There are some episodes I can vividly watching for the first time...and this is one of them. I got my Season 2 boxed set on a Friday afternoon, and up until that time, I had only seen about fifteen episodes, and they were all from first or fifth season. I got home from work at around 2:00am and stayed up until 9am watching second season, and was enraptured. I must have been really, really tired, because I found Warrior...Princess...Tramp to be one of the funniest things I've ever seen. It's still very funny and I enjoy it a lot, but nothing will ever compare to that first viewing of this particular episode.
Aggus says "thespian" and Meg responds with, "You never said nothing about no kinky stuff." Hmmm... I don't know why, but I love the way Meg's tongue comes out when she's playing with the chakram. (That didn't come out the way I intended!) Funny thing is, Xena does the same thing at times. "Awww...look, you bwoke it..." That's Meg speaking. Either "broke" is now a two syllable word, or Leah is making an early appearance! How did a nice girl like Meg end up with Aggus? She might have had a not-so-nice occupation, but she didn't seem like the criminal type. When Xena is describing Gabrielle and holds a hand up to indicate the staff, she indicates that it's mighty short. Very cool fire-breathing! I love that effect! How come all the guys that went after Xena in the bar were so darn ugly? Couldn't there have been at least one good-looking one in the bunch? The scene with Meg checking herself out in the mirror, then losing her sword to the ceiling is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Lucy plays the scene perfectly, and I went into hysterics watching it. "That's Xena with a capital Z", is one of my favorite lines! Funny thing is, when I was writing down the address for this site for someone at work, she laughed and said I spelled "Xena" wrong. She thought it was a Z too! And when Meg gets the sword stuck in the ceiling, I don't know why, but I laughed and laughed and laughed. The facial expressions had a lot to do with it. I said aloud (yeah, I talk to myself a lot) "Watch those feet leave the ground", and sure enough, they did! And I don't know what that little snorting noise was, but it went along perfectly! That had to be a stunt table hitting that table, but it was very hard to tell...very nice job! Lucy doesn't look like Lucy when she sees Joxer. I dunno why, but I always think she looks like Lucie Arnaz. Did Xena have trouble sitting down when she wore her scabbard at her waist? Aha, now we know why she changed it! My thoughts go a little wonky at times (and everyone in unison says "Noooo!"), but sometimes I forget it's Lucy playing Meg, Diana, and Xena. She does such a good job in submerging herself into each of the characters, particularly Meg. I never got the impression that Joxer could be interested in Xena...what changed his tune from Gabbers to Xena? "I need your sword in my service right now." Oh my! Meg's sultry look is disturbing...it looks like she's going to sneeze. Joxer...a lovely man? Meg's got to be crazy! Whoo hoo! I love the instrumental Warrior Princess music when the real Xena arrives at the scene! I love the guards' exchanges about how Xena got outside the castle. All right, I'll admit it...when Xena approached a tearful Diana, I didn't realize it was Meg the first time I watched it. "Xena and I could be like a father and mother to you." Hee hee...that line kills me...Joxer is so sincere as he reverses the genders! How doe they get duplicates of everyone's clothing so easily? Xena, Diana, and Meg all have identical scars. It's so coincidental, it's eerie! Heh heh! Gabrielle's hair is positively red during her prison scenes! "Sixty-three bottles of beer on the wall...Forty-three bottles of beer." Gets me every time! Xena's reaction to Joxer's pinch on her warrior butt is instantaneous, and classic. Whirl...glare..."Are you suicidal?" Xena only hears Meg say a couple of statements, and she has her Meggers' impersonation down pat. Another of her many skills, no doubt! I find it so cute that Gabrielle tries to beat up Xena, and Xena doesn't kill her! I dunno why, but I adore Joxer's echo of Gabs..."Yeah...how do we know you're the real Xena?" Nice chakram throw! "Hello, Xena!" Xena calls the bad guy Alcibiades. Where did she get that name? And don't tell me she got lucky and guessed it! What kind of a name is that, anyway? And not only does Xena get Meg's voice down perfectly, apparently she gets all her expressions and mannerisms down perfectly... without ever seeing her! Nice reflex of Xena not to react when Ouchie brought his sword down. I guess she learned her lesson after she caught the fruit as Princess Diana in Warrior...Princess. What do you know...Meg says "bean", just like Xena! More helpful hints from Gabrielle: "A cold bottom isn't fatal." Why do all kingdoms look exactly the same on X:WP? Philemon barely does or says anything during this whole episode. Joxer walked several steps behind Xena before she sensed his presence. That's odd. She was all over the intruders as Diana in Warrior... Princess. "That's a pretty name..." that's Joxer along with a cheeky grin, being charming. Joxer got a real live kiss from the real live Xena. Note how it affects him! "Eat some fruit, Baby," Meg tells Gabrielle as they wrestle. Whoa...it's a precursor to Fallen Angel! Meg holds her own for a while against the Battling Bard. She's a vicious fighter, getting both a bite of Gabrielle as well as a hunk of blonde hair! I'd be willing to bet that Renee and Lucy had a field day during that scene! They were rolling all over the place! "Snotty brats"? Hee hee! Lucy/ Meg has cute ears. "My father died in childbirth." Huh...how's that? And I find it wonderfully endearing when Meg says "while I was being born." Gabs had a good father? Not according to fan fiction! Lucy has a cold again...you can tell in the scene where she tells Aggie how to kill the king. I love Xena's look of sheer horror when Joxer "comes to the rescue"! She doesn't hesitate to change her plans and save him though. 'Come on, Idiot," she'll use that very same line in Warrior...Priestess...Tramp. I hate the word "slag", especially when a jerk like Aggus delivers it! I really thought Meg was going to bite her toenails when she was sitting by the king's bed...I thought she was going to do the same thing in Warrior...Priestess...Tramp. "Kingy?" Hee hee! Did Diana have a real sword? It sounded like one! How did they know it was Diana...just from her voice? "Round killing thing"? "Shamrock"? Come on! I love Meg's self-pleased look after she takes out one of the bad guys...it's a little victory dance. Good job having Xena get to the king several seconds before anyone else does! Why did Diana take the time to fix her hair before she went to see the king? Didn't she think he was dying? Her hair wasn't in a ponytail when she heard the dsitressing news about him. "If I knew how to write..." Another terrfic line from Meg! Meg and Gabrielle kind of bonded...that made the cake scene in Soul Possession even harder to take. "Well, I'm about as spicy as you can get." You can say that again! I like Xena's quiet advice to Joxer at the end..."Joxer, she won't wait forever." Warrior...Princess...Tramp is by no means my favorite Xena comedy, but it's a guaranteed feelgood episode for me. Lucy does a commendable job for creating three distinct characters! Here are Gary's thoughts: This episode is the second of the Xena-lookalikes.We see a new face,of sorts,namely Meg,who is enlisted by an official to kill the king and pose as his daughter,Princes Diana,whom we saw in WARRIOR-PRINCESS. The bad guy,Aggus,is called "Aggie" by Meg,and he hates that.His aim is after killing the king,sell the people into slavery,since he will be appointed as in control of the army...the Princess and her husband,Philemon,and their baby will be eliminated too. Meg appears posing as Xena,but she wears the sword at her side,not over her shoulder as Xena does. She has a fake wooden Chakram too. Note: We see Xena's weapon,the Chakram,copied so many times in this series.Xena,in ULYSSES, says that the weapon is "unique" to her,so how can there be copies,so detailed? Same for her leather battle-tunic/dress,and her sword,not to mention the intricately-made copperlike armor,with all its fine detail. Aggie wants Meg to be "a convincing thespian". Meg says she didn't know he wanted "any kinky stuff".This is the same kind of reference as in THE PLAY'S THE THING where Minia says the same double-entendre. Note: The three girls have the identical birthmark on the right breast. Too bad TPTB never explained how there can be FOUR Xena lookalikes,including Priestess Leah. I think we should have learned they had the same father,Ares,or something more believabe other than pure chance. A funny scene is where Meg is looking in the mirror trying to look tough. She accidentally gets the sword stuck in the ceiling and hangs from it to try to dislodge it.It pulls free,and she crashes down on the table,smashing it half. This table is explained to the guard as Xena practicing her new punch. Note: The fine stuntwoman who played Xena for six years is unsung.She should have been in the credits. Also,where are the New Zealanders who played all the characters on XENA and HERCULES going to find work since these series are over? Joxer plays the fool as usual.With three Xena lookalikes running around,he keeps confusing the girls with Meg,with whom he had a fast affair. He sports a huge hickey on his chest,and wants us to see the others he got...thankfully we were spared that. Philemon was wasted in this episode.He was a good fighter in WARRIOR-PRINCESS,and has only two lines in this ep. He should have been gone on an errand for the king,since he was just standing around mostly. Joxer says that his sword will always be in the Princess' service...Meg says she needs his sword in her service NOW. He runs. Meg says she needs to show more cleavage...thank you RenPics...her outfit barely held her boobs in. Gabby arrives,out of the jail cell Meg put her in. Gabby was confused because Meg,posing as Xena,put her in the cell so as not to spoil "the plan". Meg and Gabby fight,much like Gabby and Tara do in FORGIVEN. Meg rips out a huge hank of Gabby's hair...she should have shown blood with that...she was practically scalped.Meg later explains that she herself is no good and has had a hard life. The final fight scene is reminiscent of CRADLE OF HOPE,where the baby is in the air most of the time.Xena holds onto the rope suspending the baby like she did with Eve when the three temple armies attacked her and Gabby. Note: After Gab's fight with Meg,Gabby says that Meg looks like her best friend. Xena says the same thing to the alternate-Gabby in REMEMBER NOTHING. After the fight,the dying King makes a miraculous recovery and wants Meg to be his personal cook. She accepts,and is happy to have a father-figure in her life. At the end,Xena,Gabby and Joxer leave,and Meg tells Joxer to dump the girls fast and come back to her. She had stolen silverwear,which shows us she is not really reformed,but is better than she was. This was an enjoyable ep.,and a cute scene was when Joxer grabbed Xena's butt,thinking it was Meg. Xena looks as if she will kill him and says "are you suicidal?" I give this second lookalike episode a "B". And Andrew's review: A second Xena lookalike named Meg causes even more confusion than was seen in WARRIOR...PRINCESS, as Xena attempts to foil another plot against Princess Diana's family. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * XENA AND GABRIELLEThere isn't much in the way of Xena/Gabrielle bonding in this episode, as they spend most of their time apart. There's a funny scene after Gabrielle's release from prison, however, as both she and Joxer want to know if Xena is the REAL Xena. The Warrior Princess demonstrates with an elaborate chakram toss which almost decapitates Gabrielle! During the rescue of Diana from the cave, Gabrielle drops a bad guy with a mace, not her usual weapon of choice. Just goes to show, she's adaptable. Still, it hardly fits in with her reverence for life - a mace is a lethal weapon. She also seems to have trouble coping with women who learned to fight in taverns. Meg gives her some problems here, but nothing like the beating she receives from Tara in FORGIVEN. There's an interesting line from Xena when she tells Meg "I don't care what you've done in your past. Do good now and you ARE good." She clearly finds it far easier to give others than herself. GENERAL OBSERVATIONSIn my review of RETURN OF CALLISTO I stated that it was the only episode in which Joxer called himself "the Magnificent". My mistake - he does it here, too. At this point it's clearly Xena he's attracted to, rather than Gabrielle. At least, he thinks it's Xena - actually, she's Meg in disguise. The giveaway is that Meg-as-Xena wears her sword at her side, as Xena did early in Season 1, while Xena now wears her sword across her back. There's a funny exchange between Agis and Meg when he tells her "You're useful to me only if you're a convincing thespian", to which she replies "You never said nothing about no kinky stuff!" Meg's clearly lacking in education, later admitting she's illiterate, which explains why she can't spell "Xena". She also finds Joxer attractive - after the lowlifes she must be used to, meeting a guy who's basically decent must be a pleasant change for her. The polished bronze mirrors are a convincing historical touch. I'm not sure if silvered glass was in use at the time, but if it was it must have been very rare. Alcibiades is smart, attempting to discover if "Meg" is actually Xena in disguise. Unfortunately for him, Xena is able to bluff her way out of it. Meg gives Xena's "round killing thing" a new name - "My trusty shamrock!" The "flying baby" fight recalls that in CRADLE OF HOPE. LITTLE PROBLEMSIt's strange that Gabrielle shows no negative reaction to Joxer's tale of how he supposedly defeated Callisto in Season 1 - in fact, she seems quite amused. My guess is that this episode was meant to air before RETURN OF CALLISTO, but the order was changed for some reason. Meg calls Gabrielle an "irritating blonde". Is she colour blind? At this point in the series Gabby's a redhead! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Not a great show, lacking the originality of WARRIOR...PRINCESS. I think TPTB went a little overboard with the lookalike stories - there must have been other ways of showcasing Lucy Lawless's comic talents. The fact that Xena and Gabrielle are separated more than usual detracts from the story, and the episode itself breaks up the "Callisto Arc" of Season 2. Still, it passes 40 minutes or so.