PROMO TRANSCRIPTION
THERE'S A ROTTEN APPLE IN JOXER'S FAMILY TREE
(Two Joxers, one strangles the other.)
Joxer: Like looking in a mirror, eh, brother?
AND HE'S OUT TO KILL CLEOPATRA
Joxer: I can't let you do it.
Joxer: Mom!
Joxer: Where?
(Xena flips her sword.)
AN ALL NEW XENA
TV GUIDE PROMO
Gabrielle, Joxer and Autolycus sneak into a palace to thwart
an assassination attempt by Joxer's evil lookalike brother, Jett.
The intended victim: Cleopatra.
Joxer's twin brother's plan to assassinate the visiting Cleopatra is met with resistance from Gabrielle and Autolycus.
Gabrielle must keep Joxer's twin from assassinating Cleopatra.
AIRING AND RATING INFORMATION
1st RELEASE: 11/17/97
An AA average of 6.3
Competition from Syndicated Action Dramas:
(1) X-FILES 4th with 7.5
(2) HERCULES 8th with 6.4
(3) XENA 9th with 6.3
(4) STAR TREK DS9 18th with 5.2
(5) WALKER TEXAS RANGER
2nd RELEASE: 05/25/98
An AA average of 4.0
Competition from Syndicated Action Dramas:
(1) X-FILES 8th with 5.2
(2) HERCULES 13th with 4.3
(3) XENA 14th with 4.2
(4) WALKER 18th with 3.8
(5) STAR TREK DS9 20th with 3.6
(6) NYPD BLUE 3.4
(7) BAYWATCH 3.1
(8) EARTH: FINAL CONFLICT 3.1
SYNOPSIS:
This synopsis is by Bluesong.
Xena has captured a thug and questions
him about his leader. At first he doesn't want to give her
information, but is quickly convinced to do otherwise. As Xena
prepares to leave the dungeon where she puts the thug, she hears
a very weak "Joxer the mighty" song. Joxer, in stocks, looks up
at her. He has been arrested for stealing a chicken. Xena pays
for the chicken and asks Joxer to go into the village to tell
Gabrielle that Xena has left to go after the leader guy, leaving
Gabrielle and Joxer behind.
A sword, delicately balanced, rests on
a stone. Autolycus and an unknown man steal it, but the alarm
goes off and they are separated. The unknown man shoots someone
in cold blood, much to the alarm of the King of Thieves. The
unknown man throws off his mask; he looks exactly like Joxer.
Later Autolycus bumps into the real
Joxer, who has purchased himself new leather duds, and mistakes
him for the murdering man who had hired him. Gabrielle exposes
Joxer as the klutz he is.
Autolycus, Joxer and Gabrielle talk and
decide that Joxer's brother, Jett, must be out to kill someone
very important at the nearby castle, where Autolycus is supposed
to take the sword he stole. Gabrielle wonders what Xena would do
if she were there and comes up with a plan. She decides they
should all go and stop Jett.
Autolycus gets into the castle, where
he places the sword in a room and learns that Cleopatra is the
person to be murdered. He gets a full view of the lovely woman.
While he is watching Cleopatra undress, Joxer and Gabrielle are
captured. Joxer tells Cleopatra's "captain of the guards" that
there is to be an assassination attempt and he lets them go,
thinking that Joxer is Jett. The Captain has hired Jett to kill
Cleopatra.
The Captain thanks them for the warning
and allows them to roam the castle, but Joxer locks Gabrielle
back into the cell for her own protection. Autolycus meets Jett,
who has found his way into the castle, and tells him the sword is
in Cleopatra's room. They arrange a signal so Jett will know
when the guards have left Cleopatra's room.
Autolycus agrees to all of this so
Jett won't kill him. Autolycus tells Cleopatra he works for Xena
and is concerned for her safety, but does not send the guards out
of the room.
Meanwhile, Gabrielle gets out of the
cell and meets up with Jett. She mistakes him for Joxer. Jett
finds Joxer and they have a brotherly greeting. Jett tells Joxer
to get out of his way. Gabrielle disguises herself as an
egyptian slave girl so she can enter Cleopatra's room. She and
Autolycus decide they need to tell the Captain of the guards
about Jett. He has them locked up.
While they are trying to escape the
chakram suddenly whizzes in and clips the lock. Xena learns of
the "plan" Gabrielle had, which backfired on them all. Autolycus
covers for Gabrielle, though. Joxer finds Jett in Cleopatra's
room and threatens him. They begin to fight. Joxer does not
fare too well. Xena comes in, tells Jett to "Be nice" and whacks
him. They fight, but Xena eventually knocks him cold. Xena,
Autolycus and Gabrielle then fight off the Captain's men, saving
Cleopatra. The Queen tells Xena that if she ever comes to Egypt
to send word, for she will have a large celebration in her honor.
COMMENTARY:
This commentary is by
Beth Gaynor.
When Xena reappeared 40 minutes into
this episode, I expected her to quote Ripley and mutter darkly
"Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away?" Everyone's worst
qualities were on parade. Gabrielle's ideas were near-incoherent,
Autolycus was forgetting to steal while he traded paper-thin
double-entendres with Cleopatra, and Joxer was at his most
bewildered and ineffective.
The opening scene with Xena (and the
guy with mop on his head) totally failed to tell me that Xena was
leaving town. There's one quick line that gives the hint, but I
was confused when Joxer, Autolycus, and Gabrielle started talking
about what they're going to do without her. "Hey, we just saw her
down in the dungeon - she's after some warlord who sleeps with
his back to the door! Go ring her up!"
Judging by Autolycus's reactions, Jet
was supposed to be a terrifying killer. I never got that
impression. Jet seemed to me to be slightly crazed, but a poser
and much more dangerous in his own mind than in reality. I didn't
care much for the character. But although Jet's more serious
moments didn't hit the target, some of the physical comedy
worked. I loved the moment when Autolycus found Jet in the castle
and went through "Joxer? Jet. Joxer?" guesses while Ted
alternately slumped and puffed.
Joxer's suddenly eager to kill. At
least, he was in the first scene. And Gabrielle's trying to
imitate Xena's every move. What season are we in, again?
What WAS the reason for stealing a
warlord's sword to kill Cleopatra? Why wouldn't any ol' sword do?
Gabrielle's theory was that the warlord's sword would be
"untraceable" - are swords registered in ancient Greece? Before
buying a dirk at the market, do you have to go through a
background check?
This episode set up a nice dilemma for
Joxer: Would Joxer be able to stop Jet? Would he want to? Would
he allow him to be imprisoned or executed? How do his values
stack up against family? "It's brother against brother" Joxer
declared worriedly. He got a brief chance to try - and fail -
facing up to his brother. Jet wasn't having any of it - the
dilemma was stronger than ever. Then when Jet stabs Pontius in
the back, we get a good look at the relieved expressions of every
single person in the room, as if the problem is solved and all is
honky dory. What about the small remaining fact that this guy is
an assassin for hire? Why wasn't Jet heading for a window to get
outta there? The dilemma wasn't resolved so much as called for
lack of time.
I've been harboring a suspicion that
Joxer's father isn't nearly the warlord that Joxer thinks he is.
Think about this for a minute: if Joxer were to have kids, what
would he tell those kids? That he was the very feared and famous
Joxer the Mighty, of course. Is Joxer's father really all that,
or, as Ares put it in The Xena Scrolls, has his family's
reputation for undiluted idiocy remained intact?
Not the best transition during
Autolycus's entrance into the castle. He snuck his way past the
guards and inside the walls, wearing a robe. The next shot we see
is him swinging into an outside window minus the robe. Wha'? The
Xena reality editor on my shoulder, upon reflection, says
Autolycus must have gotten into the castle, but in order to reach
Cleopatra's actual chambers, had to go all the way up to an
unguarded parapet and swing down to her window from there.
Where were Autolycus's cool
Spidey-spikes? We didn't get to see him swing a single grappling
hook, darn it all.
Gabrielle gets one good idea to her
credit during the entire episode - pretending to be unconscious
so the guard with aspirations for captaincy opens the cell door.
Unfortunately, she then almost ruins it by trying a few times to
cut off his flow of blood. We haven't seen her try that since
Ares lost his godhood in Ten Little Warlords when she - and
everyone else - was going psycho. Isn't Gabrielle's first
instinct usually to TALK her way through a problem?
That scene, though, did lead to a fine
moment - the captain-wannabe wiggling his fingers and saying
"Nope. Seem to be fine. Don't do that." I liked that guy - very
funny delivery, both there and at the castle gate. I hope he
stays in the rotation for supporting actors.
This whole episode kind of surprised
me. This was a Xena-lite episode, which means the main reason we
watch the show is gone. It was a Joxer-heavy episode, which
ensures lots of controversy and mixed reactions. Given those two
conditions, I'd have expected that the producers and writers
would be polishing up their best efforts, throwing as many gags
and fun fights our way as they could cook up, making each
character shine their brightest. We saw that being done a bit in
episodes like The Prodigal, where Gabrielle gets to stretch her
wings and show off some competence, and For Him the Bell Tolls,
with some of the most over-the-top slapstick we've seen and
Joxer's character stretched to the limits. But King's story was
simplistic and slow, the characters weren't given much new to do,
Jet wasn't convincing, and the central tension was shorted out.
It had it's funny moments, but in general, it was a shame to
waste such an opportunity for supporting characters to really
wack out. Miss Lawless to the set, please.
WHIMPERS, MURMURS, AND A LOVE GONE TOO
FAR
04-18-00. Ted Raimi did an interview with IGN.COM's Sarah Kuhn on April 14, 2000:
IGN Sci-Fi: You've now had the opportunity to play triplets: Joxer, Jet and
Jace. Of the three, which one are you most like?
Ted: [laughs] I'd say it's equal thirds. What I wish I could tell you is that I
am an expert assassin and a thief, 'cause that's cool. But I'm not. The truth of
the matter is, I like to do everything that those characters
like to do, except getting dressed in women's underwear. And even then I
couldn't tell you the truth about that...no, I'm just kidding! I think I'm
definitely like Joxer in that I'm often shy. And I'm like Jet in that I
do have a lot of anger in me, I always have since I was in high school -- and it
was fun to play him, to sort of vent that a little bit. And finally, like Jace,
I guess...[laughs] I am rather flamboyant as well! I'm kind
of loud and big and broad, so, yeah, I'm a little like all three of them.
IGN Sci-Fi: In that vein, I was wondering if you're going to be playing any more
of Joxer's family members, like maybe his mom or maybe a wacky aunt...
Ted: [cackling at the idea] His mom! That's a really funny idea. Actually, I was
hoping to have my mother play Joxer's mother. We tried to get her down for an
episode, but it's in New Zealand and it's so far, but we still
might do it. Although, I don't think my mother's very interested in acting at
the moment, but I might be able to talk her into it.
12-17-97. From an
interview with R.J. Stewart that took place on July 3, 1997:
WW: WW: Are you ever going to work in the Egyptians
days?
RJ: We want to, but I understand that they're going
to do that over on HERCULES. So we won't.
WW: Do you ever discuss story between HERCULES and
XENA so the stories aren't similar?
RJ: Well Rob, of course, produces both shows, so if I
pitch him an idea that they're doing on Herc already, he'll just
tell me.
10-27-97. At the Valley Forge Con
(10/05/97) Sharon Delaney talked about this episode as having
Joxer, his evil twin brother Jett, and Autolycus. This episode
apparently was based upon Ted Raimi and Bruce Campbell's hamming
it up at the Cons together.
At the same convention [Valley Forge,
10/05/97], Ted Raimi explained that Joxer's "evil brother" is
named "Jet", and will
wear a motorcycle-esque leather costume. Ted will also
be playing the role of Joxer's sister. He also stated that in
KING OF ASSASSINS he got to wear leather as his twin brother Jett
and actually liked being in a different costume for a change. He
mentioned that he thinks of his Joxer costume as being like a
Fred Flintstone costume.
Looks like the gang go to Egypt in this
one and Xena is reunited with her pal Cleopatra (hey! does Helen
know???).
Coming soon. This will be Bruce
Campbell's freshman XWP directorial effort and the first time
directing himself.
Looks like Joxer has an evil brother.
Looks like this is one of the :dark"
episodes
HIGHLIGHTS :
Highlights by
Beth Gaynor.
There WERE some gems of jokes in this
episode, usually at Joxer's expense. (Exception: I liked Joxer's
"King Gregor was killed by a baby?" line - it brought up great
mental pictures of baby Hope throttling Gregor.)
"There's a concept called personal space. Look into it."
"I find it very hard to believe that this is the improved
you."
"No, I mean in a grander sense: why is he here?"
"Where does it hurt?"
"Right there."
(THUNK)
"Ow!"
Line of the episode goes to Gabrielle
for "I've been grabbed more times than the Golden Fleece."
THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR
01-27-98. From Penandswrd@aol.com: The armoire that Autolycus hid in looks
a lot like the one that was in Leah's bedchamber in WARRIOR...PRIESTESS...TRAMP.
From bgaynor@compuserve.com: Do you think Joxer's going to keep the
black leather duds around? Maybe he'll store it in the same
mysterious place that Gab keeps her amazon garb. I wasn't sorry
to see the hat go, but I found myself missing that ol' aluminum
chest protector.
From bgaynor@compuserve.com: Time to find a new stunt double for
Ted! That guy's hair was about three inches longer than Ted's and
his face was twice as broad. I was chanting along with the fight
scene: "Stunt double... stunt double... stunt double..."
From bgaynor@compuserve.com: How long will it be before we get to
meet the third brother, Jace (insert hand flap here)? If Joxer's
the black sheep of the family for not causing enough mayhem, what
will Jace's specialty turn out to be? And is this related to the
rumors that we'll be seeing Ted in drag in the future?
From Penandswrd@aol.com: Look at the
dagger that Cleopatra has to Autolycus' chin and chest. Does it
look familiar? It should -- it is THE DAGGER OF HELIOS!
TRIVIA!
Bruce Campbell at the Origins Gaming
Con (reported by Beth Gaynor) in July 1997 talked a good deal
about this episode. He said it was called "The King of
Assassins," and it was also his directing debut on XWP. He said
directing Lucy Lawless was a strange and sometimes frightening
experience; said that she could have a line as simple as "Hi, how
are you," and gave his imitation of two takes she'd do of it -
one perfectly nice and normal, the next as if she's going to rip
your throat out. He said he never knew what she was going to do
next.
KING OF ASSASSINS is a "Lucy-lite"
episode - Lucy Lawless only had to shoot three days. The episode
features Joxer and Joxer's evil twin brother Jed (the King of
Assassins?). A third Joxer brother, Jace (Jayce? Short for
Jason?), is hinted at in the episode, but not seen. According to
Campbell, "You ain't lived until you've seen Ted in black
leather."
Autolycus gets a little action with
Cleopatra in the episode (which Campbell was quite proud of).
Cleopatra also apparently invites Xena to come visit her in Egypt
sometime. Bruce made a crack about shooting a line a la
Spartacus, where Xena and Cleopatra discuss whether snails or
oysters will be served. We're 95% sure he wasn't serious,
although it was hard to tell.
At the same convention Bruce Campbell
said that the character of Autolycus was created by the PRINCES
OF THIEVES writer, Doug Leffel, without him in mind, but that
Robert Tapert called him up for the part, saying he thought it
was a good match.
At the same convention someone asked
whether getting kissed by Lucy Lawless was as good as it looks.
Bruce immediately replied that it was better, and REALLY hammed
up his fake sorrow at having to do take after take after take -
"Oh! Messed up again! Darn!"
At the same convention a couple of
people asked him whether Autolycus might ever get a spinoff
series of his own. One comment Bruce dropped sounded as if it has
been considered, but Campbell said he doesn't have any interest
in making Autolycus into a series hero - the character would have
to become too boring, he says, and made into a Robin Hood-ish guy
with a sad past who only steals from the rich. He said Autolycus
is much more interesting as just a recurring character who,
according to him, lives for tormenting Hercules and "trying to
get into Xena's pants."
TRANSCRIPT
Click here to read a transcript of TH KING OF ASSASSINS .
DISCLAIMER :
"Due to the infliction of a severe
wedgie, Joxer was slightly uncomfortable but not seriously harmed
during the production of this motion picture."
