This episode is very intense and very strange. I definitely wouldn't recommend this one as one to be shown to someone who's never seen the series before.
Still, I like it a lot. It starts out with Gabrielle doing a little gardening. Seems her sais double as a trowel! Lucy looks extremely pregnant in this one, far more so than she did just last week. I'm a little concerned about Xena eating mushrooms. She's certainly a risk taker! But Xena's REALLY hungry for it, "Oo…gimme gimme." When Gabrielle smells the mushroom, it looks like she holds it a little too close to her nose and got a snootful. That's gotta linger! They have their long coats on. The thing that Gabrielle smells is different than whatever Xena puts in her mouth. Shouldn't she have at least rinsed it off first? "Bottoms up," she says, before eating the mushroom. Then after she eats the mushroom:
There is a scary scene where everyone has to be thinking of John Hurt’s
scene in ALIEN where something pops out from a body. Xena is really
screaming in pain, lifts her shirt, and sees a bulge in her stomach trying
to get out. She is torn open and we see a baby skeleton grinning at her. She
screams worse than I have ever seen or heard. She never made a sound when
she was almost beaten to death in Who’s Gurkhan?
Xena wakes up…it was a dream, and the old lady tells her that she and the
baby are okay, but something in the spiritual world is trying to hurt the
kid. Xena instantly thinks of Alti and tells Gabby and Amarice they have to
go to the Northern Amazons to see the shamaness Yakut. Amarice never heard
of that tribe but wants to go. Xena says it was no dream…someone is trying to kill her baby, and that it is a premonition. Note: Xena is wrong, as we will see. Alti wants the baby to be born so she can be reborn herself.
Xena, Gabby, and Amarice all have horses and ride nonstop towards the North.
We saw in Sin Trade that it took Xena many days to get there, and now, a
pregnant Xena is riding for all she is worth to get there. I wondered how
the unborn baby lasted. It had to be tough on the horses, too.
At the Amazon village, we see a lot of torches flaming in broad daylight…why? Yakut, the shamaness for one year, appears and says she knew Xena was coming---she had a vision (that “vision-thing” again). Amarice scoffs at this. Xena lies on the ground and Yakut draws a snake-figure in the dirt. The menace to Xena’s child bears the mark of the
shamaness…it is Alti, somehow able to do this from the spirit world. The battle must be fought in the spiritual realm, as Xena did in Sin Trade when she and the Amazon spirits joined to fight Alti.
Amarice: “Huh?” Yakut says nature is united by the mind...there is the
reality when you are awake and when you are asleep. Realities equal awareness. They must battle Alti in her realm, and Gabby has to do it, since Xena is too weak to do it while pregnant. This idea will change quickly, more than once.
Xena says no but Gabby insisted. Gabby will have to learn the ways of the
shamaness. She goes deer hunting (it was referred to a stag) and kills one
with an arrow. She just walked right up to it. She has to learn the ritual
of crossing over by drinking the blood of one recently killed. She guts the
deer and skins it, wearing its bloody hide and antlers going back to camp.
Note: when gutting a critter like a deer, you don’t stick the knife in as if
you are trying to stab it to death. You hold the knife horizontally under
the skin with your finger on the flat of the blade to prevent cutting into
the intestines, to avoid spoiling the meat. Who was their technical advisor
on this… a vegetarian?
Gabby had smeared blood on herself and did a little dance , and wearing an
uncured hide, must smell great. At the Amazon campfire, the Amazons dance as Yakut presides over it. Xena cuts Gabby’s hand and lets the blood drip into a cup with the deer
blood. It will carry her over, plus Xena’s blood will be her link to the
physical world. Yakut had told Xena that the ritual of fighting spirits
never did work. Evidently in a year, Yakut had tried this. Xena says it WILL
work.
In the first overlong scene of crossing over, Gabby drinks the blood and
staggers a bit as we see a montage of animals, bad weather, bugs, fire,
etc…too much and too long, wasting air time. When Xena crossed over a few
times in Sin Trade, it went pretty fast, with a shimmer, and Xena was on
the ground quickly. This special-effects glut spoiled the scenes.
Gabby is given a dagger to carry with her in the spirit world and has to use
it to kill Alti. She must never let go of it. If she kills Alti in the spiritual realm, Alti is gone for good. NOTE: in LINES, Niama says Alti will continue forever with Xena and Gabby chasing her…so much for “Mehndi contains truth.” Alti will be back in Season
6 in CLONES.
Gabby awakens on the ground in the spirit world. This looks nothing like the
one Xena was in Sin Trade…it is an updated one, I guess. She sees a
campfire that “freezes”, plus a bird and water splash that do the same
thing. She stands and sees Alti in a long-shot thru some trees. There are
red sheets hanging from branches.
Instantly Gabby is in front of Alti, who says, “Xena’s little bitch---welcome to the doghouse.” Xena watches Gabby’s body as Alti grabs Gabby in the spirit world. Gabby has no dagger, but looks behind herself at a distance and sees herself with the
dagger. Huh? Why are there not two Altis? Alti says the one with the strongest mind wins. Alti will kill Gabby slowly, since she does not need her. She says she wants Xena’s baby to be born.
Xena keeps chanting “use the dagger” at Gabby. She tries to bring her back,
but it is not working. Alti counts to ten as she watches Gabby die in increments. Gabby does die, and Alti leaves, laughing.
Xena, as in Doctor in the House, brings her back to life with mouth-to-mouth. Gabby awakens and is sorry she failed, but wants to try again. Xena says no and Yakut says she bought them some time…..really, how was that done? Alti is still where she was and nothing else was happening. Xena says Alti “wants to steal my baby’s soul and replace it with her own.” A—HA!
Xena wants to try the “burial ritual” with Alti’s remains and needs Amber
from the Temple of Chia. I am going to have some fun with this one.
The idea: They will cover Alti’s bones at the right time and that will
DESTROY her soul. Earlier they said “trap” the soul.
Yakut says to Amarice that Chia is an Amazon Mystic (first one I ever heard
of) and nobody can lie to her. Why does Yakut suspect anyone of lying during
this crisis?
Gabby and Yakut ride to where Chia’s place is. Note: Both are newcomers to the area. Why doesn’t Yakut or some other Amazons go with them?
Meanwhile, Xena and Yakut ride a ways to where Alti is buried aboveground in
some kind of bamboo-like box. Xena now says she doesn’t know if bringing a child into the world is a good idea. Last episode it was ‘good.” Yakut says the child will send a message to the mommy in the form of a dove saying “thank you” for allowing it to live and be born.
At the gravesite, Xena opens the coffin, only to see the skull is missing.
Now, unbelievably, Yakut drops the skull on the ground from a bag she has,
and after all that hard riding…it never fell then. She is flustered and says
she wanted to harness Alti’s power for GOOD…wait a sec---Alti is EVIL. Yakut
needed the skull for her ritual, so here we have the answer to why Alti is
loose to kill Xena and take her kid’s soul. Xena appears to be more
confused than mad as a wet hen. We have seen her kill people for a lot less.
Yakut is ashamed and didn’t want to “disappoint” Xena….o-----kay.
She wants Xena to let her face Alti herself, but Xena says no.
They camp; Xena wakes up to see that Yakut killed some critter and drank the
blood…now Xena has to cross over to rescue her. She drinks the blood, too,
and in another now-boring sequence, we see her cross over. She comes to in a
purple background scene, much different than the one Gabby was in. Xena sees
Yakut , who appears to apologize. Xena smacks her, and it is really Alti.
Yakut is tied to some stakes. Alti plunges her hand into Xena’s stomach and
pulls out the glowing light of the baby’s soul. She says, “I always wanted
to be inside of you, Xena.” Uhhhh……..?
Alti calls Xena “mommy” and Xena says if Alti hurts the kid, she will hound
Alti thru eternity. Alti laughs at this, seeming to welcome it.
Alti says the soul will bring her back to the physical world, and wants the
Amazons to join in a ritual to bring her back. She will then give Xena’s
kid’s soul back. Right!
Xena is sent back and tells what happened .Xena and Yakut are now awake, and
make plans. Remember this, folks: THIS IS ALL YAKUT’S FAULT.
In the cave of Chia, the Amazon Mystic (snicker) we see Amarice and Gabby .
Amarice says it isn’t scary at all. Chia is the protector of the Amazons in
that region. Chia makes her short appearance. She is dressed really nicely,
despite living alone in a CAVE. She will give the amber to an Amazon…not to
Amarice, who we now learn, is NOT an Amazon. Amarice goes outside in
disgrace. Gabby gets the stuff and goes outside.
Questions: Exactly how much demand is there for this amber, since Yakut says
the rituals do not work, anyway? What does this woman do at other times?
Does she have a boyfriend? Does he call her “Pet?”
Outside, Gabby sees Amarice and tells her she has the amber. Amarice says is
sorry she lied…she had no identity and created one. She wanted to be an
Amazon to be part of something. Gabby says he used to be in Xena’s shadow, but found that being yourself is like standing in the sun…it is much warmer there. Gabby wants Amarice to join her.
At camp, Gabby gets the amber ready. Alti’s bones are all there now, and
they must wait until Xena gives the signal from the spirit world to sprinkle
the amber on the bones to defeat Alti. Xena says the baby’s soul must be free before they can use the amber or it will be trapped too…she will give the sign when ready.
All the Amazons join minds, as in Sin Trade, to make a strong force to go
with Xena into the spirit-world again. Xena drinks the blood, and we see yet
another long crossover…you’d think she’s have a fast-lane pass by now.
Alti grabs Xena’s hand when Xena tells her that all is ready in real-life. Alti will give back the soul once she is back in the world. Xena wakes up in a cave, with Alti’s bones near her. The bones now re-join, and Alti stands as a skeleton. She now swallows the soul-light, reneging on her word (surprise.)
In a too-long fight scene fit for an eight-year-old, we see that Xena now
unzips her body to be a white skeleton instead of the darker one that Alti
is. Xena says this dream world is “summoned up in MY dream” and fooled Alti.
On earth, the Amazon minds join the fight as Xena jumps and twitches as she
did in Sin Trade. Her nose bleeds and she is getting pounded by Alti at
first. They each conjure up weapons and fight, doing punches and kicks,
accompanied by crunching bones sounds.
Gabby waits for the signal while Amarice places her hands on Xena’s tummy to
feel for the sign to dump the amber on the bones. Xena kicks Alti’s leg off and uses the bones to break her apart. Xena gets her down to just a torso and head, and reaches in and grabs her baby’s soul. Now Alti looks like the knight in Monty Python’s Holy Grail. She then uses a sword to shatter the skull.
Xena twitches on earth, and Gabby sees this as the sign. The amber is used,
and we see and hear Alti screaming as a whirlwind takes the bones away in a
cloud of dust. Of course, the skull is shown in the air. RenPics gets a lot
of mileage out of flying skulls, starting with Mortal Beloved and the
Harpies.
Xena awakens with Gabby with her. Gabby hugs Xena and it was funny to see
the antlers made of rubber bend in half as she did this.
At the end, Amarice is made an Amazon by Gabby, who gives her a necklace
with a stone for each of her sisters, including Amarice now. The girl won’t
go back just yet, but wants to stay there and learn.
Yakut sees Xena and it seems as if Xena doesn’t make a big deal out of the
fact that Yakut caused all this trouble. Xena never even slaps her around,
considering her own life and her baby’s, not to mention Gabby’s failed
attempt and actually DYING should have been enough provocation.
Compare this with the doctor in Animal Attractions who told Xena the truth
about her pregnancy and her violent reaction towards him.
Yakut says the baby will be a target again. It must be her vision-thing
again. A dove flies off as the women watch…it is “the sign” Yakut talked
about…something Xena didn’t know about. Xena says that she is the lucky one.
Note: Yakut was right about the ritual not working , since Alti will be seen
again. Xena was wrong, and it is never told how Alti “got out” of being
destroyed for good. Plus we have Niama’s comments in LINES that Alti will go
on forever.
End of another conflicting episode.
Now, here’s Gary’s take on it:
Well! This episode has a lot of unanswered questions, as we will see. Gabby
is looking for a mushroom for Xena to cure the pregnant Warrior Princess’
morning sickness….she has a bun in the oven. After gagging the thing down,
Xena has a bad reaction, but not from the mushroom. Gabby takes her to a
convenient nearby healer, an old woman we have seen a few times in the
series.