This one skyrocketed its way into my personal top ten list the first time I saw it. I was actually captivated by The Price.
Even the music starts out great...Joseph LoDuca is the best! My pulse was pounding from the first seconds. The footage of the lush green countryside will be used many times on X:WP. It reminds me of the Amazon rain forest. I know Lucy's an avid fisherman...she had to get a kick out of this first scene.I like Gabs' "You'll go to a far, far better place", before she licks her lips. Xena tells her, "Don't talk to your breakfast." Wouldn't she be doing the exact same thing in Fins, Femmes, and Gems? Gabrielle has a theory that we all came from the ocean. I'd like to hear how she arrived at that! The second Xena hears the word "Horde," she becomes slightly freaked out. In light of what she's seen of them, I can't blame her. Xena commands "Run!" and Gabrielle responds with "What?" That's not surprising...it isn't often that the Warrior Princess calls for a retreat. "The canoe...get to the rivah!" Lucy's accent slip is very obvious, and is the first of many in this episode. Xena chakrams the Horde's canoe...it hits near the top. Would that cause the canoe to sink as it does? This is an episode I wish I had written. I find it to be extremely well-written and a fascinating character study. The Horde had pretty sophisticated axes for being so barbaric! Note that Xena says "Gabrielle" with the long a sound, as she does in the early episodes. Xena gives Gabrielle fair warning that things are going to get worse, but apparently, Gabrielle doesn't understand what that means. I don't blame her...Xena is soon going to be acting very differently than she's used to. The Hordes are cannibals, which bring a natural fear and hatred out in people. It's not surprising that Xena feels there's no way to communicate with them. I always love that shot of the Horde guy slowly coming out of the water, ala Apocalypse Now.And the one who is camouflaged in the trees is even cooler. I really have to look for him to spot him. Thank the gods the members of the Horde have such lousy aim!Gabrielle is rowing the canoe on the same side as the Horde...big mistake. And I promise this isn't going to be a "pick on Gabrielle" review, but could she really get leverage sitting in the canoe with her legs stretched out straight in front of her? "Do as I say!" Xena's already getting very bossy. Why, oh why, would Gabs go back to the canoe to retrieve her bag? I don't think she understands the danger. But, at least she ducked when Xena ordered her to. Check out the Horde guy who's paddling the boat with his hands after Xena axed his companion. The boat is moving in the wrong direction!That move where Xena catches the thrown axe with her whip and sends it flying back to the owner is very cool! Xena utters words that are chillingly prophetic, "If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die the way I am, a warrior with a sword in my hand." Xena is known as the Warrior Princess of Calmai? I've never heard of that. I like it when she tells the soldier, "What the Horde will do to you is nothing compared to what I'll do to you." Not many people could make good on that threat, but Xena certainly can. And I love her next line as well, "We're not going to let those bastards defeat the alite (sic) of the Athenian army, are we?" It's no wonder she was such a successful leader! And her next couple of lines are among my all-time favorites. Lucy's delivery is absolutely perfect. "Do?" Step-step-step-step...raise the axe..."WE'RE GONNA KILL 'EM ALL!!!" I love it so much, that's how my computer lets me know I have mail. At that moment, I'd be ready to follow her into anything. I can understand why Gabrielle was so shocked...Xena was enjoying the response of the troops. The actor playing Mercer sure gets around...he was Darnell in The Dirty Half-Dozen, and Michael the Archangel in Fallen Angel and several episodes from Sixth Season.Xena certainly acts as if she's enjoying her new command. She isn't reluctant at all to take charge. And she was certainly very effective in boosting the morale of the soldiers. When Xena axed the Horde guy in the back, she has the most amazingly feral expression on her face. Goosebump time! And you can tell, she loves it when the men start chanting her name. She's giving the great big grin, until she spots Gabrielle looking at her in disbelief and shock. Xena narrows her eyes a lot during the course of this episode. It always serves to make her look more malicious, and she uses the expression well in this one. Her accent slips once again when she tells Gabs, "I'm trying to save our skins." Xena is rough with Gabrielle when she asks what she expected..."Glamour?" Gabrielle never gave me the impression that she was THAT naive. Xena shakes Gabs's shoulders harshly during this scene. If I were Gabbers, I would have been very scared by now. What Xena said about the Horde guy seeing their defenses makes sense to me. Had she been wrong to axe him in the back? As she makes her exit, Xena roughly bumps her shoulder into Gabrielle's. This is defintely a side of Xena that is new. Xena goes outside the fort to try to retrieve a live Horde guy. When one pops up, it makes me jump every time! It makes Xena jump too. Gabbers doesn't seem so frightened by Xena's behavior now. She gets pretty sassy when Xena puts the pinch on the Horde guy. I love Xena's delivery on "I mean chain him up." Poor Gabs. She thinks she's done some good, but Xena turns on her again. "Don't you ever question my authority or methods in front of my troops again." Xena says she has to revert to her old ways to save them. Could the good Xena really not save them? Xena's eyes are going a bit wonky...that should be a BIG clue to Gabbers. I can understand Gabrielle's shock. After all the progress Xena has made, she slipped very easily into her own ways. Kaltucka was the ONLY word the Horde used that was discernible. I realize it would be said a lot, but shouldn't we have heard other words too? When Xena realizes Gabrielle is gone, and the soldier couldn't stop her, her demeanor visibly changes. Did Gabs stumble and fall when Xena approached her outside? Xena tells her to "Get down", but it looks as if Gabrielle manages to accomplish that by simply tripping over her own feet. Of course, the bard probably realizes she has pissed off the Warrior Princess and nerves would be a definite contributing factor to her clumsiness. What made Xena finally decide to find out what makes the Horde tick? I suppose it was Gabs risking her life. But it certainly didn't take Xena very long to figure out how to communicate with the Horde. She should be kciking herself that she didn't do that sooner! The quiet scene in the healing room is amazing. It's interesting to see how apologies seem to come a lot easier to Xena now, than they do in previous episodes. "You don't know how much I love...that." Was Xena really going to say "you"? Why couldn't she? It wouldn't have been out of line. During most of that scene, Xena watches Gabbers as if she's in awe of her young friend. But by the end of the scene, the tables are turned and Gabs is watching Xena with starstruck eyes. Whenever Xena tells Gabs "if something happens to me", no matter what the episode, Gabs always avoids the issue with something like, "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Xena just acts bored as the Horde leader shows off his twirling skills. I half-expected to see him juggle those curved knives! Wow...Xena needs to get a new sword. When the leader grabs it during the fight, it wobbles and bends! It almost appears to be made of rubber! Hee hee. The leader gives Xena a decent fight. It's great when they exchange weapons during the skirmish. Xena's gleeful laugh is perfect. It took a lot for Xena not to kill that guy, especially with all her hatred for the Horde. The fact that she spared him shows Gabrielle was successful. When Xena picks up the sword to walk away, it is still bent at an odd angle. I never thought for a moment the Horde was going to axe Xena in the back...she has already explained their code far too well. Xena knows the Horde will be back. Her telling Gabs she hopes they have a Gabrielle is yet another apology. And thus ends The Price, and emotionally charged, exciting episode that I never get tired of watching.Here are Gary's thoughts: This is one of the earliest episodes I ever saw when I first started watching XENA. I saw it four Sundays in a row,due to a poor UHF network that screwed everything up. I did not give up,tho,and even tho I knew what was going to happen,and wondered who Xena and Gabby really were,I was hooked. The story is a simple one...a group of "good guys" trapped in a siege against a gang of unreasoning brutes,whom Xena had encountered before. Xena and Gabby are fishing,and it looks as if they are in a fight with someone by their dialogue. It is only Gabby pulling in a fish. Xena senses danger and tells Gabby to run. The Horde,a group of really slimy characters,are closing in for the kill,and the girls escape in a reed canoe. The Horde gives chase,and Xena manages to disable a canoe with her Chakram. A really creepy scene is where they are going down the river(notice how they never go "up" a river in a canoe). I guess they only travel downstream. We see some Horde in the water,pretty well camouflaged,and along the shore is a cleverly-disguised bad guy,blending in perfectly with the scenery. The girls see some Athenian troops staked out to die,and one manages to swim to the canoe,wounded.They pulll him aboard and get to shore before a waterfall. Ashore,the Horde also attack,but are beaten back by some Greek troops. They take the wounded guy and the girls to a fort for safety. This place is under siege,and the troops cannot hold out for much longer. Their spirit is broken,and the wounded guy dies...he was their leader. Someone must go fo rreinforcements. Xena takes over at once. The guy in charge allows this,knowing Xena's reputation. She organizes the defense,and inspires the troops by saying " We're going to kill 'em all!". Gabby sort of looks a bit sick at this point. I think she sees the "old" Xena coming back. They talk about this and Xena says that she has to be tough and ruthless for everyone's survival. She does not want to give the scarce drinking water to dying or wounded men...just to those who can still fight. Gabby is torn between her loyalty to Xena and the reality that Xena is right. The Horde makes various attacks,and they all have the same mass-produced weapon...a hand axe,identical to all others. You have to wonder how such a bestial bunch,with only grunts for language,can fabricate sophisticated weapons in a huge number. They also toss them away as if they have an unlimited number of them. The friction between Xena and Gabby grows. Gabby wants to keep the hospital going,and Xena wants the food and water for the healthy men. Xena also uses a trick I saw in the old movie ,Beau Geste,where they put dead troops on the wall to make it appear that there are more men than the enemy thinks. Gabby sees Xena go out and bring in an apparently wounded Horde guy. He isn't wounded,but Xena punches him and gets him inside.The troops want to kill him,but Xena needs him for questioning. Gabby does not like the way Xena treats this killing-machine. Later,after Gabby gives the guy some water,now known as kaltaka,only one word of Horde is learned. Gabby seems to see the humanity under the dirt and paint of the Horde. She convinces Xena to give the wounded some help. Xena realizes she was really too harsh about all of this,but their survival depended on it. Xena says "That's what I love about...that". I thought for sure she was going to say "love". Anyway,Xena decides the only way to save the day is to face the chief alone. She lets the captive go thru sign language,so that he can make the arrangement. Xena formerly tried to stage a diversion so that the second-in-command could get away to get help,but he disobeyed her orders and went the wrong way,getting wounded. The big fight scene was good. The chief has a skull mounted on top of a bunch of feathers,making an interesting hat. He has two sickle-like knives,and makes a big show of swinging them around. Xena merely draws her sword,as if saying,"Okay...enough of that...let's get this over with." After some good fighting,the two opponents end up with the other's weapons. The Horde cannot use a sword well,but Xena has many skills,and gets him down. She can kill him,but decides to take a chance and see if mercy is in their vocabulary. She picks up her sword and walks back to the fort,with everyone expecting the Horde to axe her in the back. In reality,the Horde guy snarls as he gets three axes in HIS back by his own guys. He had lost face,so if he loses,the Horde loses THIS battle. They all run off after that. Xena explains to Gabby why she did it that way,and hopes that if peace is ever going to happen between the Horde and civilized people,she hopes they have their own version of Gabrielle. This was entertaining all the way thru,and even tho some of the attack scenes on the fort seemes a bit over-rehearsed,with some bad guys hardly trying to put up a good fight,I believe the relationship between Xena and Gabby was stronger for it. Xena finally is giving Gabby credit for being able to think,tho we have seen a lot of this before.
And here's what Andrew thought:
Xena and Gabrielle find their friendship stretched to breaking point as the Warrior Princess reverts to her old self to defeat an equally old enemy. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * XENA AND GABRIELLESomeone at RenPics obviously loves fishing gags! This is the only moment of humour in an otherwise relentlessly tense episode. I particularly like the "Yummy!" look on Gabby's face as she tells the fish it'll be going to a much better place. It's clear from her comment to Gabrielle "Things are gonna get worse - especially with what I have to do to get us outa here" that Xena's reversion to "warlord" mode is intentional. She needs to call on her old ruthlessness and savagery to defeat the Horde. She deliberately plays on her vicious reputation, telling the Athenian soldiers "We're gonna kill 'em all!" Unfortunately, having released the genie she's unable to force it back into the bottle - she just doesn't have the required self-control. Gabrielle remembers the lessons she learned in the Season 1 finale, IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?, rapidly taking charge of the infirmary. Xena, meanwhile, is having bodies propped up against the battlements to give the illusion of reinforcements (shades of Beau Geste). She doesn't spare a thought for the wounded or for Gabrielle, heartlessly telling her friend to let the badly wounded starve to death. Gabrielle, naturally, refuses to carry out the order. Xena's tactics appear sound, luring the Horde into a "killing ground" for the Athenian archers. I like the touches of the guy in the barrel, and the other disguised as a corpse with an axe in his back. Xena seems to be enjoying herself too much, however, and her justification for axing the escaping Horde warrior in the back rings hollow. She tells Gabrielle "He saw our defences - I couldn't risk it" after telling Mercer that the Horde won't be stupid enough to enter the camp again. I couldn't see any interior defences worth mentioning, anyhow. Xena's problem seems to lie in the fact that the Horde beat her, killing a fair number of her men in the process. She's out for revenge, plain and simple, and treats Gabrielle's abhorrence of her behaviour with something like contempt. She snarls "This is war!", forgetting that Gabby has already been caught up in two full-scale conflicts, in BEWARE GREEKS BEARING GIFTS and IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE? Gabby's problem isn't with the savagery of war, so much as the way Xena has gleefully embraced it. It's Gabrielle, however, who makes the crucial breakthrough. Discovering from a captive that the wounded Horde warriors' cry of "kaltaka" is simply a plea for water, she goes out to help them. When the Horde see this, they assume a truce has been called and take the opportunity to recover their wounded. Xena, who had previously said "There is nothing about them that we can or should understand", suddenly realises that the Horde have a code of honour and uses that knowledge to send a challenge of single combat to the Hordemaster. This "all or nothing" duel between two leaders is very Homeric in flavour - in the "Iliad" the Trojan War is very nearly settled in duel between Menelaus and Paris. Xena also relents in her earlier harsh treatment of the wounded, sending men and food to the infirmary. In the most touching scene of the episode she tells Gabrielle "I let my fear and hatred blind me to everything... You understand hatred, but you have never given in to it. You don't know how much I love...that." She just can't bring herself to say "You don't know how much I love you", and this vulnerability makes her seem much more human. The bard shows her loyalty by refusing to leave Xena, saying "You do what you have to do, but we'll walk down that road together", and Xena acknowledges that if peace is ever made with the Horde it will be made by people like her young friend, telling her "I just hope that wherever the Horde is from, they have a Gabrielle." GENERAL OBSERVATIONSDespite all that goes on in this episode, it's basically a character piece about Xena and Gabrielle, so there's not much to report here. It's worth noting, however, that it was directed by Oley Sassone, who would later direct several episodes of the Season 3 Rift arc. It's a good thing Gabby managed to get through to Xena before Mercer reappeared, otherwise the Warrior Princess would probably have killed him for disobeying orders! MUSICAL HIGHLIGHTSThere is some dramatic original music in this episode, with two tracks appearing on the second CD in the series. The pipe music played as Xena and Gabrielle fish is the same tune Gabby played on her pan pipes in THE PRODIGAL. The "Warrior Princess" theme, something I always associate with Xena's more savage moments, is heard when the Athenian garrison ambushes the Horde inside the gates. LITTLE PROBLEMSFresh corpses don't float face upwards - the air escapes from their lungs and they sink. Why does the pursuing canoe sink when hit by Xena's chakram? I've run through that scene frame by frame, and the chakram strikes just below the gunwhale, a good six inches ABOVE the waterline! Xena's account of her first encounter with the Horde differs from that shown in DAUGHTER OF POMIRA. In the latter episode, rather than helplessly watching her men being butchered, she's in the thick of the action and actually kills one of her men for suggesting they retreat! Bearing in mind "evil" Xena's behaviour in other flashbacks, I think that version is closer to the truth. Xena may just be spinning Gabrielle a yarn here to justify her hatred of the Horde. Okay, just who are the Horde supposed to be? Xena says she encountered them the first time her army moved west, but moving west from Thrace would take you through the Balkans and into central Europe. The Horde certainly don't look like Dacians or Celts, who would have inhabited these regions. They appear to be little advanced beyond the Stone Age, yet they carry finely crafted throwing axes similar to the Germanic "francisca", and they don't look German either! Do the Horde make these axes themselves? They hardly seem capable, yet trade seems unlikely. They also seem to have a vast supply, judging by the number they waste. Why do the Horde always attack the walls? The gateway of any fort is the weakest spot, and this one doesn't even have a gate, just a wagon which doesn't appear much of an obstacle. As the Horde storm the battlements, Xena grabs an Athenian soldier's bow to use as a club. Why do this, when she has a perfectly serviceable sword slung across her back? Why does Gabrielle object to the "pinch" now, of all times? What Xena is doing when she employs it, basically, is extracting information through torture, yet Gabby never raises a finger to stop her in other episodes. In A DAY IN THE LIFE she even wants Xena to put her "pinch" on the innocent Hower, just so she can ask him for directions! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This is an excellent dramatic episode, and a contender for my favourite of Season 2. The drama arises not so much from the situations, but from the characters' reactions to those situations. Gabrielle finds her loyalty to Xena tested as never before, and the Warrior Princess learns that her former nature is not something to be just put on and taken off like a shirt. As with THE EXECUTION, it proves much more effective than the overblown melodrama of the Rift arc, which sacrifices the characters for the sake of the plot. Oddly enough, Lucy Lawless was unhappy with Xena's portrayal in this episode. This may be why TPTB adopted a "Xena is always right" policy from Season 3 onwards. This had the effect of defusing the tension between the two friends, as the outcome of any disagreement was a foregone conclusion.