After innumerable delays, here's my review of "Path Of Vengeance." I'm sure most of you are probably at least one episode ahead, but that's what happens when your TV market shows Xena after nearly everyone else. After reading John's haiku review, I couldn't possibly say anything as clever, so I'll just leave the witty intro behind and dive into it.

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The opening is kind of interesting. The scattered smaller Amazon tribes are coming together in a big meeting in an effort to fend off their many enemies. Who is the queen? Varia! Seems she's been pretty busy since she was Xena's trainee, what, three weeks ago? I get the feeling this season that vast quantities of time are being passed between episodes. Maybe we should refer to this as "Seasons" Six. This whole setup reminds me of the Godfather movies, seeing all the dons getting together to plan strategy and divide up their turf. And like the Godfather, death is lurking everywhere this episode.

Speaking of time passing between episodes, since when has Eve been the peace emissary of Rome? And in answer to someone else's question, the new emperor, if they are following history (not a safe bet), is Claudius, who was an OK guy. Not the brightest bulb, but well-intentioned, as emperors go, and a nice change from the sordid ones of recent past. So perhaps Rome really is, for now, trying to forge peace with the tribes along their border.

I know this is just TV, but really, how likely is it that a bunch of women clad in skins and bearing small weapons can overcome a legion of Rome's finest, heavily armored soldiers? I could see them hiding in the tress and picking them off with arrows (think American Revolution), but in hand-to-hand combat?

And why won't Eve leave the battle scene? She obviously doesn't want to actually fight, but at least she could get out of the way and step to the side. There's her martyr complex again.

Then, when Varia catches her, Eve claims to be Eli's messenger. Just a second ago, she was representing Rome. Does this mean Rome now officially sanctions the Elijians? If so, that's another step along the line of Christian similarities. By the last episode, Constantine will announce his reversion to Elijianism and convert the Roman Empire into a monotheistic nation. It could happen!

A Roman soldier is dispatched to fetch help. He finds Xena and Gabrielle instead, and reports to them. Is Xena an honorary Roman commander now? But he tells them the Amazons have caught Eve, and the Amazons plan vengeance. Surely they know Xena will vengeance their asses if they harm the Evester? But sounds like the setup for an episode.

After Varia's battle with the Romans, we see what a hard ass she has become. When a tribe of Amazons refuses to kill their prisoners per her orders, Varia has her tribe do it instead. When Eve intercedes, Varia slaps her around a bit, then tells her she's going to pay for capturing Amazons and selling them into slavery (in her Livia days, of course). Yes, Eve must die! Buwah-ha-ha! I really liked Varia last time she was on, but here she's back to having too much attitude.

Fortunately, Xena and Gabrielle arrive at the Amazon border only to meet the non-violent tribe from last scene standing guard. They are Cyane's old tribe from earlier episodes. Their leader is yet another girl who inherited the name of Cyane. I know how the whole Cyane thing came about (see "Lifeblood"), but isn't it about time to drop it? (New Queen: "I'm Queen now, and we're doing things my way! Call me Queen Tiffany!") It's very confusing, and only gets more so each time they add a new Cyane. Without even mentioning Varia's wisdom in putting her most peaceable women at the perimeter, I'll just say that this allows Xena and Gabrielle to have a friendly ear to address, and it's not long before Cyane escorts them to the tribal council.

When they meet, Cyane gives Gabrielle a good verbal ass kissing. This makes me wonder, if Gabrielle is held in such high regard (her reputation has had a quarter century to balloon up bigger than life), and is probably the oldest by a mile, why don't they make her ruler or supremo advisor or something? And does "Queen" Gabrielle even have a tribe of her own to lead any more? This whole Amazon tribal organizational thing seems kind of fluid.

So back in the council, Varia is telling why she thinks Eve deserves to die. We get a flashback from Amazon High, er, Varia's past, as she and her younger sister are playing near their village (where do these child Amazons come from with no men about?) when the Romans, under Livia's command, attack and begin capturing slaves.

Now don't get me wrong--peaceful Eve is the way to go, but when top-knot Livia flips down from her horse (a chip off her mother's block) and goes into action with a gleeful sneer, I have to admit I liked it! Livia could get kind of bratty when she didn't get her way, but at least she didn't sit around saying, "Let them kill me, I deserve it, it's my choice." Livia even looks better in that fitted Roman armor she wears. Is it too late to go back to Livia, Bitch of Rome?

Teen Varia takes out about a dozen armed soldiers before being knocked unconscious. She then awakens and has an opportunity to sneak up behind Livia and knife her. Modern Varia says it was her first battle and was rattled about making her first kill. For her first battle, she sure whipped those soldiers earlier! But I guess killing someone is quite a step up from even doing that, mentally speaking, so she hesitates. She probably also feared being immediately skewered by Livia's guards in retaliation!

When Livia wheels about and knocks young Varia down, Varia's kid sister jumps on her to protect her. Livia views this as just another body to make an example of, and she lifts her sword. We then get a really great shot of the camera zooming into the reflection in Varia's eye as Livia's sword drops. The horror she feels at seeing her sister die is really hammered home by the look in her terrified eye, even though the actual killing occurs out of sight. Excellent! No wonder Varia has such a thing about bringing Livia to justice.

The Amazons put it to a vote, and sure enough, they want Livia dead. I can't say I blame them. If I were an Amazon, I'd feel better to be rid of Livia too. What I don't like, though, is this is resolving into another "main star is in mortal danger and might die" plot. There are certain characters that, no matter what else happens to them, won't die. Joxer's death last season proved this list is shorter than we might think, but you just know they won't kill Xena, Gabrielle or Eve (and probably Ares and Aphrodite). So I find the plot a bit of a red herring since we know Eve's not in mortal danger really. (If she were alone in a room with a sharp object, I might be concerned!)

Xena, with a little support from Queen Gabrielle and Cyane, gets an hour to prepare a defense. What defense? Eve's charged with selling Amazons into slavery, and she's confessed. She was told not to come back or be put to death, and she came back. Even I was wondering how Xena'd get out of this one, and maybe that's the crux of the episode, not Eve's danger. I had forgotten Kevin Smith's name in the opening credits. Silly me.

Yes, Xena spots one of Ares' swords on Varia's back. Seems he hands them out to all his girls, as Livia also sported one in her wild days with the God of War. Xena gets in Varia's face and provokes her into an attack. Xena sees that Ares has been teaching her some moves only Xena and Ares would know. Yes, Ares' scent is thick now. When Xena confronts Varia about this, she says they have made a pact with Ares, and he will help them defeat their enemies and establish a strong Amazon nation. Perhaps as the sole male in the nation, he will also provide the breeding stock? Not going there....

Xena goes back to Eve, still chained and awaiting execution. Xena questions her, wanting to know why such a powerful army as Livia's would waste time going after a few scrawny Amazons, who are too feisty to make good slaves anyway (tell that to Gurkhan after Amazon Gabrielle had her way with him). Livia, being the martyr she is, remains tight-lipped and reluctant to say anything that might help Xena mount a defense. Sometimes that girl is so bright, and other times so dumb! At last she admits Ares goaded her into it (which we see in flashback).

Why does Ares want to do this? He just basically wants a blood bath (what's a God of War without conflict?), and he convinces Livia that a simple raw display of power against the Amazons would throw the fear of the Roman Empire into folks.

Xena presents this to the council, figuring that Ares lit Livia's fuse and is ultimately responsible. Gabrielle, who hasn't had much to do this week (by the end of the episode, she'll wish she'd stayed in the background), volunteers to sit on the council. She has a plan, and trusts in the wisdom of the Amazon council. This results in one of the few humorous lines, when Xena reacts to the council's wisdom by replying, "Like the time they painted you blue and made you howl at the moon to consecrate your Queeniness?" Even Gabrielle looks a bit embarrassed by that! Xena gives her one chance, then she'll use the "old fashioned way." A few seasons back, I'd assume Gabrielle's way of nonviolence would work, and Xena would learn a lesson about seeking a peaceful solution to things. Lately, it seems that Gabrielle's plans go down the crapper, and Xena's preferred methodology is eventually put into play. That's one part of the old formula XWP I do miss--that and Gabrielle talking her way out of things. The solution to everything is to kick its butt.

During the trial break, Varia, armed with Eve's story of Ares' manipulations, goes to fetch the god and get some straight answers. If she expects straight answers from Ares, it's quite obvious she requires more tutelage from Xena before she's ready to assume full leadership. Ares then serves her up a bunch of twisted half-truths that make him out to be looking out for the Amazons (he claims leading danger down on them caused the tribes to unite and become stronger) while Eve acted as a loose cannon and drowned the slaves when she found they had no market value. How much of this is true (I could see her drowning the slaves back in those Roman days) is never spelled out, but it was obvious he was feeding her a line to keep the Varia in line, telling her what she wanted to hear.

Then, in a real shocker, back in the council, when the vote on Eve goes around, Gabrielle gives her deciding vote just as Xena walks back in. The vote: "Guilty!" That sounds really cold, but after my initial reaction of "Sputter! Gabrielle! No!" I began to think as the commercial played. Certainly, I felt, Gabrielle would never do that unless she had some plan. Besides, it made a great transition to the commercial break. She's doing some improvising, and it's actually pretty funny (although probably not intended as such) to watch Xena freak out at Gab's supposed betrayal. Gabrielle is used to working with Xena's improvs, now the shoe's on the other foot.

I found two things rather strange in the next scene. First, Xena stomps off in fury at hearing Gabrielle's vote. Surely by now she knows the bard well enough to realize she wouldn't vote Eve to death if she didn't have some standby plan. Second, what's this Gabrielle says about them throwing her off the council if she doesn't vote against Eve? What kind of council is that? Vote like the majority or get removed? That makes absolutely no sense. If that was true, why did they let Gabrielle on the council in the first place when they knew she wouldn't vote with them? Sorry, but that was some pretty sloppy writing there.

So Xena stomps off to find Ares. For some strange reason, he refuses to appear to her at first, merely speaking in a disembodied voice. When Xena demands to know why he's doing this to her, Ares gives her the spider and the swan story. Just as he mentions how the spider stings the swan half-way across the river, he appears behind her and places his hand on Xena's tummy, which glows red. What the heck is that all about? I figured I'd missed something the first time through, but on second viewing, I still don't get the symbolism of the glowing tummy. Is he impregnating her with another baby (it's what he does, perhaps?), seeing as how she has a near orgasmic expression during this bizarre exchange. But suddenly it's over, never to be mentioned again. Can any of you readers fill me in on this? Was it supposed to be mysterious and unexplained (for now)?

But Ares explains that he's just doing what the God of War does--rounding up worshippers by strewing bloodshed all about. What about Eve? She just happened along and got caught in it. And what about Ares' gratitude for Xena restoring his godly powers? Nowhere to be seen! What a cad. When Xena says she won't let this go without a fight, Ares says, "I believe you," and disappears. Do these two know each other, or what?

Meanwhile, back at the council, poor Gabrielle's plans are heading down the tube fast. The council won't listen to her arguments any more, and Gabrielle must resort to challenging Varia for tribe leadership. Remember at the beginning, when she told Xena these were their friends, and she wanted to keep it that way? The way she's throwing her weight around here, I imagine many feathers are being ruffled, but the Amazons get the last "laugh" at Gab's expense, as we soon see.

Xena catches this from the shadows, and when Gabrielle emerges, already dressed in her fringe leather fighting bikini (yes, you read that correctly), Xena tries to convince her to let Xena stand in during the fight. Gabrielle says it's her fight, and as challenger, only she can fight Varia. Hey, Continuity Department, they did just that in, was it, "Hooves and Harlots," when Xena filled in for Gabby in a similar Amazonian power struggle. I thought that was a pretty big glitch, as the outcome of an entire episode hinged on this fact earlier.

Gabrielle enters the ring, and as good a fighter as she has become, she's no match for someone trained personally by the God of War. She hangs in for a while, but as she begins to tell Varia to fight Ares, not her, you can see she doesn't really want to be doing this, whereas Varia is out to smash whatever's getting in her way. In pretty short order, she beats Gabrielle to yet another bloody pulp. Finally, Varia knocks Gabrielle out, and before she lands on the ground, she hits the ropes and gives Xena a really good shot at the damage she's endured. You don't want Gabrielle to go down easily (or the story won't be a full hour), but surely they don't have to give her such a savage beating (yet again)? Stand like a warrior, fall like a warrior, I guess.

Did anyone else catch the irony in the next scene? Eve's being led to her execution, and as they drag her along, she says, "No!" Damn, girl, make up your mind! Earlier she said she came back to face this, and surely she knew by doing that, it could mean her death? She practically has begged to be martyred in several episodes. Which is it, Eve, life or death? You might want to ask yourself that question before you get into these things, not after.

Xena mops the blood off Gabrielle, and she looks pretty good. You'd think by now, her face would be purple and swollen to the size of a basketball. After Gabrielle needlessly apologizes for letting them down, Xena says now she's got to do her thing, and Gabrielle gives her blessing, seeing no other alternative at this point.

Xena has one last talk with Ares, who says he's looking forward to her kicking some Amazon butt. Somehow, you get the feeling that there is some other part of her plan besides just that. We don't know what's up, but when she reminds smug Ares that the spider (which Ares identifies with) in his story dies because it killed the swan in midstream, we feel that her self-confidence is rising and Eve will soon be in safe hands--one way or another!

Looks like Eve will suffer death by boiling mud bath. Xena shows up to stop Varia, and her big bomb to drop is telling them that Varia is doing this killing out of guilt. She thinks that Varia feels guilt for not killing Livia when she had a chance, and that the death of her sister is therefore actually on her. Gee--I thought we knew this from the first flashback nearly an hour ago. But the Amazons look surprised, so I guess they weren't listening back then.

So Varia, in a last ditch attempt to avoid reason, logic, or psychoanalysis, goes head-to-head with Xena. The battle on the pier sticking out over the mud bath is pretty dramatic, probably the best part of the show. There is even an interlude where the two face each other with staffs, and I kept thinking Gabrielle ought to jump in there (oh yeah, she's been thrashed to within an inch of her life already). At one point, Xena is thrown on a plank, which proceeds to break and nearly drop her into the boiling mud. For once, she really looks scared as the plank collapses beneath her. Varia nearly has her done in here. Xena then tells her, if she wants vengeance, start with her. Xena then gives up the fight, and allows Varia to get her into a kill position. Naturally, in Xena's loving face (which she adopts at this point), Varia sees the image of her long lost sister, and she breaks down and cries, telling the Amazons that Xena is their true friend. She saw that following Ares only leads to more and more blood. And good once more triumphs over evil! Xena's pop psychology really worked!

Then, Ares comes in to say, "You had this planned all along! You are so good!" and laughs. Xena smirks in return, and says, "It's what I do." I liked the way they wove that spider thing in again. But she had what planned all along? The whole episode seemed to be one big long nightmare for her. Surely she didn't plan Eve getting captured and nearly killed. She obviously didn't plan on having Gabrielle get beat up by Varia. Things were so out of control, she had to resort to her last measure, violence. Of course, she curbed the violence at the end, as I mentioned, but she didn't look like someone in control. Again, watch her expression of fear on the broken pier. She was clever, yes. She was innovative, yes. She eventually worked through it, yes. But in control? Not until the very last minute, if even then. Could she really know Varia wouldn't kill her, given the chance? What show has Ares been watching the last hour?

Then, as if we didn't know Eve would be released, they give us one more little thrill. Back at the Amazon council, Varia makes an impassioned speech for the death of Livia and her evil (Xena and Gabrielle exchange "Are we going to have to do this again?" glances)--drum roll--so that Eve might live and do more good. Well, I never said it was a major thrill! But they almost had to make her do that--it may have been obvious, but it was a good speech to end things on. And Xena's so overjoyed, she almost cracks a smile, but not quite. At least Gabrielle's grinning, although why she's not lying down with a slab of raw meat on her face is beyond me.

What do they save for dead last? Everyone's all kissy-kissy, then Xena, Gabrielle, and Eve begin to leave. Xena tells Eve she should forgive herself as others are doing. Eve then asks her mother if she's forgiven herself. Back at ya, Mom! That was probably Eve's best line of the evening. But then she says she's leaving immediately for Chin and Indes (does she want to discover her mother's, and hence her own, history there?). She won't even let Xena walk with her a bit as she takes off! But the series is coming to an end, and she's going a long way off. This looks and feels like Eve's last bow on the show. While I never really took to whiny Livia/Eve the way I think the writers wanted me to, she was part of Xena's family (sort of the black sheep of the black sheep), and it really hurt to see her take off. She didn't offer up much explanation other than it's something she's got to do (why?). I'm not sure what I expected from Eve, but I don't really feel she got a chance to develop fully, and I'll miss the chance to see her grow up (or should I use the term "mature?"). Eve, we hardly knew ye! But surely, after all that's just happened, she could share a last dinner with Xena and Gabrielle, get a good night's sleep, and start fresh in the morning. I felt like a little cane reached out and yanked her abruptly off the stage.

Then, in a brief shot at the end, as Eve walks away, Xena, looking mortified, says, "Stay out of trouble!" as her last parting advice. Gabrielle touches her shoulder in a comforting move that seems to have no effect, and then Xena tellingly bends her head down and covers her eyes. What thoughts must be going through her mind as she watches Eve walk off? After all she's sacrificed for her, all the people and gods who have had to die so she might live, all the time she's missed watching Eve grow up? You didn't have to see Xena's tears to know they were there. We fade to black, and I'm left very depressed.

In summary, one of the things I noticed most about this episode was the lack of memorable dialogue. Not that it was bad, but it lacked the crispness and wit that mark most Xena episodes and lift it beyond other television shows. My extreme lack of direct quotes in my review is a reflection of this. I was also unimpressed with the plot throwing Eve in mortal danger. You knew she wouldn't die, in any permanent way. She's Xena's daughter! I was more afraid for Varia, fearing she would have to die before Eve could be set free. Ares was a good force for evil this episode. He makes me so mad when he screws with Xena after all she's done for him, but he had a point about the spider. He's just doing what he's there to do. Remember, no Ares, and Aphrodite's love will also be out of kilter. Playing Ares as the unrepentant fly in the ointment was probably the truest way to write him. Now that I'm thinking about it, considering it was her final show, they should have given Eve more to do than stand around in shackles. It was good, however, to see her chew up the scenery in the flashbacks as Livia. She makes quite a dashing figure. But she'll always be that saucy little potty mouth in "You Are There." That had me in stitches. And speaking of dashing figures, I was a bit disappointed to see Gabrielle has trimmed her hair again. Just as it was getting nice and medium length! All in all, a rather average Xena episode, with the exciting fight sequences offset by the dicey, flat script (why can't Xena fight for Gab; what did Ares think Xena was in control of?). I'll give this one a (weak) three chakram rating out of five. I have a feeling we're getting a few of the lesser episodes here mid season, and in a couple weeks, they'll start rolling out the kick-ass series-ending episodes. Despite a couple of lesser episodes lately, I still think this is one of their strongest seasons to date.
Rick(Gabriologist since the late 20th Century)
Visit my web site at ricks-studio.com for Episode Reviews,
Humorous Quotes, and other Xena-themed writing!

"See ya, Mother, Auntie Gabrielle! I'm going to Chin on a whim with no preparation." --Eve
"You're grounded until you learn to stop endangering yourself, young lady!" --Xena