Rick's Studio

First off, I'm not sure I liked this episode too much, which is my clue to go back and watch it again. Most episodes I initially didn't care for I've come to like after repeated viewings. Perhaps, after all the changes so far this season, I'm ready for a "straight" episode, and this was anything but that. And, to mish-mash a variety of quotes, "This ain't your parents' Xena: Warrior Princess anymore." A book I read said that one of the special things about XWP is there is at least one scene in every show where your mouth hangs open and you find yourself thinking "I can't believe they are doing that!" Well, that was how I felt about the entire episode!

The changes keep coming: Gabrielle (finally) gets a horse, Xena (miraculously) gets a baby, Amarice gets a boy(!)friend, and Joxer gets squat (well, some things never change!). The writers have shown an uncanny ability to confuse time lines, but now we are (all but) on another continent in the wild west! And, once again, our heroines have new threads in the form of snazzy winter coats (about time they started dressing for the weather). Even the soundtrack had elements taken from country music and, if my ears don't deceive me, some of the old Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns, with harmonica thrown in for good measure.

Speaking of Joxer, what exactly was he doing in this episode at all? He just kind of stumbles about getting in the way. However, it was great to see Amarice getting a bit more to do than just getting her ass kicked in a string of ill-advised attacks on people. I really like Jennifer Sky a lot at this point. She's cute and tough, and with a bit more experience, will undoubtedly become wiser about using her warrior skills. She certainly has a good teacher. She's really got balls, or whatever equivalent thing Amazons have.

And what was Arman doing here? I mean, I know he was a romantic foil for Amarice (and a good choice for one), but what was he doing dressing like a cowboy in some hick town in Italy or wherever this is supposed to be. He should be in school for Pete's sake, smoking pot and having his way with all the co-eds like a normal student!

I found Gabrielle's reaction to Xena's announcement of her pregnancy interesting. She looked more hurt than surprised. I think she feels the baby may come between her and Xena and is afraid for their relationship. I feel so bad for her. First, she gives birth to child of pure evil, she has a hand in killing Xena's child and tries to kill her own, she is almost killed falling in a fire pit while trying to kill said evil child, she learns that her whole life's work at gaining peace is totally wrong for her, she's crucified, and then finds that her best friend is having a baby that may come between them. I think she could accept Solan because he was at arm's length from she and Xena, but the new baby will require Xena's constant attention. Is it any wonder she's a bit more "serious" and less "bubbly" than before?

I found the plotting to be rather interesting for this episode. Rather than having a main plot, the whole show consisted of a bunch of intertwining sub-plots, with no plot dominating. Was it about Xena having a baby? No more so than about Gabrielle finding a horse, or Amarice finding out that there's more to life than just the Amazon way. Was it about the bandits attacking the town? That really only occupied a small portion of the show at the end. I guess the title "Animal Attraction" covers several sub-plots at once: obviously Gabrielle's attraction to the horse (and vice versa), the attraction between Amarice and Arman, and possibly the attraction between Xena and her child ("I know it's good" she says emphatically--just as she "knew" Hope was evil) and the stymied attraction of Joxer for Gabrielle. The writers were really juggling to keep all the balls in the air this week!

Joxer mooning over Gabrielle: I think he thought his confession would change things between them. It has, but it has only made them more awkward together. The ripped bag of apples was symbolic of their whole relationship. Just like Arman wants to love and protect Amarice, Joxer wants to take care of Gabrielle, and, unfortunately for the men involved, these women are quite self-sufficient, thank you very much! I suppose the writers can (and will) come up with some surprises, but I STILL can't see Joxer and Gab together. They are both nice people, but they just don't fit together. Joxer and Meg, maybe, but not Gab! (This being TV however, the rule is the less two people are compatible, the more likely they are to fight first then live happily ever after together.)

I found the fitting together of the old west with Xena's world to be rather awkward. When they remade "The Seven Samurai" as "The Magnificent Seven", they didn't put the cowboys in Samurai outfits equipped with six-shooters. Did they have to make this quite so "western"? The cowboy hats and clothes, the cow skulls, the whole tone (what, no budget for tumbleweeds?), just didn't fit in. But I give them mucho credit for trying something different. Even a (relatively) lame XWP episode is at least interesting. I did like the way the final battle was ripped off of the western movie genre. Funny to see two cowboys (or cowboy and cowgirl in this case) facing off in the street, only to pull out knives and swords instead of guns.

I also noticed that Xena didn't have any problem letting Gabrielle fight to her fullest potential here. She's turned into quite the lean, mean fighting machine, and now that she's got a horse, she's even more mobile than before. Of course, that's convenient since Lucy must've been really preggers by this point. She leaves most of the fighting to Talia, Gabrielle, Amarice, etc. Even Gabrielle's new horse (I didn't catch a name--anyone?) gets in a few Xena-like kicks! And keeping the action in the winter and giving Lucy a cool winter coat to hide in helps conceal the bulge.

A final personal observation: I must be getting used to Gab's short hair, 'cause she looked just so darned adorable in this episode. I just wanna hug her and kiss her from head to toe. And if she wants me to stand back while she stomps some evil-doer, well, I don't have a problem with that! Do any of you girls look like Gab? If so, I'd like to be the first to propose....

Well, maybe I do like this episode after all. It certainly gave me a lot to think/write about, and what more can one ask of a TV series? I guess it'll take X&G two weeks, even on horseback, to get home since next week's a rerun ("In Sickness and In Hell"--one of my favorite comedy episodes: the mud bath scene is a classic!). Someday this show will go off the air, and when it does, it will be a much poorer world.