From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
   3-15 King Con   
      
       First air date Feb 23, 1998.   
      
       The episode starts out in a gaming room. Joxer is playing the dice table   
   and has won big – 100 dinars, but leaves with his winnings to meet some   
   friends. The owner, Titus, tells his son, Leo, and two more to go after him.   
      
   Joxer is passing an alley and hears two men arguing. It seems that they have   
   found a gold nugget but don't have the money to buy the other's share. They   
   trick Joxer out of his winnings and give him the fake gold. One of them   
   manages to lift his sword without Joxer knowing it.   
      
       Xena and Gabrielle are supposed to meet Joxer. Gabrielle is riding for a   
   change due to another sprained ankle. Gabrielle tells Xena she knows her   
   almost as well as she knows Joxer. And she can tell what Xena is thinking   
   and proves it to her. Xena hears the sound of fighting. The three men have   
   caught up to Joxer and two are holding him while Leo beats him up. His faces   
   is badly beaten and bloody. Xena uses her whip to keep Leo from killing   
   Joxer with a sword. They recognize her and run off. Gabrielle is afraid   
   Joxer is dead. Xena tells her they can treat him but have to get him to   
   someplace safe.   
      
       Inside a tavern the two men who conned Joxer, Rafe and Eldon are making   
   bets and Rafe continues to win. Xena sees them with Joxer's sword. They say   
   they tricked him but didn't beat him up, that it sounded like Leo. Xena   
   tells them they are going to help her get revenge. They want to discuss it,   
   and Eldon makes a 30 dinar bet with Rafe that he can't get Xena to kiss him   
   (Rafe).   
      
   ``They agree to join Xena.   
      
       Titus is giving  Leo hell for not getting his money back. And since he   
   left Joxer alive, he has to finish the job.   
      
       Gabrielle is tending to the unconscious Joxer, telling him he is like   
   family. Rafe and Eldon try to change their minds but Gabrielle reminds them   
   they took Joxer's sword and left him defenseless. Xena says she is going to   
   take Titus for everything and will give them half. The re-agree to help.   
      
       When Rafe tries to tell Xena about what a friend she is to help Joxer,   
   Xena guesses he made the bet with Eldon and he is just giving her a line of   
   bull.   
      
       Xena, Rafe, Eldon and Gabrielle are in the gaming room. Rafe is   
   signaling Xena about which numbers to call when rolling the dice. She wins   
   every time. Titus comes out to see if she is cheating.   
      
       Eldon pretends to be drunk while near the door to Titus' office and   
   drops coins. While the guards help him pick them up, Gabrielle goes inside.   
      
       Titus hears a crash in his office and finds Gabrielle hiding behind a   
   curtain. When he has a knife to her neck Xena comes in and says Gabrielle is   
   taking measurements for her new office. She says she is going to take him   
   for everything he has, piece by piece, and they leave.   
      
       Gabrielle and Xena talk about Rafe. Gabrielle says he is the typical bad   
   boy -- just her (Xena's) type.   
      
       Joxer wakes up and tries to go after the men who beat him up, but   
   Gabrielle makes him stay put, telling him Xena will take care of them.   
      
       Leo finally tells Titus it was Xena who took Joxer away from them. Titus   
   tells him to find Joxer.   
      
       Eldon tells Gabrielle that Rafe doubled the bet they had about Xena.   
      
       Xena, Gabrielle and Rafe are in disguise. They make Leo think Rafe has   
   been stabbed and needs a doctor. Xena gets Leo to bring out a pouch with   
   Titus' ruby in it to in put money for the doctor. She puts it down her   
   cleavage to show Leo how to hide it, then bring out a bogus one and he runs   
   off with the fake.   
      
       They go back to the temple where Joxer is, but he has gone.   
      
       Eldon tells Rafe that if Titus has Joxer then he knows about the con and   
   they should get out. Rafe says they are going to continue. And the bet is   
   still on.   
      
   Xena and Gabrielle check the woods for Joxer. They find him with Leo and   
   friends and he is tied up. This time they try to fight Xena but she knocks   
   them out.   
      
       Xena tells Gabrielle she knows about the bet between Eldon and Rafe.   
   Xena takes Leo hostage.   
      
       Xena is letting Rafe massage her shoulders. They almost kiss but a   
   barmaid interrupts.   
      
       Eldon has gone to Titus and tells him about the con.   
      
       Xena with Gabrielle and Rafe bring Leo in and threaten to kill him if   
   Titus doesn't play her in a winner-take-all game of cards. Titus calls her   
   bluff. Eldon comes out and an angry Rafe attacks him, but Eldon stabs him.   
   As Rafe is dying, he kisses Xena.   
      
       With Rafe gone, Titus agrees to play cards with Xena. They play five   
   card draw. Titus has a full boat – Warlords over Heroes but Xena has four   
   aces. Being a bad sport, Titus turns over the table and puts a knife to   
   Gabrielle's throat.   
      
       A not-dead Rafe comes up behind him and saves Gabrielle.   
      
           Everyone fights.   
      
       Afterward, back in the temple, they explain the con to Joxer that Eldon   
   only pretended to betray them.   
      
       Everyone leaves the temple but Rafe and Eldon. Eldon tells Rafe won the   
   bet, but Rafe says no. He kissed Xena but the bet was for her to kiss him.   
   Eldon won't take the money, thinking Rafe has some kind of angle. Rafe puts   
   the money in a plate on the altar.   
      
       Xena comes back in and she and Rafe say their goodbyes.   
      
   …………….   
      
       This was an okay episode. Certainly not one of the greats. More like a   
   filler episode until the next great dramatic or humorous one. And one to   
   give Ted (Joxer) a paycheck.   
      
   I thought the fight scenes were kind of choppy, like the editor was having a   
   bad day. On the DVD there was an interview with the lighting director (I   
   think) and he said this episode was directed by a woman and they tend to put   
   more emphasis on the story and not so much on the action.   
      
   Renee really did have a sprained ankle. It happened during "One Against an   
   Army" when one of the stunt guys accidentally landed on her good ankle (not   
   the one that was supposed to be sprained in that episode.) So maybe   
   "Forgiven" was shot earlier than "Army" and was shown out of  order to give   
   Renee a chance to heal up some?   
      
   Really not much to say about this one. I didn't see too many bloopers or   
   mistakes. But I was sort of fantasizing about something.   
      
   Since Rafe was supposed to be the BEST, I would have liked to have seen him   
   and Autolycus trying to outdo each other concerning some kind of con or   
   thievery, and not so much for Xena's affections, but for her support. Might   
   have been interesting.   
      
   Gabrielle still swings a mean staff even with a sprained ankle.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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