6-06 The Abyss

The first airing was Nov 6, 2000.

The story starts with Virgil and a man named Hosep running through the woods being chased by men
wearing boar's heads and skins. Hosep's foot gets caught in a trap and is carried away by the men.
Virgil follows them.

Gabrielle has a bow and arrow and shoots at a deer, and misses. She isn't happy about it.
Xena tells her they can have fish instead. Gabrielle decides to get their boat ready so they can
meet with Virgil and Hosep.

They are on the river and see Virgil's campsite and land the canoe. It is deserted.
Gabrielle notices there is blood everywhere. Xena finds a sword with a skull on it and says they
escaped in their canoes while running for their lives.

Virgil sees Hosep tied around a pole used for a spit and he is covered with mud and being
cooked alive. Virgil runs away.

X&G are back in the canoe. Gabrielle yells for Virgil. She is still blaming herself for
killing Korah. She says she has the reflexes of a warrior but not the judgment. She yells for
Virgil again. They find Virgil's canoe broken to pieces. Xena says they are being watched. They
keep heading down river toward a waterfall.

Virgil is caught by the cannibals and taken back to their camp.

A few things really bothered me about this episode (in no particular order):

1) Rubio - just plain annoying! Obviously there for some sort of comic
relief, which failed IMHO.

2) Why would the cannibals smear the mud (which I actually thought was
supposed to be some sort of barbecue sauce!) OVER Gabby's clothes? They
weren't going to eat the clothes, so you'd think they would have removed the
clothes before putting her over the pit! So whatever purpose the mud/sauce
served, a lot of it was wasted. And why in the world would they have cooked
their food alive?? Except for poor lobsters, people always kill their prey
before cooking it - and usually cut it up for more even cooking. Obviously
the writers couldn't kill her off, but from the cannibals' perspective, this
made no sense.

3) For people who survive on eating other people, you'd think they would be
better fighters (so as to be able to capture their prey). That fight scene
where they are running back in forth endlessly in the background was SO
ridiculous! Clearly the director wanted a lot of action, but it was
distracting and dumb and pointless. X & G & V & R were so outnumbered, that
any kind of organized attack should have allowed the cannibals to subdue
them.

"Ahroo" hotmail.remove.com> wrote in message
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With no Joxer to kick around anymore I guess they had to have someone! Plus he came in
handy explaining to Virgil (and us) about what was going on with the cannibals.

Didn't think of that -- stripping the clothes off (no need to comment on Gab being stripped
since I'm sure everyone was thinking the same thing ). But cooking them alive, I guess, was kind
of like stewing them in their own juices. Plus, if you stab them, you lose the self-basting juices!

"Ahroo" hotmail.remove.com> wrote in message
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to

Although I don't usually comment, I do read every one of David's critiques
with interest. Much kudos to you, David, for persisting with this project.

John

"John Hickley" clara.net> wrote in message
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On Jul 21, 7:55 pm, "David E. Milligan" bellsouth.net>
wrote:

I read every one of them and I think you are doing an amazing job
David! I try to throw in my 0.02 when I can but to be honest I
mostly tend to agree with what you are saying and always typing "me
too" gets a little old.

"poker88" hotmail.com> wrote in message
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On Jul 21, 7:55 pm, "David E. Milligan" bellsouth.net>
wrote:

I read every one of them and I think you are doing an amazing job
David! I try to throw in my 0.02 when I can but to be honest I
mostly tend to agree with what you are saying and always typing "me
too" gets a little old.

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. : - D
I know what you mean. I write the occasional ffict, and I get twice as many "update soon"s
than actual constructive reviews.