Crusader

This is an episode I didn't expect to like very much, but actually took me by surprise. I ended up enjoying it a lot.

Gabs and Xena both take pretty good blows from Najara.

Xena gets in some of her own though.

You gotta think that Xena would have chakramed Najara in time to prevent Gabrielle's death.

As soon as Xena is close enough, Gabrielle makes a grab for her.

Xena is very quite, watching Najara's every move.

She remains silent as Gabrielle introduces them.

And she just gives a very slight smirking smile.

Gabrielle gives a big smile and pats Xena's arm.

Najara has a very friendly smile. It makes her even prettier.

Gabrielle is just full of smiles for Najara, which has to drive Xena crazy.

The "singing by the campfire" scene is a bit much for me.

That is one butch haircut Najara is sporting!

I'm sure Xena was very tempted to take Najara's sword.

The smiles Xena and Najara give each other are nothing but silent challenges.

Najara actually tells Gabs to listen to Xena.

Gabrielle says about Najara, "I don't know what to think of her."

Xena just sneers.

Somehow, Xena's signal of an arrow being sent through the air just doesn't seem right to me for some reason.

Xena does some killing in the barn fight.

And so does Najara.

Najara is like a politician kissing babies.

Gabrielle just stares at Najara like she's never seen someone so intriguing. No wonder Xena is bothered so much!

The VISION- does it just come to Xena at random times? It definitely doesn't only occur at night or when she's in a relaxed position.

Why would Najara have to ask if Gabs knows about the vision? Wouldn't the jinn tell her?

Xena rubs her neck like she has a tension headache.

Course, she probably does!

"Let's go see them up close," Najara says about the swans. She holds out her hand, and Gabs takes it immediately.

Najara does remember to ask Xena, "Won't you join us?", but is answered with, "No thanks, I'm not much for bird watching."

Gabrielle asks "Do swans circle?" and she and Najara laugh like that's funny.

Xena watches all the interchange from a distance, looking very hurt.

Gabrielle admits to Najara, "I need something." That pretty well sums up the whole fourth season for her.

Boy, the sun sure sets fast!

Gabs is pretty smart, "Yeah, I've learned you should listen to Xena when it comes to this sort of thing."

Xena is very concerned because she seems to hurt Gabrielle.

She is planning on leaving Gabs with Najara, and can only whisper, "Goodbye, Gabrielle," while the bard is sleeping.

That sort of seems the cowardly way out for Xena.

Gabs is beginning to look slightly uneasy around Najara.

Marott is played by the same actor who played Theodorus, Callisto's lover and first lieutenant.

In a sense, Marott has some integrity. He refuses to pretend he is a follower of the Light.

Gabrielle, if during the course of an episode, you are required to wear flowers in your hair, please note, the episode will not have a happy ending!

Xena narrows her eyes at Najara, wanting the real story. How does she know she's going to get it?

Check out this exchange:
Xena: How about it, Najara? Do you execute unarmed men without a trial?
Najara: Definitely not.
Gabrielle: You see, Xena?
Najara: I liberate their souls.
Gabrielle: What does that mean?

It means she kills unarmed men without a trial.

"You said yourself, you hurt her," Najara tells Xena. Gabrielle gives a half-cocked grin, like Xena did in Bitter Suite when Gabs accused her of killing her.

The fight is brutal!

Najara's stunt double needs some work though…she seems too wooden.

In a fair fight, Xena woulda won.

I definitely could have done without the Romper Room Stomper stilts Xena uses.

Xena ends up taking quite a licking in this fight.

Gabrielle saves Xena's life by covering Xena's unconscious body and declaring, "No! You'll have to kill us both!"

Xena is not even aware what Gabrielle is doing for her.

Gabrielle admits, "Xena's dark side frightens me."

Najara reminds me a lot of Brunhilda…or is that the other way around?

Xena lays on the floor helpless like she will later in The Way.

After she wakes up, she keeps holding her head, but most of the blows she took were to the body.

She asks the boy in the bar, "I got my butt whipped good, didn't I?"

The boy isn't afraid of her, and just answers, "Uh huh."

And Xena continues to hold a conversation with the kid.

Xena considers Gabrielle a "weakness?"

Xena says, "I lost one of those good chewin' teeth, but other than that, I'm all right."

And regarding Najara, "She's too dangerous a girl to leave on the loose. She likes killing too much."

Gabrielle responds with, "But she beat you so badly."

Thanks for rubbing it in, Gabs!

But Xena just quirks a grin. "That's another reason."

Xena is looking and acting a little wonky.

She grabs hold of Gabrielle's hand and takes her by surprise.

Then, when she looks over in the pit, her "Oo…that's gotta hurt" is malicious sounding.

When Gabs tells Najara that Xena has snapped, Xena gives a little accompanying head jerk.

Xena calls Gabrielle a "sniveling ingrate"!

And admits, "Well, if I can't have her…nobody can."

Then she says, "See, it's a little more difficult with a millstone like her around your neck."

Both Xena and Najara can fly.

Xena can't resist tormenting Najara. "if you don't mind my saying, your focus is a little off."

Heh, heh, Xena goes off and leaves Gabrielle hanging.

I certainly hope Xena and Gabrielle talked before hand about some of the things that Xena might be saying, or Xena is going to have an awful lot of explaining to do!

Najara gets in a mean parting shot. Xena asks her if she told Gabrielle about the vision, and Najara replies, "No, That would hurt her and I don't ever want to do that. That's your job."

As Xena and Gabs walk off, Najara intones, "I forgive you, Gabrielle." Somehow, I don't think that's the last we'll see of Najara!

Let’s check out Gary’s thoughts:


There is some weird eastern music as we see a lone rider, looking like it could be Xena in Sins of the Past. The rider, a woman, sees a few men who have been in a fight with Xena. They tell Najara, the rider and leader of about twelve men, that she should help the others.

She rides to see two men on the ground. Xena is fighting two, and Gabby is using her staff on two. Najara charges on her horse, and knocks Gabby down. She then hangs upside-down and knocks Xena over. The two women fight, evenly matched, and Gabby tries to help, but is knocked down, and Najara is poised to kill her. Xena draws the Chakram, but Najara stops and looks at the sky as if she is hearing voices, and stops her attack. She starts crying and begs their forgiveness, leaving a puzzled Xena.

Najara is a sort of Joan of Arc with hearing voices from "the Jinn" who tell her what to do to fight evil. She knows a lot about the girls from the Jinn---that they are on a quest to fight evil, and that Gabby has a good heart and Xena is trying to overcome her own dark side.

Najara has a horse named "Buttakai" (it sounded like) and wears really neat earrings, plus a good fighting outfit.

She asks the girls to join her in her fight against Marat of Crete, whose men are planning to capture a village nearby and take the people as slaves. A spy told her this. Xena and Gabby agree to go with her.

Najara and Gabby look at the scenery the night before the fight. Gabby takes an instant liking to her, since Najara has a spiritual side in the Light.

At the campfire scene, Xena helps those she wounded and the group sings as the girls watch. Najara has short blonde hair and is beautiful.

Xena looks pained as she hears the song. Najara wants to open a hospice, and Gabby likes the idea, too. Xena is skeptical, and Najara hands her the sword and tells Xena to take command of her "army". Xena does not take the sword, but accepts command. Gabby is told by Najara not to be too trusting.

The next morning, Xena takes a crossbow as a signal-device and scouts ahead at the village. She sees the thugs beating people, and she fires the arrow. Najara and her men and Gabby all fight in a long scene. Xena and N. fight well together, and the fight moves outside. Xena jumps onto a rooftop, which looks like Gabby's dad's place with the windmill, then jumps down to the fight again. An arrow is shot at Gabby, but N. catches it in time, faster than Xena could have. Xena now looks impressed.

N. tells the captured thugs that they have a chance to fight for the Light, and she will give them a chance to reform and join her. The people love Najara and give her flowers and their thanks. N. tells them to forgive the bad guys and go and lead good lives. Now Gabby is impressed.

Flashback to the Crucifixion scene...one we'll see ad nauseam this season. N. knows of the vision of death with Gabby and Xena. The Jinn told her. Xena wants to know what can be done. To avoid the destiny of death, Xena must not be with Gabby.

Najara wants to capture Marat...Xena says she will do it as N. captures and saves the next village.

The next day, Gabby gets on behind Najara on the horse and goes to look for the swans. Xena will not go because she is jealous of Gabby liking Najara. N. says the Jinn will not always be there every day with her...Xena spies on the women as they talk.

Gabby likes Najara's happy life and wants the right path for her own life...more of this in Season 4. Gabby says she and Xena cannot stay together if a hospice is opened. N says Gabby should stay with Xena since they do a lot of good.

N kills if necessary, and Gabby needs "something"...maybe the Light. That night, the women plan the raid...N takes the town as Xena gets Marat. Xena tells N that if Gabby stays with herself, she will die, and wants N to take Gabby to start the hospice.

Xena: I seem to hurt her." No kidding....the Gabdrag. Gabby is asleep...Xena says goodbye from a distance.

At the hospice, Gabby works with Najara, who must move on. The people love Najara. Gabby wants to be initiated into the Light.

Marat is asleep when Xena sneaks in and handcuffs him. He thinks it is Najara, who he says kills the prisoners (the killers and slavers) if they do not join the Light. Xena believes the thug, punches him ,and runs off without him.

Gabby has the Light ceremony and in the celebration, Xena arrives and confronts Najara who does not deny killing the bad guys if they do not repent. Gabby is stunned and wants out. N says she is part of the Light and will fight Xena for her.

The two women put on a long fight scene, with Najara finally really beating up Xena. She will kill her with a sword, but Gabby begs her to let her live, saying she couldn't live with anyone who killed Xena. I thought the plan was N would leave and Gabby would stay at the hospice.

Xena is such a hypocrite. She killed a lot of innocent people as Destroyer of Nations, and Najara kills guilty ones she didn't kill in battle. Najara says she killed murderers, pirates, and slavers, liberating their souls. She said there was no trial for the villagers. Najara says Gabby is her responsibility now, and that Xena hurts Gabby too much.

Najara to Gabby: The darkness in Xena will destroy you one day.

Xena, bruised, wakes up later, and lost one of her "good chewing teeth." She says Najara is a tough girl but has the same weakness Xena does....Gabby.

At the cave, Gabby asks why not take the prisoners to a trial. N says that a local town may support slavery, and that Xena kills a lot. Najara kills only evil people,, so why is Xena better than her? Fools find thugs innocent, and the eternal powers correct any mistakes Najara made.

There is one yell from outside. N leaves to look. All her men are knocked out by Xena, who sneaks in the cave. Why only one yell, and how come she couldn't battle two men easily earlier and now she can wipe out an army? The men were all over the campground.

Najara runs back inside to see Gabby "tied" to a burning rope. She was really on a plank, and Xena will fight her again for Gabby.

Xena: If I can't have her, nobody's gonna have her.

As they fight, Xena calls Gabby a millstone around Najara's neck. To push the fight, Gabby yells for N to hurry. Xena finally knocks her over a cliff, and N hangs on as Xena puts a handcuff on her. She is then pulled up and is punched by Xena. Gabby is released.

Ending: Najara, looking like Joan of Arc tied to the stake, is in town for trial for killing killers.. She tells Xena that hurting Gabby is Xena's job. Najara says that people can be bribed or fooled into letting evil loose. The girls leave as Najara says "I forgive you, Gabrielle."

I liked the show a lot, but Xena's hypocrisy made me ill. Najara is paying for "crimes" which involves saving people. Xena never seems to pay for her own crimes, and in the last episode, Locked Up, Xena seems to get away with everything. Why was Xena so vehement against a woman who obviously did a lot more good than Xena? Couldn't Gabby have argued "the greater good?"

Note: Marat, the evil slaver and killer, is left alone by Xena, tho she told Najara that she "captured" him...that was a lie, since she left him in his camp so he could keep doing evil.

Kathryn Morris was great as Najara, but she will be wasted in CRUSADER in a future episode.


Next
Season 4
Home