Gabrielle's Hope
This is an excellent episode…very suspenseful and tender…and some delightful
moments of comedy in it. I like it a lot.
However, it is also the beginning of the Rift saga. I have gone into depth concerning my
feelings of the Rift in a point/ counterpoint at this site.
But I feel compelled to reiterate that my views on the Rift will undoubtedly make
Gabrielle fans angry. I apologize in advance if I offend anyone. What I write is strictly
my opinion, whether or not I'm right.
It starts out with Gabrielle's dream of walking through a meadow to meet up with
Meridian, the woman she killed in the last episode…The Deliverer.
The hug that Gabs gives Meridian in the dream is very warm…appearing to be of more
than just friendship.
But then comes that awful knife…
I don't know who is more startled when Xena awakens Gabs…Xena or Gabrielle.
But Gabrielle hugs Xena instantly.
Then she throws up.
Xena doesn't seem surprised by Gabs' nausea.
Xena mentions her own first kill, and still responds visibly to it.
Gabs feels like she should be punished…which I think would be a common reaction.
"You are being punished by your conscience, and for someone like you, there couldn't be
a worse torture," is Xena's response.
Gabs hears that, and moves in for another warm hug. This is a very tender scene.
Xena's look of astonishment when her hand goes through the Banshee is great! She
certainly doesn't give up though.
Why do the Banshees step back to dodge Xena's sword swings?
Xena really wants this fight from the beginning.
When Gabs says the Banshees won't fight her, Xena's gleeful reply is," Good! All the
more for me!"
Gabs wants Xena behind her, but "I'm going to kick these ladies' butts!" hee hee!
It's the Banshee's lucky day, because Xena's friend isn't feeling well.
Do Banshees really take mortal form just before striking?
Xena says she was just getting her timing, but I don't see how.
Gabs refers to the Greek immortals as "freaks".
"Yeah, but they're OUR freaks," Xena points out with a laugh.
Xena is wonderfully supportive of Gabrielle during these early scenes. She is prepared to
help the bard get through the hard times.
Gabrielle eats cherries, beef jerky, pork liver…really bloody, of course, with melted
cheese on top.
Goat's cream, chicken gizzards fried in sheep lard… Blech!
Gabs must have learned her cherry pit spitting from Xena.
The innkeeper just watched in amazement as Gabrielle ate. I don't think my own
stomach would have let me!
It took two guys to direct this episode. Wonder what happened?
Xena is not the world's best haggler. She has arranged to pay the captain "15 Mycenaean
dinars when we reach Athens." He responds, "Agreed. Let me have your hand on
it…payment due before we set sail tomorrow."
Xena is just amused though…"You drive a hard bargain."
Gabs is so enjoying her meal so much that she doesn't even notice that there is a…huge
FIRE all around her!
She suffers through the smoke for a while, then does a great pole vaulting move with her
staff to escape the tavern.
That had to really mess with Gabrielle's head, wondering why the villagers were
suddenly after her.
The knights gave Xena quite a fight!
Did Xena call out for Gabbers because she knew the bard was in trouble, or cause the
knights attacked her?
Check out Xena's running from where she met with the captain to the tavern. When the
camera shoots her from the back, it is painfully obvious that it isn't Lucy.
In fact, I'm close to betting it's a football player in a battledress. Hee hee! It's that bad!
It's even more obvious when Xena is shown running from the front view.
Those villagers are sure spry as they chase Gabbers!
Gabrielle moves away from the fight without Xena being aware. Unusual!
But Xena's got her mind on other things…"All right, Banshees. Time for a rematch!"
Makeup did a great job making Gabs look sick, including dark circles under her eyes.
Xena arrived on the scene just in time to hear about the child of darkness. How
convenient!
Do legends really say Banshees had to be invited in order to enter a structure? I seem to
remember that from somewhere. Too bad it doesn't work with in-laws!
Xena seems awfully eager to get Gabs out of her clothes…heh heh.
When did Xena realize the Banshee's words about Gabs being pregnant were true?
I don't blame Gabs for being in denial, but it was obvious she was enceinte.
She wants to know what it is, and Xena's response is, "I dunno…but it's growing very
fast." Let's hope it's a baby!
That old fortress is well lit for only having windows!
Gabs explained to Xena about the cycle of violence ending with her, and Xena responds with an impatient, "Yeah, yeah."
Was Xena using pressure points on Gabs head to relieve her headache?
Once again, Xena promises that everything will be all right.
Nice continuity with the scratches the Deliverer gave Xena still evident on her upper arm.
Xena can only eavesdrop on the knights for so long, and then she has to drop in.
I love the way Xena gets the knight back on his four chair legs!
They don't even bother hiding the accents of the knights. They sound Kiwi to me.
The guy who played Maphias in Remember Nothing plays Gawain in this one.
Xena hears Gabrielle's screams of pain, and is out of the knights' presence in a flash.
The birthing scene is a scene from a horror movie…blood red eclipse, Gothic music, a sudden storm.
Xena enters the stable that was so bright a few minutes ago, and is now bathed in an eerie blue light.
The only animal that remains calm is the goat. That is no coincidence. And leaves little doubt that the birth is of the child
of the darkness.
Xena knows the knights are coming and has to hurry poor Gabrielle along. Gabs delivers in record time.
Gabrielle cries out that she's afraid. I don't blame her! That would be terrifying!
Xena's astonishment as she gazes at the newborn is almost funny.
Gabrielle just melts…she's in love instantly.
But she hears the knights coming, and tells Xena, "Don't let them hurt my baby." Xena takes off out of there like a shot.
The child of the light and the child of the darkness will come in similar ways? I know who the child of the light is…but who
is the child of the darkness? I mean in mythology or religion, not the Xenaverse.
It's kind of disconcerting how knights, who were joined in a common cause, can split up so easily.
Xena named Hope, Kaleiapas named Solan, and Solan named Eve. Don't Xena and Gabrielle ever get to name their own
children?
When Gabs is first bonding with Hope, her new baby looks like a frog to me.
But at the next stage, the baby is just adorable. She has the most beautiful beguiling big eyes. Just precious!
I love the King Arthur approach…"Nice blade," Xena muses, after she has pulled the infamous sword from the stone.
The knights' reactions are hysterical!
Seems like a low blow that Gabrielle would say she wants to help Hope fight her dark side, like she helped Xena. Xena
wasn't the daughter of an evil god.
And then Gabs says, "Well, you get this clear, Xena. Whatever happens, she is MY daughter. Don't come between us."
Xena's response to that challenge? "Get some rest."
Xena is sleeping standing up.
I kind of like it when Xena says, "If you don't mind, I'll worry all right." I didn't think the warrior princess knew the meaning
of the word!
Two things about Xena's statement, "I'm going to see where our little friend went."
#1 She sounds very much like Xena in Unchained Heart…"I'll go get some wood…but I'm still not going to cook."
#2 the knight is a "little friend"?
Xena does one of her Superman flights to kick Eochid. I hate that move!
I love Xena's reaction to seeing Gawain dead and Hope blithely sitting nearby.
Hard to believe, but Xena was really going to kill Hope. Some of her facial expressions are among the most feral of the series.
I can imagine Gabrielle's shock when she woke up and saw the sight before her.
Xena says Hope is " a thing in the form of a baby."
Xena never once says Hope's name.
Wow, is the trouble brewing! Gabrielle orders the Banshees to stop Xena!
Xena gives Gabs a look of amazement similar to my own. She can't believe it either!
The next round with the Banshees…"I've got your number, Sweetie."
Why does Xena have that ecstatic look on her face when she jumps down off the fortress wall after Gabs?
One minute, Xena is chasing Gabs without her armbands, and the next minute, they miraculously appear again.
Gabs IS getting pretty good.
But the baby she lifts out of the boat doesn't seem big enough to be a "toddler". The bundle is too small.
The baby she's holding is another very cute one, but looks more like a boy than a girl. In fact, the baby resembles Baby
Bliss from A Comedy of Eros.
Xena gives a great heartfelt speech about ending the cycle of violence…the whole time tracking Gabrielle so she could
kill Gabrielle's baby!
But when Gabs said Hope turned against her, Xena becomes all supportive again.
I love Xena's look when she hears the noise from the cave. She's slow to respond, then her eyes widen as she stares at
Gabbers.
Gabs knew all along that Hope wasn't in the cave. So why is she so defensive? Because Xena apparently doesn't trust
her? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
Gabrielle, in my humble opinion, started the Rift when she deliberately deceived Xena and lied about what happened
to Hope. She was in a tough spot to be sure, but she was still dishonest.
I can't help but compare Hope to the Penguin in Batman Returns. His parents sent him down a river too.
Gabrielle's prayer is sad, especially since we know it does no good. Her prayer of "My love…my Hope…Be good," is
especially poignant.
I feel sorry for Gabrielle to an extent, because I know she really loves Hope. However, she needed to open her eyes and
at least consider some of the evidence Xena had. Oh well, it didn't happen that way, and it's now time to move on to
The Debt.
Let's see what Gary thought: This is part two of the Deliverer-Hope saga. The episode picks up after Xena
and Gabby leave "Stonehenge",a.k.a. The Temple of Dahak.
The girls are still in Brittania,and are heading for the coast where they
will take a ship to the other side,which is known now as the English
Channel,back to Gaul.Really...why does Dahak destroy his own temple?
Also,why didn't we see Boadicea go to find out what happened to Xena who was
needed in the battle with the Romans?
Gabby had awakened from a bad dream where she was in a beautiful field of
flowers and she was hugging Meridian,the woman whom Gabby killed in
self-defense. In the dream,she kills her again,this time with real malice.
Xena,seeing that Gabby is throwing up a lot,attributes it to Gabby's
reaction of having her first kill.
They come to a woods where they are set upon by three scantily-clad(thank
you,RenPics) women known as the Banshees. Xena is told by the leader that
they ARE Banshees...Xena didn't know of them nor of their special
powers,which are the ability to dematerialize and also to fly. The Banshees
are barefoot,and fight Xena,who cannot touch them. The sword passes thru
them with no effect. The barefoot bad girls chase Gabby and Xena on foot
thru the rocky woods...ow! You would think they would fly.
They had told Gabby about being pregnant with the "child of darkness" and of
being the "chosen one" by Dahak. Yes,these girls are in league with
Dahak,and want to protect Gabby as long as she is the incubator for the
soon-to-be Devil-child....
Xena and Gabby arrive in a port town,and Xena tells Gabby to remain at the
tavern while she arranges passage to the opposite coast. Xena,since the last
episode,now leaves an apparently pregnant Gabby alone again for the third
time in less than two episodes.
The only amusing part of this show is where Gabby keeps ordering all kinds
of hideous combinations of food from a bemused tavern owner. He just keeps
staring as Gabby chows down on bloody pork liver covered with cheese. I was
amazed she didn't launch her lunch at that time. Gabby does look cute even with grease on her face and hands. Remember,she's eating for two...a human and a monster.
At the docks,Xena talks to the ship captain and is confronted by three
Knights of the Pierced Heart,who just attack her without a word. They are
doing this,evidently,as the townspeople attack Gabby,the only customer in
the inn. Gabby is so engrossed in her food that she cannot hear the snarling
mob outside. The tavern owner has to tell her to get out because it is Gabby
they want.
Note: Helpful hint to the Knights: When you are going to kill a human
carrying the unborn monster of an evil god who wants to kill everyone and
destroy the earth,do it this way....the three of you go to the
tavern,pretending to want a drink,surround Gabby,and just lop her head off
and run. Don't attack Gabby's protector at the docks. Xena looks as if she
can take care of herself.
If you have to attack Xena,have the townspeople go in the inn,as they surely
would anyway,surround Gabby,and knife her and get rid of the body.
Xena: Where's Gabby?
Townspeople: She left a while ago looking for YOU. (heh-heh)
Xena's fight with the Knights takes way too long,and she slices one thru the
stomach,but miraculously,all three are with the other two Knights later at
the castle,apparently unharmed.
Why do the Knights attack? They knew Gabby was leaving anyway,and could have
gotten on the ship and killed her then,too.
The inept villagers,armed with stones,sticks,and a few torches instead set
fire to the tavern. Gabby does a really improbable pole-vault thru a high
window,and conveniently lands in the water,gets out,and runs thru the woods.
The ringleader,a guy about 80,gives chase with his group. Xena stops
them,and the guy tells her about Dahak and the unborn evil child.
Note: Gabby,in full view of Xena and the whole town,manages to sneak off and
is found wearing a sack with the three Banshees in attentance. This is not
the same sack Gabby wears in If the Shoe Fits....Why does Gabby leave her
protector?
The woods scenes from time to time,are pretty good.The terrain is rocky and
steep,and the music is a bit eerie,a good setting for this episode.
Xena again tries to pound the Banshees,but Gabby protects Xena from
them...as long as she is pregnant,Gabby can call the shots. She is no value
to anyone after the kid is born.
Xena:"I'm gonna slap these bitches silly".
They arrive at the Knights' castle,and Xena says that the Knights are in that area "working against the Banshees"...Why,and how does she know this? Why is the main gate open? Don't forget,there are still a lot of cult members who were with Khraftstar at large in the area.Incredibly,Xena leaves Gabby alone YET AGAIN in a stable(not a manger)and goes to the Round Table Room to find out what the Knights know. With the
Knights,townspeople,and Banshees loose,why does she leave her alone? We hear
the Banshees can come in if invited,but any cult member could have walked in
and invited them.
There is a sword stuck in a stone,as in the King Arthur legend,and Xena
pulls it out with ease. The Knights had just said the true ruler of
Brittania would be the one to remove the sword.
Too bad nothing was said when they saw that. I would have asked,"How the
heck did you do THAT?"
What is the Knights' connection with stopping Dahak? Five guys are trying to
stop him yet Ares,the War-god cannot,even with the help of the Greek gods.
Who told them of the altar at the destroyed temple? No cultist would have
told,since they wanted Gabby alive so she could give birth.
The birth scene was well-acted by Gabby,with a lot of screaming,darkness,and
fancy camera-work. We even see an eclipse and a storm. When Hope is born,the
sun comes out. The child looks to be normal. Xena is skeptical about it,tho.
The knights were trying to break down the door when Gabby was giving birth.
Two of them have a change of heart(Pierced Heart?) and side with the girls.
Now it three on three in a fight. Xena and Gabby run to another room...that
leaves two on two...the third guy could have stabbed Gabby or Hope as they
ran past.
In the room,Gabby recovers fast,and the kid grows really fast.It looks as if
it were two years old already.
Xena sleeps standing up,but opens her eyes from time to time while on guard.
One guy who helped the girls now sneaks out of the room thru a hidden
doorway to see one of the Banshees. He will invite them in if they give him
rule over Brittania as a reward. Why do the Banshees want to come in...to
raise Hope and kill Gabby?
Xena discovers the missing guy and pounds him. The Banshees and Xena fight
and Gabby then escapes. She was afraid that Xena would kill Hope...it looks
as if the baby strangled the remaining Knight,and Gabby cannot see how it
was possible. Xena held the sword on Hope,threatening her...Gabby of course
would not just let Xena kill a baby.
As two Banshees fight Xena(we never see the other three Knights again),the
third helps Gabby onto the only horse there. Why not fly along with her?
Gabby is leaving the Banshee woods,and if they are restricted to staying in
that area,how can they allow Gabby to leave? Instead the third fights
Xena,whio now can fight them as usual...we never learn HOW Xena is able to
do this.
Note: Xena,with the knowledge that three Knights were still in the
castle,leaves the secret door open...they could have come right on in and
killed Hope,which is,of course,what Xena wanted...
Funny how Gabby is the one to tell the Banshees to stop Xena...why is she
giving orders now...against her friend? Hope is born and Gabby,the
incubator,is no longer needed. Why would anyone expect that a good person
like Gabby would raise the kid as evil? It should have been taken by the Banshees in
force and since they can fly,just LEAVE with the kid and raise it themselves.It would take only a short time,as we will see,for Hope to become an adult.
Gabby,on a horse,is chased by Xena,who is on foot. We see her running along
a cliff,with no sword in the scabbard,then it appears there in the next
instant.
We see a good camera angle of Xena on a hill yelling down to a man who has a
horse...the one Gabby had,she thinks. He traded it for his rowboat and says
Gabby and the kid went downriver.
Xena:"How much do you want for the horse?"
Note: She didn't have enough money for the trip across the Channel,but has
enough to buy a horse.
Gabby tells Hope that Xena will never give up the chase. We see her and what
we believe to be Hope,running uphill...it is a steep,rocky hill,and Xena
gives chase,all the while telling Gabby that the kid must die,that it is a
vessel for evil.
Note: Gabby must work out. She had just given birth,and is able to ride a
horse,row a boat,and run uphill with a load in her arms.
Gabby(To Hope): "Who ARE you?"...more like WHAT are you?
At the top,Gabby calls out to Xena...she tells Xena that the kid turned on
her and Gabby had to toss the kid off the cliff. Xena hears a noise in a
convenient cave at the top,and goes in to look. It is a well-photographed
scene,with another great camera angle. Once inside it is discovered that it is a rat,not the kid. Xena now believes Gabby,and says she is sorry for not believing her. She had to make sure.
Wait: Why didn't Xena look at the bottom of the cliff,since she wanted to be
sure...Gabby had just sicced the Banshees on her,so why trust her...cover
all the bases,I say.They had to climb down anyway,so there would be no
problem to look. If Hope is a half-god,it MAY have survived the fall.
Gabby had sent Hope in a basket down the river,a-la-Moses...we see this in
Cradle of Hope....co-incidental name,huh?
Gabby gets up at night and goes off a ways from the camp. Xena,normally
alert,does not awaken. Gabby,STILL wearing the SACK,looks at the sky and
tells Hope to "be good."
That won't happen.
What did Andrew think?
The consequences of the loss of Gabrielle's blood innocence put her relationship with Xena under enormous strain as the Rift Arc continues.
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XENA AND GABRIELLEGabrielle's nightmare, casting her as a brutal murderer and Meridian as her innocent victim, effectively conveys the bard's feelings of despair and self-loathing. Xena is very supportive and understanding in this opening scene, as she has first-hand experience of what Gabby is going through. For Gabrielle it's much worse, however, as she had made a conscious decision never to kill. Robbed of that defining part of her character she doesn't know where to turn.
Hanging around with Xena has definitely rubbed off on Gabby - her vault to escape the burning inn is very impressive, and worthy of the Warrior Princess herself.
Despite the ambiguity of the Knight's prophecies, Xena seems to buy into Caswallawn's version of Hope's nature straight away. She looks surprised when the baby turns out to be human, and clearly views the child with suspicion from the start. When she finds Goewin murdered, she immediately draws her sword to slaughter Hope. Can you imagine the effect it would have had on Gabrielle, to suddenly wake spattered with her child's blood? There is no proof that Hope was the killer. As Gabrielle says, someone else could have sneaked in the same manner Eochaid sneaked out. Xena's behaviour is totally at odds with her attitude in THE EXECUTION, where she suspected Meleager but wanted to see some hard evidence of his guilt.
With benefit of hindsight, Xena looks hypocritical in her condemnation of Hope. Late in Season 5 she refused to act against her own murderous daughter Eve, despite incontrovertible proof of her crimes. Far from trying to kill Eve, Gabrielle supported Xena in her attempts to reform her daughter, risking her own life in the process.
Gabby setting the Banshees on Xena, then lying about Hope's "death" are shocking, but after the events of THE FURIES should come as no surprise to Xena. If Cyrene was ready to kill to protect her daughter, could Xena expect less from Gabrielle?
Gabrielle's final prayer for Hope to be good is a heartbreaking little scene.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
Full marks to the makeup department. When Gabrielle wakes from the nightmare her hair is plastered to her forehead as if she's been sweating, and Xena still has the Deliverer's claw marks on her arm.
Gabby's "cravings" are funny - I love the almost awestruck expression on the innkeeper's face as he watches her eat!
The Knights of the Pierced Heart are good fighters. Even at odds of three to one, you'd normally expect Xena to have killed at least one. Just as well she didn't, as they're basically good guys, except for the treacherous Eochaid.
The scene of Hope's birth is pretty harrowing, especially the repeated focus on a suitably Satanic-looking goat. The sudden return to normal as soon as the baby appears, however, reinforces the ambiguity of her nature.
The "Sword in the Stone" gag may be anachronistic, but delivers a dose of much-needed humour to the episode.
When interviewed in Issue 2 of "The Chakram", writer R. J. Stewart admitted that he deliberately weakened Gabrielle's argument that Hope had the potential for good, in order to keep people from siding with her. This argument rests on the belief that nurture is stronger than nature, and that despite her lineage Hope could be raised to be good. Gabby's view is supported by events in the Season 4 HTLJ story TWO MEN AND A BABY. In this episode Hercules and Iolaus rescue Evander, the infant son of Ares and Nemesis, the former Goddess of Retribution. Despite having an evil god for a father, Hercules is 100% certain that Evander's mother can raise him to be a good man. Clearly Stewart totally ignored this because it was essential to the Rift Arc that Xena be proved right. Personally I feel that Hope DID kill Goewin, but that it was an accident (Hercules couldn't control his strength when he was a baby). It also strikes me as odd that Hope sticks around after Goewin's death and makes no effort to defend herself, hardly the behaviour of a calculating murderer.
The scene with the basket threw me at first - I had to run the tape back to check if it was in the boat to begin with.
FAMILIAR FACESRobert Harte, seen here as the unfortunate Goewin, played Xena's fiance Maphias in REMEMBER NOTHING.
LITTLE PROBLEMSWhat happened to Boadicea? You'd have expected her to give Xena and Gabrielle an escort back to the coast.
Banshees are a purely Irish myth, and do not figure in mainland British legends. Their appearance is also said to herald a death, rather than a birth. The legend that banshees "can't follow without being asked" actually applies to vampires, and isn't it convenient that these three just happen to have a burlap smock to hide Gabby's bump? Oh well, I suppose it saves on prosthetics...
The Round Table? I know XWP plays games with different time periods, but this is pushing things to the limit!
A major problem with this episode is the fact that Gabrielle's blood innocence, a central issue of the series for two years, is forgotten as soon as her pregnancy is discovered. It also marks the rise of an increasingly arrogant, self-righteous streak in Xena which fans were condemning as early as late Season 3. TPTB spent the next few years throwing the Xena-Gabrielle relationship into imbalance by ensuring that Xena was ALWAYS right, thereby defusing any tension which might have been raised by conflict between the characters.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This episode was a wasted opportunity, abandoning character development in favour of an overblown "Save the World from Evil" plot arc. Seeing your favourite TV characters twisted to fit increasingly outrageous storylines isn't much fun, and I'm really not looking forward to some of these future reviews.
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