Xena Reviews: Season 2, Episode 14

A Necessary Evil – Director: Mark Beesley/Writer: Paul Robert Coyle

This one starts not long after last episode, with Gabi giving Ephiny the rulership of the Amazons. (Technically, Gabi is still Queen, but Ephiny will be her Regent.) Velasca shows up, bleeding from her numerous wounds, and eats some of the ambrosia, becoming a god. She hasn’t lost her mortal emotions though, and blames Gabi for not letting her become Queen (and trying to kill her in the ambrosia chamber, even though that was really Xena in Gabi’s body). Velasca goes nuts and destroys the Amazon village, causing everyone to run for safety.

Xena asks Ephiny and the other Amazons to delay Velasca while they go for help. Xena knows they need an immortal to fight an immortal and suggests they enlist Callisto. (We last saw Callisto being consigned to Tartarus in Intimate Stranger, but she was revived in an episode of Hercules—now with immortality—and trapped in the Labyrinth of the Gods.) Gabi’s really not happy about working with the woman who slaughtered her husband, but she realizes they don’t have much choice (and that Xena wouldn’t suggest it if there were another way). Ephiny and the Amazons lure Velasca into a pit trap and fill her full of arrows, but that barely even slows her down. Xena goes to the cave where Callisto is trapped and tells her about Velasca having the ambrosia. Callisto is intrigued at the idea of becoming a god, so she agrees to help.

As soon as Callisto gets out of the cave, she starts taunting Gabi about Perdicus, knowing her immortality protects her from reprisal (although Xena does mention that she might chop her into tiny pieces and let her live out eternity that way). Before agreeing to accompany them, Callisto forces Xena to stand in the marketplace of the nearest village and confess how she destroyed Callisto’s village of Cirrha and ruined her life. While tracking Gabi, Velasca makes a quick detour to destroy a temple to Artemis, the goddess the Amazons worship. Xena, Gabi, and Callisto lead Velasca into a narrow canyon to prepare a trap for her, but Callisto decides to switch sides and join Velasca.

Xena pretends Callisto’s overture is part of the plan to defeat Velasca, which causes her to attack Callisto. Xena and Callisto fight Velasca, maneuvering her into position for Gabi to drop some rocks on her. Unfortunately, Velasca’s power has grown so much that the rocks don’t kill her, and won’t even hold her for long, necessitating a more permanent solution. In camp that night, Gabi asks Callisto what she felt when Xena was confessing her sins in the village and Callisto claims she felt nothing. Callisto torments Gabi about Perdicus again, causing her to run off crying. Xena tells Callisto about some ruins with a lava stream on the other side where she hopes to lead Velasca. The next day, Velasca transforms into a whirlwind to speed up her pursuit of Gabi. At the ruins, Xena makes plans to lure Velasca to a rope bridge over the lava stream. Callisto knows Xena’s not going to just let her walk away with the ambrosia, but Xena says they need to concentrate on stopping Velasca first, then Callisto can have her shot at godhood. Velasca shows up in whirlwind form and starts dragging Gabi toward her.

Xena saves Gabi from the whirlwind and Gabi leads Velasca to the rope bridge. Velasca tosses Xena right across the bridge, where she ends up clinging to the cliff. Before Velasca can finish Gabi, Callisto jumps her, trying to get the ambrosia. She cuts the pouch containing the ambrosia loose and Gabi grabs it, getting kicked out onto the bridge. Gabi clings to the bridge as Callisto comes out to demand the ambrosia. Xena tells Gabi to hand it over, so she does, and Callisto eats it. As Callisto’s godly powers kick in, she and Velasca start fighting on the bridge, tossing lightning at each other. Gabi urges Xena to cut the bridge ropes, but Xena wants to anchor herself to a rock with some rope first. Xena cuts the bridge rope, sending Callisto and Velasca plummeting into the lava flow. Xena swings out and catches Gabi just as she starts falling, pulling her to safety. Gabi wonders if Callisto feels any remorse for everything she’s done and Xena says no way. But Gabi wants to believe Callisto feels sorry for her deeds, so Gabi can forgive her and move on with her own life.

This episode isn’t really one of my favourites (it’s #105 on my all-time list); it’s not really a terrible episode, and I like that Gabi is kinda the focus of it, but it just leaves me a bit cold. Velasca’s reason for being a villain is even less clear than it was last episode and her craziness is really amped up here. The whole idea of having Gabi be the target of Velasca’s wrath is interesting, but maybe could’ve been done better. Gabi doesn’t actually get to do much in this episode; she mainly just runs away from Velasca and puts up with Callisto’s bullshit. Yeah, Gabi does lure Velasca to the bridge (and urges Xena to cut it), but she’s more passive than active overall. To paraphrase Xena, Gabi is reacting instead of acting. I would’ve preferred it if Gabi had been the one to cut the bridge ropes, trusting Xena to save her before she fell (though I’m not sure what that would’ve done to her blood innocence). There’s also not a lot of suspense to the episode; we know Callisto will try to betray Xena in the first fight, just as we know Xena will anticipate that and have a way to counter it. It’s also pretty easy to predict the ending with both of the new gods falling into the lava.

Even Callisto seems a bit off in this one, almost sidelined to make room for Velasca and her Gabi-hate. Callisto telling Gabi she felt nothing during Xena’s public confession is interesting. After Xena is done speaking, Calllisto does look troubled, almost like she’s going to cry. But is that sadness for her lost family, or elation that she got Xena to publicly humiliate herself? I think it’s more likely that Callisto was telling Gabi the truth … she really didn’t feel anything at Xena’s confession. Callisto expected to feel triumph, to revel in Xena’s mea culpa; realizing she was so emotionally damaged that she couldn’t even feel happy at Xena’s public shaming was what really bothered her. Gabi tried to connect with Callisto in the campfire scene, but Callisto turned it around to hurt Gabi.

Most interesting to me is what the episode means for Xena and Gabi’s relationship. Last episode, Xena let Gabi know how she felt about her with that kiss, something Gabi is probably still processing. But I think Gabi’s comment at the end about needing to believe there was some good in Callisto (so she could forgive her and move on) was Gabi’s way of telling Xena (and herself) that she might be ready to consider a new relationship. We’ll see more of that as the season goes on, but this is Gabi we’re talking about … she won’t commit to something that big without weighing all the pros and cons first. She’s much less impulsive than Xena in matters of the heart. As we’ll see in future episodes, Gabi hasn’t completely forgiven Callisto, but I think she’s genuine in her desire to move past the resentment here.

Noticeable Things:

• In the initial fight with Velasca, there’s a part where Xena gets hurt (with a dislocated shoulder); that was written to cover for Lucy, who was still recovering from her accident. But apparently she was fine during the filming, so Xena just pops her shoulder back in by bashing it against a cave wall. I get the feeling Lucy’s the type of person who would go on filming even if she was in agonizing pain.
• Callisto will be back in future episodes, but this is the last we’ll see of Velasca. In You Are There, Velasca will be mentioned as one of the people Xena has killed, so I guess she really does die here in spite of her godhood.

Favourite Quotes:

• “Does an Amazon Queen beat a Warrior Princess?” Gabi’s joke to Xena on being told she’s still technically Queen of the Amazons. Xena shuts her down with “You wanna find out?”
• “Well, the problem is, Gabrielle, I never feel anything. I mean, bits and pieces here and there, but nothing solid.” Callisto telling Gabi she felt nothing at Xena’s public confession. I think she’s telling the truth, but Gabi seems to think she really did feel something …
• “Go with it.” Gabi reacting to Velasca saying she really doesn’t want to kill her.