Xena Reviews: Season 3, Episode 7

The Debt Part II – Director: Oley Sassone/Story: Rob Tapert, R.J. Stewart/Teleplay: R.J. Stewart

This one starts with Gabi pleading for Ming Tien to release Xena (which he apparently promised to do when Gabi warned him about her assassination attempt), but he won’t even let Gabi see Xena. Xena is thrown in a watery dungeon with her hands and arms encased in stocks.

Gabi tries to get Ming Tien to let Xena go if she promises not to return, but he tells Gabi that Xena is a killer and always will be. We get more flashbacks as Ming Tien tells Gabi how Xena made him who he is today by impressing him with her power and lack of emotion when she kidnapped him as a child. He tells her he was ashamed of his father for being worried about losing him, saying he was a fraud compared to Xena. In the dungeon, the other prisoners give Xena some of their clothes as a sign of respect for trying to kill Ming Tien. She learns from a prisoner that Lao Ma was executed and he wonders if Lao Ma’s fabled powers were real. Xena confirms that they were and we get another flashback, with Lao Ma trying to teach Xena her telekinetic abilities. (She also shows her how something as innocuous as the raven hairpin can become a deadly weapon.) Xena can’t master the telekinesis because she can’t let go of her will, her desire, or her anger. Lao Ma says she needs to learn to serve, not just those she loves, but those she hates. Lao Ma suggests Xena serve Ming Tsu when he and his son come to visit.

Ming Tsu and Ming Tien come to dinner and Xena serves them. Ming Tsu doesn’t notice (I think he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t pay attention to the help), but Ming Tien recognizes her … although he doesn’t say anything. Xena is tempted to kill Ming Tsu when he starts talking shit about her, but she holds back and Lao Ma tells her later that it’s a good start in learning to silence her will. Lao Ma shows Xena her husband (Lao Tsu) who she keeps in a perpetual twilight state by using pressure points. Lao says he was a brutal tyrant and she keeps him that way so she can run the kingdom properly and in her own way. Xena thinks it’s unfair he gets credit for Lao Ma’s governance (and the wisdom she’s putting in a book of philosophy), but Lao Ma says as long as good is done, credit doesn’t matter. Xena finds out Ming Tien is Lao Ma’s son. In the present, Gabi tries to get Xena to promise not to kill Ming Tien, but Xena won’t even speak to her. (Gabi’s so mad she slaps Xena, which does elicit some tears.) We get more flashbacks as Xena remembers Lao Ma healing her crippled legs and the two of them engage in some aerial sex. Xena’s brought back to reality as Ming Tien sentences her to death.

Now that she’s condemned, Ming Tien allows Gabi to see Xena. Gabi’s afraid Xena will hate her and apologizes for betraying her, but Xena forgives her. We get more flashbacks as Xena tells Gabi why she feels such a debt to Lao Ma. Xena and Lao Ma’s air-sex is interrupted by Borias and Xena is so mad he betrayed her she’s ready to kill him. Lao Ma says she wants to make peace between the kingdoms (referring to Xena as her Warrior Princess), but Xena can’t let go of her anger and attacks Borias again. Lao Ma separates them and tells them to work things out before Ming Tsu shows up. Xena and Borias start banging and make some plans of their own. Ming Tsu refuses to give up his claim on Xena’s life, but the others say they have a claim too, so Xena proposes they gamble for it. Ming Tsu suggests higher stakes and Xena says whoever wins can claim a body part from the others. She wins and Borias pledges her his heart. She wants Ming Tsu’s heart too, but not metaphorically; she kills him, but when she goes after Ming Tien, Lao Ma protects him and kicks the shit out of Xena and Borias with her telekinesis. In the present, Xena tells Gabi she owes Lao Ma for betraying her principles after Lao Ma saved her and says it took a while for her words to get through. The guards show up to take Xena to her execution.

In Ming Tien’s throne room, Xena is tied down to be executed, but Lao Ma’s words come back to her and she manages to let go of her hate and anger long enough to bust loose and kick ass. She accesses the telekinetic powers and brings down the throne room around Ming Tien. Gabi gets the innocent people out, leaving Xena to deal with Ming Tien (who she says she’s not going to kill). But Ming Tien starts mouthing off and tells Xena he executed Lao Ma personally. When Xena tells him Lao Ma was his mother, he says he knew that all along; that’s why he executed her, because he knew she wouldn’t use her powers against him. Ming Tien gives her the raven hairpin, saying it was Lao Ma’s last wish that she have it. Xena gets more and more pissed off as he laughs about how Lao Ma cried before she was killed. When Gabi returns, she finds Ming Tien sitting on his throne and Xena lecturing him about how she made him small by smashing his throne room and making him lose face in front of everyone. She and Gabi take Lao Ma’s book of philosophy and leave, and Gabi tells Xena she’s glad she decided not to kill Ming Tien. But after they leave, we see the raven hairpin sticking out of Ming Tien’s skull (which Gabi couldn’t see because of the angle). So Xena lied about killing him and that lie will come back to haunt her … literally.

I like this one slightly better than Part I (which is why this episode is #94 on my all-time list), but I have some of the same problems with it as well. The flashback scenes always drag a bit for me because Gabi’s not in them. There’s also a bit less to learn about Xena in this one, except that she had the chance to turn her back on violence but chose not to. But it makes me wonder, if Lao Ma’s lesson about peace and transcending desire was so important to Xena, why did it take ten years for it to sink in? Xena tells Gabi she owes Lao Ma for showing her the way to redemption, but it sure took her a long time to get there. I guess Lao Ma planted the seed, Hercules watered it, and Gabi made it flourish. Xena also feels guilty because she showed Ming Tien how to be ruthless, so she feels responsible for all the evil he’s done and wants to clean up her mess.

The whole thing between Xena and Lao Ma is a little weird. It’s pretty obvious they were banging, and Lao refers to Xena loving her, but Xena has no problem going back to her old ways (and to Borias), so whatever love she felt for Lao Ma was nothing compared to what she feels for Gabi. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking on Lao Ma’s part, hoping she got through to Xena about giving up her will and her desires to find peace. Of course, Xena did eventually find that calm inside her, which allowed her to destroy Ming Tien’s throne room. But I wonder if she really gave up all desire? I have a hard time believing she could give up her love for Gabi, but maybe that’s what finally made the power work for her … acting out of selfless love instead of selfish desire. That theme will pop up again in the fifth season, when Xena and Gabi return to Chin. The ironic thing is, Lao Ma didn’t really want Xena to kill Ming Tien, she just wanted her to “make him small”. So Lao would’ve agreed with what Gabi did to stop Xena … which is really ironic, considering Gabi did it out of jealousy and was trying to punish Xena for caring about Lao more than her (which we’ll learn about in Forget Me Not later this season). I think Xena actually was going to walk away and leave Ming Tien alive, but when he started taunting her about killing his mother, Xena’s anger took over and she killed him. If he’d kept his mouth shut, he’d still be alive.

Gabi’s betrayal here is a little shocking, but she seems to think she’s doing it to save Xena from committing murder and screwing up her redemption. (Gabi is repressing the jealousy thing and won’t figure that out until later.) Apparently, Ming Tien told Gabi he’d let Xena go once she was captured, so that makes it a little easier to swallow; if Gabi had known her actions would get Xena executed, I don’t think she’d have acted the same way. Gabi still trusts Xena’s word and tries to get her to promise not to return, but Ming Tien says he would never trust her word and was always going to execute Xena. Gabi and Ming Tien are both basing their actions on their own conceptions of Xena; Ming Tien knows her as a ruthless killer who only cares about herself, while Gabi thinks of her as a hero and the woman she loves. My favourite part of the entire two episodes is the “scratch my nose” scene in the dungeon. Xena tells Gabi she’s mad about what she did, but she could never hate her (echoing what she said way back in The Titans). Gabi’s relief at that statement shows how much she regrets her actions and how she’s already wishing she’d done things differently. One thing I noticed was that when Xena jumps down off the stone platform into the water, Gabi immediately grabs the stock around Xena’s neck and helps her hold it up. I though that was some great symbolism because that’s what Gabi’s been doing since they met … helping Xena carry her burdens. We also get an exchange of “I love you’s” at the end, although Xena’s comes off as a bit half-hearted; I don’t think that means she loves Gabi less, she’s obviously just feeling guilty for lying about killing Ming Tien.

Noticeable Things:

• The book of philosophy that Lao Ma wrote (and allowed her husband Lao Tsu to take credit for) is the Tao Te Ching.
• Some of the doorways in Lao Ma’s palace are shaped like chakrams, which was apparently something the set designer decided to do on his own. We later find out Ares gave Xena her chakram so there’s probably no connection, but it’s an interesting parallel.

Favourite Quotes:

• “To conquer others is to know power, to conquer yourself is to know The Way.” Lao Ma’s philosophy, which Xena isn’t ready to appreciate yet.
• “Everybody’s gotta be full of something.” Xena’s response when Lao Ma points out how full of anger she is.
• “Scratch my nose.” Xena’s way of letting Gabi know she’s forgiven her. Before Gabi comes in, we see Xena sticking her finger through a knot in the wooden stock and trying to scratch her nose, so her request wasn’t just frivolous.