From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V8 #38 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 Saturday, September 26 2009 Volume 08 : Number 038 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [chakram-refugees] is xena now mossad? ["Ernie Whiting" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:09:33 -0700 From: "Ernie Whiting" Subject: [chakram-refugees] is xena now mossad? So, for the last four years out of six, NCIS has had this Ziva David character, who is a Mossad officer. In last season's closer, she was taken captive and beaten, and the swollen black eye reminded me of Xena's when she was hanging in that cell. And *that* was when it finally struck me. Has Xena been reincarnated as an Israeli Mossad officer on NCIS? That was my "D'oh!" moment. Ernie http://www.academyofbards.org/authors/ernie_whiting.html http://www.academyofbards.org/ ____________________________________________________________ Best Weight Loss Program - Click Here! http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2241/fc/BLSrjpYSwrGHrYKgU8PDJShv0kJSpL bRzFu9sutqmoh92JoKuuFA8EfpFHS/ ========================================================= 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: Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:14:42 +1200 From: cr Subject: [chakram-refugees] The Debts I've just been holding a sort of personal Herc-and-Xenathon, watching all the eps that I think are worth viewing in order. I've just reached The Debts, which have prompted me to make some observations... First, the sets and scenery, which were impressive on VHS, are breathtaking on DVD. The New Zealand landscape has never been better photographed. Lucy and Rob's commentary on Debt 1 was great. I gather from their comments they carried on with Debt 2, but the next DVD has a commentary for King of Assassins instead. While I quite like KoA (unlike many), I would happily have forgone that in favour of Debt 2. Lucy mentioned that the Debts and Sin Trades were some of the eps she's proudest of. (Music to my ears, Sin Trades are my personal favourites). Erci Gruendemann and R J Stewart rated the Debts as their favourites too. The Debts are full of irony and black humour, and lines that made me laugh with delight when I first heard them - lines like 'I decided to appeal to his sense of family values' and 'I've learned to clean up after myself'. I was pleased by the comment from Rob that the river crossing scene was the same place as the 'Deer River' scene in Sin Trades - I'd deduced that already but it's always satisfying to have it confirmed. The hair brooch had excellent continuity, better than I ever realised - it was Xena's originally; after Xena tried to kill Lao Ma in Borias' camp, Lao Ma took it out of Xena's hair (I hadn't noticed that before) and threw it to puncture a water skin, and took it with her. Then, after Lao Ma rescued Xena and dressed Xena in Chinese clothes, she gave it back. Later, she borrowed it to demonstrate how it could kill a person if thrown properly, and gave it back again. And Xena gave it to Lao Ma in the 'flying' scene. Who, famously, gave it to Ming just before he executed her with a last request that it be given to Xena. Which Ming eventually did, and Xena killed him with it. I absolutely love the irony that Ming delivered the hair brooch which, in the circumstances, was the plainest possible message to Xena, 'kill this guy'. There are three visual images of Xena that I find memorable - the first scene with Borias on the high plains, with the big hair and the reckless grin, she looks irresistibly attractive and dangerous at the same time. And the scene in Debt 2 where Xena is wearing the 'recycled garage door' and looking straight ahead, the intensity of her stare is extraordinary. And the third is after her failed execution, when she's standing in that bathrobe thing hurling fireballs, it just looks so cool. Oh yes, and Marton fit the character of Borias perfectly, and so well that I never noticed any resemblance to Khrafstar just 2 weeks before till I read the cast lists. I've always blamed Gabby for Xena's predicament at the mercy of Ming. But I noticed, this time around, that (at the end of Debt 1) Ming walked right up to Xena - who was holding the dagger - and she just let him take it. Why? This surely shifts part of the blame onto Xena. But then Rob explained, in the commentary, that Xena was just too stunned by finding Gabby in the bed to react in her usual way. (Which puts the blame back on Gabby, I guess). Talking of which, the once-hot topic of Xena lying to Gabs about killing Ming. I've always maintained that that was a trivial offence compared with Gabrielle's dropping Xena into Ming's clutches. But this time I noticed that, at the end of Gabrielle's Hope, Gabrielle had lied at far greater length to Xena about having killed Hope. Looks like nobody had the moral high ground by this time. cr ========================================================= 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 V8 #38 *************************************