From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V3 #175 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 Thursday, June 26 2003 Volume 03 : Number 175 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [chakram-refugees] Friend In Need Part 1 ["Cheryl Ande" Subject: [chakram-refugees] Friend In Need Part 1 Friend In Need Part 1 Well this week I watched all the various Friend In Need videos - the two parter, the DVD, the DVD with commentary, and the FIN documentary on the DVD. Last week I couldn't get started on FIN and this week all I did was watch FIN. Anyway this commentary will be based on the DVD because it is the better of the two versions because the narrative is expanded and the experience is more cinematic. Also I think we have fuller exploration of character especially when it comes to Akemi and Gabrielle. The pat is that I've been really business with real life so you get a two parter The story opens with Gabrielle stargazing as she talks about the wonders of the universe, she is startled to discover that Xena is actually listening. Xena is appears is tired of wondering around Greece getting into trouble and is ready for a change. She wants to go to the land of the pharaohs - she hears they need a girl with a chakram. By now alarms bells should be going off - any time the hero says I'm ready to settle down or some such sentiment you can bet your boots things are going to go sour. It certainly does with the appearance of a mild mannered Japanese monk. He is obviously not dangerous and Xena even had to help him find them. She is amused by the young man until says he has been sent by Akemi. The name of Akemi startles Xena. The monk then tells the tale of how he has met Akemi in a teahouse on a dark and stormy night. Three beautiful women welcome him and his fellow monk into the teahouse. Soon his fellow monk succumbed to their charms and is in the bath with two of the girls. This monk is left with Akemi and although she gently tries to entice him he shyly resets her subtle charms. Akemi is impressed with him and when her true master arrives - a monstrous apparition who consumes the monk's friend - Akemi helps the young monk. She steels her master's sacred katana and says the monstrous Lord Of The Darklands must be killed. The monk is no warrior but the girl says go west and there he will find a warrior who can. Xena must go to Japa. Gabrielle is once again confronted by another mystery from Xena's past. She has obviously by now grown so accustomed by these sudden developments that she is no longer startled or even put out by them. When Xena asks if she will go with her she says, "Where you go I am at your side." Xena is also no longer surprised at Gabrielle's fidelity and says, "I knew you would say that." On the ship to Japa Gabrielle trains with the young monk. She getting a lesson in Japanese fencing but she also is getting background information on Akemi. It is information that is astonished to hear - Akemi is a ghost. Gabrielle now decides it's time for Xena to explain. As usual it all began 36 years ago. Xena and Borias have heard do f a young women being held as a slave by a warlord. They heard that she is the daughter of wealthy lord in Japa. For Xena this presents an opportunity to not only get a ransom but to find a new land to conqueror and exploit. In the palace of the warlord, Xena and Borias met the man's slave. She at first appears to be delicate flower of a young lady but there is something different about her. Xena is every inch a barbarian and as the girl bows Xena lifts her head with the tow of her boot. The girl is not offended by this rudeness but greets Xena as a hero. She says that Xena will soon love her. As Xena scoffs she also says that Xena is afraid of nothing but her master is afraid of everything. The girl's words enrage her master but they intrigue both Xena and Borias. Xena now curious about the girl gives the Chinese lord a bag of gold. He refuses and Borias warns him not to "negotiate with that one." He doesn't listen and soon he has Xena's pinch on him and she is slaughtering his guards. As the lord lies dying, Akemi watches with fascination as her master lies dying and Xena kills all comers. Akemi shows no fear only an intense interest in what is happening around her. When finally her master dies she asks Xena to take her with her and teach her everything she knows. Xena claims Akemi, as a victor's prize but there is the unsettling thought that Akemi is the real victor here. On the boat to Japa, Akemi calmly sits on the deck working on a poem. She meets Borias's eyes and you see that Borias has some inkling that all is not quite right with Akemi. He goes to Xena and asks if she is sure there is a ransom waiting for them. Xena is dreaming of as alliance with Akemi's powerful father, and she arrogantly assures him that Akemi would not lie to her teacher. Borias makes a mistake now - he laughs at Xena's pretensions of being a mentor. She couldn't teach a dog to bark. Akemi leaps to Xena's defense - Xena will be great teacher. This is a new experience for Xena and you can see her preen just a bit. She will be a teacher like La Mao and Akemi will give Xena the respect that Borias won't give her. Unfortunately for Akemi Xena decides her first lesson will be a rather complicated fighting move which involves a spinning back kick. The lesson goes badly. Akemi gets a broken rib, and Borias gets a good laugh at Xena's expense. Xena however is incensed and is determined to prove Borias wrong. Xena now is more committed to Akemi because she has to prove her faith in Akemi is justified. It is winter in Japa. Xena and Akemi are walking along a snow-covered path. Akemi is struggling and Xena is annoyed - simply because Xena broke the girl's rib is no reason to lag behind. Akemi catches up and Xena begins to listen to the world around her. She hears a wagon up ahead and a deer gazing in the woods. Akemi is impressed and says Xena must be at peace when she listens to the Kammie, the force behind all living things. No says Xena "I am at war". Akemi then gives Xena a verse she wrote and although Xena seems a bit unsure what to with it, she keeps it Back on the boat Gabrielle says the Akemi must have loved Xena very much to give such a beautiful poem. This statement shows Gabrielle's maturity. In The Debt she was jealous of Lo Mao but here Gabrielle has sympathy for the girl who seemed to love the wild younger Xena. Perhaps Gabrielle also sees a bit of herself in Akemi - the bard who wants the warrior to teach her everything she knows. Xena however surprises Gabrielle with her next revelation - Akemi broke Xena's heart. Akemi has led Xena to an abandoned farmhouse. Xena wants to know why they are there. Akemi says she wants to visit her dead grandfather. Xena wants her money and she is certain a dead grandfather won't have it. As Xena rages, Akemi calmly kneels before the family shrine and bears her neck to Xena's blade. The warrior is stopped dead in mid-tirade at Akemi's submission to her. Akemi calls upon her grandfather and announces his judgment; Xena is a wise and appropriate teacher (granddad has an odd criteria for teachers). Xena however gets some bad news - her sword isn't good enough. Xena is insulted - her sword has been a great widow-maker. Well here it won't do she needs a katana. While Xena is thinking over this announcement, Akemi cleverly adds that in Japa foreigners and women aren't allowed to own katana's. As RT points out in his commentary - Akemi knows Xena's weak point -her pride. No one is going to tell the Warrior Princess she can't have anything she wants and she now wants the katana. At the sword smith's forge Akemi announces to the sensei that her master has come for the great katana. He says he must be a great warrior but his admiration turn to distain when he sees a foreigner and a woman appear to claim the sword. Xena reveals herself as just a girl looking for a real good sword. She also reveals that she going to get it fighting in a pair capris and a bra (it is really hot in that forge). Xena and the sensei cross swords and the katana shatters Xena's sword. Xena now really wants that sword. She fights the various assistants and gets her famous scare on her chest (I always thought the scar was real but Lucy says that this was the payoff for faithfully pasting it on for 6 years - so I don't know what the status of the scar actually is). The sensei finally turns on Akemi but Xena like Errol Flynn swings to Akemi's rescue and defeats the sword master. That night Xena and Akemi sit in lean two. Xena says she can hear Akemi heat beating louder than usual. Akemi gives her a love poem. Xena who not use to being the object of such devotion doesn't quite know what to make of this. She says Akemi shouldn't get attached that she is just in this for the money. Akemi says that Xena is a great warrior but knows nothing of love. Xena saved her life and there is no greater gift of love than that. As Xena ponders these words, Akemi asks for another gift - teach her the pinch that killed her master. Xena says it is a sacred trust but she will teach it to her. On the board Gabrielle is flabbergasted. She taught Akemi the pinch after knowing her only a few weeks but after 6 years Xena still hasn't taught her the pinch. Gabrielle may be tolerant of all of Xena's various former lovers and her many secrets but the pinch thing is just too much. Luckily for Xena Gabrielle is interrupted by the announcement that Haguchi, their port of call, is under siege and on fire. The ship is not docking. Xena decides she is going ashore and turns to Gabrielle. Before she can ask Gabrielle repeats that where Xena goes she is at her side. Xena says she knew that and jumps overboard. Gabrielle looks over the side and follows, however you the impression she is wondering why Xena just didn't commandeer a row boat. In the forest an unseen force moves through the woods. Akemi sits in the teahouse composing her poems. The monstrous Lord of the Darklands bursts into the room and confronts his daughter, Akemi. He tells her he knows she has stolen his katana and has sent for Xena. Akemi is frightened and knows that Mioky her fellow geisha has betrayed her. Her father however is not angry instead he says his general will take the warrior's head and she will join his whores in the teahouse. The two women swim to the dock and Haguchi is in flames. They emerge dripping and Xena surveys the town and sees a huge water tower just the thing to put out the fires. Now I don't know if Xena, as Lucy said, is just out of ideas or decides to finally let Gabrielle show what she has learned but she asks Gabrielle what she would do. Gabby says that she just saw a troupe of acrobats but Xena interrupts and says show me. Gabby grabs hold of a rope and the women swing through the city. They fly through the air using rooftops and ladders to get to the water tower. Gabrielle begins to turn the wheel to bring the water up and as the pressure builds Xena opens the valves with her word and water sprays over the town. The fires go out and the enemy general salutes Xena and says they will meet again. Xena and Gabrielle look over the town they saved and Xena congratulates her friend saying it's not the way she would do it but it sure worked. I love this part of FIN. The action is terrific and I love seeing Xena and Gabrielle working in harmony. I also think that Gabrielle's solution fits perfectly with her character. It is imaginative and complicated but also it plays to her strength. She doesn't have Xena's brawn but she is athletic and acrobatic so she uses those skills to get her and Xena to the water tower. Also I like the way Gabrielle reacts to her daring do - part terror and astonishment that she can do this. I also love Xena's reaction to Gabrielle's solution - Xena is just having a great time - swinging through the air; mortifying the enemy below her. You have a feeling that after it is over she regrets that she hasn't given Gabby more opportunities to plan their missions - - the girl sure knows how to show a warrior a good time. On the ground the people of Haguchi are cheering Xena and Gabrielle. Gabrielle like a terrier with a bone wants to know about that pinch. Xena tells the rest of the story. In the castle of Akemi's father the lord and master is entertaining guests with kabuki dancers when suddenly the entertainment is interrupted by a macabre figure. A female figure in a grotesque mask suddenly appears and glides toward the lord of the manor. As the guest and retainers flee the figure reveals herself to the lord. The man is shocked and cries out Akemi's name. Xena now cuts through the paper walls of the room and demands to know what is going one. She is shocked when Akemi calls the man father and puts the pinch on him. Masked guards attack Xena. Xena is busy fighting guards as Akemi calmly watches her father die. She calls upon the spirits of the dead - her brothers, her sisters, her mother, and her grandparents - all murdered by her father. She hopes he will suffer in death as his family has in life. Xena dispatches all the guards and is appalled to find Akemi's father dead. Dead men don't pay ransoms and she wants her MONEY. In the courtyard Akemi claps her hands summons the spirits of her dead family. Xena is still raging. She bets there's no inheritance either. Her fuming is cut short when Akemi asks her to restore her honor by cutting off her head. For once the young Xena is struck dumb by the magnitude of the request. She won't ... she can't but Akemi takes matters into her own hands when she plunges a sword into her own stomach. Xena screaming, in grief and rage, takes the katana and finishes what Akemi has started. Gabrielle is horrified by Xena's story and says she understands why Xena would never want to teach any one the pinch again. The people of Haguchi are now lauding the women as heroes. They however meet an old man named Harukata and he is less than pleased to see Xena. He accuses her of destroying Haguchi. Gabrielle says it is not true - she saved the city. Yes this time but 36 years ago it was different story - she burned the city to the ground. Xena is stunned by the revelation. Yes she was in Haguchi. Akemi's last wish was to have her ashes placed in the family shrine. Xena drunk and mad with grief carries the little urn with the girl's ashes through the dark streets of the city. A band of citizens, knowing only that a foreigner is trying to honor a girl who has killed her father, attack Xena with sticks and booms. Xena tries to walk away but she is sliding on the ice and she is very drunk. The urn falls and Akemi's ashes blow away. Xena in her rage picks up a torch and waves it around but the people won't stop harassing her. Suddenly Xena takes a drink of her saki and blows fire at the crowd. People catch fire. They stumble into the building and they catch fire. Xena wanders aware unconcerned and unaware of the havoc she has caused. Harukata now tells her that the fire was spread by the wind and the city burned; 40,000 people lost their lives. That is not all Akemi's father was so evil he could not even enter the underworld. Instead he became Yodoshi the Dark Lord and eater of souls. He ate the souls of the 40,000 and holds them captive and now his general will kill the inhabitants of Haguchi to feed Yodoshi's growing appetite. Harukata is now a ghost killer - he kills the ghosts of the dead to send them on their way before Yodoshi can capture them Xena is devastated by the news of what she has done. This is Cirra again only the tragedy is a thousand times greater. Gabrielle says it was just a horrible accident. Xena however will not allow Gabrielle to make excuses for her. She will make things right. She will save Haguchi from the Dark Lord this time and free the 40,000. The next day Xena and Gabrielle are on the battlements of the city. Xena asks Gabrielle what she hears. She says she may hear a wagon passing. Xena tells her to listen not to just the sounds but what is behind the sounds. Gabrielle listens again and is apparently taken aback at what she hears; a great army is in the forest. She asks Xena how many men are out there and Xena says three armies. A stunned Gabrielle goes to warn the others. Harukata now joins Xena. He is still wary of her but he is won over by Xena's sincere grief over what happened so many years ago. Xena wonders why he as the ghost killer hasn't been able to kill Yodoshi. Harukata says he has that power but as a mortal he can't get to him. Only a ghost can trap Yodoshi. Xena now understands what she has to do to make thinks right. It is dawn and Xena now dressed in minimal Japanese armor (actually a samari bikini) is contemplating her own death. She believes this will be her final battle. Gabrielle comes to fetch her and is surprised to see that Xena is not ready. Xena takes Gabrielle by the hands and draws her down on the floor. Kneeling before Gabrielle she Gabby's hands and puts them on her neck and begins to show her the pinch. Gabrielle is terribly upset - she doesn't want to know the pinch - she understands why Xena never taught her. Xena insists and puts the pinch on. Gabrielle is beside herself - something she doesn't understand is going on. She pleads with Xena but Xena says she wants her to know that if she only had thirty seconds to live this how she would spend them - - looking into Gabrielle's eyes. As Lucy says in the commentary Xena is rehearsing her death and this is her deathbed confession - she loves Gabrielle. Gabrielle doesn't want to hear this - there is no reason for this - - she wants the pinch off and with Xena's hands still on her's, she removes it. Gabrielle still upset wants to know why Xena would teach her this now. Xena just says she wants her to everything she knows. Before Gabrielle can ask any more questions Harukata arrives and summons them to the battle. In the fog-enshrouded forest, Xena sends Gabrielle and her troops off to confront some archers she says are in another part of the forest. Gabrielle goes off in one direction and Xena in another. Xena now alone buries her armor like she did years ago in a forest outside of Potedeia; after this day she won 't need them. Gabrielle now out in the forest hears nothing - no troops, no horses - then she remembers to listen to the sounds behind the sounds. She thinks of Xena's last words and she knows Xena is about to die. She calls out to her and starts back. Xena hears Gabrielle but she also hears a wagon loaded with explosives. She throws her chakram. It careens through the air, and hits the wagon, knocking the contents to the ground. The chakram has finished its job yet. It knocks a torch out of a soldier's hand and into the explosives. There is a massive explosion. A great wind knock people down and a mushroom cloud covers the forest - Xena has set off the first atomic bomb (more or less). Xena now goes into action. From the treetops she shoots arrows into the opposing troops. She leaps from the trees shooting and then takes on the troops one on one. She disarms them and kicks their swords into the air; one barely misses the general, Morimoto. He has had enough. He orders his archers to fire at Xena. Thousands of arrows come at her and it is impossible to deflect them all. She is wounded repeatedly. She manages to get to a wagon and she is hit in the arm as she lies within it shelters. Xena is now really peeved. She takes out her sword and begins to fight the oncoming soldiers. As she exhaustion and blood lost begin to affect her she cries out to Gabrielle and with a vision of her as inspiration, she moves through the troops like a lethal grim reaper. Finally Xena has come to the end of her physical strength. Morimoto appears before her. She looks at him seeing her death accepting it but still a bit surprised. Morimoto takes Xena's head. Well we are taking a break here. This is a good stopping point. The next time we meet Xena she will be in the land of the dead. The story will shift and Gabrielle will become a major player in the second part of the story. Also now is a good time to say farewell to one the Xenaverse's most interesting characters Young Xena. This character has always been a remarkable creation. With the story of her relation with Akemi we see why the character did the things she did after Chin. Xena meets Akemi after her encounter with La Mao. Xena is still very much a barbarian - violent, crude and with an adolescent egotism. Xena has begun to see herself as a just a tad better than Borias. When she meets Akemi the girl's adoration and praise stokes Xena's feelings of superiority. Xena however being so self-centered never wonders why Akemi should admire her - se just takes it as her due. Akemi is perhaps the first person that seems to admire Xena as a person - not as a warrior, or as someone to mold, or even someone to sleep with. Akemi apparently loves Xena for her stillness and her connection to the universe. Akemi actually courts her with gifts (the katana) and love poems and holds out the promise of wealth and power. Xena finally trusts some one again and shares with her the secret that another trusted friend gave her. Then it is all shatters - Akemi perhaps does love Xena but she too has used the young woman. She needed Xena to get her to her father and uses Xena sacred trust for murder. Then finally Xena must do the most horrible thing of all kill the girl she has come to love. In the end she has a final failure when she can't even bring the ashes to the shrine. Xena has found out a terrible thing - love makes you vulnerable and can cause great pain. It is no wonder that the Xena that we meet afterwards in AITST, Past Imperfect, and The Ring rejects love and uses it only to manipulate. Xena has learned from Akemi that love should be feared but also that it is powerful weapon. Xena now begins to reject love and see it as only fit for fools. Another remarkable character her is Akemi. This is a remarkable girl. Yes she is manipulative - it is the only real power she has -but that does nothing to mitigate her strength of character. Look at where she has come from. Her father has killed her whole family. She has escaped either because she was sold away by her father who may have discounted her as an adversary or she has managed to get herself out of Japa. She is slave in a cruel man's household yet she not intimated by his wrath. When Xena enters her life she evaluates the woman and finds the perfect means to get her out of her servitude and back to Japa. Akemi however is driven by selfish desires but rather by an overpowering sense of duty. She must avenge her family - she is on a journey that will end in her death - and all personal feelings are subjugated to that. Yes she manipulates Xena but I think also admires her strength and does love her. She wants Xena to understand the beauty of the world and the beauty of her own soul. We know she admires Xena because she wants Xena to second her suicide and she trusts her to restore her honor. Akemi is a strong character - - even as a ghost she shows strength of character. Remember she has served in that teahouse for 36 years and has never called on Xena for help. She has accepted her punishment for killing her father and it is only Yodoshi's growing power that prompts her to call for help. This episode also has three great set pieces. The first is Xena and Gabrielle's rescue of Haguchi. The second is Xena's burning of Haguchi 36 years ago. That scene is scary because of its surreal quality. Xena, with her short hair, grotesque make-up and gangly appearance, is an unsettling sight. I remember I actually gasped when I first saw her. The underscoring is eerie and vaguely romantic as Xena takes a horrific vengeance on the people who attack her. Here we see the dark madness that lurks in Xena's soul. Finally we have Xena's final battle. I don't think we could ask for more - Xena uses all her weapons, chakram, arrows and finally her sword. She is victorious - she destroys Morimoto's army. It takes a thousands of arrows to kill Xena - when Xena's head is cut off she is already dead - she isn't defeated by Morimoto. Her death is not a defeat just a tactic to get her to the real enemy and the real final battle. Well that's it for now. I'll let you digest this much for now. I now can go watch FIN again - just call me obsessed. 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. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ End of chakram-refugees-digest V3 #175 **************************************