Little Problems

Written by Gregg Ostrin
Directed by Allison Liddi

One thing that can be said for Kurtzman and Orci's tenure on Xena (brief as it was) -- it certainly was uneven. Let's see... I didn't like Them Bones, but I liked Purity. I Didn't like Back in the Bottle, but I really enjoyed Little Problems.

This episode was a blast. It had a nice balance between the comedy of Gabrielle and Aphrodite (who is always good for a chuckle) and the drama of Daphne and her father. I was afraid that this episode would turn into another "here's a way we can get Xena fighting without having Lucy do it". But it didn't. Xena's control of Daphne's body was established previously way back in The Quest when the Warrior Princess was in Autolycus's body.

In fact, there isn't anything tremendously clever or original in this script -- we have your stock enemy from Xena's past, itching for revenge. We have the wonderful action sequences (more on those later). We have the self-absorbed gods and the comedy that results. Despite all this stock Xena cliche, I found myself enjoying the ride tremendously.

I was bothered by what sounded (at least at first) to be a Lucy voice-over, but after hearing it a couple of times, I realized it was actually the young actress (Rose McIver?) herself dropping her voice down. She carried off the dual role very well, considering her age. I was impressed, and give her high marks for the effort.

Xena plays the comforting spirit guide in this episode, and does a wonderful job. The plot of the dead mother, withdrawn father, and so forth could have become your typical "movie of the week", but the actors did a wonderful job all around, and the story never felt forced or maudlin. In addition, the writing itself never stooped to melodrama. the glut of garbage on the networks is usually the result of writers taking shortcuts, but Ostrin never does (at least that I can see). That's not to say I didn't have problems with the script, but more on those in a moment.

Alex Tydings is always a joy to watch on the show. I have to admit some disappointment that she wasn't wearing the outfit she had in the Hercules episode Love Amazon Style from their last season (probably the best costume I've seen her in), but the little hot pants/tank top number she had was easy on the eyes as well. The comic chemistry between Alex and Renee is wonderful, and Liddi takes full advantage of it.

Now as for Gabrielle herself, I have to echo the Goddess of Love when she says "You go girl!" Gabrielle takes on all comers and kicks their behind. When she improvises a weapon with that length of rope and beats up on the brute squad, I was cheering. When she set it on fire, I cheered even more. I even shared some of her attitude when she told Xena's empty shell "I wish you could have seen that." If anybody ever had any doubt about Gabrielle's capacity to kick ass and take names, take a look at this episode and remove all doubt. She handles the sword just fine in the opening sequence, and doesn't kill anybody either.

Add to that Gab's bardic knowledge of legend providing the solution to their problem (oh, and Castor Oil being the solution? Bwa ha ha!). I'm not a hard-core Gabfan or anything, but I personally can't imagine anybody having difficulty with the way she's treated in this episode. And her whispered "I'll be back for you" to Xena's body? You've even got your subtext!

I suppose my only complaint would have to be the oil wrestling scene with Gabrielle, Aphrodite, Castor and Pollux. Of course, that whole sequence was way over the top anyway, but I prefer my ribald humor to be more of the "wink, wink, nudge nudge" variety than the "shameless exploitation" variety. It's really a minor quibble I suppose, but hey, that's my taste.

Still, I found myself laughing at the parts that were supposed to be funny (though the "cunning linguist" joke has been done on James Bond) -- especially the henbane reference early on (a nod to Altared States). Oh, and I don't think there's anything funnier than Aphrodite saying, "oops!" One thought that occurred to me in the final battle while Gab and the father were closed off -- first there was oil wrestling, and then a steel cage match! How can you not like this show?

So all in all, a well balanced script, good direction that took advantage of the cast's talents, humor that was actually funny, and drama that didn't stoop to melodrama. This is a good episode to go out on. I'm really pleased with it. Final grade? I have to go with an "A" rating on this one. It certainly has a touch of the old magic.

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