<> I Have A Lot to Say Pt.1

Enjoy (I hope).

Xena: Warrior Princess – This show has become many things to many people. It is a sign of great art that emotions are evoked on some level when we watch X:WP. Love it, hate it, laugh at it, cry with it, yell at it, throw socks at it...well you get my drift. You can't watch this show without experiencing some emotion. Which brings me to The Bitter Suite (and the "rift" storyline in general):
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Do not read any further if you haven't watched all rift episodes to date!!

First of all, I must gloat a little. Back when speculation was in full swing as to who was going to get "offed" and bring the rift to head, I stated that my dollar was on Solan and that the scenario was going to be played as a "my son was killed by your daughter" storyline. And now I do my Snoopy dance around my office because I was right! Nah, nah, nah.

With the gloating part done with, I can move ahead with my analytical and well-thought out critique of Bitter Suite. I LOVED IT! 2 THUMBS UP! ****RATING! A TOUR-DE-FORCE FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!!! And there you go. Thanks for reading.

OK, just kidding. It is not as simple as that. It is true, however, that my over-riding impression of this episode was this was simply the best example of what a 1 hour television show can be and should be. I watched this episode 5 times this weekend, and every time I watched it, I got really mad, I cried several times throughout, and I felt a real sense of relief by the time it was over. Let me take it piece by piece and see if your impressions were the same as mine.

THE STORYLINE:
One of the frustrating things for me this season were the unaddressed issues that were raised and never dealt with in The Deliverer, Gabrielle's Hope, and the Debt I &II. Major life-changing events occurred in these episodes that should have changed the way our characters dealt with each other and the world around them. Xena's abandonment of Gabrielle up to the point of the appearance of Dahok, Gabrielle's loss of her blood innocense, her impregnation by a Dahok, the pursuit by her best friend to kill her child, the loss of the child, her lie to Xena – all issues that were not dealt with. The murder of Ming Tien by Xena, her lie to Gabrielle about the death, how Gabrielle got to Chin before Xena (ok, I know that is just one of those things we are supposed to accept, like the ability to travel from Greece to Britannia in a day or two, but dammit, it still bugs me!), and Gabrielle's betrayal of Xena to Ming Tien – issues that were not dealt with.

The unevenness of the airing of the episodes really messed with me too. All of the above happens and what do we get – KOA, WPT, Quill – where everything is hunky-dory, everyone laughs and has a good time, and NONE OF THE ABOVE IS MENTIONED! ARRGGG! That is the level of frustration I was at when we FINALLY got to Maternal Instincts.

All of the above aside, the idea of creating a rift between our two ladies was something I was willing to go along with, if for no other reason than to see how it was accomplished and how it was resolved. Once I was convinced that the death of Xena's son was going to be the catalyst for the actual rift, and all of the other previously mentioned episodes were just relegated to background noise, I really started to think that there was no way that any of this was going to hold together as a coherent story with a plausible reconciliation (and we knew they were going to have to reconcile the two, because that relationship has become the foundation of Xena's ongoing story).

MATERNAL INSTINCT:

All I'm going to say about this, is that the word rift does not cover what has occurred between our ladies by the time we reach the end of this episode. Try "Grand Canyon of divisions," "the Mother of fissures," or, well, you get the gist. This ain't no baby rift that a few "I'm sorrys" are going to take care of. When the ladies walk away from each other in the end, my heart is crying out to the writers to FIX THIS NOW!! Better yet, take it all back, and let's go back to mushy campfire scenes, and minor squabbling about what kind of fish to eat. Plu - eeeeze.

THE BITTER SUITE:

First of all, I must say I love musicals. I love what can be said in song; throughout our history, humans have used music/song to tell stories, to express love, and to express pain. So I was not as skeptical as some as to the validity and ability of the musical format to accomplish the reconciliation as well as to deal with the raw emotions that MI left us with.

The Production

My words will be inadequate to say what I want to say about the quality of the production of this episode. From the sets, which reminded me of the Wizard of OZ in its surrealism, to the costumes which clearly defined the images of Xena and Gabrielle – it was very clear that this was not to be a half-assed production.

The direction by Oley Sassone – well what can you say about Oley – he is god and all other mortals should bow down before his genius. He has consistently delivered the best of X:WP, from The Price to The Debt.

The Music

I am not quite as gushy about this aspect as I have been up to this point. I thought most of the songs worked and worked well. The lyrics, while hard to understand in some instances, were quite brilliant in conveying all that they were called upon to convey – pain, suffering, love (Whoosh has them for our reading pleasure). My problem was with the way some of the songs by Lucy bordered on being a Disney number – too much noise and not enough substance. They bordered on it, but overall I think they worked and I can live with it. The duets with Renee (and I know she didn't sing, but she still had that emotion working for her which sells the song) were incredible. These songs delivered all of the anger and fury, and the sadness and heartbreak quite effectively. If you listen to those songs and don't shed a tear, well... you're a... a Vulcan. Yeah, you're a Vulcan. So there.

Kevin Smith and Hudson Leick – Bravo(a)!! Kevin – I will melt into you anytime (sorry Mr. longhorn)!! And for that matter, anytime Ms. Leick wants sit on my lap and sing to me, well... let's just put it this way – I won't be pushing her off.

Lucy Lawless – Well, hell, we already knew she could sing, but I still give her a Brava!

Renee O'Connor – I think the voice didn't quite fit, but like I said earlier, ROC's face sold the songs. Now that is true acting!!

Julie Moran – Why? Someone just tell me why!?

To be continued....

longhorn