For Him the Bell Tolls
This episode has the disctinction of being my absolutely LEAST favorite episode of all time. I like very little about it, and
could barely sit through it to jot down some notes.
Xena didn't sound patronizing to me. Gabrielle seemed to think so, but I didn't hear it in Xena's tone.
And Joxer's warcry...eesh...Xena's warcry is frightening, but Joxer's is just plain terrifying!
He reminds me of a big kid playing soldier.
Gabs has REALLY got to get over the sidekick issue!
"What would Xena do in a situation like this?"
"Like what?"
"Like...uh...walking..."
"Don't worry...no one's going to get your rear." Now THAT's funny!
I'll have to go back to check on this, but Joxer meets Aphrodite in this one. Doesn't he act like he doesn't know her in If the Shoe Fits?
I never noticed Joxer having a white shirt on under his duds....at least not a clean one!
"My sword is always ready to pleasure you." Ouch! Chalk that line up with "I need your sword in my service right now."
Cupid is a goof in this one...I liked him much better in A Comedy of Eros.
Prince Amadon is played by the same actor who played Bellapheron as well as the king from Key to the Kingdom.
I wonder if Alexandra Tydings ever feels silly running around in a negligee?
Where did Joxer's husky voice come from?
Seeing Joxer wet isn't exactly the same thing as seeing Xena and Gabrielle wet. I like Joxer fine, but cannot view him as a sex
symbol no matter how heroic he appears to be.
I like the way Gabrielle squirts water on Joxer and whats-her-face like they were a couple of dogs.
Then she has to physcially jump in the middle to seperate them...I'll bet they had an interesting evening together.
And what boring episode would be complete without multiple verses of Joxer the Mighty?
Cupid to Gabs- "What's your name, Little Girl?" I'm surprised Gabbers didn't get riled by that!
There were sure a lot of bells in that town! Too bad Gabrielle couldn't get a clear shot at any of them!
But when she does finally get the chance, she makes a terrific throw! Why couldn't she throw better in later episodes such as Old Ares
Had a Farm and A Good Day?
I did kind of like the scene where Joxer points out he's been fighting with his left hand.
That was some kiss Joxer gave Gabs!
After all Joxer went through in this episode, through no fault of his own, it was mean of Aphrodite to call him "idiot".
The blonde woman Joxer gets the hankie from is in Meg's tavern in Warrior...Priestess...Tramp. Just felt like pointing that out.
Xena-"The gods can't give us anything that isn't in our hearts." I'm going to have to give that statement some thought.
And I loved her line to Joxer..."You calling me a liar?" Joxer may not be the brightest guy in the world, but he isn't THAT dumb!
At the very end, it's obviously NOT Lucy walking away with Renee and Ted.
And that's all I'm going to say about that one!
Here are Gary's thoughts:
This fun episode was a direct take-off on the old Danny Kaye movie,The Court
Jester,which RenPics gave credit for at the end.
This is mostly a Xena-lite ep. with Gabby amd Joxer having some pretty
snappy dialogue,with a subplot of Joxer being the true warrior he always
dreamed of.
Aphrodite and her son Cupid have a bet that Aphrodite can make anybody
fall in love with anyone at random. The goddess cheats a bit when she
appears to Joxer and gives him a silver bell to hand to a princess as a
wedding gift.Joxer guesses who the goddess is,and trots off after Gabby,who
is way ahead of him on the road.
They arrive at a clearing where some thugs are attacking a group of
girls,and Gabby fights with her staff while Joxer,upon hearing the bell he
carries,turns into a fighting machine,doing impossible stunts and fighting
with a Xena-like ferocity. After the fight,he bumps his head and the bell rings,changing him back to the bumbler he really is.
Gabby could not believe that he actually did those feats,and the princess is
enthralled with him. All the handmaidens are in love with him,too,and the
princess,who is engaged to a rival kingdom's prince,wants Joxer instead of
her intended.
The prince meets Joxer,who is making eyes at the princess. The prince has
arranged a marriage ceremony as a surprise for the princess,and Joxer is so
attractive to the princess,esp. when the bell rings,changing him to a
dashing figure. The princess says she loves Joxer,and the prince fights
Joxer,losing the swordfight. Joxer lets him go and Gabby,the princess and
Joxer run off.
Meanwhile,the two kings are readying for the wedding of their kids,and are
told about Joxer stealing away the princess. They vow war against each other
if this betrayal continues,and the prince's dad sends men out to find the
three.
In a cave,Gabby is trying to stop Joxer and the girl from making out,and
ends up throwing cold water on them.She has to interpose herself between
them at the end,their attraction is so strong because of the pesky bell.
The king's men catch Gabby and the princess,plus Joxer. The bell had rung at
the last minute,changing Joxer back into the coward,so he faints,making it
easy for himself to be taken.
At the jail,Joxer is condemned to be beheaded. Gabby manages to escape,and
leaves the chained Joxer in the cell.
The princess pleads for Joxer's life,but the prince says she loves Joxer,and
not him. She denies this,but he says no anyway. Joxer is led out to the block,and Gabby is there to try to save him. If he can just hear a bell,he will change brave again and can escape.
Gabby searches for a bell as the axe begins to fall...it seems to take
forever in this scene.....she eventually hits a bell with a rock,and Joxer
is the brave guy again. He fights a lot of bad guys,and ends up kissing
Gabby as he fights. She swoons a bit,falling under his warrior-spell,then
shakes her head,saying "That was scary."
The fight goes into Aphrodite's temple,where all kinds of Aph's stuff is
being broken. The goddess arrives with Gabby and hates the destruction.
Gabby tells Aph over and over to take off the spell and the mayhem will
stop. If she does not,Gabby will take Joxer on a destruction tour of all
Aph's temples and Aph gives in. Joxer is knocked out and the fight ends.
It seems as if all is resolved at once. Nobody tries to kill Joxer anymore.
I guess we are to assume Aph told the kings what happened. Joxer and Gabby
leave,and so ends the story.
Notes: Joxer was pretty funny in this ep. and Gabby was a perfect
straight-woman for his "brave" scenes. She looked really puzzled,and the
kiss scene was a good one.
Some of the stunts were not done well,because the stunt-double was
apparent,and even tho the plot line was simple,it could have used another
dimension...maybe an appearance by Xena solving things,or a reconciliation
by the two kings.It just seemed to end too abrubtly.
The best scene for me was Gabby trying to find a bell that was not blocked
by somebody's head. She reminded me of the scene in Warrior-Priestess-Tramp
where Gabby tried to put out the fire when the priestess Leah was being
burned at the stake.
This ep. could have been entitled: For Him the Belle Falls.
And as for Andrew's thoughts:
Gabrielle has to keep on her toes to foil Aphrodite's little schemes in this swashbuckling comedy. Joxer, meanwhile, seems to think he's Danny Kaye... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *XENA AND GABRIELLEXena hardly features in this episode, filmed during Lucy Lawless's recuperation from her hip injury. Her stand-in is shot from behind for the walking scenes. Xena has received a call from King Lias (seen in WARRIOR...PRINCESS and WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP), and leaves Gabrielle to her own devices for a couple of days. Gabby feels undervalued and patronised by her friend's comment "I sure you're up to the challenge ", but I'm certain Xena was sincere. It's clear that, even after the events of THE QUEST, Gabrielle still has a self-image problem. She tells Joxer she's "a sidekick - obviously expendable when push comes to shove", but she's learned a lot about being a hero from her time with Xena. Unlike Joxer, she knows it isn't just a case of "righting wrongs and singing songs".The fight with the ruffians is the only time I can recall seeing Gabby's "twist and somersault" manoeuvre fail - of course, it's necessary for the plot, so that Joxer can rescue the girls. She quickly realises something is not right when Joxer starts being heroic, alternating between his new persona and his usual self. Her efforts to keep Joxer and the lovestruck Ileandra apart are hilarious - even cold water doesn't work! Gabby soon deduces that the sound of the bell around Ileandra's neck (or indeed any bell) triggers Joxers transformations. When she learns that he met Aphrodite earlier, the parts of the puzzle fall into place. She breaks out of prison and goes after the culprit. She soon overcomes her initial awe at meeting the Goddess of Love, and comes up with a plan of her own. Gabrielle's rescue of Joxer is both dramatic and comical, and her "spit ball" with a rock would make Xena hang up her chakram in disgust! The funniest moment of the episode comes when "heroic" Joxer kisses Gabby and she falls briefly under his spell - the totally "ga-ga" expression on her face is amazing! Nevertheless, she slaps herself out of it and has Joxer carry the fight into Aphrodite's temple. Mayhem ensues, and Gabby threatens to take him around ALL Aphrodite's temples (trashing them one by one) unless the spell is lifted. Finally defeated, the Goddess of Love agrees, and Joxer is his old self once more. Even at the end Gabrielle is self-effacing, saying "I'm just an over-achieving sidekick", but Joxer recognises her as a true hero. Her hopes that Joxer will no longer be so deluded are dashed, however, by Xena's well-intentioned intervention. Her pep talk causes Joxer to revert fully to the character he was at the beginning of the episodeGENERAL OBSERVATIONSAs stated in the disclaimer, this episode is a tribute to the great entertainer Danny Kaye, especially his classic movie "The Court Jester". Joxer is the Kaye character, transformed every time he hears a bell ring. I have to say I liked his "heroic" outfit - I wish he'd kept it instead of that silly -looking armour! He shows a more serious side to his nature, however, when Gabrielle sighs "Don't you just love happy endings?" and he replies "Yeah - but just once I'd like to have a happy ending". He may appear foolish, but Joxer has feelings that can be hurt. He also cleverly asks to hear a bell ringing as he's about to be executed - too bad his last request is refused! Having experienced what it's like to be a hero, Joxer realises he doesn't fit the bill. He tells Gabrielle "You're the hero here, even I know that - I don't even rate sidekick." Whether this revelation would have had any lasting effect remains a mystery, but Xena is right about Joxer having "the heart of a lion". On several occasions he tackles opponents too strong for him - Callisto in RETURN OF CALLISTO, his brother Jett in THE KING OF ASSASSINS, Xena in THE BITTER SUITE and Livia in EVE - simply because it's "the right thing to do".This episodes marks Aphrodite's first appearance in XWP, together with her son Cupid. Both characters are great fun to watch, and clearly have separate agendas. Cupid is all in favour of happy endings, but Aphrodite sees a bigger picture - "Love isn't just about happy endings. There's also jealous love, unrequited love, and tragic love." Both deities are somewhat condescending towards Gabrielle. Aphrodite calls her a "goody two-shoes" and Cupid addresses her as "little girl", but they soon learn to respect the bard as she thwarts Aphrodite's plans. The Goddess of Love undergoes a great deal of character development as the series progresses, showing that she's more than just an Olympian "valley girl" - MOTHERHOOD being a prime example. Cupid, sadly, appears in only one other episode. Some funny moments to look out for: The sound of bowling pins going down as Joxer send a ruffian rolling downhill;
>>Aphrodite's line "I'm so good - when I'm bad I'm better" - VERY Mae West!
>>Her anguished cry "Not my vase from Thrace!" - another nod to "The Court Jester", which featured a "flagon with a dragon" gag. MUSICAL HIGHLIGHTS"The Ballad of Joxer the Mighty" is heard in several different versions throughout the series, notably WARRIOR...PRIESTESS...TRAMP..., but the definitive version from the soundtrack CDs is played here over the end credits. I have to admit it's insidiously catchy - my favourite line is, of course, the one about Gabby "fighting with her little stick"!FAMILIAR FACESKarl Urban (Maell in ALTARED STATES and Caesar...Julius Caesar in DESTINY) is almost unrecognisable as Cupid, thanks to a blonde dye job, designer stubble and a "surf dude" persona. When addressing Gabrielle, however, he sounds more like Caesar. LITTLE PROBLEMSJust where is this episode set? It can't be more than a day's ride from Lias' kingdom, but the locals wear turbans and saris. They also use remarkably modern-looking fencing foils! How does Gabrielle deduce that ANY bell will transform Joxer, not just the one he gave Ileandra? Feminine intuition? Perhaps the scene explaining this was cut for length. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *A thoroughly enjoyable romp, which avoids making the principal characters look stupid. Gabrielle comes over as intelligent and insightful, and even "regular" Joxer has his moments. This is in contrast to comedy episodes from later seasons, in which Gabrielle fares particularly badly. See THE KING OF ASSASSINS, THE QUILL IS MIGHTIER and THE PLAY'S THE THING if you don't believe me. Don't even bother with MARRIED WITH FISHSTICKS!
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