First of all, King Gregor always has and always will remind me of Al Bundy. Whenever I watch the brief shot of him in the opening credits, I always think "Al!"
Gregor comments his son died in childbirth. Is that possible? When Xena and Gabrielle find the basket, the music overplaying the shot is very much like the music at the beginning of Batman Returns, when the Penguin's parents put him in a basket and send him floating down Gotham River. It seems too close to be coincidence! I love Xena's reaction to finding the baby, especially in relation to Gabrielle. She knows there is trouble ahead! "You holdin' him wrong or somethin'? " Xena's normally crisp grammar has suddenly gone to Tartarus in a baby basket! When Xena describes the leader as a "weasel", I had to laugh. That's exactly what he looked like! And check out the weird look Xena gives Pandora after she helps her to her feet and the shot is fading to the next scene. It is decidedly un-Xena like and much more Lucy-like. Xena is still calling her companion GABEriel. :) Why is Xena the only one to have weapons in the bar? No one else had checked theirs at the door. And her line "Something about our baby bothering you?" is odd. When did the baby become THEIRS. Smacks of elements of Three Warriors and a Baby! ;op After Xena blows fire, the torch has gone out. Should it have done that? I like the way she smacks the one soldier on the butt with her sword as they're retreating. Gotta get one last shot in! And I giggle when she raises her pointed fingers to the barkeeper as a threat...he sure backs down immediately! Gabs' line about "I'm tempted to turn myself in" is funny! But don't you think someone would spot her or Pandora wandering around the marketplace, baby in tow? Their cloaks wasn't much of a disguise! And for that matter, shouldn't Nemos have noticed the eyes of one of his dancers? Even with the bottom half of her face covered, he should have recognized Xena...he had already met her twice! "And you spoke of pain"...love the delivery on that line! Xena's wave of the hand to get rid of the dog is perfect! And thank the gods there was such a long rope by the window for her to use in her bungee jumping...How convenient!! It's very obvious that is isn't Lucy running through the marketplace after she makes her escape with the box. Nice voiceovers by Lucy though! Check out the extremely quick handoff of the baby from Pandora to Gabrielle. It happened literally in the blink of an eye! When Gregor discovers the baby is in his room, I wasn't surprised to see Xena standing behind him. It was a great shot though. She must have a whole lot of patience to just hang out there until Gregor awoke. I wonder if she gave the baby a little pinch to make him cry? Xena gives the baby to Gregor, then snatches him back to get away from Nemos. She's an Indian giver! The baby fight is a classic, although very far-fetched. Gabs definitely needs to work on her throwing, although Xena's eye roll after her diving catch is great! If you check out the shot of Xena's tossing the baby into the air, in the overhead shot you can see the baby has alrmost reached her again, but there's at least two seconds before the front shot shows she has caught him. I know the logistics of the throw are impossible anyway, but that always bugged me. Here's something that has always puzzled me about this episode, and I would greatly appreciate any theories as to why it happens,. Why does Xena throw her sword to the ground at the end of the fight? Please, tell me! There's a great glowing exchange of looks between our two heroes after the fight though! Very nice touch having Xena suggest the baby be given the name Gabriel! If you think about it, Xena named that baby, named Gabs' daughter Hope (or at least suggested it), but didn't name either of her own children. I find something ironic in that! And here's what Gary has to say... I liked this early episode because of the authentic way life was presented back then,and the addition of Pandora,of the famous Pandora's Box personna. The story line is pretty even: A baby is set adrift in a basket,a-la-Moses,and Gabby finds it. Xena and Gab take it back to the last village where they believe it came from. On the way,they spot a woman about to be hanged. Xena saves her and chases the villagers away.It is Pandora,and she is constantly worried about her wooden box,which belonged to her grandmother,the original Pandora. Hope is the only thing left in the box and Pandora is the caretaker. She must reset the lock every day or hope will escape via the open box. Meanwhile,King Gregor has lost his wife and son in childbirth. He hears that a baby will take over his throne someday. His advisor wants to kill the baby to save the king,but really weants to control things himself. The gist is this: after losing the box to the advisor and Gregor,Xena devises a plan to get the box back. She does,and there is the inevitable fight where she kills the advisor,who really was a clod. Gregor and Pandora "get together" as the new parents and Xena says to name the baby Gabriel,after Gabrielle. What was good in this episode was the fact that Gabby was able to think on her feet and smuggle the baby around town,as well as sneaking into the palace to get a woman to help Xena into the castle. Gabby showed a good sense of stealth,I guess,and I liked her inventiveness. This develops her character almost at once in the series. The fight scene was one of the first in which a baby is airborne a lot of the time,and Xena has to fight while this is happening.We also see it in Warrior-Princess-Tramp,and after Xena has Eve in the fight with the three temple armies. I liked Pandora,who selflessly gave up a life to take care of the box and save hope for mankind. At the end,Gabby knocks the box over and there is nothing inside...hope resides in all of us. This was entertaining all the way thru,and while not the best episode ever,it was a good one.