Tsunami

This is an episode that I've heard very few positive comments about. However, I rather like it. I would even go so far as to call it an overlooked gem.

I think I mainly like it because Xena's so macho in it…she pretty well runs the whole show.

Looks like Xena doesn't believe in fortune tellers.

"All right, Gabrielle, Let's go. Come on…please." There's a word you don't hear Xena use very often, and she kind of hesitates before she uses it now.

The fortune teller predicts danger and death. "Did you hear that? She just described every day of our lives," Gabrielle quips.

But Xena has a comeback, "Look, your fortune is less in your palm than your own two hands. It's what you make of it."

Xena says they are to meet back at noon. Neither of them wears a watch.

What does Gabs do when she gets stuck on the boat? Scream for Xena, first thing!

Xena's jump was more acrobatic than anything.

Xena tells Autolycus, "Chains aren't usually your look."

Macon's not exactly subtle, "I've got something you can look at…bet you'd like it too."

But Xena just settles on giving the creep some really intense looks.

She growls at him, "Oh, I think we understand one another perfectly. Right, Macon?"

That's some mean look she gives him!

Xena figures out Autolycus's real motives just from "these mines".

She asks what's in them…and Autolycus tries to play it off. "Well…dust…dirt…" Xena supplies "diamonds" and he replies, "Diamonds? Well…just a few."

Xena's expressions with Autolycus are too funny, "for the chance to bag some diamonds? Yeah, call me crazy."

Autolycus says, "It's like waving a red flag in front of a minotaur."

The young wife of Thaddeus is from Jack of All Trades.

And, of course, Thaddeus played Mzentius in Path Not Taken.

That was a heck of a tidal wave!

Xena would be the first one up after it hit.

And, of course, she looks for Gabs first thing.

"Get out of those chains and help me find Gabrielle and the others," she tells Autolycus without batting an eye.

Wouldn't Xena continue to look for Gabs before checking on Thaddeus? Gabs could be trapped underwater and drowning.

Xena kinda freaks a little bit over Gabs.

That had to freak Gabs out a bit being tangled up with the bleeding captain.

I hate the sound of crunching bones!!

When Xena's sewing up Thaddeus, she has a serious leak above her head.

She never even bats and eye when Macon grabs Gabrielle.

I love the elbow jab Gabs gets in when Xena frees her.

Xena and Autolycus are definitely the engineers of the bunch.

What's wrong with thinking like the Argonauts?

"Hold on! We're going down!"

Dr. Xena just smacks Petrides upside the head and makes him go to work.

How come she's the only one who yells when she swings an axe?

I always giggle when Xena says, "Now, grab the pole and turn it toward me."

Xena's got a pretty good brain for physics and mechanics.

I also love it when Macon finally helps out!

It's a good thin none of those people were claustrophobic!

Just when I thought Macon was finally doing better, he tries to drown Thaddeus.

I love this exchange of dialogue:
Macon (to Autolycus): Who's gonna stop me? You?
Xena: And me.
Gabrielle: Yeah.

Gabrielle kills me with her folded arms leaning against Xena. It's real easy to be tough when Xena is standing right there.

What's up with Autolycus's guilt trip? That's not like him!

I love Xena's look of doubt after she announces her wineskin plan. She doesn't look too confident.

I've read a lot about the impossibilities of the logistics of this episode. I don't really care. It's all in fun.

What made Petrides decide to shoot Macon all of a sudden?

Xena tells him, "Let it go. Whatever you're hiding from, turn around and face it." Huh? How can you let something go and face it?

Finally Petrides admits, "I can't swim." So THAT's why he tried to shoot Macon?

Petrides' "I was real hot," is too whiny! Petrides must have had a tough time with puberty!

Xena lays a great guilt trip on him, however!

How could the captain breathe underwater, when he was unconscious?

Macon freaks out too? Sheesh!

What kind of idiot do you have to be to let go of your wineskin?

Xena carries her wineskin like a quarterback.

They look like they landed right in the middle of a geyser to me!

How come every time Gabs gets off a boat, she ends up with her face in wet sand?

The music when Xena comes out of the water is too sad.

Xena gives Gabbers a bright smile, but you can tell she's out of it.

I dunno why, but I love it when Xena spits the water out…a touch of realism.

Gabs tells Xena she was worried and Xena's reply is "Sorry about that; I had to go back for something."

That earns her a double take from Gabs.

Love Xena's response to Macon who asks what she was expecting from a killer. "From you? Nothing. From me, nothing less."

She and Gabs leave their arms around each other for a long time.

Macon was a killer, and they just let him go free?

And that's Tsunami…not the greatest, but certainly not the worst!


Let’s see what Gary has to say:


This episode is pretty straightforward. A ship capsizes with a few survivors aboard, and Xena's "many skills" save the day.

The story opens with Gabby sitting with a fortune-teller; she is having her palm read. Xena arrives and scoffs at the scene. As they leave, the fortune-teller sees "danger and death" in the near future. Gabby says to Xena that every day of their lives has just been described.

Xena says that our futures are what we make for ourselves.

Gabby's hair looks beautiful with the side-braids.

As some prisoners board the ship, Gabby notices that one of them is Autolycus, in chains. She goes aboard, being told to get off by the captain. Auto tries to make Gabby leave, but he is knocked out. Gabby goes into her staffwork, and knocks down about five sailors. She calls out for Xena's help. The ship has moved from the dock, and as an encore presentation from Lost Mariner, Xena swings from a horizontal bar and flips thru the air to land aboard, saving Gabby and holding off the crew.

The slavemaster, Thaddeus, and his young wife, Saraya, come topside and complain about the scum(the prisoners) and the trouble they bring. He is going to have them work in the mines that he owns.

Reviving Auto with a bucket of water, Xena learns that he allowed himself to be caught and wants to go to the diamond mines so that he can steal a lot of them and later escape. Xena thinks this is typical of him.

Once under sail, the evil murderer Macon is picking on a young prisoner, Petrades. He tries to choke him with a chain, but Xena puts a stop to that soon. All feel vibrations thru the water, and Xena has a sense of dread. Gabby makes friends with Saraya, who is pregnant, but hasn't told her husband about it yet. Since his mother died giving birth, he does not want his wife to have kids in case of that danger.

Topside, Xena tells the captain of what they are smelling---smoke from Mt. Etna, and then the wave comes towards them. The captain tries to turn and run, and Xena tells everyone to go below and try to ride out the huge wave, which she calls a tidal wave.

The captain had told Xena that there are currents and geysers in the area, and tried to catch a current to make better speed to shore.

Some get below as the wave hits. All those left on deck are killed. The ship capsizes, and is carried underwater by the current, down quite a few feet in the ocean. The hull now faces up, and the contents of the hold are upside-down, causing injuries to some survivors.

Xena finds Gabby at last, and the captain is out cold with a bad head wound. The slaver has a broken leg, and others have some scrapes.

The rest of the show has everyone soaked to the skin, which must have been tough to act thru.

Xena and Gabby set Thad's leg. Macon wants him dead because he is using too much of the limited air. Macon tries to choke Gabby with some rope, but a well-thrown dagger by Xena and quick reactions by Gabby fix things. Gabby elbowed and punched the thug. Xena warns him again.

Macon keeps saying that the best way is to go out thru the hull and straight up. Xena says no. The air trapped in the next room is keeping them alive and buoyant.

Gabby sews the wound in the captain's head, and Pet. has decided to give up. Xena thinks that if they can turn the rudder, they may be able to turn the ship enough to get to some rocks and get out. They all, except Macon, try to turn the rudder, but Xena throws a harpoon into the shaft for leverage, and they all manage to turn the rudder a bit,sending them to a ledge, stopping their movement. This gives Xena time to think. She also looked good swinging an axe.

The fool Macon opens the door and lets air out, causing them to move again. Xena closes it and seems to have infinite patience with this nut. She should have killed him.

Note: Were there airtight doors back then?

Now, Macon tries to drown Thad, but Saraya clubs him away with a piece of wood. He snarls again, and Xena STILL does not kill him.

Auto wants a drink of wine, and sees that the wineskins are empty. This gives Xena the idea of blowing air into them and using them as an air supply as they rise to the surface, riding the OUTSIDE of the geysers. Inside one, they would be scalded to death. Pet. tries to shoot a crossbow bolt at Macon, but Xena's Chakram bounces around and makes the ship hit more rocks.

Since the last smashup of the ship started a big hole in the hull,they must remove more planks so they can fit thru the hole and go to the surface. Xena and Auto work on this as Gabby and others blow up the skins.

Note: The hole is from the deckside of the ship, and they are working in an upside-down ship. When tney emerge, the hull has the hole in it,which was ABOVE their heads.

Pet. admits to Xena that he can't swim. He tells of accidentally drowning his little brother years ago, and fears the water. Xena tells him to be brave and that he didn't mean to cause the accident with his brother. This aside was wasted, I think. More could have been shown of them in the water later trying to reach shore.

Thad does not think he can make it, so tries to bribe Gabby with a necklace. His wife sees this and tells him about the baby, and that they will all make it.

Xena gives the orders: Auto will lead, taking the captain and Gabby, followed by the slaver,wife,and Pet. Xena will go last, behind Macon.

They DO go thru the hull, as Macon always said. The rest stay to the side of the geyser, and when Macon and Xena go out, the ensuing fight shows them INSIDE the geyser, and they are not scalded and killed. Macon had dropped his air supply, and he goes back to try to kill Xena for hers. This is the fourth attempt by him to kill someone...why doesn't Xena just LET HIM DIE as she did with Callisto?

Anyway, how can an unconscious captain breathe with the wineskin?

It was good to hear Xena's war-cry underwater, like the one she did in The Black Wolf.

We see Gabby ashore. She gets up and sees the others. Macon is seen last, but Xena is still missing. Finally she emerges from the sea, and Gabby helps her.

Best dialogue:

Macon: I'm a killer. Why did you save me? What did you expect?"

Xena:"From you...nothin'...from me, nothin' less."

As Macon leaves, Gabby asks, "he doesn't get it, does he?"

Xena says, "not a clue."

Auto gives Thad some jewelry he finds, and Thad says that he gives up slavery and will hire people to work at good pay.

Gabby asks Xena if she believes in the palm reader now. Xena says it's just another average day.


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