Not much to say about this episode up front. The first half of the last episode. Bound to leave unanswered questions until next week. But "A Friend In Need Part 1" is the beginning of the end. So sad.

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It begins innocuously enough. Xena and Gabrielle are talking around the camp fire. What's weird is that as Gabrielle is waxing philosophical, Xena's talking about getting tired of wandering around Greece looking for trouble. She wants to go back to Egypt. She doesn't say "...and settle down for good," but that's what her tone seems to imply. Is this some latent nesting instinct that Eve brought about and is only now being felt by Xena?

Before that can get any more interesting, an oriental messenger shows up, creating an opening sequence that plays much like the one in "The Debt." His message is from "Akemi." Xena appears surprised to hear the name and asks the messenger if he saw her. He begins to relate his tale of meeting her.

Seems the messenger, named Kenji, was travelling a while back with a monk when a storm caught them on the road. They sought shelter and walked to a nearby tea house, standing on stilts in the water. They cross the wood planking to the door. They enter to find three beautiful women kneeling on the floor, waiting to serve their needs. In the United States, I think we call this a brothel, not a tea house, but who am I to buck Japanese nomenclature? Due to the attention she receives from the camera, we assume the gorgeous girl in the middle is Akemi, played most delightfully by Michelle Ang. This woman practically glows from within when she's on the screen. And like in any good morality play, Kenji avoids temptation while his monk friend takes advantage of the full variety of "teas" available here. From a dream-like montage of carnal pleasures, a girl's bare foot rises from the water in a hot tub. She shakes her foot, triggering off the bells hanging from her ankle bracelet. Akemi looks up, eyes wide with alarm.

Yes, something's rushing up to the tea house through the woods. We are looking through whatever's eyes as it streaks through the trees. Reminded me of the opening sequence of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" (if I remember correctly) where the Bacchae appear first this same way. Don't tell me the final episode is also going to consist of rehashed, fan-requested retreads? I was wary.

But Akemi pushes Kenji out of the house and grabs a sword, following him. The wayward monk wakes in the hot tub to find himself all alone. Then, a GIANT HEAD (yes, that's all capitals, folks) comes screaming into the room! Suddenly the rest of his body, normal sized, elastically moves under the head. He looks pretty humanoid, but you can tell from his face and magical appearance he's got some sort of powers. He blows on the monk, freezing him in the now solid water of the hot tub. Then, he sucks in deeply, and the ice monk shatters and is chewed up and swallowed by the whatever! I guess the hot tub was nailed to the floor, as it was undisturbed by this powerful sucking action.

Kenji, being the experienced action hero he is, sees this and runs away. Rather than taking the wooden planks straight to shore, the quickest, easiest method to get away, he jumps into the water and flails his way halfway to shore before climbing back up on the dock. What a putz! But Akemi felt the goodness in him, and she's there to give him the sword she took earlier. She needs his help to defeat the "Lord of the Dark Land." He's creating a diabolical army to wage war on the nearby city of Higuchi in order to slaughter the populace (doesn't he have something more constructive to do with his time?). But Kenji's no swordsman. Akemi says he needs to find the swordsman. "There's one in the west, far beyond the setting sun." Could it be...? Kenji: "A samurai? A priest? A god?" Faster than a speeding locomotive? Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound? Could it be...? "No, a warrior princess!" Like I didn't see that coming! But still, very dramatic. I loved the Japanese sets and costumes. It looked great.

So Xena doesn't go to Egypt, but rather to "Japa," as she calls it. I guess I live in "Americ." She and Gabrielle are taking a boat with Kenji, who's teaching Gabrielle the Way of the Sword using bamboo sticks. Exactly how many "Ways" does one have to choose from when picking a life's calling? I just don't want to pick a Way only to find it's not accredited. (Hey, Casey, did you see the shot of Renee's ankle?) I guess we'll have no Argo parting shot. But it gives our heroines a chance to dress in scanty bikinis and lounge about on the deck during the long voyage. I for one support that. Gabrielle, normally the one with the exposed navel on this show, has her pregnant belly covered up discreetly this time, and it's left to Xena, in a minimal bikini, to carry the belly button banner. The bikini wasn't invented until the 1950's I believe, but no matter, it looks great.

Gabrielle's trying to draw out more information from Kenji about Akemi. Turns out Yodoshi, this Lord of the Dark Land, is using his powers to make Akemi "seduce souls into his grasp." The kicker is, she's a ghost. Gabrielle seems surprised. After all she's seen, I'm amazed this little thing gets to her. She has seen ghosts previously.

At this point, after looking worried in the background, Xena finally says, "Gabrielle, before we reach Japa, I should tell you everything that happened there last time." Gabrielle looks at her as if saying, "OK, so what haven't you told me about now? If you haven't mentioned it before this, it must be bad." You'd think Xena might at some point have mentioned going to Japa sitting around the campfire some night. Evidence proves Xena a liar here, as she doesn't even come close to telling Gab "everything" before they get there. She's still doling out little pieces of narrative until nearly the end of the episode. How many days, weeks, months, did it take them to sail to Japa, and she couldn't find time to finish the story by then? No wonder Gabrielle writes the scrolls--Xena'd never finish the first one!

In TV land, telling a story equals showing flashbacks, and for the umpteenth time this season, the time frame is repeatedly fractured, only confusing a rather inscrutable tale to begin with. This flashback seems to begin where the last Borias story left off, with the two having thrown away their army and traveled to Chin. They learn of a girl taken hostage in the land of Japa, even further east. Why would they be interested in some girl? I'm guessing they don't have the money to raise a proper army, having just arrived, and stealing the girl back to claim the ransom will give them a starting nest egg. Then, on to rape, pillage, murder, yadda, yadda.

Xena and Borias show up at the castle of the warlord, Kao, who holds the girl captive. By some ruse left to our imagination, Kao himself shows the two into the house to find Akemi kneeling down waiting for them. She immediately recognizes Xena and calls her by name. Very eerie. Even more so since Akemi is such a small, dainty, soft-spoken woman, but she speaks with much power and wisdom in her voice. She tells Xena that she'll soon come to love Akemi, and, "You'll take me with you. You'll teach me everything you know." Virtually the same speech Gabrielle would come to use on Xena when she insinuates herself with the warrior princess in "Sins of the Past." Except that Gabrielle exuded a charming innocence while asking Xena to take her, while Akemi, even though small and round of face like Gabrielle, radiates an almost palpable air of half-truths and misdirection while telling Xena she will take her. But we are seeing a sort of proto-Gabrielle, as Xena initially tries out a "deeper" female relationship--only to get burned! No wonder she was slightly hesitant about taking Gabrielle along on their first meeting. But we'll get to that.

They offer Kao money for the girl, but he's not taking the offer. Despite Borias' calm advice to reconsider, the warlord instead dies as Xena and Borias take her forcibly. Akemi sees Xena kill Kao using the neck pinch (she doesn't turn it off) and appears impressed and mystified. This doesn't mesh with her know-it-all attitude, and we think she's seen something in Xena she wants.

As the credits conclude, we see that Rob Tapert not only came up with the story, but also directed. This tells us two things immediately. First, this is going to be a visually sumptuous episode. In interviews, Rob often describes his creative process as thinking up something really visually stimulating, then finding a story to match the image. Thus, we usually get a dramatic, visually arresting show, but the plot can take a few beatings in regard to continuity and logic as it twists from one cool image into another. The main thing is, does it look great? Tonight, it looks great. The second thing, as I mentioned, is that the plot will probably be convoluted and possibly difficult to follow on one viewing. He scores big time here as well. Making the plot even more difficult to follow is the fact we are dealing with a lot of foreign actors with accents saying a lot of foreign names we aren't familiar with. On the second viewing for this review, I've had time to think it over, and I'm making more sense of it, but on first viewing, I was virtually lost by the end. Rob Tapert is a double-edged sword.

An interesting scene follows in which Borias is trying to get Xena to at least consider that Akemi isn't all she says, but Xena feels the girl "worships her teacher." Look who's getting mighty full of herself! Xena tries to demonstrate what a good student Akemi is by having her try some complex self defense move, only to knock the girl on her back before she can react to Xena's mock attack. Is Akemi this incapable of protecting herself, or is she simply playing dumb to better get under Xena's guard? Xena leaves Borias back at the boat when they get to Japa, while she takes the girl off to ransom her back to her father.

We get some beautiful shots of the Japanese landscape as Xena and Akemi, whose ribs are still sore, walk a path through the snowy woods. We get a good Xena vs. Gabrielle, er, Akemi, comparison. Xena listens to the sounds in the woods. Everything she hears clues her in to possible danger. Her world view is one of basic mistrust and immanent danger. Akemi basically says she hears the beautiful, loving sounds of nature, or the "commi" as she calls it. Then Akemi presents Xena with a love poem. At first, tough Xena turns her nose up. She can't read the Japanese writing anyway. Akemi reads what turns out to be a love poem. Akemi's getting under Xena's skin. Sound like any sidekicks we know?

The first sign we have that Akemi is playing a strategic game of misdirection with Xena (and winning) is when they find themselves at Akemi's dead grandfather's house. Xena's forced to follow Akemi since she knows the way to her father's house and Xena doesn't. Xena is furious at this waste of time. She looks at Akemi as though she's off her rocker when the girl begins to conjure up the grandfather to get his blessing. Blessing for what? Her safe return to her father? They'd be there now if they hadn't stopped! Is he blessing the union of Akemi and Xena? Seems a little blatantly subtextual for the show. Xena's about to behead the girl with her sword when Akemi, without looking back, holds her hair off the nape of her neck, offering her life up to Xena. Not expecting this reaction, Xena stops. Seems like something Gabrielle would've done under similar circumstances.

Seems the grandfather blesses the endeavor, but feels Xena's sword is inadequate to the task at hand. Xena, in typical deadpan fashion, says, "There's a string of widows from here to Greece that say different." Akemi tells her of Katana, a mighty sword which laughs in the face of other swords, so to speak. "Well," Xena says, "then get me one of those!" "In our country, women are forbidden to own Katana," Akemi replies. "Well, they're just going to have to get used to it, aren't they," Xena replies with great sarcasm. Wonderful writing.

Of course, when she goes to get the sword, it is guarded by a bunch of blacksmiths who are insulted at the very thought of a woman having their blade. Xena uses her usual means of persuasion to get the sword anyway. She's wearing yet another costume (there are many tonight), a black bra-style top and black baggy martial arts pants. With that big mane of hair she sported in her bad old days, she looks really hot. But what's of interest here is that Akemi, who appeared so helpless before, jumps in to help and viciously dispatches a couple men herself. There are layers to this girl she's hiding. I don't know why Xena can't see this. I guess she's still young, running on instinct instead of experience.

At camp that night, we see Akemi writing more love poetry on her scroll, kind of like Gabrielle. Xena's telling her she likes the sword, but all she wants is the ransom. Akemi doesn't believe that's all, and she asks Xena to listen again to the commi, but now, instead of danger, she hears Akemi's heart racing. This is beginning to sound like the introduction to some lesbian porn movie! Akemi eventually talks Xena into giving her another "gift:" teach her the pinch she saw Xena use on Kao. Xena smiles, flattered, and teaches it to her. Did I say this campfire scene looks great?

Cut to a hilarious scene of Gabrielle, in the present, listening to Xena's story. "You knew her a few weeks and you taught her the pinch? Xena, in all the time--" Suddenly they are interrupted by a sailor. Seems Higuchi is under siege, and there's no place to dock. The ship is turning around. Sure enough, off in the distance, the town is ablaze in the night. Xena tells Gabrielle she's going ashore. Gabrielle answers, "I'm with ya." Xena responds with, "I knew you'd say that." Finally, after all these years, she doesn't run off without Gabrielle, even welcoming her along. Xena jumps over the edge into the water, while Gabrielle hesitates, shaking her head as if saying, "What have I talked myself into this time?" then jumps after.

An old Japanese man watches intently as Xena and Gabrielle emerge from the water. The village looks pretty much like any other burning village we've seen, except it's night. Xena sees a water tower over yonder and asks Gabrielle how she'd go about releasing the water. Then we find out why Xena is the planner in this pair. Instead of suggesting they walk over to the tower and climb up a ladder to the valve, Gabrielle, never one to avoid the difficult solution, says, "I saw these acrobats. They used to--" Xena cuts in with, "Show me, Gabrielle."

Then we get an action sequence that manages to be both completely unbelievable, and yet is the apotheosis of Xena and Gabrielle's relationship and team work. Gabrielle shows Xena some circus moves (how she does this while maintaining synchronicity with Xena is rather logic-defying, but it looks great). The two fly on ropes over the crowd, run across burning buildings, kick a few baddies, and do a few ladder tricks they must've remembered from "Callisto." After performing a perfectly choreographed circus routine, the two find themselves atop the water tower. Gabrielle tries to turn the valve, but it's stuck. Xena steps up to use her sword to break open the tower, and water sprays out to quench the fire. There's no way this one tower could reach all the burning stuff in the town, but it looks great. We get a last look at Xena and Gabrielle clasping hands and congratulating each other. This was apparently the last shot filmed for the show. If so, it was a brilliant way to go out, seeing Xena and Gabrielle fighting together. Not just side by side, each battling their own warrior, but together as a team that can think as one and even anticipate the other's thoughts. Very much like Hercules and Iolaus used to do it. Xena, even though she could probably do it, lets Gabrielle take the lead, thus giving us a graduation ceremony for the innocent farm girl from Potidaea who wanted Xena to lead her on a path of adventure. Gabrielle at last puts the "sidekick" label to rest and shows herself to be every bit Xena's equal.

Next, we have another Rob Tapert scene of visual splendor propping up a shaky bit of scripting. Back in the past, Xena and Akemi finally get back to her father's house. In the house, a woman appears to the father, who looks quite a bit like Yodoshi, and his attendants. She's wearing all white (which I read is rather a confrontational move in their culture) and an evil looking mask. I saw some commentary from people saying they thought she was floating across the floor, but you never see her feet, and I think her stiff, voluminous costume hid her lower body movements. But it looks good. She removes the mask to reveal Akemi beneath. The household is in a panic. Meanwhile, Xena comes cutting through the paper wall in the background wanting to know what Akemi's doing. Now if Xena's being truthful about simply wanting her ransom and possibly making an alliance with the father, what would she gain by breaking in through the wall? She could just come to the front door and announce, "Hey, I brought your daughter back." But it looks great. Akemi instantly gives her father the pinch. The armed guards see Xena with a sword, so naturally they attack her first, leaving Akemi over the body. Akemi prays to her family and says her father's death will avenge the family. They never say what this guy did, but he must've been a real bad guy, despite his rather ruggedly handsome appearance. I loved it when Xena, finished dispatching the guards, comes over to see what's happened, and she looks really upset (about Akemi killing the guy?). Akemi says it was her duty to kill her father. Then Xena shows her true colors: "I don't care about that! What about the ransom? Where's my money!!!" Akemi walks into a beautiful snow-filled courtyard and says, "Forgive me, Xena." Mercenary Xena replies, "I don't suppose there's any inheritance in this?" Hilarious!

Once again, Akemi offers her neck to Xena for a beheading. This girl would get along well with Eve. It seems that even though her duty was to kill her father, patricide is such a vile crime that she has lost her honor. She hopes Xena will kill her with the Katana sword, and her loss of life will restore her honor. As a last request, she wants Xena to bury her ashes in the family shrine in Higuchi. Xena's aghast at the whole turn of events, although she obviously is more concerned about her profit than about Akemi at the moment. But Akemi doesn't try to talk the protesting Xena into killing her. She pulls out a long sword and shoves it through her stomach. As she dies, she tells Xena about how her love will go on (remind you of another love from the show?). I was about to write off Akemi as simply using Xena to avenge her family, but after this emotional display, you get the feeling she really did love Xena, but was forced by events to act as she did. She begs Xena to restore her honor. The girl's going to die anyway, so Xena lets her have it with Katana--a final "gift." The last we see is a bright red drop of blood falling into the water. Was she kneeling over a pool or something? But it looks great.

As Xena wraps up this bit of storytelling, Gabrielle asks what Xena will think upon seeing Akemi's ghost. Is Gabrielle a little bit worried, jealous over Akemi? Her voice betrays no emotion to this effect, so I assume she and Xena are pretty tight right now. On cue, the old man who watched Xena and Gabrielle come ashore earlier springs forward to ask Xena how she'll feel facing the 40,000 ghosts of the people she killed herself. He's referred to as Harukata, the Killer of Ghosts. I guess Xena just forgot to tell Gabrielle about that, too! Let Gabrielle tell the stories, Xena, she's so much better at it! But at Gabrielle's insistence, Xena continues.

Cut to a rather rumpled Xena bumbling through the night streets of Higuchi. She's cut off most of her hair, which I believe is a traditional sign of mourning over there, has Japa-esque white make up on (smeared all over the place), and is swilling sake (?) virtually non-stop. Xena's voice over tells us that she'd come to put Akemi's ashes in the shrine, but the villagers got word and decided they didn't want such a dishonorable person as a father-killer in their town. We see them attack Xena in the streets, and in her drunken condition, she's in no shape to fight back. Reminded me of her similar scene in "The Gauntlet," with soldiers beating her as she offers little resistance. She drops the vase containing Akemi's ashes, and they scatter to the wind. She's upset and uses her fire breathing technique to ignite a few villagers. They fall into the buildings, add some wind, and next thing you know, you've fried 40,000 villagers. We've seen villages in the Xenaverse before, and there's no way you can convince me that 40,000 people would've died if the whole town had been stomped into the dirt. Once again, with Rob Tapert, we get desired emotional impact with a large number, but the logic is a bit shaky at how they came up with that. 400, just maybe. "It's not possible," Xena mutters. You're right on that. And Xena is burdened once again by major guilt, in the present, if not in the past.

Back in the present, Kenji chimes in with the conclusion to the story. Turns out the father was Yodoshi, Lord of the Dark Land, or The Eater of Souls, as he is termed here. He was just so gosh darn evil, not even the underworld would take him in after Akemi's murder. So he hung around the living awhile longer eating souls. Needless to say, the sudden deaths of 40,000 people gave him quite a meal and strong powers. They are still inside him, enslaved. "Then I am guilty of a greater evil than I ever thought possible," Xena concludes. What? Gabrielle makes the most intelligent observation of the episode: "Xena, it was a horrible accident." "No, no, I must put things right," Xena states. In my opinion, Gabrielle was 100% right here, and if you want to look at the cause of all this, try the villagers who attacked her, or Akemi who tricked her. Like in other villages we've seen in the past, the villagers aren't so much interested in seeing the right person punished, they just want someone to let their rage out on, and Xena's at hand.

We return from commercials to find Xena teaching Gabrielle the fine art of listening to the commi. "Listen not just to the sounds, but to what's behind the sounds," she instructs. Gabrielle hears a marching army. She once again shows she's developing Xena's warrior instincts. But Xena says it's three armies. The photography is simply stunning here, as they stand at the parapet, multi-hued clouds and fog roiling over the Japanese countryside. It looks great. Gabrielle runs off to "warn the others."

Harukata the ghost killer suddenly emerges from the fog. Kenji stands to the side. Xena tells Harukata how much she aches for what she has caused. He realizes they both want the same thing, releasing the trapped souls. Even if she caused it in his eyes, they are allies now, and they share their information about Yodoshi. Seems that Harukata has spent his life trying to kill Yodoshi. His life? The guy's ninety years old. Xena didn't look much younger than she does now, so he must've been a bum the first eighty years of his life, and only became a ghost killer after Xena left town. Illogical as hell, but it's Rob. It sounds great.

Harukata has the power to slay Yodoshi, but because he's mortal, he can't move fast enough to get close enough to kill him. Let me get this straight--we've got a professional Ghost Killer who, by definition, can't get close enough to ghosts to kill them. What a do-nothing job! Seems that only a ghost can get close enough to make the fatal sword thrust. A good plan here might be to rescue Akemi's ghost from the tea house and use her to do it. She's already dead. But Xena has much more suicidal things in her plan. Xena's got to learn to delegate authority a bit more. She can't be a hands-on warrior princess forever! As she walks off, you can see the idea crossing Xena's face as if to say, "So if I want to kill him myself, I have to be a ghost to do it." Death seems to be a bit inconsistent in the Xenaverse, so I didn't really think much of it, even if that's what happens.

Xena's in private praying to Akemi, saying she feels that what she has to do may be irreversible. Hmm, doesn't sound too good, but still.... For such a devout non-believer, she's been praying a lot in these last couple of seasons. Is that Eve's influence? Gabrielle walks in, interrupting her.

Cue the big Xena/Gabrielle conversation du jour. Another one for the record books. Gabrielle announces the militia is prepared, and she's wearing a cute little oriental warrior outfit. Xena has her sit down in front of her, and without warning, takes Gabrielle's hands and begins to teach her the pinch. Gabrielle actually pulls away, saying she understands why Xena wouldn't want her to know the pinch. Xena immediately counters, saying this is just the perfect moment for it. "I want you to know what I know," she says in a simple sentence simply laced with pregnant meaning. We see what appears to be another part of Gabrielle's graduation ceremony. Xena applies the pinch to herself while holding Gabrielle's hands. Gabrielle wants to know why she's doing this. Xena, her nose dripping blood, replies, "Gabrielle, if I only have thirty seconds to live, this is how I want to live them, looking into your eyes." "Stop this, stop it," Gabrielle begs. "Always remember I love you," Xena concludes. This is just so incredibly morbid, although Gabrielle, not realizing yet how a ghost is required to defeat Yodoshi, is ignorant of what Xena's implying. I'm starting to get worried myself. What are they trying to foreshadow here? Whatever it is, with five minutes left in the show, I'm sure I'll have to wait a week to find out.

Xena kind of unpinches herself, again with Gabrielle's hands helping. She assures Gabrielle that there's nothing wrong, she just wanted Gabrielle to know what she knows. So, Xena, tell her your nasty little plan, I dare ya! But Gabrielle's on the verge of tears, and although she doesn't know from what yet, she senses a real danger, and her expression is one of great alarm. What a wonderful scene, powerful, emotional, and full of the detailed acting that makes Lucy and Renee's work together so impressive. I read something from a viewer who said that Xena had already taught Gabrielle the pinch in "Haunting of Amphipolis," so I went back to check it out. In "Haunting," Xena only taught Gabrielle how to undo the pinch (or was it do the pinch?). Either way, she was only taught half. Now she's given the whole move. Gabrielle is now a lean mean killing machine, even without her sais.

Gabrielle and Kenji are at the head of a small contingent of troops. They head off to attack some archers nearby. As they leave, Xena emerges from the fog. She looks at Gabrielle's back until marching troops cut off her gaze. She looks determined and sad, very sad, like she'll never lay eyes on Gabrielle again. "To Be Continued." Argh!

What to make of this? Hard to say, since we're right in the middle of the story. But so far, I've enjoyed this as much as the first episode setting up the Rhinegold trilogy. As usual, the Rob Tapert-directed episode was visually scrumptious, like eating a triple fudge chocolate layer cake. My eyeballs felt stuffed by the end! The circus scene at the water tower was one of the best stunts they've ever done, and made all the more poignant by Xena and Gabrielle doing it as one. The Japanese imagery and costumes were top rate, with the scene of Akemi's hari kari in the garden a special visual delight, wrapped in white and blue light. And Xena encouraged Gabrielle to come with her, instead of leaving her ship side for her own good. I just loved it. Let's not forget LoDuca's usual great soundtrack job of blending the sounds of ancient Japan with his Xena themes. Not a lot of name guest stars like we've had of late to detract from the main attraction: Xena and Gabrielle. The new characters introduced are quite interesting. Yodoshi was very impressive upon his entrance in the tea house. We haven't seen that before! Akemi, as the anti-Gabrielle, was simply stunning, visually and acting wise. She was simply incandescent every time she was in camera range. Harukata didn't have much to do, but he made a big impression as the Killer of Ghosts, and I assume we'll see him take a crucial role next week. Kenji's nothing special, but he makes for a decent "nice boy of the week." A few things didn't quite line up properly in the plot, but this was an episode meant to dazzle us with spectacle, and in that aim, it succeeds in spades. I can't give it a perfect five chakram since there is obviously no resolution to anything, but I think it really earns a solid four and a half. My entire opinion could change upon viewing next week's conclusion. What if Bob Newhart wakes up next week only to find Xena was all a dream? I could almost see Rob Tapert doing that! I wish we'd seen more of this creativity evenly spread over the last half dozen episodes. Oh, did I mention it all looked great?
Rick(Gabriologist since the late 20th Century)
Visit my web site at www.ricks-studio.com for Episode Reviews,
Humorous Quotes, and other Xena-themed writing!

"Xena, why are we massaging each other with oil and French kissing?" --Gabrielle
"I dunno, Gabrielle, but it looks great!" --Xena