Having grown tired of/frustrated with current TV shows' agendas/mandates, it's nice to return to a simpler time (when shows could just be *shows*) thanks to X: WP repeats airing on TV here. I haven't seen these early episodes since the days of buying them on VHS (I missed out on getting the first two seasons on DVD, so these repeats are the only way I can see them). And I'm SO glad I finally got to relive the episode that introduces one of my Top 5 TV characters EVER (no, not Joxer). Things open in pretty dramatic fashion with a village burning and people being slaughtered by a flash of black leather & blonde hair that even a child doesn't escape the wrath of (though whether he actually DIES is unclear, since he seemed to be *dead* dead, but then opened his eyes which indicated he was only *mostly* dead. However, later Melas talks about losing a son...were they the same kid?).
ANYway, what matters the most in the opening scene is how the incomparable Hudson Leick commands the screen from the very moment we first get a good look at her. The way she addresses an old woman as "You old crone" (before telling her to pass on the message that Xena is the one they have to thank for all this destruction) amused me. This is a classic frame job and character assassination of Xena's reputation she's trying so hard to redeem. Consequently, when she introduces herself to Melas, he wants her blood as payback...and he sure doesn't give up easily, even when Xena bests him without breaking a sweat on more than one occasion. His main purpose it to be the catalyst to Gabrielle's 'break the cycle of hate/vengeance' big speech later on.
The introduction of Callisto is memorable for a number of reasons, but mostly for bringing Hudson Leick to my attention when I originally watched it on TV. Many have played psychos, but none of them quite like 'Psycho Barbie' (as I once saw her described). Leick, as with Heath Ledger in TDK, gives us an R-rated performance in what's otherwise PG-rated. Seriously, you wonder how they got away with such a dark character in a series that also includes such goofiness/silliness. What Leick does is more than play a psycho mirror version of Xena. She adds many layers/creates complexity within this self-described 'monster with integrity'. She's as beautiful as she is evil, trains with her men like Xena did in her debut episode of H: TLJ, (but on ladders!), her primal scream is a twisted alternate take on Xena's war cry, she hisses like a feral cat on multiple occasions, leaves Xena to die in a burning jail cell (after she tries to free Callisto), and can even catch Xena's 'round-killing-thing' (thanks, Diana, for that classic name for the chakram!).
What sets Callisto apart from other villains is that she's no liar, as evidenced by her brutal honesty with Xena when she asks what Callisto (who she captured after a horse chase across a beach) would do if set free. She tells her outright that she'd kill everyone she cares for...including Argo (which Argo understandably objects to hearing, and this is after having had Callisto attempt to escape by kicking the ribs of him/her). This is but one of many Callisto 'quirks' that makes her so refreshing. There's also the part where at times she almost appears turned on by Xena showing off her many skills, making you wonder if Callisto wants to kill Xena or have sex with her (maybe both?). Leick's facial expressions say SO MUCH, but then she also relishes every deliciously evil line she spouts too and I love Callisto's twisted sense of humour (kudos to the show for casting someone who made such a stand-out villain).
This^ isn't to say Xena is overshadowed (like so many heroes seem to be by memorable villains in shows/movies). Lucy Lawless, as always, gives a stellar performance with her reaction when hearing the name of Callisto's village (Cirra) and especially when confessing to Gabrielle in a campfire scene that's one of the instances where her army *was* responsible for the deaths of women/children, showing her guilt over how the deaths of Callisto's family made her the way she is. Renée O'Connor also deserves props in this scene, as Gabrielle makes Xena promise that if anything ever happens to her, Xena won't continue the cycle of hate/vengeance. It's a memorable scene and the chemistry between both actresses is undeniable just like it is between Lawless and Leick (albeit quite a different sort of chemistry).
While I get some objecting to self-proclaimed 'Joxer the Mighty' being introduced in this otherwise pretty 'serious'/'dark' episode...I think that the entire *point* was to counter the darkness. He's a doof who keeps trying to take on Gabrielle (in an effort to prove himself to 'Warrior Queen', Callisto, after Xena's rejection of him offering his help) and he thoroughly gets his ar$e handed to him by Gabby on multiple occasions (which she points out to him), his armour's like a bunch of pots and pans constantly clanging together anytime he moves and his backup weapon in the TINIEST DAGGER EVER. One could accuse Ted Raimi's casting of being 'nepotism', but there are glimmers of Joxer having *some* depth to him. He refuses to kill Gabrielle at Callisto's behest (her increasing impatience with him amused me), thus proving that although he's often buffoonish, he's also a decent person.
The Xena/Callisto ladder fight is one of the show's stand-out fights thus far (yes, it may defy physics...but no more than the show usually does). Clearly Callisto admires Xena's creativity in fashioning a ladder seesaw. You know what the mark of a true psychopath is? Meeting their fate, ie. Seemingly plummeting to their death, with LAUGHTER (another similarity to Ledger's Joker). Though WTF was up with the falling whistle sound effect? Ignoring that part, this was easily one of the show's best episodes.
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