Rick's Studio

Well, the powers that be served us up a little something different this week, to say the least! Again, I'm amazed at the general lack of e-mail chatter on this episode. Surely most of you either loved or hated it? So, pass the tartar sauce and let's chew on this weeks serving, "Married With Fishsticks".

My reaction to this episode changed towards the end, as I realized it was basically a Xena-free zone. Being a Gabrielle fan, I really appreciated the bard having beaucoups screen time. She looked so adorable in her little orange skirt, orange lipstick, and blond wig. But not knowing that at the beginning, I have to say I was simply speechless as this episode began. What's with all the fairy-tale undersea sets? Where's Xena? Gab has children from several other species? What the hell? The Gabrielle lover in me rejoiced, the critic in me flinched. To continue...

First, the continuity question. After regaining her sleek, pre-baby form, last week Xena was back in her warrior threads. This week, she's back to her maternity dress. I don't think Xena's going to be switching outfits on us regularly, but I believe they must have filmed this episode near Lucy's giving birth, hence Xena's absence. Once filmed, the producers probably looked at the story line, and they decided this bit of whimsy would not feel right wedged between some of the serious episodes of late, nor would it do to have it next to another comedy like "Punchlines". So it got bumped to after the two Gods vs. Eve stories we just had. But you have to wonder if it might actually work better to flip "Married" with "Amphipolis". Both "Amphipolis" and "Eternal Bonds" are similar (Gods vs. Eve), and perhaps it might play better to have a breather ("Fishsticks") in between. Just a thought.

And who better to have in a broad farce than Joxer? Right away he makes his presence felt with his decision to bring Eve a dinner of baby back ribs. At least he means well! And Gabrielle is still riding him hard for his mistakes, a clue that this might have occurred even before their little meeting of the minds in "Eternal Bonds".

Of course, you know you're going to have fun when Aphrodite shows up. Throw a little bit of Discord in, and a cat fight is bound to ensue. And the best part is always the banter as they try to dis each other. And when 'Cord drops the line about 'Dite having her legs so close together, well, you know they're pulling out the stops. And who pays the price but Gabrielle! As in "The Bitter Suite", she falls into the water and drops into fantasy land.

So Gabrielle has amnesia? She seems to remember quite well she doesn't like Joxer/Hagar. She has no evidence that he's not her husband, yet she instinctively acts, well, like normal around him. Of course, it doesn't take Joxer long to steer her towards the housework, slap her on the butt, and prove himself to be the a-hole in question! Since Gabrielle is "Also Starring" and Joxer is "Guest Starring", we know who's going to come out ahead in this battle of the sexes, don't we?

That said, Gabrielle's real fears seem to be misfocused. The real terrors here are the kids, who seem to get a great pleasure from torturing her mercilessly. Even baby Roe tries to rip her face off. Why she doesn't instinctively grab a pole-like object and staff them into oblivion is beyond me. In an episode as silly and funny as this, I found their sadistic games just a bit disturbing, especially when they tie up Gabrielle and dunk her head-first into shark-infested waters.

Seeing 'Dite and 'Cord enter as Crabella and Sturgina was quite a shock. They both looked incredibly different. If I hadn't seen them in their normal godly guises minutes earlier, I probably would not have recognized them at first. And like the gods they mirror, they are up to no good.

Shades of '50's family sitcoms: notice Gabrielle mopping the floor in high heels. Of course, the whole episode has a sort of '50's feel to it. The nosy friends, the tacky, colorful interiors, the husband running the house, the woman doing the housework, the aquatic choreography, even the music. This was a real workout for the prop department, I'm sure, as not much of anything was found as-is in the prop storage room. Everything, absolutely everything, had a sea motif. Absolutely brilliant eye candy.

I loved it when Gabrielle reacts to candidate Hagar's return home from a hard day campaigning by almost putting a knife through him. Then when she orders the kids out of the room, one of them responds with "Yes, mommy dearest!" I assume this was a sly reference to the Faye Dunaway flick.

Speaking of movies, being a fan of the movie "Lolita" (the Kubrick version as well as the new one--to say nothing of the book), I liked seeing Gab donned up as the prepubescent nymphet during Hagar's tale of how they met (the red heart-shaped sunglasses and red lollipop). Later on, Gabrielle kills the sea monster in the pool, and rises from the water with a knife in her mouth. I believe this is an homage to "Apocalypse Now", as well "The Debt" when Xena goes after Ming T'ien. I saw some e-mails recently indicating several other movies were quoted in this episode. Anyone catch any others? Using the BeeGee's music for this scene was perfect.

Then Hagar 'fesses up that he only played unconscious at the pool to get Gabrielle to kiss him during mouth-to-mouth. Gabrielle responds with "That's almost sweet". C'mon, Gab, that isn't "almost", it "is". What's it take to break into this girl's heart? I guess Perdicus had it, whatever it was!

It seems you can take Gabrielle out of the Xenaverse, but you can't, well, you know. When the kids have the bard head-first in the shark-infested waters, she jumps up and commandingly sets the kids straight. After winning their respect by showing some backbone, her next Gabriellism occurs when she kills the sea monster in the pool, thereby letting all the mermaids know she's nobody to mess with. And the war skills really come back for the final fight scene, but more on that later.

The special effects team once again breaks out the squeaky toy sound effect which I love so much. Earlier, when Joxer's brother, Jace, hugged him in "Lyre, Lyre", this was used to great affect. Here, it is heard as Sturgina elbows Crabella in the ribs. Yes, Aphrodite is a squeaky toy! Dunno, I just find that sound funny!

Gabrielle looked simply marvelous in her wedding dress, but couldn't Hagar find a better time to confess about his lies? Perhaps back in the garden where he proposes (again)? And nothing like a chakram wedding ornament to bring one's memory back. Seems the chakram was a common shape back in that time, as it seems to appear in many places.

All this eventually devolves into yet another fight scene, as befits this show. This time, it's a three-way cat fight between Gabrielle, now with fully restored memory, if not hair, Crabella, and Sturgina. And in what appears to be a trend, people end up with cake in their faces. Perhaps another cake or pie fight could be used to finally topple the gods in the final battle of The Twilight? Just kidding.

And in the end, Joxer gets to kiss Gabrielle how many times? She gives him mouth-to-mouth when they meet, they kiss when she decides to "remarry" him, she kisses him again as she is preparing to leave fish land, and that segues into Joxer first giving Gabrielle mouth-to-mouth again on the dock, and then the half unconscious Gab reaches up and kisses him yet again. How does a man get a job like this? Of course, that last kiss ultimately turns into a punch to the face for Joxer, but love hurts, right?

Finally, the end finds Gabrielle bonding with Eve after her motherly stint in fantasy land. As she walks off, she's already making up a story about her dream to tell the baby. Once again, a clue to the return of the bard. The writers keep dropping hints (like the scroll-kite in a previous episode), but is she actually writing again or just thinking about it?

What to make of this episode? Well, I thought it sucked for the first forty minutes or so of the first viewing, but then it began to kick in. It was just so bizarre it was hard to comprehend. By the end, I was warily in favor of it, mainly on the basis of the amount of Gabrielle, but I was reserving my opinion for a second viewing when I could get past the pure incongruity of it all and just watch it as another comedy episode. Much like "Lyre, Lyre", it was just so totally out there it is really hard to rate it. It obviously isn't quite up there with the last half dozen episodes or so, but it certainly offered laughs aplenty. Perhaps in a show like this, the amount of laughter is the final barometer of quality. I'll give the writers high marks for originality and the special effects team kudos for a visual delight. Someone else wrote an e-mail earlier which said the episode was a delight for Gabsters, but it's not the one he'd show to a first-timer. Well, that pretty much sums it up. But it made me laugh, so I'll give it about a three and a half chakram score out of five. With repeated future viewing, I imagine it will grow on me even more, as most Xena episodes do.