i guess i'll add a greater good comment to upcoming eps and go back yet again & add it to eps i have already seen.

Guess it'll just make the one-sided discussion better or whatever.

i saw "The Prodigal" tonite but more on that later.

i wanna see the new Mad Max movie. i hear there's a hot female warrior in it. Who says we can't have a Xena that's not Lucy lawless- nonsense!

"The Prodigal"

Gabrielle leaves Xena, returns home where the people have hired Meleager the Mighty to battle a warlord.

Best: Gabrielle shows off what she's learned from Xena; always nice to see Lila; great job by Tim Thomerson as Meleager

Worst: Gabrielle shows off what she's learned from Xena (this works both ways for & against this ep)


Redemption score: 0 -nothing here

X&G yin/Yang score: 4 -they were apart & the shape of things to com hovered over the ep

Greater good comment- Gabrielle helped her home town but maybe should have stayed longer. Her folks were never shown nor mentioned. Gabrielle & Lila helped Meleager sober up- at least for awhile.

Rating: 7.5

Yeah i need to add more scores/comments to eps i have seen so far.

Plus maybe add comments to the Prodigal.

Haven't wrote this much on Xena in ages.

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"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)

Redemption score: 1 -for Xena's at first unwillingness to help royalty over those in need

X&G yin/Yang score: 8 -nothing new here

Greater good comment- Xena helped royalty because it would help end slavery; Diana saw poor people in her land & was adamant abouting making changes

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"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.

Greater good comments:

"Sins of the Past" -Xena battles old ally Draco for the sake of her own village; Gabrielle stands & takes punishment against Xena

"Chariots of War" -Xena contains her warrior self around peaceful farmers; Gabrielle convinces warlord son to be his own self, defying his father; Xena's comment about settling down someday goes against greater good

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"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.

Greater good comment: Xena and Gabrielle saved the village from future sacrifices; they helped Elkton get both his eyesight & respect of the village back; they did all this without Gabrielle having to spill blood - a very good ep greater good-wise!

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"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.

Greater good comment: X&G ended saving the baby, saving the king (and getting him to change his mournful ways) and getting Pandora a home (and maybe the king a wife). Did the greater good lose out when Gabrielle opened Pandora's box by accident? Hard to say but maybe it could account for Gabrielle's bad luck down the road (ie the pregnancy, Hope, the rift, becoming a zombie Xena Jr, etc).

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"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).

Greater good comment: Xena tries to redeem Marcus which happens too late; Xena save the princess; Gabrielle helping the prince just seemed to be a time filler & really doesn't accomplish anything as too much emphasis on Xena-Marcus lovey dovey nonsense.

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"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.

Greater good comment: Xena made deal with Ares that brought back the dead villagers he killed which ultimately saved Xena herself.

"Altared States"

X&G help a boy escape religious zealots & being sacrificed.

Best: X&G nekked in the lake; Gabrielle stoned on the hen-bane nut-bread; the discussion on faith

Worst: Xena a bit silly at the end, kind of out of character

Redemption score: 1 -maybe some undercurrent, too bad they didn't bring it up with the talk on faith

X&G yin/Yang score: 8 -back to normal score

Greater good comment- Xena saved the boy Icus plus got the father to see the error of his ways and exposed the zealot brother at being the cause of the trouble; guess it was God who intervened at the ending to stop the sacrifice; to the other extrene, Gabrielle was little more than comic relief

Rating: 7.5

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"The Titans"

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

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

Greater good comment: Gabrielle tried to get good done with the titans but it backfired. It probably ended up with more harm done than good;
But in the end Xena got the titans back where they belonged & saved the village that otherwise wouldn't have had any trouble had Gabrielle not awaken the titans to begin with soooooo...not much in the way of greater good done.

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"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

Greater good comment: Xena helps Marcus get back Hades' helmet so that people in Elysian Fields & Tartarus are in the correct place, plus saving people from killer who stole Helmet, plus getting Marcus a place in Elysian Fields. Gabrielle, unfortunately, doesn't have much of a role but at least she isn't killing people...yet.

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
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.

Greater good comment: well Xena & Herc rescues Prometheus and made the world have the healing ability again. i think it'd been better without Herc & Iolus & the lovey-dovey stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"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.

Greater good comment: Xena freed Death (another take on the Prometheus story) while she & Gabrielle helped people who were suffering. i can't always agree with what was done in this ep.

i still have recent seen eps i wanna comment on but i guess i'll wait til all the greater good comments have been added.

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"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.

Greater good comment: Xena prevents a war between the Amazons & centaurs; she saves a centaur from being killed for a crime he didn't commit; Gabrielle tries to save an Amazon & doesn't kill the falsely accused centaur. Overall a good ep for the greater good.

"Ties That Bind"

Ares disguises himself as Atrius, Xena's father, in an attempt to get her to lead an army.

Best: Hardened Xena gets soft about family; Gabrielle recognizes she has a separate path from Xena (too bad this doesn't last)

Worst: Ares same 'ol song & dance about getting Xena back should end here but only repeats endlessly from here on in; We are still left with too many lingering questions about Atrius and his immediate past and his relationship with Ares (more on this in another post)

Redemption score: 5 - Xena mentioned her past & she almost reverted to her evil side

X&G yin/Yang score: 9 - High here as we see Gabrielle stick to her principals & though Xena wavers as family matters arise- or so it seems

Greater good comment- X&G save slave girls; Xena defeats warlord; but mostly Gabrielle stands up to Xena as she's on the verge of reverting to her evil side- plus Gabrielle helps reunite slave girl with her sister

Rating: 9

Ties That Bind comments:

Never was sure about Atrius. Was he still alive & did Ares copy him?

Did Atrius Xena's dad really attack the village or was that Ares in disguise? That would mean Ares had planned this caper for a long time...so i kinda doubt that.

Now we know later in The Furies that Cyrene admits to killing Xena's dad long ago. So i guess Atrius never lived to look like he did in Ties That Bind with silver hair. So who is the Atrius that attacked the village & got into a dispute over a horse?

Could Ares be Xena's dad? Lotta ppl here didn't like that only because they wanted a Xena-Ares romance. i hate romance on this show! i think Ares might be Xena's dad. That would explain her many skills- those rivaling Hercules.

Ares is a prize habitual liar so he might very well be Xena's dad.

more later

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"The Black Wolf"

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

Greater good comment: Xena gets herself tossed in jail to help out an old friend & those that follow the Black Wolf; Gabrielle gets herself tossed in same jail to help Xena & bring her the chakram

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"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.

Greater good comment: Xena helps Cleopatra is good but dragging Gabrielle into a war is not for the greater good. It reunites her with Perdicus and sets in motion his fate by Callisto as well as Gabrielle's ties to Callisto. But of course who knew at the time?

Methinks the greater good would have been served had Xena gone to Troy alone.

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"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.

Greater good comment: Not much greater good here. Just Gabrielle helping other bards. Really not much to like in this ep.

quote:

Originally posted by xenacrazed:
"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

Greater good comment: Xena got back the chest/ Ten Commandments to her friends outta the hands of the warlords; Auto gave back his fee for stealing the chest back to the same people.

"The Greater Good"

Xena gets hit poison dart so Gabrielle has to pose as her against warlord.

Best: Gabrielle hot in leather, even hotter when wet; more emphasis on Argo: Xena uses her wits & focus when outta action

Worst: Gabrielle is no warrior & i don't like seeing her think she is one; Gabrielle mentioned looking for Iolus which she didn't do but should have.

Redemption score: 3 -Xena mentions this in her greater good speech

X&G yin/Yang score: 6 -As mentioned above, Gabrielle is no warrior, plus Xena was outta commission for a spell

Greater good comment: X&G help Salmoneous and the villagers against a warlord; Xena's idea of Gabrielle dressing as her to fool the warlord worked at first but was pointless & only stirred up trouble when she tried it later; Salmoneous might have had the right idea at heart when making a deal with the warlord but it only showed his naivety when he thought the warlord would carry out the deal.

Rating: 8

i'm not sure the Greater Good ep was for the greater good for Gabrielle. i don't like seeing Gabrielle becoming a fighter as she does as the series goes along.

Xena doesn't get strong enough or focus enough on Gabrielle's innocence when pursuing her redemption. Gabrielle is essentially Xena's stepping stone to redemption.