From: davideml@bellsouth.net   
      
   "David E. Milligan"  wrote in message   
   news:sMeDj.5329$9O.940@bignews3.bellsouth.net...   
   > 5-10    Lyre, Lyre, Hearts On Fire   
   >   
   >   
   >   
   > First airing was Jan, 17, 2000.   
   >   
   > I'm not going to try to synopsize the whole episode, but just hit the main   
   scenes.   
   >   
   > Draco and his men dig up the golden Lyre of Terpsichore. But because it's on   
   Amazon lands, a band   
   > of Amazons led by Amoria demand he turn it over to them. Before they start   
   fighting over it,   
   > Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer show up. Xena and everyone but Draco and his men   
   start singing "War,   
   > What Is It Good For?"   
   >   
   >          Then Xena tells them there will be a battle of bands to see who   
   gets the lyre. They go   
   > to the musical capital of Greece - Melodia, to have the contest. Word gets   
   out, the villagers   
   > sing, and everyone wants a chance. Xena has Gabrielle audition the bands and   
   tells Joxer to get   
   > villagers to build a stage.   
   >   
   >          Everyone Gabrielle hears is terrible. They hear something good   
   outside. It is Jace (with   
   > a Spanish accent), Joxer's older brother, and his band of male dancers. They   
   sing and dance to   
   > 'Dancing In The Moonlight.' Gabrielle and Xena dig it but Joxer is   
   embarrassed and leaves.   
   >   
   >          Amoria and Joxer flirt with each other. Gabrielle is a little bit   
   jealous.   
   >   
   >          Cyrene and Xena have a reunion. Cyrene puts out an ad for a father   
   for Xena's baby. Xena   
   > has to deal with potential fathers.   
   >   
   >          Draco is still in love with Gabrielle because of the love spell   
   Baby Bliss put on him   
   > with a love arrow ( Comedy of Eros ) and he still wants Gabrielle to marry   
   him. He fantasizes   
   > about her and sings "There's Always Something There To Remind Me", softly   
   when she's there, and   
   > hard when in reality she isn't. He says if he can't have her, no one can.   
   >   
   >          In the baths, Cyrene insists Xena needs a man, so Xena and the   
   Amazons sing 'Sisters Are   
   > Doing It For Themselves' to prove she doesn't. Cyrene is convinced.   
   >   
   >          Draco is the first act and he has captured Gabrielle and put her in   
   a cage wearing a two   
   > piece fringy bikini. As she tries to escape, it looks like she's dancing.   
   She gets a rock from   
   > someone in the crowd and breaks the lock just as Draco is going to kill her.   
   The next act are the   
   > Amazons. While they sing, Xena fights Draco's men with the golden lyre while   
   Draco chases after   
   > Gabrielle. Soon Draco and Xena are fighting while balancing on people's   
   heads and shoulders.   
   > Draco is defeated.   
   >   
   > Before Jace can go on, the crowd chants Xena's name. He says she won the   
   contest.  She says the   
   > lyre belongs to the town of Melodia. The contest/show closes with everyone   
   singing "People Got To   
   > be Free."   
   >   
   > ............   
   >   
   >          The song list starts out with Edwin Starr's "War, What Is It Good   
   For?"   
   >   
   >          The next one, with the villagers singing, I never heard of.   
   >   
   >          Jace's "Dancing In the Moonlight" was done by King Harvest.   
   >   
   >          Next was 'There's Always Something There To Remind Me", originally   
   done by British   
   > singer Sandy Shaw in 1964.   
      
           I was one year too soon. The song was on the radio in 1965   
      
   >   
   >          Then "Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves", which I never heard   
   until this ep.   
   >   
   >          I didn't recognize Draco's battle-of-the-bands song and don't know   
   the title.   
   >   
   >          And I don't know what song the Amazons were doing since no one was   
   paying any attention   
   > to them due to Xena and Draco's fight.   
   >   
   >          And the finale was "People Got To Be Free" by the Young Rascals   
   (later changed to just   
   > The Rascals).   
   >   
   > ...........   
   >   
   >          This was a very uneven episode for me. Some things I really liked,   
   some things I   
   > tolerated until something else happened. And some things I really disliked.   
   >   
   >                   *I liked   
   >   
   > - Jace's disco version of "Dancing In The Moonlight".   
   >   
   >                   -- Lucy's singing. Always does a good job.   
   >   
   > -- Gabrielle. She had some excellent lines and some of the looks on her face   
   were priceless :   
   >   
   >    ~Draco:  "Aw, how can you say it's a spell, when I would gladly tear out   
   my own spleen and   
   > carve your initials on the side of it, just to prove my undying love for   
   you?"~   
   >   
   >                      ~Gabrielle:  "I'm flattered."~   
   >   
   > --Gabrielle in the go-go outfit. I always said I liked seeing her wearing   
   blue. Well, skimpy   
   > white works, too. And her singing in the finale was pretty good.   
   >   
   > -- Amoria. Good looking and pretty good singer.   
   >   
   > --  Draco's fantasy song with and without Gabrielle.   
   >   
   > --  For being eight months pregnant, Lucy was pretty darned spry!   
   >   
   > *The mediocre stuff --  The villager's song. Draco and Xena's fight on the   
   audience's heads -   
   > been there done that; do something different.   
   >   
   > *Did not like, or was just plain dumb -   
   >   
   > -- The teaser song - "War, What Is It.?"  Every time I see it, I am   
   expecting to dislike the rest   
   > of the episode. Can't say exactly what was bad, just that I thought nothing   
   was very good.   
   >   
   > -- The fire coming out like a flame thrower from Draco's instrument.   
   >   
   > --  The crap Xena & Draco were trying to do while on the audience's heads.   
   >   
   > --  Xena using the golden lyre to fight off Draco's men.   
   >   
   > --  The Amazons in the baths singing while dressed in black bikinis and Xena   
   is in overcoat? -   
   > dumb dumb dumb!   
   >   
   >          At the very end of the credits, there was about a two or three   
   second shot of Lucy   
   > dancing around in Gabrielle's white bikini. Talk about a BIG belly! !! !!!   
   !!!!   
   >   
   > ..........   
   >   
   > The interview clip was with Lucy and Reneé. Lucy said she was eight months   
   pregnant while doing   
   > this ep. She said she and Ted were having trouble learning the "War.?" dance   
   steps.  Both thought   
   > Jay Laga'aia (Draco) did a great job on "There's Always Something.."   
   >   
   > .......   
   >   
   > For a typical Xena episode, this was terrible, a generous six out of ten.   
   But there were some   
   > very good things about it for not being typical. The good things I would   
   rate an easy 9+ out of   
   > 10. Averaged out, it comes to a 7.5. But the  nine plus moves it up to an 8   
   out of 10.   
   >   
   > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   >   
   > 5-10  Lyre, Lyre, Hearts . 8   
   >   
   > 5-09  Seeds Of Faith ..  9   
   >   
   > 5-08  Little Problems .. 6   
   >   
   > 5-07  Back In The Bottle .  6   
   >   
   > 5-06  Purity ......  7.5   
   >   
   > 5-05  Them Bones ....  8.5   
   >   
   > 5-04  Animal Attraction ...  6.5   
   >   
   > 5-03  Succession ....... 7   
   >   
   > 5-02  Chakram ..... 8.5   
   >   
   > 5-01  Fallen Angel ..... 8.5   
   >   
   >        Average ...... 7.6   
   >   
   >   
   >   
   > --   
   > David   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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