Rick's Studio

Well, no power outages this week, or weird sports events, or anything else to knock Xena off the air, so for the first time in a couple of months, here's my timely review of "Punch Lines":

First off, I really enjoyed them shrinking the picture so they could post weather updates and school closings. Very clever the way Tapert and the writers...wait--that was probably just on my local channel. Never mind.

OK, it's a clip show. Several people have already written that they like to see the old eps come up again, but I personally would rather have an all new adventure. I can always play my tapes to revisit old times, but I understand they throw in one every season to save a little money. So with that in mind, I'm glad they got this out of the way, rather than having it be the season finale like last year. Not that I didn't enjoy it as a clip show. The scenes were all well-chosen and, well, funny.

The intro pretty much sets the tone: Aphrodite appears, which is always a good sign. Gabrielle is wrestling with her scrolls, which is a sign the warrior may be taking a slightly less severe approach to life. I'm assuming she manages to write again, or else how could we come to know of Xena's new adventures (as laid out in "The Xena Scrolls")? The writing element obviously makes for a good clip show framing device, allowing us to "see" Gabrielle's words (shades of "Athens City Academy"). After directing "Deja Vu" last season, playing a therapist, Renee finds herself on the receiving end of the couch, with 'Dite playing the doctor role. Yes, it's just a deja vu kind of episode!

It's interesting to note how Gabrielle and Aphrodite have really bonded lately. As I recall, when they first met, Gab thought 'Dite was pretty much the stereotypical blond airhead. And Gabrielle is certainly no longer intimidated by any god. She's been standing up to Ares, and later in this show she starts wheedling Lachrymose, saying he must not be much of a god to not be able to undo his own spell. She's living dangerously now!

When Gabrielle begins to recite the story of her day, I notice there's a lot of thought going into the name for Xena's baby. Hey, what about Gab's new horse? It needs a name too, or are they going to kill it off in an upcoming episode,and they don't want us to grow too attached?

Gabrielle makes a bet with Xena. I guess she doesn't realize you should never bet against the person whose name appears in the show's title! Gab was doomed from the start! And it was good to see X & G joking around together again.

When Gabrielle is fetching water to wash down Argo, she says "Xena must think I'm Joxer or something" and she trips, just like Joxer. I wonder if this was on purpose, but it was funny, in a subtle way. And then when she gets Argo wet, the horse immediately shrinks. Gabrielle had the water on her hands, so how come she doesn't shrink as well? Sorry, I'm putting too much thought into this!

I was surprised to hear Gab say "Just don't underestimate me. Xena does that." What? I thought they were beyond those kind of feelings by now, especially with Gab becoming pregnant Xena's protector.

Also surprised to hear her say "Of course, I know now exactly who I am." I figured she'd been through enough by now to realize that life is all about "getting" there, not "being" there. She thought she knew who she was this time last year, being little miss Yoga Karma Stupid Girl. Is there no room in her mind to entertain the thought she might still have some self discovery lying ahead in life? She sounded kind of close-minded and pompous, but perhaps I'm over analyzing again.

And once they get into the "grocery store", a whole string of funny things occur. I know it's already been mentioned, but I did love the "Clean up on aisle 7" bit. The scene where Joxer lists all the suffering Xena's child will have to endure through its life was well done. Just when you think Xena's gonna slug him a good one, he redeems himself, and she gives him a big old hug! The shrinking Gabrielle was great too. Watching tiny Gab try to control little Argo was a sight! "First you buy it, then you eat it.... Oh, that's pretty!" the clerk says as Xena spits out her bite of fruit. Lucy has such great comic timing, and the mischievous look in her eyes was priceless. Gabrielle bites Joxer's fingertip at his suggestion she become his "sideshow freak". The laughs are coming fast and furious now!

Gabrielle couldn't think of any time when Joxer helped them. I distinctly recall in some episode (I'm not taking the time to look it up) where Xena ran him off so he could hide a weapon so Hope couldn't find it. That was a key plot point. Am I getting the facts right--somebody must remember which ep I'm thinking of. And there was the show where his stew disabled an entire invading army. I'm sure there must be other times he's been of assistance, or they would never have let him follow them around all these years.

Another great scene when Xena finally sees little Argo. The look on Xena's face, and her scream were just way too funny! Looking back at the early episodes of Xena, it amazes me how much skill Lucy has developed playing these humorous parts. She used to look just a tad stiff (I've heard actors say funny is harder to do than drama), but by this point in the series, she shows just impeccable comic timing. The exaggerated facial expressions and the delivery are right on the mark, worthy of comparison to Charlie Chaplin, if I may be so bold.

And she shows off that skill to magnificent effect during the ensuing pie fight. Normally, I'm not fond of pie fights--they're much too obvious. The wrong people get hit first, then a melee breaks out. Same formula here, but the actors all really sell it. They are obviously just having a lot of fun flinging pies about and making a mess! This reminds me of the scene earlier this season when Gabrielle and Aphrodite try to talk their way into the twins party. Renee and Alexandra were almost cracking up on camera, and the fun they had really made the scene special. Same with the pie fight--the XWP crew made it a special one! And when Gabrielle narrowly avoids being hit by the fourth pie, she gives us just the most heart warming grin I've ever seen on this girl. Hard to believe someone encrusted with that much pie could look so cute! Even the fat lady singing couldn't stop it!

And what an ending. Whereas all the darts, arrows, swords, etc. thrown at the warrior princess are caught or deflected, the pie out of nowhere (well, from Lachrymose) gets Xena! What a wonderful note to end on.

It's good to see them slowing down the episode pacing a bit. Instead of figuring out another way to have so much action we don't notice how inactive Lucy is, we now get some cleverly written dialogue that gives us some credible character development. I'd give this a four star rating (out of five), taking away one star for the clips (my own hang-up, but it's my rating). Well, we've had a superior drama ("Seeds"), a superior comedy ("Lyre"), and a darn good clip/comedy show. The coming attractions for next week look great, and I have a feeling the rest of this season will be quite a ride.