PROMO TRANSCRIPTION
THE SON OF ZEUS HAS LOST HIS FAITH
Hercules screaming on a ship in the middle of a huge storm: You can
destroy the world if you want! I DON'T CARE!!!
BUT ON AN ALL NEW HERCULES
A MYSTERIOUS LAND CRIES FOR A SAVIOR
Man to Hercules: You are the chosen one.
[Woman draws a knife, but Hercules grabs her arm]
NOW HERCULES MUST FIND THE STRENGTH TO RECLAIM HIS HEROES HEART AND BRAVE THE POWERFUL GODS OF ANCIENT IRELAND
[Woman slams sword down, a bright light shines]
ON AN ALL NEW HERCULES
(Hercules on a beach with tattered clothes, and Bronagh approaches him.)
A MYSTERIOUS LAND CRIES OUT FOR A SAVIOR.
(Morrigan draws a dagger, and Hercules' hand grasps her right wrist.)
BUT CAN HERCULES FIND THE STRENGTH IN HIS HEART--
(Hercules trapped beneath a sheet of ice while underwater.)
TO BRAVE THE POWERFUL GODS OF ANCIENT IRELAND?
(Morrigan runs behind Hercules like the Flash.)
(Morrigan thrusts her fist into a Celt's chest.)
(Morrigan punches Hercules in the face.)
(Morrigan stabs the Druid Leader with a sword, and a bright light
suddenly appears.)
ON THE NEXT HERCULES!
TV GUIDE PROMO
Hercules faces the evil female demigod Morrigan, an assassin sent to destroy the Druids.
A three-part story arc concludes with a tortured Herc setting sail for
nowhere. He lands in Eire and is welcomed by the persecuted Druids. "You are
the Chosen One," they tell him.
Hercules must fight an evil female demigod sent to destroy the Druids.
Druids summon Hercules to Eire to lead the Celts to freedom.
AIRING AND RATING
INFORMATION
1st RELEASE: 10-12-98
An AA average of 4.7
Competition from Syndicated Action Dramas:
(1) XENA 13th with 4.8
(2) HERCULES 14th with 4.7
(3) X-FILES 15th with 4.4
(4) STAR TREK DS9 16th with 4.3
(5) ER 18th with 4.0
2nd RELEASE: 12-28-98
An AA average of ??
Competition from Syndicated Action Dramas:
(1) X-FILES/ER 11th with 5.1
(2) STAR TREK: DS9 19th with 4.3
(3) XENA ??? unknown
(4) HERCULES ??? unknown
SUMMARY:
Summary by Bluesong
Hercules, aboard ship, curses the gods during a storm. He lands in Ireland, where the Druids have been praying for their Chosen One. Hercules is crowned thus, although he doesn't want the title. He learns that the gods and a red-
haired woman have been persecuting the Celts. The woman, Morrigan, finds Hercules and beats him up. A young Druid priest works with Hercules, giving him three lessons to help him find himself again. While Hercules is in a cave confronting whatever he has to take with him in there (images of Iolaus), Morrigan takes the young priest and goes to the other Druid leaders. She kills the leader, the Druid of Justice, and in so doing she takes over his duties and roles. She and Hercules fight, and the Druids vanish, leaving Hercules with his new-found faith and illumination.
Next week: Autolycus and Salmoneus steal a magic lamp.
SYNOPSIS:
Synopsis by Liz Sheppard
A beautiful Druid is singing through a misty forest, joins other Druids, and they pray for a reborn hero to come to them from the seas to help
them.
While on Nebula's ship, Hercules is stuck in a storm, but he doesn't
seem to mind. He's yelling to the gods that he doesn't care anymore
about them and that he should of died instead of Iolaus. He ends up
stranded on an island, Ireland to be exact, where people called Celts
say that he's the chosen one. Herc says that he can't help them because
he's cursed and doesn't want friends. Herc decides to stay...just
because...
On a waterfall, a woman releases a bird which follows a man. She jumps,
runs very very very fast, and catches the man, wanting to know where the
Druids are. She rips out his throat when he starts praying.
Herc meets the keeper of knowledge, a little Druid boy named Mabon.
Mabon tells him about the warrior woman named Morrigan, who is killing
the Celts and keeping them in terror. He asks for Herc's help, but Herc
refuses.
Morrigan talks to a head in the fire and he says that she can't find the
Druids is she keeps riping out the hearts of everyone she asks; and that
the Celts have a hero. She finds Herc and he tries to leave, so she
beats the utter stuffing out of him.
Mabon speaks with the leader of the Druids, the Justice Druid, and he
tells the young boy that he's dying and truly wants Herc to help them.
Herc wakes up in new clothes and gets annoyed by Mabon's riddles. He
tells Herc that Morrigan defeated him because he blames himself for
Iolaus' death. Mabon also tells him that he can help the big guy find
the path that he's looking for.
A man tells Morrigan that one of the Druids is hidden with the chosen
one.
Herc's first challenge to find himself is to catch a white wild horse.
After thinking like an animal, Herc catches it. Mabon tells Herc that
his strength comes from his heart, even underwater. Herc jumps into a
lake and Mabon freezes the surface. Herc freaks for a while, but
controls his heart beat and imagines himself on land. The surface
returns to normal and Herc gets out. Mabon tells Herc to go into a cave
and what Herc carries within him is inside. He sees Iolaus cooking a
rabbit at a campfire. They carry on like old times, then Herc realizes
that Iolaus is dead and that this wasn't real. Iolaus says that he had
a great life because of him and he died the way he wanted to, by his
friend's side.
Morrigan finds Mabon and threatens to kill everyone on the island is he
doesn't show her where the Druids are.
Herc comes out of the cave, has a laugh, and kicks some warrior booty.
Morrigan and Mabon argue about religion (my religion is better than your
religion!) then, I guess, mabon wins the fight because he takes them to
the Druids with his mind. Morrigan witnesses the prayer for the Justice
Druid, then she takes his sword and kills him. The Druid vanishes and
the other Druids surround Morrigan. She took the place of the Druid of
Justice when she killed him, she's now working with Mercy, Tolerence,
Innocence, Faith, and Knowledge. She gets mad, but Herc arrives and she
speed fights with him again. He's about to die, then he hears Faith
singing and he becomes Herc the Hero again and speed fights with her.
She gets knocked out.
Herc thanks the Druids for his strength and the Druids thank him for
returning Justice to the land.
COMMENTARY 1:
This commentary is by Kent Simmons.
I have to agree with all who said this episode was perhaps one of the best ever made. This episode gave me chills and kept me watching, with no turnaround. To be honest- All the new episodes have done that but this one has become one of my frequentley watched episodes. I
Think I've seen it 10 times already and the rerun hasn't even aired yet. The spoiler doesn't
do justice for this tale of sorrow, destruction, moarning, and heroics.
From the shipwreck scene to Morrigans reformation, this episode gave us something that
many episodes of either series have given much. This episode gave us a chance to see the
hero loose himself and start to rebuild who he was. They didn't do a simple 45 change
either. Herk slowly changed back to himself after this episodes, a change that might never
fully happen. It was intresting to see the darker side of Hercules. The same dark side was
hinted to be coming last season, perhaps building to this season, in episodes such as "Hercules
on Trial." In that episode, Herc reconsiders his job when being put on trial for not saving an
innocent man. Herc keeps his job than but he thinks hard and starts to blame himself. In the
season 5 arch, the change becomes. Herc sets out to disappear and lands in a new place- Eire!
Herc lands wanting nothing to do with helping mortals, fighting gods, and being a nice guy.
Herc does show some compasion when he says all people he does things for seem to
die or get hurt. He later turns a little evil and suggests that the people follow Morrigan
so they can at least live. He is weak from losing Iolaus, and loses his fight to Morrigan.
One thing that crossed my mind was the fact taht perhaps Herc really lost so he could
either die and join Iolaus in the underworld or else because if he fought Morrigan, he
would than be helping The Celts, something he didn't want to do.
The music was great. The Celtic tunes gave a certain special feel to the episode. The
use of the one song from "Young Herc" was sortof ironic. Young Herc is searching
for his destiny and Older Herc is searching to find the person he became. Sortof ironic
they would use some YH music, infact it actually fit well in the spot they used it. I
Loved the scene between Herc and Iolaus in the cave. It brough a few tears to my eyes
to be honest. Iolaus' speech to Hercules really helped strengthen Hercules opinion of
himself, as did the chasing of the white horse and the icey river incident. Herc finally
fights Morrigan and rediscovers some of his heroic heart by not killing Morrigan. Herc
will now be tested again as he reforms, or trys to reform Morrigan. Morrigan will not
be easy and Herc is still at the point were he could snap and tell her to kill the people
because he doesn't care.
Mabon was another great new character. The kid had some of Herc's childrens
features on his face if you look closley. Perhaps another ironic situation? Herc
and Mabons arguements provided some classic lines and wonderful scenes. I loved
the scene were Herc claims he isn't who he was and Mabon asks Herc who he was.
One other scene which was good was the one were Herc says Iolaus was a part
of him, and that part died. Herc said Iolaus was his hero- Hercs heroic side died
when Iolaus died. Now Herc must find that missing part, or learn to rebuild it and
learn to accept Iolaus' death.
Morrigan was also an intresting new character. Very nasty, sexy, evil, and devious.
Morrigan also has some human inside her, but it seems to be overpowered by her
godly ways. Its sortof the opposite of Hercules. Herc almost became like Morrigan
as he changed his ways for awhile. Now Herc must help Morrigan become a hero.
Tamara Gorski was perfect for the character. She has the perfect evil smile and bad
a@@ attitude. Morrigan and Nebula need a spinoff.
HIGHLIGHTS
The teaser for the episode
The opening scene [The song, druids, shipwreck, Bronaghs speech]
Hercules chasing the horse
Iolaus image talking to Hercules in the cave.
Morrigans battle with Hercules.
The Celtic Music and costumes.
Morrigan is told that Herc is the chosen one by the chosen one himself
Kernunnos' blood consumed by Morrigan.
Morrigan becomes a druid.
Herc's new outfit for the Ireland portion of his quest.
Mabons speeches to Hercules
Herc tells Mabon that he isn't who he was. Mabon replys, "Than who are you?" This had
to be one of the best lines of the episode.
The mysterious ending. It leaves us with anticipation to what happens next week
Morrigan using ilumination.
THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR
Some of the shipwreck scene was reused from "Mercenary."
Recognize that lake? It has been used many times before. It was recently used in XWP
episodes "Crusader" and "Fins Fems Gems."
The music during the scene were Herc fights Morrigans soliders was also used in
many "Young Hercules" episodes.
In the season 5 preview shown during the rerun of "Top God" last season, it was the time
of the day were the sun was setting during the scene were Herc is running to find Mabon
after talking to Iolausimage in the cave. In the episode it is lighter out. The same was true
of the "No More Mr Nice Guy" scene in the episode "Faith" and the preview for season 5.
The spoiler on the official HTLJ site says they flashback to Gilgamesh's temple during the
cavern scene, however they actually just discuss that Herc wanted to take the knife instead
of showing the scene. Either the spoiler lied or else they cut out the scene and redid it.
This episode cannot get anything under 5 out of 5 stars but it could go over. My
rating for this one is simply put: This one is one you may want to watch over and
over because it really never gets boring or hard to watch. It's sortof a classic episode,
something many episodes aren't. Some can be watched a lot but I;m sure some parts
can be dull. The only recent eps that I would say could be watched over and over
before this one are "Fancy Free", "Reunions", "Faith", and "Yes Virginia." Of course
thats just my own opinion. "Resurrection" makes my topten though. My topten is
listed below.
HBKid/Kent' Top Ten HTLJ Episodes [In no particular order]
1. Resurrection [Season 5]
2. Faith [Season 5]
3. Reunions [Season 4]
4. Gladiator [Season 1]
5. And Fancy Free [Season 4]
6. Other Side [Season 2]
7. Armageddon Now I and II [Season 4]
8. The Hind Trilogy [Season 3]
9. The Wrong Path [Season 1]
10. The Circle of Fire [AP Movies]
COMMENTARY 2:
This commentary is by Niloofar.
I know major HercFans are gonna shun me for this, but I really enjoyed
watching Herc get beat up. It was a nice change...and it was realistic, to me,
at least. I liked this ep for several other reasons, though. The whole
rediscovering oneself genre that TPTB have been messing with lately really
works with this ep. Plus there was all that awesome singing/chanting stuff
that the Druids (mainly Faith) kept doing.
Oh, sure, *these* are the peaceful Druids? Yes, I'm talking about the ones
sinking that guy's ship. Okay, thanks for clearing that up.
I bet Sorbo had fun doing the scene where he went crazy....oh, c'mon, have
you ever heard anyone who laughed like that that wasn't crazy?
Why did everyone look so shocked when Herc brushed that guy's arm away. What
was the big deal? Okay, it would be one thing if Herc attacked the guy,
screaming "I AM NOT THE CHOSEN ONE!" But he didn't. So I ask, again, why the
hush-hush?
The Celts meet with Maben(???) daily, or at least weekly, yet Morrigan still
hasn't found them. What?!?!? She seemed, though arrogant and slightly b*tchy,
pretty smart. One thinks she would have found them by now.
Wow! Did you see Morrigan kicking Herc's b*tt? And that smile when she was
running toward him? It looked like she was about to yell: "Mommy, mommy, the
ice-cream man is here!"
The most pathetic part of Herc's fighting is that he even fell slowly! I
mean, one thing to fight slow, but when she threw him around, he was still in
slo-mo, though Morrigan was in normal speed.
Whoah! Did ya' see that break through rock, break through tree way to
communicate? I wonder if AT&T knows about its competition.
Why does Herc ask about his old clothes. Not only does he look much better in
them than in that old, raggedy outfit of his, it is also a nice change. For
starters, he has been wearing that outfit for what, 5 years? 6 maybe? Even
laether starts to get nasty after that long, not to mention fabric thats been
around a while, anyway.
I really enjoyed that horse chase. It was hilarious!
Is it just me, or does Herc's hair look darker than usual? What is it that
Herc and Gabby are eating? And is Iolaus to blonde and Xena to brunette for it
to work on them? Just wondering.
If I was underwater and someone deliberately froze the water above me, I'd
feel a little betrayed. Screw the lessons and the test.
Now Herc, you say you have had an out-of-body experience? Of course we
believe you. The people in the white jackets? Why, they've always had
syringes. Honest.
I really liked that Herc/Iolaus talk. No sarcasm or anything. It was
touching...and funny.
Notice the music they used behind Iolaus' "If I could do it again," speech.
It seems they always use that music behind those speeches. Some sort of
consistency! Thats a change...just kidding.
"He who laughs last thinks the slowest." Oh well, at least he doesn't move
the slowest anymore.
Did you hear that kid's meditive hum? I will say no more.
Ha! Morrigan was such a sucker. I can't believe she thought she had won, when
she was being set up from the beginning. Maybe she ain't as smart as I
thought.
Once again, a superb mix of Road-Runnerl, Self-Righteous Inquisition Monk,
and comic relief (I thought it was funny seeing her crash into walls....Herc
never even fought her, she kicked her own b*tt.) by Morrigan. Give her a hand,
ladies and gents!
"You're breaking my heart" Wow, that would be a really great line...if we
hadn't already heard it a million times.
Wait, knowledge-boy said if Morrigan/Justice (ain't that a trip!) died,
justice would, too. So does that mean if someone doesn't kill one of them,
another part of them is lost. Now we know what happened to benevolence...wait
that is a cynical thought. Anyway, does that mean everyone there is a
murderer? I could imagine it: Rule No.4, trust your co-workers...but that rule
was kind of null and void once three of us were killed.
TALES OF THE
HERCAVERSE
02-03-99. Claire "Alti" Stansfield was at the Santa Monica Convention (01/24/99), and said that she originally read for the part of Morrigan on HERCULES which she (obviosuly) didn't get. But that lead to her casting as Alti on XWP.
12-31-98a. The following is an excerpt from a transcript of the Hollywood Spotlight (RealHollywood) chat on 12/09/98 with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci:
Storm1 asks "what was your favorite episodes on Herc so far??"
Alex/Bob says "I think Fancy Free. I have to say that Faith & Resurrection
turned out to be episodes we were pretty proud of."
10-29-98. I never thought I'd say this about a HERCULES episode, but this one might be the DREAMWORKER of the Hercaverse. This episode is the first HTLJ to really take me by surprise and haunt me...which is something to say since I usually get full synopses of the episodes way before they air. I did in this case. When I read all the synopses and spoilers I thought it'd be a more interesting than usual episode, but none of the spoilers prepared me for the affect of watching it. It was silly in parts, predictable in others, and awkward in even more, but it packed a whallop and really manipulated the new-age infected audience in ways I never saw coming. Of this XENA/HERK season, this is the only episode I have allowed myself the luxury of multiple viewings and this is the episode I am forcing my friends and family to watch. My only real regret is that Nebula wasn't in it...but (can I contain my excitement?) I have heard rumors and rumors of rumors of a show down the road where Nebula and Morrigan meet and bond. When I first heard of it, I laughed it off as basically Hercules and Iolaus go on a double date, but after RESURRECTION, I am hopeful that it will be EVEN MORE.
09-17-98. Hercules meets his new girlfriend and discovers that Ireland is not as wimpy a country as he thought.
DISCLAIMER:
No Magic Munchkins preaching the virtue of ancient Celtic philosophy were harmed during the production of this motion picture.
WHOOSH!
ARTICLES:
The following WHOOSH! articles discuss this episode:
Coming soon
LINKS:
Resurrection Gallery
Recording of the Promo
Celts
