EPISODE NO. 93/Season 5, episode 03
CAST
Production:
After a satisfiying roll in the hay, Mavican tells Ares that she wants to be his right-hand woman, just as Xena once was. Ares belittles her and the idea and disappears. Meanwhile at Demeter's Temple, Gabrielle complains to herself that Xena is still overprotective of her. Ares appears and agrees w/ her, then disappears. Suddenly, Mavican appears and throws a javelin towards Gabrielle's head. Xena arrives just in time to deflect the javelin and takes over the fight, which greatly upsets Gabrielle. Mavican, eager to prove to Ares that she can be Xena's successor, tells Xena flat out that she is here to kiill her. Ares soon materializes and insists that Mavican and Xena finish their battle where they can do no harm. He then opens a vortex and explains the rules -- Mavican will be brought back from the vortex if she kills Xena, but Xena will stay in the vortex if she kills Mavican. Eager to begin the fight, Mavican jumps into the vortex as Xena and Gabrielle are sucked into it.
Gabrielle falls into a black room and Xena lands on a cliff where she is attacked by Mavican. Xena drives Mavican away and at nightfall, finds herself in a dark room. A light suddenly appears and Xena sees Gabrielle sleeping on a tree branch. Gabrielle wakes up startled and finds Mavican's campsite. Not wanting Xena to be trapped in the vortex, Gabrielle figures it's up to her to kill Mavican. But Mavican captures Gabrielle and puts her in a wooden cage. As morning approaches, Mavican tells Gabrielle that it's her destiny to either kill Xena or be killed by Xena. Either way, Mavican figures that she will be remembered forever, which is what she wants. The sun rises and Gabrielle morphs into Xena. Xena and Mavican realize that Ares has put Xena and Gabrielle into the same body -- Xena gets the day shift and Gabrielle takes the night. After failing to convince Mavican to work together to defeat Ares, Xena escapes. When she reaches a clearing, Xena writes a note to Gabrielle on a piece of bark and attaches it to a staff. Mavican finds Xena, who almost manages to restrain her, but the sun sets and Xena morphs into Gabrielle. Mavican breaks free and explains to Gabrielle how she and Xena are in the same body. Gabrielle grabs the staff with the note attached to it and takes off running.
Meanwhile, Ares approaches Xena in the black room and tells her that he really wants Gabrielle, not Mavican, to be his right-hand woman. Xena is mortified, but knows that Gabrielle wants nothing to do with Ares. Gabrielle enters a cave and reads the note that Xena left for her. In the note, Xena apologizes for not acknowledging the woman that Gabrielle has become. Ares materializes in the cave and tries to convince Gabrielle to join him. He tells her that Xena's destiny is in her hands and that it's up to her to kill Mavican. He also says that he's changed and no longer is blood thirsty etc. He disappears just before dawn and Mavican finds Gabrielle. Mavican wants to fight, but Gabrielle realizes that if she kills Mavican, Ares wins. The sun rises and Gabrielle morphs into Xena. Xena forces the entrance of the cave to collapse and tells Mavican that now no one will ever know what really happened inside the cave. This infuriates Mavican because she wants the world to know that she either killed Xena or was killed by Xena. Mavican attacks and Xena holds her over the side of a bottomless pit. Desperate, Mavican calls for Ares' help. He appears and opens the vortex, but only allows Xena to pass through. Knowing that anyone who asks for his help is not worthy of being Xena's successor, Ares leaves Mavican trapped in the cave. Xena and Gabrielle tumble to the ground outside Demeter's Temple. Xena tells Gabrielle she is a little surprised Gabrielle didn't consider the offer of joining Ares. Xena tells Gabrielle she'll try harder to see Gabrielle's abilities, although it is hard for her to see her little bard growing up. Xena tells Gabrielle that the next seven little bad guys are all hers.
DISCLAIMER: Ares' Libido was not harmed during the production of this motion picture.
THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR: These things are by Beth Gaynor.
I know we're all supposed to look away and whistle and pretend that that we don't notice that Lucy Lawless is pregnant, since the show isn't introducing Xena's pregnancy for another episode or so. But c'mon, how obvious can we get? It's a bit of a stretch to ignore that Xena's wearing a maternity battle dress and is being shown from the shoulders up a lot.
Nifty morphing effects between Xena and Gab as they shared the same body. But there was a consistency problem: in the final battle, Xena still had Gabrielle's shoulder wound. But then why didn't Gab have Xena's face scratches in the first night, or Xena have Gabrielle's cuts on her arms after the fight that wound her up in the cage?
Chakram blooper! In the first fight, we see legs kick with Xena's old chakram at the belt. Sai blooper! In the final fight, Gabrielle tosses the sai to her right. But then Mavican runs ten feet behind herself to pick it up (I thought she was running away at first). Smart move by Gabrielle, though: drop whatever you don't want to have morphed back into the dark room.
Spear blooper! When Mavican throws the first spear at Xena in the cage, the shot from behind shows it embedding above Xena's right shoulder. When the camera changes to the front, the spear is under Xena's arm.
My Disclaimer, things were taken from Whoosh, whole paragraphs even.
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