Locked Up and Tied Down

There was an episode of Charlie's Angels that gained a lot of ungarnered attention called "Angel in Chains." Many thought it was exploitive. Locked Up and Tied Down is an example of a much more human, poignant story, on more than one level.

It starts out rather intriguing with Gabs looking for something on Xena's body:

Gabrielle: I can't find It.

Xena: It's there.

It's a fairly intimate scene in which Gabs is looking for a knot in Xena's back. For some reason, the camera feels the need to give us a close-up of Gabs' fingers working over Xena's back.

Gabrielle: What in Tartarus have you been carrying on these shoulders, anyway?
Xena: I wouldn't know. I try not to overanalyze my life like some people.
Gabrielle: Some people think an unexamined life isn't worth living.
Xena: Those people haven't lived my life.

I like this conversation, as it is revealing of both of their psyches.

Gabrielle is getting better. She saw the men approaching, and Xena knew exactly how many there were.

Gabs gets the bad news that the men are carrying an arrest warrant for Xena.

Xena remembered Thalassa well.

There's something very symbolic in Xena insisting Gabrielle take the chakram.

Couldn't the men have at least pulled her hair out from under the collar? That looked uncomfortable!

How did Evil Xena cut Thalassa's face without damaging her eye?

Evil Xena looks too skinny in this.

Gabs is defending a case she knows nothing about.

Death by killer crabs? Oh, please!

I love Gabs' "I'd like to say goodbye to my friend."

Xena is very guilt-ridden. "She had your kind of spirit, and I killed it. What can outweigh that?"

However, I found absolutely NO comparison between Gabrielle and Thalassa.

How convenient that Gabrielle would happen to be in the same place as the healer of Shark Island.

One look at the captain of the guards, and it was easy to tell he was going to be a bad guy.

Lucy is a foot taller than any of the other prisoners.

I like that little redhead who Xena becomes friends with.

And I was glad to see Xena defend her. Is she supposed to resemble Thalassa in any way?

Lucy even looks good in drab prison garb.

Why was it so important to Xena to bury the girl?

Of course, it WOULD rain while she was digging the grave. It's clichéd, but still effective.

Xena is SO powerful in this scene.

And the reverence with which she builds the altar is a thing to behold.

Guard: You're a real hero, aren't you?
Xena: No.

So the guard gives her a slam upside the head.

Xena lets the guard kick her around a lot, finally giving in with "I'm a hero." It's got to take a lot of strength not to tear into him then and there.

She gives a slight smile when the guard gives her the order to unload the wagon.

Check out those biceps on Lucy! Impresses the heck out of me!

Love that redhead's spunk! The guard asks "didn't I tell you to let her do it herself?" in reference to Xena. "Yes," she responds without a pause.

I'm SO glad when Xena finally starts kicking the guard's butts.

If ever a jailbreak was justified, it was this one!

I feel so bad for Xena when the guard purposely destroys her altar!

The guards circle her and begin punching, and Xena disappears. But not for long!

The music is from The Debt.

Xena is VERY quiet when Thalassa talks to her.

And she doesn't resist when she is hogtied.

That HAD to have hurt when she's tossed into the pit, face first.

Lucy vs. the rats, The Sequel.

She's a brave soul letting those rats crawl all over her again.

They're crawling everywhere, including on top of her head.

Xena kind of loses it with the rats, understandably. "That's enough, you hear me? That's enough!"

Gabs is extremely gentle and patient with Thalassa.

Thalassa has "phantom limb" syndrome, which is the sensation of actually feeling like a limb is still present after it's gone.

Gabrielle has a Bob Marley look going!

Thalassa is obviously very attracted to Gabrielle.

Xena is beginning to behave like Callisto with the rats. "Bah! I got you good that time!"

Gabrielle was pretty handy, using that broom to "sweep up".

Xena's voice was weak! How long was she down in the hole? She must have had a rat in her throat!

Xena just can't win! The chakram rolls, then lands flatways on the bars above her.

I like the fact that Xena didn't just use her teeth to pick up the dead rat…she had to use her tongue too. It added a touch of realism.

But she only had to throw the rat one time and the chakram was hers. She didn't even need a practice throw!

Her neck strength must be incredible!

She is filthy after her stay in the rathole!

Gabrielle takes a pretty hard blow from Ursina, but doesn't seem to let it bother her.

It's a great fight between Xena and Ursina!

Xena flies into the room feet first.

Xena is down on a tabletop, and hops to her feet. Ursina looks down, not expecting Xena to be up and around so soon. It's a nice touch!

Then Xena flies out of the window feet first to continue the fighting. I really despise her Superman moves!

At the end, Xena is wrapped in a blanket, drinking something.

She looks like a little kid at the police station, waiting for her parents to pick her up.

Love this ending:
Gabrielle: So how about it?
Xena: How about what?
Gabrielle: Forgiving yourself.
Xena: Gabrielle, that's not for me.

Gabrielle helps Xena out of the room, and you can sense that Xena is at peace with her stay on Shark Island.

How did Gary feel about this one?


In the opening scene, we see Gabby trying to loosen Xena's sore muscles. Gabby asks what kind of weight Xena is carrying on her shoulders. The girls are attacked by six guys, and of course, the girls win. Gabby has a new way of swinging her staff...like a baseball bat.

The men are there to serve a murder warrant against Xena for killing Thalassa, a popular and beautiful young girl whom they say Xena killed years ago. Xena allows herself to be chained and taken away, despite Gabby's attempt to mitigate the circumstances.

Xena said killing the girl suited her purposes at the time. This is the weight of her guilt...how about the guilt of destroying nations? Xena never gives herself up in other episodes because it is the right thing to do...she tries to escape with Gabby in Reckoning, even tho Ares was the killer.

Court scene: villagers attest to how great and promising Thalassa was. Xena said the girl had "a light" and offers no defense for herself. Gabby tries her best to save Xena, as she did for Meleager in The Execution, but Xena is found guilty anyway. She is to be sent to the women's prison at Shark island for life.

Flashback: Xena wants the food in Thalassa's village. Long-haired Xena will kill all the girls if they don't talk. Thal. offers herself, and has her face slashed. Xena orders her tied down at the water's edge for the sea-crabs' lunch. Thal. screams as the critters attack...Xena leaves. When they return, Tha. is gone.

Note: After Xena left the area, why did Thal. leave? She had plenty of people who loved her there.

Dock scene: Gabby tries to understand why this is goodbye...Xena could have argued for the Greater Good...the good she could have done if set free. Xena says she is not looking for redemption anymore...she must pay for her crimes to "feel complete." She says Thal. was like Gabby.

Bar scene: the former healer from the prison arrives, and Gabby buys him a drink, getting information from him about the prison. He says they have no replacement yet. Gabby will now pose as a healer when she gets there on the ship.

Note: wouldn't anybody ask how she got there since the healer said he gave no notice?

The prison: it is a scary place, with neat music, setting the right tone. There was a skeleton on a pole, and it reminded me of PAPILLON where as the rules are being read, an execution takes place. A woman is dragged out to be hanged. In her escape attempt, she killed a guard...she will die for that, and is instantly hanged, impressing even Xena.

Note: these women are at a maximum-security prison for really bad crimes...many are murderers, but I hated the guard captain. Strange how we are moved that way, when despite the cruelty, he was doing his job and following the warden's rules.

We see a few times, a shadowy figure in an upper room. There are also great camera angles of the prison, looking pretty grim all-around.

Inside: The girl-gang, led by Ernestine, sees Xena and wants to settle an old score. Xena had her sent to prison, and Ern says Xena never had to pay for her own crimes. Xena agrees. The thug-ettes attack, and Xena stomps them. Ern wants Xena to join them in an escape attempt, but Xena says no.

The captain smells the dead woman hanging from the rope; he says to toss her to the sharks, but Xena volunteers to bury her. The guy says okay, but no supper for her. It is raining as Xena buries the woman, and she makes an altar/shrine for her. The inmates watch from their cells.

The next morning, after a heavy rain, the ground is DRY. Xena and a woman are unloading a wagon, and the weaker and sick woman cannot do her part. The captain tells Xena to do it alone.

The captain hits Xena twice and kicks her, saying "you're a real hero, aren't you?" Xena gives him a look-to-kill glare. She is working alone when a young woman tries to help. The captain wants to give her three lashes for disobedience, but Xena then goes into action, and a long fight ensues, with Xena using a hangman's noose as a weapon. She is pounding the guards when the warden arrives and shows herself to be Thalassa. Xena is chained and brought inside. The shrine is kicked over and the warden makes fun of it.

Thalassa calls herself rightly, Xena's victim. She is missing her right arm and her face was scarred. The crabs gnawed off her arm and she escaped. Again...why not stay with her people?

Xena is chained up a LOT and tossed into a hole under the floor...it has a grate on top like in the Black Wolf. The drop was at least thirty feet...how does Xena survive the fall? Next, rats come in by the hundreds...Xena is helpless.

Enter Gabby, The Healer. She has a truly neat outfit on, complete with a cute hat and with dangling objects from her dress. She gets to know Thal. and dresses her long-injured arm. She still must put salve on it twice a day. Gabby says Thal. can rediscover her soul if she tries.

Gabby knows now that it is the woman Xena is in prison for because Thal. described Xena as the one who ruined her life. Thal. says the arm was lost by "many little knives"...the crabs. Meanwhile, Xena bites and kills any rats that come near her. She also starts coughing in the damp pit.

In the morning, the guard captain and one guard follow Gabby everywhere. She borrows a broom, and uses it as a staff and knocks both out. She then runs to the room where Xena was and hears Xena's reply to her call. Gabby tosses the Chakram to the floor-grate, but it doesn't fall thru. Gabby is grabbed by the guards and brought to the warden.

The warden tells Gabby off, and is angry she trusted her. Gabby never looked more beautiful in this scene...her expression was perfect. She will now die for helping a prisoner to escape. The captain clubs her.

Gabby is led out to be executed...no trial...why? She looked in bad shape after getting pounded. Her dress still looked great, plus her long hair was really pretty.

Xena pulls up a dead rat by its tail, swings it into the air, hits the Chakram, and is released from the chains when the Chakram cuts the chains perfectly, and in the right place, never hitting Xena at all...what luck, huh?

How does Xena get out of the pit? She is weak and stiff...does she climb out in the few seconds before Gabby dies, or was there another way out?

Gabby looks brave, facing death, but appears to be looking for Xena.

Thalassa cannot give the order to hang Gabby, but the captain does. She falls as the Chakram cuts the rope. Xena unties her as the rest of the prisoners revolt. Xena tries to stop the fight, and they do after a while, but Ern and her gang want to kill the warden.

Gabby defends Thal. with a staff but Ern knocks her out. Xena arrives and there is a big fight in the office, going right thru the window and into the courtyard. Ern's gang attack, but Xena nails them all. Thalassa is saved and the guards are back in charge.

Xena looks awful, and walks stiff-legged after being chained the way she was. She tries to apologize to Thalassa...the warden says thanks to Gabby for helping her to get in touch with her soul ( a forecast of Gabby's WAY) and has nothing else to say to Xena.

Later, Gabby asks, "so...how about it?" She means is Xena going to forgive herself now. Xena says it isn't for her...she knows she can do good, but only as long as Gabby is around.

Note: again: I hated the guards, but they were there watching killers...they were doing their jobs under the law. Too bad evil people are seen as the good in so many shows.


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