From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V2 #26 Reply-To: chakram-refugees@smoe.org Sender: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk chakram-refugees-digest Tuesday, January 29 2002 Volume 02 : Number 026 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [chakram-refugees] Surprise (HTLJ) [cr ] Re: [chakram-refugees] <> [cr ] Re: [chakram-refugees] <> [NZ] RE: [chakram-refugees] <> ["] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 22:31:40 +1300 From: cr Subject: [chakram-refugees] Surprise (HTLJ) I figured, since Cheryl probably won't review 'Surprise' and it fits in Callisto's story between 'Ten Little Warlords' and 'A Necessary Evil', I'd do it. (Apologies Cheryl if I guessed wrong). Spoilers for ***Surprise*** s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s 'Surprise' is, in my view, one of the better eps of Herc Season 3, but as far as Callisto goes, one of her weakest. It could have been a lot stronger - there were opportunities for some great Callisto lines, but IMO the script lacked the brilliance of eps like 'Maternal Instincts' or 'Necessary Evil' in that respect. Probably the best line in the ep was Herk's - "Lady, immortality won't solve _your_ problems". In fact Herk had better lines than Callisto. Hudson did the best with what she had, but was undercut by the script - at one moment taunting Herk, the next moment screaming for him to rescue her. (Ares often seemed to suffer the same fate in Herk episodes, that of a rather weak, uninteresting villain. I hasten to point out though, that in Armageddon Now both Ares and particularly Callisto were a joy to watch). The episode starts with Callisto in Tartarus (in her own body, swapped back by Ares at the end of Ten Little Warlords). Hera promises Callisto immortality if she can kill Herc. (As it turns out, 'killing' him seems to have evolved into trapping him in the Labyrinth of the Gods.) Callisto turns up at Herk's surprise birthday party posing as a grateful stranger whom Herc rescued, and spikes the punch with Xanthalian venom. When Herc arrives, the cast are passed out and Callisto tells him the only cure is a bite of the fruit from the Tree of Life. And as Herk says, a whole one makes you immortal. Without that, they'll all go mad and die within 24 hours. So Herk and Callisto find their way through the labyrinth with its usual perils (meanwhile, Herk's rellies are busy going mad and trying to kill each other). Callisto traps Herk, takes a bite of an apple (which transforms her into an immortal with a rather pretty sparkly effect) and sets fire to the tree. Herc breaks out, they fight, Callisto falls into the tree and gets burned (hence the rather fetching scar in ANE), Herc escapes with a fruit, leaving Callisto trapped forever in the Labyrinth. Although Hera told Callisto she'd be back in Tartarus forever if she failed, she seems to have forgotten about it (or maybe just can't be bothered). So Callisto is still there when Xena needs her to fight Velasca. Oh yeah, and Herk duly saves all his rellies, which is nice for them. As I said, it's reasonably watchable, but IMO there's no magic. That 'thing' between Xena and Callisto, or Callisto and Ares, just isn't there between Herk and Callisto. Quite why Callisto, having found that immortality doesn't help, is attracted by the possibility of becoming a god (in ANE) I don't know. Maybe it's the challenge, maybe it's just something about being a god - it doesn't make anybody happy, but everybody wants to be one (except Xena). Thersites, Velasca, Callisto..... Thelonius ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 21:50:07 +1300 From: cr Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] <> On Monday 28 January 2002 17:52, Cheryl Ande wrote: > @ > @ > @ > @@ > @ > @ > @ > Intimate Strangers is a very good episode. Good acting abounded even > Argo was surprising effective as the confused equine. The question is who > did better the better job playing their respective nemesis - Lucy as > Callisto or Hudson as Xena. Lucy is apparently very natural mimic and she > did an outstanding job as Callisto. Callsito of course has a lot of > idiosyncratic movements that are easy to mimic but what impressed me was > Lucy's walk as Callisto - she got that shoulders back, hips thrust forward > walk of Hudson's walk just about right. It also looks really awkward on > the Lucy's bigger frame but it would be realistic that our posture is more > indicative of our personality than our body type - so that was good piece > of acting. Hudson had unfortunately a little less to work with. Xena > doesn't have a lot mannerisms that are easily mimic so Hudson basically > does serious but she did a nice Xenish shoulder pat for Gabrielle at > episode end. I think Hudson-as-Xena managed to make her look more earnest and her voice more serious and sincere than the mocking half-amused Hudson-as-Callisto. (Which is more or less what you said). I honestly wouldn't care to say which one did the better job - IMO they were both outstanding. It's hard to see any way in which they could have acted it better. > > One thing that I have always wondered about in this episode was Callisto's > and Ares' sexual relationship in IS. I always thought it was out of > character for Callisto - she never seemed to use her body to get what she > wanted and in TROC she seems to be against sex entirely ( although having > sex with Ares is, in my opinion, much more tempting than having sex with > Theodorius). (Ack! I misread that as 'Thelonius' for a moment. My indignation was tempered by the fact that you would have been undoubtedly correct. Unkind, but correct :( I think, so far as Callisto using her body to get what she wanted, it was more a case of 'whatever works'. (Actually, it was Xena's body she was using anyway - a fact duly noted by Xena in Ten Little Warlords. Maybe it amused her to make free with Xena's body). (Oops, I just noticed you said that below.) It suited her to seduce Ares - she flirted with him again in Armageddon Now. I think she would have done the same again if the occasion had arisen, just that it never did arise. > Of course one of her motivations could have been that it was > one more way to humiliate Xena. For Ares one could almost say that he > finally got what he always wanted - Xena is his bed even if it is an > imitation of the real thing. > > There are some interesting story telling devises the thin episode. The > multiple dream sequences were, I remember from my first viewing, very > confusing and unsettling for the viewer and for Xena. At what point is > Xena in a dream and when is she in reality. It did a nice job of > unsettling the viewer and Xena. Also the attack on Argo is very unsettling > - I don't why but it always upsets me when Callisto-Xena throws the water > on Argo - it just seems so mean and poor Argo even looks upset. Also the > scene where Theodorus gets his throat slit is also very good - Lucy has > Callisto's orgasmic look just right as she revels in murder. The start of IS is an absolute classic, IMO. They pull the same thing on the viewer *three times in a row* and it works every time.... IMO, all three are dream sequences, or rather part of the same dream sequence. First Xena sees her mother who turns out to be Ares in disguise, and Ares uses his powers to conjure up Callisto and force Xena to stab her with her sword... she 'wakes up' from that, goes to wake up Gabrielle, who turns into Callisto, covered in blood.... she 'wakes up' from that, and starts talking to Gabrielle who tells Xena she deserves to be dead more than Callisto... when she wakes up from that one and goes to wake up Gabrielle it's not surprising Xena is dreading what she'll find, it's almost as great a shock when it turns out to be 'only' the real Gabby this time. I thought this was masterful - every single time Xena 'woke up' I thought she really had done so and the nightmare was over, only for it to turn into a nightmare again. Unsettling - yes, bigtime. The body-swap idea gave plenty of opportunities for interesting situations and ironical lines, like when "Xena" (Callisto) says to Gabby "I'm Callisto. I just look like Xena, but really I'm Callisto" - and of course Gabby just thinks it's Xena urging her to practise-stab her, but we know she's telling the truth. Very very neat. > Ten Little Warlords is also another good episode. Mainly because of Kevin > Smith's portrayal of the mortal Ares. Poor Ares is a drunk, a little > cowardly, very frustrated, and very appealing. Kevin Smith sets the > pattern here that we see in The Quill Is Mightier and the 6th season of the > mortal Ares as being a bit of a screw-up who is just on the verge of being > a really nice guy. ROC is also very good as the perpetually ticked-off > bard. Joxer isn't really annoying. Hudson is pretty good as Xena but you > soon realize that without LL charisma in that part Xena could have become a > pretty boring hero. > > More next week. > CherylA I have to say that, although Hudson didn't like playing Xena and found it a strain, I thought she did a magnificent job. She almost *sounds* like Xena - - not so much the voice, as the delivery of her lines - I once had to check my tapes just to make sure it wasn't LL doing a voice-over. I found her utterly convincing as Xena-in-Hudson's-body. Ares - I loved his slightly drunk, slightly insane giggle - as when he says "You wear Callisto magnificently" X: "I hope she's being as good to me back in Tartarus" Ares: "She's behaving" (Insane giggle) (Cut to shot of Callisto/Xena writhing in flames) Probably my favourite moment was when Xena saved Ares life by throwing his sword at the warlord who was about to stab him, Ares picks up his sword and there's a lovely special effect as the sword glows and Ares changes back to the God of War (and Gabby says "He's baaack") I liked it that he kept his word at the last minute and changed Xena back into her own body. Thelonius ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 14:16:57 +1300 From: NZJester Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] <> At 09:50 PM 28/01/02 +1300, Thelonius wrote: >On Monday 28 January 2002 17:52, Cheryl Ande wrote: >The body-swap idea gave plenty of opportunities for interesting situations >and ironical lines, like when "Xena" (Callisto) says to Gabby "I'm Callisto. >I just look like Xena, but really I'm Callisto" - and of course Gabby just >thinks it's Xena urging her to practise-stab her, but we know she's telling >the truth. Very very neat. I wonder if they might ever put the Original ending to this ep as a extra on a DVD? would be interesting to see how Xena was originally meant to get her body back in that ep It was Lucky they could alter this ep to give Lucy the much needed time to recover from that nasty fall when the horse slipped on the cocreate parking lot surface Her cracked pelvis must have given her a lot of worry at the time that she might not be able to have any more children But with Baby Julius and another on the way I think that worry is well behind her >I have to say that, although Hudson didn't like playing Xena and found it a >strain, I thought she did a magnificent job. She almost *sounds* like Xena >- not so much the voice, as the delivery of her lines - I once had to check >my tapes just to make sure it wasn't LL doing a voice-over. I found her >utterly convincing as Xena-in-Hudson's-body. > >Ares - I loved his slightly drunk, slightly insane giggle - as when he says >"You wear Callisto magnificently" >X: "I hope she's being as good to me back in Tartarus" >Ares: "She's behaving" (Insane giggle) >(Cut to shot of Callisto/Xena writhing in flames) > >Probably my favourite moment was when Xena saved Ares life by throwing his >sword at the warlord who was about to stab him, Ares picks up his sword and >there's a lovely special effect as the sword glows and Ares changes back to >the God of War (and Gabby says "He's baaack") > >I liked it that he kept his word at the last minute and changed Xena back >into her own body. For an ep written in at last moment due to Lucy's accident it is very good They found a novel way to explain why Xena didn't get her Body Back and could film a Xena ep without Lucy to give her time to recover I would say if Lucy had not been able to get back on her feet we would have seen a very different Xena with Hudson being asked to carry the roll till the Seasons end - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Catch ya later NZJester - -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 23:09:01 -0500 From: "Lee Daley" Subject: RE: [chakram-refugees] <> NZ Jester wrote: > > For an ep written in at last moment due to Lucy's accident it is very good > They found a novel way to explain why Xena didn't get her Body Back > and could film a Xena ep without Lucy to give her time to recover This is what made me respect TPTB. Instead of just "reacting" to a problem, they used it as an opportunity. If one didn't know that Lucy had been injured, you would have not discovered it from the show. > I would say if Lucy had not been able to get back on her feet > we would have seen a very different Xena with Hudson being asked to carry > the roll till the Seasons end A very interesting "WHAT IF", the character of Xena would have changed, but with Hudson it would not have been "boring" LeeD; Warrior Jester ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ End of chakram-refugees-digest V2 #26 *************************************