Antony and Cleopatra

Antony & Cleopatra

Written by Carl Ellsworth
Directed by Michael Hurst

Episode Synopsis:
Segment one: Brutus and Antony compete for Cleopatra's navy in order to quell the Roman civil war. Cleopatra is assassinated by a snake hidden in a Roman scroll. Her dying command sends for Xena. Antony receives a gift from Cleopatra: a carpet, which when unrolled reveals a naked Xena "disguised" as Cleopatra, proclaiming herself a slave of Rome.
Segment two: Antony professes that he wants an alliance of trust and openness, not an exploitive relationship. "Cleopatra" invites him to the palace. There, Brutus has arrived and wants to warn Cleopatra that Antony and Octavius (Caesar's adopted son) want her dead. He is shocked to encounter an uncrucified Gabrielle. "Cleopatra" invites Antony to bathe with her, but her refuses and leaves.
Segment three: Octavius arrives in Cleopatra's bed chamber, followed by a hail of greek fire. Antony arrives and threatens to kill Octavius as a traitor of Rome. "Cleopatra" sends Octavius to the dungeon. Antony and "Cleopatra" end up kissing after a little flirting with food. Gabrielle interrupts them and Xena announces that she has Antony right where she wants him, after receiving an invitation for a late night rensezvous.
Segment four: Antony reveals to "Cleopatra" that he won't take her navy because she would doubt his love for her. They are attacked by Brutus' men and Antony savagely kills them all. Gabrielle talks to Octavius and finds him to be gentle and idealistic. Xena decides she cannot trust Antony with the fleet because he is too violent. She sets a trap, vowing her navy at his disposal if he attacks Brutus' fleet. She offers the same promise to Brutus. Gabrielle agrees to go with Brutus as collateral.
Segment five: As the flagships of Antony and Brutus battle, the egyptian fleet lead by Octavius destroys the rest of the ships. Brutus, realizing he has been betrayed attacks Gabrielle, who finding a sword kills him. His dying word is "Xena!" as he spies her on the other boat. Antony now realizes he too has been duped and battles Xena before she is forced to kill him. Xena leaves Octavius as the new ruler of Rome.

Disclaimer: No Rubberized Snakes intent on destroying the Queen of Egypt were harmed during the production of this motion picture.

Moments Of Subtext:

• Cleopatra gets a milk sponge bath by her handmaidens.
• Gabrielle must prevent Brutus from seeing Cleopatra, so she invents the following story:
  "Where's Xena?"
  "She's with Cleopatra."
  "Well then I'll see them both."
  "It's not a good time, Brutus."
• Xena intoduces Gabrielle as her "companion."
  "This is my companion, Aris."
  "If I were your hands, Aris, I would be fortunate indeed."
• Xena invites Antony into the bath, which he declines. Gabrielle is relieved.
  "I thought he was going to accept your invitation. How did you know he wouldn't?"
  "I didn't."
• After sending Octavius to the dungeon, Xena and Antony continue to flirt. Gabrielle becomes REAL jealous.
  "I'm losing sight of your plan, Xena. Are you going to flirt him to death?"
  "I'm getting him to trust me so I can do what I want with him."
  "Be careful, he's your type."
  "You think?"
  "What's this unfinished business?"
  "He's gonna try to seduce me into letting him use Cleopatra's navy."
  "And then?"
  "And then I'll have him on his knees. Figuratively speaking of course."
  "Of course."
• After the preceeding conversation, Shiana watches them both with confusion and suspicion.
• Xena and Antony get hot and heavy over a meal of fruit. As Xena dips a strawberry into honey and pops it into her mouth, drawing Antony towards her in a kiss, Gabrielle stares at them, enthralled, licking her lips.*
• Gabrielle interrupts Antony and Xena's smoochfest.
  "How far were you going to let that go, Xena?" (Gabrielle then takes Antony's place, eating the strawberry in a mirror of what was just happening before with Antony and Xena.)
  "I have no real feelings for him, Gabrielle, believe me."

Commentary:
This episode is a return to the more familiar, and better, feel of the fourth season. Here we have a purely dramatic story which is not goofy or profoundly stupid. The main driving force of the episode is Xena's relationship with Antony, so once again character has supremacy over plot, which is how it should be. There are some great jealousy moments from Gabrielle, which we have not seen in a long time. Compared to just about every other episode this season, this one is chock full of subtext. All in all, this episode makes me feel very hopeful for the rest of the season.
What I find to be a shame, however, is Brutus. I liked him a lot. Too bad. Also, I could have done without that super fake rubber snake at the begining of the episode. Do they not have real ones in New Zealand? And the "Tom Jones" scene was an interesting attempt, but Natalie Merchant music? It just drew so much attention to itself because it was uncharacteristic, that I found myself not paying attention to the scene. Then of course there is the Antony/Xena romance. Okay, we all know that they are going to keep bringing up romances for our grrls, but I am glad that when they do, they are going to add a large amount of jealousy on Gabrielle's part.

*Thanks Evy!