>>
>> And the questions -
>>
>> Other than for dramatic effect, why did Velasca wait until she
>> was at the Amazon camp before eating the Ambrosia?
>
> Remember in The Quest, when Gabby and Auto show up in the place where the
> ambrosia was, Velasca says that she is glad they are there to witness the
> creation of a god? I can only assume that she wanted everyone to witness
> her transformation. However, I'm surprised that she was in good enough
> physical shape to even make it back to the village. She had fallen quite a
> distance from the top of the rope, landed on a very hard surface, with
> spikes or something sticking up. You'd think she would have been too badly
> injured to be able to walk back.
>>
Very well could be. Maybe she figured she could always eat the
Ambrosia if she felt she couldn't make it all the way back to camp.
>> What made Xena think there was more Ambrosia in Velasca's pouch?
>> And why didn't she eat all of it?
>
> We saw the amount that had fallen in The Quest (although Xena didn't) and
> how much Velsaca ate in this ep. Doesn't seem like there was much, if
> anything, left over for Callisto. Maybe Xena just made that up, hoping
> that it would get Callisto to help them. Then again, if she had been
> making it up, why did she tell Gabby to toss Callisto the pouch (while
> hanging over the lava pit) - it seems like she really thought there was
> ambrosia there. And, Velasca never said anything like "There isn't any
> more, they're just lying to you".
>>
>> How did Xena know about Callisto being imprisoned by Hercules?
>>
>> If Xena wanted a god to kill a god, why not call on Ares? Surely
>> the Olympian gods wouldn't want just anyone becoming a god and
>> challenging them (as Velasca did when she destroyed part of Artemis's
>> temple, and said that Hades would get a visit from her).
>
> I always wondered why they didn't try to summon Artemis, the patron god of
> the Amazons. Just because Velasca said she wasn't interested doesn't make
> it true. If Velasca was going to try to wipe out the Amazons or force them
> to do her bidding or whatever, you'd think Artemis would have some sort of
> interest in trying to stop her.
>>
Maybe Artemis didn't care one way or another about the Amazons. I
don't recall anything, anywhere, about why they chose her. Maybe Ares would
have been a better sponsor.
>> Why did Callisto grab the Chakram? What purpose did that serve?
>>
>> The very last scene showing Callisto and Velasca - does this mean we
>> haven't seen the last of them??
>
> I always expected a return of Velsaca at some point. Kind of disappointed
> it never happened. She made a better antagonist than some others that came
> after.
>>
>
>>
>> All in all, despite the questions, I enjoyed this one, maybe not quite as
>> much as The Quest, but enough to give it an 8 out of 10.
>>
> I agree that this is an 8, but David I am surprised that you gave it one!
> In your comments about the 2 previous episodes, I seem to recall that all
> you gave them were 8s - does this mean you have reconsidered and now agree
> with my assessment that they should have gotten 9s??? ;-)
>
Stuck on the 8's, I guess.
> I thought Velasca was not played as well in this episode as in The Quest.
> She seemed almost robotic in her movements and not as natural in her
> speech. I suppose some of that could have been Melinda Clarke's attempt to
> show Velasca trying to adapt to the transformation, but we never see
> Callisto having such problems.
>
> I thought Hudson did a great job, once again. Some wonderful lines, great
> facial expressions (I loved the little wink at Gabby, and blowing the
> errant strand of hair out of her face among others).
>
The only time I've ever seen Hudson when I didn't enjoy her was
during one of the DVD extras and she was doing the video commnetary for an
episode. I don't remember which one, fourth or fifth season maybe. She
obviously didn't remember much about the ep, and kept telling ??? to fast
forward past the scenes she wasn't in. And she wasn't that interested in
hers. But Callisto never fails to entertain.
> Something I never did understand (and we see this several times again in
> future episodes with Callisto) - why does dumping a pile of rocks on a god
> restrict them in any way? Why not just teleport (or whatever the gods do
> to suddenly appear and disappear) out of there? I can understand that
> Velasca is either just learning her new powers and/or isn't at full
> strength yet, but how does that explain Callisto's similar difficulties?
>
> Does anyone know if part of this episode was filmed before and part after
> Lucy's accident? The reason I ask is that her face seemed a bit fuller to
> me during the scene where she is telling the villagers about her army's
> attack on Cirra than in the rest of the episode.
>
I know this is going to be very confusing. I've read it over a half
dozen times and I'm still having trouble following it. And just what is IT?
It's Rob Tapert's explanation of how the shows were juggled and new ones
filmed when Lucy was hurt. So here it is (from Whoosh, naturally) --
12-26-00. Robert Tapert, in an interview with WHOOSH to be released January
1, 2001 (#52), stated the original airing order of the episodes after
DESTINY (36/212) were to be EXECUTION (41/217), BLIND FAITH (42/218), and
then A DAY IN THE LIFE (39/215). Because of Lucy Lawless' accident on the
Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the producers retooled or recast some shows in
the can and wrote a couple more shows to cover for Ms. Lawless' incapacity.
The resultant airing order was INTIMATE STRANGER (31/207) [retooled to keep
Xena in Callisto's body], TEN LITTLE WARLORDS (32/208) [retooled and re-cast
Xena with Hudson Leick], SOLSTICE CAROL (33/209) [not changed], THE XENA
SCROLLS (34/210) [not changed], HERE SHE COMES...MISS AMPHIPOLIS (35/211)
[not changed], DESTINY (36/212) [retooled to have Xena remain dead], THE
QUEST (37/213) [new show], A NECESSARY EVIL (38/214) [new show], A DAY IN
THE LIFE (39/215) [not changed], FOR HIM THE BELL TOLLS (40/216) [new show],
EXECUTION (41/217) [no change], and BLIND FAITH (42/218) [no change].
> Finally, I'm glad to see that there seems to be a renewed interest in
> these episode discussions than we have seen for several weeks. I know the
> holidays had an impact - I just hope we can continue to get folks
> interested in participating!
>
> Laura
>
