A Family Affair

Xena does the Creature Feature! We haven't seen a good ol' campy monster flick since about Girls Just Wanna Have Fun; we were well due for a visit. All of the monster stuff - the slow introduction, the dark and stormy night, the blood and moon, the monster's appearance over the unsuspecting "Gabrielle"'s shoulder, the spikes through the wall and the sudden appearance right THROUGH the wall - were all classic B-grade horror flick tricks. I enjoyed reveling in the cheese.

But not nearly as much as I loved getting the bard back at last. I've been waiting over four months for that reunion, and I'm happy with it. We even got a reunion times two, which worried me that it was going to dilute the emotion, but actually it added some power to the second. For the first reunion, when Xena and Joxer are searching in town, Gabrielle passes by in the far corner of the screen, and Xena is suddenly thunderstruck (good peripheral vision, warrior princess!). Literally thunderstruck - we even get a thunder-ish sound effect for it. The amazed disbelief on Xena's face is fantastic, but Gabrielle is a bit off. She has reactions but no emotions - that's the telling sign (and a heck of an acting job by Renee). Hope alert! Hope alert!

Why was Xena down in the lava pit looking for Gabrielle, and what on earth could she find there to convince her that Gabrielle is alive? If Gab hit the lava, there wouldn't be a shred left. And while we're on the subject, how DID Gabrielle survive? Maybe Hope's story about hitting a niche in the wall had some truth to it. We know how Hope survived: flame-boy Dahak wasn't about to let fire take his little girl. But how did Gabrielle make it? Especially without Hope or Dahak making sure the job got finished?

Joxer's initial gallant act for Gabrielle's family sure seemed to impress Lila. Do we have a Lila-Joxer romance in the works?

Great lip smack from Xena as she's left alone with Gabrielle's father. Nope, no tension here. What to say to the disapproving daddy? I think his line about Gabrielle being so changed is the first time that Xena really starts considering that something's wrong, that Gabrielle is TOO changed.

Small note on Beth's favorite fashion statement: The cloaks are back! Yay!

The Destroyer was a tough customer, but exactly how was he supposed to be nasty enough to lead to the obliteration of the world? Any army with a few dozen archers at 30 paces would have been able to take care of Spiny Anteater Boy. Missy Good has dubbed the Destroyer "Dinsdale" (you'll have to watch Monty Python if you don't get it), and I think it's perfect. So let it be written, so let it be done.

In the first battle with Dinsdale, we went from pitch black night and driving thunderstorms to bright sun in two minutes. And I thought the weather changed fast in Ohio.

Watch the sickened look on Xena's face when she decides that it's Hope they're with, not Gabrielle. Ouch, major disappointment.

Xena says that Ares released the debt of Xena's fate if she kills Hope; since when? Ares disappeared immediately after Hope went lava diving, and we haven't seen him since. We didn't even need that line; as Xena said, she would still have been determined to kill Hope, and she never ended up actually killing her, so why did we get that bizarre statement?

Joxer was used throughout this episode as I like him best - he has the best of intentions, manages to be almost completely useless despite it, but has an IQ that at least makes him smarter than most of the sheep. He was a supporting character, a friend who wants to help, but he wasn't obnoxiously in the way. That's the kind of Joxer I want to keep seeing. Good thinking on Xena's part to so earnestly charge Joxer with sheep-tallying. I think finding side tasks for Joxer is going to become the new running joke for him. I liked his losing count, but falling asleep was a bit TOO obvious, wasn't it?

Oedipus complex much, Dinsdale? His whole hugging mommy fetish was a bit weird, as was the way Hope kept petting him. Talk about dysfunctional. That scene, though, featured my favorite Hope line, the simple "Good." Wow, Renee plays nasty with relish. Brrr.

Both Hope and Dinsdale have the same tragic chink in their armor; they want their mother's love. Hope says she no longer cares about Gabrielle, but she still wants to know why Gabrielle never loved her. She's still resentful and jealous of Xena. Methinks the demon child doth protest too much.

The second reunion is the big payoff to all us fans for our enforced patience. Kudos to Renee - Xena knew the moment she saw Gab's face that it wasn't Hope, and so did we. I could watch Xena drop that sword a hundred times; the warrior couldn't care less about it now that she's found Gabrielle. Both the stars did an amazing job with this scene. Xena's near-laugh as Gabrielle sits down and wipes tears from her face was heartbreakingly real. Xena's overjoyed even in the middle of a painful story: Gabrielle is back, including all those emotions that were missing from Hope. And that sweet kiss of Gabrielle's hand... everybody sigh all together now.

Listen closely when Hope walks away from the bound-up Joxer. Joxer says a naughty word! I guess just like Kenny, you can get away with saying anything if it's muffled enough.

Gabrielle spends most of the episode shell-shocked. She's entitled; she seems to have just crawled her way back to Poteidaia after nearly being melted down into component parts. But I'm hoping the angst isn't a permanent side effect. I miss GabbySmiles.

The stage blocking when Hope threatens Gabrielle's family is off. From where Lila was standing, she should have been staring right at the floating swords, but she seems to be blind to them.

I think the shot when Gabrielle watches her mother from the barn was a composite of three shots - her, her mother at the house, and the yard - because the perspective is way off on the chickens. They look to be the size of german shepherds. Or maybe Poteidaia is famous for their prize-winning poultry, led by their mayor, Colonel Sanders.

Watch for the shooting mismatch when Gabrielle holds her hand over Lila's mouth. When they shoot over Lila's shoulder, Gab's hand is across Lila's mouth, but when they shoot over Gabrielle's shoulder, her hand is vertical.

The conversation between Gabrielle and Hope is great on a number of levels. The director didn't use much of the double effects; most of their conversation is done with camera cuts, but it still works great. I loved Gabrielle's glance in the mirror without realizing it's Hope until she speaks, and I thought it was a great touch that as Hope greets her mother, Hope pushes the door shut from across the room.

Top wenchy line of the episode goes to Hope for "Well, it's certainly not for your lack of trying, is it?" The Callisto-style lines are now going to Hope, and Renee seems to be having a ball spinning them out with menace.

Hope claims that she was always "Daddy's little girl," and Gabrielle almost silently agrees. Is this acknowledgement at last that Hope would have always been evil, regardless of what Xena and Gabrielle would have done with her, or just that things worked out that way?

Hope's "Bye bye, Mommy" was a duplicate of her line as the young Hope in Maternal Instincts. Nice consistency touch.

Xena's Cool Move of the Week (tm): hitting the tree to knock the chakram down into her hand. Xena is all super-smooth business as she gets ready for the big showdown with Dinsdale. Listen, though, for the roadrunner "choo!" sound effect Joxer makes when he beats feet for the village.

Was Gabrielle supposed to be in the barn as some type of plan when Xena led Dinsdale to it? Maybe to do something with the lantern? I couldn't tell; Xena seemed to expect Gabrielle to be waiting there when she led Dinsdale back.

"Bite me"? OK, it's not a bad Spiderman wisecrack, but the best flip-off-the-face-of-death line Xena could come up with was "Bite me"? Ehhhh.

Gabrielle is quietly, resolutely terrified as she draws Dinsdale close and accepts his hug. Those reactions were amazing; she was so scared, morbidly fascinated, and determined to keep him occupied. And she pulls it off, saves Xena's bacon, and brings about the death of the Destroyer. Score one for the amazon bard. And indirectly, on her third attempt, finally seems to have succeeded in killing Hope. Are Dinsdale spikes kryptonite to super-Hope? Maybe. We'll see. Our two villains get a sad, wistful death scene; Hope finally hugs Dinsdale close as he mourns what he's done and they die in each other's arms. It touches Gabrielle, too.

In Poteidaia, where it all began, it now all turns 180 degrees. Originally, Gabrielle left Poteidaia to follow Xena, to support her quest for redemption, fighting and arguing every step of the way to convince the staid Xena that she could use a hand. Now, with the windmill turning behind them (and more of those pinwheels around somewhere, I'm sure), it's turned on its head. Now Xena's the one reminding Gabrielle of their partnership, vowing to take up their quest (well, mostly Gabrielle's quest) together, and Gabrielle responds more like Xena normally would, with a quiet hug instead of any words. Does anybody else detect the fourth season theme being set up, here?

Return to the Wool-Gatherings.

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