Xena Reviews: Season 5, Episode 22

Motherhood – Director: Rick Jacobson/Story: Rob Tapert/Teleplay: R.J. Stewart

This one starts with Xena and Gabi tracking Eve through the desert after she took off last episode. Gabi’s still conflicted about Eve killing Joxer, but she can see how much Eve means to Xena. On Mount Olympus, the gods discuss what to do and Athena suggests sending the Furies to get inside Gabi’s head. Desert nomads attack Eve, remembering her depredations as Livia, forcing Xena and Gabi to fight them off. After the fight, the Furies get inside Gabi’s mind and poison her thoughts against Eve.

A desert dweller stumbles across them and invites them to her home after finding out who they are. Gabi tells the nomads about Eli (whose philosophy they follow), but Eve believes she’s beyond any hope of redemption (and the Furies make Gabi think that too). Eve is taken to see the Baptist, who cleanses her in Eli’s name, giving her a new mission as his messenger. Xena is struck by a pillar of fire sent by the archangel Michael, who tells her she has a mission too … defend the Messenger of Eli. The gods show up to kill Eve, but Xena wastes Poseidon, Discord, and Hephaestus, demonstrating that she now has the power to kill gods.

Xena, Gabi, and Eve take off (bringing Hephaestus’s chains with them) and Athena tells the remaining gods not to be so hasty. She’s sure the Furies will turn Gabi against Eve, but says they could use a distraction. Xena and Eve explain their new missions to Gabi, but Eve isn’t sure where to start. Xena suggests she make amends to someone she wronged, so they go to see Virgil. He’s not in a forgiving mood and tries to kill Eve to avenge Joxer, but Xena stops him. Virgil leaves to catch up with Meg and the rest of the family, who are headed to Athens. They stay at Joxer and Meg’s inn, where Eve reads Gabi’s scrolls and Xena later notices Ares outside. She goes to confront him, leaving Gabi to secure the back. Gabi runs into the ghosts of Joxer and Hope, who urge her to kill Eve. (I think this is the Furies’ influence, since Joxer wouldn’t tell Gabi to kill someone.) When Ares tells Xena he loves her, she realizes he’s trying to distract her and runs back inside, just in time to see Gabi stab Eve. Xena reacts instinctively and takes Gabi out with her chakram.

Xena quickly realizes the Furies were behind Gabi’s attack on Eve and feels terrible for almost killing Gabi. Eve and Gabi are in bad shape, but Xena has to fight the gods when they show up to finish Eve. Aphrodite takes Gabi into the back, while Xena defends Eve from the gods. After killing Hades, Xena takes Eve into the back, telling Aphrodite to take care of her. (Aphrodite just gives her dirty looks, so I guess it’s only Gabi she cares about, giving all the Gaphrodite fans something to sink their teeth into.) Ares shows up to kill Eve and Aphrodite does nothing to stop him, but Xena (who has just wasted Deimos) disarms him and cuts his leg, so he takes off. The inn burns down and Xena drags Gabi and Eve outside. Aphrodite shows up again and says she can’t heal without Athena’s blessing, but agrees to take them all to Olympus.

In Olympus, Xena tells Aphrodite to leave before things get too intense. She runs into Ares and decides not to kill him, but does shoot him in the leg with a crossbow and bind him with the chains of Hephaestus. Dragging Gabi, Eve, and Ares into the main hall, Xena tells Athena she’ll leave the remaining gods alone if Athena heals Gabi and Eve. Artemis tries to ambush them and Xena kills her, which makes Athena attack. Xena tries to kill Athena, but has lost her god-slaying ability because Eve is dead. Ares wriggles out of the chains and revives Eve and Gabi, which enables Xena to kill Athena. Turns out Ares gave up his immortality to revive Gabi and Eve, which is why he didn’t need Athena’s approval. Xena thanks Ares and they head back to the mortal realm. Gabi forgives Eve for killing Joxer and Xena is happy they finally have their daughter back.

This is a really good episode (#17 on my all-time list), that completes Eve’s transformation from Livia back to Xena’s daughter and the messenger of Eli. Xena’s god-killing power is cool and it’s great to see her taking out gods left and right. Some fans think she was too ruthless, but she did give Athena several chances to walk away, which Athena refused to do. Xena can’t bring herself to kill Ares, which is a wise decision since he ends up saving Gabi and Eve (and Xena, since Athena would’ve killed her otherwise). Of course, Ares may have had a more practical reason for giving up his immortality, since he probably knows Xena won’t kill him once he’s no longer a god. There’s a scene near the end where Xena is hugging the revived Gabi and Eve and Ares looks at them, then looks down at Athena’s dead body. I think seeing Xena with her family is reminding him that he doesn’t have much family left, other than Aphrodite.

Speaking of Aphrodite, it’s cool to see her affection towards Gabi here. She gets Gabi out of harm’s way during the big fight and takes them to Olympus, knowing that Xena’s probably going to kill more gods. Even when the gods are discussing what to do about Xena, Aphrodite stands apart from them, and she’s the only one who objects to using the Furies against Gabi. A lot of fans took issue with Xena using the chakram on Gabi, but I think it was just her instincts taking over when she saw Eve threatened. Originally, they wanted to do it so Xena could only see a shadow of someone about to stab Eve, without knowing it was Gabi. But the way the set was constructed made that impossible, so they had to have Xena enter the room before throwing the chakram. Like I said, I think it was pure instinct, and it’s obvious she immediately regretted it.

Noticeable Things:

• I’m not sure where they’re supposed to be at the beginning of the episode. Given the desert landscape, they could be in North Africa, or maybe even the Middle East (since the Baptist was hanging around). But I think North Africa makes the most sense, since it’s across the Mediterranean from Italy and Poseidon would be more likely to rise from that sea than an inland body of water like the Sea of Galilee.
• We get more dragging in this episode: Eve is dragged by the nomads (and we see her catch Xena’s chakram again, although she doesn’t use it); and after Gabi is wounded, Xena drags her around by the arm for the rest of the episode. I’m assuming it’s actually a dummy being dragged, not Renee (although it’s still nowhere near as bad as the original Gab Drag).
• Deimos is killed when Xena drops a cart on his head in the big fight. Why was there a cart inside the inn? Since Joxer set the place up as a shrine to Xena and Gabi, I suspect the cart was a replica of the one Eve supposedly died in.
• Aphrodite starts out wearing her usual white outfit, but after the gods start dying she switches to black (which looks pretty damn good on her).

Favourite Quotes:

• “And now she’s lost, just as I was. But I got lucky, ’cause I found you.” Xena letting Gabi know that Eve deserves a second chance.
• “Gabrielle, you’re the most pure thing in my life, and you are my greatest hope.” Xena letting Gabi and Eve know how much they mean to her.
• “You shot me! I’m the God of War! Nobody shoots the God of War!” Ares expressing incredulity after Xena puts a crossbow bolt in his leg.
• “No, we got our daughter back.” Xena letting Gabi know that Eve is as much her daughter as Xena’s.