Them Bones, Them Bones

Written by Buddy Williers
Directed by John Fawcett

Personally, I feel this is one of the worst episodes of season five. It's a shame too, because I think the core story premise (Xena struggling against Alti for the soul of her unborn child) is really strong. Unfortunately the narrative was cluttered with heavy-handed symbolism, club-you-over-the-head significance, and extensive Kubrickesque acid-trip sequences. I found it ultimately lacking in cohesion, resulting in a mishmash that is only saved by the core story that does shine through from time to time.

Comparisons to Adventures in the Sin Trade are inevitable. This episode is in some ways intended to be the sequel to the fourth season premiere. However, there is a big difference between Sin Trade and this episode, despite the very similar approach to the shamanistic material contained therein.

The focus of the first part of Adventures in the Sin Trade is Xena's climb back from the brink of madness. Gabrielle's death (in Sacrifice II) sent the Warrior Princess spiralling into a "dark place she promised herself she'd never go again" (or something like that). The off-kilter, schizophrenic camera work emphasizes her madness and despair and draws the viewer into her struggle. Once Xena gets her feet back beneath her (by making the decision to remain and free the trapped Amazons) the visual style stabilizes.

Them Bones on the other hand, has no such justification for the extremely long visual sequences signifying the "crossover" into the spiritual realm. I could accept a short (maybe thirty second) sequence the first time, but the second and third times just went too far. Indeed, I felt the visual effect of the flames freezing in place and the water drop hovering in mid-air did a much better job of conveying the "unnatural" qualities of the spiritual realm.

These "crossing over" sequences serve no useful narrative purpose, save eating up time. In fact, I timed them the third time I watched this episode and they clocked in at nearly three minutes total. That's almost ten percent of the episode's 42-minute length. In my mind that kind of waste is unforgivable, especially when it does nothing but keep the viewer from getting involved with the story.

It isn't like they needed to eat up time. The revelation about Amarice not being an Amazon could have been fleshed out a bit more, easily taking up a couple of minutes. I find myself wondering what she was before, why she felt the need to assume this identity. The character had grown on me over the past few episodes, and I was left frustrated and wanting more.

Don't get me wrong, there are individual scenes that work very well. The opening sequence of Xena and Gabrielle collecting the mushrooms and bantering back and forth has the old magic. Even the nightmare sequence of the skeletal infant clawing its way out of Xena's womb was captivating.

In fact, the scenes I liked were the ones where they weren't clubbing us over the head with Symbolism and Meaning (that emphasis is intentional). The exchange between Xena and Gabrielle before Gab crosses over the face Alti the first time? It felt like a piece of fan fiction to me -- the kind that wants to make clear to you the "true nature" of their relationship. Personally, I think the opening sequence did a lot more towards displaying the love between Xena and Gabrielle than this, "look intense and say deep things" school of writing.

I'll admit that the solution to their problem (drawing Alti into another dream realm) didn't jump out at me until it happened. This was probably because I was so on-again off-again towards the episode. Also, the final battle between Alti and Xena was one of the most boring battles I've ever seen on the show. The fighting skeletons looked neat, but it lacked the flair that real bodies add.

Part of the reason I'm so hard on this episode is because I felt it had such potential. A little polish, running the narrative in a slightly different direction... there are many ways this episode could have shone. I'm sure part of the trouble is connected to the staff trouble at Renaissance Pictures as this episode was in production (Buddy Williers, the credited writer, is a pseudonym for RenPic Scribe Steve Sears).

A couple of amusing things that struck me as I was watching this episode:

• The mystic Amazon guardian of the Amber Tree is named Chia I found that incredibly amusing for some reason. Maybe it was too much late night television.
• Gabrielle dies again? Admittedly, this didn't strike me as funny -- think more along the lines of outrage. They did this scene before in Is There A Doctor in the House! You don't need to kill Gabrielle to show how much Xena cares for her!
• I loved Amarice's expression when all the other Amazons were dancing around the fire early in the episode. She was just standing there with an expression that said, "You have got to be kidding me." I felt much the same way at that point. In fact, Amarice was the saving grace of this episode for me. She injected a dose of much needed reality and stability in this big mystic significance party. At times it felt like a Jedi Knight Convention.

One final note, you may remember my comments about Amarice at the tail end of season four, when I pointed out that her behavior pattern indicated she was an orphan of some sort. I was pleased to see that I was more or less on target with my assessment of the girl. I found her annoying to begin with, but at this point I have to say I was sorry to see her go.

In summary, there was a solid story here. Too bad it was cluttered by a bunch of ridiculous garbage.

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