First, a question I've been meaning to ask, since I discovered that something in my TV station/TV set/VCR may be causing me to miss isolated lines of dialogue: have we ever seen firsthand Gabrielle telling Xena "hey, I want to go on a spiritual quest. Can we leave for India in the morning?" I mean it's cool that they're taking this trip and everything, but it all seems rather abrupt. I'm sure I've missed something. (And before you ask, yes, I remember the throwaway line at the end of A Family Affair. Was that really supposed to be the impetus for all this???)
I take it TBTB saved their set budget for these India eps. Even my emphatically non-Xenite spousal unit commented that the set was really cool - "they didn't actually film that in New Zealand, did they?" Of course, in the scene following that we got to see a very familiar looking forest, to further underscore my affirmative answer. :)
In the beginning, the dynamic duo are wandering through Downtown India gaping at all the sights. I was wondering if we were going to find that Xena had been to India in the old days, but I got the feeling from this opening scene that she's never ventured there either. I was kind of gratified to see her appearing to be enjoying herself as they watched Eli's magic act. After the past few eps, I wouldn't have been surprised to see her slinking along behind Gabrielle with an "can we go home now?" attitude.
So even after Aiden's estate turned out to be an illusion, Gabrielle has continued with the yoga. I don't think that's a bad thing. No surprise that Xena doesn't think it's for her, though - we saw plenty of why in last week's ep. :)
Eli's magic act had a kernel of accuracy in it. I don't pretend to know much of anything about India or Hindu culture, but I have heard about half of a book called Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, as read by Ben Kingsley. (It's supposed to be a landmark work - for more info if you're interested, see http://www.babaji.org/ay/index.html.) One chapter which particularly stuck in my mind was one in which the author described an incident from his youth wherein his yogi stood a rope up straight using only the power of his mind, then climbed up it. (There was nothing in that story about a beautiful assistant coming back as a dismembered mannequin with a possession problem, though - I think that bit was artistic license on Chris Manheim's part. ;)
Yet again Xena has to save Gabrielle from the clutches of some evil force - but at least this time the evil isn't something Gabrielle embraced willingly. Possession is a new addition to Gabby's repertoire. This evil played upon Gabrielle's desire to help people, which helped avert suspicion until Xena was finally able to figure the deal out. Had I not already known that Gabrielle was going to be possessed this week, I probably would have bought the whole "devi" thing until Xena spilled the beans (or the pearls, as the case may be). I think it would be totally plausible for Gabrielle to accept a power like that and want to continue to explore and use it without really stopping to consider the possible implications.
Some more really nice scenes between the grrls in this one, too - though somewhat diluted by the knowledge that Gabrielle wasn't really herself. Or was she? Was she entirely possessed from the moment the demon transferred to her from Maya, or was the demon only controlling her partially until the eye-rolling (on my part as well as Gabby's - that was pretty stupid), twitching, no-more-pretenses-here full possession near the end? I'm leaning toward the latter possibility, but it was kind of hard to tell. I don't think Xena was quite sure, either - watch when she comforted Gabrielle after the Ganges water outburst. She hasn't embraced Gabrielle so awkwardly since the first season.
I also made two notes about the season as a whole after watching this ep: one, that massages are definitely becoming a leitmotif, and two, that we're seeing more of Xena's many skills with the whip this year than ever before. :)
Xena seemed to have her head back together this week, thank the gods. She was fully justified in doubting Gabrielle's new-found power, and I thought the scene where Gabrielle found the Ganges water and accused Xena of testing her was very well done. Posessed or no, Gabrielle's reaction was very believable, and it obviously gave Xena pause.
And I really liked the fight at the end. Yes, Xena was getting her butt kicked again, but this time by a supernatural being, so at least it was plausible (hey, maybe someday we'll find out Milo was really one of Ares' many offspring and just didn't know it ;). ROC must have had such a good time filming that. I cracked up when demon-Gabrielle gave Xena an acid wet willie - now there's something you don't see every day! :) I didn't buy that Xena was actually going to kill Gabrielle, though. Of course I knew Eli had to show up and save the day, but even though Xena showed a moment of indecision it just didn't ring true for me. I don't think she'd have been able to bring that sword down in the end.
I don't know why, but I really liked Eli. I've decided to put aside the obvious question, i.e. what the hell would a Hebrew be doing demonstrating advance spirit-control techniques and turning into a Devi in India??? I think perhaps he and Gabrielle could learn a lot from one another. Pity he decided to decline their offer to travel with them for a while.
And just where are they going, anyway??? They're in India - now what? I'm sure "demon possession" wasn't on Gabrielle's itinerary. Are they headed somewhere specific, or are they just going to wander around and see the sights for a while? This whole India thing, as I said above seems so abrupt - and if a clear purpose for their being there isn't revealed before they magically teleport themselves back to Greece for the remainder of the season, it's going to be pretty pointless too.
Random notes after second viewing: