle's demon possessed Mephistopheles down as Eve arrives to vanquish him. The demon (easier to spell) tells Xena "all he wants" is a few drops of Eve's blood spilled in his name so he can enter the physical world and possess it.

Oh, did I mention that after vanquishing the flood of blood in the back yard, after Eve left the yard a big old CRACK appeared in the earth, opening a gateway to hell.

(Xena and Eve are holding A Mephistopheles possessed Gabrielle down as he spouts his message to Xena...)
Possessed Gabrielle: "You killed the Olympian gods, Xena. The time has come for my reign to begin. I shall inherit the Earth. When your blood is spilled, Eve-- I'll be made flesh."
(And to add salt in the wound, he allows Xena to see a vision of her Mother's last few moments on this earth... tied to a stake, flames burning, as she screams....) "Xena-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a!"

FINALLY Eve casts the spirit of Mephistopheles from Gabby's body, as she herself collapses and Xena works quickly to untie the woman's hands. Very sweet moment occurs between XWP & the BBoP (Battling Bard of Potadiea) before Xena tries to pull rank and send Gabby away so she can't be possessed again. Gabrielle refuses to be sent anywhere and Eve agrees. Gabrielle's cleansing by the power of Eli means she's safe from re-possession. (Amazing how they can figure out all these rules without a rulebook

)

Eve is back outside, praying next to the crack of DOOM / HELLMOUTH and just when you thought the slapstick/tickle was all over between X & G they get stuck together... literally. Right & Left arms fused into one... left and right knees epoxed together.

What impressed me about their technique in hurdling a table the demons were throwing at them WASN"T just that they jumped it... oh no.. that wouldn't be creative enough. :rofl:

Our two women SOMERSAULTED over it! :bolian:

You REALLY need to netflix this show if you haven't bought into it yet!

Lucky for them, Eve's prayers unstick them before she goes back to the crack of DOOM and resumes her prayers. Unfortunately, her strength is failing, and Mephistopheles' voice taunts Xena that soon her daughter will join her Mother in Hell... Xena can't take it anymore, and turns to Gabrielle....

(Now, despite the naked Shower scene, and the naked wrestling/bondage scene we've already seen this "week"... What follows is the REAL subtext scene that puts the subtexter's heart to flutter.)

Xena: "Gabrielle-- I have to go fight Mephistopheles."
Gabrielle: "Xena, you can't release him."
Xena: "No, I'm gonna take the fight to him."
Gabrielle:: "Th- that's the spiritual realm."
Xena: "I'm gonna put the pinch on myself."
Gabrielle: "No."
Xena: "Yes."
Gabrielle: "No!"
Xena: "I should be dead just long enough to meet Mephistopheles there. Then I need you to release the pinch and bring me back."
Gabrielle: "Xena, I can't. I don't-I don't know how."
Xena: "Yes, you can. I'll show you." (She takes Gabrielle's hand and sinks down on one knee, pulling her down with her. She places Gabrielle's fingers along the left side of her own neck...) "Here."
Gabrielle: "Right there?"
Xena: (Smiles) "No-- that will stop my heart." (She repositions the fingers) "There."
Gabrielle: (Tries to pull away) "I can't believe you're showing me this now."
Xena: (Keeps Gabrielle's hand along side her neck) "We don't have any choice."
Gabrielle: "Xena, if I can't do this, that means that you're down there forever."
Xena: (Smiles as encouragingly as possible) "You can do it. I believe in you. Bring me back, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle:[Whispers] "OK." (And then Xena takes Gabrielle's hand and jabs herself in the neck, before falling forward, collapsing in her best friend's arms.)

And that, my friends, occurred with everyone fully dressed!

Should be able to finish this in the morn, until then "sweet dreams".

JanewayRulz! · Mar 24, 2011

And now... the conclusion of season 6's "Haunting of Amphipolis"

Xena has put the pinch on herself, with Gabrielle's help. As the Bard lays the warrior back onto the dead leaves littering her mother's backyard... she hovers fearfully, wondering when she should call Xena back to the land of the living.

As she materializes in Hell, the first thing Xena hears is her MOTHER crying. She turns to see our Cyrene, staggering through the cavern, carrying a bloody axe as she herself is covered in blood.

Back in Cyrene's tavern, Mephistopheles taunted Xena while in Gabby's body... saying, " "I helped eat her soul, Xena! She'll spend eternity reliving only agony you put into her life! Unless you spill your daughter's blood and bring me into the world."

It looks like he wasn't kidding as Cyrene relived the night she murdered Xena's father. (As proof re her unsettled nature.. Cyrene actually misspoke his name.

)

Cyrene: [Moans]
Xena: "Mother."
Cyrene [Moans]: "Gods, forgive me! I've killed him!"
Xena: "Mother, it's me."
Cyrene: "My Orestes! (Should be Atrius!) I had no choice! I had no choice! My husband!"
Xena: (Tearful) "Mother, I will find a way to release you. I promise."
Mephistopheles: (The King of Hell finally materializes...) "Don't make promises you can't keep." :evil:

[Great Fight]
Mephistopheles: "I thought you were the god-killer, Xena. How were the mighty Olympians so easily taken?!"
Xena: (Pithy retort at the ready!) "I'm just a little distracted by your good looks."

Big bad and ugly thinks he has Xena cornered, and he tells her her predicament. Her god killing power works only in the physical realm, NOT the spiritual one, and second even IF she managed to kill him, she would be condemned to TAKE HIS PLACE as the King of Hell. When she refuses to allow him entrance to the physical world... (hmm, sounds "suggestive:...) he simply does an end run around Xena, taking the mental fight directly to Eve.

Mephistopheles: "Very well. If you won't spill Eve's blood then perhaps the right pressure in the right place might cause Eve to spill her own." [Laughs] "Your daughter will be mine, Xena." :evil:

Speaking of the physical world, Gabrielle feels time slipping away, and starts to attempt to remove that "pinch"...

It doesn't work.

Eve comes by for moral support, and goes looking for "water" to revive Mom as Gabrielle stays with Xena trying over and over to remove that pinch.

It doesn't work.

Eve runs into more hallucinations, the dead from her past campaings come to visit and taunt her, delaying her return to Gabrielle's side as the Bard continues to "line up" her fingers to JAB at that left neck, trying to revive her best friend.

It DOESN'T WORK!

Desperation grows in the young Bard as she tries a seventh time... HUZZAH!

Bring me to life:

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Gabrielle: "Yah! Xena." (Xena, still weak from her ordeal, is being held up by Gabrielle's arms. The Warrior princess leans against Gabrielle's left biceps, gasping for air, but she has only ONE thing on her mind)
Xena: "Eve. Where's Eve?"

After battling her own demons, Eve has decided to sacrifice herself to STOP Mephistopheles, but Mom won't allow her!

Xena: "No, I won't let you stop him that way. He's already got my mother's soul. He's not gettin' yours."
Eve: "Then how can we stop him?"
Xena: "By giving him exactly what he wants. Trust me." (She runs out of the tavern, pulling Eve behind her.)
Gabrielle: "Xena." (Upset, she chases after Xena)

Act IV

Here begins one of my fav scenes... Gabrielle runs to block Xena & Eve from leaving the tavern.

Gabrielle: "Xena. Xena, you cannot spill your daughter's blood."
Xena: "It's better than the beating she was taking in there."
Gabrielle: "You will bring Hell onto Earth. After all the evil we've seen, you want to unleash that onto the world?" (Sounds like what Xena told Gabrielle in season 3's "Sacrifice".)
Xena: (I Love this line!!!) "My mother's soul is trapped. My daughter is half dead. And the portal to Hell opened up in my backyard! I am going to face Mephistopheles, Gabrielle. It is the only way."
Gabrielle: "You cannot kill every demon from Hell!"
Xena: "I only need to kill one. And he will never expect me to..."
Gabrielle: "To what? To what?!"
Xena: (Uh oh, she wasn't planning on telling THIS to Gabrielle) "To take his place. Mephistopheles said whoever kills the king of Hell must inherit the throne."
Gabrielle: [Whispers] "Xena."
Xena: (Stressing as she gesticulates aggressively) "I will cross that bridge when I come to it. But I am not going to let Mephistopheles torment my family any longer. Do you hear me?" (And yes, I'm interpreting that "family" to include Gabrielle in either fashion, as friend or lover.)
Gabrielle: "Eve. Eve, your destiny is to stop this evil, not bring it into the world."
Xena: (Defiance rears at the sound of THAT word!) "We make our own destiny in this family." (But she does turn to her grown daughter...) "Eve, the choice is yours."
Eve: (Eve has the dagger in her hand as she looks at two women she's come to love in a very short time, two women she doesn't want to disappoint.) "Yes. Destiny comes to pass in strange ways. I'll fulfill mine. I'll deliver Mephistopheles into the only hands capable of beating him. " (She looks down to the dagger, and then up into Gabrielle's face) "Will you help me?"

:adore:

Gabrielle physically steadies Eve while they walk out to face the Hellmouth as Xena stands opposite them with her sword drawn, ready to face whatever comes next.

After praying to heaven, Eve slashs her palm and lets the blood drop into the crack of DOOM as she calls on Mephistopheles to appear.

He does.

Oh Gawd...and is he BIG!

[FIGHT!]

Mephistopheles: (Taunts the WP) "You're holding back, Xena. Is something bothering you?"
Xena: (The Princess of witty repartee ) "Other than your stench?"

[Fight]

Mephistopheles: "Isn't this what you wanted? To face me on Earth and make me pay for all I've done to you?! Does the thought of taking my place on the throne of Hell suddenly not appeal to you?"
Xena: (Is she worried?) "You're lying about that."
Mephistopheles: (Xena has fallen to her knees, her back to the King of Hell) "Are you willing to risk it? Last chance, Xena, to get your revenge! [Laughs] If you'll take my place. No? That's exactly what I was counting on." [He laughs until Xena stands up quickly and piroutes, driving her sword up the hilt into his abdomen as he screams]
Xena: "So... be... it!"

Ding dong, the bastard's dead.

Happy Halloween:

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Xena is stunned and she looks away from Gabrielle and Eve who were near the tavern. What has she done? What she always does, what she HAD to do.

Suddenly Gabrielle is at her side, softly calling her back from her reverie. Turning Xena to look back once more at the daughter she risked everything for... and more.

Gabrielle: "Xena..."
Xena: "What?"
Gabrielle: "Look." (And we see over Xena's shoulder a middle aged happy woman who is delighting in the attentions of a grandaughter she hasn't seen since the babe was in diapers)
Cyrena: (To a beaming Eve) "You have your mother's eyes. You're tall like her, too. You're gorgeous." (To Xena who has walked up) "I love my granddaughter, Xena."
Xena: (Tearful but smiling, for she KEPT that promise she made to her mother in Hell!) "She couldn't wait to meet you."
Cyrene: (Looking to the other young woman that she's come to love) "Gabrielle."
Gabrielle: (Smiles) "We missed you."
Cyrene: (To the fruit of her loins) "After all these years, I, I wondered if I'd ever see you again, but I never gave up hope, Xena."
Xena: "Neither did I. I finally find you, and you're gone." :weep:

Cyrene: (Still holding her granddaughter by the hands) "I'll never really be gone, Xena, not as long as you keep me alive in your heart."
Xena: "Mom, I-- " [Just as Xena starts forward to hug her mother, Cyrene disappears]

God I loved that "character", and the actress who brought her to life!

The King of Hell is dead... but there's one little problem

That CRACK OF DOOM, that Hellmouth... its STILL open and in Xena's backyard, spewing forth its putrid green smoke. The three women are standing in the yard, watching it... Xena's sword is drawn.

Eve: "Gabrielle, what's wrong?"
Gabrielle: "The legend. Xena, you killed the king of Hell. What happens now?"
Xena: "I don't know. I've got a feeling it's not over yet."

Yah think?

Lullaby: the desired video has been deleted, in its place...

JanewayRulz! · Mar 26, 2011

Episode 115, season 6, #3: "Heart of Darkness"

No, I never read this book, so I can't make erudite allusions between it and this ep.

Aren't you happy! :rommie:

Instead of erudite allusions, I will make one embarrasing remark about the teaser within a teaser... the conversation between the three archangels.

Michael is wearing a hairpiece. :devil:

Yes, its true. You can see it threatening to fly off as the wind blows along the right side of his head.

Ok... time to get serious.

This 6th season seems to be about getting in touch with love.

The first ep... "Coming Home" was about Eve's fear of losing her Mother's (and Gabrielle's) love because of what she'd done to the Amazons, Xena's love for the woman she nearly killed, and Gabrielle's love for Xena, and about Ares' love not just of his former godhood but more telling for the mortal known as Xena. He really DOES have a "thing" for her!

The second ep "Haunting of Amphipolis" was about the love Xena has not just for Eve, but also for her dead Brother, her dead Mother and for Gabrielle, and the love her Mother has for all three women.

The third ep... the third ep... hmmmm.

The callow fellow would say that the third ep has to do with ratings and an increasing need to distinguish oneself from the pack, to capture the audience who's already seen 114 different versions of kung fu babes kicking ass and taking names. One could turn to the syfy series "Caprica" or the Starz series "Spartacus" to show how far this need to "distinguish" oneself from the pack has come. :censored:

One could.

But I'm going to resist, and take it "seriously". :vulcan:

The third ep IS about love, which by the end of the episode is deemed to be superior to the lust which was showcased throughout. The love a Mother has for her daughter, and vice versa, the love two friends (?) have for each other, and the love a believer has for their god. And no... I do not, digress.

"Last time... on Xena: That CRACK OF DOOM, that Hellmouth... its STILL open and in Xena's backyard, spewing forth its putrid green smoke. The three women are standing in the yard, watching it... Xena's sword is drawn.
Eve: "Gabrielle, what's wrong?"
Gabrielle: "The legend. Xena, you killed the king of Hell. What happens now?"
Xena: "I don't know. I've got a feeling it's not over yet."

Teaser to the Teaser:

Michael: " Xena will never go down to Hell voluntarily."
Raphael: "When she opened up that portal and killed Mephistopheles, she became him. You know the rules. She belongs on that throne."
Michael: "The last time Xena was in Hell, she almost captured Heaven."
Raphael: "Well, we've gotta do something. We can't just leave her on Earth with pure evil streaming out of that portal."
Third Archangel (Appears): "Aren't you two inspiring? Michael and Raphael, chief warrior angels of the chief himself, quaking like a couple of frightened children."
Michael: "You're very sure of yourself, aren't you?"
Third Archangel: "I'm sure of both my faith and my devotion, which has fueled my speedy ascent up the hierarchy, a climb that will continue with a promotion to Seraphim."
Michael: "And how do you plan to achieve that?"
Third Archangel: "By throwing Xena down into Hell myself."
Michael: "You realize Xena has the power to destroy angels."
Third Archangel: "She will use that power unless I send her to Hell."
Michael: "Very well. Proceed." (3rd angel leaves)
Raphael: "He just may be the right one for the job."
Michael: "He may be perfect."

Eve and Gabrielle are standing next to that Crack of DOOM... as the green smoke belches out.

Eve: "A great evil is coming, Gabrielle. I can feel it."
Gabrielle: "Maybe that's because you're standing near the portal to Hell."
Eve: "Maybe. but there's a reason it's remained open, even after Mephistopheles' death. It's waiting for something."
Third Archangel: "Yes, it is, Eve. It wants your mother."
Gabrielle: "Who... why are you here?"
Third Archangel: "To do what Eve knows in her heart must be done. But since we're both on the same side I felt that she at least deserved the courtesy of a quick goodbye."
Gabrielle: "Xena." (She and Eve run back through the tavern to find the WP.)

We should have gotten an inkling that something was up this ep, when we next see Xena nearly bite a village girl's head off for petting Argo! But I was too distracted by this next line, to think about how incongruous was her Argo jealousy.

Gabrielle: "Xena? Xena, we've got a problem."
Xena: (XWP is busy braiding Argo's mane! )"Let me guess it's huge and potentially devastating."
Aliyah (the village girl) : (Suddenly the angel appears and sets down to face Xena) "An angel."
Third Archangel: "Well, I'm more than an angel, I'm an archangel, destined to become a household name especially after I send Xena to Hell."
Xena: (Why do people always throw that "destiny" word at Xena? Don't they KNOW how easy it is to bait her with it?) "So it is huge and potentially devastating. Goody."

So Xena draws down on an Archangel... and already I'm loving this ep. He seems to get in a good blow to her midsection, and she plays it up like a basketball star trying to draw a foul from the referee. :rommie:

The fight continues, and the Archangel has Xena on her back, his sword at her throat, her sword out of reach... and she uses the only weapon left her.

Xena: "That's surprisingly decent, coming from one so guilty of indecent exposure." (Lears towards his "family jewels")
Third Archangel: "I expose nothing."
Xena: "Except your abundant pride."
[Fight continues as Gabrielle tries to intervene, distracting the Angel long enough for Xena to get to her sword.]
Third Archangel: "You're obviously not aware that this pride you accuse me of is a mortal sin."
Xena: (Oh yes, she IS aware!)"One of the seven deadlies, in fact. (Whispers loudly) So I can understand you wanting to keep it quiet, being an angel and all."
Third Archangel: "You twist my words."
Xena: (Takes righteous EXCEPTION!) "No, I straighten them out. And you should thank me, because they're the last ones you're ever gonna speak."
(Fight continues until Xena has the Angel on his back, and is about to kill him)
Xena: "Because I am a generous soul, I'm going to make sure that Gabrielle records your household name for all of posterity."
Third Archangel: "Lucifer, my name's Lucifer."
Xena: "Has a nice ring... kinda like a death knell."

Arms rise up for the killing blow... and TEASER ENDS!

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JanewayRulz! · Mar 27, 2011

Episode 115, season 6, #3: "Heart of Darkness" ACT I (Sorry guys, had to work today)

JUST as Xena was ready to skewer an archangel without the lame excuse "the devil made me do it", EVE that messenger of Eli calls upon her Mom to stop. Even XENA ought not to kill a messenger of God. When Xena stated the obvious... "he started it!" Eve tries to be the voice of reason. (Remember when that job used to fall to Gabrielle?)

Eve: "It's not always possible for mankind to understand or interpret God's will."
Lucifer: (Stands up to face his executioner) "Well, well, seems you've got quite a dilemma here, Xena, 'cause you know if you don't kill me now I'll try again."
Xena: (puts her arm around his shoulders like they're old drinking buddies) "Well, that's what I'm counting on. You see, things have been a little dull around here since Mephistopheles lost his crown. Come on, Luci, I won't bite. You don't mind if I call
ya Luci, do ya?"
Lucifer: "No."

I LOVE it when Xena gets a plan together. And it doesn't matter, whether she's driven crazy by the FURIES, marked for murder by the Olympian gods, running a Con in a crooked casino, or if the power of Hell belching from her Mom's backyard turns her heart to a blacked core which only her daughter can see, you always have a feeling she has a card or two up her sleeve.

Toxic:
Xena: (Believe it or not, Xena is packing a very large picnic basket in Mother's tavern) "As usual, you two are completely overreacting."
Gabrielle: "Overreacting? You don't get it. Xena, this evil is seeping up through Hell. It's coming through that portal, straight to your heart."
Eve: "You may not be descending to Mephistopheles' throne voluntarily but obviously it's coming up to claim it's new queen."
Xena: (Her heart may be turning black, but her smirk is as ready as ever to delight.) "You mean its rightful ruler."
Gabrielle: (Explaining things in painfully simple terms) "That would be you."
Xena: (You can almost hear her slap the checker board and scream, "King me!") "Not if I can find someone else to take my place... (Points to Lucifer) ...him."
Gabrielle: "You're gonna turn an archangel into the king of Hell?"
Xena: "Oh, he's less of an angel than I am. He just doesn't know it yet."
Gabrielle: "So, how do you plan on making him see the light?"
Xena: "By showing him how much he's gonna love the dark."
Eve: "Eli says, `To corrupt another is to corrupt yourself.'"
Xena: (We haven't heard this name since "Kindred Spirits") "Evie, listen... fruit rots from the inside out. It's not called corruption if you just peel away the layers to expose the rotten core... (Now Mama Xena shows us she knows that AGE OLD WEAPON that all Mothers eventually resort to... GUILT!) that is, unless you want Mommy to go to Hell...Well, then... " (And she picks up her basket and heads across the tavern to do a little Angel tempting, er... layer peeling.)

In their first fight, she exposed Lucifer's bountiful pride in himself. Although this "picnic" might represent gluttony, it's more correct to think it represents the envy he has for his fellow Archangels Michael and Raphael. I mean really, ONE mug of ale does NOT a glutton make.

And Xena agrees.

Xena: "With these hands, I can attain both pleasure and power for whomsoever I choose. Let me use them to make you the envy of all the angels instead of you being the one who does all the envying."
Lucifer: "You make an enticing offer."
Xena: "Especially when you consider what an unappealing quality envy is in an angel." [She startles as he grabs her wrist in a vice grip!]
Lucifer: "You mean what a sinful quality, don't you?"
Xena: (Coyly) "Well, if the truth hurts let me make it better."
Lucifer: "How?"
Xena: "Stay on Earth and I'll show you. You can't imagine what it's like, Lucifer, to sample flesh in every form."
Lucifer: "Despite what you may think, Xena, it's not the flesh that's appealing it's the spirit. Because... "
Lucifer and Xena: "... that's where the power comes from."
Xena: "I know."

While Mama Xena is off trying to tempt the angel, daughter Eve is starting on her first full day as a messenger for Eli, proselytizing to the masses. Unfortunately, the masses don't appreciate the message, and the blackness Eve could see/sense growing within her mother's heart is also sensed growing in the hearts of the villagers about her. Suddenly that village girl who Xena thought was vying for Argo's affections arrives with news, a young man is asking for Gabrielle and Xena. As Eve and Gabrielle go off looking for him, they see "a" young man being beaten and on the ground. We THINK its Virgil from the sight of him, but up close its not.

Strangely enough, Virgil IS there and Gabrielle calls him forward to help the beaten man and Virgil lends a hand, BEATING him AGAIN! Needless to say, Gabby isn't pleased with the beating, nor the lascivious attentions he's now showering upon her. Yup, that black heart is growing in him as well. And Eve has a theory.

Eve: "The portal (To Hell in Cyrene's backyard) is a magnet. It's drawing people here. It's feeding their dark side. It's creating a Hell on Earth, Gabrielle."

ACT I ENDS

Working the early shift tomorrow, should finish this up tomorrow afternoon. Fingers crossed!

saturn5 · Mar 27, 2011

Ok, been away with work for a couple of weeks but I'm back now so I'll try to catch up.

Looking death in the eye;
Ok, this is the one which wins over even the most fervant Joxer haters, the sight of him giving all that he has to find out what happened to his friends and asking his adoring kids who obviously idolise their father if they'd like to hear a story of the beautiful (Xexer alert!) warrior princess is a winner. They finally see the love between the trio.
Another point for Xexer is that rather than marrying a Gabby lookalike (and remember there's still plenty running around, the naked dancing trio from the Quill is Mightier etc) Joxer actually ends up with Meg, one of Xena's doubles.
Some great interactions between the gods in this one, frankly you don't blame everyone for electing Athena a leader (a job I'm sure Ares wanted) she's really good.
The irony of the ending is terrific, great things to come!

JanewayRulz! · Mar 28, 2011

Episode 115, season 6, #3: "Heart of Darkness" ACT II

Xena has brought Lucifer back to the Tavern. He's walking around her bed, as she's dressing behind a curtain. LOVE this first exchange! (And the XENA PTB's claim half the time they DIDN'T play up the subtext card. :rommie:

)

Xena: "You and I have much in common."
Lucifer: "Of course we do. You're a mortal female with a lying tongue, savage tendencies, and a blonde girlfriend. I'm a celibate archangel in the service of the Lord." (He finds a dagger in the bedroom, and hides it under a pillow on the bed before hopping onto the bed.)
Xena: "Ah, yes, but we're both sinners at heart, you and I, trying to walk a path that we weren't meant to."
Lucifer: "Your reputation for wit is well deserved. Me, a sinner?"
Xena: "You hit two of the top seven in your first hour here. What do you call that? Beginner's luck?" (She flounces out from behind the curtain, and is now sitting on the bed with him. She's wearing a deeply red robe.)
Lucifer: (He approves of the wardrobe change) "Red is definitely your color."
Xena: "You know, I see the same spirit burning in you. If we put 'em together we could rule both Hell and Earth."
Lucifer: (Tries his "hand" at flirting) "Why don't you start by taking me to Heaven?"
Xena: "Gladly." (And she flips him over on the bed before taking out a massage wheel and running it up and down his spine. Lucifer's eyes just about pop out of his head!)
Lucifer: [Sighs] "Wow. What are you doing?"
Xena: "It's Egyptian massage. It's one of the world's greatest and most sensual pleasures."
Lucifer: "It's not exactly what I had in mind, but it'll do for now." [Sighs again]

As the Egyptian massage continues, Lucifer pretends to fall into her trap and rolls over for the next stage in his "education"... but Xena is smarter than she looks and pulls the dagger out from under the pillow before he can use it on her. :techman:

Xena: "Well lesson one, lose the dagger, especially when I know you don't really wanna send little Xena to Hell."
Lucifer: "Ah, you doubt my resolve."
Xena: "Oh, no."
Lucifer: "Why don't you just kill me?"
Xena: "Because wasted potential is the greatest sin of all. I wanna be your salvation, Lucifer."
Lucifer: "I want nothing from you."
Xena: "Then how about everything?"
Lucifer: "That's a big word."
Xena: "Oh, it's a big world. That's what I'm offering."

Lucifer is shocked and does the only safe thing.. he gets up and leaves the bedroom, leaves the tavern, and goes in search for answers. But WHY must he do that? I thought he was "... sure of both my faith and my devotion ..." and that he would "... throw... Xena down into Hell myself." Why the sudden indecision?

I suspect that "THIS" is Lucifer's version of that sin of "Sloth". One usually thinks of sloth as being lazy, a sin of omission rather than comission, but I like these descriptions of it from Wiki...

Sloth is defined as spiritual or emotional apathy, neglecting what God has spoken, and being physically and emotionally inactive. acedia is a Latin word, from Greek ἁκηδείᾱ, meaning "Carelessness".
Sloth can also indicate a wasting due to lack of use, concerning a person, place, thing, skill, or intangible ideal that would require maintenance, refinement, or support to continue to exist.
Religious views concerning the need for one to work to support society and further God's plan and work also suggest that, through inactivity, one invites the desire to sin. "For Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do."

After that first fight in front of Cyrene's tavern, Lucifer has been pretty inactive... physically if not emotionally. He's supposed to send Xena to Hell.. but instead he's laying on his belly letting her massage him to "heavens" he never knew existed. He can't handle it and so he leaves.

Meanwhile, back with the "other" mortals... Gabrielle and Eve have brought Virgil home to the Tavern. Gabrielle can't get over the change in the young man since they last met and Gabby finally wheedles out of him what he wants...

Virgil: (To Eve) "No! It (his heart) lied to me when it urged that forgive you for murdering my father. Now, is Xena here or not?"
Gabrielle: (Full protective mode in play) "What do you want with her?"
Virgil: "Rumor has it that with the gods dead, she's about to take the reins of power. I was hoping that when I pledged my life to her mission, I'd be doing it with you at my side."

Hmmmm.

Seems he's inherited a Gabrielle fixation from the old man... not that I blame him but one wonders if Xena would bite the head off a Village girl for stroking ARGO...? :eek:

Portugese trailer for Heart of Darkness http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRtncuDvCxY

I love the fact that Eve has gone to a local abandoned temple and tried to reclaim it for Eli. I love that she's busy thinking outside of herself, and towards a greater good, while at the same time discovering someone else is there thinking only of himself.

Eve: [Sighs to self as she places a figurine in her new shrine to Eli] "This is a sign of my continued commitment, to convert this temple and these people to your ways of love, Eli. It is a humble reminder that I cannot do this alone."
Lucifer: "What a long-winded way to ask for help."
Eve: "Let's hear your version."
Lucifer: "What for? I came for some peace and quiet in which to think, not ask for assistance." (Pride once again rearing his ugly head?)
Eve: "You need Eli's assistance, although, perhaps you're too far gone, even for that."

Goes to show that Eve can look into the hearts of beings other than mere mortals! :bolian:

Speaking of "mere" mortals... since Lucifer left Xena, and Eve left Gabrielle... it seems their moral centers have gone completely askew as a crowd of nearly naked men and women invade the temple for some serious partying... and on their shoulders they carry a leather clad (head to toe) Xena... :beer:

Crowd: "Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena! Xena!"

According to the DVD interviews, this next scene is Adrianne Wilkinson's fav of the episode since even SHE admits Eve is getting a little "annoying"...

Eve: "Mother, your purpose will not be served by subjecting this temple or this town to further desecration!"
Xena: "It's not desecration, Eve. We're just throwing a farewell bash for our celestial guest, assuming that he'll give us the pleasure."
Lucifer: "The pleasure's all mine, Xena, because the farewell I'll be celebrating is yours."
Gabrielle: (She still SOUNDS like the Auntie Gabrielle Eve loves... but that leather bra IS a new look for the former peacenik!) "You should listen to your mother, Eve. She knows what she's doing."
Eve: (Her eyes only looking at the Mother leading the hedonistic masses) "I wouldn't be so sure, Gabrielle, not anymore." (Xena's heart beats faster and blacker than ever before)
Xena: "Eve, sweetheart, if you can't stand the heat then maybe you should get the hell out of my kitchen!"
Eve: (Resolute) "Or stay and put out the fire. Uh!" (and she falls unconscious at the feet of Auntie Gabrielle)
Gabrielle: (Hefting the figurine symbolizing Eli's followers, Gabby looks up at Xena and smiles :evil:

) "No one likes a party-pooper."

So... the orgy goes on around them, and Xena sits next to Lucifer sipping at her wine and commenting on the "view". The view I'm specifically referring to is the heavy makeout session going on across the room between Gabrielle and Virgil. I guess I need not have worried about Virgil's safety... it seems Xena ISN'T as attached to Gabby as much as she is to Argo... :rofl:

Lucifer: (All attention on the two bodies on the opposite couch) "Your friends seem to be enjoying themselves."
Xena: (She seems almost bored by it all as she sips her wine) "Almost as much as you seem to enjoy watching them."
Lucifer: "I'm an angel, Xena. That's what I do."
Xena: "Well, there's nothing to keep you one forever, is there? Down here the greatest possession is free will. Take your destiny in your hands, Lucifer. Stay here. Rule the world with me. Or you can go back to Heaven, become a Seraphim, spend the rest of eternity taking orders. Your choice." (She hands the wine goblet to the Archangel, and walks out into the middle of the "dance" floor.)

Come over here:

In case you still weren't sure which sin we're discussing here :rolleyes:

...

The last dance: (Lust vs Love)
Lust = from wiki: Lust or lechery (carnal "luxuria") is usually thought of as excessive thoughts or desires of a sexual nature. Aristotle's criterion was excessive love of others, which therefore rendered love and devotion to God as secondary.

Not to mention "Gluttony"... as we see Lucifer down his wine goblet in a single gulp as he runs after Xena. :drool:

Again... from wiki... Gluttony, derived from the Latin gluttire meaning to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, or intoxicants to the point of waste.

After a very erotic dance between Xena and Gabrielle, not to mention between Gabrielle and Virgil, Lucifer can restrain himself no longer and joins in the dance... until the dance is no longer enough for him and they end up back on the couch, and may I say no longer sitting demurly next to one another as before... :alienblush:

Lucifer: "You make me feel things Xena, a hunger."
Xena: "It's called lust and the best thing is even when you've sated it, you can never be too full."
Lucifer: [Chuckles] "Then allow me to spend eternity trying to devour you."
Xena: (Playing it coyly as he simply "plays") "Will I get another dagger in return?"
Lucifer: "No, you get to devour me, body and soul."
(Uh oh... someone said the wrong thing, and now TWO Archangels have appeared in the middle of the room, wings at full stretch, judgement at the ready)
Michael: "Fortunately, Lucifer, the soul of an archangel is not his to give away. It belongs to his God."

ACT II ENDS

5 down... 2 to go. (Sins, that is... not "act breaks")

JanewayRulz! · Mar 28, 2011

Episode 115, season 6, #3: "Heart of Darkness" ACT III

Man, I feel like I need to hop into a cold pond :drool:

or something... OR better yet, have a wicked sword fight between Xena and a WHOLE bunch of Archangels! :bolian:

After defeating three of their minions, Michael and Raphael both go after Xena at the same time, and with a single clash of 4 swords (Xena has 2) the three are transported away from the temple and BACK to Cyrene's backyard where that CRACK OF DOOM is still belching green smoke.

As they fight, LUCIFER shows up, dressed like an Archangel and starts fighting Xena.

Xena: "Lucifer, come on. You're smarter than that."
Michael: "This isn't a matter of intelligence, Xena. It's about devotion."
Xena: "To whom? Your God?"
Lucifer: "Yes."
Xena: "The same God that denies pleasures to angels?! But grants them to the lowliest creatures on Earth? The same pleasures that I would spend eternity showing you."
Michael: "If you want redemption, Lucifer, now is the time."
Lucifer: (He attacks Xena again!) "Ugh!"
Xena: "I was their hero once, too. Look how they've repaid me. Lucifer, Lucifer....

And suddenly Lucifer switches sides... turning on Michael and Raphael. Xena and Lucifer easily vanquish them, and the two Archangels hightail it out of there and leave Xena alone with Lucifer next to the Crack of DOOM, to do what everyone does when standing next to the gateway to hell. They start kissing!

Remember when I was WORRIED how Xena would react when she knew Virgil was hot for Gabrielle? I was just a LITTLE off the mark. It isn't XENA's jealousy we have to worry about... its GABRIELLE's! :klingon:

Gabrielle has finally arrived (by foot, not angelic transport) at the tavern and found Xena making out with Lucifer... and she THROWS the only thing she has handy at the two... Xena's leather cloak.! :scream:

I LOVE Xena's response, when she turns to Gabrielle and just says... "Yesssss." :rommie:

Xena grabs her cloak and puts it on as she leads Gabrielle back into the tavern for a little strategic planning session.

Xena: [Sighs] "I was kind of in the middle of something, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle: "You were supposed to throw him in the portal."
Xena: "Yeah? Well, he wasn't ready."
Gabrielle: "Xena, no one is ready to go to Hell." (She goes pouty on the XWP) " That's the point."
Xena: "Really? Well, you and Virgil were lookin' ready to burn not long ago." :klingon:

Gabrielle: (I think Gabby is channeling the minx she played in season 3's "Fems fins and gems") "Yeah? So?"
Xena: "Evil, :evil:

the dark side. It's intoxicating, isn't it?"
Gabrielle [Whispers as she recalls it] "Oh, yeah it's intoxicating." :drool:

Xena: "Lucifer and I need time to work out the terms of our new partnership."
Gabrielle: (What you talking about, Willis! ) "Partnership?"
Xena: "With no one on the throne of Hell, that portal is gonna burst wide open and the kingdoms of Earth and Hell are going to merge and... " (Lucifer and Virgil walk into the room)
Lucifer: "... she'll need more than a mere mortal to help her rule it."
Virgil: "Who are you callin' mere?" :cardie:

And that, my friends is the 6th sin on the deadly hit parade... Again, from Wiki... Greed (Latin, avaritia), also known as avarice or covetousness, is, like lust and gluttony, a sin of excess. However, greed (as seen by the church) is applied to a very excessive or rapacious desire and pursuit of wealth, status, and power.

Yep... sounds like our LUCIFER... doesn't it?

Eve arrives at the tavern to try and save her Mother's soul... but she's spurned by the woman who supposedly loves her.

Lucifer tries to get Xena in bed, but she's not in the mood after her fight with Eve. So, like all good mothers who can't bend their daughters to their will, Xena decides to kill her. :eek:

(Archangels can be SOOOOOO Gullible, can't they??? :rolleyes:

)

Eve runs back to the Temple of Eli. looking for 2 swords left behind by archangels her mother already defeated. There she meets up with first Virgil... and then Gabrielle.

Gabrielle: "I've got her-r-r-r-r-r!"
Xena: (Mom enters with Lucifer at her side) "Nice run, Eve, made your mom proud."
Virgil: "She came for the swords."
Xena: "My little pacifist. How enterprising and hypocritical. Have you learned nothing from our time together?"
Eve: "I've learned this, and this, yah-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h! And most importantly, I've learned that the heart can betray... but the sword never lies."
Lucifer: "Great farewell speech. Time to go".
Eve: "Yah-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h!"
[Fight]

Eventually the messenger of Eli is brought low by the former Archangel, and just before he can kill her, MOTHER intervenes with a strange request, one that involves that "bonde girlfriend".

Xena: "Wait. If anyone deserves this historic opportunity, it's Gabrielle."
Lucifer: "Wh... Gab... Gabrielle?"
Xena: "She's been my partner for years. She's shared things with me you can never understand."
Lucifer: (Flummoxed beyond all reasoning) "What about our partnership?!"
Xena: (Coy Xena is BACK!) "You can't expect me to trust someone so ripe for corruption? Someone so quick to switch sides and someone, who without even realizing it, has committed every deadly sin but one."
Lucifer: "You tricked me!"
Xena: (Miss INNOCENT!) "You tried to kill me. What did you expect?"
Lucifer: "I swear to you, Xena, I will spend eternity making sure you feel my wrath!"
Xena: (DING DING DING DING!!!!!) "Wrath, congratulations, Lucifer, you just won the deadly sin lottery with a perfect score of seven out of seven. First
prize is a one-way ticket to Hell."
Lucifer: "How dare you be so smug, when men sin every day?!"
Xena: "That's what makes us human, Lucifer, but in you, an archangel, to succumb to such temptation, that's what makes you a monster."

Seven deadly sins:

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Needless to say... what came next was another awesome swordfight between a newly mutated king of hell and a Warrior Princess still caught up with the evil infecting her own heart.

Lucky for Xena... ANOTHER Crack of DOOM has just opened up in the temple, and she eventually tosses the new king into its depths.

Hellfire:
Once done.. the blackness infecting her heart, along with Gabrielle's and Virgil's disapates.

So... at the end of one of the most lustful episodes in Xena history... how can I claim it proves that love is superior to lust? Well... besides the STAR claiming it is?

Eve: "Mother!"
Xena: "Eve."
Eve: "You're back!"
Xena: "Part of me never left."
Eve: (Well... DUH!!!!!) "I never should have doubted you."
Xena: "After all you've seen and been through, I can't blame you for thinking the dark side had won. I just hope that one you'll believe as strongly as I do in the power of love to save lives."

Gabrielle: "Xena, you did more than save lives. You, um "
Virgil: "... saved me from makin' the mistake of a lifetime."
Xena: (Do I detect a little Argo styled jealousy creeping into those blue eyes of hers as she looks at Virgil???) "Right."

What I find most interesting about this next line... is that Gabrielle CAN'T look Xena in the eye when she says it.

Gabrielle: (Gabby looks away, but why? Ashamed of what Xena did, ashamed of THINKING Xena had succumbed. Ashamed at what SHE herself was doing???) "Thought I'd lost you for a minute, there."
Xena: (Smirks) "Yeah, which minute was that?"
Gabrielle: (Finally looks up to the WP) "You and Lucifer were looking, um... a little, uh... "
Xena: "Gabrielle, every time I felt myself start to lose control, um... just thought of you-- led me back home." (She turns to leave the temple, and Gabrielle follows)
Gabrielle: "Really?"
Xena: "Sure."
Gabrielle: "Don't go getting all emotional on me, Xena."

:bolian:

(Oh, and for those who haven't seen the next ep... THAT was some serious foreshadowing, Xena just laid on us!)

THE END!

JanewayRulz! · Mar 28, 2011

saturn5 said:
Ok, been away with work for a couple of weeks but I'm back now so I'll try to catch up.

Looking death in the eye;
Ok, this is the one which wins over even the most fervant Joxer haters, the sight of him giving all that he has to find out what happened to his friends and asking his adoring kids who obviously idolise their father if they'd like to hear a story of the beautiful (Xexer alert!) warrior princess is a winner. They finally see the love between the trio.
Another point for Xexer is that rather than marrying a Gabby lookalike (and remember there's still plenty running around, the naked dancing trio from the Quill is Mightier etc) Joxer actually ends up with Meg, one of Xena's doubles.
Some great interactions between the gods in this one, frankly you don't blame everyone for electing Athena a leader (a job I'm sure Ares wanted) she's really good.
The irony of the ending is terrific, great things to come!

Welcome back!

Was afraid for a minute that you didn't like the end of season 5, the way you didn't like the India Arc.

:beer:

saturn5 · Mar 28, 2011

At a convention I attended Ted Rami told the story about how the writers sat around trying to figure out a way to get Xena's turned into an adult. Their solution? Slap a load of makeup on Ted! (you'd have thought he'd have learned his lesson from Evil Dead 2?)

Love Gabby and Xena's awakening in true Buck Rogers style, love their reunion with Joxer, how he kept their memory alive all these years, kept Argo until she died and kept her foal for Xena to ride, taking to her naturally as a duck to water. Nice too that he's raised his kids as Christians/followers of Eli, finally made an honest woman out of Meg and gave her the home/business, children and family she always wanted. You have to remember that Meg hasn't seen Gabby since Warrior, Princess, Tramp so short haired muscled up Gabby must look pretty butch to her.
I see even with old Julius dead and gone Xena still hates Rome but at least we get to see her in the Colusseum where I think we all knew she'd end up some day. Very much like Virgil too, met him at a convention and the camera doesn't do him justice, Gregory Lee is just SOOOOO handsome, he genuinely looks like a cross between Matt Damon and Brad Pitt. Adrienne Wilkinson also great as Livia, you can see more Callisto in her than Xena though.
So, Ares and Livia are lovers? Hmmm. If we buy the idea that he's Xena's father then that means he's having sex with his grandaughter as well as his niece Discord and sister Aphrodite plus Callisto-as-Xena. Greek gods huh? :wtf:

So, jumping 25 years into the future? Rather reminds me of Angel where they turn baby Connor into a teenager overnight. One bad thing is that this means we say goodbye to many of the characters we knew and loved from the last five seasons which is sad. But we have some great things to come.

JanewayRulz! · Mar 29, 2011

Ahhh, but don't forget season 3's "Warrior, PRIESTESS, Tramp". Gabby still had the long hair, but she must have started packing on the muscle by then after 2 1/2 years of Xena bootcamp.

I think it was the best example of cosmic irony that Livia AKA XENA's daughter, (not to be confused with the "real" Livia) not only became the Champion of Rome, but nearly became its Empress.

JanewayRulz! · Mar 29, 2011

Episode 116 season 6 #4 "Who's Gurkhan?"

Given my own history as a fanatical Voyager follower during its first run... I remember with embarrassment my own preconceptions about an episode being (thankfully) shattered once the thing finally aired. (DARN those inaccurate spoilers!)

I bring this up only because of a blurb I read in the "whispers" column on this ep.

09-28-00. It appears that the whole point of WHO'S GURKHAN is the dance of seven veils that Xena does. So, do not expect character development or story, just eye-candy! Also, it appears that Gabrielle gets to beat the crap out of some guy who is either already unconscious or becomes unconscious after she starts. Let's hope it has something intregal to do with the over all story arc of "Gabrielle ponders violence".

I'm glad to see that inaccurate spoilers existed in the Xenaverse too... that or the writer and I have vastly different opinions re: what constitutes character OR story development.

:devil:

Portugese trailer:
Teaser opens...

After closing that Crack of DOOM in Amphipolis, our gang of four have continued on their nostalgia tour by walking to Potadiea. (Yes, despite riding INTO Amphipolis on 3 horses, we see Xena, Gabrielle, Eve and Virgil walk into Potadiea. :rolleyes:

Go figure!)

Gabrielle is pleased to see her home village thriving, but is dismayed at how run down the homestead looks. I guess Xena is still expecting Dad to meet her at the door with a shotgun... errr, a pitchfork, since she and the 2 "kids" hang back at the gate while Gabby goes up to the front door alone. Lilla, her YOUNGER sister looked so shocked to discover who the young woman was on her doorstep.

Strangely enough... it seems to take "time" for Gabby to ask the obvious questions... and she doesn't like the answers she finally gets.

(Everything is so lowkey... not the joyous celebration one would expect when the prodigal sister finally comes home)
Lila: "So, you slept for 25 years. You weren't really dead."
Gabrielle: "Not that time."
Lila: [Sighs]: "I wish Sarah were here to see you."
Gabrielle: "Who's Sarah?"
Lila: "My daughter."
Gabrielle: "You have a daughter? Xena, I have a niece. Where is she? Lila, where are Mother and Father?"
Lila: "Eight years ago, Sarah was captured by the raider Gurkhan. He took her to the walled city of Mogador."
Eve: (all eyes turn to the young woman who just tore her defenseless orange into pieces) "It's in North Africa."
Lila: "A merchant told us she was in his harem. Father sold most of the farm and he and Mother and my husband Lecter, went to try and buy her back."
Gabrielle: (Wise enough to guess where this story is heading...) "What happened?"
Lila: "He beheaded all three of them. I don't know what happened to Sarah."

It was a different life, a different world in Ancient Greece. When we first met then teenaged Lila and Gabrielle, they were themselves freshly captured by a gang working for the warlord Draco. If not for Xena, they would have been sold as slaves to yet another warlord. Unfortunately, Xena and Auntie Gabrielle were AWOL... sleeping blissfully in an ice cave as Eve's childhood was stolen from her, Cyrene was burned at the stake, 2 parents and a brother in law were beheaded, and yet another teen was sold to a warlord.

Gabrielle runs from the preternaturally quiet home and the sister lost in anhedonia, she runs outside into the stormy night with a Warrior Princess close on her heels.

(Lightning flashes through the night as Xena calls to the woman running into it.)

Xena: "Gabrielle! Gabrielle, wait."
Gabrielle: [stops but doesn't turn back to look at Xena]
Xena: "I'm sorry, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle: "Xena, my niece may still be in that harem."
Xena: "We'll go after her first thing in the morning. If she's there, we'll get her out."
Gabrielle: "Xena, this is not just a rescue mission."
Xena: "What do you mean?"
Gabrielle: "I want VENGENCE!" (And the heavens open as the rain just POURS DOWN on the two women)
Xena: "It will have blood, Gabrielle. Blood will have blood."
Gabrielle: "Don't talk to me about consequences, Xena! That man murdered my mother and father! Now I kill him!"

TEASER ENDS

Fan made promo:

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Talk about the sin of WRATH. :devil:

You'd think after such an up close and personal tutorial from the new King of Hell himself at the "Amphipolis Learning Annex", Gabrielle would be smarter about this... but she's human, and she's hurting, and like Xena in Amphipolis she's feeling more than a little GUILTY that she wasn't there when her family needed her.

The Battling Bard of Potadiea, who helped so many strangers wasn't there to help the ones who loved her the most.

Just like Xena, her heart was asking, "And where was I?" and Gabrielle didn't like the answer. :wah:

A bigger question, however, remained to be answered. :confused:

Will the "ones" who love her the most, BE THERE to help Gabrielle when she needs it?

saturn5 · Mar 29, 2011

EVE aka The Death of Joxer!

I think the whole point of Livia's actions are to paint her blacker than black, she really has to be worse than Callisto so that her redemption really is a miracle of the first order. Gabrielle placing herself at Livia's mercy is an interesting act, she's relying on Xena's love for her being so great that she'll be prepared to kill her own child to protect her.
And of course goodbye to Joxer, just as many people were really beginning to appreciate him for the first time. His death is well played, Ted Rami related that the third Rami brother is actually an emergency room doctor and he'd asked him how people actually die and based his performance on that, that life just ebbed out of him. Virgil and Gabby's reaction is also well played as is Xena's, you realise how much he truly meant to them all.
The final revelation of the word she speaks to Xena is terrific and it's only going to get better in the next few eps

JanewayRulz! · Mar 30, 2011

Episode 116 season 6 #4 "Who's Gurkhan?"

ACT I:

Our Gang of Four are now sailing to North Africa on a rescue mission... but Eve has some doubts. You see SHE'S been to the walled city on business before, AND she knows what Gabrielle is up against. Unfortunately, its painfully obvious that Auntie Gabrielle isn't thinking with her head, and has no thought for the consequences of her actions.

Eve: (Comes up behind the bard, as she methodically practices with her sais) "Gabrielle? What's your plan?"
Gabrielle: (Doesn't turn around, just keeps working the sais) "I get inside Mogador. I kill Gurkhan. And I bring Sarah back."
Eve: "That's your goal. What's your plan?"
Gabrielle: (Keeps thrusting the weapons at an imaginary foe) "Haven't thought about it."
Eve: "I visited Mogador once."
Gabrielle: (This finally stops Gabrielle and she turns to look at Eve) "I'm afraid to ask why."
Eve: "You should be."
Gabrielle: "Tell me about Gurkhan."
Eve: "I can't. I've never even seen him, no one has outside of the palace. He keeps his identity a secret."
Gabrielle: (Ever confident) "I will find him."
Eve: "Perhaps. He'll be a tough man to kill, Gabrielle. And if he should capture you, pray that the end is quick."
Gabrielle: "If you're trying to scare me, Eve..." (Eve turns and walks away in disgust) "...why were you in Mogador?"
Eve: "I was selling slave girls." (And Eve keeps walking away from Gabrielle as Xena walks over to stand with her friend.)
Gabrielle: (Amazed) "Calm way your daughter talks about her past."
Xena: "She knows what I know, there's nothing you can do to change the past. You can only work to make the future better. That's why she's so worried what you might do once you're inside Mogador. Gabrielle, you're not an assassin."
Gabrielle: (Sighs as she looks away from Xena) "You're right, Xena. Today, I'm not an assassin...Tomorrow-- " [Suddenly Gabrielle lurches for the side of the ship and throws up. ]

Somethings NEVER change... unless its not seasickness as much as heartsickness that's affecting the blonde this time.

I'm really sorry that no-one has posted the interviews for the last season and many of this season... in the interviews for this ep, Adrienne Wilkinson says this last scene was her personal fav between Eve and Gabrielle for their brief run. And the very next scene was her fav between Eve and Xena.

I have to agree with her on the Eve/Xena question. First its just "lovely" to look at, the way Michael Hurst have the two sitting together, and the intimate way (in a Mother/Daughter way!) the two interact with one another is just charming. It reminds me of the way Xena was teaching Baby Eve the ways of the warrior back in season 5's "Eternal Bonds"... and it reminds me that Eve has "two" Mothers... Xena and Callisto. I'm glad Xena never spelled THAT out to Eve... its enough of a burden having the Destroyer of nations be Mom... at least SHE reformed! But Callisto?

Eve: (Looking at Gabrielle, leaning over the railing) "She wants to kill Gurkhan. For you or me that might have been an interesting challenge once upon a time, but for her... "
Xena: (Looks sadly at her best friend) "... it's a suicide mission."
Eve: (Watches Gabrielle as she leans closer to Xena) "She doesn't have what it takes to kill in cold blood. Do you think I inherited that talent from you, Mother?"
Xena: (Mom reaches a hand up to brush a hair from Eve's face) "You certainly had a 'gift' ."
Eve: (She shares an unhappy face with the woman who's killed even more innocents than she did, before leaning into Xena's shoulder.) "Yeah I did. So, what are you going to do?"
Xena: (They both look across the ship at Gabrielle, still bent over the railing of the ship) "Cure her seasickness."

:sigh:

And Xena did just that, giving Gabrielle a potion that knocked her out so completely she couldn't feel the nausea. So completely that when the ship arrived at Mogador... Virgil couldn't wake her up. He may not be Joxer, but he was a "bit" slow on the uptake when Xena told him she'd be asleep for a few more hours. Even SLOWER on the uptake when he actually TRIED to tell Xena "No." when informed HE would be accompanying her to the city.

Virgil: "I can't. That would be a direct betrayal of her trust and..." (Xena's hand juts out and grabs his chin until its contorted with pain) "...ooh! Good idea." (She lets him go) "Good idea."

Virgil, dressed as Superilious, Pirate of the high seas, escorts his "wench" dressed in white to the auctioner's table at the local slave market. Virgil is quite graceful in the way he pulls off Xena's head covering/train to reveal the "prize"... but the part I liked was when he "got back" at Xena by grabbing her chin (as she had done his on the boat)... and of course I loved it when docile slave Xena growled :klingon:

until he released her.

Not to be out done, the auctioner during his inspection released the knot over her shoulder, holding the gown in place, revealing Xena in her "full" glory. Virgil nearly had a cow as Xena's eyes rolled like "Oh puhlease"... and the meany in me wondered about Virgil's intelligence once again. I know Meg doesn't look like Xena NOW.... but doesn't he remember what she looked like when he was a youngster? Honey, baby, sweetheart... let me pour some vinegar into your fantasy. The woman you are currently lusting after is the spitting image of your MOM!!!!!

Virgil was to get behind Gurkhan as he bid, in an attempt to hear useful info, but there was one problem. Three different men in three different areas of the market were all bidding for Xena in Gurkhan's name. I don't know what a gold ducat's worth, but he had to part with 220 of them to take her home. (Now we know how Xena's going to pay for the ship that brought them to Mogador, and is currently just floating in the harbor, waiting the Warrior Princess' return.

Speaking of that ship... SOMEBODY finally woke up from her seasickness potion.

Eve: "Feeling better?"
Gabrielle: "I gotta hand it to Xena. That brew she gave me made me sleep like a baby. Where is she? Eve, that peaceful smile is not gonna cut it. Where is she?"
Eve: "I'm just as much to blame as she is."
(We see that the "poor timing gene" has successfully been passed from Father to Son, as Virgil swashbuckles his way onto the ship at this point, singing at the top of his lungs)
Virgil: "I sing of Superlious... pirate of the high se-e-e-e-e-e-eas! I capture beautiful maidens and sell them..." (He stops as he sees Gabrielle is awake and on her feet.)
a-a-a-ah! Hi, Gabrielle." (He drops the pouch with 187 gold ducats in it, many spilling on the deck in front of Gabrielle)
Gabrielle: "No-no-no-no. Don't tell me. You're Superlious, pirate of the high seas? You sold Xena to Gurkhan, didn't you?"
Eve: "We did it because we love you."
Virgil: "Well, I didn't." (Gabby turns angrily away from Virgil and he runs after her to explain) "I mean-w-well. I mean-I mean-I mean, I do-I do love you. What I'm trying to say is that I didn't know about the potion until you were already out."
Gabrielle: "Virgil, you went along with Xena after she did it." (NOT happy with the apology!)
Virgil: "Well, she threatened me." :bolian:

Eve: "It's the truth."
Gabrielle: (Still with no thought of the consequences of her actions) "Two can play at that game." :scream:

Xena, and the other women newly purchased at the market, enter the harem and begin getting their first oil massages and hot tub experiences. Xena tries to bond with a woman who's been there a while, to see if she knows a wife named "Sarah". The Japanese woman begs to be left alone as talk of other wives is forbidden. When a newbie makes a joke about how they might be punished for such a transgression, the Japanesse simply tells her the facts.

Yo: "Please-- Gurkhan will punish us if we break the rules."
Newbie: "Will he spank us?"
Yo: "You'll be beaten, manacled, thrown in a dark dungeon and left to die."
Newbie: "OK, th-that's all I need to know. Thanks."

That kind of took the bloom off the "Harem Rose" for Miss Newbie. :rolleyes:

Xena wasn't manacled, but she did cross the Number 1 wife and got kicked in the face twice for it. :klingon:

It always amazes me to see Xena play subservient, as she did with this blonde bimbo. But she has a plan... and she's not going to be distracted from it.

The women are all brought into the main entertaining hall of the palace. Sitting in the center, surrounded by golden pillars, are the three men from the auction that bid on Xena. They are smoking their water pipes as the women file by and take up various positions around the room. Xena is sitting against a half wall, next to stairs that lead up to the entrance. She's looking forward at the three men, not back at the entrance, so she doesn't see the pirate enter, nor the woman with him covered head to toe in diaphenous fabric.

Virgil-as-"Superlious": "I bow before the might of Gurkhan the magnificent. I am Superlious the pirate and I search the ends of the Earth for the most beautiful and delicious maidens. I see vast potential for our mutual satisfactions. For, in my stables, I have rare beauties from every part of the world, just waiting to be plucked.

Take this one, an Amazon warrior queen from Greece, strong, savage, independent and untouched by the hands of man. The untold pleasures that await the one who can tame a creature like this stagger the imagination. And I offer her to you for now, a gift, a token of my good faith.

If it pleases the great one the little flower would like to dance in his honor."

(1st 1min 40 here)

Xena is looking down or looking around as Gabrielle dances, trying to figure out Gabby's scheme. Loved the look she SHOT at "Superlious" during the dance.

Finally Gabby's dance ends as she bows before the three men in front of her, and her hand goes to the dagger in the back of her costume. Xena SEES it and JUMPS up to RUN across the room and tackle her, pulling her away from the three men. She pulls the dagger from Gabby's costume as Virgil/Superlious runs from the room...

Gabrielle: [whispers over her shoulder] "Xena!"
Xena: [Whispers to the woman she's pinned to the carpet] "I have this under control-- trust me." [Then Xena KNOCKS Gabrielle out as she straddles her.]
Gabrielle: "Uh!"
Xena as "Sophia": (Looks up at the guards, her hand on the dagger as she growls) "She won't have Gurkhan before me." (Two guards hit her, knocking her out so she collapses on top of the unconscious Gabrielle.)

ACT 2 ENDS

JanewayRulz! · Mar 30, 2011

saturn5 said:
EVE aka The Death of Joxer!

I think the whole point of Livia's actions are to paint her blacker than black, she really has to be worse than Callisto so that her redemption really is a miracle of the first order.

Gabrielle placing herself at Livia's mercy is an interesting act, she's relying on Xena's love for her being so great that she'll be prepared to kill her own child to protect her.

And of course goodbye to Joxer, just as many people were really beginning to appreciate him for the first time. His death is well played, Ted Rami related that the third Rami brother is actually an emergency room doctor and he'd asked him how people actually die and based his performance on that, that life just ebbed out of him. Virgil and Gabby's reaction is also well played as is Xena's, you realise how much he truly meant to them all.
The final revelation of the word she speaks to Xena is terrific and it's only going to get better in the next few eps

Gee, I didn't get that vibe from Gabrielle at all. :confused:

I never thought she was purposefully putting herself into harms way so Xena would rescue her by killing Livia.

Gabrielle: "Virgil. Virgil, I have something I have to do. If I'm not back by dawn, I need you to meet Xena in Austia, like we planned."
Virgil: "Where are you going?"
Gabrielle: "Promise me."
Virgil: "I will, but what are you gonna do?"
Gabrielle: "I'm gonna try to keep Xena from doing something that she'd never forgive herself for. Thanks."

At first, when she said this to Virgil, I thought SHE was going to Livia to kill her so Xena wouldn't have to do it. But what I think we see is Gabrielle trying to reassure Eve that her Mother did indeed love her. Gabrielle who always believes in the power of love and in redemption, was "sure" she could sway the lost daughter.

That was why it was so telling, after Xena rescued Gabby, that Gabby called her "Livia". Gabrielle learned the hard way that "Eve" was "dead".

As for the death of Joxer; in an interview Adrienne talks about how the makeup was melting off Ted's face and everytime he jumped up to charge Livia, he couldn't see where he was going and kept falling down! :rommie:

saturn5 · Mar 30, 2011

Motherhood;
Oh baby! Remember watching this at a convention and the gasps of disbelief as Xena kills Poesidon were clearly audible, we all knew that the Xenaverse had changed utterly in that moment and that the twilight was upon us. Byebye Discord too which is a shame as I liked her and her decapitation is so damn graphic (but again, these are the people who gave us the Evil Dead)
The Furies up to their tricks again, the way they use Joxer/Hope to goad Gabby into killing Eve is very clever. Much like the Buffyverse just because a character is dead doesn't mean they can't keep appearing in the show which is good. Love Athena and still don't see her as evil, love Aphrodite, torn between love for her family and for her friends (although not too keen on Eve to judge by her expression). Lovely touch to see her grieving for Hephestus, she did care for him after all.
Possibly my favourite scene in the whole of the Xenaverse is a desperate, crying Xena dragging a dying Gabby and Eve through the rain and pleading and begging with Aphrodite to take them to Olympus. And when she does she thanks her heartfeltly and earnestly warns her to get clear so she won't be hurt (subtext; Xena still believes in love).
Finally cared for Eve when she does her 'Mother' line, it's just so raw and believable, you can finally identify with her and want her to survive.
On a sadder note not only has Meg lost her husband but now her home/business has been trashed too. Gabby the black widow strikes again! Otherwise we find out that Virgil has 'brothers and sisters' so Meg and Joxer have 5 kids and she's gone to get over her grief by visiting family in Athens, we know Meg's an orphan so I take it this means Jace. An interesting aspect is that when Joxer dies Xena and Gabby's first instinct is to take him home to be buried and that was his first thought when he saw them crucified. We know Joxer's from Athens so maybe that's why Meg went.
Once asked Adrienne Wilkinson how she got on with the spider at the end and she said she was ok with it but she noticed a lot of the crew were keeping their distance for once.
So most of the gods are dead but we still have 'Dite, Cupid and Bliss, Hermes and Apollo so they're not all gone. One puzzling aspect is Strife is dead but he appears with Ares in a present day ep of Hercules. Either they brought him back to life (who'd want to?) or it was a case of time travel which we know is possible in the Xenaverse.
10/10 just stunning
(boy, once i started writing about this ep I just couldn't stop!)
One question, with Hades gone where do gods go when they die?

Any Xena:WP fans on the boards?

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