4-02 Adventures in the Sin Trade Part 2

First air date Oct 5, 1998.

The story starts out with scenes from Sin Trade I.

Xena and Otere are in a sweat hut made from tree limbs. Xena tells her that to defeat
Alti they need to find a new Holy Word.

Flashback to Xena looking down on the Amazon Queen Cyane, who is wearing only a thong
bottom in a sweat hut. Xena falls through the roof and before she can kill Cyane, Cyane rips Xena's
clothes from her and puts them on herself. Xena grabs a robe and runs away. Cyane is running
thorugh the tree tops after her, and then jumps down on her. But before she can kill Xena, Borias
rides up and convinces her it wouldn't help the alliance he's trying to form with the Amazons. He
tells Cyane Xena will be punished and she takes him at his word. Xena decides she need to learn
Cyane's fighting techniques.

Back to the present and Xena appoints Yakut the new shamaness. And she says they have to
do a Spirit Dance to leave their bodies to defeat Alti.

Alti dances around a fire in her own hut and draws souls from it to go to destroy the
spirits of Xena and the Amazons.

Only Xena's spirit leaves her body. Alti's spirits enter the bodies of the Amazons. Xena
goes back into her own body and fights them. When they are unconscious, the evil spirits leave
them.

Later, on the way to Alti, Xena realizes Alti's power is where the Amazons ascend to the
Land of the Dead. They camp for the night. Xena has them make a Charm Ring made of animal skulls
and blood to keep the evil spirits out.

Xena starts telling them about when Cyane wanted her to join the Amazons.

Alti tells Xena if she will join her she will be unstoppable, and anything could be in her reach -
Greece, Egypt, Rome . . . and Caesar.

Alti and Cyane had a spiritual duel and Alti was defeated. Cyane tells Xena not to put her soul
into Alti's hands because she will destroy her.

Xena falls asleep and a spider with Alti's spirit inside it gets on her face. The
spider's face changes to Gabrielle's face. Then it expands to become Gabrielle, and then she
changes into Alti. Alti wants to know who the blond woman is. Xena tells her she's goodness and
innocence and she represents what Alti can't defeat. Alti shows Xena a scene where she cursed
Xena's unborn child so he would never know the love of either parent. Then Alti turns back into the
spider and bites Xena's face.

The next morning, Xena won't wake up so they put her on a litter and use the Berserker's
horse to drag it. Later Xena wakes up and tells them Alti cursed her son because the light from his
face would turn her from the darkness.

They come to the place where Cyane was killed. The Amazons don't know how to pay tribute
to her and Xena shows them. When they want to give the tribute to Xena she tells them that she was
the one who killed Cyane.

Flashback to Xena telling the Amazon leaders she killed the dead Amazon they were
honoring and she'll out-Amazon them. They go to the trees and one by one Xena kills them with
spiked booby traps she has set. Then she kills Cyane by impaling her on a tree limb. She tells
Cyane Alti offered her a better deal (Caesar).

Alti catches Cyane's blood to give her great power.

Xena tells Otere and the rest that without leaders, the rest of Amazons were easy to
kill.

Suddenly Xena puts the Pinch on all of them, and then herself. Their spirits join with
Xena so she can fight the spiritual Alti. As they fight, Alti shows Xena futures scenes of her life
where she is being beaten up.

Then she shows her a snowy scene where Xena and Gabrielle are lying down on, and tied to, crosses.
Gabrielle's hair is very short. Xena tells Gabrielle she is the best thing in her life and
Gabrielle says she loves Xena. Spikes are driven into their hands, and present-day Xena's palms
start bleeding.

When Alti asks how it makes Xena feel that her friend is dying with her, Xena says it
makes her feel good because it means Gabrielle is alive now. With renewed strength and
determination, Spirit Xena kills Spirit Alti.

Back in her body, Xena tells Yakut the new Holy Word is Love.

In the Land of the Dead Cyane realizes Xena did as she promised and they are now able to
cross over to Eternity.

Xena leaves the Amazons in Otere's hands as their new leader and heads back home, still
with bloody holes in the palms of her hands.

...........

Good episode. Not as many flashbacks, so it was easier to follow the story.

Renee's name wasn't in the credits again even though she had a couple of wee-small
talking parts.

I thought Cyane was able to defeat Xena a bit too easy, but maybe Xena wasn't expecting
her to be so tough and resourceful.

Typical Evil Xena - wanting to know about the Amazons fighting techniques, and then using
them against them.

I guess Otere's group didn't know much about the Amazon culture since they didn't know
the Amazon tribute. I'm sure Xena, or even better, Gabrielle, could teach them what they should
know. Maybe for a future show.

Alti must not have realized that by showing Xena she had a future it meant that she
(Alti) didn't kill Xena.

I have a feeling that we'll be hearing from Alti again. Evil like that doesn't die so
easily (re: Callisto).

Not too sure about Gabrielle's short hair. Certainly a different look for her. Not
necessarily bad, but like most guys, I like long hair on women.

Looks like the Holy Word for Xena was 'Caesar' - she'll do anything, and betray anyone,
to get to him for her vengeance.

** Where was Borias when Xena was killing the Amazons? And after? **

Have to mention Cyane's (Victoria Pratt) choice of Amazon underwear. Nice thong, and even
nicer butt!

We still don't know where Gabrielle is. Or how she survived the fall into the lava pit -
we DID see two flashes where she and Hope hit the lava! But hopefully, all will be explained in the
next episode or two.

In the interview clip, Lucy said that if Gabrielle had been dead, Xena would have stayed
in the Land of the Dead to be with her. Rob didn't think so.

Renee said she was shadowing the director (except when the cast and crew went to the cold, snowy
mountains) to learn what she could about directing.

Co-Executive Producer Eric Gruendemann said that even though Renee wasn't in the Sin
Trade eps, she still got paid since she was one of the TOP contract actors.

Rob admitted that the Gabrielle-spider head was the worst special effect they had ever
done. But the morph from Gabrielle to Alti was very good.

I was thinking that it would be so great if somehow, someone could get together all the
flashbacks of Xena's past life, and put them together in chronological order into a movie format.

I think I liked this one better than 'Sin Trade I'.

A nine out of ten.

++++++++++++++++

Adventures in the Sin Trade II --- 9

Adventures in the Sin Trade I --- 8

Average Rating