From: davideml@bellsouth.net   
      
   4-04 In Sickness And In Hell   
      
      
      
             First air date was Oct 19, 1998.   
      
             The episode starts out with a beautiful sunrise. Suddenly Gabrielle   
   sticks one foot into   
   the sleeping Xena's face. Gabrielle has foot rot! And when Xena shakes out her   
   sleeping furs, nits   
   go flying. Gabrielle looks at  Xena's scalp, and she has lice. But Xena denies   
   she has them.   
      
             They are following Argo's trail. But when they see her, she runs   
   away from them.   
      
             Joxer stumbles up with his hat/helmet turned around backward and he   
   thinks he's blind.   
   Xena straightens it. He says he's on a mission to save a village from   
   marauders and wants Xena and   
   Gabrielle's help. Xena says Argo saw her and will probably meet up with them   
   later.   
      
             Later, Gabrielle is hungry and starts to eat some red berries, but   
   Xena stops her because   
   they will play tricks with her mind. Gabrielle decides to go after a rabbit   
   Xena saw.   
      
             Joxer shows Xena a knife from one of the marauders. Xena says it   
   belongs to Scythians,   
   who are pure evil.   
      
             Cut to the Scythians, and the leader, Acestus, sees Argo and has his   
   men go after her.   
      
             Gabrielle feeds the rabbit the red berries and it changes into a   
   psycho rabbit and   
   attacks her. She fights it as best she can - beating it against a tree,   
   punching it, and biting one   
   of its ears.   
      
             Xena asks Joxer about her hair, and he tells her she has lice, which   
   she again denies.   
      
             Later, they are in a cave and eating Joxer's radish stew and ribbing   
   Gabrielle about the   
   ferocious rabbit.   
      
             Xena realizes that Argo saw her ride off on another horse   
   ("Adventures in the Sin Trade   
   I") and is hurt about it.   
      
             Gabrielle wedges Xena's Chakram into some rocks and uses it to   
   scratch her back. When   
   Xena tries to get it, she won't touch Gabrielle because the fungus is all over   
   her belly and legs.   
      
             Joxer goes off to find Argo. When he comes back without her, Xena is   
   gone but she tied   
   Gabrielle's hands to keep her from scratching her fungus. Joxer won't untie   
   her. Gabrielle vomits   
   up the radish stew on Joxer's feet.   
      
             Acestus' men have captured Argo, but he says if he can't break her,   
   he'll have to kill   
   her.   
      
             Joxer enters the tavern of the town he is protecting. They want to   
   attack him because   
   they think he ran off. But he says he brought help, and the very sickly   
   looking Xena and Gabrielle   
   enter. Xena tells them to collect all their weapons, then she and Gabrielle   
   run for the outhouse.   
      
             Xena and Gabrielle use the town's natural mineral baths to try to   
   get rid of the lice and   
   fungus. Xena says the Scythians are after the Greek fire - heated oil that is   
   bubbling up to the   
   surface.   
      
             Gabrielle is covered in something. She facetiously asks Joxer if it   
   is sheep dung. He   
   says it's goat poo. He gives Xena medicine for her lice. They both realize   
   that Gabrielle now has   
   the lice and Xena has the fungus and they trade places.   
      
             After their baths, Xena tells Gabrielle that the owner of the inn is   
   in with the   
   Scythians, and an assassin probably on his way. Gabrielle drinks linseed root   
   instead of putting it   
   on her skin and it makes her mouth go numb.   
      
             That night an assassin tries to kill Xena, but she puts the pinch on   
   him, then has to go   
   to the outhouse. She tells Gabrielle to interrogate him, but she can only   
   drool into his face. They   
   put him into a cell. He is Euryalus, Acestus' brother, and he says Acestus   
   won't let him rot in   
   jail.   
      
             The Scythians attack the village as a diversion to get Euryalus out   
   of jail. Xena sees   
   Acestus riding Argo. She whistles for her but Argo ignores her and Acestus   
   rides off, saying they   
   will be back for the Greek fire.   
      
             Xena tells Joxer he is going to be the secret weapon. He is going to   
   neutralize the army   
   while she gets Argo back.   
      
             Next they are in the bushes outside the Scythian army camp. Xena has   
   captured their cook   
   and Joxer is going to be the substitute. He walks into camp with a bucket of   
   radish stew.   
      
             Xena sneaks into the tent where Argo is but she won't go with her.   
   Xena's hands slip on   
   the reins and she falls down in front of several soldiers. She fights, then   
   gets away. When Acestus   
   sees Xena he knows the village is unprotected, but all his men have food   
   poisoning.   
      
             Out in a field Acestus is riding Argo going after Xena. She stands   
   her ground to let Argo   
   run over her. But at the last moment, Argo stops short and Acestus flies over   
   her head to the   
   ground.   
      
             Xena promises Argo she'll never leave her alone for so long again.   
   Argo indicates that   
   Acestus won her over with apples.   
      
             The villagers thank Joxer for saving them and hand him a pouch with   
   500 dinars in it, but   
   when he sees Xena and Gabrielle  watching him, he returns it.   
      
             Suddenly, Joxer gets a stomach ache and runs off. Xena is telling   
   Gabrielle about them   
   being there for each other but Gabrielle has dozed off leaning against a post.   
      
   ..........   
      
             So, where do I begin?  I guess they wanted a comedy episode after   
   the drama of the first   
   three episodes of the season. And that's what they gave us. Lots of goofy   
   stuff, and some good   
   laughs at everyone's expense. Maybe it was a bit juvenile for some tastes, but   
   I liked it.   
      
             With a story like this, there are no 'nit picks' because everything   
   is played for laughs.   
      
             Some of the highlights ---   
      
             Gabrielle fighting the psycho rabbit - running into the tree several   
   times, punching it   
   and wrestling around on the ground.   
      
             Gabrielle drooling into the assassin's face.   
      
             Joxer thinking he was blind and then a miracle happened.   
      
             Xena flipping the crying nits from her hair.   
      
             Gabrielle picking off pieces of her skin and flicking them away.   
      
             Despite the comedy, the fight scenes were actually pretty good. Even   
   Joxer's bumbling   
   took down a few of the bad guys.   
      
             It was obvious it was winter because more than once I could see the   
   steam from their   
   mouths as they were talking (and from Argo snorting).   
      
             I know it wasn't supposed to be so, but I thought all that writhing   
   around and moaning   
   Gabrielle was doing trying to scratch her back was kind of erotic!   
      
             I guess that by the next episode, both women were cures of their   
   afflictions.   
      
   And I guess they decided to put off the explanation of where Gabrielle was   
   after "Sacrifice II" for   
   another episode.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)