HTLJ from the beginning (S3 "War Bride")
I've been doing reviews/synopses at the Xena Online Community for Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, beginning with the Action Pack movies and then going through the seasons in order. I'm up to Season 3's "War Bride" now.
You can get caught up on the reviews here.
War Bride
Iolaus wakes from a nightmare about fighting the Hydra (they used a clip from "Pride Comes Before a Brawl"). It seems he's been having the same dream over and over. He and Herc decide to take a break and "wallow in luxury." Anything would have to seem like luxury when you're sleeping on the bare ground like they do. *shudders*
Spoiled Princess Melissa (Lisa Chappell) is begging her father not to make her marry a Lathian, their kingdom's worst enemy. Her sister Alexa (Josephine Davidson) comes in and asks why he doesn't just let Melissa rule, but her father scoffs at the idea - both because she's a woman and because she's - Melissa. That night, Melissa gets kidnapped.
Herc and Iolaus are sharing a mud bath, but they don't seem to be having that much fun. They get stuck talking to some woman about a time share.
They sink under the water to get away from her.
The king gets a ransom note that's purported to be from Gordius, Melissa's betrothed. Alexa says they should send the army, but the king doesn't want to do that for fear they'll kill Melissa.
Melissa gets a rude awakening, and her captor tells her they're going to market. "Are we going shopping?" Um, not quite.
Herc and Iolaus talk about going fishing, but their plans are interrupted when they see the slaves, Melissa being one of them (Herc recognizes her). The guys fight off the slave traders with some fancy whip work on Herc's part, and Iolaus seems to enjoy being hugged by the freed slaves, who are all female.
Melissa tells them she thought the whole thing was a joke. Herc introduces her to Iolaus, who's offended by her hoity-toity attitude (she thinks he's a manservant, plus she calls him "Iolfus"). She's excited by the idea of "roughing it," but it's clear her idea of that is about like Aphrodite's - it's all about the accessories.
On the way, Melissa continues to annoy Iolaus, and she tells them that she doesn't want to marry Gordius.
Meanwhile, Alexa and the king talk about the old days; he regrets building a weapon called the Fist of Tolus - apparently some kind of WMD. Alexa, however, thinks of those times as the good old days, which doesn't bode well for her character.
Melissa starts to whine about the rough conditions: "I didn't know nature was so - natural." She does like the idea of having a war fought over her, though, and Iolaus finally snaps at her.
Back at the palace, Alexa smothers the ailing king with a pillow. She seems to be trying to convince herself that she's doing what her father would want for the kingdom. She's not totally cold-blooded, though, as she seems to have a momentary visceral reaction to killing her dad. She gets over it, though, and calls the guards to tell them she's declaring war on the Lathians. She wants to use the Fist of Tolus. Uh-oh!
There's a funny bit where Iolaus has to carry Melissa on his shoulders across some suspect-looking water, and he dumps her in. Herc doesn't really know what to say at this point. It was nice to have that moment after the previous slightly-shocking murder scene.
Queen Alexa is in battle mode now. She plans to commit genocide against all the Lathians using the Fist of Tolus.
Gordius tells his advisor Akteon that he plans to go out and search for Melissa, since she never showed up, and he doesn't trust the Alcinians (Alexa's people).
Herc, Iolaus and Alexa nearly get skewered by a hail of arrows coming from Alexa's army. They hide, and the army goes away, and then they find some Lathian soldiers who are wounded. Melissa is confused when Herc and Iolaus insist on helping them. They find a temple where there are others being treated for their wounds, and Herc insists on giving Melissa a chance to help.
Alexa tells her men that they're going to keep marching on, killing Hercules in the process. And of course, Melissa's death will be the icing on the cake - er, the price of war.
Melissa starts to realize that there's a lesson in all this. Herc tells her that this can teach her to be a better queen, whether she marries Gordius or not. He also says it starts one person at a time, so Melissa approaches one of the soldiers and tries to comfort him. She's truly touched now that she can see what war is like.
Herc encounters Gordius and tells him that he has Melissa, and that there's no need to go to war.
Akteon meets with Alexa, and it's not a big surprise at this point that they're working together. Herc finds them and confronts Alexa. She uses her catapult weapon on him and he gets trapped under some rocks. At least she's smart enough not to assume that he's dead, and she leaves some men behind to finish him off if he's alive.
Melissa and Gordius finally meet, and they seem to hit it off. She's not what he expected - he expected someone more like Melissa from the day before.
Herc fights off Alexa's men and sneaks in a bowling pun.
Alexa reaches the cave and orders everyone to death. She prepares to finish Melissa off herself, telling her sister that she'd intended for her to find someplace "comfortable" to live as a slave, but now she's got to die.
Herc shows up to help with the fight, and he does some people-wielding. Gordius fights off Alexa, winning Melissa's gratitude. Alexa goes to get the weapon. Gordius also gets to punch out Akteon, thus impressing his fiancée even more.
Alexa is about to use the weapon on Herc, but he does a rare flying jump Xena-style and breaks the weapon down. Alexa tries to run, but Melissa punches her out, and Herc destroys the weapon.
Herc and Iolaus say good-bye to Gordius and Melissa, who are not quite ready to get married - they're getting to know each other first, but they seem to like each other a lot. Melissa even remembers to call Iolaus by his real name. As they're walking off, they get back to vacation planning. Iolaus suggests something that sounds like bungee jumping.
This episode was pretty decent, not a disappointment, anyway. In a way it seems reminiscent of S2, but done better than most of those eps. It's reasonably fast-paced and has a healthy dose of comedy to temper the serious issues of war and regicide. At least we got to have two strong female leads played by strong actresses. Lisa Chappell got to use her comedic talents and charm to make Princess Melissa a memorable character, and I enjoyed seeing Josephine Davidson play the villain. She managed to bring some nuance to the role and still keep the baddie edge (without the comical mugging). She even had a little bit of a feminist thing going for her, and she probably would have made a good ruler if she hadn't been such a warmonger.
The most interesting part of the ep is probably Melissa's growth as a person (which, admittedly, happens rather quickly, but we only have 45 minutes). She and Gordius both have to become better people before they'll be fit to rule, and probably before they'll be ready to get married. Gordius seemed like kind of a softie, and so for him, the development came through having to be tough and fight, I guess.
Too bad Herc and Iolaus didn't get much of a vacation in this ep. It seems like that mud bath would have been a lot of trouble to make for such a brief scene, but it was cute. At least they tried to go on vacation - it's a start!
No leather-clad, pointing-breasted, bouffant-wearing, pillow-smothering, two-faced sisters were harmed during the production of this motion picture.
You can get caught up on the reviews here.
War Bride
Iolaus wakes from a nightmare about fighting the Hydra (they used a clip from "Pride Comes Before a Brawl"). It seems he's been having the same dream over and over. He and Herc decide to take a break and "wallow in luxury." Anything would have to seem like luxury when you're sleeping on the bare ground like they do. *shudders*
Spoiled Princess Melissa (Lisa Chappell) is begging her father not to make her marry a Lathian, their kingdom's worst enemy. Her sister Alexa (Josephine Davidson) comes in and asks why he doesn't just let Melissa rule, but her father scoffs at the idea - both because she's a woman and because she's - Melissa. That night, Melissa gets kidnapped.
Herc and Iolaus are sharing a mud bath, but they don't seem to be having that much fun. They get stuck talking to some woman about a time share.
They sink under the water to get away from her.
The king gets a ransom note that's purported to be from Gordius, Melissa's betrothed. Alexa says they should send the army, but the king doesn't want to do that for fear they'll kill Melissa.
Melissa gets a rude awakening, and her captor tells her they're going to market. "Are we going shopping?" Um, not quite.
Herc and Iolaus talk about going fishing, but their plans are interrupted when they see the slaves, Melissa being one of them (Herc recognizes her). The guys fight off the slave traders with some fancy whip work on Herc's part, and Iolaus seems to enjoy being hugged by the freed slaves, who are all female.
Melissa tells them she thought the whole thing was a joke. Herc introduces her to Iolaus, who's offended by her hoity-toity attitude (she thinks he's a manservant, plus she calls him "Iolfus"). She's excited by the idea of "roughing it," but it's clear her idea of that is about like Aphrodite's - it's all about the accessories.
On the way, Melissa continues to annoy Iolaus, and she tells them that she doesn't want to marry Gordius.
Meanwhile, Alexa and the king talk about the old days; he regrets building a weapon called the Fist of Tolus - apparently some kind of WMD. Alexa, however, thinks of those times as the good old days, which doesn't bode well for her character.
Melissa starts to whine about the rough conditions: "I didn't know nature was so - natural." She does like the idea of having a war fought over her, though, and Iolaus finally snaps at her.
Back at the palace, Alexa smothers the ailing king with a pillow. She seems to be trying to convince herself that she's doing what her father would want for the kingdom. She's not totally cold-blooded, though, as she seems to have a momentary visceral reaction to killing her dad. She gets over it, though, and calls the guards to tell them she's declaring war on the Lathians. She wants to use the Fist of Tolus. Uh-oh!
There's a funny bit where Iolaus has to carry Melissa on his shoulders across some suspect-looking water, and he dumps her in. Herc doesn't really know what to say at this point. It was nice to have that moment after the previous slightly-shocking murder scene.
Queen Alexa is in battle mode now. She plans to commit genocide against all the Lathians using the Fist of Tolus.
Gordius tells his advisor Akteon that he plans to go out and search for Melissa, since she never showed up, and he doesn't trust the Alcinians (Alexa's people).
Herc, Iolaus and Alexa nearly get skewered by a hail of arrows coming from Alexa's army. They hide, and the army goes away, and then they find some Lathian soldiers who are wounded. Melissa is confused when Herc and Iolaus insist on helping them. They find a temple where there are others being treated for their wounds, and Herc insists on giving Melissa a chance to help.
Alexa tells her men that they're going to keep marching on, killing Hercules in the process. And of course, Melissa's death will be the icing on the cake - er, the price of war.
Melissa starts to realize that there's a lesson in all this. Herc tells her that this can teach her to be a better queen, whether she marries Gordius or not. He also says it starts one person at a time, so Melissa approaches one of the soldiers and tries to comfort him. She's truly touched now that she can see what war is like.
Herc encounters Gordius and tells him that he has Melissa, and that there's no need to go to war.
Akteon meets with Alexa, and it's not a big surprise at this point that they're working together. Herc finds them and confronts Alexa. She uses her catapult weapon on him and he gets trapped under some rocks. At least she's smart enough not to assume that he's dead, and she leaves some men behind to finish him off if he's alive.
Melissa and Gordius finally meet, and they seem to hit it off. She's not what he expected - he expected someone more like Melissa from the day before.
Herc fights off Alexa's men and sneaks in a bowling pun.
Alexa reaches the cave and orders everyone to death. She prepares to finish Melissa off herself, telling her sister that she'd intended for her to find someplace "comfortable" to live as a slave, but now she's got to die.
Herc shows up to help with the fight, and he does some people-wielding. Gordius fights off Alexa, winning Melissa's gratitude. Alexa goes to get the weapon. Gordius also gets to punch out Akteon, thus impressing his fiancée even more.
Alexa is about to use the weapon on Herc, but he does a rare flying jump Xena-style and breaks the weapon down. Alexa tries to run, but Melissa punches her out, and Herc destroys the weapon.
Herc and Iolaus say good-bye to Gordius and Melissa, who are not quite ready to get married - they're getting to know each other first, but they seem to like each other a lot. Melissa even remembers to call Iolaus by his real name. As they're walking off, they get back to vacation planning. Iolaus suggests something that sounds like bungee jumping.
This episode was pretty decent, not a disappointment, anyway. In a way it seems reminiscent of S2, but done better than most of those eps. It's reasonably fast-paced and has a healthy dose of comedy to temper the serious issues of war and regicide. At least we got to have two strong female leads played by strong actresses. Lisa Chappell got to use her comedic talents and charm to make Princess Melissa a memorable character, and I enjoyed seeing Josephine Davidson play the villain. She managed to bring some nuance to the role and still keep the baddie edge (without the comical mugging). She even had a little bit of a feminist thing going for her, and she probably would have made a good ruler if she hadn't been such a warmonger.
The most interesting part of the ep is probably Melissa's growth as a person (which, admittedly, happens rather quickly, but we only have 45 minutes). She and Gordius both have to become better people before they'll be fit to rule, and probably before they'll be ready to get married. Gordius seemed like kind of a softie, and so for him, the development came through having to be tough and fight, I guess.
Too bad Herc and Iolaus didn't get much of a vacation in this ep. It seems like that mud bath would have been a lot of trouble to make for such a brief scene, but it was cute. At least they tried to go on vacation - it's a start!
No leather-clad, pointing-breasted, bouffant-wearing, pillow-smothering, two-faced sisters were harmed during the production of this motion picture.