Lord Nelson's Review of:

Sacrifice - Parts 1 & 2
&
Adventures in the Sin Trade - Parts 1 & 2

The episodes Sacrifice 1 and 2 as well as Adventures in the Sin Trade 1 and 2 are the four most important in the entire series of Xena: Warrior Princess. They signify the emotional nadir of Xena of Amphipolis and the beginning of her ultimate triumph over evil. She has had her greatest victory over her own self hatred. Her new love of herself will spread throughout the Xenaverse leading to the destruction of evil and possibly the end of the gods as we know them. This all came from Xena's realization that Gabrielle's example had given Xena HER OWN light! Her denial of her self worth is over. She can stop living in the past. Xena of Amphipolis can now live forever in the present, and use that to build a NEW personality and to use that new personality to create her magnificent new life. Life to Xena is no longer a "Bar room joke, as she described it bitterly in The Furies. It is now full of importance, depth, bliss, and meaning. All the horrible events of the rift, Gabrielle's sacrifice of her blood innocence, her ravishment by Dahok, the birth of Hope, the death of Solon, and Gabrielle's sacrifice were ALL directed at this single grand moment. When the scales fell from Xena's eyes and she saw her own inner beauty she was reborn yet again, and she was reborn into a being of incredible spiritual power and beauty.

"Fate is a wheel, and all will reveal..." The key to Xena finally making this grand realization is of course, Gabrielle. The pressure placed on the Bard was unendurable. Gabrielle's strong character was presented in Sacrifice the emergence of a cult that at first she and Xena thought was devoted to Callisto, but to the horror of both Xena and Gabrielle, it turned out to be Gabrielle's own child, Hope. Fate presented Gabrielle, the devoted madness of one of her childhood friends, Seraphim whose purpose in life had been perverted by Dahok into sacrificing her life's blood for his emergence onto earth. Xena is confronted with a Shamanistic ritual at the beginning of Sacrifice that after the events of Sin Trade must have caused Xena great pain and fear. She knew how powerful the world of the spirit was. The sacrifice of human blood has immense spiritual power and is surely worthy of that fear. Soon thereafter Callisto finds Hope gestating in a pod and brings her the Priest of the Flesh in Sacrifice.

Gabrielle though knows that she must use Seraphim to find Hope. Gabrielle tells Seraphim that she is Hope's mother. In a wonderful scene, Seraphim tries to convince Gabrielle to reunite with Hope, but Gabrielle is full of pain and terribly mixed feelings. Gabrielle tells Seraphim that Xena's out to kill her daughter. Seraphim appeals to Gabrielle's maternal instincts and Gabrielle seems to give in, but even though it hurts tremendously, Gabrielle does lead Xena to Hope. But Ares has switched sides. He manifests himself to Gabrielle, calls in her marker for asking him to send her to Chin ahead of Xena and takes her to the Fates. There Gabrielle is told that if Xena kills Hope, Xena's life thread will be cut.

It is Gabrielle's dilemma that drives the rest of the story. The story's entire point is to put intense pressure on Gabrielle to decide HOW to kill hope and save Hope must die, but if she does, Xena dies too. Gabrielle cannot tolerate that. When Xena does get to Hope's pod, Xena's at the point of Destroying the pod, when wounded in the fighting around the pod, Seraphim spreads her own blood upon the Pod beginning Hope's rebirth. Unable to prevent that, Xena charges, but Gabrielle comes out of nowhere and tackles Xena preventing her from striking. Hope grows and emerges from the pod, where to everybody's total surprise, she is the exact double of her mother.

"It's strange. The person I most love in all the world and the person I most hate, look exactly the same." The duality of Gabrielle and Hope is an important symbol. Good has its opposite Evil implied within it. The struggle that every person must undergo to attain spiritual wisdom is to see that there is no difference between the two. This doesn't imply not taking action against evil, but it does imply the acceptance of its existence. To accept evil is to detach oneself from it---to end the desire to defeat it. Desire is Xena's greatest weakness as been shown repeatedly since The Debt.

In the second ep of the two, more and more pressure is put on Gabrielle to decide. Xena is terribly angry at Gabrielle at first for stopping her from killing Hope---thinking at first that she was more concerned with her feelings for her daughter than the greater good. Gabrielle explains herself, and Xena eases up. Xena tells Gabrielle that her life doesn't count---she would gladly die to kill Hope. Gabrielle acknowledges that but it is totally clear from her face that she will not allow Xena's death.

But what is she to do? What is Gabrielle to DO?? In the final fight in the Halls of War next to the flaming pit of Dahok, Xena, having been given the Hind's Blood Dagger by Joxer. (who came through brilliantly in a complex part of Xena's plan) drives off Ares, who is now protecting Hope, and fights massively against Hope's power to get to her. Gabrielle after defeating many of the disciples of Hope in the halls, sees that Xena is approaching Hope inexorably. Gabrielle has no more time. Gabrielle sees that Hope is distracted. She vaults to her daughter's side, wraps Hope up in a hug and carries her over the brink into the pit. Xena sees, yells Gabrielle's name, and the last thing Xena sees is the most important look of intense love in the history of television. Gabrielle loves Xena more than her daughter, Gabrielle loves Xena more than her own life. This is the culmination of Gabrielle's life until now. XENA MUST LIVE, even at the cost of her own life. This one act of altruism will be the cause of Xena's spiritual rebirth.

Xena, turns and takes out her initial rage and grief on Callisto whose final behavior will remain inexplicable for all time, by stabbing her with the hind's blood dagger, giving Callisto what she wanted.

These two episodes were a tremendous team effort Sacrifice 1 was written by Steve Sears, and Sacrifice 2 by Paul Robert Coyle. Sacrifice 2 was directed by Rick Jacobson, Sacrifice 1 was directed by David Warry-Smith. Sacrifice 1 was edited by Jim Prior, while Sacrifice 2 was directed by Robert Field. Somehow, the two teams meshed perfectly. Their styles were nearly identical. That style was one of intense, claustrophobic focus. It's photographed in dark tones, dark lighting, narrow focus. Even the exteriors look as if they were shot in a bottle. The atmosphere is oppressive, and perfect for this story. All I can say is that this story was intended to put Gabrielle in a vise. When the denouement comes it is like being hit in the belly with a sledgehammer. Gabrielle's decision felt utterly inevitable.

Everybody in Sacrifice was superb, but this was foremost Renee O'Connor's episode. She delivers the performance of her life in an incredibly taxing dual role. She is cold, dead, ruthless as Hope, and profoundly conflicted as Gabrielle. She uses minute changes in her expression and posture to express this and she's awesome at it. The situation could be considered melodramatic but Renee's performance made it all too real. The look Renee delivers at the moment of Gabrielle's sacrifice is heart wrenchingly beautiful. This is an Emmy worthy performance. Lucy is given a far easier job to do. Xena is struggling against her rage with Hope, Callisto, and Ares. Her rage is SO intense that it even effects her focus. Gabrielle has to remind her. Lucy does a fabulous job of portraying a barely capped volcano. Xena is a flood of lava, a boulder rolling down hill, a runaway train that somehow Gabrielle must divert. Lucy's portrayal of Xena at the end of Callisto's life is complex, subtle and beautiful.

Ted Raimi is excellent as Joxer in Sin Trade 2. Joxer's love for both Xena and Gabrielle is so intense that his delusion is left behind. He is even able to USE his reputation as a bumbler to his and the mission's advantage. Ted's anguish at Gabrielle's sacrifice is beautifully portrayed. Hudson, in her last performance as Callisto, plays her part with an almost desperate resignation, the love she expresses for Xena at her death is both disturbing and touching. Kevin Smith is his oily best as the ultimate survivor, Ares.

The fighting in both halves of Sacrifice is incredibly intense, earnest, and wonderfully done. This is real fighting for the fate of the universe, and it is extremely exciting and horrifying. The last sequence before the sacrifice, cutting between Xena's slow, agonizing charge at Hope and the Fates, whose blades are around Xena's life thread is tremendously suspenseful. Sacrifice is a fitting, intensely powerful, sad, yet hopeful conclusion to season 3 of Xena: Warrior Princess.

Sacrifice leaves us with two questions: Firstly, will we get Gabrielle back? Secondly, and most importantly, what will Xena do? Will she go mad and become the Destroyer of Nations again as she did after M'Lila's death? Or will she honor Gabrielle's memory? We will see in the ethereal, expansive, gorgeous, intensely uplifting and absolutely fabulous "Adventures in the Sin Trade."

The events of this astonishing journey into Xena's mind and heart are very well known, having been expertly laid out by Bluesong and Missy Good. However, what cannot be expressed in a simple synopsis is the tremendous emotional and spiritual resonance achieved by this story. In it, we see the actual rebirth of Xena of Amphipolis from the half world of light and dark in which she had been living since the beginning of the show, into the brilliant, transforming, and magnificent universe of light.

When we first see Xena, she is riding Argo with a crazed, desperate expression. There is madness in her eyes. She searches down Hades and finds out that Gabrielle isn't IN his domain, but somewhere else. Xena reasons that since Gabrielle was initiated into the Amazons, she must be in THEIR land of the dead. Hades confirms that Amazons don't come to him.

The next thing we see is a sensitive and sad parting between Xena and Argo. Something is going on, the Warrior and her horse are inseparable. Xena rides off on a black horse even more desperate than before. Then we see Xena hunting. It is a miserable day, raining and cold. I figure she is hungry. But there is something strange going on. Xena's eyes are hooded, and she is making convulsive movements and waving her hands over her kill. Then suddenly she looks up. Gabrielle's voice is on the wind calling her name. She takes the kill back to a cave where she's sheltering and not only dresses it to eat, she starts making clothing out of the hide. It is strange clothing. "Gabrielle, I'm entering into a world of darkness I promised myself I'd never return to. It's the only way I can see you. My mind has lost its center. It's churning---churning."

Suddenly her mind flashes back to a time just after she'd left Chin after meeting Lao Ma. She is rutting with Borias under a bear skin. They discuss the Amazons when a crone, dressed in the same kind of rawhide robes as Xena was making. Her name is Alti, a shamaness and she brings an apprentice who she introduces to Xena. She says she was once an amazon and that she was expelled because her power was too great. When Xena hears the word POWER she immediately becomes interested, setting off a chain of horrible events that will give her the name Destroyer of Nations. It also drives straight into the deep, dark, bleeding wound in Xena's soul.

This is the crux of the entire story. Lao Ma taught Xena an ALTERNATIVE view of life. A view where the gods are weak or non existent, and where PEOPLE have the power because they can channel the energies of the universe themselves. Alti reinforced this, but in another of RJ Stewart's tremendous campfire scenes, she explains that Lao Ma's teachings wasn't for Xena. Lao Ma was denial, self-sacrifice and the light. Alti wants to use the darkness, the sheer naked will that lies behind all life---hatred and violence. Alti wants to be face of death itself, capable of destroying a person's body and their souls. Xena and Alti had even done that to get into the land of the dead. Xena and Alti had sacrificed and innocent man to get his power to do it. Borias is horrified. "Borias, we've killed so many. What's one more corpse?" Xena asks with sterile coldness.

This then is Xena's wound. She once thought that people were just fuel for her rage and hate. Atreus, Cortiz, Caesar, and Ming Tien had thought darkness to her well. But Lyceus, M'Lila, Lao Ma, and Gabrielle had taught her well too, and the last and most powerful lesson was Gabrielle sweeping Hope into the pit and her certain death. XENA MUST LIVE AT ALL COSTS!!

Xena found a dead amazon, pinioned to a tree with a stake. She defeated the girl's killers and gave her a decent amazon burial by fire. She takes the opportunity to sacrifice the horse, drink its blood and enter the land of the dead, where she discovers another important woman from her past, Cyan, the queen of the steppe amazons. Xena had killed her, but she and her tribe are trapped in the land of the dead, unable to find their final rest in eternity. Alti had worked vengeance upon them AFTER their death and stranded their souls in this magnificent, dry, snowy, mountainous, purgatory. Alti is STILL ALIVE and holding the amazons there. Xena asks Cyan whether or not she'd seen Gabrielle. Cyan, bitter and angry at Xena still says no but she also says she's not there. She points to a distant volcano saying she must have passed through into eternity through the portal there.

Xena begins to follow but Xena didn't realize something until this very moment. Gabrielle's death had ripped the scales from her eyes. Gabrielle was the greatest thing that ever happened to Xena. Gabrielle gave Xena's life meaning and joy. The teachings of Lao Ma and Alti had given Xena spiritual tools that she suddenly turns on herself. She gets the magnificent insight that GABRIELLE HAD GIVEN XENA HER OWN LIGHT!! Xena now knows at last down in the deepest part of her gut that what a person does doesn't make her as a person. Xena's past crimes didn't make her evil. XENA IS AND ALWAYS WAS GOOD!" She was just dreadfully ill and confused in the past.

The atmosphere of the scene changes. It was harsh, the light was slightly bluish. It changes to a softer, though just as bright golden glow. Xena had after the terrible suffering of her past had finally grown out of her shame. Her past was dead. She found her center. At that moment, Xena's NEED for Gabrielle ended. She decides to honor Gabrielle's memory by rescuing the spirits of the dead amazons. Even though she hears Gabrielle's voice on the wind, she sacrifices her desire for Gabrielle and embarks on a mission to defeat Alti, and get the new holy word that would release Cyan and her tribe. Xena will use Alti's own power, the power of the spirit.

This scene filled me with almost inexpressible joy. This is Xena's greatest triumph! The moment I'd prayed for had finally arrived. Xena's denial of her own self worth was over. There will be no more struggling with the pain of the past. The wound in her gut is healing at last. As a friend of mine said, at last Xena had internalized Gabrielle.

When Xena's trance ends, she finds herself surrounded by a group of very young amazons. They offer Xena the chance to kill one of the men she'd defeated earlier but in an act of compassion she frees him and sends him to tell Alti, that she's coming. Everything about Xena has changed. Yes she's still focused. She's even more powerful than before. However, her body language is totally different. She's easy in her own skin. There is a new kind of serenity there, there's a kind of joy there. It's a tribute to Lucy Lawless' stupendous performance that she's able to show such a grand change so subtlely and beautifully. Xena of Amphipolis is an all new woman!

When she and her new amazon friends take on Alti's minions, and her avatar the Berserker, Alti begins using Xena's memories against her. Those memories have always been Xena's greatest weakness. With her legs in dire pain from the memory of when Caesar broke her legs, she fights and BEATS the Berserker in a fabulous fight on horseback. Alti's stratagem has failed. Xena's new strength beat Alti who was present in the Berserker's horse. When Xena talks about the next battle, she claims that this power of Alti to make her relive her past is a TOUGHIE! Just like Gabrielle would have! Xena doesn't need Gabrielle anymore, she's WITH HER ALWAYS!

Sin Trade 2 is the spiritual war against Alti. She recruits the Steppe amazons as soldiers of this war. In a sweat lodge she relates to Oteri the story of the time she spent with Cyan and the Amazons. Cyan is an immensely powerful person spiritually and physically. She demonstrates this by EASILY defeating an attack by Xena by litterally willing Xena's clothes off her back.

Xena also begins making amends to the amazons for what she did to them. First, in a lovely sensitive scene in a sweat lodge, Xena confesses to The tribe's leader Oteri in that her army had killed her father. Oteri says Xena taught her how to stay alive. Xena waves that away saying "The only thing that monster I used to be was to teach you how to stay dead. I cannot ask your forgiveness. I'm asking to help you build a new life. That's what my friend Gabrielle did for me." Oteri agrees, and Xena sheds tears of joy. Lucy is awesome in this scene. Xena's new personality comes to the fore with soft, sweet expressions. Gentle, loving, regretful, patient and immensely compassionate, she shows her new leadership method. In the past she led by her force of personality, manipulation, or brute force. Now she leads by teaching compassion and love.

The great spiritual duel begins. Xena teaches the Dance of the Spirit to the amazons just in time to help them ward off an attack by tormented souls sent by Alti. The souls possess the amazons and Xena renders the amazons unconscious by force and helps them to rid them of their possessors. When the spirits are defeated, she rewards all the girls with words of deep praise, a method that is new to Xena.

Xena starts a story for her new friends. In it, Cyan offers Xena membership in the amazons. Cyan tells Xena that they live for each other. Not long after Alti seduces her with the world. She even says that Xena could beat Caesar with the spiritual power Alti offers. Cyan arrives just as Alti says they need to destroy the Amazons. Cyan and Alti lock spirits and Cyan wins Xena wants to know how. "Join us and know life, Xena. Join Alti and know death." Cyan tells her.

That night the Alti herself comes again in the form of a poisonous spider. At first Alti manifests herself as Gabrielle, who appears first as the spider's head then as all of herself floating above her. Then Gabrielle is replaced by Alti who demands to know who the blonde one is. Xena resists. Alti shows Xena more of her past, including a curse on Solon while he was still in Xena's body. This is far from ridiculous. This is an eerie, terrifying scene, featuring powerhouse effects, for it leaves Xena unconscious. But it also shows us that Alti is terrified too---of Gabrielle's power over Xena's heart. Poor Solon never felt the love of her mother or father, but Alti underestimated Xena while she was exclaiming the opposite.

Then Xena takes the biggest risk of the entire storyline. When the amazons arrive at the site where Cyan died. She admits the single greatest crime she ever committed. Alti has one Xena's allegiance. Xena with cold enjoyment, invades an Amazon funeral attended by all the leaders of the tribe and kills them---all of them. This led to the destruction of the Amazon nation save her new friends, She loves killing them with all her heart. It is the worst thing we have ever seen Xena do. Yet Xena has the courage to take responsibility for her crime, in front of the people she most hurt. She trusts them to do the right thing and join Xena in fighting Alti despite Xena's perfidy. This is another triumph for the new Xena! The old Xena wouldn't have had the courage to abase herself so.

Xena senses the approach of Alti's forces. While the amazons are still in shock from Xena's admission, she puts the pinch on all of them, claiming that Alti is too close, there is no time for a ritual. Xena puts the pinch on herself too Xena's spirit leaves her body she implores the Amazons' spirit to join her, and even though Xena attacked them without warning, they do. and the battle is joined.

The fight is the wildest thing ever shown on Xena for it takes place floating among the fir trees. They are wraiths on the wind. Alti tries to kill Xena by experiencing her own death. To do that she starts showing Xena what her future could be like. Scene after scene of Xena fighting and being beaten shown to Xena. Then in absolutely stunning scene, begun by showing Xena being placed on a crucifixion cross in a polished metal shield beside her is Gabrielle being placed on a similar cross. Xena and Gabrielle look serene, almost in complete bliss; they will be together in death. It is a sweet, terrifying sequence. In the vision, nails are driven home in Xena's hands. Stigmata appear on Xena's real body. Alti clearly has Xena nearly beaten, but showing Gabrielle dying in the future was a mistake. GABRIELLE IS STILL ALIVE! Xena takes heart and in an incredible sequence, she kicks Alti all the way across the woods, drives her onto a stake and kills Alti's spirit. Even though Xena is triumphant, her face clearly shows her regret over Alti's death. Xena loves killing no more. Alti's body dies soon after. The war is over.

Xena quickly relieves her own pinch and the pinches on the amazons. The new word is LOVE! That is what Xena felt when she saw Gabrielle on the cross. Cyan and the dead amazons are released. Xena has given rest to an entire nation. It is by far the greatest good she has ever done. GABRIELLE IS ALIVE!! The healed stigmata are proof that's true.

I've written a lot on these four stunning episodes. Sin Trade is the nearly opposite of Sacrifice. It is open, grand, sweeping, epic and incredibly beautiful. TJ Scott was the PERFECT director for Sin Trade. His wild camera angles and movements, may make some seasick, but here they express Xena's agitation and the otherworldly atmosphere of the story to great GREAT effect. He uses locations and filters on his camera lenses to set mood and display emotion. His simple filter change at the time of Xena's realization of what she's done for herself, made that moment utterly unforgettable. It also showed how incredibly important Xena's insight was. The scenery and the constant rain added to the otherworldly atmosphere, and greatly succeeded in suspending my disbelief.

Without Rob Field's grand editing, this episode wouldn't have made any sense. Some of the cuts in the final flying fight reminded me of his incredible work in the first season ep Callisto, and it added greatly to the sensitive scenes. Even the parting of Xena and Argo was memorable because Rob knew when to cut to the horse's eyes. I really don't know much about editing, but Sin Trade was a daunting project, and Rob did his best job ever.

Are there any more superlatives for Lucy Lawless? We've heard all the stories about how uncomfortable she was during the shooting of this episode. She was cold, wet, tired, and away from her family, friends and Renee for nearly a month. She was so exhausted she considered resigning. Yet Lucy turns in the greatest performance of her career. It was a feat of precision, sensitivity, and endurance the like of which we will never see on TV again, unless it's once for from Lucy. Every scene was just right. She used her mobile face and her absolute control over her body to show us CLEARLY that Xena had undergone a revolutionary spiritual epiphany. She must have used the joy of her recent wedding to infuse Xena with her new found ecstatic abilities and serenity. Her generosity clearly elevated the performances of the supporting cast. I was never happier in my life for Xena than I was in Sin Trade, and largely that falls back onto the strong shoulders this remarkable young performer from Mount Albert, New Zealand. I can't say enough about her. She must get some kind of acting award from somebody. It is a massive injustice that she doesn't.

The supporting cast was fantastic as well. Claire Stansfield was the most disgustingly power mad villain in the history of the show. She delivered her lines with such delicious malice that I wanted her dead immediately. There was no hope for redeeming Alti's dead soul. I was especially impressed by the professional fitness competitor Vicky Pratt as Cyan. Given a wonderful character to play, Vicky showed great sensitivity and truth as well as a superb body. I hope they use her again as a woman warrior. She was nearly perfect The clothing exchange scene was as hot as could be endured. Lucy also helped draw out a strong performance from the pretty young actress Sheri Rappaport who played Oteri. Oteri learned from Xena well, and Sheri showed that growth. She was an endearing figure. So too was Kari Elliot as Yakut, the young amazon shaman. The scene echoing the Day in the Life punch test, was as sweet and funny as I've seen two young women do. Their spontaneity lent the "Amazonettes" a feeling of community and love that greatly aided the plot.

Lastly, the incredible skills of Rob Tapert and RJ Stewart cannot be praised enough. Having Xena experienced shamanism as a bookend to the Taoism of Lao Ma was a master stroke. Now Xena has the confidence to leave the Greek Gods behind. Now she has the spirit of all of reality behind her and the confidence and experience to use them. She STILL has the hinds blood dagger. The Gods must be shaking in their boots.

The script also showed GREAT psychological sophistication. The end of Xena's self hatred was depicted in a tremendously logical, sensitive, joyful, and hopeful way. They us showed through Xena the power of love and faith to save the worst of sinners. The watchword was compassion, and Xena was treated with as much compassion as she herself dispensed. All of it was wrapped in sweet and TRUE dialog, dialog that swept us into Xena's heart while it healed. I've never experienced anything like this from television. Sin Trade is yet another example why I think Xena is the best written show on television.

Xenastaff somehow succeeded in topping The Debts. Everybody from N'gila Dickson to Robert Gillies to the gang at Flat Earth deserve a double cyber scotch. (I usually give that to Rob Field) The four episodes of Sacrifice and Adventures in the Sin Trade clearly go to the top of my greatest Xena episodes. Together they are the greatest thing I've ever seen. I applauded and cried at the end of both Sacrifice 2, Sin Trade 1 and Sin Trade 2 At last Xena can find her bliss. She has found her real power, and now she can use that power to HEAL evil as well as defeat it.

Xena Warrior Princess again challenges us. It still edifies us. It still AMAZES us with it's intelligence, compassion, and fun. GODS I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!!

Return to Lord Nelson's Reviews