The Prodigal, or A Town Called Gabrielle
Written: Oct 18 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: evenly handled, good for Gab-watchers, several light moments, meaningful for Subtext watchers
Cons: very little Xena, character of Lila somewhat one-dimensional
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| Liffey's Full Review: Xena: Warrior Princess |
Writing this epinion could be considered a naughty thing. Epinions makes it quite clear that we're only to write one epinion on any specific subject. I think this is a fine rule, even though it means that I can't write a brand spanking new epinion on Archaeology magazine to replace my dreadful first one. (Sure, I could just edit the first one, I know that, but as dreadful as it is, it was my very first review here, so I have the silly sentimental thing going about touching it.)
But clever readers will quickly notice that although I'm writing a second epinion in the same category, I'm reviewing a completely different product. Just like what we often see in the Travel reviews, when Epinions has at times given a very broad topic, such as "North America," making it possible to write several full-length reviews in the same category without writing about the same thing at all. And then later, down the road, Epinions inevitably splits up such broad categories. In the case of television shows, this is sometimes done when individual episodes become available on video.
This review, which like my first one (http://liffey.epinions.com/kifm-review-374B-1FE37F97-39EBB082-prod3) focuses entirely on a specific episode, is written with the flexibility of broad categories in mind. So enough of these tedious explanations and disclaimers, let's turn our minds towards today's featured episode...
"The Prodigal"
The scene opens with Gabrielle and Xena on the road leading Argo, Xena's horse. Gabrielle is doing her very best impression of Zamfir, cheerily bouncing ahead of Xena while playing a pan flute.
Ambush! With typical resourcefulness, Xena sees them through. But what about Gabrielle, who froze on the spot and was saved only by Xena's bravery and quick thinking?
Gabrielle is horrified by her actions, and the risk she presents to Xena. She decides she needs time to think. She leaves a very hurt Xena to return to her hometown of Poteidaia where she can talk with her sister.
But when she arrives, it appears that the warlord Damon has been routinely depleting the town of food and goods while laying siege to outlying villages. It is only a matter of time before the same happens to Poteidaia. The people have gathered the very last of their finances to hire Meleager the Mighty, a fighter of great reputation.
Sounds like a good plan, but the moment Meleager steps foot into the tavern we see a fighter who has lost his self-confidence and has turned to drink. And how did he lose his self-confidence, you ask? By freezing, just like Gabrielle.
Oh dear! What will become of Poteidaia? Sorry, you've had your teaser, I won't give the rest away. So let's get the new and experimental "Quick Reference" over and done with, and then we'll continue to the analysis.
Quick Reference for The Prodigal:
Season: 1
Episode: 18
Title: The Prodigal
Number of Fight Scenes: 4
Gabby Stick Action Scenes: 2
Emotional Tone: light, with a thin glaze of drama
Location: Poteidaia, Gabrielle's hometown
Notable Recurring Characters: Meleager, Lila
Missing Leads: Xena (only present at beginning and end - Lucy Lawless was on tour)
Gods Appearing: none
Goofiness Rating: (scale of 1 to 10) 9 for fight scenes, 10 for hitchhiking scene, 6 overall
Relationships, We Gots Da Relationships
Xena and Gabrielle, Gabrielle and Lila... Although Xena appears for only a short amount of time in this episode, it's still a recommended early episode for those who make a small hobby out of measuring the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle. Big tough Xena is uncharacteristically and, more importantly, believably vulnerable when Gabrielle leaves for home. Even more painful to the warrior princess is that Gabrielle chooses to turn to her sister Lila, not to her best friend and companion Xena, in this moment of fear and uncertainty.
When Gabrielle returns to Poteidaia, and gosh I hope I'm spelling that right, Lila (Willa O'Neill) is friendly enough. Uet it doesn't take many scenes to realize she's a kettle about to sing out and steam up the room. Lila is jealous of Xena and her sister's obvious respect for her friend.
Lila is a good character, but suffers through having no identity of her own in this episode. You can easily understand how tiring it is to hear, "Xena says..., Xena does..., Xena is..." at every turn, sure. But as sweet as Lila is, I wouldn't want to spend more than an afternoon with her, myself. It would have been nice to have seen Gabrielle's sister portrayed as someone other than a convenient gopher who loves her sister, but spends a good portion of the episode in a low-grade green-eyed snit.
I think some sisterly reminiscing would have worked here, or more gestures of camaraderie, instead of us having to take Gabrielle's word that she has a special bond with her sibling or having to watch other episodes featuring Lila. Gabrielle's a fundamentally nice girl and prone to befriending everyone; I would have liked to have seen clear examples in The Prodigal of why Lila stands a little higher than the rest.
Meleager the Meager
Oh that was just too easy, wasn't it? I liked Meleager (Tim Thomerson), and it's refreshing to see a comical drunk. (That sort of humour having been generally eradicated from television over the past fifteen years. The attitude being that alcoholism and reckless drinking are not to be taken so lightly. But we can still have jokes about all sorts of other things which are not funny in real life, so I should be grateful.)
I'd give Meleager, pronounced Muh-lee-guhr, about a 6.5 on the faithful 1 to 10 scale. He has some good lines, a little depth and whimsy, and a sort of "has aged well just like Sean Connery, yum yum" kind of face that's fun to watch. (I speak of this for the benefit of other viewers. I of course would never be so base as to appreciate the manly features in someone other mickp. This is purely an observation based in chaste research.)
I want to say that Meleager doesn't have the stuff of a recurring character, except that later on, when he's brought back in another episode, he does. Oops, bad call on my part. But in this episode, he's little more than a pleasant plot device. For me, the real action is all centered around Gabrielle.
Gabrielle, Warrior Bardess?
As the town prepares for Damon's attack, we discover that Gabrielle has learned much during her time with Xena. Not so much how to land a great punch while backflipping and kicking two guys in the stomach at once, but how to refurbish the city so it becomes a live-action version of that old child's game Mousetrap. A high five for engineering going far beyond the old pail-over-the-door trick. Since I consider Gabrielle to be an inherently resourceful person, although usually this is evidenced by her gift of prattle, I appreciated this more tangible demonstration of her fun-but-functional talents.
The Ones You Love To Hate
The bad guys. The nemeses. The errant gods. The Prodigal's head baddie is Damon (Steve Hall), and he's about as generic as his villain name. His appearance is brief, however, and fight scenes concentrate more on interaction between his men and the townspeople that Damon himself. I guess he's mostly a figurehead warlord. Interestingly enough, Steve Hall has played at least seven different characters on Xena: Warrior Princess, but as far as I can recall the "Damon" character was limited to this episode.
Other bad guys in this episode are the Ambush Men (feel free to steal that phrase for a band name), whose appearance is brief and also uneventful.
The Prodigal is Recommended for...
Anyone who is stuck on following the Xena/Gabrielle relationship (you know who you are), Gabrielle fans, Meleager fans, Lila fans (are there really any Lila fans?), and all of us diehard fans who like to watch all of the episodes, even if we don't like some as much as others. I don't recommend this episode for the person who has never seen Xena: Warrior Princess, if only because Xena is hardly in it. The casual X:WF watcher can probably take or leave it.
Web Sites Related Specifically to The Prodigal
(warning: all contain spoilers)
Whoosh! Episode Guide: http://whoosh.org/epguide/prodigal.html
Screen Capture: http://warriorprincess.com/seasonone/ep18_prodigal.html
Lesbian Subtext Guide: http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/4580/main.html
Fan Fiction - "The Letting Go": http://www.xenafan.com/fiction/content/letting_go.html (note: contains graphic sex scenes)
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Liffey
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Reviews written: 79
Trusted by: 71 members
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I like thinking.
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