Episode 5
Them Bones, Them Bones
Written by: Steven L. Sears and R.J. Stewart
Directed by: John Fawcett

Regular Cast
Lucy Lawless as Xena
Renee O'Connor as Gabrielle

Guest Cast:
Claire Stansfield as Alti
Jennifer Sky as Amarice
Kate Elliott as Yakut
Donogh Rees as Chi'ah
Beryl Te Wiata as Midwife
Rachel Hayward as Amazon

Gabrielle is searching for a herb for Xena, to help with her morning sickness. When she finds it, she gives it to Xena who thanks Gabrielle for her support. Suddenly, Xena cries out in pain and Gabrielle rushes to her side. The pain seems to disappear and Xena shrugs it off but once again it returns and Xena falls to her knees in agony.

Gabrielle gets Xena to a healer and she is rushed inside her hut. Xena calls out for Gabrielle, worried that she is losing her baby. Xena's costume rips open exposing her belly and a strange shape moves under her skin. A skeletal hand claws out of her stomach and a skeleton head appears. Xena screams out whilst everyone looks on in horror. Xena wakes up and realises she was having a nightmare. The midwife had given her a sedative to help her relax and she tells Xena there is nothing wrong with her baby. She leaves. Amarice enters. Xena tells her and Gabrielle that she is going to visit Yakut, the shamaness of the Northern Amazon tribe. She tells Amarice and Gabrielle that someone is trying to kill her baby.

Xena, Gabrielle and Amarice set out and eventually arrive at the village belonging to the Northern Amazons. Yakut greets them, seeming unsurprised to see them. She tells them she saw of their arrival in a vision. Amarice appears scornful of this.

Inside a hut, Yakut places her hand on Xena's stomach and, with eyes closed, sketches a symbol in the sand. When Xena asks what she sees, she tells her that the symbol represents a shamaness and that Xena knows who it is. Xena realises then that Alti is responsible.

Xena and Gabrielle discuss their situation. Gabrielle insists that Alti is dead but Yakut says that she is in the spirit world and can be brought back. She also tells Xena that she cannot fight Alti in her condition - she would lose. Gabrielle offers to fight Alti in Xena's place but Xena is reluctant to let Gabrielle go. They argue until Gabrielle finally persuades Xena to let her do it, perhaps because there appears to be no other choice. Xena then tells Gabrielle that she must train as a shamaness.

Gabrielle is stalking a deer, bow and arrow in her hand. She must obtain the blood of a forest animal. Once she has done this, she returns to the village. Yakut and the other amazons dance around the fire, whilst Xena cuts Gabrielle's hand with a dagger and mixes her blood with that of the deer, which will connect Gabrielle to the spirit world. Xena then cuts her own hand and mixes it with Gabrielle's telling her that this connects her to the material world. Xena tells Gabrielle that she must use the dagger to kill Alti and that she must not let go of it, whatever happens because this will keep her connected to the real world, once she is in the spirit world. Gabrielle then drinks the deer's blood. She begins to fall into a trance.

Gabrielle wakes up in the spirit world. Alti is waiting for her. She taunts Gabrielle who finds herself suddenly face to face with her. Gabrielle raises the dagger but it disappears from her hand and flies away. Gabrielle turns to see herself standing in the place where she originally appeared in the spirit world. There are two Gabrielles. Alti laughs and tells her that her mind is the stronger in this world and Gabrielle cannot hope to defeat her. Gabrielle asks why she is trying to kill Xena's baby. Alti tells her that she has no intention of harming Xena's child. She then attacks Gabrielle and counts to 10, telling Gabrielle that she will die on this count. By the time she has reached ten, Gabrielle is writhing on the floor and stops breathing. In the meantime, Xena has been urging Gabrielle to fight and then, seeing she is in trouble, she shouts for Gabrielle to come back. When Gabrielle stops breathing, Xena resuscitates her.

Amarice and Yakut enter the hut. Gabrielle recovers and tells Xena what Alti said about not harming the baby. Yakut realises that Alti wants the baby's soul so that she can return to the material world. Xena tells Yakut that they must go to the Amazon burial grounds and recover Alti's bones, so they can carry out the burial ritual. In the meantime, Gabrielle and Amarice are told to visit Chi'ah at the Amazon temple and obtain some amber which will destroy Alti.

Xena and Yakut chat and Xena expresses her fears about being a mother. She is concerned about bringing a child into the world and all the pain it might face. Yakut tells a story of a great tree where all unborn children wait to be born. She says that it is believed in her tribe that when a dove appears to a pregnant woman, that is the child's way of saying thank you to its mother. Xena appears to be reassured and thanks Yakut for her wisdom.

Xena and Yakut arrive at the burial grounds. There is nothing there. Yakut drops the bag she is carrying and Xena sees the bones inside. Yakut explains that she wanted to increase her power, so she tried to resurrect Alti herself but it didn't work. It is her fault that Alti has been partly revived. Xena is furious.

Xena and Yakut camp for the night. Xena wakes to find Yakut in a trance. Xena finds a bag of blood on her body and she drinks it, following Yakut into the spirit world. When she arrives there, Yakut approaches, telling Xena she wanted to make up for what she had done. Xena is suspicious of Yakut's behaviour and realises that it is Alti in disguise. However, Xena is weak and cannot prevent Alti from stealing her baby's soul from her. Xena cries out in pain. Alti tells Xena she will return the soul in return for her help. Xena must get the Amazons to perform the ritual to resurrect Alti as she cannot do it alone. Xena then sees Yakut, who has been beaten by Alti. Alti laughs and then sends Xena and Yakut back to the real world.

Gabrielle and Amarice arrive at the temple and enter a cave. Chi'ah appears and tells them that one of them is not a true Amazon but pretends to be what she is not and has not earned the right to call herself an Amazon. She looks at Amarice sternly (who flees from the cave) but then welcomes Gabrielle, telling her she may enter.

Gabrielle exits the cave to find Amarice. They talk and Amarice tells her she had no identity so she invented one. She is ashamed and assumes that she is no longer welcome but Gabrielle tells her that Xena is waiting for them to return with the amber.

When Gabrielle and Amarice enter Yakut's hut, they find a distraught Xena. Yakut explains about Alti stealing the baby's soul and Xena tells them they are going to give Alti what she wants - a way back into their world.

Yakut and Xena begin the ceremony, using Alti's bones but Xena goes into a trance and appears in a cave, next to Alti's bones. She dances around them and then turns away. Alti's bones move and she stands up. Xena demands her baby's soul back, saying she has given Alti what she wants. Alti laughs and refuses to return the stolen soul. Xena appears to have been expecting this and rips away her face to reveal her skull. Alti asks what she has done. Xena tells Alti she has tricked her and that they are in a different dream world than before, not in the real world. Xena and Alti then fight for the baby's soul.

Gabrielle, Amarice and Yakut wait in the real world, beside Xena's body and Alti's bones. Gabrielle says she is waiting for a sign from Xena before using the amber. She cannot do this until the baby's soul has been returned. Yakut and Gabrielle have their hands on Xena's stomach and Amarice places her hand with theirs to add her own strength.

Xena and Alti continue to fight. Xena snatches her baby's soul from Alti and hacks at Alti's bones. Amarice feels a jolt in Xena's body and Gabrielle takes that as a sign that the soul has been returned. Gabrielle pours the amber on Alti's skeleton which crumbles into dust and is blown up into the sky. Xena then returns to the real world.

Amarice is packing the horses. Gabrielle approaches and Amarice looks embarrassed, thinking Gabrielle has told Xena her secret. Gabrielle assures her that Xena does not know. She presents Amarice with her Amazon necklace which she tells her has a bead for each of her Amazon sisters and that she has added an extra bead - for Amarice. She gives the necklace to Amarice who is delighted with the gift. Amarice then tells Gabrielle she intends to stay with the Northern Amazons for a while to learn a few things. They say goodbye.

Xena and Yakut walk together and Xena thanks her for her help. They also say their goodbyes. As they do this, Xena spies a dove in the trees and she watches and smiles as it takes flight.

Review:
On first viewing of this episode, I wasn't that impressed with it. It seemed to me that it was a poor imitation of the Sin Trade episodes, this time allowing Gabrielle to take a turn at being a shamaness. Having said this, I loved the skeleton fight between Alti and Xena and was very impressed with the special effects.

On second viewing, I enjoyed this episode much more. I cringed at the skeletal figure breaking it's way out of Xena's stomach towards the beginning of the episode and felt empathy for Amarice when her secret was revealed to Gabrielle. It was also good to see Yakut again, although I would have liked to have seen her take a more central role in this episode than she did. Unfortunately, Alti did not seem to present as much of a challenge as she has done in past episodes and seemed more of a pantomime villain than one who could be taken seriously!

All in all, this episode is not a bad one and is one of the better Season 5 episodes. As a rule, I do enjoy the Amazon episodes but I do think the plot in this one is a bit thin on the ground.

It Doesn't Add Up!
* What happened to Otere, the adopted child of Brutus who joined the Amazons? No mention of her was made in this episode.

* Why didn't Alti realise she had been tricked by Xena, when she was 'resurrected' in the dream world? For someone who was used to travelling between worlds, she didn't seem overly familiar with that particular spirit world! Surely she would have recognised the difference between being a purely spiritual entity and being a living, breathing mortal again!

* Why did Chi'ah accept Gabrielle as a true Amazon? Although Gabrielle was more open to shamanic teachings, she, like Amarice, was not born an Amazon. Furthermore, shamanism is a way of life, not something to wear whenever it's convenient. Chi'ah would, of course, know this, yet did not chide Gabrielle for it.

Episode 6
Purity
Written by: Jeff Vlaming
Directed by: Mark Beesley
Edited by: Jim Prior

Regular Cast
Lucy Lawless as Xena
Renee O'Connor as Gabrielle

Guest Cast:
Ted Raimi as Joxer
Marie Matiko as Pao Ssu/K'ao Hsin
Andy Choi as Go Kun
William Kwan as Vendor

Synopsis:
Xena and Gabrielle return to Chin to find Lao Ma's precious book of power and to stop it falling into the wrong hands.

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