Back in the Bottle

Story by Rob Tapert & Steve Sears
Teleplay by Buddy Williers
Directed by Rick Jacobson

Let's set some things straight right away. The mysterious Buddy Williers credited for this episode is Steve Sears's version of "Cordwainer Bird" (the name Harlan Ellison puts on scripts he's written that he feels have been gutted of all heart and soul). After a promising start to season five, the rumored staff problems at Renaissance Pictures continued. Despite the fact that I normally didn't have too much interest in behind the scenes drama, even I began to wonder just what was going on. Sears (who had left the series when this episode originally aired) wasn't saying anything, and even now it is hard to find out just what happened at RenPic.

All that aside, the general reaction to this episode was been a resounding... eh. Nobody seemed to be tremendously excited about it one way or another.

I agree with that assessment. There were some nice moments in this one, but all in all I have to say that it is neither one of their finest moments, nor one of their huge mistakes. I think there could have been an interesting story here, but I'm not certain.

It just doesn't gel. Early on I was confused because there seemed to be so much stuff coming out of left field. (Ming Tien back? Doesn't anybody stay dead on this show?) But as the various plot elements were explained and the pieces were assembled, the picture did come into focus. It just wasn't a particularly interesting picture to look at. If it weren't for Joxer and Gab in this one, it would have been a royal snoozer. It's nice to see Gabrielle fighting again, and Joxer shows some genuine heart without losing the facets of his personality that make him such a joy to be around (most of the time, anyway). But the whole story of Xena trying to master the power?

Well in all honesty I don't see what difference it made. I understand that the need to keep Lucy less active during her pregnancy required Xena to use unconventional methods. But in Them Bones she had that edge, despite the fact she wasn't using a sword as much. This time? That edge seemed to be gone. She just seemed, well, tired.

Was it just me, or did it seem like The Powers That Be were pulling another U-turn in regards to the grand philosophy they seem to be going with? When Gabrielle was on her love kick last season, it seemed that TPTB indicated that while love was powerful, it wasn't enough. Now that Xena's on that same tear, however, it's apparently okay.

I realize this sounds a bit like the conspiracy theories that proclaimed there was a plot against Gabrielle; i.e. she was wrong all the time and Xena was right. That's not what I'm saying, though. Perhaps even I'm confusing love and peace (like Gab did during season four). If I think too hard about this episode, I get left with more questions than answers.

One thing that is certain, however, is that Gabrielle has her priorities in order. She is not afraid to tell Xena to stay out of the way to protect the baby. Gab knows Xena is more than capable of taking care of herself, but there is the little guy to think of (speaking generically -- I realize it was a daughter). I even felt a nostalgic glow when Gab was wielding that spear as a staff in that final battle.

Speaking of the final battle, I loved the historical reference to the massive terra cotta army that was excavated a while back. Though while one historical thing was matched up, another was blown all to hell -- I seem to recall that Genghis Khan (if in fact that's who it was, I have my doubts) ruled the first major global empire since the Romans (of course, I could be wrong, any of the Warrior Scholars out there are free to correct my errors).

As a final insult, after Xena spends all that time and effort to gain this ability it just kind of vanishes? I have to admit to a little sigh at that. What was the point of it all?

So in final analysis, I have to say that this episode ranks below the average for the show -- not because the episode itself is bad compared to other shows, it's just that the standard on Xena is so much higher that it pales when compared to other episodes of the series. Certainly not one to avoid, but not one to go out of your way to see either.

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