My summary and thoughts on the first half of Xena's second series can be viewed here for your convenience: Xena: Warrior Princess – Season 2 Part 1.
As previously mentioned, this particular series contains many memorable episodes, and as a whole, has to be one of the best seasons delivered. The first volume got off to a shaky start, but it's clear from the first few episodes of this second volume that this collection is borderline rock solid. Overall, it contains the perfect mix of comedy and drama, along with a few welcome appearances from some of the Xena/Hercules universe's finest characters.
Destiny
Xena is badly injured during a rescue attempt and Gabrielle must brave the difficult journey ahead in order to deliver her to a healer. Meanwhile, Xena dreams of her emotional past.
The Quest
Xena is dead. Gabrielle journeys home with her body, but is intercepted by a group of Amazonian allies, who in turn convince her to rejoin the tribe and give Xena a proper Amazon burial. In the meantime, Xena's spirit takes over the body of master thief Autolycus (Bruce Campbell), in order that he might steal her body and save her from an unnecessary cremation. Contesting Gabrielle's path to the throne, however, is Velasca, who vows to become a god before Gabrielle becomes a queen.
A Necessary Evil
Returning from an all but certain death, Velasca ingests some ambrosia before the Amazon tribe and becomes a god right in front of their eyes. She soon embarks on a warpath in pursuit of Gabrielle. As a last resort, Xena decides to free the now immortal Callisto from her prison and use her against Valesca.
A Day In The Life
Just as it sounds, the premise of this episode is to follow Xena and Gabrielle for what is, in essence, an average day. They wake up, bicker, go fishing, bicker, go to the toilet, bicker and juggle no less than two heroic tasks at the same time.
"Another one's fallen for you!"
"Again, why does this always happen?"
"It's the blue eyes... the leather... you could try chainmail?"
"Yeah, but I think that'd just attract a kinkier group!" |
For Him The Bell Tolls
While Xena is off attending to other matters, Gabrielle is left to bear the burden of Joxer. Meanwhile, Aphrodite and Cupid are engaged in argument as to who has the greater skills. Aphrodite decides to finalise the matter by placing a spell on the terminally insufferable Joxer. Whenever a bell rings, he will turn into a dashing hero, irresistible to women. Much Joxer-brand hilarity ensues.
The Execution
After being summoned to attend a court hearing, Xena and Gabrielle discover that Meleager the Mighty has been convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Gabrielle believes he is innocent, but Xena is sceptical and decides to investigate further. The results of her probing, however, will turn up more secrets that may just turn the case on its head.
Bind Faith
Gabrielle is kidnapped while shopping one day, while Xena is waylaid by a young and cocky warrior looking to prove his skills. He is, of course, defeated by Xena and is forced to accompany her on the quest to rescue Gabrielle. However, when Xena discovers that she is developing problems with her eyesight, she must put her trust in the hands of the brash warrior. Meanwhile, Gabrielle is being prepared as the new bride in a suspicious wedding to a king.
Ulysses
After Xena and Gabrielle assist a man engaged in battle, they soon discover that he is actually the legendary king of Ithica, Ulysses. They soon develop a strong attraction towards one another and Xena offers her assistance in getting him past Poseiden, and back to his homeland, which he has not seen in many years.
The Price
Xena and Gabrielle stumble upon an endangered army under constant attack by a primitive and brutal tribe. She takes control of the army in an effort to save the remaining soldiers; however, power soon takes over as she seemingly begins to revert to her evil ways.
Lost Mariner
Following a shipwreck, Gabrielle is rescued from the ocean by a passing vessel. This is soon revealed to be the cursed vessel of Cecrops, the lost mariner. Xena soon tracks them down and risks exposing herself to the curse in order to save Gabrielle, but in the process, decides to help Cecrops and his crew escape Poseidon's curse once and for all.
A Comedy Of Eros
It's love hi-jinks aplenty as Cupid's baby goes AWOL with a bow and a bunch of arrows. Shooting everything in sight, things start to get a little mixed up as Xena and Gabrielle try to stop Draco from raiding a virgin sanctuary, but in the process fall in love with the first person they lay eyes upon.
This second volume of Xena: Warrior Princess - Season 2, benefits from all the general quality attributes of the first volume, but overall, it is a lot more consistent. Rather than working its way up to the more pleasing episodes, Volume Two begins with good quality and pretty much stays that way throughout.
Colours are well saturated and sharpness levels are mostly very good indeed considering the show's TV origins. Besides a few fluctuations here and there, shadow detail and black levels are also quite solid throughout the presentation.
There is still a fair amount of film grain present throughout, which is consistent with that displayed during Volume One of the series, however this pales in comparison to the rather nasty, and very obvious, glitches during a few of the episodes. They essentially appear as video glitches such as brief discolouration and broken image, a couple even accompanied by a few audio pops. These appear to be problems within the source footage and should not be immediately attributed to authoring mistakes.
Despite these glitches, the overall quality of this second volume is better than the first. All episodes are presented in the show's original full frame ratio.
