This is the very first fourth season episode I saw. It's not one of my favorites.
It starts out with a flashback, rather than the vision, for once. This is obviously supposed to be Evil Xena of the past, but she's wearing her current day leathers. She's remembering a pretty vicious fight with the Horde. One of her men yells "retreat!" and that pisses Xena off. She says she's never retreated before. She tells the man he won't retreat now, and she pulls her boot dagger out and kills him. Then she assesses the situation. And yells retreat! Her stubbornness makes me laugh every time! The Horde that Xena and Gabs see moving look too fake for me. Gabs asks Xena, "Have you ever seen a blonde Horde girl?" For that matter, have we ever seen a blond Horde OR a girl Horde? And then Xena thinks she looks familiar? Sheesh! Why is Xena suddenly so willing to keep the Horde protected? Did she come away feeling that good about them after The Price? Xena tells Milo, "It's a lovely day for scalping." Then she tells Milo, "They're just kids hunting for food." The Horde members we saw didn't look that young. It almost looks like Gabs found a jock strap! Love Xena's snapped, "Ancient history, pal," to Milo. Why would Xena be handing out Roman souvenirs? She tells Milo, "You're a mercenary little bastard." She tells him, "Get out of my way", then gives him a not-so-nice shove. Since when did the Horde kidnap? Gabs tells Vanessa's parents that their daughter is alive. She doesn't know that! Then she promises she and Xena will bring her back. Shouldn't she check with Xena first? Xena's sort of quiet while Gabs is talking, like she's not so sure. But "right", she agrees, after a beat. She responds to Milo without seeing him. Gabs declares, "They took her first." Uh huh… That full moon is huge, as they always are on Xena. Poor Gabs WOULD have to step on a stick. All you can see of Xena in the darkness is the white of her eyes and her teeth. Once the Horde is in their hideout, why don't they cover the brush back over the entrance? Xena sees the situation and mutters, "Underground…terrific." Gabs asks, "Problem?" and gets the response of "No, piece of cake." Don't you think the Horde would notice the hot new girl? Thank the gods the Horde guy asked Xena for water and not coffee or a brewsky! Xena even got to say it…"Kaltacka". When did the Horde invent candles? Since when could Xena pinch vocal chords? Y'think she ever used that tactic on Gabrielle? Heh heh. You can here the Horde saying "como, como", along with other repeated phrases. Does that mean "Here?" Xena sounds like Indiana Jones. "I hate small spaces." This one is annoying, because it's so hard to see the scenes in the tunnels…too dark. Xena shows he muscles when she cuts through rock with a Horde axe. That had to scare the Tartarus out of Gabrielle when Xena suddenly came up behind her. Vanessa dropped the exact same thing twice? Sheesh! Vanessa WOULD calm down when around Gabrielle. She has that effect on people. Vanessa's father is Cervik. That sounds vaguely dirty to me. Why is there always a shooting star? Puh-Lee sure picked up on the language quickly enough! Xena's being awfully resentful toward her. Gabrielle takes her arm, but Xena pulls it free to stand on her own. Xena gets redressed while still soaking wet. Hey…this is a first! Gabs says "Bean" to Puh-lee. Gabs asks, "What is it? Horde?" and Xena responds that "It's much worse." It's Milo! Xena hooks her whip around him without even looking up at him. And Milo's response? "I love this woman." Xena flat out lies and says the Horde is coming. After Xena talks about "complete annihilation" in regards to the Horde, Milo answers with, "Marry me." Xena is not amused. The father was mourning, but did he have to pout too? Vanessa looks kinda pretty all cleaned up. Xena had to explain the plan to Gabs. I could tell she was bluffing the first time I watched this one. Gabrielle: You know, you'd think I'd learn not to meddle with families.
Xena tells Gabby they must pass thru Horde territory , but maybe should
detour around it, since they both remember The Price. They are near a river
in a great visual scene.Now, after two bouts with these ruthless killers,
Xena wants to understand them. Why? What prompts her to say that after
saying "kill 'em all!"
The girls see four Hordes at the river. A short wiry blonde guy named Milo
attacks them single-handedly and kills the biggest one first. He then throws
an ax at another and the watching Xena throws the Chakram and deflects the
ax. She then attacks Milo, who asks "why?" She says they were just "kids", but
they looked full-grown to me.
Milo, whom I liked, was fast, brave, and smart.He is fighting as his fellow
townspeople, to save his home. He takes scalps for pay, but what matter? We
saw the Horde with skulls on their own headdresses, plus the staking out of
the Athenean troops to be tortured and die in Price.
Xena spots a sling dropped by a blonde Horde girl, and she remembers she
gave it to somebody in the past. What a co-incidence. WHY does Xena hate Milo so much? Her hate should be for the Horde, proven unreasoning brutes who are nearly impossible to stop.
Xena and Gabby go to the fort and show the father of the blonde the sling.
He recognizes it, and Gabby says she is alive. He searched for his daughter
for a long time and found her burned and torn clothes, presuming her dead.
He wants to go looking for her again. Vanessa, a strange "Greek" name is the
girl's name....she was kidnapped six years ago, and appears to be about 15
now.
Gabby, seeming in charge, tells the guy that she and Xena will go get her
and bring her home. Milo wants to help and hates the Horde.
Gabby: Can you believe him?
The girls go at night in one of the better scenes. The lighting is great,
and Gabby accidentally steps on a twig and alerts the Horde patrol.
Note: It would be in bad form if Xena stepped on the stick, since in this
ep., she can do no wrong.
The Horde spread out with torches and look around. Xena and Gabby are hiding
in a tree, and the Horde turns back and go into a hidden tunnel where they
live...in a big cavern. That is why the villagers cannot find them.
How fortunate that those who lived there for years cannot find the Horde,
but a newcomer like Xena gets it right the first time.
The Plan: Xena will dress as a Horde woman and get inside. We see her inside
all dirty and painted in rags. No Horde guy seems to notice a six-foot tall
and blue-eyed newcomer. How does she get past the guards?
Gabby waits outside, since Xena will bring the kid out that way.
Vanessa is told to get Kaltaka (water) by the Chief...he holds her back at
first and laughs. Another Horde guy demands water from Xena, who knows that
single word. How fortunate for that, huh?
Note: since the Horde has well-made axes, all the same, they must have a
technology beyond being cavemen. Why drink water when they should have had
the ability to have learned how to make wine or beer?
At the waterfall, Xena tells the girl she is there to take her back to her
parents. The kid screams so piercingly, I had to cover my ears. Xena puts
the Pinch on the kid's vocal cords ald leads her away...the Horde gives
chase.
They crawl thru a tunnel to escape, with a Horde guy throwing an ax at her.
Her Chakram deflects it, and causes a cave-in, keeping the savages back. She
uses the ax to chop a hole to the surface, and they emerge behind Gabby, who
is startled to see them there. Xena will lay a false trail while Gabby takes
the kid away. The Horde gets outside and sees the sling Xena left. The Chief
wails, and Xena wonders why. She is in a tree watching this. She later joins
Gabby and the girl. Xena is washed up and her wet hail looks good.
Gabby tries to communicate, and learns the girl knows Greek, so the Horde is
now known as the Pomira. They are nature-worshippers. Gabby says they kill
but Vanessa says Gabby's kind kills trees and the earth....a moral
equivalency?
Xena should have reminded the kid of the horrors in the Price.
Going back at daybreak, Xena uses her whip to pull Milo out of a tree....a
tree again....this is tedious. He falls to the ground and taunts the Horde girl, who kicks him in the face. Xena is amused at that.
Xena says Milo is "much worse than the Horde." Again...why? He is fighting
as Xena did to save his town.
At the fort, Xena presents the girl to her parents, who are amazed at how
wild she looks. The kid scratches her father's face and tries to claw her
way thru the gate. The mother is more reserved.
Milo likes Xena's idea of having the Horde attack...he is ready to fight
them to end the feudes.
The meeting: Xena says that complete annahilation is the only way to have
peace..."kill 'em all!" is what she implied, as she said in the Price. Milo:
She's back!
The townspeople say give the girl back to prevent the attack. Xena says even
if they do, they will attack the fort anyway.....how does she kinow this?
Was this part of her plan?
Xena wants all-out war...no prisoners. Milo: Marry me!
Gabby tries to get the father to bend and accept the girl....the kid needs
her dad's love.
At the house, we see a pretty and clean Vanessa, who wants to be called
Pilee, her Horde name...or Pomira, as she constantly corrects everyone with.
She remembers a lot from her childhood, and tells her parents that the
Horde are not savages....huh? They look and act it.
At the fort: There is a great scene in its filming and camera angles. Xena
and Gabby are on the wall over the gate and they discuss what will happen.
Xena has the ruse of making the people think there will be war, but she
really wants Vanessa to be a translator and maybe bring peace. Xena made
war-plans to gain the trust of the soldiers.
Note: How does one lie to gain someone's trust? That is betrayal.
At night, Vanessa has her father's sword, and it looks as if she will kill
her sleeping parents. She puts down the sword, and takes her doll and goes
outside to try to escape. As she drops the doll when she is climbing up the
ladder, she meets Milo, who says "once a Horde, always a Horde." Xena stops
him from killing the girl and says he wil kill HIM if he tries it again. She
will hand him to the Horde herself....I thought they were "peaceful" people.
Again: Why this insane hate for Milo? The townspeople want the Horde dead so
they can live. Milo is their best fighter.
Xena to Milo: Are you srtill murdering children?"
Wait! Xena stopped Milo at the beginning from killing the "children" who
looked full-grown. What about Xena, Destroyer of Nations who murdered
plenty? These back-stories of how bad Xena was made her look awful inSeasons 3-6.
Xena tells the girl to be the translator to make peace.
The next morning, the Horde is outside the gates demanding the girl. Xena
goes out and Vanessa wants to talk.
Milo erupts from the ground as Xena did in Deliverer, and attacks the Chief.
Note: How does he dig a hole right outside the gate without being seen by
friend or foe?
Also, he does what Xena proved in the Price...you fight and defeat the
leader, and you defeat the Horde. Xena doesn't see it this way, tho. She
attacks Milo, and there is a long fight sequence with both townsfolk and
Horde looking on.
Milo is quick and agile, and has a lot of weapons. He is great in hand-to-
hand combat against the great Xena. There is a dumb double-kick where both are sent flying in opposite directions. Xena says she hates that. They finally fight over a dagger, and Milo dies....Xena sneers at his death, as if her hate has no bounds.
The girl will stay with the Pomira and come back to mom and dad from time to
time. They are now all "family" according to the Chief. The father is really
hurt by this, but Xena says there is now peace.
The ending: Xena gives Gabby for all the credit for bringing two "families"
together and stopping a war...Gabby stopped it in her helping wounded Horde
in Price....Xena fought the leader after that. Xena says if Gabby didn't try
to get the girl to help, Xena would have had toi fight for real.
Gabby: I did all that? And they call you the hero?
Xena: Wanna switch? You kick butt and I'll take notes.
This ep was flawed in that Milo was presented as the bad guy. The Horde, who
kidnapped a little girl and put the parents thru years of anguish, was
dismissed. The fearsome and insane killers are shown as nature-lovers, while
civilized people are the killers of the earth.
Milo, the best fighter in the town, was just trashed at every opportunity by
Xena. In the beginnig, Xena does not know why he attacks the Horde...what if he is
going after them for killing his wife and kids? Xena does not care. She later, as in Price, demands complete control of the garrison. She is always right and can do no wroing, according to the poor writing in this episode.
These are Gary’s thoughts:
This episode should have been called "Xena Hates Milo." It opens with Xena telling Gabby about a battle she was in with the Horde, in which Xena loses. She kills her officer
because he wants to retreat in the losing battle. Xena then runs off ANYWAY....a hypocrite.
What? He is fighting for his home and life and goes out alone to kill as many of the enemy as he can. Didn't Xena fight for her village when Cortese attacked?