Death Mask
I must say, Cyrene sure raised some good looking kids!
I love Gabrielle's timing...she must have talked to her psychic...She talks about wanting to learn to catch arrows and next thing you know, she gets the chance to practice!
Was Gabs really running from the bad guy, or had she spotted the stone from a distance and knew she wanted to use it for some fancy footwork? I'm not so sure.
Xena acted like she didn't notice the bad guy had a mask on until she had knocked him unconscious. I would have thought she would have noticed earlier.
I know Xena likes to keep secrets, but I'm very surprised Xena had never told Gabbers about Cortese. Gabs acted as if she was hearing it for the first time.
Nice sympathetic wince by Xena when Gabs knocks out the bad guy!
Cortese's bad guys in action look more like party animals than marauders. They didn't seem to be doing much damage.
Malik looks an awful lot like Gene Simmons without his KISS makeup.
Toris must have hearing like his sister. He could hear her from awfully far away!
I like this bit of conversation:
Gabs: If you shot ten arrows at me, how many do you think I'd miss?
Xena: Only one.
Gabs: That can be a problem, huh?
Reminds me of the old joke:
Lady: Do these airplanes crash often?
Pilot: No Ma'am, only once.
Xena's brother is wow, very good looking! But I find it hard to believe Xena didn't recognize his voice, or at least think it sounded familiar.
I love the shot of Xena before the first commercial break...First she's surprised to see her brother, then the surprise moves into the Warrior Princess sneer.
Gab's chicken is missing her sisters seventeen herbs and spices? Colonel Lila!
Nice attempt by Gabs to keep the peace. It's pretty obvious both brother and sister are pretty darn stubborn!
Gabs refers to Argo as a "he". I thought we were past that.
Also, when Argo's name is mentioned...she whinnies. Cue the horse!
Xena remembers Toris likes drumsticks...guess she hasn't totally put him out of her mind.
I like the hand Gabs' puts on Xena's arm for a little moral support. We know whose side she's on!
In a way, Toris has a tough row to hoe. His younger sister is an overachiever.
There is a whole lot more resemblance between Xena and Toris than there is between Xena and Lyceus. I find it easy to believe Xena and Toris are siblings.
They are virtually the same height.
And stand up at the same speed. It's so important to notice things like that! Heh heh!
Lyceus is definitely the sore spot between Toris and Xena, which is understandable.
Xena says she would say "fight" again, because it was their village. That's a powerful statement! Does that mean she would be willing to go through
Lyceus's death again, as well as her becoming a warlord?
Xena refers to "that mother whose baby you saved." That was certainly no baby!
I love it when Gabs unloads on Xena! So does Xena, surprisingly enough. She goes from being suprised to being amused by the bard's attitude.
And I have to giggle when Gabs concludes with, "I'm sorry you had to witness that, Toris."
All right, Xena, now focus real hard...now just flex your...uh...muscles and launch that breast dagger. Even I have a hard time with the absurdity of that one!
Xena truly has many skills!
I love Xena's bored, not impressed look with Malik. She has that down to an artform!
"Right to it...I like that." So do I!
It seems kind of ironic that Toris is worried about Xena while Gabs isn't.
How many warriors is Xena up against? Toris tells her 15, maybe 20, like that could be a problem. "She'll be here," Gabs says with confidence.
Love Xena's "Oh, they're lying around here somewhere" in reference to the guards.
Toris has a mighty big mouth...he could learn a lesson on skirting the issue from his sister.
Xena winked at the king's number one guy! I liked his buzz cut, but what's up with the wink?
Mr. Buzz Cut takes Xena and Toris's weapons and sets them down...oh...about ten feet from their owners.
I just realized how Toris got his name. Standing next to calm, cool, and collected Xena, his flaring nostrils are breathing out steam like a bull!
Cortese is the number one enemy of Xena? What a weak idiot!! Cortese, not Xena, heh heh.
These bad guys are just way too stupid. Six, count 'em, six of them run into the hole Xena opened up...they ran in single file!
It's weird picturing Xena and her brothers having towel fights!
Toris just watches in amazement as Xena deters the king's guards with her towel; I would have been doing the same thing.
Great delivery by Xena on the simple line, "Huh...let's go!"
She just toweled the bad guys up against the window, and then she and Toris dove out the same window...with no bad guys in sight!
Why does Malik always talk with his crotch stuck out? Does he think there's a microphone down there?
It took Toris long enough to figure out he was a coward! Xena knew it all along!
It was understandable that Toris thought he would die.
There's a shot of Xena and Toris during this big confession scene where the two of them could almost be twins. They both have the same angular faces.
Why does the lady behind Gabs at the town meeting have a blue face? It's blue, I tell ya! She must be part Smurf!
And another guy has a painted black face. Did they throw a costume party and not invite our intrepid travelers?
It sure didn't take long for Toris to spill his guts when captured by Malik. It took...oh...about three minutes.
Malik thinks he'll get a little revenge on Xena by punching her. She retalitates with a hard head ram. Some bad guys will never learn!!
Toris has a lot of mood swings. He was getting along with Xena earlier, and now, in the prison, he's angry again.
Kinda cool the way Xena admits the difference between her and Toris might be in her head.
Xena says Cortese is "on the big comfy chair." I don't know why, but I find that hysterical every time!
Then she and Toris use twin "thigh locks of doom" to escape from their confinements.
Why were they tied up with ropes instead of being chained up? Couldn't afford chains in the dungeon?
Has Toris ever killed before? They talk as if he hasn't.
Please, someone tell me what the point of Xena and Toris going back-to-back and flipping the other over is during the fight!. It serves no
purpose whatsoever!
If I hadn't already mentioned it, Cortese is just too much of a weenie to be any kind of a threat.
What kind of message was Xena thinking of giving Toris to give to Cyrene?
I thought the goodbye between Xena and Toris was very tender. Made me believe they still loved each other despite all their differences.
They left on good terms...why don't we ever see Toris again?
All-in-all, this episode was a disappointing one. I did like the developing scenes between Xena and her older brother, but the villain was just
way too annoying to be threatening. I would have expected Cortese to be a formidable opponent...Xena could have handled this idiot
with both hands tied to her saddlehorn. Makes me wonder how untrained she was when Cortese attacked Amphipolis.
Still, I would have liked to have seen Toris again. He was only referred to in one other episode in the series and that's when Xena speaks
lovingly of her "brothers" in Old Ares Had a Farm.
And here are Gary's thoughts:
This episode starts off with the typical evil warlord attacking helpless
villagers,with Xena and Gabby coming to the rescue later..This is occurring
as Xena and Gabby are talking about how Xena seems to know how to feel that
an arrow is being shot at her. Xena says that Gabby must feel with her whole
body and senses.At that instant,a guy wearing a Lone Ranger-style metal mask
attacks with a bow and arrow. Gabby stops it with her staff. Xena fights the
guy as Gabby fights a second attacker. It was strange to see that it took
Xena a long time to get this guy,considering her feats in One Against an
Army. Gabby subdues her attacker in about the same time.
Upon questioning,the second thug says that Cortese is attacking the village.
Xena is infuriated with this,since Cortese is the guy who "razed my village
to the ground"(a bit of a redundancy).
Xena tells Gabby of Lyceus dying trying to save Amphipolis,and Cortese made
Xena feel as though she had to take over adjacent villages as a buffer zone
against further attacks.This set her on her killing ways,and she wants
revenge on the guy.
After Xena and Gabby do their usual fancy butt-kicking at the village,we see
that a guy recognizes Xena. He tells the second-in-command warlord,a real
scruffy-looking slob,that he himself must tell Cortese what he knows about
Xena...Scruffy says that HE will do it...nobody gets to see Cortese but him.
Later,after the dust settles at the village,Xena and Gabby are walking and
see the guy who spotted her. She goes up to him,sword drawn,and he takes off
his mask.It is Toris,Xena's older brother.He is pretending to be part of the
gang so he can get close to Cortese and kill him,and that Xena is going to
spoil his revenge.
Xena and Toris argue at the campsite,and Gabby tries to get them to make
peace.Gabby is left to go to the village again,to guard it,while Toris and
Xena enter into the castle.
They are let in by the guard captain,and are disarmed.
Cortese is not only the warlord,but the king of the area,so he is playing a
double-game. He collects high taxes to "protect" the kingdom,and is himself
the cause of the need for protection.
He has traps set up in the hall,and escapes from the room via a hidden wall.
Xena and Toris escape thru a wimndow,after Xena snaps wet towels at four
guards,and subdues them.
Toris pretends he captured Xena,and brings her to the gang's hideout. She is
pushed into a tent,and Scruffy is about to rape her. She cut the ropes
earlier with her breast dagger,and knocks this guy out.She escapes and goes
back to the village.
Toris had insisted that since he "captured" Xena,that now he has earned the
right to see Cortese. He was told to leave or die.
Toris had confessed that when Cortese attacked Amphipolis years before,he
was scared he would die,and left Xena and brother Lyceus to fight. He has
always regretted being a coward and wants to make up for it.
Xena tells him that revenge is bad,and he can start anew.
Toris is captured and Xena tries to rescue him at the camp,but it is a
trap...she knew that beforehand. Scruffy hits her and she head-butts
him,making him swear vengeance. They are taken to the castle for execution.
The guard captain comes down to the dungeon to tell them he will give them a
merciful death instead of the planned burning at the stake. Toris uses his
legs to grab the captain,and Xena kicks his sword out and catches it with
her feet---pretty facny footwork by both of them. They get loose and tie up
the captain,telling him that Cortese is the warlord. He does not believe it.
Xena knows the captain is lying when he says Cortese is target-shooting at
the archery range,so Toris takes off to kill him. Xena then makes him tell
her the truth. Toris and Xena then have to fight the gang,which was ordered
by Xena's use of a carrier-pigeon message. The guard captain finally
believes the truth when Cortese orders the gang to throw down their arms.
Cortese will face trial later. Scruffy is killed by the captain...a good
thing.
Toris can kill Cortese,if he wants,Xena says,but he will be like him if he
does. He relents,and admits Xena was right.
Toris fought well against a lot of guys,and Gabby eventually showed up with
the Gabwhacker,doing well,too.
Toris wants to go home,and wants Xena to go along. She says Gabby and she
are going in the opposite direction.He leaves,and the girls go on to their
next adventure.
Note:With all Xena's hate for the loss of her village and death of Lyceus,it
was strange that her revenge was not the main theme,and that it was Toris's.
Cortese made Xena the killer she is and she has been the Destroyer of
Nations. I would have thought that there would be a scene where she kills
Cortese in a fair fight,settling things.
Also,Caesar made her a killer,a mindless one...not a killer who did things
to protect her village.
I want to remember Xena as a girl from Amphipolis who had to fight after her
town went up in falmes,and that she got a little carried away
with the town-conquering for a buffer-zone. That would be in keeping with my
perception of someone who was flawed,but wanted redemption. Instead,in
future shows,she has one back-story after another showing us just how
corrupted she was,and that Friend in Need left us hanging.
Here's what Andrew thought of this one:
I didn't care much for this episode at first, but it's grown on me with time.
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XENA AND GABRIELLE.
Gabrielle does very well in this episode, blocking an arrow with her staff, then cleverly grounding it like a pike to let one
of Cortese's raiders run onto it before finishing him off. In all, she drops at least seven bad guys in this episode, as well
as rescuing Leah - not bad for a "little girl from Poteidaia"! She gets quite cocky about the arrow incident, prompting
the following exchange with Xena: .
G: "If you shot ten arrows at me, how many do you think I'd miss?"
X: "Only one." .
Gabrielle's comment to Xena regarding the existence of another brother, "You're full of surprises", is an understatement.
As late as Season 6 (THE RHEINGOLD) Xena is still keeping secrets from her best friend. By then Gabrielle seems resigned
to it. .
Gabby mentions her sister's "17 secret herbs and spices" - Lila invented Poteidaia Fried Chicken? .
I love the way Gabrielle stands up to Xena, before leaving with a dignified "I'm sorry you had to see that, Toris." Xena
later tells Toris "She knows more about wisdeom and justice than you'll ever know." Toris realises that she isn't being manipulated by Xena and admits "She's brave because that's the way she is." .
Xena still isn't ready to return home just yet. She clearly feels she has more amends to make before she can do that. .
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
I laughed out loud when Sera floored one of Cortese's men - pound for pound, there's nothing more dangerous than a mother whose child is in danger! .
There's a great physical similarity between Toris and Xena - they really look like brother and sister. .
The breast dagger (first seen in DREAMWORKER) makes several appearances in this episode, the first of them cleavage-powered!
.
Cortese has a REALLY annoying voice! He's smart, though, running the ultimate protection racket. .
Cortese seems to get on Aescalus' nerves, too. When the "King" tells him "I want them for execution by morning!" he growls "What time?" .
Wet towel flicks - ouch! .
I think the tattoo on Cortese's ankle is the astrological symbol for the planet Saturn. If I'm right, he's probably a Capricorn. .
It's just as well Malik refused to surrender - Aescalus REALLY looked like he needed to kill someone! .
LITTLE PROBLEMS.
Quite a lot here, although most of them are not so much with this episode as with the later revision of Xena's character. .
Xena says of Cortese "I have never stopped looking for him." Really? What about those lengthy excursions to Ch'in and Scandinavia? She continues "It was fighting him that twisted me into what I became", and Cortese says "I created her", yet in DESTINY we see it was Julius Caesar who turned her into a psychopath. Xena later tells Toris "Somewhere, I don't know where, I changed." I know where - it was in Niklio's hut, after M'lila died. .
Xena also lectures Toris on the dangers of premeditated murder, yet that was exactly what she had planned in THE DEBT PART 1, sneaking into Ming T'ien's bedroom to stab him as he slept. .
When Toris refers to Xena as "a warrior from Amphipolis", it's clear Malik has never heard of her. This ties in with THE WARRIOR PRINCESS, in which Hercules was unfamiliar with Xena. She was just another small-time warlord trying to MAKE a name for herself by killing Herc. It was only in later seasons that Xena's reputation was blown out of all proportion. .
Gabrielle appears to call Argo "he" for some reason. .
Messenger pigeons are trained to home on specific locations. They wouldn't have been able to find Cortese's raiding parties unless they always camped in the same place, which would have been virtual suicide. .
When Aescalus goes to look for Cortese after disarming Toris and Xena, he leaves their weapons on the table. What's to keep them from just picking them up again? .
Toris is never seen again, or even referred to until Xena mentions her "brothers" in OLD ARES HAD A FARM. .
************************************************************.
All in all, a good episode. More of Xena's past is revealed, and the later contradictions are caused by TPTB's assumption that fans won't notice the complete reinvention of a character. .
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