Succession

Written by Steven Sears
Directed by Rick Jacobson

I liked this episode. It struck me as a trifle uneven at first, but a second viewing smoothed the road out a bit. It reads kind of like a cross between The Most Dangerous Game and LadyHawke -- with our pair separated by night and day, being hunted with nothing but their wits and the natural world as their weapons.

There isn't a whole lot of deeper significance in this episode, but there are some interesting things I'd like to point out. First of all, the fact that Xena was around during the day and Gabrielle at night is a reversal of what would have been done, say, anytime before this season.

I wasn't fond of Mavican at first, but she grew on me. She suffered from "Milo syndrome" (see Daughter of Pomira); that is, she didn't give the visual impression that she was as good a fighter as she turned out to be. Unlike Milo, however, it was displayed fairly clearly that she had the ability -- she managed to dodge a rather heavy assault from the new double-chakram.

Xena's new outfit looks pretty bad in this. While Rick Jacobson did a pretty good job concealing Lucy's pregnancy, there are some shots where it's fairly obvious that our star is showing. The "maternity armor" just doesn't work for me.

And Mavican's costume? Don't get me started. The hair, the animal print stuff on the leather... it just screamed "amateur". She was a good fighter, but I had a hard time taking her seriously as an opponent that could seriously challenge Xena (or Gabrielle for that matter). But that may have been the point -- she just didn't have anything really special going for her to be remembered. Not like Callisto, or Alti, or even Najara. She was just another in the long line of warriors and bandits that Xena and Gabrielle have put a stop to over the years. This isn't clear on the first viewing, but on a second look, that's what I come away with.

Ares's motives are actually pretty complex in this one. The way he set things up, you almost think he wasn't out for just himself. After all, by forcing Xena to watch Gab at work, he solves a crisis that had the potential to cause serious problems between the two. Not only that, he gets rid of Mavican, and possibly gets the successor he's after in Gabrielle. With this knowledge in mind, a second viewing makes the whole episode a lot smoother.

I remember back when Forget Me Not first aired, with all the accompanying uproar over how Gab got to Chin ahead of Xena with the help of Ares. Fact is, Ares (at least as he's been portrayed in Xena) has always known how to tempt people, how to push their buttons. He's done it before, several times. The first time was all the way back in The Reckoning. Even though he gets outsmarted every time I get the feeling that he enjoys the game he plays with Xena (and now Gabrielle). Every time he loses to them, he gets more certain that they're the ones he needs to fulfill his purpose.

Watching this episode, we see Ares back in full form. The previous year or so he had been reduced in stature by somewhat negative portrayals on Hercules. His games with Xena were some of the better episodes of the early series, and having him back restores some of that magic.

Gab is wonderful in this episode. Her frustration with Xena treating her like the incapable little girl is fully in character, given her recent changes. Two of the best moments, in my mind, are at the close of the opening teaser (before the credits) when Mavican said she was going to kill her. Gabrielle's expression says, "Come on, I'd like to see you try."

The other beautiful Gab moment is when she comes across Mavican's camp the first night, and laid out the trip wire to knock down the huntress. The fact that Xena didn't know what Gab was doing made that a wonderful moment. Xena was forced to acknowledge Gab's ability at that point. And the fact that Gabrielle was using her Amazon knowledge just made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

Each of the first three episodes this season were scribed by a different "core writer". R.J. Stewart wrote Fallen Angel, Manheim wrote Chakram and Sears wrote this one. Each one demonstrated a new-found magic in the show, displaying their own unique talents and obsessions.

Back to Top