i'm thinkin 1st season Gabrielle is my fave.

She's a bard, she's feisty, she sticks up for herself & others. But she's not the killin mindless heartless bitch she becomes in S5.

Her stick gets broken but she gets another but still she ain't violent this early on.

She definitely is a learner & up for changes.

Unlike Xena, for the most part.

"Warrior...Princess"

Xena look-alike Diana targeted by slave traders.

Best: Xena in the story first as Gabrielle enters the scene later- i like it when they are split up like that; Gabrielle has her staff back & uses it only in defense; liked that Xena almost backed out working for a wealthy king

Worst: well it's an irrelevant story, a Xena lite, that doesn't add anything to her back story or to Gabrielle's growth; Bordered on too silly at times

Rating: 8 (almost gave it a 7-7.5 but relented to up the score)

well i thinkin bout scoring the EPs on a redemption rating separate from the regular rating.

Maybe add a X&G yin/yang score too.

we'll see...

"Sins of the Past"

Redemption score: 9
X&G yin/yang score: 9

"Chariots of War"

Redemption score: 3
X&G yin/yang score: 8

This gonna be hard scorin' but fun thinkin bout the show.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: xenacrazed,

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"Sins of the Past"

Redemption score: 9
X&G yin/yang score: 9

"Chariots of War"

Redemption score: 5
X&G yin/yang score: 8

This gonna be hard scorin' but fun thinkin bout the show.

Twas in a hurry, i should explain-

Redemption score will be measured against Sins of the Past, the obvious best/most redemption ep.

X&G yin/yang is subjective depending on the person. Maybe i'll explain more as i score this with each upcoming ep.

Edited to say i've since lowered the redemption score on CoW to 3. Not much there in this ep anyhoo.

"Dreamworker"

Redemption score: 8
X&G yin/yang score: 9

ok, maybe i should lower the redemption count on Chariots of War.

X&G were the epitome of their best selves in this ep.

Well, glad you didn't totally leave, xc, guess this'll keep on going mostly in this forum.

Gonna pick up my season 1 watching, maybe later today...

(Had to watch Johnny in "The Brave" though--great movie that got a raw deal just cuz of some silly American critic who negated all the good responses when it first came out..)

Ok, I'll stay on topic from now on! Hehe.

I never understood why Xena went as bad as she did either--what always got me was what she did to--Cyan, was it?(I never could get her name right), the leader of the Amazons. They were gonna make Xena an Amazon, but "Alti offered her a better deal" like Xena said, lol. ugh.

Then again I did most of my Xena watching during Season 4--there's a lot I need to catch up on to truly understand these characters, and what makes them "tick."

Anyway--onward!!!

quote:

Originally posted by The Rise and Fall of the Brass Razoo:


I never understood why Xena went as bad as she did either--what always got me was what she did to--Cyan, was it?(I never could get her name right), the leader of the Amazons. They were gonna make Xena an Amazon, but "Alti offered her a better deal" like Xena said, lol. ugh.

Then again I did most of my Xena watching during Season 4--there's a lot I need to catch up on to truly understand these characters, and what makes them "tick."

Anyway--onward!!!

OMG someone else posted in the Xena forum or the xc forum as it is.

Bout had a heart attack!

"Cradle of Hope"

Redemption score: 5
X&G yin/yang score: 8

Not much on the redemption here but it was in the atmosphere & i think King Gregor might have stirred the pot at one point.

Hard to judge the yin/yang but it was high throughout season 1.

"The Path Not Taken"

Redemption score: 8
X&G yin/yang score: 8

Xena stays the difficult course & tries to get Marcus to redeem himself- which works too late for him.

Steady high yin/yang score, especially in these eps where X&G have separate goals (though with similar desired outcomes).

"The Reckoning"

Redemption score: 6.5
X&G yin/yang score: 8.5

The redemption factor was in the background but was still strongly there.

The X&G factor was strong, particularly as Ares showed up.

"The Titans"

Redemption score: 4
X&G yin/yang score: 8.5

Not much redemption here but good on the X&G factor thing.

"Mortal Beloved"

Xena & Marcus try to get Hades' helmet back to him.

Best: Good story & acting; the guy who stole Hades' helmet looked the ghoulish part

Worst: too much lovey-dovey crap between Xena & Marcus

Redemption score: 6 -mostly this was on Marcus
X&G yin/Yang score: 7 -Xena a bit mushy here

Rating: 8

Getting back to eps i seen...

"Prometheus"


Redemption score: 4
X&G yin/Yang score: 7

Not much on redemption & too mushy between Xena & Hercules and Gabrielle & Iolus.

"Death in Chains"

Redemption score: 4.3
X&G yin/Yang score: 8.5

Still little redemption here but maybe a tad more than the previous ep.

The yin/Yang thing fares much better here than with "Prometheus". Mushy stuff me no like.

"Hooves and Harlots"

Redemption score: 4.7
X&G yin/Yang score: 8

Redemption edged up a tad here even if it was only there for those of us who look & listen for it.

Yin/yang i have at 8 as this is the 1st Amazon ep. i never liked seeing Gabrielle as a fighter only to defend herself & others. But here she's still the naive bard. No bloodlust for several seasons.

"The Black Wolf"

Redemption score: 5.1
X&G yin/Yang score: 8.5

"Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts"

Redemption score: 3
X&G yin/Yang score: 7.5

It was a good ep but low on redemption. i'm mixed on the yin/yang part as Gabrielle spent most her time with Perdicus & i don't think she would have wanted to be where a war was- not at this point in the series.

"Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards"

Redemption score: .5
X&G yin/Yang score: 8

Only redemption could be construed thru the clips of Xena as she wasn't in the ep much.

Good on Gabrielle for wanting to further her bard thing. Too bad she never fulfilled the dream.

"The Royal Couple of Thieves"

Xena & Autolycus try to get back treasure chest (ten commandments).

Best: Ep & mood atmosphere; Xena laughing as she gets into her work

Worst: Enough lovey-dovey talk about Hercules; not much role for Gabrielle

Redemption score: 2 -more for Auto than Xena
X&G yin/Yang score: 6 -not much use for Gabrielle here

Rating: 7

Hmmm was i too easy or hard on the Royal Couple of Thieves?

What was learned of Xena? Not much. A bit of background on when she was injured & a group that helped her.

The ep was about recovering a theft. We learned next to nil about them.

The ep introduced Autolycus and we learned not much about him. In fact, he's mostly one dimensional throughout the series.

More next time...

To continue Royal Couple ep...

Sinteres was an interesting character. Knew the pressure points stuff. Was a philosopher assassin. Could have been a fine male villain reoccurring role but they killed him off after 10 min or so!

This ep might have been better as a drama ep without Autolycus. Auto is less annoying than Joxer but still has less character development.

How might this ep been better? well more next time...

Royal Couple cont'd...

It might have been a better ep if...

Sinteres captured the chest early on. One of his men opens it & get blasted. Sinteres sees this from far away or maybe close. Maybe more of his men get blasted but not him. He's not sure why not him. So he decides to threaten a village with blasting unless he gets what he wants- jewels? power? xc wife-types?

Sinteres would know the chest contains religious artifacts but not exactly what the contents are. His uncertainty to the nature of its power could be his downfall.

Enter Xena to use her wits & strength to use the uncertainty to her advantage.

Sorry, no Auto but more Gabrielle to ground Xena's decisions.

Just my idea.

More later...

Royal Couple cont'd...

Gabrielle was pretty useless in this ep. She was there when Xena caught Auto & got him to help recover the chest.

She was gone when Xena & Auto were aboard ship without any instructions from Xena on what to do (as far as i recall).

Next time we see her she's captured by Sinteres. How did he catch her? How he know she was with Xena? Was she on the island or ashore?

Seems like she was only captured to advance the otherwise simple plot. This kind of reminds me of when Gabrielle becomes zombie Xena Jr in season 5- where she serves little use other than to be the assistant Xena to move along yet another plot (though more ridiculous plot).

Maybe in honor of seasons 1-4 Gabrielle i should add a greater good score to the eps. Hmm. i ain't done addin the other scores to all the eps i seen yet!

But the more Xena talk here the better!

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"A Fistful of Dinars"

X&G, an assassin & a warlord hunt for Sumerian treasure.

Best: Great self-contained story; More of Xena's past revealed; Gabrielle gets hotter

Worst: nothing

Rating: 10

Redemption score: 2.5 -i think there were undercurrents here with Xena and her former fiance.

X&G yin/yang score: 8 -this seems to be a common score in the 1st season

Greater good: Not doing a score but just a mention. Xena dumped the ambrosia but what about the treasure? Couldn't she and Gabrielle have given it to the disadvantaged? Xena was more broke up about Petracles whom she misjudged & was dead (she didn't revive with ambrosia).