From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V3 #187 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 Friday, July 4 2003 Volume 03 : Number 187 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [chakram-refugees] Friend In Need Part 2 [IfeRae@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 03:10:10 EDT From: IfeRae@aol.com Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] Friend In Need Part 2 In a message dated 7/1/2003 9:00:57 PM Central Daylight Time, cande@sunlink.net writes: > Friend In Need Part 2 >> It's about time! > Suddenly Gabrielle sees something - it is the chakram covered in blood. >> You would've thought Morimoto would definitely want that as a souvenir of his great battle with Xena. Maybe it burned his hand when he picked it up. Heh. > << Kenji then helpfully suggests that > Harrukata might see Xena's soul. Gabrielle is not pleased - XENA IS ALIVE. > > > Well, she was alive that time Grindle got her. She's been alive all those other times. I can see why Gabs was so confident that buckets of blood, Xena's chakram and no Xena could be taken with a grain of salt. > << Xena tells Akemi tells she can still hear her heartbeat (dead > people have heartbeats?)>> LOL! Another thing I missed. > << Gabrielle is just > bit surprised when she notices Xena's new costume. Xena says she is going > to > >> >> kill Yodoshi, as if this explains the new red kimono. >> Bwhahahaha! Don't ya love the shorthand developed between X&G? > Xena says that it's hard to > explain but Gabrielle has one right away; Xena is dead. >> LOL! Hey, you're having way too much fun with this controversially dark finale to end all finales. Gabrielle can't> > believe Xena let herself be killed (I love that line "let herself be killed" > Gabrielle has so much faith in Xena that she can only conceive of Xena's > death > as a deliberate act on her part). >> Well? She was at least right about that, wasn't she? > << I never understood why Xena was > in such panic about the falling anklet. I assumed she just didn't want it > lost but according to RT if it hit the ground it would have rang and > summoned > Yodoshi. >> Now, that part I did understand. > That night there is a fearsome thunderstorm. Gabrielle strides into > Morimoto's camp. She takes out the guards with her whip. >> Gabs has been doin' some serious warrior training, eh? She looks around > > the camp and sees something hanging from a tree. She goes to it. As the > lightening flashes she sees her friends lifeless body, naked, headless and > displayed like a prized stag. Gabrielle is forced to her knees in shock and > revulsion - a revulsion that is soon replaced by rage. She rises and cries > out for Xena's head. She then cuts her friend down and wraps her in a > blanket. >> ROC played the heck out of that. I didn't even laugh at the "Bring me her head!" line, though there was all the reason in the world why I should have. > The tension mounts as we hear the feet sliding on mud, the horses whiny, > and > the fire crackle. There are close-ups of Gabrielle's eyes as she watches > Morimoto, judging his every move. >> And don't forget the part where all the noises die out, except for Morimoto's feet in the mud, as we listen for the sounds behind the sounds with Gabs. > She also makes a very interesting decision not to kill Morimoto. Rob says > it > was because Gabrielle still won't kill in cold blood but ROC felt it was > done > deliberately to deny Morimoto his honor. I agree with ROC. When she knocks > Morimoto out she turns and lashes her sword as if she has just swatted a > bug. > I don't think she has any regard for this man. >> Yes, I agree with ROC too, and that's certainly what I got out of it. And what delicious irony -- that she destroys the man by *not" killing him. > << Yodoshi falls into the bath and becomes vapor, which rises to > the ceiling. He reforms and Xena fights with him. Yodoshi throws a > fireball > and one of the geishas is killed and Akemi's arm is set on fire. Xena > knocks > her into the bath and while Xena struggles with Yodishi, Kenji is > accidentally > beheaded. While Xena reacts to this, Yodoshi freezes the bath trapping > Akemi. > Yodoshi knocks Xena down and skewers Harukata. Xena gets the katana and > chops > Yodoshi's arm off and he flees in a ball of fire. Xena frees Akemi from the > ice but the trap has been a bloody disaster. >> I always chuckle in these eps where dead people try to kill each other and worry about dying. Where do they go next? Some kind of ghost mortuary? > > In another part of Japa, Gabrielle has burned Xena's body. She remembers > Xena's vow that even death would not separate them. Gabrielle renews her > vow > to bring Xena back to life. >> I have to admit, I shuddered at the thought of Xena's body being burned, even tho I still had hope it wouldn't matter. > > Gabrielle now with Xena in her little pot is riding hell bent for leather to > Mt Fuji when suddenly her horse is shot out from under her. The irate > Morimoto now confronts her; some people don't know when to let a thing > alone. > He is furious that she denied him his honorable death and now in vengeance > he > will not allow Gabrielle to save her friend. >> Apparently the secret restoration ritual wasn't so secret after all. > << Akemi however has weightier matters on her > mind. She asks about Gabrielle's mission to the Fountain. Xena says not to > worry Gabrielle is good at what she does. Akemi however is really worried > and > she has a confession to make and she sits Xena down for a heart to heart. > The > audience is left in the dark about what Akemi said but from the expression > Xena's face it wasn't good. Xena however rallies and takes Akemi by the > hand > and they turn into birds and fly off. > Now, here's what I don't get. I'm glad they left that scene in the longer version, but it still doesn't explain why Akemi waited so long to tell Xena. Was it because of meeting Gabrielle and realizing that she and Xena might actually succeed in restoring Xena? If so, why tatoo Gabs and let her go off on a wild-goose chase? To give them the chance to make the decision themselves about what Xena should do? > Gabrielle's dragon tattoo springs to life and the > fireball bounces back and hits Yodoshi. Gabrielle, a little singed, rushes > to > Xena and kisses ...uh no... she just passes the water from her mouth to > Xena's > (although Gabrielle does appear to making a rather thorough job making sure > that water gets to the proper place). >> What's funny is, RT says he saw that as a kiss, while LL & ROC originally thought it was all about the water transfer. Whatever, ROC looks like she didn't take any chances, so did a thorough job of both. Xena wakes up seems to really> > appreciate Gabrielle's oral water carrying skills. >> Who wouldn't? :-) Xena is now transformed - > > she is free from Yodoshi's grasp and she is once again a warrior.>> Gods, I got goosebumps when the theme music played and Xena appeared in her leathers. Gabrielle > > has no time to talk to Xena - the sun is setting and she must get the pot. >> > Another irony -- poor Gabs wasting precious last moments on a pot of ashes. Oh, sorry, we don't know that yet. > << Yodoshi taunts > Xena saying he will destroy her and then take the head of her little > tattooed > friend. It is always a mistake to threaten Gabrielle >> Guess Yodoshi didn't have access to Gabs' scrolls. (It's okay for me to mention the scrolls now, cr?) > > As Yodoshi's head rolls away all the souls he has captured rush from his > body. > They are crying out in joy. Xena sees Akemi's spirit and she joyfully tells > Xena she has redeemed the 40, 000, she has redeemed her and finally Xena has > redeemed herself. >> I notice Xena just smiles, but doesn't explicitly agree with Akemi about herself being redeemed. > Gabrielle has had enough. > She throws the chakram and kills the general. >> Do we know for sure that she killed him? > < so sanguine about the sacrifice - this isn't right she says and frankly she > doesn't care - she wants Xena alive. >> Lucy said she loved that Gabrielle said, "I don't care." She seemed more moved by that and by ROC's performance of that moment, than anything else. Xena in tears says she wants to come > > back too but she can't. This is what she learned from Gabrielle to do the > right thing no matter what. >> I thought it interesting that Lucy also seemed unimpressed by "the final, the good, the right thing to do." Gabrielle is grief stricken but defeated. She > > sits dejectedly beside the fountain. Xena is her whole life. How can she go > on? Xena says she will always be with her. The two friends now sit > together. > Gabrielle leans her head against Xena shoulder like she did when Xena had > overcome death before. >> More goosebumps, seeing the two from behind watchng the sunset. > > But the story of Gabrielle and Xena is not over. On a ship sailing away > from > Japa stands Gabrielle with her warrior pot. >> Cande, I could be wrong, but I'm detecting a teensy bit of ... disdain? ... sarcasm? ... in your use of "her warrior pot." That's Xena in there. Have you no respect for our hero's ashes? Is there the slight implication that Gabs might not appreciate them as much as the live person? Tsk tsk. She says that a lifetime of > > wandering has caused Xena to travel to ends of the earth. Suddenly there is > a > hand on Gabrielle's shoulder and it is Xena's spirit. Xena says all her > traveling has ended where she will always remain - in Gabrielle's heart. > She > asks Gabrielle where are they off to next. Gabby says to the land of the > pharaohs - she hears they need a girl with a chakram. Xena smiles and says > where Gabrielle goes she will be by her side. >> I can't listen to that last music either without getting goosebumps. > < need to make things right. In the ROTV, The Last Centaur, and Fallen Angel > she fought and risked everything even her very soul to mend the damage she > did. >> What I liked about this was that Xena finally found value in her soul -- that in the end she needed/used it, rather than the physical body she relied on, to give other souls peace. To me, that was the greatest redemption -- the worth of her soul in her own eyes. > < Gabrielle as the hero because she puts the souls of the 40,000 and Xena's > need > for atonement before her own desires. Gabrielle heroism isn't fighting > Morimoto but letting Xena go. Gabrielle, I believe, knows that neither Xena > nor she could have a life knowing that they ignored the suffering of others. > Gabrielle allows Xena to finally be at rest - she allows her the atonement > she > has so needed for her own peace. Gabrielle does suffer for this but that is > what makes her a hero. >> Yes, my thoughts exactly. XWP was about heroes, and heroes risk and give their lives for people and causes that may seem ridiculous even to some of those saved (like that guy in Tsunami). Actually that is why I liked the original ending of> > FIN. In the broadcast version Gabrielle stands proudly alone on the ship > facing the future by herself. She now is on a hero's journey that was begun > on the side of Mt. Fuji when she accepts Xena's sacrifice. The DVD ending > with the two women together suggests nothing has changed and it negates in > some way the sacrifice both women made. >> I agree with that also. The broadcast ending is much more poignant, but preserves the true sacrifice and heroism of Gabrielle, as well as a new future for her. Yes, I preferred remembering them together as in the second ending, but it wasn't the "bold" (to use Lucy's word) choice that made XWP a "cut above" so much other TV fare. Rob had a vision and stayed true to it, which I admire him for greatly, even though I well understand how painful it was to many viewers. > > Now I do believe that people who have criticized the sudden plot > development, > which requires Xena to remain dead, have a legitimate complaint. It does > seem > to come out of left field - especially in the broadcast version. In the DVD > you know at least that Xena has been given some really bad news by Akemi. >> I also thought that originally. But I remember hearing the rumors that Xena would die and preparing myself for that possibility. As I watched, I suddenly found myself hoping otherwise. I started thinking Gabs' mission, with all its problems, would be the major drama. And so I was as stunned as Gabs when Xena made her announcement. I felt like I'd been put through the ringer. Did I feel a little tricked? You betcha. Would I have rather felt serene and joyful at seeing Xena walk off alive with Gabs into the sunset. You betcha. But it wouldn't have lived up to my expectations of how I wanted XWP to leave the stage. I watch the long version, but the version that my heart and head will remember is the one that aired, tricks and all, because it had me on the edge of my seat the whole ride. And I still haven't found the socks it knocked off. <<> Now I will try torture an explanation from these > meager observations. >> Yes! Trust Cande to go where others fear to tread. Perhaps Harukata in his role as Ghost Killer would have > > been able to speed the 40,000 on to paradise without the need for them to be > avenged. Once Harukata is gone Xena has to step up the plate to kill > Yodoshi. > She has that power to that, but the only way she can get the souls to > paradise > is to avenge them. She has to sacrifice herself to do this because she > doesn't have Harukata's power as the Ghost Killer, TA DAA! >> Nice try. Really. No, I mean it. Let's just say that's certainly as good as all the other explanations I've heard. My own is rather simple -- Papa Yodoshi made up the avenged thing (which nobody else seemed to know about) to discourage Xena. Even if she managed to defeat him, he'd still have his revenge on her postghostumously. He derisively whispered this in Akemi's ear, knowing she'd probably warn Xena. Since Akemi was an illusion under his control, she bought it. ta daa. > > Overall the episode was a terrific ending for the series. It had a symmetry > that revisited all the themes that have been the bases for the series. >> Agreed again. > Finally a bit of praise for Rob Tapert. He had the courage of his > conviction > in that he ended the series the way he wanted. >> Yes. > Lets not forget Lucy and Renee. Lucy was very tired during this episode > and I > felt she believed she didn't do her best work. >> Yes, she said the Akemi thing puzzled her because she hadn't payed as much attention to it during the rush and hubbub. Frankly, I'm not sure that would've made much difference. If she reacted mainly on "gut," that's probably as good as she could've done under the circumstances. In fact, if she'd had more time to think about it, she might not have done as well. I think she did an excellent > job. >> Agreed. The tiredness and "what's really going on here?" perhaps gave her performance even more power. It was like she put everything she had left into that moment when she killed Yodoshi -- her last battle as well as Xena's. And there was a curiosity about Akemi which gave a youthful freshness to young Xena's interactions with Akemi. Maybe the "Why I have I let this girl get to me?" was as much Lucy's question and Xena's. <<> In the end ROC managed to convey both Gabrielle's utter > defeat when she accepts Xena's sacrifice but also Gabrielle's resiliency as > she faces the future with confidence and joy with Xena's spirit beside her. > > > Yes, I thought this ep had some of ROC's finest moments. > > Also I want to once again say what a great job Michelle Ang did as Akemi. >> I second that. I said earlier that I wouldn't have cared diddly about Akemi if not for what Ang brought to the character. For a 17-year-old, that young lady is awesome. > Also Joe DeLuca's was as always superb. << I didn't realize until recently that his music brought the series full circle just like the story. I have the CD. The last track (about 8 minutes) begins with Xena's battle with Yodoshi and gives little bits from eps, including a stirring few seconds of a Xene theme that's missing from the videos. There's an interplay near the end (I think between a cello and violin) that seem to represent X&G's voices. Gods, more goosebumps just trying to remember it. Lighting, set direction, costume> > design were first rate. It still irks me to no end that this series was > never > nominated for an Emmy for costume design or set decoration. What an > embarrassment for the industry! >> Years from now, somebody may come up with a special award to rectify that. > > Well that's the last episode. It has taken me almost exactly 2 years to the > day Xena ended to rewatch all the episodes and write commentaries. I am > still > watching Xena on DVD - I never seem to tire of this series. I always find > something new in the show. A new perspective or something I never saw > before. > So, I'll probably still be commentating on episodes as long as there is a > list > and people to read them - especially as long as cr is around to argue with > and > IfeRae to add her insights and certainly I hope that everyone else can add > their thoughts too. KT I am still waiting for you Fates attack ;-).>> And a fine job you have done! Sometimes singlehandedly keeping us going. You know, there's some new blood on Flawless that I think we should invite to join Chakram. I doubt they've seen your reviews. Gee, you might have to start all over again! A heartfelt "thank you" for your tireless efforts! - -- Ife > > 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. > ========================================================= ========================================================= 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 #187 **************************************