Rick's Studio

I've been reading a lot of e-mail about all the inconsistencies of this episode. Some of these can really unhinge how you look at this episode. How could the gods be so dumb as to just assume Xena et al were dead without checking the bodies? They wouldn't, but that would ruin the whole episode. Well, perhaps not ruin it, but certainly give our heroines an unexpected twist to their already twisted plan. Certainly, it would take more than an hour to get out of that! That was just the most obvious flaw, but there were many. Fortunately, the episode was so fast-paced, it really didn't matter. This was an episode about conjuring up drama and action, and for that they were well prepared!

If I could interject my own objection to this episode, however, it would be that, once again, the writers must resort to killing off (or seeming to kill off) Xena and/or Gabrielle. How many times can they pull this device off? They did it this time, with a nifty story, but c'mon, guys, next time let's cook up some method of solving problems other than death!

It was nice to see Joxer and Meg finally got together. The poor guy didn't deserve to be alone, but I never felt he and Gabrielle were right for each other. Meg really is more his speed. I thought Meg was barren (which is why she tried to steal that baby a couple seasons back), but now she's got two kids? Maybe she was trying with the wrong guys, and it took a man of Joxer's virility (?) to get her plumbing to work? I digress!... Perhaps the kids were adopted, or Joxer married and had children before finally hooking up with Meg. Perhaps the writers just didn't think this through!

Seems like when Xena visited the Fates, they were pretty friendly. Are they not gods as well? Are they not in danger from Eve and the Twilight? I may have missed something here.... And you'd think the Fates would know what is REALLY going on in the world, so when Xena "dies" at the end, would they not see right through that and tell the other gods? Let's get the plot moving--I'm thinking too much.

I also didn't get Xena's logic. First, she's telling Gabrielle that, yes, we do make our own fate, then she turns right around and say she's got to die for Eve's sake. Seems like the first statement would negate the need for the second. Movin' along....

When attacked by Athena and Hades, again I'm surprised at how relatively weak the gods seem. They are within a few feet of Eve. You'd think they could just blow her away with the flick of a god-empowered finger. But, from a dramatic point, that would make for a boring (and short lived) series. Also found it interesting the gods insist (at least in this episode) in fighting on Xena's level: with swords. Where are the fireballs and other god weapons? Perhaps Eli's death has turned so many from the Olympian gods they are already in a weakened state.

To whoever remarked that Athena's choice of all white as a theme for her warrior's uniforms was ill-advised: you are so right! They must go through a lot of bleach right after a battle! Looks good, though. Sometimes I get tired of all the black, black, black (and this from someone who only wears black himself!). Of course, Octavius seems to prefer white as well, so what does that tell you?....

Finally, we see Olympus with a few gods running about! Usually, it seems so deserted (those extras cost money, you know), but finally, with the Twilight upon them, they all turn out for a meeting. And it seems as though Athena has pretty well taken over Zeus's turf as leader at this point. Even Ares seems rather deferential to her. It seems like she admires Xena (it's just that baby and Twilight stuff that comes between them!), and Xena admires Athena. Perhaps this might be a good time to see if Athena can get a grip on the others gods and make them a little easier to live with. How about a peace treaty, people? I can't help think that the old bard of yore would've hammered out a bloodless peace before a holocaust ensues. But, again, not enough drama there I guess.

I could see that Xena's plan would involve layers of deception when she asked Celeste what took her so long to get there to take her life during her fight with Hephestus (sp?)? I know her death is tied to Eve's fate, but it's just not like the warrior princess to just chose death without looking into other avenues. She seems too eager to embrace death at several points in the episode, and you'd think some of those gods, like Athena, would notice how out of character she's acting.

Xena's talk at the campfire with Celeste was interesting, contrasting Celeste's philosophy of "we kill no people before their time" to Xena's "who makes the rules here anyway?" take on things. When Xena starts reciting the litany of people she's known who were taken before what she thought was their time, well, it's rather heartbreaking. Where would she be without Gabrielle's strength to help her through all that death and destruction? And, considering the topic, she must also be feeling pretty guilty about all the untimely deaths she's caused on her own!

Athena misses a sign she's being tricked: when she and Hades capture Gab and Joxer, Gabrielle gives up Xena's location without much of a fight (if you can count getting kicked in the face a fight). C'mon, Athena, she gave up that info just a little too easily!

But eventually, the main gods track them down, and after a wild wagon ride, Xena, Gabrielle, and Eve all end up at the wrong end of a massive attack by the gods, who seem to have finally had enough toying around. But at the bottom of the cliff, we find no dead Eve (and you know if it was real, Xena'd tear the wreckage apart to find her in case she is still alive), and Xena appears ready to just commit suicide. Athena and company just stand on top of the hill and watch when they should be laying the finishing, fatal touch on Xena as insurance. Then, in steps Ares, who appears a bit too willing to let Xena carry through on her death attempt. If this was really happening, not a plot, Ares would see that this might be a prime time to get his way with Xena, since all her other support systems (Gab and Eve) are dead. I'll bet, after a couple of weeks, Xena'd be ready to wreck some real Ares-inspired mayhem just to piss off some gods! In keeping with the theme this week, this scene didn't make much sense, but it played really well on TV. I was totally caught up in it during my first viewing.

The one I felt really bad for was Joxer, who was reduced to simply watching helplessly from the sidelines. To him, I'm sure it all looked quite real and convincing, and his grief must've been consuming, since, without Xena and Gabrielle, what is he but a bumbling ne'er-do-well warrior wanna be? And there's his grief from his love for Gabrielle and Xena of course. And, from the future scenes, we know he carried that grief for many years. Even Meg berates him for going on about Xena when she's been so long gone.

I'm not sure what to make of Joxer recapping the episode for us. It seems like most of what he said was obvious by that point, and they spent a great deal of time simply repeating the first forty five minutes of the show. The only thing we didn't quite know was how the baby was switched, and how Xena used Celeste's tears to feign death, but we got the main idea. Perhaps the episode was too short and needed padding, or perhaps the writers thought the plot was too complex to understand without it being spelled out for us.

Of course, the big question now is, did Ares interfere in the plan by taking the bodies, or was he in on the whole thing, and it was his part of the plan to stash the bodies in ice until the right time? When he gives his moving speech over Xena's body at the end, he sure sounds like he thinks she's dead, but he doesn't actually say that. Perhaps he simply knows it'll be awhile until he sees them again? I noticed Gabrielle was already in her ice coffin, but Ares had to carry Xena. Not sure why, but that struck me as strange.

Well, I guess we'll see what happens next week (and I'm sure some of you will already have seen it by the time I post this). But I'll give this episode four chakrams out of five. It mainly loses a chakram for its many logical inconsistencies. But the story was great, and I'm sure this whole fake death story line will take its rightful place in Xena lore. If only this were the beginning of the season rather than the end!