A Necessary Evil

I like this one...a lot...it's just a fun romp.

"Does an Amazon Queen beat a Warrior Princess?" Does a full house beat a royal flush?

How could Velasca have survived that fall? No way!

Nice touch for Velasca to eat the ambrosia in fronot of our girls...three times!

Why does it look like she becomes a giant? She isn't any taller, is she?

A long time ago, before I became a fan, I can remember tuning into an episode out of Xena and I was instantly turned off by women running around with white eyes. I realize now, it was THIS episode.

I really for Gabs in her position. She had to be terrified!

The Amazon retreat call is "cuckoo"?

I love the way Xena heals her own arm!...."All better, see?"

"Yeah," intones Ephiny.

Callisto named her friendly neighborhood rat, Hercules. Why did I suddenly get a mental picture of The Nutty Professor?

I know it's Callisto and all, but I still can't believe she killed the rat!

Gabs is pretty fired up at Xena...the bard insists that Xena doesn't know what she is going through.

But Xena isn't backing down though...she must have read the end of the script!

Xena specifically tells Gabrielle not to pull the rope up until she has whistled twice.

Xena made the rope the perfect length to hang a scant inch from the ground. What did she use...echo-location?

"Oh Xena...so glad you could stop by for a little visit." Hee hee!

Xena looks all wonky at Callisto as she threatens to cut Malibu Xena into five easy pieces.

Gabrielle sends the rope down after only ONE whistle. But Xena doesn't chastise her, or even mention it.

That had to be a shock to Gabrielle to have Callisto grab a hold of her!

"Oh yeah, me too, thanks for asking," That's Callisto's witty reply when Gabrielle asks Xena if she's all right.

And Callisto's conversation starter? "How have you been? Any new husbands since the last one I killed?"

Gabs strikes out immediately with the staff...and Xena has to restrain her.

And Callisto admires her for it.

Xena just sits down and watches the scene play out. Very odd.

Xena calls herself "Warrior Princess." She does that in very few episodes.

Xena's apology is heartfelt in some places, but when it's all over, she puts the stoic mask on.

The people of Cirra don't seem to care one way or the other.

Callisto does though...she seems quite affected.

Those white eyes just freak with my head!

Velasca has pierced ears! Is that another benefit of godhood?

Callisto wants Xena? Didn't she just have her?

Velasca-"You must have a death wish."
Callisto-"You know, it's funny. I think I do."

Callisto has most of the clever dialogue in this one!

Should rocks explode from being struck by fire?

So it was all a trick when Callisto changed sides? Was Xena in on it all along?

I guess so, since they did the synchronized rock slide.

I like Xena and Callisto's synchronized sword fighting. They make a formidable team!

It's hard to believe...but here it is...Xena, Gabrielle, and Callisto sharing a camp.

I love the way Callisto sits...it's the same position she'll take in Fallen Angel.

More Callisto dialogue, "All right...we both know how much I love chitchat."

It's interesting Gabs doesn't seem frightened of being left alone with Callisto by the fire.

And it's incredible that Callisto actually gives Gabs a straight answer!

But man, is she mean! That question about Perdicus was so cruel!

Callisto (of course): "We played a game of truth or dare...she's not very good at it."

Xean is so smug! She plays Callisto's game a whole lot better.

How come none of the other gods have white eyes?

I'm waiting on Velasca to quote mighty Isis..."Oh Zephyr winds that blow on high;
Lift me now, so I can fly!"

I would not want to be the one in charge of combing out Callisto's tangled hair!

Xena hollars out Gabbers' name no less than four times during the tornado scene.

New sport at the next Olympics...Tandem pole vaulting!

Man, what's up with that wonky look Xena gets when she looks into the lava pit? It's very weird!!

Velasca-"Strange, but I don't really want to kill you."
Gabrielle-"Go with it."
Me-"Hee hee!"

Why can't SuperXena just fly over the edge of the cliff?

Callisto actually says, "Gimme, gimme."

Gabs doesn't even hesitate when Xena tells her to hand over the ambrosia.

I love Callisto's "Here comes Trouble." Now, THERE'S an understatement!

Among all her other skills, Xena is also a bungee jumper!

But how did she and Gabrielle manage to get back up to the top of the cliff?

So Gabs has forgiven Callisto? Wonder how long that will last?

And Xena doesn't think Callisto is sorry at all. That sounds more like it!

Lots of adventure elements, angst, humor, and surprises make up this episode. It features one of my favorite appearances by Callisto. Hmmm...wonder if she'll be back? Heh heh!

Here are Gary's thoughts on A Necessary Evil...

This episode is the third in the Trillogy: Destiny and the Quest are the first two. This is a story of revenge for the characters.Velasca's desire to kill Gabby for becoming the queen,Callisto's revenge upon Xena,and Gabby and Xena's revenge against Callisto for killing Perdicus.

The story opens with Gabby handing the mask of queenhood to Ephiny to be a stand-in for Gabby while she is away. Ephiny accepts,and says by Amazon law,the queenhood is Gabby's.A humorous part of this serious episode is when Gab asks Xena:"Does an Amazon Queen beat a Warrior Princess?" Xena:"Do you really want to find out?"

Enter Velasca.We saw her fall on the sharp spikes in the Quest,but her hand was reaching for the Ambrosia which survived the fall into the fire. The Amazons see her and draw their swords,but do nothing.Velasca says she has the Ambrosia,and holds it out for at least ten seconds before eating it.You'd expect Xena to have acted more quickly BEFORE Velasca got to be a god,but she waits until it is too late before doing anything except say "Run!".

Velasca throws some pretty slow-moving lightning bolts at Gabby and the Amazons...as usual,they miss,and the women have time to dodge them.Most of the gods seem to have this problem...any Little League pitcher could toss a ball faster.Shouldn't lightning move at the speed of light?

Ephiny has few lines:"Amazons attack...Amazons run!,and coo-coo"(meaning retreat.All run off to the caves.Xena needs to have Ephiny slow Velasca down while she plans to get Callisto out to work for the girls with the promise to make her a goddess with the Ambrosia.We do not know how Xena knows how much Ambrosia Velasca has left,if any.Xena drops down in the ruins where Hercules put Callisto.Since we didn't see the Hercules show where this happened,we just have to go with it.

Xena and Callisto fight...Cal cannot be killed,but Xena tells her that she can still do damage...she can cut her into five pieces for eternity.Note: Cal says to Gabby later that she can't be killed or hurt,but can heal fast,but not in pieces. In Maternal Instincts,Xena cuts off one of Cal's hands,which immediately regenerates...a mistake in the story line. The threat of being in pieces is negated by that scene.

Xena:"She can't be killed...she's an immortal"Gabby:"What are we going to do against a god?"

Well,which is she?

Callisto has the range of emotions that are fascinating...she is vengeful,laughing,insane,and has a cruel sense of humor. She looked and acted almost human when Xena confesses her own crimes at Callisto's demand.

The campfire scene shows Callisto making Gabby miserable in the Truth or Dare part.Gab wants to know if Cal felt anything when Xena confessed. Cal says she does not feel anything anymore,just bits and pieces. Next,Cal asks Gabby how long it took Perdicus to die,and laughs. As she had come out of her imprisonment,she asked Gabby if she had any more husbands...really cruel.

Meanwhile,at Artemis' temple,Velasca says that Artemis abandoned the Amazons.She calls her a fake,and asks her where she was when the Amazon Nation was scattered and dying.She then calls herself the God of Chaos and blows up the temple with a lightning bolt.She called herself Artemis' equal and her enemy.

Near the end,Velasca says she is trying to revive a corpse(the Amazon Nation),and will make the world into whatever she chooses.

The final scene shows Cal grab Velasca and stick a dagger into her while she runs to get the Ambrosia from Gabby. Velasca had already thrown Xena to the opposite side of the lava river...Xena loses her sword.Too bad she didn't throw her Chakram and cut off Velasca's head during this whole episode...it sure would have put a crimp in Velasca's plans.

Velasca had Gabby down and was going to blast her,but thought it would have been more fun to kill her with a dagger. Velasca:"I don't want to kill you."Gabby:"Go with it."

Gaby is told by Xena to give the Ambrosia to Callisto...she does and Cal eats it like an M&M...really fast compared to when Velasca ate her piece of it earlier in the show.The women fight on the bridge,and Xena uses her Chakram to cut the rope,dropping Velasca and Callisto to the lava,fighting all the way down.Gabby falls,too,and Xena dives after her with a rope around her waist,catching her. Later,Gabby asks Xena if Cal was sorry.Xena says no,and Gabby needs to forgive Cal in order to "move on".

This show was mostly action,with Gabby being the hunted,and the Amazons shown mostly in the beginning,and part of the middle.

Velasca wanted to make the Amazon Nation strong again before the big fight in Quest...she wanted their greatness back,but Gabby spoiled her plans by showing up to claim her mask of queenship.I believe that Velasca went wrong in her vengeful way,against Gabby,the Amazons who opposed her,and against her goddess,Artemis. Her pride and rage made her evil.Contrast this with Varia in Season 6,who wanted a strong Amazon Nation.Too bad most of them go killed trying to rescue Varia.

A Necessary Evil isn't as good as Destiny and the Quest,but closed the loop in the trillogy,much better than the Valkyrie trillogy did.

 And here's what Andrew thought:

Xena and Gabrielle are forced to enlist the help of an old enemy to fight Velasca, who is now a god, in the concluding chapter of this trilogy.

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XENA AND GABRIELLE

Gabrielle is first seen making Ephiny her regent - a good choice. Ephiny makes it clear, however, that Gabrielle is still the true Amazon Queen. After Velasca's first attack there's a funny scene when Ephiny points out that Xena's arm is dislocated. The Warrior Princess slams her shoulder against a rock and says "All better now - see?" I love the humour in this show! Xena tells Ephiny to send the wounded to stay with Tyldus, the centaur leader who appeared in HOOVES AND HARLOTS. Xena and Gabrielle are in conflict over using Callisto against Velasca - Gabby is still haunted by her husband's death, and says she will be for the rest of her life.

Xena later confesses to a group of townsfolk that she destroyed Cirra. Interestingly, she explicitly states that she ordered her men to sack the town, burn it and kill every living thing. This is in direct contrast to what she said in CALLISTO. Bearing in mind the flashbacks to Xena's past in later episodes, however, I think it likely that the version given here is more accurate.

Gabrielle is prepared to be used as bait to draw Velasca to the lava pit, even if it means sacrificing herself, but Xena is having none of it. She says: "Sacrificing you is not part of the plan - not even close!" Gabby is able to find it in her heart to forgive Callisto. Xena is not, perhaps because she still feels guilt over leaving Callisto alive to murder Perdicas.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

Velasca is clearly a drama queen. She could have taken a second mouthful of ambrosia before entering the village, but prefers to wait and let the Amazons see her transformation. This works against her, as she does not have enough power to destroy the village in her first assault. Ephiny and Solari make a good team, giving Xena enough time to find Callisto and enlist her aid.

After her defeat at Hercules' hands, Callisto now appears almost totally insane. She takes a childlike glee in acts of violence, and enjoys taunting Gabrielle about Perdicas' death. Xena almost gets through to her when she confesses to the destruction of Cirra, but it appears she's too far gone. She tells Gabrielle that she doesn't really feel anything any more, then twists the knife by asking her how long Perdicas took to die. Callisto is cruel, treacherous, yet also a great deal of fun - note the playful wink she gives Gabby while waiting for Velasca.

Velasca believes Artemis abandoned the Amazons to their fate, destroying one of her temples before turning into a whirlwind to hunt Gabrielle. Her final encounter with Callisto gives the episode its best lines. The first is Velasca's exasperated "Oh, she's gotta go!" after Callisto stabs her, closely followed by the latter's "Here comes trouble!" Oddly enough, the new goddess seems to be as strong as Velasca - her time as an immortal probably allowed her to adjust to godhood more easily.

MUSICAL HIGHLIGHTS

"Callisto Becomes a God" is an impressive piece. I'm glad it was featured on the second CD.

LITTLE PROBLEMS

Amazon technology is really advanced - Velasca's belt pouch has a press stud fastener!

Velasca throws a lot of lightning bolts around, yet Xena and several Amazons manage to dodge them AFTER they've been released! I'm sorry, but that's just not possible.

The Amazon "retreat" signal is "cuckoo"? The mind boggles!

This episode illustrates the main problem with crossover storylines - unless you've seen the "Hercules" episode SURPRISE, you'll have no idea how Callisto escaped from Tartarus and wound up in that cavern as an immortal with a scar on her face. We're also left to assume that Hercules stopped by the Amazon village to pay his respects (Iolaus was going to tell him that Xena was dead in THE QUEST, remember?) and told Xena about his encounter with Callisto. By the way, does that scar on Callisto's face look like a burn to you? It's certainly raised, but it looks more like it was left by an edged weapon.

So now we know it - Xena invented bungee jumping! How did she and Gabby get back up, though? I can only assume that Gabrielle climbed up Xena's body as she did in ALTARED STATES, then Xena swung herself up to follow.

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A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy begun in DESTINY and continued in THE QUEST. Velasca makes an impressive opponent, and it's always good to see our favourite psycho in action! I can't help thinking TPTB would have done better to stick to stand alone adventures and short story arcs like this one, rather than the season-long sagas of later years in which the characters were sacrificed for the sake of the plot. In my opinion, these episodes show XWP at its best.

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