Adventures in the Sin Trade Part 2

Well, this episode starts off with an eye catcher…two half naked women in a sweat hut.

Xena's running through some serious guilt feelings.

Otere is a pretty girl.

Why? Why does Xena play Peeping Tom with Cyane? Why, oh why?

And when she falls through the roof, she checks out Cyane's front side just as she had her backside.

Evil Xena seems rather clumsy.

EX wears a thong.

I always thought EX didn't give a fig who saw her naked. She was sure covering herself up with Cyane though!

Cyane says that Xena tried to kill her. When?

Xena acts like Cyane is really hurting her after she's finally caught. It is all an act, isn't it?

Where did Xena get the tie she was using to hold her robe closed?

Check out the way she puts her hat back on! Hee hee!

Shouldn't EX's clothes be loose on Cyane?

Xena says about Cyane- "We definitely should hang with her for a while."

Xena gets Otere to let her help. She smiles a thank you, then a tear slips down her cheek. "We've got a lot of work to do."

Where exactly did Xena learn all those Amazon rituals? In the past, she had to sit them all out.

Alti really needs to clear her throat…it drives me crazy!

Alti says "Fail and you will live forever in the land of the dead." How can you live in the dead world?

The evil spirits come rushing to the campsite like Yodoshi does in Friend in Need.

Come to think of it, I see a lot of similarities between this one and FIN.

Was Xena gonna kill those Amazons when the evil spirits entered them?

She seems to be rather partial to Yakut.

Why do all these Amazons have dirty faces?

Cyane and Alti's battle of the neck muscles makes me laugh. I won't say what it looks like.

I love Xena's grin during it. She thinks it's funny too.

Lucy has absolutely perfect teeth.

I hate it when that spider crawls on Xena's face! I'm not a big spider fan!

But why didn't big bad Xena brush it off?

Gabrielle lives inside Xena forever.

One of the few times Xena has slept naked during the show is in the scene where Alti curses Borias.

The tent she and Borias share is enormous!

The following is very endearing:
Yakut: She's lost all her powers. Maybe they've passed over to you. Do you feel any different?
Otere: A little.
Yakut pops her on the nose and says, "Nope, that couldn't have been it."

Otere manages to elbow Yakut back.

Poor Xena can't even accept the Amazon tribute.

EX's Amazon tribute is enthusiastic.

EX says, "Yeah, you see I killed your little friend for sport. And now I'm going to show you how I can outAmazon the Amazons!" And boy, does she!

But what's the purpose? Why does EX want the Amazons dead?

EX had been playing Home Alone in the forest.

Cyane was way too easy to beat.

Xena claims she kills them because Alti offered her a better deal. But couldn't she have just killed Cyane?

Xena looks bored by Cyane's bloodletting.

Xena moved so fast that none of the Amazons could stop her?

Why was Xena the only one laying on the ground twitching?

That's weird when there's the "crunchy' sounds when Alti or Xena react.

Okay, how long has Xena been able to fly like that?

How many episodes do they shoot in advance? Did they shoot the Ides of March scenes specifically for this episode?

The crucifixion…better get used to it now, because you are going to be seeing it a lot.

I'm glad Xena is so smart, realizing Gabrielle is still alive.

Xena + Stigmata = not a good sign

The moment Xena realizes Gabs is alive, she takes over.

Otere was moving before Xena even touched her.

Officially, the pinch was never taken off Xena.

The final celebration always reminds me of the Ewoks.

And thus ends Xena's search to redeem her past actions against the Amazons…in the next episode, Family Affair, she'll resume her search for Gabrielle.


Here are Gary’s thoughts:


We keep hearing sad music with the opening scenes. At the camp, the Amazons and Xena gets ready to attack Alti. Xena remembers years back to a steam-bath where she sees Cyane for the first time. Cyane is the Northern Amazons' Queen, and she is naked except for a thong, and she is whipped by an attendant with a small branch. Xena is on the hut's roof and falls through to the floor. She punches the attendant, and a startled Cyane covers up her chest with her arms, while Xena glares at her.

To Xena's amazement, Cyane is able to grab Xena's clothes one by one and dress herself in them...all in a few seconds. Now it is Xena's turn to be nearly naked...lo and behold, Xena is wearing a black thong...did they have them back then?

Wearing a stolen coat, Xena runs out and is chased by Cyane, who is running along the lower tree branches. Cyane tackles Xena, and is strangling her when Borias arrives.

He says that Xena is his girlfriend, and he wants an alliance with the Amazons, so if Xena is killed, he'd be pretty ticked off, and there goes the alliance. He assures Cyane that Xena will be punished...(HAH!) and Cyane, unbelievably, says her instincts tell her to trust Borias. Boy...she does not know this guy at all.

Xena thinks with her will, not reason, says Borias. Xena tells Borias he isn't going to punish her, and she likes Cyane's fighting style.

Present: Otere tells Xena that her father died in Xena's raid long ago. Xena is sorry about that and cries a bit. At the camp, Xena makes one Amazon, Yakut, the new shamaness, and the girl wears antlers and a strange headdress. They must do a dance so they can leave the prison of their own bodies to fight Alti.

Alti, preparing to fight the Amazons, summons demon spirits from her campfire and sends them to attack the girls. They go thru the night to the Amazons' camp.

Meanwhile, the girls drink blood and dance as Alti does her dance. The girls all pass out at the end of the dance in preparation of fighting in the spirit world. This is when the spirits attack. Five Amazons fight Xena because the spirits are in each girl. Xena does not kill them, only knock them down and gets them to will out the spirits. This works.

The girls continue to head to Alti's place. Why so long a trip when the wounded guy made it by himself a lot faster?

Camping again, Xena has the girls set up a charm ring around the camp. The charms are bones with blood poured on them. There is another long chant and dance scene.

Back: Xena tells of Cyane wanting to get Xena to become an Amazon. Cyane is pretty friendly and trusting, and knows Xena is a murderess. Xena, like she did with Lao Ma in another turning-point, declines to be good.

Borias hates the fact that Alti is influencing Xena.

Alti shows up and loses a mind-staring contest with Cyane. Xena is impressed with this. Since Cyane is stronger, why does Xena stay with Alti? She refuses Cyane's second offer to join her.

Xena tells the girls that any living thing can hold Alti's spirit. Xena stands watch, but soon, Alti's spirit appears in a spider, looking like Gabby for an instant. Alti wants to know who "the blonde one" is.

Alti lets Xena see the past where Alti's spirit cursed Solon...that he will never experience his parents' love.

The Amazons wake up, but Xena is in a coma, so they put her on a litter drawn by a horse. They travel thru tall grass in a barren landscape, and Xena wakes up. She says that Solon would have kept Xena from the darkness. Also, she knows that the Amazons' resting place is the source of Alti's power.

They come to a "graveyard" where some skeletons are stuck on tree branches. Xena sees Cyane's remains and tells the girls what happened. Xena cannot accept Amazon tribute because she says she killed the Amazon Queens, weakening the tribes, leading to their gradual extinction except for a few scattered tribes.

Xena murdered one queen, and gets Cyane and about 12 others to fight her in the trees. Xena set traps, and killed all of them, even Cyane.

Cyane: "Why?"
Xena:" Alti offered me a better deal."

Alti scoops up the blood of Cyane and says it holds great power. She tells Xena that her destiny will be fulfilled since she helped Alti gain the power. The spirits of the Amazons are now trapped in the land of the dead. Alti lives off their strength.

Xena has to fight now. She gives all the girls the Pinch, and finally puts it on herself. They are in spirit-time, which seems longer than real time. All the girls' spirits must join Xena's so that they will have the strength to fight Alti as a unit, with Xena doing the action.

Alti shows up in a long treetop battle. Whoever dies in the spirit world will die in the real world. The battle goes back and forth, and Alti tries to weaken Xena by showing her future pain and suffering. There is the crucifixion scene with Gabby that we will see a lot of in Season 4....Xena gets renewed strength, knowing that if she, Xena, is alive in the future, she must win the battle NOW...and, Gabby must be alive NOW if she is there to die on a cross in the future. It seems as if Alti miscalculated. Xena impales her on a tree limb...Alti dies as Xena says, "now you know YOUR future."

Xena releases the Pinch from herself by twisting her neck and runs to undo it from the girls before they die. They are all now free.

Cyane sees that they too are free and can cross over and the new holy word is LOVE. There is a good scene where the dead look to the mountains and the music was haunting and beautiful. Cyane looks good as the leader when she climbs on the rock to lead her people to their resting place.

Final scene: As Alti had said, Oteri, the former girl Borias saved from Xena, DOES take Xena's power as leader of the Amazons. Yakut is the shamaness. Xena says about Gabby..."she's alive" and leaves on the horse, going a long way home.


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