FORGET ME NOT

GUEST STARS, CAST & CREDITS
PROMO TRANSCRIPTION
TV GUIDE PROMO
CLIPS USED
AIRING AND RATING INFORMATION
SYNOPSIS
COMMENTARY by Beth Gaynor
CLOSED CAPTIONED JEALOUSY
WHIMPERS, MURMURS, AND A LOVE GONE TOO FAR
MYTHOLOGY INCONSISTENCIES
HIGHLIGHTS
THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR
MORE THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR
TITLE DECONSTRUCTION
TRANSCRIPT
DISCLAIMER
FAN DISCLAIMERS
WHOOSH! ARTICLES
LINKS

PROMO TRANSCRIPTION
AFTER ALL THE LIES AND BETRAYAL
[Footage from the Gabrielle double-cross in "The Debt" and Gabrielle from "Maternal Instincts"]
GABRIELLE'S HOLDING ONTO FINAL SECRET
Gabrielle: I want it to end
Guard: Erasing the pain of memory comes with a price
[Gabrielle knees at an altar of memory]
ONLY THE GODS CAN HELP HER
Ares: Uhh Uhh Uhh
[Gabrielle picks up a bowl of memories]
Ares: I'm here to protect you
[Gabrielle falls into an ice cold river and then a pond of fire]
BUT IF SHE SURVIVES THE JOURNEY
[Gabrielle screams while being surrounded by flames]
Joxer Scream: Gabrielle !!!
[Gabrielle falls from the hands of the Priestess]
CAN SHE LIVE WITH THE TRUTH ?
[Gabrielle screams at Ares]
Ares: Ares is the key
[Gabrielle catches her staff in the fiery caves]
Ares: But only half the answer
[Gabrielle swings her staff at Ares several times and he falls down to both swings]
BATTLE ON

HAUNTED BY HER PAST
(Shots from "The Debt" and "Maternal Instincts")
Gabrielle: I want it to end.
Priest: Erasing the pain of memory comes with a price.
(Gabrielle bows before a temple.)
GABRIELLE UNCOVERS THE TRUTH
(Gabrielle sees Ares. She hits someone with her staff.)
Gabrielle: You!
BATTLE ON!

TV GUIDE PROMO
Haunted by images of the past, Gab goes to the Temple of Mnemosyne to forget her painful memories.

Gabrielle seeks forgetfulness at the temple of Mnemosyne.

Joxer tries to help Gabrielle regain her memory after she journeys to the Temple of Mnemosyne to forget her betrayal of Xena.

CLIPS USED

(01) MATERNAL INSTINCTS: The argument of giving poison to Hope. Gabrielle pre pares to drink poison.

(02) THE DELIVERER: Gabrielle and Khrafstar on crosses, Gabrielle on cross, Gabrielle kills Meridian, and Gabrielle holds a bloody knife with blood hands.

(03) GABRIELLE'S HOPE: Dead Goewin.

(04) WHEN IN ROME...: Gabrielle talks to Crassus about the ring at the well, portions of the execution of Crassus and Gabrielle looking determined yet depressed.

(05) THE BITTER SUITE: The song in the Temple of Dahak where Callisto, Caesar, Ares, and Khrafstar show up to sing with the hooded demon. Xena and Gabrielle attempt to execute each other during that clip.

(06) THE DEBT I: The dock sceen is show several times with added footage of Gabrielle and Ares. Gabrielle turns on Xena. The question about the Green Dragon Ming T'ien.

(07) THE DEBT II: Lao Ma and Xena dance above the ground. Gabrielle slaps Xena and begs her to promise not to harm Tien and Xena starts to cry. Nose wipe in T'ien's dungeon. Gabrielle begs for Xena to accept her friendship in the dungeon. T'ien orders Xena's death.

AIRING AND RATING INFORMATION
1st RELEASE: --
An AA average of --
Competition from Syndicated Action Dramas:
(1)
(2)
(3)

2nd RELEASE: --
An AA average of --
Competition from Syndicated Action Dramas:
(1)
(2)
(3)
1st release: 03/09/98
2nd release: 08/17/98

SYNOPSIS:

This synopsis is by Bluesong.

"The child is Hope?" This clip show opens with Xena learning that Gabrielle did not kill her daughter in scenes from "Maternal Instincts." Other images from this show include Gabrielle killing Hope and then attempting to drink the poison herself. Upon the return to the present day, Gabrielle sits on a log, distraught, and when Joxer approaches she begins to cry. Joxer attempts to comfort her, to no avail. They are supposed to meet Xena at the Temple of Mnemosyne, and Gabrielle tells Joxer she has to rid herself of her painful memories. Gabrielle goes to the temple alone, and Xena is not there. A woman comes from the temple, blank and amnesiac, and Gabrielle decides to go in the temple. The guards warn her she will risk losing her memory of entire life.

Gabrielle enters the temple. The priestess tells Gabrielle her memories became a part of the temple as soon as she walked in; they are now in a bowl of water. If the water is ever poured out, Gabrielle will lose all her memories. The priestess explains that there is a journey ahead, and at the end Gabrielle must decide if she will keep her memories or lose them. Outside the temple, Joxer tries to go in after Gabrielle, but can't get by the guards. He climbs a tree and peers in the temple, where Gabrielle is being prepared for her ordeal by the priestess and her attendents. Joxer falls out of the tree and enters the temple; Gabrielle's body lies prone on the floor. He grabs her up and takes her away, but the priestess warns him he only has an empty shell, not the woman he loves.

In her memory land, Gabrielle, wrapped in a white toga, finds Ares acting as her guide. She doesn't trust him, accusing him of acting for his "own selfish reasons." His response is "aren't you?" Gabrielle moves forward to the River of Wailing. She wades in, and is engulfed with memories from "The Deliverer" and "When In Rome." When she emerges from the water she is coated with blood. She proceeds to the River of Woe, a river which "runs deep," Ares warns.

Meanwhile, Joxer has the empty Gabrielle and is teaching her about herself by reading the scrolls to her. He decides to elaborate somewhat, however. No visual clips, just some mentions of scenes or show titles.

Gabrielle in memory land finds an ice bridge across the River of Woe. It breaks and she falls in. She remembers things from "The Debt I & II". She climbs out of the water and Ares starts a fire for her. She tells Ares that this is the problem, but everything is okay now. She recalls more things from "The Debt II," specifically how she made up with Xena in the dungeon. She decides to go back through the River of Woe, but cannot. She is trapped in ice. She claws her way out. She tells Ares she doesn't know what to do. He tells her she can either stay where she is or die.

Joxer continues to tell the empty Gabrielle about herself -- or rather, the things he would like her to believe. Like she is in love with him. And she likes the Joxer the Mighty Song.

Gabrielle decides to move on the next river, which is on fire. Ares says the problem lies with Xena. Gabrielle says their problems were resolved in Illusia, which Solan created specifically for them (answered that question), in "The Bitter Suite" episode. The clips near the end where Gabrielle is chained on the slab and Xena is on the cross are shown. Gabrielle goes into the river of fire. She sees more scenes from "The Debt I", specifically the instance where Xena leaves her. Gabrielle asks Xena then: you owe someone so much that you would give up these last few years? And Xena's affirmative response. Gabrielle turns and sees Ares (which wasn't in the original "Debt"). Back in memory land, Gabrielle catches on fire. She goes through the river and falls to the ground, burning. Ares says she will die. Gabrielle resists and wills the fire out with her mind. She also realizes that "Ares" is really her conscious or guilt or whatever manifested as Ares.

Gabrielle then remembers that she spoke with Ares, who offered her a chance to go to Chin to get even with Xena for leaving her, especially after Gabrielle had given up everything for Xena. And Gabrielle took Ares up on his offer. He sent her to Chin. Gabrielle tells the Ares in her memory land that she wanted to betray Xena. She hated her for loving someone else. She wanted her punished. And then her hatred and jealousy (!) almost destroyed her best friend.

Then Gabrielle wills a staff into her hand and beat up the Ares she had been talking to. Now she has to decide what to do: pour out the water, or leave it and retain all her memories.

Back in the real world, Joxer has determined that an empty Gabrielle isn't what he wants. He tells her that he's been lying to her, except for a story about her dancing naked with him in the rain. Gabrielle suddenly clips him on the nose and says that never happened; obviously she chose to return from memory land and it's the old Gabrielle. Xena appears out of nowhere, relieved that Gabrielle is back. Gabrielle says Xena knew she needed to go into the temple. Xena says yes. She had wondered how Gabrielle made it to Chin before she did, and thought Ares had a hand in it. As for the other -- well, Gabrielle has nightmares and talks in her sleep. Xena tells Gabrielle she is very glad she opted to retain her memories. Gabrielle apologizes; Xena stops her and says it is all over. They hug.

COMMENTARY:

This commentary is by Beth Gaynor.

Welcome to the psychologist's office. Sit down on the couch, get comfortable for 45 minutes. We're going to explore regression therapy, repressed memories, and guilt projection.

XenaStaff loves to prove that clip episodes don't have to be boring. Usually, nothing puts me to sleep faster than recycled footage (and in this case, getting two complete songs from Bitter Suite made me heavy-eyed). The Xena Scrolls provided a wonderful exception to that rule last year, by making the story surrounding the clips so much fun. This year, they took some loose threads and darned them together around the clips; who woulda thunk you could actually advance a story in a clip show? I liked the new touches this episode put on the Rift. It ain't a pretty moment for my favorite bard, but it makes sense.

It's a bad sign for poor Joxer that I was surprised that he could successfully climb a tree.

Mnemosyne, goddess of memory... and really bad actors. I thought that guard was bad, until I saw the priestess. Ouch.

Line of the episode goes to Joxer: "The gates are open, but nobody's storming the castle." Honorable mention goes to Gabrielle just for getting the quip "You could open a pottery shop" into a nervous moment.

The great mystery is solved: how *did* Gabrielle get to the Kingdom of Chin so fast? With a little help from Ares, who was eager to see Gabrielle's influence removed from Xena's life any way possible. It took the god of war two and a half seasons to clue in to the fact that Gab holds the key to Xena's commitment to good, but when he finally figures it out, he levels both barrels at the bard. A direct attack at Gabrielle would do nothing but dangerously peeve the blue-eyed warrior, but getting Gabrielle to do her own damage... clever war god.

This solved another mystery that was bothering me even more than Gabrielle's ocean-faring speed. In the Rift aftermath, Chin always seemed to be foremost in Gabrielle's conscience, even though the mess with Hope had so much more disastrous consequences. Now we know why: Gabrielle may have goofed with Hope, but her reasons were always for the best. Her motives for turning Xena over to Ming T'ien were a few miles off the pure and narrow. Jealous much, Gab? Those green eyes must not just be for show.

Joxer's character is bouncing this season between buffoon humor and sympathetic (but ineffectual) buddy, and it's making him nearly schizophrenic. He's sweetly earnest when he tells Gabrielle that he doesn't understand the problem she's having but wants to help, but then spends three minutes bouncing off temple guards like a ping pong ball. Loved the " That's long enough" line (good boy, Jox!), and his attempts to create a Joxer and Gabrielle romance for the memory-less Gab were pretty good desperate grabs. My vote: more of those kinds of moments for Joxer, less of the ones where his IQ dips below the double digits.

Gabrielle gets to show off her backbone a bit in this episode (literally - I think Gab's about caught up to Xena on nekkid moments now). I liked it when she finally took control of the memory-scape to pound away the fire, regain her strength, and call up her staff to administer a little butt-whipping for "Ares."

This episode had a LOT of parallels to Dreamworker, the first season episode when Xena does a little exploring of her psyche. This was Gabrielle's turn. Gab asks before she starts the memory trip if this would be like a dreamscape. The priestess denies it, but just like Xena in her dream passage, Gabrielle faced her alternate (and worst) self, fought it, and won by gaining some control over the realm and herself.

Gabrielle crosses three rivers: The River of Wailing, which assails her with the deaths she's responsible for: Meridian and Crassus. Interesting that Hope isn't shown. (Weird "Carrie at the prom" image at the other side, when she's covered in blood.) The River of Woe (whoah!) has a thin layer of control over the memories of the Debts and Gabrielle's betrayal of Xena. She's willing to remember her betrayal, but not to delve into why. That doesn't come until the third river, the river of fire, which never gets named, but looks to be a River of Truth.

Did anybody else want to grab a thick blanket as Gabrielle nearly shivered herself to pieces beside the River of Woe? I sure did. Brrrrr.

"Is this that centurion-gladiator game we used to play?" Hey, Joxer's been telling Gabrielle X-rated stories! And Xena, listening from the woods, refrained from turning Joxer into a chakram target? Admirable restraint from the Warrior Princess.

CLOSED CAPTIONED JEALOUSY

From the closed captioning for FORGET ME NOT, specifically Gabrielle's dialoge when she figures out what she is repressing about her trip to Chin (emphasis from the closed captioning):

GABRIELLE: I wanted to get there before Xena so that I could betray her. I _wanted_ to betray her. I gave her _everything_ and it meant nothing to her. I hated her for loving someone else. I wanted her to hurt. I wanted her to be punished. And I almost got her killed. Why? My hatred and jealousy almost destroyed my best friend.

WHIMPERS, MURMURS, AND A LOVE GONE TOO FAR

12-14-98. At the Cherry Hill, NJ Con (09/98), Sharon Delaney told the crowd that Renee O'Connor had difficulties reconciling her role in FORGET ME NOT. Apparently Ms. O'Connor had difficulty believing that Gabrielle would be that jealous. Her solution? She concentrated on the idea that Gabrielle is just as human as the rest of us and, therfore, is capable of it.

12-14-98. At Dragon Con in Atlanta (09/98), Steven L. Sears, co-executive producer of XWP, told a story about the waters of Memory. He had originally that when Gabrielle first went in and drank from the cup, pieces of her memories of Xena would float around her He also had a scene where when Joxer drank, his memories were of all the times he had been clobbered, which were to enhance the priestess' words, "I have your memories, ow." He also mentioned that the Priestess' role was to decide if the intitiate had the strength to help themselves go through the process. The point of the exercise to the temple was to make the initiate come to terms with their memories, not to erase them. They would not allow anyone in there who were not strong enough to attempt the journey.

12-14-98. At the Phoenix Con (05-31-98), Sharon Delaney told the crowd that the river with the ice in it was actually warm water with dry ice, and the river with the fire in it was cold water with fire, so Renee O'Connor had to do quite an acting job because she had to shiver in the hot water and freeze in the warm water.

02-22-98. Think Ares and Gabrielle got a tad too chummy in QUILL, just check out THIS episode!

02-10-98. This is a clip show where Gabrielle decides to lose all of her painful memories on the river of dreams but Joxer doesn't want her to do it because he thinks she will forget about him.

MYTHOLOGY INCONSISTENCIES

From Nikalaos.

I'm a big mythology fan, and I couldn't help but comment.

In the episode "Forget Me Not", I found some interesting myhtology inconsistencies that I'd like to point out.

First of all, the rivers. Are you all tired of guessing where the heck Gabby WAS?! It wasn't a dreamscape, but from the river information, I'm making a fair bet she was actually in HADES (aka the Underworld/ Other Side)!!!

In Hades, there are 5 rivers:

1) The River Styx (River of Hate) - this river was said to boarder the Underworld 9 times, as well as show up on earth. All very confusing. It's main importance was that Charon ferried souls across it only if they were buried with an obol/coin in their mouth. Gods also swore by it. If they broke their word, they wouldn't be able to breath for 9 years. (OUCH)

2) Lethe (River of Oblivion) - Lethe was also the personification goddess of forgetfulness. She should have been in the ep rather than Mnemosyne, as Mnemosyne was the titaness goddess of memory. Souls drank from the Lethe to rid themselves of their memories of their lives (remember Deianera in "Herc/Underworld"?) They also drank from it before being reincarnated.

3) Cocytus (River of Wailing/River of Groans/River of Lamentation) - this River was said to be extremely cold. It joined Plegethon at a HUGE waterfall where they formed Acheron.

4) Phlegethon (River of Fire) - this river was said to have fire on its surface (or maybe even in place of water) which burned, but did not consume. It joined Cocytus to form a big waterfall which fell into Acheron.

5) Acheron (River of Woe/River of Sorrow) - Acheron was also said to be a lake. It was swampy and marshy, and its waters were nearly stangnant. It was formed by the Phlegethon and Cocytus.

So, what did the show get mixed up with?

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the ep. Just to point out some more YAXI's (they're so fun to look for) . . .

Lethe could have been used in place of Mnemosyne, but Mnemosyne worked out fine. (except that actress . . . nice face, but not so nice acting)

The first river, "River of Wailing" looked like a pleasant little stream or something . . . as if it were Acheron, only shimmering. Its name says it's Cocytus, but the waters contradict.

The second river, "River of Woe", has the name of Acheron, yet looks somuch like Cocytus would. Looks like Cocytus and Acheron sort of switched names.

The third river, unnammed, is obviously "River of Fire", aka Plegethon. This river didn't play a huge part, other than a danger in reaching the truth on the other side.

Overall, I liked this episode, but it's not up there with "A Day in the Life" (or anything remotely Hudson Leick! :) ). It's inconsistencies are minor, and most wouldn't even notice. Ares did a nice analogy of Cocytus (oops, I mean River of Woe), and it was corageous that Gab dared to don another chiton/toga mix thing.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Highlights by Beth Gaynor.

The line from Debt I, "You owe someone so much that you would just throw away these last few years," is shown twice. When I saw it in the Debt, and the first time they played it here, I heard when I expect I was supposed to hear: Gabrielle asking whether Xena was willing to murder and ruin all the good work she had been doing. The final time we hear it, though, the line gets turned on its ear. Gabrielle isn't thinking about Xena: she's thinking about herself, and their relationship. Gab was worrying whether Xena was willing to abandon her. The twist on the line matched the twist in Gabrielle's motivations.

Xena only gets three minutes of screen time at the very end of the episode, but Lucy does a fantastic job of showing that Xena has been through the emotional wringer with worry. Her drained delivery of the crack "Not even Mnemosyne could help her with that" was great.

The Xena writers can never resist a chance to poke a little fun at themselves and tweak some favorite fan jokes: "In every story you tell me, this thing I'm wearing gets smaller." Even without her memories, Gab's a smart cookie - noticed that, did ya, bard? So did all the rest of us.

THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR

These things are from Beth Gaynor.

04-01-98. Small quibble: One of the clips that zips past is Xena and Lao Ma's floating scene from Debt II. Not only is this not a memory of Gabrielle's, Xena didn't even tell it to Gabrielle: she told that story to the guy in the dungeon. The Xena Reality Editor on my shoulder says that Xena must have filled Gab in later, but still...

04-01-98. Continuity flub: Joxer was barely literate when he tried to read Gabrielle's scrolls in The Quill is Mightier, but he has no problems reading them this time.

04-01-98. When Joxer reads Gabrielle's scrolls, his hand is moving from right to left instead of left to right. Unless Gabrielle writes in Hebrew instead of Greek, this may account for the reading problems Joxer had during The Quill is Mightier. [Editor's note...Ancient Greece was indeed read from right to left. But when has XWP really ever cared about authenticity?]

04-01-98. "Ares" sends Gabrielle back through the River of Woe with the same line that the real Ares used to send Gab to Chin: "That is, if you don't mind owing a favor to the God of War." Will Ares be collecting on that favor? Look for that loose thread to get tugged on sometime in the future.

MORE THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR

12-14-98. From Yeah. In the episode "Forget me not" when the priestess at the temple is chanting, she is speaking either Malay or Indonesian. Both these languages are very similar. I know she was speaking Malay/Indonesian because I was born in Malaysia and learn Indonesian at school. I've translated a bit of what she says but her pronunciation isn't very good and I can't understand what she's saying. The translation of one of the sentences in the middle says something about 'willingly throwing away sorrow, love, care and affection.' What she actually said is something like "Deman katah-katah wanis cinta". something like that anyway. If I had the Malay/Indonesian version of what she was actually saying, I could find out what she's saying.

04-01-98. From KSZoneW. The happy spectator at Caesar's execution of Crassus in the WHEN IN ROME clip looks a little like Anthony Quinn! It's not really him but looks a little like a younger version of him.

TITLE DECONSTRUCTION

04-01-98. KSZoneW. The title fits perfectly. Everyone wants to forget but someone else does not want them to forget them.

TRANSCRIPT

Click here to read a transcript of FORGET ME NOT.

DISCLAIMER:

Xena and Joxer were not forgotten during production of this motion picture.

FAN DISCLAIMERS:

KSZoneW. Nobody forgot this was just a show during the production of this motion picture.

KSZoneW. The production forgot to mention that there's a different address for the "Official Xena Site" during the credits of this motion picture.

KSZoneW. Gabrielle's top was not enchanted during the production of this motion picture.

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