TV GUIDE PROMO
Lucy Lawless takes on triple duty as the Warrior Princess
tries to protect a look-alike friend, Princess Diana, from the
machinations of yet another Xena look-alike, a trollop named Meg.
Xena's second effort in protecting her look-alike, Princess Diana, is complicated by the fact that Diana and her latest enemy both resemble Xena.
AIRING AND RATING INFORMATION
1st RELEASE: 11-04-96
An AA average of 5.7
Competition from Syndicated Action Dramas:
(1) ST:DS9 6th with 7.7
(2) HERCULES 10th with 6.1
(3) XENA 11th with 5.7
(4) BAYWATCH 22d with 4.2
2nd RELEASE: 05-26-97
An AA average of 5.4
Competition from Syndicated Action Dramas:
(1) HERCULES 9th with 5.6
(2) XENA 10th with 5.4
(3) STDS9 13th with 4.2
(4) OUTER LIMITS 23rd with 3.6
(5) BAYWATCH with 3.1
(6) BABYLON 5 with 3.0
SYNOPSIS:
This synopsis is by Bluesong.
This is a hilarious romp; comedy and
almost-slapstick best describes it. Princess Diana's father is
ill, and dying. Princess Diana and her husband now have a baby,
too. The king has sent for Xena to help with the transition from
him as King to Diana as Queen. A fellow named Agis steps in
with a 3rd Xena look-a-like.
Joxer (again) is in a tavern, telling tales about Xena (i.e., he
made love to her) and his fight with Callisto (the 1st one).
In walks Gabrielle. Gabrielle says she had a note from Xena, who
is in Thebes, to meet her at this tavern tomorrow. Joxer says
no, she was here, she left this morning to go to the palace.
Joxer says something "bad" about Xena & her sexuality; Gabrielle
grabs his nose. "What was that for?" Joxer squeals. "That's
Xena and her reputation you're stepping on," Gabrielle says
(paraphrased). Gabrielle goes to the palace.
Xena has been let into the palace, and brought Agis with her.
Only it's not Xena, it's a "tramp" who looks like Xena. Agis
has dressed her up to be Xena; her real name is Meg. Meg tells
Diana that Agis is a trusted friend, and Diana welcomes them
both. Gabrielle comes in, says something to "Xena" (Meg); and
Xena (Meg) says, throw this annoying little brat into the
dungeon. And so a guard does just that, much to Gabrielle's
consternation.
Agis and Meg/Xena have a conversation; throwing Gabrielle into
the dungeon wasn't the thing to do. Meg plays with the replica
of the "round killing thingy" -- twirls it around on the table,
spins it, etc. Agis tells her she has to go do something to
shut Gabrielle up. So Meg/Xena goes to the dungeon and tells
Gabrielle it's part of the plan. What plan? She can't tell her.
But it's part of the plan. And Gabrielle will be safer in the
dungeon, and out of the way. Wait a minute, Gabrielle says, I
thought we were way past this I'm just a brat stuff. Xena/Meg
says no, we're not. Gabrielle beats up her pillow after Xena/Meg
leaves.
Meg actually DOES have a thing for Joxer and really did make love
to him, but Joxer still thinks its Xena. He goes to the castle;
he sees Xena/Meg & she tells him she had Gabrielle thrown in the
dungeon. He says he's broken up one of the great friendships of
the world. Oh no! He must be strong and leave. So he goes out
of the room, wanders around the castle a minute, and sees
Princess Diana. He grabs her, and gets thrown into the dungeon
with Gabrielle.
Xena, meanwhile, rides into town from Thebes, goes into the
tavern, and is accosted by many men who "want" her like Joxer
"had" her. She just bops them in the nose; then a raiding party,
sent by Agis, comes after her. She asks for a strong drink;
takes a sip, and blows over a candle and burns half the guys;
beats up the others. She finally makes it to the castle, and
goes to Diana, who is crying. She tells Diana there is trouble,
because she was attacked. But Diana says she can't talk now, for
her father is very ill and she just came from there. But now Meg
is Diana. Agis has Diana hostage.
Joxer comes across Xena and makes a pass at her. "Are you
suicidal?" Xena says to him. Joxer still doesn't understand;
Xena pulls him into a side room, presumably to beat some sense
into him, and Agis and Meg/Diana appear. They hear the whole
plot; Xena now knows that there is a 3rd Xena look-a-like. When
the coast is clear, she goes and gets Gabrielle, who is convinced
by this time it's a plot to drive her insane. OK, she says, a
3rd Xena makes everything make sense, but how do I know you're
the real Xena? Xena rolls her eyes, pulls her chakram from her
side, and throws it. It bounces off of many things, and heads
straight for Gabrielle's head, at which point Xena catches it.
"Hi Xena."
Xena and Gabrielle then set up a plot to find Diana. Xena
dresses as Diana, but pretends she's Meg posing as Diana. She
ties up Gabrielle, and finds one of Agis' henchmen. Let's
take her to the same place you got the real princess, Meg (but
really Xena as Diana) says, and off they go to their main
hide-out. The real Diana is upset because she's sat all day on a
cold rock and her bottom is freezing. Xena/Diana as Meg
(confusing, isn't it?) says, "Hey boys, let's play with the brat"
and loosens Gabrielle's bonds a bit; then she cuts loose and
wipes them all out.
With Diana safe, Xena places her and Philamon in a hiding place
in the castle that only the royal family knows about.
Unfortunately Agis has taken the baby. So Xena goes to get
that. She's still dressed as Diana; Agis comes around and
Xena kisses Joxer (yuck) to convince Agis that she is Meg.
They go plot to kill the king; Xena/Diana as Meg says she should
just stab him, not poison him; they go get the baby (to put the
knife in his bassinet), and just then Joxer comes in and blows
that plan. "Come on, idiot," Xena says after she dispatches a
few bad guys and goes chasing after the ones with the baby.
Meanwhile, Gabrielle has Diana/Meg trapped, and we have a very
nice cat-fight, complete with hair-pulling and rolling on the
ground, between these two. Then Meg/Diana tells Gabrielle she's
been on her own since she was 10; her father died while in
childbirth (because he got drunk when she was being born and fell
off a roof!), etc., and Gabrielle feels kind of sorry for her.
Then the king stumbles in because Diana hasn't been in to see
him; and Meg/Diana pretends she's his daughter and he tells her
he loves her and stuff. Agis then comes in and tells Meg to
kill the king. He gives her a knife, but instead she won't do
it, she turns on Agis. Another fight ensues, and Meg/Diana
saves the king, and takes him to his chambers. After the fight,
Xena(for real) goes to them, and tells Meg/Diana to stay with the
king and keep him safe. And cover him with a blanket; a chill
now could kill him. So she stays and tells the king her sordid
life, including the fact that once she held one decent job, as a
cook, but she used too much spice. She likes spicey food.
Then Agis, who still has the baby, hauls the bassinet above a
flame and dangles it from a rope. Xena (but it's Diana posing as
Xena) comes to get the baby, of course, fails. She says she's
going to chop them up with her round killing thing (chakram).
Well, that doesn't work, and then Xena appears again, except it's
Meg as Xena. She pulls out her "shamrock", too, and it breaks
in half. (All the while I'm ROTFL); then Xena, dressed as Diana,
comes in, kicks b**t, saves the baby, etc.
The king, it turns out, isn't going to die. He forgives Meg and
gives her a job as a cook. (He likes spicey food.) Xena,
Gabrielle & Joxer go to leave; Meg tells them goodbye at the
gate; she tells Joxer to ditch the girls and come back quickly;
He goes after Xena and Gabrielle, and Xena finally says, go back
Joxer, she won't wait forever.
COMMENTARY:
Commentary by Carmen Carter.
I was horribly embarrassed to find that
a good friend of mine had finally caught a second season episode
of XWP...only to tune in to WPT. She thought the show was
unrecognizable from last season, especially because of Joxer and
his brand of sexist slapstick humor. WPT has stifled her interest
in giving this show another chance.
Frankly, WPT has depressed me
completely. I was soooo hoping for just a good, fun Xena romp. I
adored WARRIOR... PRINCESS, one of my top ten favorites. This
time around I didn't expect to be bombarded with jokes about
hickeys, boobs, butt-grabbing, how many men Meg slept with, and
how many men everyone thought Xena had slept with. (Notice, Meg's
the tramp in this episode, not the guys.) I've NEVER cringed at
sexist stereotypes in XWP before this season, because there
haven't been any up to this season. Now they seem to be
everywhere.
Gabrielle was peripheral to the action,
with most of the screen time having been taken up by Joxer. She
was called names like "big mouth idiot" that seem to have been
plucked from early first season, rather than the character of
dignity and maturity she was by the end of DOCTOR. And the
hair-pulling cat fight... Gods, I *never* thought I'd see that on
a show that portrays women as warriors.
To have Joxer leap in to the rescue for
the second episode in a row was insulting to the basic premise of
this series. But the closing scene of Joxer strolling off with
Xena and Gabrielle was the final insult. It was an obvious and
most unwelcome visual metaphor of the inexplicable changes that
have occurred in XWP's second season.
WHIMPERS, MURMURS, AND A LOVE GONE TOO
FAR
07-16-00. On March 31, 2000, Josh Becker on his Q&A area of his website wrote: "I change things a lot more than most TV directors, so I'm the
exception, not the rule. Most directors treat the script like it's nailed in stone,
as many script supervisors have informed me. Particularly in the funny
episode, which is what I've mostly done, I'm always looking for another laugh
in the scene. In many instances I add what seems to me like an obvious
punchline that just isn't there. One I'm particularly proud of is in "Warrior .
. . Princess . . . Tramp" when Meg gets Joxer out of prison and he asks,
"What's the plan?" and she kisses him. That's what's scripted. I added, after
the kiss Joxer asks, "That's the plan?" Meg says, "What'dya think?" Joxer
grins, "Good plan" and they kiss again. The whole schtick of Meg stealing
silverware and it falling out of her dress at the end I added."
12-22-98. At the Burbank Con II (01/98), Robert Field, film editor for XWP, mentioned that there were several bloopers brought to his attention by fans. Most were continuity errors and Field showed some clips of some of them. They included an appearing/disappearing chakram; appearing/disappearing armor; a cut on Xena's arm in RETURN OF CALLISTO which moved from one arm to another; a moving wall in CHARIOTS OF WAR; a mountain that moved in PROMETHEUS; Gabrielle's moving staff in WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP; Meleager's moving coin from THE EXECUTION; a propane tank from GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN; an extra in BLIND FAITH; the moving chakram from a cave to a rock in A NECESSARY EVIL; and a missing chakram in TIES THAT BIND.
CHANGING TIMES
Changing Times is by Debbie White.
In WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP (30/206)
Xena learns more about impersonating people while Gabrielle
learns that not everyone that looks like Xena actually is Xena.
The Changing Xena
King Lias calls Xena for help to keep
the peace in his kingdom. Xena is slowly becoming 'the hero to
call for help' instead of the 'evil warlord.' Still, when Joxer
grabs her rear end, she was ready to cause serious pain. She did
control herself, though, and did not kill him, so that's
progress.
Xena is getting better at picking up
personality traits quickly. She was able to pretend to be a tramp
after only having heard her talk. Also, she was able to restrain
her reflexes when the soldier tested to make sure she was Meg.
Hey, Xena's even willing to kiss Joxer to maintain a role. [What
dedication!]
Still, she goofs once in a major way.
Luckly, it worked. When Agis wants 'Meg'(Xena) to kill the king
with poison, she comes up with an idea involving stabbing so that
she can get her hands on the baby. One major problem is that
they wanted 'Diana'(Meg) to become Queen and if Diana goes
stabbing her father with guards right outside the door, she is
not likely to become Queen. Maybe there is a limit to the number
of details Xena can think out in a split second.
Also, Xena is improving in her trust of
people. She trusts Gabrielle enough to send her to keep Meg out
of the way. She trusts Meg to watch the king because she got him
to safety once. Though Xena has always been good at figuring out
who to trust, she is starting to act on that trust more quickly
now.
The Changing Gabrielle
Gabrielle is wandering around on her
own, now. Xena was in Thebes and sent Gabrielle a message to
meet at the inn near Diana's castle. So Gabrielle is now willing
to stay behind when Xena goes on certain adventures. Not only
that, she can now take care of herself well enough that Xena
trusts her to be safe when left behind. This was not the case in
CHARIOTS OF WAR (02/102).
Not only is Gabrielle now good at staff
fighting, she can also hold her own using other weapons and in a
cat-fight. When fighting once without her staff, Gabrielle uses a
mace like a staff. When cat-fighting, Meg holds a pair of
scissors as a weapon, but Gabrielle kicks them away. They
rollover and fight, yet Gabrielle still gets the upper hand over
someone who has always fought that way. Well, maybe Gabrielle had
practice with her sister, since in SINS OF THE PAST (01/101), her
sister claimed to haveb beated Gabrielle up many times. Still,
when Meg tries to cry her way out of being punched, Gabrielle is
not naive enough to fall for the trick.
Then Gabrielle gets to do what she does
best: talk. She is able to get Meg to stop following Agis'
orders. She even gets Meg to open up about her past.
Still, Gabrielle needs to work on her
'fake-Xena' identification. She could tell Xena was not acting
normally and knew that Xena had at least one double, yet only
thought that Xena had backslid and was treating her like a kid
again. She still needs to work on seeing past the obvious.
Note
Just a quick note on this episode. I
am a little concerned that kids are watching babies being thrown
into the air like a ball [CRADLE OF HOPE (04/104)], hung in
baskets over a fire, and thrown out of a basket
[WARRIOR..PRINCESS..TRAMP (30/206)]. Kids are careless enough
around babies that I hope this is not giving them bad ideas.
Perhaps I am getting a little picky,
but a 14 year-old kid just opened fire and killed 3 class-mates
in a school near here. The problem was he had planned doing it
and did not see what the problem about his anticipated actions.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Highlights by Beth
Gaynor.
Coming soon
THINGS TO LOOK OUT
FOR
These things are by Beth Gaynor.
Coming soon
MORE THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR
Coming soon
TRANSCRIPT
Click here to read a transcript of WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP.
DISCLAIMER:
Neither Xena nor her remarkably
coincidental identical twin, Diana, were harmed during the
production of this motion picture. Meg, however, suffered minor
injuries while preparing Aardvark nuggets for King Lias.
WHOOSH! ARTICLES:
Coming soon
LINKS:
Script.
