TV GUIDE PROMO
A visit from the ghost of her beloved Marcus prompts Xena to travel to the Underworld -- where a madman has stolen Hades' Helmet of Invisibility.
Xena crosses the river Styx to the Underworld to help her deceased lover stop a madman from destroying the heaven-like Elysian Fields.
A madman escapes from the underworld with Hades' helmet of invisibility.
AIRING AND RATING INFORMATION
1st RELEASE: 02-12-96
An AA average of 5.7
Competition from Syndicated Action Dramas:
(1) STAR TREK DS9 6th with 7.3
(2) HERCULES 7th with 6.7
(3) XENA 14th with 5.7
(4) BAYWATCH 15th with 5.5
2nd RELEASE: 07-01-96
An AA average of 4.9
Competition from Syndicated Action Dramas:
(1) HERCULES 8th with 5.6
(2) XENA 12th with 4.9
(3) STAR TREK DS9 14th with 4.5
SYNOPSIS:
This synopsis is by Kym Taborn.
You make your best friend sit next to
a lake for 46 minutes while you and your reanimated deceased
boyfriend roam around the earth in order to return to Tartarus a
no-goodnik who stole Hades' Helmet of Invisibility and had a
penchant for slicing and dicing young brides-to-be on their
wedding night. Who are you? Xena, Warrior Princess, of course!
Marcus, Xena's redeemed but deceased
past lover (see "The Path Not Taken"), makes an appearance to
Xena telling her that all h*ll has broken loose in Hades (the
place, not the god: TPNTG) because Atyminius has stolen Hades'
(the god, not the place: TGNTP) Helmet of Invisibility and has
used this power to force the good people to suffer in Tartarus
and the bad ones to party down in the Elysium Fields. Marcus
tells Xena he needs her help. Xena heeds the call, and enters
Hades (TPNTG) through a lake. Gabrielle, ever so loyal, sits by
the lake, waiting for Xena.
It's old home week for Xena when she
meets Toxeus and a couple of others whom she expedited to Hades
(TPNTG). But Atyminius appears and ruins the party. He can smell
the scent of life on Xena! A fight breaks out (hey, this IS XWP),
and Xena and Marcus hightail it out of there.
Xena and Marcus head for Hades'
(TGNTP) high-rent district castle and are attacked by the Harpie
security system. Xena cooks one and slices up another. Xena
complains to Hades (TGNTP) that not only has Atyminius ruined
Hades (TPNTG), but that he's gone above ground to wreck havoc on
the mortals. Hades, the wimp (making it the god, not the place),
just whines. However Hades does inform Xena that Atyminius, by
taking the Helmet of Invisibility to the world of mortals, has
become mortal again. This means he can be killed, be relieved of
the Helmet, and returned securely to Tartarus. Xena cuts a deal
with Hades (TGNTP) which includes making Marcus mortal again for
48 hours and requires Xena to bring in that evil guy, Atyminius.
Meanwhile, Atyminius pops out of the
lake and asks Gabrielle whether, by any chance, she is about to
be wed. Gabrielle says no, but Atyminius decides to terrorize her
nevertheless. Gabrielle fights back but Atyminius finally wings
her, but before he can do any permanent damage, Xena and Marcus
run out of the lake and start to chase him.
Mid-pursuit, the gang decide to camp
out for the rest of the night. In a scene reminiscent from most
people's college days, Xena and Marcus "catch up" on old times
while ignoring Gabrielle who is trying to sleep just a couple of
feet away.
The next day Xena, Marcus, and
Gabrielle wind up at a wedding party in a nearby village. Xena
talks to the bride's father, brings him up to snuff, and agrees
to masquerade as the bride during the ritual bathing, which just
happens to be one of Atyminius' favorite times to slice and dice.
But Atyminius, being the wily, wascally wabbit that he is,
overhears the plan and decides to attack the bride as she sleeps
in her room. But Atyminius has made his false move! Xena out-
tricked him! She is actually masquerading as the bride sleeping
while the real princess is doing the ritual bathing. Xena throws
a blanket over Atyminius, skewers him, and takes his helmet.
On the way back to the lake, Marcus
thinks about keeping the helmet for himself, but he realizes he
was bitten by the good bug (or was that Xena last night?), and
must return it even though it means his eternal condemnation in
Tartarus. What a guy.
Gabrielle sits by the lake edge as
Xena and Marcus return to Hades (TPNTG). Xena, though, once again
manipulates Hades, the wimp, by demanding that he move Marcus
from Tartarus to the Elysium Fields. Complaining and whining,
Hades (TGNTP) agrees. He also winces, as does the entire
audience, when Xena kills Marcus so that Marcus can return to
Hades (TPNTG).
Xena then pops out of the lake
looking like something the cat just dragged in. She walks over to
the loyal and patient Gabrielle and plops down. The ladies stare
out into the horizon in a scene and mood reminiscent of the
conclusion of the infamous campfire scene from CALLISTO.
COMMENTARY:
Commentary Kym Taborn.
The pervasiveness of "The Friendship"
between Xena and Gabrielle was illustrated in this episode. The
"A" story concerned Xena and Atyminius and the "B" story
concerned Xena and Marcus; so, logically, one would think that
this left Gabrielle in the dust. Actually, it left her sitting
out by a lake.
The metaphor of the lake and the
images of Gabrielle patiently waiting by the lake were made even
more poignant by the slow development of their friendship from
the previous episodes. In a symbology which was as clear and
apparent as it was left unspoken, Gabrielle's patient wait at the
lake represented her unwaivering loyalty and love for her friend,
Xena. Her reward for such devotion was the final scene.
It is no accident that many fans of
XWP are attracted to the show because of "The Friendship".
Although steeped in fantasy, the show tweaks a deep wish of many
people who are too busy or too confined or otherwise unable to
seek out a soulmate or close friend whom they could share their
lives, their hopes, and their fears with. Xena and Gabrielle are
not only set in mythic times, but they exhibit a mythical
relationship which many people are attracted too.
On a superficial level, Mortal
Beloved could be a goldmine for Freudian interpretation. You have
sex, death, bloodletting, a lake which everyone and their brother
are entering and emerging from after every commercial break, a
return from the dead, a return from life, a walk among the dead,
a walk among the living, a bride before her wedding, innocents
endangered, etc. It's an episode which could easily support a
research paper or two.
Michael Hurst, who plays Iolaus on
HTLJ, played Charon, the boatman on the river Styx.
MYTH NOTES
These notes are from Cleanthes.
O3-15-00. Xena swims to the underworld via the Alcyonian Lake. (the script misspells
this Alconian Lake) In this case, R.J.Stewart has closely followed the
classical sources. Here's the relevant section of Pausanias, a Greek writer
who lived 243-276 AD,:
"2.37.5] I saw also what is called the Spring of Amphiaraus and the
Alcyonian Lake, through which the Argives say Dionysus went down to Hell to
bring up Semele, adding that the descent here was shown him by Palymnus."
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/text?lookup=Paus.+2.37.6.
The Alcyonian Lake is referenced a few more times by Pausanias, and other
classical authors. It was said to be the deepest lake -- possibly to have
no bottom at all.
Dionysus' visit to Hades also comes up in Aristophanes `The Frogs`, where
Dionysus is said to visit the underworld by crossing "the bottomless lake".
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/text?lookup=aristoph.+frogs+116&vers=en
glish&browse=1.
The mythical Alcyone is sometimes said to have been sister-in-law to
Sisyphus, which may explain Sisyphus' frequent escapes from Hades on both
the Hercules show and Xena.
In the show's mythology Gabrielle plays the part of Alcyone, waiting for
her loves' return. From a symbolism standpoint, `Mortal Beloved` was all
about Gabrielle by the Lake. XWP is an action show, and yet three scenes
of Gabrielle doing nothing are included. In two of them, the background
music is even absent, making for utter calm. The word Halcyon, meaning
calm and happy, derives from the myth of Alcyone who was turned into a bird
that brings good weather by the gods for her devotion.
In Mortal Beloved, Gabrielle did nothing except control the gate between
eternity and the mundane. She was then: calm = Halcyon; or more than
sempiternity, per the late Latin writer and philosopher, Boethius (475-524
AD). This explains the exquisite perfection of the Maxfield Parrish
imagery as she stirred the lake water.
In pyramid numerology/astrology, Alcyone, the brightest star in the
Pleiades, is an important reference star for lining up the meaning of the
passages on the walls of the pyramids.
Pooled water represents the occult realm, generally.
When Xena and Gabrielle went to India, the writers missed a chance to
make an exquisite connection between the symbolism of `Mortal Beloved` and
Hindu astrology: . "Krittika (Alcyone 2-Pleiades): Krittika types are
fiery, full of creative energy, highly ambitious, dedicated to divine
service, self-motivated and "think big." They stand out in a crowd and can
become quite famous. They're prone to eating too much."
http://hoohana.aloha.net/~htoday/nov98.html.
Krittika is the name of a Shakti, which is Hindu divine mother. Shakti
was also the name of Gabrielle's future incarnation. It would have been so
perfect had `Between The Lines` made reference to "the Shakti Krittika",
for then Gabrielle would have retained her Halcyon image from Greek to
Indian astrology.
WHIMPERS, MURMURS, AND A LOVE GONE TOO
FAR
12-17-98. On 09-23-98, Chris Weaver posted on the newsgroup alt.tx.xena:
"Today, USA showed the episode "Mortal Beloved." Was Raimi and Tapert using stuff from the _Evil Dead_ series or what? First off was the makeup. When I saw Michael Hurst as Charon, the first thing I thought is they pulled out the Evil Dead makeup and costumes. Later the the head bad guy, Antimedes?, had the same look. The big tip off, though was the "wicked and dead" remark. I almost fell to the floor laughing after that was said."
On the same day, NZJester responded:
The Steve Jackson Movie "The Frightners" staring Michael J Fox might have more to do with the look Of Michael Hurst's Charon than the Evil Dead movies. The New Zealand company "WETA" started by Steve Jackson to do all his movie special efects & costumes does a lot of the special costumes for Xena & Herc. I was watching the Discovery channel a few months back and they had a behind the scenes of the making of "The Frightners" and showed in the WETA workshop and Hanging on the wall at the back of one shot was
the Dagnine Evil Centaur coustume used in "Orphan of War" and I've seen WETA credited in a lot of Xena eps.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Highlights by Kym Taborn.
When Xena comes out of the lake
for the last time, you can tell she had an especially rough day
at the office.
Gabrielle sitting by the lake.
How many friends do you have that would wait a whole episode
sitting by a lake hoping you would come back?
The scene where Xena kills Marcus
is rather unsettling as it is so unexpected.
TRANSCRIPT
Click here to read a transcript of MORTAL BELOVED.
DISCLAIMER:
No Winged Harpies were harmed or sent
to a fiery grave during the production of this motion picture.
