From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
   Xena   
   Season One   
      
   I'm not going to go into any real detail about these last four, with one   
   exception. Instead I'm just going to do a quick recap of the other three.   
      
   Episode 21 - The Greater Good   
       X&G go to a village where Lord Seltzer (Salmoneus) is doing business   
   selling "fizzy water." But he sold talcamite swords and belts to the warlord   
   Talmadeus, who is going to attack the village.   
       From about a hundred yards away a mysterious woman using a hand held   
   'crossbow" shoots a 6 inch dart at Xena. It never drops and and never wavers   
   in its course and hits Xena in the neck. It has tolmic poison on it and Xena   
   is being slowly poisoned from the feet up. Gab has to dress like Xena so   
   Talmadeus will think Xena is okay.   
       And here I have to pause to say a dark-haired Gabrielle is especially   
   attractive!!   
       They think Xena is dead, but she comes back to life and saves the day   
   (and Gabrielle and the townsfolk). I rated this one 8 out of ten.   
      
      
   Episode 22 - Callisto   
       Callisto is the mysterious woman from the previous episode. And Joxer is   
   introduced.   
       Callisto claims she was created to be a murderous warrior by Xena when a   
   fire swept through her hometown of Cirra and killed almost everyone there   
   when Evil Xena's soldiers were sacking the town. Callisto (without her army)   
   was captured by Xena, escaped   
   and then recaptured and sent to prison.   
       Now, I am having a problem with the ages of everyone and the timeline.   
       I always thought that Gabrielle was about 17 when she left to go with   
   Xena, but just for the sake of easy math, let's say she was 20.   
       And let's say that Xena was 20 when Cortese attacked Amphipolis and   
   "Xena the warrior" was created.   
       So after everything that happened to her after that - her battle with   
   the Centaurs and giving Solan; having her legs broken by Caesar and then   
   going east and hooking up with Borias; meeting Loa Ma and her return to   
   Greece, let's say that Xena was 30 when she met Gabrielle (plus we avoid the   
   ick factor of Xena being more than 10 years older than Gabrielle when they   
   "hooked up.")   
       Callisto said she was a child when her parents and sister were burned up   
   in the fire. I always thought that meant she was 6 or 7, but let's say she   
   was 10. I always thought of Callisto as being about 25 years old, but if   
   only a few years had passed after Xena returned to start raiding again, she   
   would have to be about 13 when she and Xena met. Of course she would have to   
   have been much older than that, at least 18 to 20, otherwise how could she   
   have the time to hone her warrior skills, and build up an army?   
       So either Xena and Gabrielle are much older than they look, or more time   
   had passed when Xena was away from Greece.   
       AND - just where was Callisto and her army all this time? If they were   
   raiding and killing as Callisto seems to like to do, certainly news of her   
   would have spread just as surely as Xena's name and reputation (and why   
   wouldn't they have met since they were in the same business?)   
       Anyway, Callisto was so much fun, I had rated this one a 9.5.   
      
   Episode 23 - Death Mask   
       This is the episode where we find out Xena has an older brother, Toris,   
   who has been looking for Cortese all these many years while Xena had been   
   out doing her things. All the soldiers under Cortese wear silver-ish masks   
   similar to the Lone Ranger, including Toris.   
       Turns out Cortese is still the warlord, and at the same time, is the   
   king of the small village his men keep attacking.   
       Not a bad episode. I gave it a 7 out of 10.   
      
      
   Episode 24 - Is there A Doctor In The House?   
       Xena and Gabrielle are caught between two warring armies. They end up in   
   the temple of Asclepius, the God of Healing, and it is run by Galen, who   
   only pray to Asclepius instead of trying to heal and cure. Two of his   
   assistants, Hippocrates and Democritus carefully watch Xena's battlefield   
   healing techniques.   
       With X&G is one of the generals they captured - Marmax, and Ephiny, the   
   Amazon who taught Gabrielle how to use a staff. She is pregnant with   
   Phantes' baby; he is a centaur. She gives birth to a boy centaur (are there   
   any female centaurs? I've never seen one on the show).   
       When Gabrielle is told a young boy is outside, she goes out to save him   
   and is almost killed in the process. Gabrielle starts to convulse, then   
   dies. Xena tries breathing into her lungs, then pounds on her chest in   
   desperation. Gabrielle comes back to life.   
        Gabrielle tells Xena she saw her aunt and uncle on the other side.   
       Liked this episode. I gave it a 9.   
      
       All in all, a very good first season. Introduced some interesting   
   characters (Autolycus, Calisto and Joxer). Gave us some powerful stories,   
   and wonderful acting. Showed us how two complete strangers, with two   
   completely different philosophies, can learn to accept   
   each other, become friends, and eventually bond as close as any two people   
   can.   
       A few less-than-great episodes, but they can't all be of the caliber of   
   'Calisto" or 'Hooves and Harlots' or 'The Greater Good.'  But the first   
   season is always the practice one – trying out different things. Seeing what   
   works and what doesn’t.   
      
       This season had 24 episodes, never see that many again! The rest only   
   have 22.   
      
   http://daviderl.com/GabrielleOfPoteidaia.html .   
   http://daviderl31.blogspot.com/   
      
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