From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V9 #47 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, June 27 2010 Volume 09 : Number 047 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [chakram-refugees] Last of the Centaurs [cr ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2010 13:55:43 +1300 From: cr Subject: [chakram-refugees] Last of the Centaurs It's a bad time for minority groups in the Xenaverse - first the Greek gods get decimated, then the Amazons, now it's the centaurs' turn. (And in each case it's Xena who's responsible - directly in the case of the Greek gods, indirectly with the Amazons, if only she'd killed Artemis a little more sensitively, Bellerophon wouldn't have been so bitter and twisted, right? Yeah, right. And now it's the same with the centaurs, if only Xena had been a little bit more sensitive in the way she pinched Borias off his first wife, Lord Belach wouldn't be such a grouch.) I must admit I found this episode a bit disappointing; with Marton Csokas and Dani Cormack in it, I was expecting great things. But Belach had none of Borias's charm, and Ephiny was just a ghost - I would have liked to see her in action, but what can a ghost do? (She could have been a poltergeist, and thrown things at the baddies, I suppose). And all this stuff about Borias's first wife looks like a retcon - though I've just realised, XWP is full of retcons, from Destiny to Debts to Sin Trade to Friend in Need - so I guess I can't complain about its use in Centaurs when I'm happy enough with it in other eps. At least we got to see Borias one further time - in rather better form - in Friend in Need 1. Howcome Ephiny only appears to Gabrielle? Xena's the one who had all the dealings with centaurs in the past, and with Belach's father, she's the one Ephiny should be talking to surely. And Xenan is named after Xena! This 'only Amazons can see Ephiny' looks like a rather weak plot device to me, to give Gabrielle something to do. And it seems even Xenan can't see Ephiny - this is getting to be a bit of a stretch. The centaurs are getting better - the CGI is quite smooth - but somehow they seem a little absurd. It's as if they fit more readily in early Hercs and Season 1 Xenas, but now the show's a lot darker and they seem rather incongruous. (And so's the sight of Ephiny and Gabrielle (dubbed?) singing lullabies to a fully grown Centaur, I don't think it was meant to get a laugh). It seems as if Belach's daughter ran away with Ephiny's son Xenan because she is up, as Xena memorably said, the duff. I wonder how that happened? (On second thoughts, I don't think I want to know. ;) The sight of the pile of dead centaurs is shocking and very disturbing. And it surely sinks forever any chance of Belach being reconciled with Xenan. But of course, he is, and the ep ends with everyone on the best of terms. Except the pile of centaurs of course. They're just dead. I just wish the 'son of Borias' and 'ghost of Ephiny' had better-written stuff to do. 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 V9 #47 *************************************