Amac Productions

Oh, good. I was just thinking we hadn’t had a token male love interest in a while and we needed one.

NOT.

No one was thinking that except the censors, so here we are.

Ironically, last episode all I wanted was for Joxer to come and lighten the mood for me. Bring some much-needed comic relief into my world and lo and behold – here he is!

Except, now I’m even more mad.

Because I’m with Xena. Everyone should pay for doing that to him.

Right, so I’m just going to move on from last week’s episode and pretend it didn’t exist or that it made more sense to me. Girl4music on Tumblr did try to explain it further in a reblog and I just can’t wrap my head around it. Like, I get the thought, but I just think the episode was not executed well enough. So, I appreciate the comment and I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner, I honestly forgot.

As for this episode, leaving out the annoyance of the male love interest that no one wants.

It’s actually a pretty good episode.

I really enjoyed Xena’s anger at what happened to Joxer.

Because there’s always been a friendship there. Even if it’s not something that’s often spoken of or truly acknowledged. They treat Joxer like the annoying little brother, but so help the world if anyone hurts him. They will pay.

I’m always a sucker for those storylines.

Like on Burn Notice. Fiona is kidnapped or Sam and Michael just straight up loses his mind and will do anything for them or take out the people who hurt them. Love it.

The moment where Gabrielle is talking to him while he’s unconscious, explaining that while it may not be obvious, she and Xena do love and care about him. They don’t want him to leave them.

I mean, we do get hints and moments throughout the series that they’re not really as annoyed with him as they pretend to be. Maybe in the beginning, like I was, they were annoyed. But we’ve all moved and grown past that.

I feel like everyone loves Joxer now.

We got a glimpse of it when Xena told Joxer that Aphrodite couldn’t give him anything he didn’t already have. Her calm reassurance that he’s a brave man.

Her calm comfort when he was upset that Gabrielle thought it was laughable that they could have feelings for each other. She didn’t mock him or make him feel bad. She placed a hand on his shoulder and acknowledged the pain he felt. A quiet moment between them that needed no words.

Gabrielle called Xena on having a soft spot for Joxer in an episode I cannot remember.

Even Gabrielle, saying it was ridiculous that they could have feelings for each other is never meant to be mean. She genuinely thought he was laughing with her. Otherwise, I truly believe Gabrielle would never have said that if she knew she was hurting Joxer.

Sure, he gets on their nerves and can be annoying.

But they know him.

He could get lost. But it’s not like him to be late. He could be taken for a fool, sure. And be a dope. Maybe annoying. But overall? He’s a good guy who just doesn’t know where he fits into the world.

Yet, Xena and Gabrielle offer him a place to fit.

Maybe not all the time.

But if he calls, they go. If they call, he comes.

They care about him. They help him. Even if they tease him just as much. It’s a bickering and sweet bond they have going on.

There’s even a moment when we get that at the start with Gabrielle giving him sh*t about being late to meet them. Even though Xena says it’s not like him to be late, Gabrielle offers that he could have just gotten sidetracked. It’s not like it’s that improbable.

Yet the moment they see what the delay was, all bets are off.

Gabrielle doesn’t apologize for teasing him or thinking he was late. Because he could have been.

She’s mad at the people who did this.

Her eyes hard as she meets the two who left him defenseless. She’s all in on the plan to get back at the people who did this to him. And she’ll do so even while limping around unable to use her ankle properly.

Wish she tied Joxer to the bed when she had the chance.

I freaking love this plot.

Honestly, it’s only problem is the con man. I swear, every time I see this actor – he’s playing a swarmy ass. Every time.

I think this might be the only role I’ve ever seen him in where he’s actually somewhat of a decent person. Somewhat. He has his moments here.

Without the weird and forced romance or thing happening in the middle of this episode, it knocks this out of the park.

Like this episode is almost like the season one finale where Gabrielle nearly dies and Xena loses her mind trying to revive her. This episode from what I read is marked as a change to the audience of how much this tagalong has come to mean to Xena. That she’s more than an annoying sidekick people were seeing her as.

It changed the narrative.

This episode feels like that, but for Joxer.

While the emotion is not as intense, it’s just as poignant. Joxer is here to stay.

They care about him. He means something to them. He’s family. And anyone who dares to hurt or mess with him is in deep trouble, because it’s personal for Xena.

And no one likes it when she gets personal about things.

Well, the audience does. That’s for sure.

As for the odd romance and the rest of the plot, I do not enjoy episodes where I don’t know who is lying and when and why. I think I spent most of the episode wondering to my girlfriend if anyone was ever telling the truth. Ever. Everyone was conning someone about something, and I don’t blame the guy at the end for being cautious over taking the money.

Everyone has been lying to everyone for the entire episode.

I like it when the audience gets to be in on the con, because then I know what to believe or suspect. Here, it kind of feels like they suck the mystery out of it because I just don’t believe anything. I just sort of let it play out because there’s no sense in me trying to figure it out.

That’s just how I feel.

My girlfriend wanted it to play more like an episode of Leverage where we know most of the con, but the twist we don’t get to know. So there’s still some surprise, but we feel like we’re part of the con too.

I liked that idea. I love Leverage. And Burn Notice.

Which both shows allowed you to be in on the con.

Usually on Leverage they have a twist when it comes to the bad guy, but on Burn Notice the twist will sometimes come from the bad guy suddenly making an unexpected decision and being forced to deal with that. Like an episode where the bad guy suddenly grew a conscience and decided to the right thing throwing a wrench into everything.

I love those.

Overall, though I really enjoyed this episode.

Well, at least the Xena, Joxer, and Gabrielle part of it.

The rest of it was very weird and didn’t quite work. I cannot remember for the life of me who the last random love interest was. I don’t think we’ve had one in a while. This season has been really focused on Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship.

Maybe that’s why it feels so out of place.

We were getting them pretty frequently for a while and then nothing. Maybe I got my hopes up that we wouldn’t have another.

There’s also my bias against the actor. Every time he shows up, I’m like he’s the bad guy! It’s him! It’s always him! Because he does play a great bad guy.

However, on the front of the random love interest we did have a nice show of Xena being somewhat annoyed by him.

Like there were a few moments where it just felt like the character was possessing the script and just being over it. Just Xena going, seriously? Really? This guy?

Then a moment when Lucy would gain control over her again to pretend this made sense and was attracted to the guy.

Followed by other moments where it was like Xena was just confused by the script. And I do mean Xena.

Lucy played this episode interestingly. Only offering some interest in him, in the moments that required it. Other than that? She seemed annoyed by him or the possibility of him. I mean, you could take that as the character being annoyed with herself for being attracted to a guy she knows is up to no good.

I’m sure that’s how the censors took it.

But from my point of view? It felt like she was just put off by him.

Excuse you, sir. I love my wife. Go away.

As for Gabrielle, I think she had a stroke in that scene encouraging Xena. That was just for the censors. See? They’re not together. Gabrielle is telling her to go for the guy. Totally straight things happening here.

Then once they looked away, Gabrielle found out he’s a betting on getting Xena, and she’s suddenly pretty normal and wants Xena to have nothing to do with the guy. Much to Xena’s amusement. Which – of course – that scene felt like them flirting the entire time. Especially from Xena.

I love the censors, man. Just having a man around for Xena to flirt with and Gabrielle to be like ‘go for it’ was enough for them to stop looking more closely at everything else going on. Like that Gabrielle and Xena spent a good chunk of time flirting and teasing each other in the episode.

That Xena is looking after Gabrielle while she’s injured.

Praising her when she creates a perfect distraction.

Flirting while discussing that the guy just has no chance. Because he doesn’t and they both know it. So it doesn’t matter what else happens, because they’ve faced the worst, and are still together.

What could come between them? This guy? The censors?

Nah. We just toted this guy out to make them happy, but he really didn’t matter. He worked for the censors and then for the plot and he’s gone just as quickly.

At the end of the episode when he wished they’d cross paths again one day, I said he should consider himself lucky that he didn’t die and avoid them forever. I’m pretty sure if you make a second appearance as a love interest, these writers feel personally obligated to have you killed.

Take your life and run, sir.

The plot and emotional threads of this episode were so good, and it appeared after the vacation last week, the writers are back, and ready to keep delivering. Thank goodness!

Onto next week’s episode which the description I saw, and it appears Caesar is back. Which yay. My girlfriend thought I was upset that Caesar was back, because how could I think he wouldn’t come back until he’s stabbed to death in March?

No, no. I thought he’d be back. I didn’t say I’d be excited since the last time we saw him the whole Dahak thing happened with Gabrielle kicking off the rift. Forgive me, if I’m not thrilled to have the distraction that caused Xena not to be there for Gabrielle when she needed her is back to cause more havoc.

I’m sure it’ll be delicious havoc. But still.

Just. Stab him already. Please.

Well then, let’s find out what he’s up to now. Thanks for reading! Please consider supporting my site!

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