From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
   1-24   Is There A Doctor In the House?   
      
   First air date – July 29, 1996   
      
       The episode starts out with some spooky half speed scenes. Soldiers are   
   running through the woods, then Xena and Gabrielle step out from behind a   
   tree. Xena says there is a civil war between brothers going on and they have   
   to go through the middle of it to get to Athens.   
       They find a very pregnant, and wounded Ephiny. She says Phantes, the   
   baby's father, was killed trying to find a safe passage for them. They, too,   
   were going to Athens.   
       Gabrielle is shocked at the war and says someone should stop it, then   
   realizes Xena has taken it as a challenge.   
       Xena sees some Mitoan soldiers talking about killing Thessalians. One   
   comes up and is chased by Marmax, a Mitoan general. Xena uses her Chakram to   
   knock Marmax out, then wounds him in the shoulder.   
       Xena, Gabrielle, Ephiny and Marmax go into a Thessalian healing temple   
   run by the head priest/healer named Galen.   
       Galen is praying to the Aesclepius, the God of Healing, to save a   
   soldier, but Xena interferes.   
       One of the soldiers has a neck wound and Xena puts a hollow reed into   
   his trachea to let him breath. And Gabrielle gets cobwebs to stop the   
   bleeding.   
       Watching them are two assistants, Hippocrates and Democritus.   
       Xena goes from soldier to solder. Gabrielle is doing what Xena tells her   
   needs to be done.   
       Xena tells her to change Marmax's bandages. She also tells him a story,   
   and sews up his wound!   
       Xena and Marmax discuss the war and Xena tells how it's affecting   
   everyone, including the innocent women and children, who are dying.   
       One soldier has gangrene in his lower leg and Xena says it has to be   
   amputated. She puts the pinch on him to numb his body, then take a sword and   
   with one mighty chop – off it comes. She tells Marmax (I think) to cauterize   
   it.   
       A man tells Gabrielle his son is still outside and has to be saved, so   
   Gabrielle goes out to find him.   
       Ephiny is going into labor and she and Marmax talk about the reason she   
   and Phantes were going to Athens – they are more tolerant.   
       Gabrielle is brought in on a stretcher. She was badly wounded by a   
   soldier.   
       Xena tends to her, sewing up a chest, or shoulder wound.   
       Gabrielle wants to give her right of caste to Ephiny, but she refuses to   
   take it.   
       The temple is in the crossfire of the two armies, and catapults are   
   destroying the temple. Everyone leaves except the badly wounded, Ephiny,   
   Xena and Gabrielle, Hippocrates, Democritus,  Galen, and Marmax and his men.   
       Democritus is shot with an arrow. Xena saves him.   
       Ephiny's baby is breech, so Xena hypnotizes her so she won't feel any   
   pain, does a C-section and the baby centaur is born. It is a boy.   
       When the Mitoans enter the temple, Marmax tells them the war is over and   
   he is ready to negotiate with the Thessalians.   
       Gabrielle starts to convulse, then dies. Xena tries breathing into her   
   lungs, then pounds on her chest in desperation. Gabrielle comes back (from   
   the Elysian Fields?).   
       Hippocrates tells Xena he is going to start new procedures for healing,   
   yadda yadda yadda.   
       As they leave, Gabrielle says she saw her aunt and uncle on the other   
   side and starts telling Xena about it.   
   ………………….   
      
   Okay – ANOTHER great episode!!   
   Lots of drama, more blood than usual, and we see even more just how much   
   Xena and Gabrielle have bonded. And just how much Xena loves her.   
   And Xena proves just how much she has learned about healing on the field of   
   battle.   
   A list of Xena's healing skills – doing a tracheotomy, identifying gangrene   
   and amputating the leg, inventing CPR, knowing what to do about concussions,   
   knowing to use cobwebs to stop bleeding, stitching up wounds, setting broken   
   bones, re-inflating lungs, and using hypnosis to help do a C-section.   
   (Thanks to Whoosh for grouping them together for me.)   
   And there was the drama of Xena losing the occasional soldier, and admitting   
   there were things even she couldn't do.   
   While watching Xena trying to bring Gabrielle back to life, even though I   
   knew Gabrielle wasn't going to die, I was still caught up in the drama. I   
   could feel what Xena was feeling, and it wasn't pleasant!   
   Both Lucy and Renee showed their best in that scene – Xena feeling   
   desperate, and helpless, not knowing how to save her. And Gabrielle looking   
   so dead!   
   You could see relief, and love, Xena had for Gabrielle when she woke up. I   
   wonder how long it took for Xena to stop holding Gabrielle.   
   (When I saw this for the first time ten years ago, knowing it was the season   
   finale, I actually thought Gabrielle WAS going to die and she wouldn't be   
   back next season. I HATED thinking that!)   
   I liked Gabrielle saying she's got to learn to keep her mouth shut. Not much   
   humor in this one.   
      
   Even as much as I like this episode, I found a few things to nit pick   
   about ---   
   When the man told Gabrielle his son was outside, she was going after him, as   
   she was leaving, she told Democritis the boy was wounded. The man never said   
   that.   
   Xena said it was a civil war, but it was between two cities – Mitoa and   
   Thessaly.   
   As they were leaving the temple, Xena tells a limping Gabrielle she needs to   
   rest up for a while. So why were they walking away? Where was Argo? At least   
   Gabrielle could ride!   
   Okay, I know everyone wondered about it, so I will just come right out and   
   say it.  Ephiny and Phantes are married. The wedding night. Hung like a   
   horse. Amazons must have a HIGH tolerance for pain!   
   And why did Xena tell Ephiny she had a son? I've never seen any female   
   Centaurs in any of the eps, so of course it would be a boy.   
      
   As I said, a great episode. I give it a 9 out of 10.   
      
       All in all, a very good first season. Introduced some interesting   
   characters (Callisto 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   
   'Callisto" 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.   
      
       Looking forward to Season Two!   
   --   
      
   http://daviderl.com/LucyLawless.html .   
   http://daviderl31.blogspot.com/   
      
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