Heart of Darkness

Heart Of Darkness

Written by Emily Skopov
Directed by Mark Beesley

Episode synopsis:

Segment one:

Lucifer, an arch-angel, descends from Heaven to make Xena take her place as the ruler of Hell, before the evil spilling from the portal creates a Hell on Earth. He appears to Eve and offers her a chance to say goodbye to her mother. She and Gabrielle have just enought time to warn Xena before he appears and attacks. Xena defeats him.

Segment two:

Eve stops Xena from the kill. Eve sees Xena's heart becoming corrupted by the evil spewing from the hellpit. Xena reveals her plan is to get Lucifer to take her place as ruler of Hell. While she seduces him with drink and promises of power, Gabrielle and Eve must deal with a town that is becoming aggressive and unstable. Virgil shows up and reveals that even he has become corrupted by evil, kicking a wounded villager.

Segment three:

Xena gives Lucifer an egyptian massage, and dissuades him from killing her. Virgil reveals he has come to pledge himself to Xena for power. Xena and everyone in the town turn the local temple into an orgy site. After Lucifer succumbs to lust, Michael shows up.

Segment four:

Michael orders two other arch-angels to attack Xena, and she easily defeats them. When Michael and Raphael attack, they transport Xena to the Hellpit and try to knock her into it. Lucifer arrives and assists them until Xena convinces him to join her side. He fights them back for her. He asks how he can prove himself to her, and Xena asks for his help in killing Eve.

Segment five:

Xena and Lucifer chase Eve through the woods into a temple where she hopes to get some swords with which to defend herself. There she encounters Gabrielle and Virgil, both attempt to stop her. She gets the weapons, but is easily disarmed by Lucifer. As he is about to kill her, Xena reveals that he has now committed all seven deadly sins and is the perfect candidate to take her place as ruler of hell. They fight, and she tosses him into the hellpit.

Disclaimer: All Hell broke loose during the production of this motion picture.

Moments Of Subtext:

• "You and I have much in common" says Xena.
  "Of course we do. You're a mortal female with a lying tongue, savage tendencies, and a blonde girlfriend" responds Lucifer.
• The Dance. Xena and Gabrielle spin slowly around, caressing each other.
• While Lucifer and Xena are lip-locking, Gabrielle interrupts them by throwing Xena's jacket at her head. Gabrielle's face shows clear displeasure, and she and Lucifer exhange a look, her's showing irritation, his showing bemusement.
• "Lucifer and I need time to work out the terms of our new partnership" explains Xena.
  "Partnership?" asks Gabrielle, unhappy.
• As Lucifer raises his sword to kill Eve, he is stopped by Xena. "If anyone deserves this historic opportunity, it's Gabrielle" she says.
  "Gabrielle?"
  "She's been my partner for years. She's shared things with me you could never understand."
• Xena tells Eve, as she looks at Gabrielle, "I just hope one day you'll believe as I do in the power of love to save lives."
• Xena gives a dirty look to Virgil now that they are all in their proper minds.
• Gabrielle expresses her displeasure with Xena's relationship with Lucifer: "You and Lucifer were looking a little...um..."
  "Gabrielle, every time I felt myself starting to lose control, I just thought of you. Led me back home."
  "Really?"
  "Sure."
  "Don't go getting all emotional on me, Xena."

Commentary:

First off, this is a subtexter's dream come true. The relationship between Xena and Gabrielle in this episode is not hidden or concealed in any way; it's maintext for cryin' out loud! Verbally and physically. How could anyone deny it after this? Of course, the only way they could justify it to themselves was to make 90% of the episode about Xena making out with Lucifer, and referring to his penis as many times as possible. If you like your lesbianism with a heaping help of heterosexuality, than this episode is for you!

And if you like really bad episodes, this one is also for you.

My biggest problem with this episode is that it is Evil. And oddly enough, I'm not talking about the hellpit, Lucifer, or Satan. I'm talking about Xena. Her motives really bother me in this one. Her plan is simple: 'I knew that if I killed Mephistopholes, I would have to become ruler of Hell. Well, I'll just get someone else to do it!' Hello? That's just wrong! Well, okay, I'll give it to her if she finds someone truely evil enough to deserve it. Well, here comes a guy trying to make her go to Hell. Seems like a bad guy. But why is he doing this? Well, he knows that until she takes her throne, Hell will spill onto Earth, corrupting millions of innocents. He also truely believe that God himself has directed him. So while it seems like he is doing wrong, he is actually acting with honorable intentions. Unless you're Xena.

So Xena spends the rest of the episode corrupting this seemingly pure arch-angel. Her defense is that she is not actually corrupting him, She's just revealing what is already there, but hidden. Um, once again: Hello? Who should know better that this is evil than Xena! She's the queen of the 'I have a buried Dark Side' club. Does that mean that anybody can treat her anyway they want and be justified in doing it? Of course not! Her defense is: 'Hey, he's an arch-angel! It's okay for human's to have a dark side, but for him it's a perversion!' Um, yeah. And then her final excuse is even lamer: She thinks it's what Michael intended. She just destroyed one of God's messengers! Shouldn't she be sure of something like that?

In addition to the odd morality of her corruption, I just was uncomfortable with the way Xena threw herself onto Lucifer the moment he appeared. (Metaphorically AND physically.) It just made me uncomfortable. And not just for Gabrielle's sake either. Sure, one could argue that this was all an act, but how did she come up with the act so quickly? As soon as she saw an angel she had already decided she was going to corrupt him with sex. Maybe she is just defending herself for behaving that way by coming up with her lame excuses why it was necessary?

Everything was so over the top in this episode I found it hard to have a good time watching it. I should be pleased that it also provided over the top subtext, but I just felt so uncomfortable for all the main characters most of the time.