EPISODE NO. 35
Season 2, episode 11
Series 211
1st release: 01/20/97
2nd release: 06/23/97
1st strip release: 09/18/98
2nd strip release: 12/17/98
Production number: V0212
Script number: 215
Approximate shooting dates: November-December 1996
Last update: 09-15-99
GUEST STARS, CAST & CREDITS
TV GUIDE PROMO
AIRING AND RATING INFORMATION
SYNOPSIS
COMMENTARY by Carmen Carter
WHIMPERS, MURMURS, AND A LOVE GONE TOO FAR
MORE THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR
TRANSCRIPT
DISCLAIMER
WHOOSH! ARTICLES
GUEST STARS
Karen Dior (Miss Artiphys) aka Geoff Gann
Robert Trebor (Salmoneus)
CAST
John Sumner (Lord Claron)
Calvin Tuteao (Dhoge of Mesini)
Simone Russell (Miss Mesini)
Stan Wolfgramm (Palantine of Parnassus)
Jennifer Becker (Miss Parnassus)
Timothy Lee (Regent of Skiros)
Katherine Kennard (Miss Skiros)
Brenda Kindall (Pageant Matron)
CREDITS
Written by Chris Manheim
Edited by Jim Prior
Directed by Marina Sargenti
TV GUIDE PROMO
Disguising herself as a contestant, Xena enters the Miss
Known World beauty pageant in order to flush out whoever is
trying to sabotage the event.
AIRING AND RATING INFORMATION
1st RELEASE: 01/20/97
AA ranking 6.1
Competition from Syndicated Action Dramas:
(1) XENA ranked 11th with 6.1
(2) HERCULES ranked 16th with 5.1
(3) OUTER LIMITS with 4.1;
(4) BAYWATCH with 3.9;
(5) BABYLON 5 with 3.8
2nd RELEASE: 06/23/97
AA ranking 5.3
Competition from Syndicated Action Dramas:
(1) XENA with 5.3
(2) HERCULES with 4.4
(3) STAR TREK: DS9 with 4.1
(4) BAYWATCH with 3.6
SYNOPSIS :
This synopsis is by Bluesong.
The show opens with Xena and Gabrielle
walking along a peaceful beach. Gabrielle falls into a deep wagon
rut; Xena declares only a war wagon would make such tracks. They
are interrupted by scantily clad women fleeing down the beach;
one woman is caught. Xena throws clams at the bad men and they
run away. Salmoneus appears, and Xena fusses because he called
her to meet him for a beauty contest.
However, this is a land with only a
year of peace. The contest is being held on a "neutral" king's
turf, with three other kings sponsoring women in the pageant.
Someone is trying to unbalance things, however, and kill or maim
the contestants of the kings. The kings are ready to go back to
war.
Xena enters the contest as Miss
Amphipolis; Gabrielle acts as "The Marquessa (?)" and her sponsor
in the contest. Salmoneus introduces Xena to one of the
contestants who plays a harp; the harp is rigged to set off a
crossbow. Xena saves the day with her trusty chakram. Xena then
goes to the steam bath, where she is snubbed by the other
contestants. She is the last one to leave, and she finds she is
locked in the steam room. Dressed only in a towel ... hmm. How
does Xena escape? She takes the towel off and snaps open a vent
covering with it!
A blond wig disguises our heroine, and
she shimmies down the runway with the rest of the girls. Later,
Xena discovers that one of the contestants, the one who locked
her in the steam room, is really a man! A cross dresser who
has had a lot of shame in his life because he has very large
breasts, he asks Xena not to reveal his secret, and she agrees.
Someone steals Xena's leathers and breast plate from the trunk in
her room.
While Gabrielle checks out the
kings/sponsors and the progress of the impending war, Xena has to
parade around in a visual march with the other contestants while
Salmoneus sings a song. Then, during the next part of the
contest, someone says "That's Xena!" and Xena stops. But the
person is pointing to the crossdresser, who has on Xena's
leathers as her (his?) outfit. Xena's secret is safe. And of
course Xena and the cross dresser are in the top five of the
contest, as are all the girls sponsored by the kings.
Salmoneus gives Xena a really bad dress
to wear; Xena rips it up with a knife ("I have many skills," she
tells a matron) to make it look better. Then she goes outside
and practices some sword play for her "talent" competition. (She
refused to sing, even though Gabrielle begged her to do so.)
While outside, she overhears another woman crying. She doesn't
want to be in the contest; Xena offers some words of wisdom.
During the talent show, Xena sees that
the platform has been rigged and she jumps in and saves a woman
from a King Cobra during a charm dance.
Xena then goes to the castle and conks
each king on the head. She then goes to find the "neutral" king
who is hosting the pageant. He says he is responsible for the
accidents because he needs another war so he can sell stuff to
all parties. The three kings hear this, since Xena has them tied
up under the table.
Miss Amphipolis wins the pageant, but
she has withdrawn (poor Salmoneus). Then the next 3 contestants,
those belonging to the kings, also withdraw, leaving the cross
dresser as the winner. She/He takes the crown, and then suddenly
grabs Xena (now as herself), pulls her on stage, and gives her a
big ol' long kiss.
So, Miss Known World is a cross
dresser, and peace reigns in the area, courtesy of Xena.
COMMENTARY:
This commentary is by Carmen Carter.
MISS AMPHIPOLIS is definitely one of my
favorite episodes of second season.
The gender-bending fun -- especially
from what I presume was a somewhat
hastily written script -- was delightful, and the one-liners flew
fast and
furious. Like first season's WARRIOR...PRINCESS, the satiric
comedy in this
show served a deeper and sharper purpose than sheer
entertainment. It was
the vehicle for some very pointed social commentary that is
almost
impossible to address in any other fashion. Those who don't want
to hear
the message can tune it out and enjoy the show anyway; the rest
of us can
revel in the double-entendre's and frequent allusions to camp
culture.
The opening beach sequence of the
contestants running through the water is
a classic T&A situation. However, in this epsisode it became a
metaphorical
setup for the journey to come. The story opens with this all too
familiar,
stereotypic depiction of women as decorative filler, then scene
by scene
strips off the facade to reveal a different landscape beneath,
until at the
end of the show we are treated to the decidely *atypical* shot of
a man
dressed as a woman aggressively kissing a woman dressed in
leather. If
you're not extremely flexible in certain attitudes, this
contortion could
cause extreme dizziness.
The parallels between Xena and Miss
Artiphyse are quite striking. The other
contestants appeared relatively consistent in their gender
behavior both on
and off stage; their extreme femme personna was completely
internalized. In
contrast, both Miss Artiphyse and Xena were assuming a role --
the minute
they stepped "off stage" their body language and speech was
significantly
transformed. So what we saw from those two was their somewhat
clumsy
attempt to mimic the appearance of the societally acceptable
"natural
woman" that was far from natural for either of them. So, although
I don't
consider Xena to be completely butch by any means, I still
thought of her
as in "femme drag." Ironically, when she finally stepped out of
her role
for good, pulling off her blond wig and rumpling her hair, she
looked far
more beautiful and feminine than she had while playing the part
of a
contestant.
Granted, beauty contests are an easy
target for satire, but I think
applause are in order for the deft way this was handled. One of
my favorite
scenes is the dress rehearsal for "A woman is a natural thing,"
in which
the contestants prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that being
this
particular kind of a "woman" takes a *lot* of practice.
Another of my favorite scenes --
because it contains such a topsy-turvy
take on gender skills -- was Xena's transformation of the dress.
Being a
seamstress is a traditional skill for women, but Xena executes
that skill
with a decidedly atypical tool -- her knife -- and with a
decidedly
butch-practical attitude. Also a standout in that scene was
Gabrielle's
despairing wail of "What *can* you do?" Now we all know that Xena
can "do"
many things that defy ordinary mortals, but in the context of the
beauty
pageant, Xena is suddenly at a decided disadvantage. Which is a
clever way
of underscoring the absurdity of the talent event for judging the
worth of
women.
Of special note, Robert Trebor was
*wonderful* in the emcee role; he's a
natural musical comedy star. I'm still trying to figure out how
he managed
to steal the show without overshadowing Xena & Gabrielle, but
it's another
of those mysteries that falls under the category of "chemistry."
I have
always enjoyed his interaction with the duo, and this episode is
no
exception. Trebor has very firm control over the tone and nuances
of
Salmoneus, and I admire the way he is able to shade his portrayal
to suit
the needs of each episode and each scene, ranging from broad
slapstick
("Those boots, that leather, those legs!") to the most touching
drama (his
goodbye to the Warrior Princess in TGG). In a season that has
introduced
far more comedy to X:WP than I care for, I nonetheless welcomed
the return
of Salmoneus.
Chris Manheim scored more high marks
for the episode's clever resolution in
which Miss Artiphyse won, but only by default. This scenario
avoided the
proposition that men in drag are better women than genetic
females, the
prevailing attitude in today's fashion world where men like
RuPaul are
being used to model clothing supposedly designed for women.
WHIMPERS, MURMURS, AND A LOVE GONE TOO
FAR
01-31-99. Chris Manheim was interviewed by WHOOSH in the February 1999 issue. Here's what she said about HERE SHE COMES...
RUDNICK:
...I believe Miss Artiphys was a character inspired by your brother, is that right?
MANHEIM:
[75] Yes. My brother was gay, and when we were growing up, he'd go to these clubs in Daytona Beach and do drag acts. It just kind of fits that Keith [Walsh] would inspire a character like that in a beauty pageant. [laughs]...
I must say, all my gay male friends like that episode best, and it's the only episode we were nominated for a GLAAD [Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation] award over. I went to the GLAAD awards that year. We didn't win, but it was a fun thing to go and be a part of. We also got an award from a transsexual group. It's probably the most awarded show of the series. [laughs]
RUDNICK:
[80] Interesting and kind of ironic, too, since it's the ultimate feminist action episode. You wrote it, and you had a female director. It was also kind of an indictment of the Baywatch (1989-) type shows too, since Xena wasn't going to let that happen.
MANHEIM:
[81] It got me into ASCAP [American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers]. I got to write a couple of corny songs. Joe [LoDuca] did the music and that's what made it terrific, but I did the lyrics.
RUDNICK:
[82] What about that scene where you had that kiss between Miss Artiphys and Xena? Was that deliberately scripted?
MANHEIM:
[83] Oh yes. Very deliberate. It was a way we could get away with a full kiss looking like it was between two women...
MANHEIM:
...Thank God this show is set up the way it is, because I don't know how many shows would survive such a thing [Lucy Lawless' accident in October 1996]. MISS AMPHIPOLIS (35/211) came about partly because of that because Lucy [Lawless] couldn't fight much
11-24-98. On an airing of ths episode in the United Kingdom on or about 11-14-98, the episode was lacking the the usual disclaimer of "No ribbons..." but had in its place: "In loving memory of Keith K Walsh". The official response from the XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS office was that Keith Walsh was Chris Manheim's brother who passed away in 1992 due to complications from AIDS. He was the inspiration for the Miss Artiphys character in the show.
11-11-98. When asked whether he enjoyed playing Salmoneus in HERE SHE COMES...MISS AMPHIPOLIS (35/211), Robert Trebor at the Phoenix Creation Con (05-31-98) said that he enjoyed playing opposite Lucy Lawless who played a very dishy blonde, and that he enjoyed singing in the episode. Robert told us that we could find all of his film credits at his web site. This is also the site where you can find information on joining Robert Trebor's fan club.
From Nike. At Caesar's party in WHEN IN ROME, the purple dress worn by the serving girl is the
same dress that was worn by one of the contestants in the episode HERE SHE COMES...MISS AMPHIPOLIS.
PRE-COMMENTARY: Xena goes undercover at
the Miss Amphipolis Beauty Contest. MISS AMPHIPOLIS is also a
Salmoneus episode! Also, it will feature a character named
Artiphys.
And!!! Is this a woman director???? Too good to be true. A first for XWPdom!
MORE THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR
09-15-99. From Daniel. In "Here She Comes...Miss Amphipolis", when Gabby is dressed in her fancy clothes and pretending to be Miss Amphipolis' sponser, she has a little eyeglass charm that looks an awful lot like the magnifying glass necklace Ash gives his girlfriend, Linda, in "Evil Dead". And I'm sure we are all aware of the parallels between "Xena" and "Evil Dead".
03-06-99. Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor appeared at the The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras of February 1999, and Lawless wore the gown Miss Amphipolis wore in HERE SHE COMES, and O'Connor wore the gown she wore as Tyrella in IF THE SHOE FITS, including tiara! To see before and after pictures, CLICK HERE to visit MaryD's site.
TRANSCRIPT
Click here to read a transcript of HERE SHE COMES...MISS AMPHIPOLIS.
DISCLAIMER:
No ribbons were harmed during the
production of this motion picture. However, several experienced
severe motion sickness.
WHOOSH! ARTICLES:
The following WHOOSH! articles discuss this episode:
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