SYNOPSIS:
Synopsis by Hawk.
Our story begins with Hercules giving us a recap of past events. He tells us about the Alternate Universe, that everyone has a double in this alternate universe, that if you die here, your double dies there, and the existence of the sovereign and how he trapped him between the two worlds.
A portal opens nearby and villagers alert Hercules. He has been pondering where the Gods of Olympus have gone and thinks he knows the answer, so he dives into the portal and travels to the other world. There, he finds the Sovereign lying unconscious and the Jester (Iolaus' duplicate) in hiding. After talking with the Jester he learns that the Sovereign had been overthrown by (Alternate) Nebula and they had been tossed into this prison. The Jester knows a way out. He didn't tell the Sovereign how to get out, but he shows Hercules the way. I found it interesting that throughout this episode, Hercules called the Jester Iolus. Perhaps that's his name, but it came very easily to Hercules.
During all this, Hercules wonders how the Jester could still be alive if Iolus is dead. He figures that the rules work differently here, but I'm not convinced yet. I still think that Iolus is alive….somewhere.
Back in Greece, Ares shows up and sees Hercules dive into the portal. He remarks that Hercules is about to spoil things for him, so he goes after him.
Now Hercules and the Jester arrive in the town outside the Sovereign's palace. The Jester falls, hurts himself and people begin to laugh at him. Hercules asks why he lets people treat him that way and he begins working to try and build up the Jester's self esteem. This goes on throughout the episode. Hercules is such a nice guy isn't he? He convinces the Jester to act as his guide while he is there. He thinks that the Gods of Olympus are in this alternate world and he intends to find them. He also finds out a little more about the new Empress Nebula.
The beautiful Gina Torres is playing the part of the Empress and is she looking hot! You want sex? You like leather and chains? This Queen has plenty to spare. Her red leathers, fishnet stockings and stiletto heels makes this beauty a site to behold! Ok, ok…I'll calm down.
At present, she is amusing herself by holding a game show entitled "Wheel of Misfortune" whereby contestants are asked a question. If their answer doesn't satisfy the Empress, the game show host Falafel spins the wheel to determine the method of execution. See? This girl knows how to throw a party.
Back in the prison, the Sovereign awakens in time to meet up with Ares, who has stolen the Hind's Blood pendant away from him. This isn't good either because Ares is probably the last person in either world you want having possession of the Hind's blood…blood that is poison to the gods. With his typical flare, Ares pours a little on his dagger and attacks the Sovereign. They go a few rounds but Ares stabs the Sovereign with the dagger, apparently killing him. Elsewhere, Hercules feels this same pain but he doesn't die. Now I'm wondering if the Sovereign is really dead. He should be, but Hercules still lives.
Anyway Hercules and the Jester sneak into the Sovereign's suite and meet up with Ares, God of Love. (See even Ares has a duplicate in this world). I hate this guy though. He's such a…sissy. However, he knows that Hercules intends to impersonate the Sovereign and agrees to try and help as long as he doesn't have to do any actual fighting. He also tells Hercules that Nebula allied herself with Ares (God of War). Hercules realizes at that point that Ares killed the Sovereign. So Hercules dresses like the Sovereign and heads off in search of the empress Nebula.
He walks into the throne room to find a very psychotic Nebula thrilled to see him. She greets our hero in a rather enthusiastic manner and is now very impatient to bed this hunk. At this point I'm beginning to worry a little about old Herky-boy because this chick is into whips and chains, but Hercules manages to handle things and get some information to boot. She tells him that the Gods of Olympus fled to her world when Dayhak arrived in theirs. Soon Ares arrived and persuaded her to help him trap the gods so that he could return and become the King of the Gods in Greece. So they trap the gods in the Labyrinth of Eternal Memory. This way everybody wins. She gets to be Empress and he gets to be Ruler of the Gods in Olympus. Pretty good deal eh? So Hercules, impersonating the Sovereign, proves who's the big dog of this world by telling the guards to lock the Empress away….in his bedchamber. Yeah, you da bull Hercules. LOL!
Later Hercules and the Jester are searching throughout the labyrinth for the gods. The Jester tells Hercules that Zeus designed this labyrinth when the Sovereign was a little godling but that it drove him insane. At this point I'm thinking that the Jester must mean the "Alternate Zeus" and that they are telling us viewers this for a reason. Keep your eyes peeled gang because his might be important later on.
They enter a chamber and walk right into the largest snake I ever saw. Yep, the special-effect boys have been working overtime and they do a pretty good job of creating this monster. It looks a lot like a giant Moray Eel except that it's oh… 40 to 60 feet long and has big, nasty, sharp pointy teeth. Oooo! It attacks and Hercules uses his wits to defeat the slimy thing. Did Hercules kill it? You'll have to watch.
Back in the Sovereign's suit, Nebula awaits the big guy. Ares (God of War) shows up, asks why he can't do the wild thang with Nebula. She tells him that its because he looks to much like Sissy-boy and she can't stand that. So Ares informs her that she has been deceived by Hercules. She is furious and they are about to pursue Hercules, but the God of Love shows up and casts a spell on Nebula. Now Nebula is on fire for Ares and our lovable God of War gets his wish; over and over and… well, you get the point. It must have really been something because I'm sure at one point I heard a cat scream. LOL!
Meanwhile Hercules and the Jester continue searching for the gods. As they travel the corridors of the labyrinth, we see visions of the Jester's past being played on the walls around them. Then they begin to sink into the sandy floor as if they'd stepped into quicksand. Hercules realizes what is happening and tells the Jester to stop dwelling on the bad things that have happened in his past. He tells him to focus on the future, to look forward to something good. This works and they rise up out of the sand and are now able to continue on.
Eventually Ares and Nebula realize that she had a spell cast on her by the God of Love to distract and delay them. So Ares takes off after the two heroes.
Hercules has found the Gods of Olympus by now. They are entrapped in a silver sphere that looks oddly like a Styrofoam ball with bits of broken glass glued on it. It even sounds like it when they pick it up and bobble it around. I guess they must have spent most of their special effects budget on the monster and the vision and had to make do with what limited funds they had left when creating this sphere.
Anyway, the room is circular and has several exits. Hercules grabs the sphere and leaves through one exit, but immediately enters through an opposite doorway. They try this several times with the same results. They seem to be trapped. Then Ares shows up. He has the Hind's Blood dagger with him and he attacks Hercules. After a long fight, Hercules uses his wits (seems to be a common theme here) to defeat Ares.. Hercules takes the vial of Hind's blood from Ares and tucks it away, then looks for the dagger. He turns to find that Nebula has it at the Jester's throat. Hercules tosses the sphere behind him and it comes in through a door immediately behind Nebula, hitting her on her noggin and knocking her down for the count. It rebounds off her head and comes right back to Hercules through the door he originally tossed it.
Then he destroys the sphere, releasing the Gods. They must have had enough time in that sphere to figure out which doorway to take because they leave immediately Hercules takes the Hind's blood dagger and pounds in into a stone pedestal in the center of the room. NOTE: File this information away gang because I'm betting we'll see this dagger again. Xena will probably figure out where it is and send Joxer after it.
So Hercules tells Ares to say 'hello' to the gods because he knows they are looking forward to meeting with the God of War soon. He also remarks that the gods owe him big time for what he's just done. Could this favor be the way we bring Iolus back to life? It could happen! Keep the faith gang!
Nebula is tossed into prison and I don't know who they leave in charge. The Jester then reveals that when they were sinking back in the labyrinth, he had focussed on how nice it would be to return to Greece with Hercules. So Hercules and the Jester return to Greece, and new adventures. Yay!
COMMENTARY 1:
This commentary is by Xorys.
Well... I thought Gina Torres was terrific. I even liked the slightly
vulnerable side she showed here (whilst I *hated* the wimp act she did in
Darkness Rising). But I didn't like her "court"... I'm sorry, I can live
with good honest sadism, but I find that sort of affected, powder-puff,
low-rent-Fellini sadism really distasteful!
And all these rules they keep making up about the alternate universe
business are giving me a headache! So now you die when your counterpart in
the other universe dies, unless you're in limbo between the worlds when the
counterpart dies, or the counterpart dies in limbo between the worlds (and
optionally fish of the day may be substituted on Tuesdays...)
In general, I liked the ep ok. Iolaus 2 was quite engaging. Kevin Smith was
fun in his dual role. I was almost sorry they killed off the Sovereign.
And now we've got yet more hind's blood to keep track of... Can we assume
that the knife stabbed into the altar in the labyrinth can't be used again?
(If not, what's the point of stabbing it into the altar?) And what is Herc
going to do with the pendant (other than tucking it into his pants...)?
Did you catch the Bitter Suite dialogue from the lovers in the market
place: "How could you?" "How could *you*? It's all *your* fault!"
But couldn't they have given cap-and-bells a name of his own? Is it going
to be "the adventures of Hercules and Iolaus 2" now? And speaking of which,
how come the credits sequence keeps going on about Hera every week, since
she seems to have been permanently banished from the scene now?
COMMENTARY 2:
This commentary is by Anthony Santomenno.
"NOBODY DIES FOREVER" or "RULES? WHAT RULES?"
In the first Alternate Universe episode, "Stranger In a Strange World"
(HTLJ #64), it was established that everyone in this universe has a
double in the Alternate Universe, and that when one person dies, their
double in the other universe dies at the same time.
In "Armageddon Now" I & II (HTLJ #71 & 72), we discovered an
exception; you can survive your double's death (or your own death if
it occurs in the past [SEE: Time Travel] if you're in
interdimensional Limbo. If you emerge into the real world (either
one) before this is corrected, you die.
Now, Iolaus is killed in our "Hercaverse" while the Jester (Iolaus II)
is in Limbo and the Sovereign is killed (by Ares--we won't even
speculate on how the Sovereign got the Hind's blood back!) while he is
in Limbo and Herc is in the Alternate Universe. Both Herc and Iolaus
II survive. How can this be? Through the wonders of Alternate
Universe technology, we see that Limbo is the great equalizer and
buffer between worlds.
Limbo keeps the worlds separate and provides a handy-dandy refuge from
the upheavals of current events (such as the Clinton Trial--but I
digress). Acts committed in the "real world" do not impact upon
Limbo, and acts committed in Limbo do not directly affect the "real
world".
All that is fine and dandy, but it still points out one glaring
oversight by the Herc staff (or maybe they're just changing the rules
again). Namely, according to the "rules" established in "Stranger In
a Strange World" (HTLJ #64) and "Armageddon Now" Parts 1 & 2 (HTLJ
#72), Iolaus II should have dropped dead the minute he emerged from
Limbo into his native universe. Is it because he stayed in Limbo so
long? Is it because of Dahak? Maybe it's Michael Hurst's long-term
contract.
A few brief notes about other issues...
As far as the Hind's blood is concerned, I'm sure that Hercules will
stash it someplace safe. Considering all that's happened, you can
never tell when you might need it. For now, he'll keep it far away
from Ares or anyone else that might want to misuse it. Eventually,
though, I think that he will have to destroy it.
The case of Iolaus II is going to be a tricky one. I mean, he wanted
to start over in a new universe, and that's fine. But in the
"Hercaverse", Iolaus was a great warrior, a hero in the truest sense
of the word. His double will be standing in Iolaus' shadow until and
unless he manages to make his own life.
WHERE HAVE I SEEN YOU BEFORE?
By Xorys.
And who was who in Stranger And Stranger?
Paul Norell played the alternate Falafel, essentially reprising the role of
Falafel which he has played on many previous HTLJ eps. He has also appeared
over on XWP in the very Falafel-like roles of the Street Vendor in Cradle
of Hope, Statius, the vendor of souvenirs and other dubious artefacts in
Prometheus ("Is anyone going to buy anything?"), and the Peddler in The
Quill Is Mightier. Paul can also be seen playing a "Bohemian" in the movie
An Angel At My Table.
David Mackie played Hemnor, a role he has previously played in the eps
Encounter and End Of The Beginning... sort of an oddity really - a
recurring character so minor that he's hardly noticeable. David also played
a Guard in Highway to Hades. And over on XWP, he has appeared as Rhodos in
The Titans.
Frederick Bedford gave us his "Local". He was previously seen, recently, as
a Villager in the XWP ep Daughter Of Pomira (where I originally misread
his name as "Bedgord").
Peasant #1 was played by Gary Elliott, who debut was as the Shepherd in
Genies and Grecians and Geeks, Oh My!
And the Farmer was rendered by Rodney Cooke, who has previously taken on
the role of "Worried Villager" in Armageddon Now, Part 1, and the demanding
part of "Man #1" in the XWP ep Been There, Done That.
Hawtis, the unfortunate victim of the Empress, was played by John Lawler,
who appears to be new to the Xenaverse.
The story for the ep was written by Paul Robert Coyle, the creator of the
whole "alternate universe" theme in the Xenaverse, essentially... he
previously wrote the HTLJ eps End of the Beginning, Regrets I've Had A Few,
Stranger in A Strange World, If I Had A Hammer, Armageddon Now Part 1,
Armageddon Now Part 2 (with Gene O'Neill & Noreen Tobin), War Wounds, Top
God, Genies and Grecians and Geeks Oh My, Norse by Norsevest (with Gary
Conway), and last week's ep, Sky High. Paul also wrote the X:WP eps Ten
Little Warlords, A Necessary Evil, The Execution and Sacrifice Part 2.
The teleplay was written by Gerry Conway, who previously wrote the eps
Norse by Norsevest (with Paul Robert Coyle), and Somewhere Over Rainbow
Bridge.
The ep was directed by the King of Thieves himself, Bruce Campbell, who
previously directed The Vanishing Dead, What's in A Name?, For Those Of You
Just Joining Us, and Redemption. On XWP, Bruce directed Key To The Kingdom
and The King of Assassins.
TALES OF THE HERCAVERSE
01-28-99. Although originally stated at some cons that Xena and Gabrielle would be in this episode, it seems that news was incorrect or they were written out. No Xena or Gabrielle kids. Looks like they are not planning a cross-over soon either.
12-31-98a. In a November 1998 e-mail, Bruce Campbell informed us that neither Ted Raimi or Hudson Leick were in STRANGER AND STRANGER.
12-31-98a. In an October 1998 e-mail, when asked by WHOOSH whether STRANGER was supposed to be a 3D episode as had been rumoured, and he said, "Yeah, but now it won't be 3-D...whew!"
12-31-98a. In October 1998, Bruce Campbell on his website, called this episode, "Another visit to the parallel universe."
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