From: ted@loft.tnolan.com   
      
   In article , David  wrote:   
   >    Sins of the Past   
   >   
   >    The first thing I noticed was that for a warrior Xena's voice was rather   
   >mellow (in later eps it gets harsher, from all that yelling Lucy was doing,   
   >I suppose). And I thought the braid in her hair didn't look very warror-ish.   
   >   
   >    I would have thought that if she wanted to get rid of her armor and   
   >weapons, throwing them into a river or over a cliff would have been a better   
   >way, but maybe burying them was a spur-of-the-moment decision.   
   >   
   >    I didn't understand why Hector and his men had the girls and some of the   
   >villagers captured, and then stopped in the woods to give the men a choice   
   >to let him have the girls or kill them then take them. Wouldn't they have   
   >done all that in Poteidaia when they first captured the girls? If I was   
   >taking women to be sold as slaves, I would have them tied together so none   
   >of them could run off.   
   >   
   >    We got our first look at Gabrielle when she offered to let Hector take   
   >her and let the others go, giving us the first clue about her basic   
   >character.   
   >   
   >    And when Xena was fighting Hector and his men, I noticed that she didn't   
   >kill any of them, perhaps part of her 'turning-over-a-new-leaf' philosophy.   
   >   
   >    There was something familiar about Draco when Xena went to see him.   
   >Later on in the show I realized what it was - he reminded me of Ares (one of   
   >those things I couldn't block out). Not only did he kind of look like Ares,   
   >but even though he was evil, there was just enough wit about him that he   
   >actually was kind of likeable.   
   >   
   >    I couldn't help but notice that when Gabrielle and Lila were talking   
   >(when Gab was trying to sneak out) that I thought that Lila was actually   
   >prettier than Gabrielle, and if the roles had been reversed, I would have   
   >had no problem with Willa O'Neill being Gabrielle. But I guess 'they' wanted   
   >the strawberry blond Gabrielle to contrast with the dark-haired Xena.   
   >   
   >    As I watched I noticed there were the serious scenes alternating with   
   >the humorous ones. For example when Xena encounters the blind Cyclops. Then   
   >we go to Draco planning on burning the fields of Amphipolis. Then we go back   
   >to the Cyclops and Gabrielle ("I hate chatty food.") And so forth.   
   >   
   >    And for the first time we see Xena using 'The Pinch' (which I always   
   >thought was a poor name for it, even though it won't be until a later ep   
   >when we find out what Xena calls it. I suppose it's short for 'Nerve   
   >Pinch'). And it still bothers me that she told Hector he had 20 seconds   
   >before he dies. Hours and minutes and seconds were never used until clocks   
   >were invented a thousand or more years later. Saying "You have twenty   
   >heartbeats (or candle flickers)..." would have sounded better to me.   
   >   
   >    But it wasn't until I saw Gabrielle lying on the road to Amphipolis that   
   >I realized that Gabrielle was going to be the comic relief to Xena's   
   >seriousness.   
   >   
   >    And when Xena confronts Cyrene, we get bits and pieces of why Xena is so   
   >hated by the townspeople and her own mother. And just when things start to   
   >get ugly between them and Xena,  Gabrielle shows up, and again, uses   
   >(unintentional) humor to defuse the situation. She said something about   
   >seeing Xena doing heroic things. I don't remember anything like that so I   
   >guess she was just to try to convince everyone that Xena was good now.   
   >   
   >    For a construction scaffold, it sure was flimsy, falling apart so   
   >easily. And I think the one part that probably bothered me the most was Xena   
   >and Draco fighting while walking on everyone heads and shoulders. It still   
   >looks farfetched and hard to swallow.   
   >   
   >    But it was a nice scene when Cyrene forgives Xena.   
   >   
   >    Xena said she couldn't stay long, so we don't know how much time had   
   >passed when we see her sitting at the campfire, but obviously she on the   
   >move again.   
   >   
   >    And she decided to let Gabrielle travel with her,  for several reasons I   
   >think.  Probably by now Gabrielle had grown on her. Plus she may have seen   
   >something of a much younger self in Gabrielle. She probably  knew there was   
   >no way she could have kept Gabrielle from following her. AND, I have no   
   >doubt, Xena felt that Gabrielle is someone who knows only the 'new and   
   >improved' Xena, which is important to her and to her mission of righting the   
   >wrongs she's committed in the past.   
   >   
   >    All in all, I would have to say it was a very good start for a new   
   >series. It introduced the main characters in a way that by the end of the   
   >show we pretty much knew who they were, why they were doing what they were,   
   >and that we knew we wanted to see more of them.   
   >   
   >    On a scale of 1 - 10, I give it a 7.   
   >   
   >   
   >David   
   >   
      
   I remember I saw this when it premiered on, um, WGN.  I was staying up   
   when I really should have been in bed to catch a plane early in the morning.   
   Had no idea what was about to come on, but my reaction was "Holy moley,   
   this is great!"   
   --   
   ------   
   columbiaclosings.com   
   What's not in Columbia anymore..   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)