Gary's Thoughts on the Beginning of Season 4
This really bothers me more than any other screw-ups RenPics has ever
done. We see in Sacrifice 2 that Gabby commits suicide,taking Hope with
her,saving the world,all mankind,and the gods themselves from the evil
Dahak and prevents him from entering the world.What a noble gesture...in
addition,she couldn't let Xena kill Hope with the Hindsblood Dagger,or
Xena would die,as per Ares and the Fates.
We see her fall down the lava shaft with Hope,screaming...we see two
distinct splashes/pillars of flame as they hit.This ends season 3.
In season 4,Xena sees Hades and says "I saw her die". Hades doesn't know
where she is,and since Gab was an Amazon,she has to be in the Amazons'
resting place. Xena knows it is up north somewhere.This is then the
back-story of how Xena meets Alti and Cyane....evil versus good.
Cyane tells Xena,when she goes into the spirit world that Gabby is in
the base of a volcanic mountain...Xena starts there,but turns around and
says she has to do something first...that being killing Alti and freeing
the spirits of the Amazons whom Xena killed about ten years before.
I contend that the show could have gone another way instead of how
RenPics did it: Let Xena kill Alti and free the Amazons' spirits so they
could "cross over" as they wanted. Cyane could have gone with Xena then
and see Artemis,the goddess of the Amazons and plead for her to let
Gabby live again.Artemis could have allowed this,since Gab's sacrifice
saved men and gods,so would grant it...all the gods would have been
grateful,and Xena would have made up for the fact that she killed the
Amazons...her reward would be Gabby's life back.
This would make sense.
Xena could then have gone back to the Amazon camp and seen a form
huddled on the ground near ther fire...it would be Gabby,restored to
life.THEN that would have been the greatest reunion and emotional moment
in the history of the show.It should have been a ten-minute scene...the
actresses certainly have the ability to have a real heart-felt moment.
But,NO....we get Xena saying "She's alive",because Alti showed her a
future with Gab still alive getting nailed to a cross.Xena leaves....end
of a two-parter.
Even worse,was Family Affair,in which we see Joxer tossing daisies down
the shaft Gab went down with Hope.Xena's hand grabs his,and she crawls
out of the shaft,and goes to drink water because it is so hot down
there.She never took any water with her down there,nor even a rope. She
says that what she saw down there convinced her that Gab lives. We are
never told what that was.If Gab fell,as we saw on film,why didn't she
even get a bruise? No answer.Joxer says "Nobody could survive that
fall....then there's the lava".
Moving on,Xena and Joxer go to Gabby's home town,where Xena suspects she
would be. They see her (really Hope as it turns out) and an un-realistic
reunion takes place. Gab kisses Joxer----he faints. Xena says " I
thought I lost you forever"...Gab.."You nearly did."
Gab/Hope says she got knocked into a niche in the wall....we saw her
fall at least a hundred feet,so even if that were true,that kind of fall
would result in at least broken bones or burns or bruises.Nothing there
at all.
When we were treated to the woods scene where Joxer and Xena were going
to kill Hope,we see the real Gab as Xena was going to skewer her with
her sword.This was a Silence of the Lambs type scene where two scenes go
on at the same time,where Joxer attacks Hope,and Xena attacks Gab. We
only know this,because being a fan club member for three years,I read it
in Liz Friedman's interview.Clever,she thinks,but the joke only works
when we are let in on it. The show never told us it was two scenes,and
if you watch carefully,Gab has the monster's scratch on her leg in some
scenes walking,and none in other scenes.This was just too clever,and I
feel that it didn't work. We see Joxer slam into a tree.He fainted in
the beginning,and passed out counting sheep,so why shouldn't we believe
this was only one scene? Besides,the girls usually step over him when
he is knocked out.As far as the viewer is concerned,this was one
continuous scene....nothing else told us differently.There could have
been an airborne shot of the two scenes,and THAT would have made us
see,but NO.
At Gab's house,she meets Hope,and says "Nobody survives that" (the fall
into the lava pit)...Hope says "Nobody but me"...and says Dahak wouldn't
hurt his little girl,and that she neither knows or cares how Gab
survived.
I believe that too much was put into this episode,with two "reunions"
and a monster running around loose.We are seeing too many guys in rubber
monster-suits,especially in season 6.This show just made a mockery of
what should have been one in which Gab relates what happened and how she
survived.When asked by Xena,"what happened?",Gab remembers the fall,the
rocks and fire,and then blacked out. She says she came to in a
hospice,and tried to get word to Xena.
What hospice? We see her walking thru the woods unharmed,no
scars,burns,broken bones,her clothes and hair are as nice as usual.Not
even a limp.
How did she get out? A tunnel? How could she survive without water? Xena
needed it for the short time she was in the shaft.Liz Friedman said she
"could have" crawled out a side tunnel....even she didn't have a real
explanation.
Who was supposed to deliver a message to Xena?
Who took care of her,and where exactly is this hospice?It has to be
close to Gab's village,because she shows no sign of travel-wear....not
even dust on her.Also,Xena,if thinking that Gab could have survived the
fall,would have gotten ropes and water and gone down the shaft....anyone
would have, to save such a close friend.
So,after all is said and done,and Hope and the monster die,there is
still no explanation to this day as to how Gab survived. In the woods
she even said "I'm not sure I really have survived"....is she a spirit?
It was just another throw-away line....what a shame.I believe that
bringing Gab back with the gratitude of the gods was really what should
have happened.
There were many more things in Family affair that deserve note: Why was
Xena the only one to try to defend the house from the monster? Joxer and
Heroditus were there,standing around doing nothing. If it was Hope
controlling them,then why didn't Hope make Xena weak by controilling her
in the barn during the first attack? She obviously wanted Xena dead,and
knowing Xena's fighting skills,should not have taken a chance having
Xena kill her "son".
The show really STILL owes us a clip-show where we see what and how
things happened with Gabby.It is like reading a thousand-page murder
mystery and when you come to the last page where the detective is about
to reveal who the killer is,says "I can't remember." The End. That is
what RenPics did,and it is not enough for me to just have Gabby back. We
see death in most episodes now,with Xena dying in the first two episodes
in season 6,so we were cheated.
In no way am I saying that Renee and Lucy are not the two finest
television actresses on tv today. I am saying that RenPics missed a
golden opportunity to show us how the most important show ever done was
just trashed.Renee was a standout in this episode in a dual role. The
problem since most of season 4 and to this day is the writing,or the
lack of it.Being over 50,I have seen a lot of tv shows,and this
show,which used to be the best show ever done,in my opinion,is on its
way out,because of the poor writing and the refusal of RenPics to keep
the faith with the characters they created and keep faith with the fans.
Any comments are welcome.
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