From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V3 #126 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 Sunday, May 11 2003 Volume 03 : Number 126 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [chakram-refugees] <> ["Cheryl Ande" Subject: [chakram-refugees] <> # # # # Send In The Clones This is a pleasant little comedy that begins the wind down to the finale of the series. TPTB gave us a whole slew of endings for the series and this one allows us to have a Xena and Gabrielle wandering around present day Los Angles. The story centers on the startlingly successful efforts of a scientist and three Xena fans to clone Xena and Gabrielle. On a dark country road Dr. Alexis Los Alamos (Claire Stansfield) buys two strands of hair. They have come form the Tomb Of The Scrolls . With those two ancient hairs she will recreate Xena and Gabrielle. She can't do it alone however. In a living room three rabid Xena fans are watching their nightly Xena fix. There is Clea, rabid Gab fan, Polly, Xena fan, and Mac, Joxer fan and fan skimpily clad woman. The living room in which these three sit is festooned with every imaginable piece of Xena merchandise available - it looks a lot like my house in fact (except I don't have the Xena face mug - it is even a little too tacky for my taste but I do have Bobble head dolls which are almost as tacky). The tree fans are wearing very familiar tee shirts. Their evening is interrupted when they get the call that Alexis has cloned our heroines. The three fans are not just Xenites but scientists and they are needed and off they go. At the lab the two naked but modestly shielded bard and warrior are awaiting their wake up call. The fans now must program the clones with Xena and Gabrielle memories via TV clips. There is of course a very familiar argument - - should subtext or action be emphasized. Clea, as an ardent Gab fan, wants lots of campfire scenes and baths, but Polly like any true Xena fan wants butt kicking. Mac wants Joxer but he is generally ignored as most Joxer fans are. Alexis however supports action Xena and clips of fighting Xena are feed into the brains of the clones. Now it is interesting that I kept criticizing clips that the Xenites choose. They start off with Chakram and go to Eve and then to OAAA . These wouldn't be my choices at all. Now there is nothing wrong with OAAA but I would have had pogo Xena emphasized then perhaps one of Xena's many Ares fights and certainly a Callisto fight. Now a good choice of clips is open to debate (which is why we are here, right - so what clips would you chose?). Anyway there is no response from the clones so everyone goes home for the night, leaving the clones unattended. That night a mysterious intruder sneaks in and programs Xena with clips of Evil Xena (Destiny. The Debt and AITST). The next day the four scientists discover to their horror the Evil Xena program. Clea however is equally horrified that her Gabby has been given a hair cut and her season 6 outfit - she is a fan of classic Gabby. She however finally gets her way and the evil impulses are counter-acted with a little Gabrielle. These are of course scenes from OAAA (a subtext favorite) and then hippy Gabby. Then Polly gets the Gabspaz in to liven things up a bit (I love the part where the Gab fan just winches as Gabby slaughters the Romans - there still is a contingent of Gab fans that just hate Gabby's murderous rampage). Finally the foursome seems to be at an impasse as to what to next. Their problem is solved in a spectacular way. Xena awakens and she ain't happy. She flings her chakram around the lab and it bounces off the expensive equipment. It however is only a prop and Xena is stunned when her beloved weapon breaks apart in her hand. Xena is never without a back up plan. She puts the pinch on Mac and awaits an explanation. The Xenites have now come to the same realization the scientists over at Jurassic Park came to - they have awoken a very dangerous creature. As the women try to figure out what to do Gabby awakens and clams Xena down, as always. The pinch is removed and the scientists explain that they have cloned Xena and Gabrielle because the modern world needs heroes as illustrated by clips of chaos of the modern world. So Xena and Gabrielle need to be oriented to the modern world and they also need feeding and watering. Xena is introduced to the joys of fat and sugar and supreme pizza and Gabrielle fights with a straw. The three Xenites are in ecstasy. Mac envisions himself as Xena and Gabrielle's first 21st century man - - obviously he isn't a subtext fan. Polly is cataloging which action hero Xena could wipe the floor with - Jackie Chan and Jet Li are included. Clea is mesmerized by her idol Gabrielle and plotting a marathon showing of Ellen episodes. As for Xena and Gabrielle they are just plain perplexed. Xena seems to really like pizza and is impressed by the sexy actress who plays her. Gabrielle just doesn't seem to quite know what to make of her Gab fan and is unimpressed with the writing on the TV series. They both are of the general opinion TPTB have got it wrong and though Xena seems to enjoy seeing herself kiss Gabrielle - she is just a bit puzzled over what the writers are saying about her and the bard's relationship. Xena also just doesn't seem herself. She seems to have lost her commitment to the greater good. When Gabrielle says she they could do some good Xena says it doesn't appeal to her this time around. Then she plays the old Ares trick on Gabrielle of tweaking her noise just before ambling off to the bathroom. (Did you ever notice that Xena seems to be plagued by digestive problems?) As a puzzled Gabrielle watches her partner wander away, Alexis draw her aside. Alexis says she is afraid that they have awaken Evil Xena. Gabrielle says that explains it - what "it"is is difficult to see. Yes Xena seems a bit cruder than usual but she never was the most genteel lady in the room so why Gabrielle suddenly agrees that Xena is now possibly evil is a little hard to understand. Nevertheless she follows Alexis outside to discuss the Xena problem. There the police meet the two. It seems Alexis has called the cops telling them Gabrielle was a nutcase who broke into the lab. Gabrielle tries to explain that she is a clone, which oddly doesn't prove her sanity to the police. When they try to arrest her, Gabrielle draws her sais. As the cops pull their gins Alexis reminds Gabby how deadly modern weapons are. Back at the lab Xena has returned from the powder room to find Gabby missing. Alexis tells her that the local warlords have carried Gabrielle off and that they are holding her just out the front door turn left and two miles down the street. Xena is off to the rescue but not before Alexis gives her the real chakram. As an armed and dangerous Xena dashes off to the warlords' lair, the Xenites demand an explanation. Alexis has put Xena on a path that will lead into direct conflict with authority and that is a bad beginning for their new hero. Yes says Alexis that is exactly right. Suddenly Alexis's voice gets lower and - shazam - Alexis is revealed as Alti. Xena was forgotten but suddenly the TV series resurrected her and now she's a hero. Alti hates this. She wants to destroy Xena's reputation, turn society against her and thus bring back the evil Xena who will be in her power (evil laugh). Meanwhile Xena has indeed come into conflict with the authorities. Xena has busted Gabrielle out of jail and has caused havoc in the streets and zoos of Los Angles. Unfortunately the audience doesn't get to see the havoc, we a merely told about it through newscasts and eyewitness accounts. The one interview with the slacker at the zoo was funny but it would have been better to have some footage of Xena taking LA apart piece by piece. I assume finances we the reason we didn't get these scenes, after all Rob was going to be in need of a whole mess of arrows and samurais in the near future. Alti with the Xenites in tow goes off to find Xena. In a junkyard, Xena, of many skills, is busy using modern day tools to fashion herself a great big sword. The sword she had was just a prop and she is unimpressed with guns. Gabrielle is not pleased at the havoc Xena has wrought on the modern world while breaking her out of the city dungeon. Xena is unrepentant. Just then Alti drives up in her sporty car. She approaches Xena and tries to win her to her side by reminding her of her evil ways. When Gabrielle tries to interfere, Alti reminds Xena of Chin and Solan. Gabrielle however counters with the good Xena has done and what they have meant to each other. Gabby wins. Xena and Alti fight and Gabby hustles the Xenites to safety. The fight is pretty good - they make pretty good use of the old cars and the errant electrical cables in their fight. I particularly like the one move Xena did when she dropped onto a car roof and flip sideways to kick Alti in the head. Eventually Xena knocks Alti into a car that has an electrical cable lying across it and Alti is, once again, blown to smithereens. This explosion ignites some flammable liquids and the Xenites are in danger of blowing up. Xena and Gabrielle manage to rescue them but appear doomed as the gasoline explodes. The Xenites are now safe but they are bereft of their clones. As the walk down the road they take solace in the fact that the real Xena and Gabrielle weren't as dynamic as the TV characters. Mac says they can try again with another TV character because he has a toenail from Dr. Spock (since he says he is a former Trekie he obviously means Mr. Spock unless he actually wants to clone the baby doctor). As the Xenites walk off into the sunset lamenting that no one at any convention will believe them, a cab passes by. In the backseat are clone Xena and Gabrielle drinking Champaign and going off to start a new life in the City of Angles. Overall not a bad episode. The Xenites were for the most part written pretty well. Clea the Gab fan was pretty good - she had it right - the subtext, the preference for longhaired Gabby, even the favorite episode, OAAA. Polly the Xenafan was good too - Xena fans are a bit more action oriented but they too have subtext leanings so her distain of subtext wasn't quite on the mark. Mac however didn't ring true. He seems to be more of a spoof of the Treker syndrome. I have never found male fans to be that fixated on Xena's bosoms or for that matter to be Joxer fans. Joxer fans usually are women not men. Now a few fans were insulted by their portrayal in this episode. Now you have to remember the people who made gentle fun of us in this episode were not so gentle with themselves in the Herc episodes Yes, Virginia There Is A Hercules and the other one. So if they can ridicule themselves they can tease the fans a bit. My only real criticism of the Xenites here were lady fans just didn't quite look right - they were a little too young, a little too thin, and their hair was too long but they were intelligent just like real Xena fans (let's see how much trouble I caused here - may I remind you all I am not too young or thin and have short hair that is turning platinum with time). Now my real complaint was that this was a Xena and Gabrielle light episode. As much as I enjoy Allison Wall, Claire Stanisfield and the rest, I prefer to watch LL and ROC. For me the episode didn't take off until Xena and Gabrielle showed up. LL was really good as Xena - chowing down on pizza, cheering on her doppelganger kissing Gabrielle and generally being a danger to modern society. ROC didn't have a lot to do here but I loved her sidelong glances at her devoted fan - she looked as if she couldn't figure out if Clea was just a harmless lunatic or if she posed a real danger. So on the whole it was a nice inside joke for the fans and it had a clever idea that has spawned some interesting fan fiction. That's it for this week. CherylA ========================================================= 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. 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