To Helicon and Back

To Helicon And Back

Written by Liz Friedman & Vanessa Place
Directed by Michael Hurst

Episode synopsis:

Segment one:

The Amazons are attacked during a ceremony to celebrate their strength and Varia is abducted.

Segment two:

Recognizing the attackers as an army from Helicon, the Amazons launch their counter-attack to free Varia. As the Amazons sneak to the coastal fortress in a ship, Xena infiltrates the castle to kill the leader. He turns out to be Bellerophon, the half-god son of Artemis, out to seek his revenge against the Amazons for abandoning his mother, and especially against Xena for killing her. Xena fights him and barely escapes while the ship is bombarded by catapult.

Segment three:

Their ship sinking, the Amazons swim to the beachfront under heavy arrow and catapult fire. They meet up with Xena after suffering heavy casualties. Varia is released and wants to retreat, but Xena and Gabrielle talk her into continuing the assault. When Gabrielle goes searching for the trail to the castle that Varia descended, Varia attempts to assassinate her.

Segment four:

Xena prevents Varia from shooting Gabrielle. Varia had made a deal with Bollerophon: if she killed Gabrielle, he would spare her tribe. Gabrielle strips Varia of her queenhood. After swimming through shark infested waters, Gabrielle ralles the troops for their final assault.

Segment five:

Xena challenges Bollerophon to a duel. He easily beats her and she retreats, leading him and his troops into a trap. The amazons dispatch his army while Xena kills Bollerophon.

No shark bait was harmed during the making of this motion picture.

Moments Of Subtext:

• Xena is sexcused from the ceremony because she is not an Amazon. As she goes to sleep in the woods, she and Gabrielle exchange looks as Xena warns her "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
• Bellerophon's vengeance would be sated if Varia killed Gabrielle? Apparently even he recognizes how much suffering that would cause Xena.

Commentary:

Some things I noticed while watching this episode: Amazons really seem to like to break into dance numbers. Why is my life not like this? And did you hear that metal-on-metal clang when Varia is knocked out at the begining? I know she is wearing a headband, but it's not that big! And where di the Amazons get that boat from? They have always lived in the middle of the forest! They're like ewoks or something.

While this is a far cry from the best episode they have ever done, it is one of the better episodes this season and certainly the best out of the last several episodes shown. Michael Hurst does a good job directing and this episode reflects when I think Xena works best: when it takes itself seriously. And this episode returns to one of Xena's great themes: violence corrupts the soul. Gabrielle is uneasy with her role as Amazon queen and the things she is required to do for the good of the tribe. This makes her character three dimensional, adds some conflict to the show, and makes sitting there for an hour worth the effort, instead of getting a few 'hyuk-hyuks' out of it.