Season 1 #16
"Mortal Beloved".
This is one of the things I like about this show. How one week it can be doing comedy about a Warrior and a Princess, and the next week its back doing drama about lost loves consigned to Tartarus (Greecian Olympian Hell) despite their last minute change of heart.
It was "heartening" that Marcus didn't regret his one selfless act, nor spent the "tv hour" bemoaning the fact that it didn't keep him out of Tartarus. In fact, unlike Ceaser in season 6, he doesn't take advantage of the recent upheaval in the underworld. Instead he seeks out his former lover to make things "right" for the good souls that have been "reassigned" to Tarturas.
I've previously discussed that smattering of Xena philosophy throughout this season, and we get quite a lot in "MB", as Marcus shows Xena how well he learned the lessons she put to him.
Xena: “Tell me the truth, Marcus. You were put with the wicked when you died, weren’t you?”
Marcus: “Well, like your
friend (
Toxeus, Xena killed him a few eps ago) says, it’s hard to make up for a lifetime of evil with a single good deed at the end.”
Xena: “So if we succeed in putting things right, you’ll spend the rest of eternity in Tartarus with the very people you’re about to betray. Why are you doing this, Marcus?”
Marcus: “Xena, I died doing a selfless act. You taught me how sweet that could be. And I knew you’d do the same thing if you were in my place.”
Other things I liked about this ep was that not only does
Gabby try to talk Xena out of her plan to "swim" to the underworld... but she uses a fair amount of logic for a character that I'm usually "tsking" for being "too immature" in her responses to problems. Strangely enough, I also love the fact that
Xena's response
ISN'T "logical"...
Gabrielle: “Consider the consequences if you’re wrong: Even if you reach the bottom, you won’t have enough air left to make it back to the surface.”
Xena: “Then I’ll make it to the Underworld one way or another.”
Gabrielle: “It’s
not funny.”
Xena: “Gabrielle. The man I love has asked for my help to savegood souls. I have to try this.
(Xena is no longer pleading... she puts out her hand for the chakram Gabby has been hiding behind her back during this argument, the way a child would hide her mother's car keys to keep her from leaving.) Gabrielle--”
Gabriell: (But the "child" is definately growing up.) “Yes, you do. Well, I’ll camp here
and I’ll wait.”
You do that, Gabrielle. Just keep your eyes open and your staff nearby.
Our Warrior Princess quickly sizes up the underworld and the new tyrant in charge, and puts him immediately on the defensive.
Ya gotta love a woman who can piss off the dead so easily!
Xena not only pisses off the dead, she out manuevers the God of the underworld, Hades himself, to allow Marcus 48 hours of life to help her reclaim his helmet of invisibility.
After returning to the land of the living, and rescuing Gabrielle from the bad guy... Xena does do again what I like the most. She reveals more about her psyche in this ep....
Marcus: “Yes, that would be you. There’s something I wanted to say to you.”
Xena: “What?”
Marcus: “My death was not your fault. Things had to play out the way they did.”
Xena: “Sometimes, I think
if I had just said things a little
differently, then maybe you’d have come around before it was too late.”
Marcus: “No. Xena, it was a miracle you got to me at all.
See, I was convinced I could never change. But your words
finally found their way to my heart. You did everything right-- Don’t be so hard on yourself.
And, don’t give up on love.”
Xena: “You heard
those thoughts,
too?”
Marcus: “Yes.”
Xena“It’s just that I found out how much you meant to me one moment, and you were gone the next. It hurt too much, I guess.
I started wondering if it was ever worth it to care that much.”
Marcus: “Oh, but it is. One thing that I’ve learned, is that
love is the strongest power in the universe. It’s stronger than evil-- it’s even stronger than death. My feelings for you were the only thing that kept me going down there in Tartarus. It was like I was carrying my own Elysian fields around inside of me.”
Xena: “There’s somethng I’ve been wanting to say to you, too.”
Marcus: “What?”
Xena: “I love you.”
....and strange enough I also like the fact that she's obviously
not using Gabrielle as her confidant in all things.
Gabrielle
IS growing up quick under Xena's tutelage, but she doesn't need to be burdened yet with the knowledge that her mentor has doubts about herself. At this stage of the teaching process, I prefer Gabby
only knows what Xena is
certain about.
(
Xena pops up from the lake, seaweed hanging from the hilt of her sword)
Gabrielle: “Xena!”
Xena: “He’s in the Elysian fields.”
Gabrielle: “You’ll be together again one day.”
Xena: “We’ll
never be apart.
(Xena taps her chest) He’s in here,
forever.”
Now, just in case one thinks there's only angst and drama in this ep... let me point out my fav funnies ....
Xena and the boatman Charon on the river Styxx...
Xena: “Charon, I’m not dead.”
Charon: “You’re
not dead?”
X: “No.”
Charon: “You mean you’re
alive?”
Xena: “Yes.”
Charon: “Ay-yi-yi. What is
it all coming to?”
Xena: “Charon, I know something’s gone wrong on the other side.”
Charon: “Oh, I know something’s gone wrong on the other side. Yeah, well, you can say that again. We got everything turned upside-down.
All the wicked are in the Elysian fields.
All the good guys are down in Tartarus.
And now we got
tourists already.”
Or when she meets Toxeus for the first time since "Death in Chains"....
Toxeus: “Xena!”
Marcus: “You know him?”
Xena: “I
killed him.”
Marcus: “Oh.”
Toxeus: [Laughs] “You ended up with the wicked after all,
Xena. I guess it’s hard to make up for a lifetime of evil with
a few good deeds at the end. Tell me, who had the pleasure of killing you?”
Xena: “No one-- My horse threw me, and I broke my little neck.”
Or Xena checking out Marcus' bod after a Harpy has relieved him of his vest.
Marcus: “What?”
Xena: (Smiles mischevioulsy) “You lost some weight.”
Marcus: “It gets hot down here.”
or the first time Gabby meets Marcus...
Xena: “Gabrielle, this is Marcus.”
Gabrielle: “Oh, I’ve heard so much about you. I’m sorry we didn’t get to meet
before you were--
killed.
You’re dead.”
It was nice to see Xena
not only get closure over Marcus, but have her be given permission/encouragement to
love again.
And, it was nice, this "early" in their relationship, to see Gabby not ask anything of Xena. Just be a shoulder for her mentor to lean upon.
Our "little girl"
IS growing up.
That is exactly what I'm hoping will happen. I'd love to get a conversation going about XWP. It amazes me the stuff I learn from various websites, or the commentaries about these eps that just went completely over my head the first time through. 
