The Convert

Capsule summary: Najara (from Crusader) returns claiming to have been converted by Eli, Joxer makes his first kill, and Gab realizes how difficult her choice to be a pacifist truly is.

Had this episode been a little bit more emotionally involving, it probably would have gotten even higher marks than it did. I suppose after the emotional wringer we were put through in India, it made sense to have a little bit of cool-down time.

Alas, poor Joxer. Fans knew the kill was coming and it still caught many by surprise. I must admit I always had a fondness for the guy, and seeing him do his best to deal with what he'd done warmed my heart. It was an excellent performance by Ted Raimi. The kind of thing he has to do here can easily be overdone either in the writing or in the performance, and neither was. You could feel how torn up Joxer was about this, but it never descended into melodrama.

There were echoes of Meridian's death at Gabrielle's hands (in The Deliverer) here, and I wish that there could have been a bit more emotional exchange between Gabrielle and Joxer. Xena offered what support she could, offering up the almost tired adage "you never forget your first kill." While I don't doubt she remembers her first, she has killed so many that I think perhaps she forgets how difficult it is to absorb the shock of that first blood on your hands.

Gabrielle, on the other hand, while having accepted what she's done, is still a great deal closer to the pain than Xena, and I feel that a longer talk between Gab and Joxer could have done wonders.

Instead, Gabrielle spends most of her time tending to the wounded Najara, who is just as cunning as ever. Her conversion was sincere in some ways, but not in others. For her, the conversion was more to return to the good graces of the Djinn than a sincere change in her outlook.

This episode furthers the comparisons made between Najara and Callisto when Crusader first aired. Where Callisto was obsessed with Xena, Najara is obsessed with Gabrielle. Najara sees in Gabrielle something she wants, and seeks to possess Gabrielle in order to possess that light within her. In some ways, this obsession is a dark reflection of Xena's own relationship with Gabrielle.

Najara manipulates the situation beautifully, trying to get things to work out in her favor. She goads the warlord's son into attacking Joxer, hoping that while protecting Joxer, Xena will do something Gab finds unforgivable.

Of course, Xena shows her usual restraint, not doing any more than is necessary.

In the end, Najara's true colors are revealed, and she and Xena once again duke it out in a wonderful action scene that results in Najara getting stabbed in the abdomen. It was initially my fear that they would kill her off, but Najara was left in a coma, never to be seen again in the series.

One or two things bothered me in this episode. First, the opening sequence in the temple struck me as a little odd. The gore aspect of the show was starting to go a little over the top. In this episode it may have been done to underscore the fact that killing is not a pretty thing, but did we really need that long shot of the blood dripping off the table?

If you want to underscore the brutality of the situation, it is not (in my opinion) a good idea to throw in physics-defying antics. Rather than take up time with unnecessary gore shots, I think that the time could have been better spent dealing with the emotional aftermath of the killing. To try and juxtapose "realistic" violence with the chop-socky cartoon stuff (especially in the same battle) tends to reduce the impact. Both styles have merit, but they tend not to play well with each other.

I also felt that for an episode that was apparently (in part) supposed to deal with the trauma of Joxer's first kill, it was too emotionally detached. While I did appreciate the understatement of the story, I wanted a bit more than the standard "Well, you've made your first kill. I know it sucks, but that's the way it goes." This is one of the few times Joxer has an opportunity for character growth, and in some ways it gets squandered.

Regardless, this is a fine episode, and both Ted Raimi and Kathryn Morris (Najara) deserve applause for pulling off what could easily have turned into camp and melodrama.

As a final note, I think that Gabrielle has begin to realize how significant her decision to follow Eli's Way truly is. "When push comes to shove," she says at the end of the episode, "sometimes there's nothing to do but shove back. With my new way I can't do that." This statement would, in some ways, come back to haunt Gabrielle in later episodes.

Tight writing and excellent performances make this a solid episode. After the intensity of the India arc, it is nice to have a serious episode that isn't a life-or-death struggle, even if it lacks in the emotional punch department.

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