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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.
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