Altared States
This is a favorite of mine, for a variety of reasons. This review is going to be long, and will cover some of my views of the possible Biblical interpretations of this episode. Of course, it is all my beliefs, and I don't intend to force them on anyone.
A lot has been made of the first scene of the episode. The innuendo in Xena's dialogue never really did much for me, however, it did catch my attention when I noticed the grin on Xena's face when she told Gabs to reach under the rock.
Either that fish that Gabs caught (Way to go, Gabs!) was a single-whiskered catfish, or it had a hook stuck in its mouth!
In the water, Gabs tan looks like it's darker than Xena's. I thought Xena was supposed to be the dark one. She always is in fan fiction!
Xena's exit from the water is memorable, no doubt about it. I've never seen anyone who looks so good wet. But was it really appropriate for her to reveal herself to such a young boy like Ikus? The kid will be ruined for life!
After one of the infamous five seconds to dress scenes, Xena gleefully goes after the bad guys with a string of fish. This isn't the last time she'll use that particular weapon!
At one point, the fish connect with one of the bad guy's crotches...I still don't understand why Xena goes for that area so consistently. She doesn't seem to be one who would resort to such low blows.
Xena needs to teach Gabs the quick dress...although she doesn't do too badly in taking out some of the bad guys, once she's clothed.
Julius Caesar...errr...Cupid...err...Mael calls for an end, demanding to know who Xena is. She responds in an almost Southern drawl that she's helping a defenseless boy. "Call it my maternal instinct." It's not the only time her speech lapses into
a Southern style (and I'm not talking about Mel Pappas.)
Love Xena's response to Mael when he smarts off...she just arches an eyebrow.
For anyone who might not know, the episode is based on the Genesis account of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael. Whereas in Giant Killer, the Biblical names were used, in Altared States, the names become Antius, Ikus, and Mael.
I wonder if Renee found it disconcerting that the very young actor playing Ikus was taller than she was?
During the Xena meets Antius scene, Xena and Mael have a battle of sneering faces. Xena wins because she's better at narrowing her eyes, but just watching them duel is funny.
Why does Karl Urban look so much younger here than he does in his second season appearances in Destiny and A Comedy of Eros.
Someone is going to have to enlighten me as to Mael's line of thinking...how does having a "scrawny little companion" (sorry, Gabbers) constitute an abomination?
Gabs gets to take over babysitting duties. I wonder if she did that back in Potoedeia?
Nice touch the way Xena knows to turn to mom for a little woman-to-woman chat!
The scene where Xena finds Gabrielle unconscious is, without a doubt, one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I laugh myself silly every time.
I've never been under the influence of drugs, but the few times I've been drunk makes it easy for me to identify with Gabs.
There are so many great lines during this scene...the whole thing is hysterical. I particularly love it when Xena's tone begins to escalate to match Gabs' and she has to slow it down..."Where is Ikus?"
Gabs' devastation after she realizes she's lost Ikus is hilarious. At least she is able to tell Xena she ate ALL the nutbread. "It ws just too good." Then the next thing she knew it was just...gone...like Ikus!
She collapses in a heap of despair again, but Xena stands, thinking Ikus went to get his mother.
Somehow, Gabs quickly recovers from her crying fit and pops up in front of Xena, no longer upset at all. Renee does it flawlessly.
Gabs is ready for action..."Let's go!", she calls to the rocks in the cave. In another hilarious touch, Xena's eyes briefly look off to the side, as if she considers, just for a second, that they might not be alone.
Xena tells Gabs she'll go get Ikus while Gabs stays behind with the "others". Nudge nudge.
I don't know how confident Xena is that Gabs will obey and stay in the cave, but Gabs has become the choir director from Tartarus. Her ordering the rocks around is inspired!
A group of men kidnap Ikus, right from under his mother's eyes. Don't you think Mom would recognize at least some of the men as Mael's friends?
Xena is racing ahead on Argo. She does two things a lot in this episode...1. race on Argo...2. disappear while someone is talking to her.
The men have put up a pointy fence across the pathway which Xena nimbly somersaults over. The men watch her run off. Uh...couldn't they have followed by running AROUND the fence? Oh well!
Gabs is back in the cave still playing Mr. Holland's Opus. I like the way we hear the improvised rock band she is creating.
When Xena finds Ikus's mother, she puts the pinch on the bad guy guarding her. She tells him. "That looks mighty painful...you really ought to see a doctor about that." Uh...were there "doctors" in Xena's time? "Physcian"
came into the language in the 13th century, and "doctor" didn't come around till the 14trh. (Yes, I looked it up!)
I really, really like Ikus. He shows many of the same characteristics as the Old Testament's Isaac, including knowing when to keep his mouth shut.
Obviously, the Xenaverse takes great liberties with the Abraham/Isaac story. In some ways, it makes me uncomfortable. Antius really believed God had commanded him to sacrifice Ikus; but it was really Mael acting out of
jealousy. However, God DID command the real Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, as a test of faith. The whole idea of sacrifcing Ikus is outrageous to Xena...but what if it had been for real?
Xena tells Antius she doesn't think much of a God who demands children be killed. That's very understandable. The story of Abraham is not one of my favorites, even though the ending is uplifting. I am certainly not
questioning God's actions. But I do like the way TPTB handle it.
Xena wants to know if Antius has questioned why God wanted him to kill Ikus. Antius says, of course, constantly. He wonders:
A. Has he done something wrong and is being punished?
B. Is it a test of faith to see how much trust Antius has in God?
C. Is God angry because he loves Ikus so much?
D. Does his love demand the best and the brightest?
The correct answer, of course, is B, but I'm sure all of these thoughts went through the real Abraham's mind.
Xena still encourages Antius not to do it, but her tone has gentled somewhat. Don't get me wrong...I don't think she's accepting of this at all; but I get the feeling she at least realizes how much Antius is struggling with
this. Whether or not she thinks it's wrong, she knows Antius truly believes in God, and wants to do the right thing.
Bored yet? Proabably, and I'm sorry if you are. But Altared States has inspired me to do a lot of thinking.
Xena and Antius continue to debate. Antius tells Xena that she is asking him to deny his God. Xena counters she is asking him to spare his son. Actually, she's doing both, although her motives are for the right reasons.
I very much like Antius' response..."And teach him what? That faith is just for those times when it's convenient to believe? That when it gets hard and it hurts to keep your faith you let it go until it gets easier again? What's the good of sparing
his life if I rob him of the very thing that makes it worth living?" I wish I had written that!
Xena's only response is telling Anitus he knows she'll stop him. Antius says he knows she'll try, then as he walks away and mutters, thre's a part deep inside him that hopes she'll succeed. Another nice touch!
Xena escorts Ikus and Anitus home, then everyone goes on red alert when there's a pounding on the door. Xena immediately recognizes Gabbers' voice. She pulls open the door and rudely grabs Gabs (heh heh...nice rhyme), as she rushes
past. If Xena hadn't stopped her, would Gabs have just kept going until she went out the back door?
Okay, I know it's really really stupid, but Gabs always cracks me up with the next bit...Xena admonishes she told Gabs to stay in the cave, but Gabs tells her this rock told her she needed to find Xena. "The rock spoke to you," Xena repeats
with a "yeah sure" attitude. Okay...here it comes..."Well, yeah, his voice was a little gravelly, but I understood." Hee hee! That terrible pun makes me giggle every time!
After Ikus looks out, sees the bad guys approaching, and rushes outdoors, I couldn't quite figure him out. Xena follows, asking him repeatedly what the problem was. She had spent the entire episode trying to keep him safe,
and suddenly he turns on her, telling her that she is the problem. That is the one moment I didn't like Ikus.
While Xena is digesting this, her sixth sense kicks in and she bursts back in the house. How did she know?
Gabs is still heavily drugged, obviously. And she's jealous because Xena always gets to go with the bad guys?
Kind of interesting how Gabs hangs on to Xena's breastplate, her thighs wrappped around her on the trip up.
Xena's "No, no, loving every minute of it" is enigmatical too.
The rope Xena is shown climbing is different from the rope at the top of the well.
Check out Xena's expression as Gabs crawls the rest of the way up her body and over her head to get out of the well. It looks like Gabs'
boot catches her upside the head. Gabs has gone from being sick thirty seconds earlier to being eager to continue. "What's next?'
Why does Xena seem to have so much trouble negotiating the rope bridge? I thought she was a tightrope walker!
I like Mael's look of consternation as Xena finally finds her sense of balance. It's the Battle of the Sneers, Part 2.
What is up with Mael's "Let God's will be done?" Does he suddenly convert?
Love Xena's tormenting of Gabs' hangover..."How's the head?" heh heh!
And, of course, I love the "if you didn't do it, who did?" ending?
All in all, I'd rate Altared States a first-class episode. Despite dealing with such serious subject manager, it contains some very funny moments.
Renee O'Connor shows that, like Lucy, she has a natural gift for comedy.
Here's what Gary thought of this one:
This is one of the fun episodes in the first season,in which we see Gabby as
truly funny and Xena with her usual sense of humor.
It opens up with the dialogue between Xena and Gabby at a lake.We see their
clothes on branches,so we know the girls are skinny-dipping.
We hear Xena talking,among the laughter,and Gabby saying..."How's that?".
Xena: "Very good...you're getting the hang of it. Come on Gabrielle...you've
been waiting to do this for ages...just reach under this rock and give it
your best shot." We see Xena with a dreamy smile...we are to think the girls
are doing something naughty,but it is only Gabby using her bare hands to
catch a fish,which she does,just like Xena.
RenPics used double-entendres when they were not beating us over the head
with the subtext stuff in the early years...it was just for fun and to keep
us guessing.
A young boy from what I call The Headband Tribe(everyone,including a bald
guy wears one)is being chased by some of his tribe. Xena and Gabby arrive to
help,with Xena emerging naked from the water and the goon staring at her
nakedness. Xena says" Didn't your mother ever teach you
that it's rude to stare?"
I thought it would have been better to say it's rude to point,heh-heh.
Anyway,Xena uses a string of fish to beat about seven guys into
submission,and Gabby dressed,too,fights them with her staff.
They save the kid...amazing how fast Xena got dressed,too. She tells the
thug that it was her Maternal Instincts(hint of another show) that made her
interfere.
The kid is brought to a cave Xena used in the past when she was a bad
princess.
The dad,Antius,wants to kill the son because his god tells him to do it.He
does not want to ,but the unseen one-god he worships says to do it as soon
as possible.
Xena leaves the kid and Gabby in the cave so she can find out the story. The
kid,Icus,gives Gabby some nutbread,which she devours.
Maiel,the older son,is the leader of the thugs and wants the kid dead.This
is because the dad wants the young son to be the leader after dad dies,but
older brother wants to be the leader...just jealousy.
Maiel whips up the mob to kill Xena,since she is hiding the
kid.Meanwhile,Gabby is trying to tell the kid stories,and when Gabby falls
over with henbane being in the nutbread,Icus goes for help. He didn't know
older bro poisoned it,and is poisoning dad,too,to make him believe he is
hearing the word of god to kill Icus.
The kid is gone when Xena comes back to the cave,and Gabby looks dead,but is
just out of it,and hallucinates. She exclaims that Xena is beautiful,and
runs thru emotions of crying and orders an unseen chorus to sing. This was a
cute scene,and ROC did it well.
Man,I still miss Gabby's long hair.
Xena goes back to rescue the kid,and does so with a rope as the thugs go
thru a narrow pass.The dad is praying at the altar,and we hear thunder and a
voice,supposedly of god.
Back from the cave,Xena meets dad,and they all go home.Xena brings Icus home
to his mom,and then Gabby arrives,in an agitated state,and acts
irrational.Xena grabs her by the hair,pretty cruel,I think,and asks why she
left the cave. Xena goes outside with the kid,who now thinks dad is right to
kill him because his god wants it.
Back inside,Maiel has a dagger at Gabby's throat and will kill her unles
Xena agrees to let the kid go. The girls are tossed down a well,and they
grab the rope.The bucket falls from the end of the rope,which was strange.
Dad and son go to the altar,while the girls escape from the well.If Maiel
wanted the girls dead,why didn't he cut the rope? They were thrown down the
well,so how could he think they would not survive...the grabbing of the rope
was always possible.
At the altar are the thunder and the god-voice,which is really Maiel with a
metal magaphone. He says to kill Icus. Xena couldn't stop him from saying
that,but I think she could have hit him with her Chakram first. She crosses
the rope bridge as Maiel cuts the ropes one by one.Xena jumps at the last
minute and gets behind him. He grabs the rope and will not be rescued...he
dies by falling on purpose because his god wants it.
The Headband Tribe believes in Heaven,not the Elysisn Fields.As dad goes to
stab Icus,Xena throws the Chakram,and a voice tells him to not kill the kid.
He stops and the Chakram magically comes back to Xena...this item has a mind
of its own and I wish TPTB explained how it really worked.
All is well at the end. Gabby didn't get to speak with the megaphone,so they
look towards the heavens as if a god new to them did it.
In conclusion,this show was good in most respects,as were all in the first
three years. I did like David Ackroyd as the father,and the mom sort of had
an Irish brougue.
We see Karl Urban as Maiel,and he later played Caesar,and then Cupid.
The best scenes were in the cave with Gabby carrying on with one emotion
after another,and also when they were climbing out of the well.
And as for Andrew's thoughts;
A good episode, with a plot (very) loosely based on the Old Testament story of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael.
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XENA AND GABRIELLE
My, my, what CAN the girls be up to in the lake? Apparently, Gabby's been wanting to try it for a long time... As it turns out, they're just trout tickling, the first in an occasional series of fishy jokes. This is also the first deliberately scripted "subtext" gag in the series, poking gentle fun at those fans who were already indulging in unfounded speculation as to the nature of Xena's relationship with Gabrielle. Unfortunately, things later got out of hand, with many of those same fans taking the subtext gags as "proof" of a lesbian partnership. TPTB eventually gave in to their relentless pressure, and the relationship became overtly sexual in Season 6. These, however, were more innocent days...
Xena's many skills include the use of fish in hand-to-hand (or should that be hand-to-fin?) combat. Gabrielle is obviously well brought up - she says "Excuse me" before clobbering a zealot. Xena's reference to her "maternal instinct" would take on a new and tragic meaning in Season 3.
Gabrielle is heard telling stories again, this time her take on BEWARE GREEKS BEARING GIFTS. We also learn she has a weakness for nutbread, which proves her undoing. When Xena hears that Maell specially prepared some nutbread for Antaeus she immediately suspects foul play, but is too late to prevent Gabrielle from eating an entire loaf. The dramatic moment when she finds her friend collapsed on the cave floor leads on to the funniest scene of the entire season. Gabby's "henbane trip" is just hilarious! My favourite exchanges?
X: "Can you stand?"
G: "You mean I'm not?"
and:
X: "Stay here and wait for me to get back. Have I made myself clear?"
G: "Uh, n-n-no, you're a lit-tle fuzzy around the edges, so keep trying, you'll get there!"
I love Gabby's graceless collapse when she realises she's lost Icus, and her efforts to conduct the stalagmite choir. This episode shows that Xena and Gabrielle were capable of generating their own comic relief in an otherwise tense story, without the addition of such characters as Joxer.
The escape from the well also has some funny lines, for example:
G: "My stomach doesn't feel so good."
X: "Don't even think about it!"
Xena's expression after Gabrielle clambers over her to safety speaks volumes!
Xena looks amazed when her chakram toss misses Antaeus's arm. She obviously hadn't expected divine intervention, and thought the voice she heard telling Antaeus to spare Icus was Gabrielle's. Her final line in the episode, "If you didn't do it, then who...?" leaves both her and Gabby gazing uneasily at the sky.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
The title is a clever play on "altar" and the movie "Altered States", in which a scientist experiments with hallucinogenic mushrooms. This ties in with both the sacrifice of Icus and Gabrielle's misadventure with nutbread.
It'll be a long time before Icus forgets the sight of Xena emerging from the lake - nothing like that ever happened to me when I was twelve!
Karl Urban looks VERY young in this episode, quite different from his later appearances as Caesar and Cupid. Maell really isn't one for equal rights. In the space of a minute he calls Xena "unnatural', "an affront to God", "a complete abomination" and a "freak of nature". He also refers to Gabrielle as "her scrawny little companion". SCRAWNY?! Sorry, my personal bias is showing...
Antaeus is well cast. He really comes over as a man torn between his love for his son and his devotion to his God.
LITTLE PROBLEMSJust how long did it take the zealots to construct that roadblock? It looks awfully elaborate to me - and why didn't they think to station some men on the other side?
I'm pretty sure that being caught as she plummeted down the well would have dislocated Gabby's shoulder, but what the heck? It was still a good scene!
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XWP really hit its stride late in Season 1. This episode is a great combination of drama, comedy and action, with Renee O'Connor in particular having the chance to show off her comic skills. It also proves that Xena doesn't have to be saving the world every week - here she and Gabrielle help just one small family, but it's enough to make an entertaining story.
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