The Furies

Withdrawal ends at last! Overall, I thought The Furies was a decent episode, but not one that's going to end up in the X:WP halls of fame. It was a bizarre juxtaposition of goofball slapstick jammed right next to some pretty dark themes of matricide and murder.

Xena's madness was a strange beast. She talked about moments of vivid clarity and visions of horror and terror, but would stick daisies in her head at the same time. Was she horrified, terrified, or just living in la-la land? Was it ghastly, or delusional? I suppose it's strange to ask that madness be consistent, but I was having troubles sometimes following exactly how - or in what direction - her brain had snapped.

That said, I really liked the scene in the woods; the paranoia, the visions of horror. That one presented a pretty consistent vision of what was going on in her mind. The moment of lucidity in the village ("I'm in trouble, aren't I, Gabrielle?") was nicely done, too.

Some fun humor moments. "I've cut off the flow of blood to your brain and other pertinent body parts" "I'm going to use you as a shield, Gabrielle - just kidding!" "I win! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" They were largely an excuse for us to see some of the goofy things we've wanted (after a few beers) to see Xena do, but never had any reason.

Definitely not an episode for the kids to watch, unless you really want your seven-year-old niece to turn to mom and ask "What's 'rolling around like weasels' mean?" "What's viginnity?" "Is Ares really MY dad? Should I fight the milkman to see if he's my daddy?"

Gabrielle was HORRIBLY misused in this episode. Xena is stark raving out of her mind, and Gabrielle decides to go to sleep? She's conveniently sent off to another town for a quarter of the episode to get her out of the way? She was relegated to useless sidekick status big time.

Hey, it only took about 12 minutes into the new season to get Xena naked! A new record!

I loved Xena's immediate response to the accusation that she didn't avenge Lyceus' murder. Now THERE'S a moment of vivid - and dangerous - clarity! Lyceus is still most definitely a sore spot for Xena.

"I'm a lunatic with lethal combat skills." I really don't have anything else to say about that line, I just wanted to repeat it. It's so fabulous.

Other landmarks: Xena said please! ("If I win, you have to make those dumplings with the red centers - oh, please!") She did a very respectable job of comforting her mother in the final scene, too - even went to her to give her a hug, although she didn't look totally comfortable doing it. Xena's slowly chipping down her emotional walls. This also marks the first time we've heard a "do it for me" plea from one of our heroines - and dear heaven, I hope it doesn't get overused.

So was anyone else reminded big-time of Shakespeare during Xena's talk with Cyrene in the tavern?

Hamlet: We fat ourselves for maggots: your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service, two dishes, but to one table: that's the end.

Macbeth: Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player/ That struts and frets his hour upon the stage/ And then is heard no more: it is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Xena: Life is a joke! It's a barroom joke at that! And you want to know the punch line? The punch line is that we all end up as food for the worms. ... I leave you to entertain the gods. I'm retiring from the stage.

My favorite shtick: The out-of-control arms. "I'm ashamed of you!"

So, the big question: Is Ares daddy? According to some of the rumors, the answer was originally going to be a definite yes, but we were left with a bit more uncertainty instead. We know what conclusion we're *supposed* to draw: Ares was thoroughly unconvincing in his denial of being her father, and the two fought like mirror images of each other. But we're still left with that bit of a question mark, so who knows? True, Xena can outbattle 20 soldiers and hardly draw a deep breath, but at the same time, other complete mortals - Callisto, Meleager, even Palaemon - have done a fair job of holding their own against her. The writers still have plenty of loopholes to play with in the future.

One comment on the other messages I've seen about the episode: some folks seem to be assuming that Ares told Xena's dad to kill her. I was left with the impression that Ares/the priests just told "dad" who really was the father, and he was so enraged and jealous and furious that he came up with the idea of killing young Xena on his own. Hard man.

Xena's closing line, "We'll be stronger," smacks to me of a season theme. The producers have said almost verbatim the same thing about many of Xena and Gabrielle's upcoming trials. Looks like season 3 is going to be the character-building season - like eating your brussel sprouts. Prepare for ouchiness and scene-chewing angst!

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