Episode: Back in the Bottle
(S-5,E-7)
Author:
CN Winters
Fandom:
Subtext report, Xena Fanfiction, Xena and
Gabrielle fanfiction
Author
Note: Many of these reports are littered with errors
because I wrote them quickly and 'on the fly' so I could post
them quicker to the 'Nutforum' back in the day.
Feedback:
Drop me a line at cnwinters71@yahoo.com.
Back in the Bottle
This is the second
ho-hum ep of season five. Seems they’ve hit a slump. Don’t
get me wrong. It wasn’t bad, just not too great. Nothing was
worse than that damn rift but that’s just my opinion (VBG).
And as for being a great subtext ep, can’t say that I could
see it.
Our tale opens with
Xena, Gabby and Joxer round the campfire. Gabby wants to eat,
Xena wants to achieve an inner calm (or something along those
lines) and Joxer well he’s typical Joxer. Xena’s trying to
cook a rabbit with her mind tricks but they keep turning to
stone. After the third rabbit get Medusaized Gabby asks Joxer
for some money to buy some food. Instead he gives her a pouch
of black powder. Xena takes it and she has a vision –
everyone is in battle and gets blown up during the fight. Xena
says she has to go back toward Chin.
Meantime, Gingus
Khan is speaking with ghost Ming Tien who is half himself and
half his evil sister Xena recently killed. Ming is going to
give Khan the recipe for black powder. On the way, back Xena
and crew come across KalSing (good daughter) traveling with a
group of people. She explains that warlord Khan now has the
black powder. Xena says she can hide the people in LaoMa’s
palace in the tunnels and sends Gabby ahead to warn the people
in LaoMa’s palace of Khan’s arrival. Xena escorts the
travelers to the palace underground. There at the palace Gabby
meets tough warrior stud Chin dude named LinChi where she and
he take on the advanced guards of Kahn’s army. It’s funny
to see the ‘studs’ of X:WP because they are just as
stereotypical of the T and A show in the portrayal of women.
At least X:WP is an equal opportunity offender (LOL).
Anyway…
Down in the tunnels
Xena says she doesn’t think she can take on Kahn’s army.
She goes to find Joxer’s traveling party but seems the area
is mined with black powder. She tiptoes out to him but
suddenly a strong wind covers her footprints. Kahn then shows
up. And she then sees that Ming/Kal are working for Kahn. The
army starts to throw grenades but Xena deflects them with her
‘power’. Xena decides to use her chakram to explode the
land mines so the people can get to safety. The army then
advances but Gabby and stud dude take them out as everyone
runs to safety. Xena stops however to watch them fight – she
sees stud dude is one of the people in her vision that dies.
Xena calls a retreat and they all go inside the temple.
Xena is studying to
break a vase but it’s not going quite as well as she hoped.
KalSing tells her that her brother and sister will linger
between worlds because of their anger. She also said the more
they use the power the more powerful they ALL become. Kal
won’t use the power because it will make her sister
stronger.
Under the tunnels,
stud dude apologizes for being an ass when Gabby and him first
met. He says he heard of the storyteller bard that was
companion to Xena and that she herself is a hero. Gabby likes
what she hears and Joxer comes up to ask if he’s
interrupting anything’ and tells her Xena needs her. Gabby
smiles that cute little smile she smiles when she thinks about
Xena (G) then they leave. Xena wants to go in and start
destroying the black powder supplies. Gabby says it’s a good
plan but Xena isn’t going – her and stud dude will go.
Xena reluctantly agrees.
They get captured
(go figure). However Gabby calls out to Xena and Xena hears
her pleas. She can see what’s happening and takes away the
air in the hut to put out the fire. Gabby picks up on it and
tells stud dude to take a deep breath. They get their air back
and make their escape but not until they finish what they came
for – and they blow it up reallllllll good (VBG). Kahn,
however, has many more huts of explosives but at least one of
them is out of the way now (VBG).
Gabby gets back and
Xena says she felt Gabby’s fear – seems the force uses her
but it also protects the ones she loved. Kal says it could be
possible to perhaps ‘love’ their enemies to death. Gabby
said she once thought that love could conquer all but it
didn’t seem practical. Meanwhile Joxer says he’ll help a
young woman find her family.
Gabby finds stud
dude again and he asks if Gabby ever thinks of settling down (LOL).
And her reply?:
G: You know,
sometimes people think that a home is a place but it can be a
person.
SD: You know where
you belong.
Joxer says Kahn’s
army is over the ridge and has some villagers as hostages.
Xena knows he’s going to use them as human shields. Xena
says she needs absolute clarity and Gabby would be a
distraction. Gabby accepts this and gets prepared to fight
along Stud Dudes side against Kahn’s army. Xena moves out to
the middle of the battlefield with 100,000 men in front of
her. Xena deflects the rockets but she knows she can’t keep
it up forever. A ground war starts and Gabby and crew take to
kicking a little ass. Gabby loses her sighs but she manages to
unarm a guy with a spear and uses it as a staff – and boy
can she kick ass (LOL) the old bard is back baby (LOL).
She’s even wearing green too (BG) but I still like the BGSB
most (VBG),
When Xena tires she
falls to the ground but realizes that she can use love to
defeat them – she harness her love for Gabby and little by
little anything that wears the Green dragon symbol turns to
stone – just like the bunnies in the beginning (VBG). And
since the army is wearing the same outfits they all turn to
stone around her. Who’da thunk that Xena was the one to
destroy Gingus Kahn’s army – one of the largest the world
has ever known. So we can now add that to the list of Xena’s
many skills. (VBG)
Kal, who’s
underground with the remaining villagers, senses Xena’s
victory. Joxer is later bragging to the young woman and her
family as Gabby watches with a warm smile. When he notices her
he stops. Gabby then goes to say goodbye to stud dude.
He asks her how
this story is going to end. She says she hasn’t written it
yet but she gives him little peck on the cheek and he says
goodbye. Ahhhhhhhhhh . . . How sweet. (VBG) At least he
didn’t die like the usual ‘red shirt’(LOL). And it was
nice to see that the non-subtexters got thrown a bone in this
ep. I think it’s the only one they are really going to be
getting this year. And as for Xena she talks with Kal about
how she used love as her inspiration to fight and not anger.
And the curtain closes on another Xena ep.
I’m not sure why
this ep was so hard to keep the subtext sub as Sears stated. I
didn’t see anything in the episode that looks like it’s
been changed. And since I was asked – writing credits were
given to Sears and Tapert. So it must not be that different
than what Sears wrote if his name was just attached. Anyway, I
can’t really see what all the hoop-la was about. Over all it
was a fair story, fairly written and performed. Nothing to
write home about but not a huge sink bomb either (VBG)
And next week looks
like we’ve got the first real comedy ep – Dite has put
Xena’s spirit into a little girl’s body. Of course the
little girl can soon kick butt just like our favorite warrior
princess. AA was supposed to be a comedy ep too, I’m hoping
that this one fairs much better.
CN Winters
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