Joxer wins handsomely at a gambling house, but being the dolt he is, he manages to get conned out of his winnings and his sword by two con men. Soon after that the corrupt head of the gambling house sends his heavies to get the money back and beat Joxer up. Xena and Gabrielle arrive in time to save him, although he is in a bad way. Xena tracks down the con men, Eldon and Rafe and hatches a plan to take the gambling house. Meanwhile Rafe is attracted to Xena and bets Eldon he can kiss her.
Why is it that poor Xena can't get a decent man! The few times she has had a love interest they always seem such idiots. Gabrielle too for that matter hardly seems to attract good men. Maybe this is a writers fault. Any love interests seem to lack character or personality. After all, they usually only last an episode and that isn't long to establish a character and sweep one of the women off their feet. Rafe is one of the worst! Even more than that, there doesn't seem to be anything that would attract Xena. He isn't a good man, he isn't handsome, he isn't all that clever. Not one of the better romances on XWP. I also found the whole scam idea a bit weak. Why take the bad guy for his money? Surely Xena could come up with something better? And if she is such a whizz with the dice, why not just bankrupt him? There are more plot hole than you can count in this one. Gabrielle hops around during this episode as Reneé O'Connor had an onset accident and sprained an ankle. Joxer spends virtually the whole episode unconscious after another vicious beating- Gabrielle last week, Joxer this. However, the episode bowls along merrily enough. The bad guys are poor actors to be honest, and for some reason the fight scenes seemed sort of flat to me- not the usual highly improbable stunts that make Xena fun.
The scenes between Xena and Rafe were embarrassing for the total lack of chemistry between the actors. Lucy Lawless does her best, but while the scene where they are getting dressed up has the funniest line-(Xena:Get me that hat will you Rafe:(reaches for it then hold it back teasing her) What do you say? Xena:Or Else!(snatching it))- the later scene where he is hiding cards in her hair(?) and then giving her a massage is just silly. Why would Xena go for this creep? Frankly Patrick Fabian's acting stinks! He has a very inexpressive face, he stoops and he is like a downmarket Autolycus with all the charm removed. No charisma at all.
We do get to hear yet another of Lucy Lawless' accents in the dressing up scene- its a funny one, sort of Betty Boop and Katharine Hepburn. She also gets all playful, hiding her valuables in her cleavage. There is also a nice Xena/Gabrielle scene at the beginning where Gabrielle does a bit of mind reading on Xena. However, the episode is a weak one chiefly because of the supporting actors and the silly plot. You even feel sorry for Ted Raimi, who has a very weak role in this episode. Women directors are rare on XWP, and with a woman writer too, this episode is not a great advert for women behind the scenes on XWP. 6/10
Julius Caesar, Xena's old enemy returns in a strangely dull tale that has Xena and Gabrielle(and Argo) travelling to Rome to try and free the Gaul rebel leader Vercinix. Politics and plotting(and back stabbing this being Rome) are the order rather than a lot of face punching, as Xena uses Crassus, a member of the triumvirate that includes Caesar, Crassus and Pompey to get her way. The plot is the usual labyrinthine one that the series always throws up. The climax of the episode has Xena thrown into the gladiator arena where she has to fight for her life.
This episode features a whole batch of old friends- well, old actors. Matthew Chamberlain is one of the most versatile and least recognisable - he also played Darphus and Orpheus in earlier episode. Jeremy Callaghan was the brash Palaemon who wanted to kill Xena in Blind Faith, but turned out not so bad. Even Tamati Rice has been seen before as a Horde soldier in The Price. This episode has more of the rather uneasiness between Xena and Gabrielle left over from the rift. Gabrielle questions Xena's motives and intentions. We also see Xena dragging Crassus behind her horse- just as she did to Argo. You'd think that would bring back a few bad memories. However, Xena herself gets dragged later- a favourite thing of Steven L Sears obviously. This episode again explores Xena and Gabrielle's characters. Xena while very abrupt with Gabrielle during the plan, apologises at the end for putting her in a difficult situation, but it is Gabrielle who shows a harder edge. She chooses to make a judgement on a man than leads to his death, something unthinkable for the younger more naive Gabrielle of series 1. She is also very much a partner to Xena, her role being just as crucial, if not directly up against Caesar.
I am not a huge Karl Urban fan. I find him a bit wooden in his acting, but is certainly different to see Caesar embroiled in the intrigues of Rome. Jeremy Callaghan is more successful as the vain and conniving Pompey. I liked the opening fight scenes with Vercinix and the Gaul resistance fighters. Sadly Vercinix is merely the damsel in distress for the rest of the episode. Shame, as he was a promisingly charismatic warrior for the opening few minutes. Kudos to director John Laing for that opening, that has the grimy battle stopped by a vision of gold and white as Caesar in dazzling armour on a shining horse arrives to capture Vercinix. An effective image. Unfortunately, the coliseum is rather obviously mainly done with SFX, the supposedly huge crowd is not very convincing. Another strong image is when Gabrielle walks away from the arena, not watching the execution she could have prevented, merely stopping a for a few seconds as the people cheer.
Steven L Sears is one of the top writers, but for some reason I just found this episode a bit flat. There was none of the trademark humour, the fights were brutal and the situation grim. It just didn't have the fun factor that XWP episode should have. Perfectly competent, but just a bit dull. 7/10
A clip show is often a real low point in US tv series, but XWP has managed something a bit different in each season. Athens City Academy in series one was a nice showcase for Renee O'Connor and some old film clips too. Series two's The Xena Scrolls featured a spoof Indiana Jones character- Janice and Mel may even return in series four. This episode is actually a very important one in the series, as it focuses on Gabrielle and her efforts to come to terms with her memories of some of the things that have happened to her this year. It also answers a big question- how did Gabrielle get to Chin before Xena in The Debt?
The set up is that Gabrielle is having terrible nightmares and decides to see the Priestess of Mnemosyne-who has the power to take away memories. The priestess, (a spectacularly bad actress named Jan Hellriegel) tells Gabrielle that she must enter a sort of dreamscape where she must face her memories and come to terms with them or risk losing them altogether. Joxer is around to take care of her memory-less body, while Gabrielle encounters Ares who "helps" her to cross the lakes of her memories in search of the truth.
Naturally there are lots of clips, (shame they had the dullest song from Bitter Suite), but the scenes with a blissfully ignorant Gabrielle and Joxer are amusing. The Gab/Ares scenes are a bit more unnerving as Gabrielle suffers the torments of the previous episodes again. When it comes, the revelation about how she beat Xena to Chin, and why are quite a surprise. It was a question that bugged a lot of fans, although of all the things that have happened to Gabrielle, THAT was the worst? The one that she had nightmares over? This episode has very little Lucy Lawless in- I think she was doing the January convention while Renee filmed it, but she is in the flashbacks of course.
Special mention to the really incredibly bad actress playing that priestess. She must have been a late stand in because she fitted the dress, or a relative of someone as she really was a bad actress. Renee O'Connor on the other hand was very good again. She is more comfortable with comedy, and plays up to Ted Raimi as Joxer as he spins her a tale about Gabrielle being in love with him. However, she is also very good as the suffering Gabrielle, and her attack on Ares with her trusty staff shows once again that she is a more than capable fighter these days too.
7.5/10
Early word on this episode was not promising, but in this topsy turvy season, FFG stands out as one of the funniest comedy episodes. Playful and full of in jokes, this one is rather reminiscent of S2's A Day in the Life, with many memorable scenes and quotable lines.
Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer are on the trail of thieves who stole a special gem for the goddess Aphrodite who wants it for her constellation. However it is the North star- essential for travellers everywhere. A trip to Aphrodite's temple leads to her slowing them down by casting a special spell. Whatever the person is looking at when the perfume ("Obsession"- what else?) they become obsessed with. Joxer is looking at a picture of Attis the ape man, Gabrielle is looking in a mirror, and Xena at some fish. Before you know it Xena is at the lake, Gabrielle is primping and preening, and Joxer is grunting and swinging from the trees. Naturally they still manage to take care of business- eventually- and discover a solution to Aphrodite's spell.
This thoroughly enjoyable piece of fluff features much to enjoy. Many of the best laughs are courtesy of Renee O'Connor as a Gabrielle we have never seen; vain and self absorbed and with one heck of a catchy little theme tune! I wondered whether the 'goddess Gabrielle' routine was in response to some of the Gab-worship on the net and in the newsgroups. Renee excels at comedy and is hilarious. Lucy Lawless also seems to enjoy the comedy episodes, although I am not sure of we have seen a bit too much of Xena's comic side lately. However, she balances an awful lot of fishing jokes with some very un-Xena like behaviour pretty well. Yet again we have Xena getting wet- and we nearly get to see what Gab wears under her mini-BGSB! 
Swimming and water play a large part. Another regular displaying more than before is Ted Raimi as Joxer who goes native in more ways than one. However his white and hairless weedy body(he even shaves under his arms!) is rather horrid in my opinion! Joxer's ape man antics were the least funny for me, although his vision of Gabrielle as his ideal partner, complete with Renee O'Connor joining in the ape talk was quite amusing. Funny voices and the usual array of prat falls didn't appeal to me.
Like A Day in the Life, this episode was a feast for subtext fans- all sorts of innuendo and stronger than ever ones at that. This episode also saw the appearance of a young Xena and Lyceus as Xena remembers how they used to go fishing together. A very witty script also has a great opening scene for the lovely Alexandra Tydings, and some rather funny thugs- the lead one was one of the barbarians from The Quill is Mightier I think. Slightly less successful for me was the resolution about how the spell could be broken- it looked like they had difficulty coming up with an ending as the explanation given was weak. However, a rather nice stargazing scene to finish almost made up for it.
A great fun episode- scenes to look out for- Aphrodite's headphones, her rather saucy dialogue with Maccenus the head thug, Gabrielle's admiration of herself in Xena's shiny sword, THAT theme song!, Xena's fish thumping, Gabrielle's near drowning and Xena saving her, the whole "not the lips" dialogue where Gabrielle reveals that there can be only one person in her life, the switch from young Xena to OUR Xena, Xena whistling her own theme tune, Gabrielle's recovery of the missing gem- who needs Xena! The stargazing. Like Been There, Done That, no one would claim this episode has the greatest of plots, but a fairly simple idea is executed very nicely by all concerned- good writing, excellent acting and a great big hoot all round! 9/10
A double dose of Autolycus for the next two weeks, although this is much the weaker of the two as Xena and Gabrielle are stuck on a sinking ship with Auto and a mixed band of people.
The episode opens with Gabrielle having her fortune read- a rather nice scene actually- and shortly after seeing Autolycus being taken aboard a prison ship. She tries to save him and soon she and Xena are stuck onboard. It turns out the prisoners are being taken to work in a diamond mine and Auto is there because he wants to be. Soon they have other things to worry about as the ship is hit by a tsunami- a volcanic tidal wave and it capsizes and sinks. Pockets of trapped air mean Xena, Gabrielle, Auto and some of the convicts are stuck with the greedy boss of that mine. They must work together to figure out a way to survive.
This episode sees the return of some other old friends- Stephen Tozer played Mezentius in The Path Not Taken and Remember Nothing and has the distinction of being killed by Xena AND Gabrielle! Todd Rippon is better known as Goliath and was also head thug in Hercules and the Lost Kingdom with Renee O'Connor. The episode is a perfectly OK one, but is rather lacking in excitement or drama. As the situation is a very dramatic one, this is down to rather slack writing and directing. Poor old Bruce Campbell is totally wasted- we see none of Autolycus' usual swagger as he is reduced to almost a background figure. It could have been any old friend of theirs really. Once more we get a wet Xena and Gabrielle, and everyone else for that matter! It is also intriguing to see Xena in a situation where she is at a loss to know what to do- although she soon comes up with something to save them all. Also interesting is the character of Petrodes. If this were season one he would be Gabrielle's fella of the week and he probably would have drowned! He has all the usual Gab-lad attributes; young, sort of cute, floppy hair, wimpish, not to tall, with something to prove. It is a sign of the change in Gabrielle's character that she barely gives him a second look and spends more time with the pregnant Soreya, playing doctors and nurses with Xena or helping to save them all. No pretty boy chasing for Gab any more. While this episode was enjoyable, it just lacked a bit of zip or sparkle. 7/10
Writer Terrence Winter has produced one script per season so far Cradle of Hope, Giant Killer and now Vanishing Act. Giant Killer is a genuine contender for dullest ever episode, and while I love Cradle of Hope, it isn't a huge favourite generally. Similarly, I don't think Vanishing Act is going to be top of the pops for S3, however I really enjoyed this episode. Autolycus appears again but this time with more purpose. We also have more dressing up for Xena and Gabrielle and Lucy Lawless gets to do another of her accents. I've lost count of all the different ones.
We open with Gabrielle going on ahead to a festival while Xena takes care of some business. It is a celebration of peace, and the villagers have a large statue that is a symbol for them. When it is stolen, the peace is threatened and Xena arrives in time to spot Autolycus in the crowd. However the king of thieves pleads innocence. He didn't do it and determines to find who did it as the culprit is clearly a better thief than him! Tracing the statue to an island, Gabrielle goes in disguise as Myopia the fence, and is soon joined by Xena dressed as Ezra who also seeks to bid for the stolen statue. The costumes and high jinks eventually turn nasty as the thief Tarsus, turns out to be the man who murdered Autolycus' brother. They manage to get their own back though, and perform a magic trick of their own to get the huge statue back for the villagers.
A sort of cross between Here She Comes Miss Amphipolis and The Royal Couple of Thieves, this episode has Lucy's closest to an Over The Top performance, with a New York accent straight out of The Nanny - (Fran what's-her-name). 
Mostly fun, she just about pulls it off although maybe Lucy was enjoying herself a bit too much. In contrast, Renee O'Connor does the exact same not-very-good accent she did in Miss Amphipolis as the Marquessa. The actresses look to be having a lot of fun, particularly as they really get into their characters. I reckon Lucy has done about eleven different accents so far (Xena, Diana, Meg, Callisto, Fate1&2 is Solstice Carol, Mel Pappas, Miss Amphipolis, Leah, the King Con blonde and Ezra in this episode-phew! What a talent, wonder of we will ever get New Zealand?) The comedy scenes are fun, Autolycus is more himself and even the head baddie was pretty good. My favourite bit was the attempt by Auto to interrogate the wharf master. After getting nowhere he asks Xena to put a little pressure on-"good centurion, bad centurion". She goes for the pinch and Gabrielle begins a countdown! Guess she takes the 30 second warning seriously. Also fun was the bidding war between Ezra and Myopia- Lucy manages to look very common and low class just by her stance and expression. She also gets into heels as Ezra while Renee O'Connor is in flatties- she hardly comes up to Lucy's cleavage in this episode! It was also nice to hear Autolycus badgering Xena for a favour and using the time Xena took over his body in The Quest as his leverage.
Not a classic, but a better Autolycus story, and more accents and dressing up fun. 8/10
Series Three ends with an explosive two part episode that sees the return of some old foes. Xena and Gabrielle are trying to rescue an old friend of Gabrielle's who has become involved with a strange sect. A sacrificial ceremony seems to indicate that they are worshippers of Callisto, and she soon makes an appearance. However it turns out to be even worse than Callisto- Hope is about to be reborn! Callisto is helping Hope, in return for her own death, while Ares tries to get Xena working for him to defeat Hope. Everything centres on a very large cocoon that is about to open...
The return , yet again, of Callisto is a welcome one in my opinion. The writing for her has to be good for her constant reappearance with the same goal every time to be convincing. Maternal Instincts gave her what she wanted- Xena's pain, but here she has a very different purpose, and it is an unexpected one; Callisto wants to die- a bit hard for a god! Her existence is pointless and she wants it to end. Hudson Leick thrives as she finally gets to do something other than shriek. Callisto is less nutty and more morbidly twisted here, and she has acquired the nasty habit of getting covered by rockslides! Is that the only way to stop a god?
The priestly cult seems a bit odd- rather pagan for the Greeks. You wonder if they are druid refugees from Britannia, seeing as that was Hope's birthplace. Indeed, the ceremonial scenes are similar to the temple of Dahok where Khrafstar took Gabrielle in The Deliverer, although it is slightly less ominous to be sacrificing out in the open air- they obviously don't have anything to match Stonehenge in Greece. Seraphin is very irritating, I hope she wasn't a good pal of Gabrielle's. Ares appears once again, and causes yet more trouble for Xena and Gabrielle. His actions and motives are more mysterious than ever. He is clearly trying to manipulate Gabrielle by showing her Xena's life thread about to be cut by the fates, and this carries on the story line from Forget Me Not, where it is revealed that Gabrielle owes Ares a favour.
Of course, the big feature of this episode is the final minute, when Hope emerges from the cocoon as an exact replica of Gabrielle. I loved the sly smile from Renee O'Connor as Hope to end the episode, a great cliffhanger, and I am just glad that I got to watch the next part straight after. 8/10
This episode begins with a bang. Carrying straight on from Sacrifice1, we have the first fight between Xena and Hope, who is revealed as having telekinetic powers, as she hurls weapons at Xena. It's an exciting opening, and has Callisto too. Hope might have these powers, but she still needs Callisto to transport her away. Xena and Gabrielle almost fall out as Xena is angry at Gab for preventing her from killing Hope. While Gabrielle's explanation settles things-that Xena would die if she killed Hope- Xena makes Gab see that she is prepared to sacrifice herself. Meanwhile, Hope goes for the complete Mom look- complete with staff and mini-BGSB. She bumps into Joxer- yes he's back- but reneges on her promise to kill Callisto, and instead forms an alliance with Ares. Callisto then teams up with a reluctant Xena and Gabrielle as they make their way to the temple Dahok can be brought into the world. Gabrielle has a little chat with Hope and there is a touching scene as she and Xena prepare for the battle that will probably mean Xena's death. However, things in the temple don't quite go as planned. Xena has the Hind's blood dagger- the only thing that can kill a god, and Ares turns out to be less than faithful to Hope when confronted with it. Xena approaches Hope to kill her, but before she can, Gabrielle leaps forward, hugging her daughter and the pair fall into a fiery pit!!! 
Callisto has a laugh at Gabrielle's death and gets the death she had wanted as Xena stabs her with the dagger. A grief stricken Xena looks stunned, and a gob smacked audience wonders how they will survive until series 4 starts!
A stunning ending to a turbulent but brilliant season, that has been a real year of hell for Gabrielle. This episode was a fitting ending, and had a lot of great moments. One of the best things about it was the surprise of Gabrielle's apparent death(don't worry, she'll be back-eventually). Most of the talk before this episode had been about Callisto. It was well known that she would finally die and consequently, we were caught on the hop. I loved the appropriateness of the title. It looked for so long that Xena would be making the ultimate sacrifice to save the world from Dahok's evil. Then there were the sacrifices being made TO Dahok, and Seraphin's readiness to die. I thought that Callisto might be the one to find some meaning to her existence by sacrificing herself.
Throughout these two episodes, Gabrielle was at about her most serious that we have ever seen her. Usually she is the light to Xena's darkness. She smiles and quips and is ever optimistic. In this story, she looks haunted by the circumstances. The scene between Gabrielle and Xena at the start of Sac 2, when Gabrielle tells Xena that she couldn't lose her is a strong one. Xena is so driven and determined, Gabrielle is not prepared to let her die. Ares' taunting of her in Sac 1 seems to have pricked her conscience. She is no mere sidekick anymore, and takes action herself. Gabrielle's eventual meeting with Hope was another well written scene. Renee O'Connor carried off the double role pretty well. Hope has a deep and growly voice that ROC sometimes struggled with, but she did a good menacing glare. After Lucy Lawless has had all these doubles, and even Joxer has a look a like, I guess Gabrielle was due one.
In a recent interview in the UK magazine Dreamwatch, Hudson Leick expressed a bit of disappointment about the way Callisto finally died.
" I am dissatisfied with her ending. I thought it was very mild. There was no dramatic ending- it was very quiet", she said. (Dreamwatch no.47 p.44).
However, the time was right I think. Callisto had gone about as far as she could. She was NEVER going to kill Xena, after all the show is called "Xena". I liked the changes in the character for this story. Her desire for oblivion was believable, with much less screeching thankfully, and more of Callisto's twisted sense of humour. To see her and Xena on the same side was weird, but as in A Necessary Evil, she wanted something. Then, it was ambrosia, here it is the Hind's blood dagger and death. In the absence of Gabrielle's sunnier side, we had Callisto's black humour in this story, and while Hudson Leick might have been disappointed, her actual death at Xena's hands was sort of appropriate. After Gabrielle and Hope falling into that pit, her awful cackle was guaranteed to get her what she wanted- Xena fulfilling her promise to kill her. I think she wanted Xena to kill her, and that her comments and laughter were designed to push Xena's buttons. She did not want to be forgotten. Xena had already said that she was reluctant to give Callisto the death she wanted. Earlier in the episode, she had taunted Callisto by saying, "may you live forever"-(incidentally, LL delivered this line is a wonderfully sneering way), by laughing at this highly tragic moment, Callisto ensured that Xena would snap and kill her. Will Callisto ever return? Well, it isn't impossible. Death seems very temporary in the Xenaverse.
This episode raised so many talking points that I could be here all day. Ares treachery- is he that conniving? Joxer as hero, sort of. The scene when Xena tells him to get lost was an enjoyable one for Joxer haters, but he saved the day in the end. What happens now with Dahok? Is that it or will he return? And the biggie- how will Gabrielle come back? Reports seem to indicate that it might take a few episodes and that Hope could also be around. This was a great episode, so full of drama. Very strong performances all round, but especially from Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor and Hudson Leick. Well written although a bit bleak and of course the trauma of Gab's swan dive into the pit. Send your Gab-rescue theories to to Renaissance Pics, LA. 9.5/10