From: daviderl31@yahoo.com   
      
       4-05 A Good Day   
      
       First air date Oct, 26, 1996.   
      
       The story starts out with Roman soldiers loyal to Caesar in a village   
   looking for supplies. A woman tells him Pompey's men have already gone   
   through the village and taken everything. He accuses the villagers of   
   dealing with the enemy (Caesar) and readies his men to kill them with   
   javelins.   
      
   A Greek mercenary wearing Roman armor rides up and tells them to stand down.   
   He tells the soldiers he is Phlanagus and they are under his protection, but   
   the soldier says he has to teach them a lesson. Suddenly Xena's Chakram   
   flies by, cutting off the spear heads. Xena flips in and she and Flanigus   
   fight off the soldiers, who finally fall back.   
      
       After the fight Phlanagus is reunited with his wife and son.   
      
       Xena tells him  that she understands that Caesar and Pompey have brought   
   their civil war to Greece, and she's there to make sure it happens.   
      
       Gabrielle tells Xena the land is crisscrossed with caverns and the   
   miners will make a map of them for Xena.   
      
       Gabrielle tells a rider to get as many men from other villages as he   
   can. A teenager with a bow and arrow named Temecula wants to volunteer. He   
   demonstrates his skill with the bow and she says he can send messages.   
      
       Cut to Brutus and Caesar talking strategy. Brutus asks Caesar about a   
   wooded hill but is told it's worthless.   
      
       Xena is brought leather uniforms that look similar to Romans and she   
   says from a distance no one will think otherwise.   
      
       Xena tells the villagers they have to burn the town, kill the cattle and   
   poison the meat so the land will be worthless to the Romans. And they can   
   rebuild later. Phlanagus' wife takes a torch and is the first one to set her   
   house on fire.   
      
       On the hill a two-sided banner is stuck in the ground. One side has   
   Caesar's flag, the other has Pompey's.   
      
       A soldier tells Pompey that Caesar has the hill. Pompey knows there must   
   be a reason, and sends his men guarding the catapults to take it away from   
   Caesar.   
      
       Both Caesar's and Pompey's men fight. Caesar sees the two-sided banner   
   and suspects Xena is there.   
      
       The villagers capture and hide the catapults. A soldier describes Xena   
   to Pompey and he realizes she is the one who took them.   
      
       Xena makes sure the catapults will strike at an exact spot.   
      
       Temecula asks Gabrielle about war, and wonders what it's like to kill   
   someone. Gabrielle tells him everything changes.   
      
       Cut to Caesar and Brutus, who tells him that Pompey may be making an   
   offer to Xena for an alliance.   
      
       Phlanagus pretends to have a hooded prisoner to take to Caesar. It is   
   Xena. She gets behind Caesar's tent, and cuts a small hole to listen to his   
   plans. But before she can hear all of them, Phlanagus is recognized as a   
   deserter and is captured and taken to Caesar. Caesar says to execute him.   
   Xena has to save him and misses out on the final part of the plans.   
      
       Back in the village, Xena takes Gabrielle to look out over the land   
   where the Romans are camped. She says she won't be there when things start   
   happening and wants Gabrielle to take charge. Gabrielle says she can't lead   
   men to their deaths. Xena says she will tell Phlanagus.   
      
       Xena and Pompey meet in the woods. He mentions how Xena tricked Caesar   
   about Vercinix. Just then Caesar shows up with some men and threatens them.   
   Xena says she wanted Caesar to come, then yells out, and the catapults   
   launch fiery loads at them. Caesar and Pompey swordfight while Xena fights   
   the other men. The ground gives way and the three of them fall down into a   
   cavern.   
      
       Back in the village, Temecula runs in and tells Gabrielle that the   
   Romans are retreating. But Gabrielle knows it's a trap and runs to tell   
   Phlanagus. He says Xena told them to trust her, and puts Gabrielle in   
   charge.   
      
       Caesar, Pompey, and Xena continue to fight each other in the cavern.   
      
       Gabrielle leads the villagers into battle wearing leather armor and a   
   helmet using her staff to fight with. The Romans seem to be falling back and   
   the villagers go after them.   
      
       Xena tells Caesar she knows about his reserve troops, but he asks if she   
   knows about the trap he set for the villagers. Xena leaves with Caesar and   
   Pompey still fighting each other.   
      
       There is fighting everywhere. Gabrielle looks at it in disbelief. She   
   sees a Roman soldier about to kill Phlanagus and picks up a javelin to kill   
   the soldier, but when she throws it, she is wide of the mark and Phlanagus   
   is killed. Then Temecula kills the soldier with an arrow.   
      
   In the cavern, Caesar and Pompey realize all is quiet and the battle is   
   over. When they survey the field they are shocked at the deaths. Caesar   
   tells him they were played and they lost. But it doesn’t change his destiny.   
      
       Xena finds Gabrielle holding the dead Phlanagus and consoles her as she   
   cries.   
      
       Cut to funeral pyres for the dead villagers as Xena sings a funeral   
   dirge.   
      
       Gabrielle confesses that she could have saved Phlanagus, but doesn't   
   know how to get over not doing it.   
      
       Xena tries to justify her actions but ends up just telling her to   
   convince herself it was a good day of fighting. And it all had to be for a   
   reason, otherwise what is the point of everything?   
      
       Gabrielle tells Xena she should go talk to Temecula and tell him the   
   same thing.   
      
   ………………..   
      
       Another dramatic episode.   
      
   But first, the bad stuff –   
      
       When I first saw the episode back in Oct 1996, I disliked it as much as   
   any episode I'd seen up to then. I didn't have any exact reason why, but it   
   just left a bad taste in my mouth. And when I saw the rerun I'm sure I must   
   have felt the same way because my feelings for it were always the same. Then   
   when I got the DVD set and watched it again, I still didn't like it. When I   
   posted my feelings to this newsgroup, I found out that a lot of people   
   thought it was one of the best.   
      
   Anyway, after watching it for at least a fourth time, I discovered I don't   
   dislike it as much as I first did, but there are still things I don't like.   
   Like seeing Gabrielle wearing the helmet. And that final speech by Xena   
   seemed such a copout (people still say 'cop out' don't they?).   
      
   Here it is in its entirety –   
      
   Gabrielle asks xENA how she can get over not saving Phlanagus when she could   
   have.   
      
   "I can't answer that question-- maybe `cause there's nothing I can say that   
   can take away that feeling you have.  You wanna know that what you did was   
   for all the right reasons-- but with that pain in your gut and the weight on   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)