angelares

The best part of this ep was that Dite got a more serious roll. Something that should have happened more on the show toward the end.

And Ares little speach about the other world's Xena to His Xena was sweat.

Ares dream was also interesting.. I wonder if he has dealt with the issue it seems to repesent (He's afrade of losing Xena because of his actions, like he's gonna lose HIS Xena to the otherone somehow)

Great Job guys!!!!!
Hope the next one comes soon

princessah

That was really cute guys. It made me giggle.

Chakram Goddess

Wow, what a fun ep. The perfect mood-lightener (obviously excepting the Dite/Heph angst and Ares’ little nightmare in the teaser ) to follow the intense drama of Worlds Apart/The Monarch.

I always love seeing Xena use her skill as a master of disguise, and I could clearly envision Lucy hamming it up as the crazy “pseudo-Xena,” not to mention the disgust on her face upon meeting the “pseudo-Gabrielle”. And Ares and Gabrielle pretending to be husband and wife! I really enjoyed the G/A interaction in this ep, even though it exceeded the X/A interaction. They still bicker like brother and sister, but it’s obvious that they understand each other better than they used to. Some clever planning on Gab’s part in the jail scene - I have to admit it had me totally fooled. When she went into “labor,” I thought, “OMG, Ares is gonna have to deliver Gabrielle’s baby!” (wouldn’t that be something? ). Also, looks like the issue of whether or not she would/should use the pinch is resolved, eh?

The Dite/Heph stuff was sweet - I’m glad they got their happy ending. I knew they’d end up on the farm. Loved Dite’s line, “So I’m guessing this is your dumping ground for all gods who turn mortal,” and Xena’s reply, “Only the ones I like.” Also glad Xena and Ares worked things out – or did they? Xena catching the monarch butterfly and her comment to Dite, “I can handle my own issues, thank you very much” seem to suggest that the Monarch issue isn’t quite resolved.

This was a great ep, and well worth the wait, though I certainly hope the next one doesn’t take quite as long.

Natty

FANTASTIC! Absolutely fantastic, marvellous episode! /and think that I went to sleep just before 2 hours of airing... / 200 episode! Cute!

I always loved Aph/Heph pair , and I guess, XWP and HTLJ 'tie' in the number of H/A episodes. Go ahead! I hope, we'll see them both again.

To learn what happened with Aphrodite and Hephestus during the Twilights was great! And all story with Caligula is clear now. I mean, all episode TGYK had a little sense, all its blanks. But now, when we know about special race of people who could drain gods of their powers and how Dite had managed get involved with psycho-emperor, all became clear.

All episode is read without pausing for breath, and I'm in love with it, sure! Olympian part, Dite's party, "asylum", Xena's plan (poor Ares, Gabby as his wife - and delivery!! - one day he'll get a heart attack) - wow! magnificent mix! Gabrielle's new outfit is beautiful (must say, it like me much better then Xena's one in Fifth Season), and Dite's "farm-girl" dress... she could used it as Goddess! Oh, and may I ask, why Dite was in her "pink" outfit, I mean, she "changed" into blue as I remember?

Also, a load off my mind after Xena/Ares talking (yeah, it was hard. with eternal Gabrielle's "timing" ), though on the other hand, that butterfly... maybe, they could take Dite's help too. Great explanation of why Ares stayed mortal after Apollo's dearh. (though, I hoped... well, it's not over yet )

And another 'yaxi' (or 'yahi'?) is solved. In 'HTLJ' Apollo called Hera "mother", but in myths he and Artemis were Leto's children.

And LOL, Poseidon receive "face", before he was just "water". And another "modernisation" of Xenaverse, I so love such moments! Clinic, and catalogues, and "ambulance car"! Cool!

Only one thing that worries me is what will be next with Love in the world? Last time Love gone while Dite was mortal.

And it is only fitting that the 200th episode of Xena is an Aphrodite-centric one

Elfrieda

Finished reading the ep, and I just wanted to say that it's great! You guys have outdone yourselves again!

Great job on the collage & the pictures, Aurora, as always!

Love the humor in this one, as well as the dramatic & romantic Dite/Heph storyline. I've always liked them together ever since I saw Love Takes a Holiday. I also thought the bits with G/A and crazy Xena & "Herc" & "Gabrielle" were hysterical. Its another ep I would have loved to see filmed. As for Gab's false labor I suspected it might be a trick, but I wasn't totally sure. For a sec I thought it might be the real thing. Loved Ares' reaction and their little chat in the jail cell right before that.

Ryan

Aurora, I just wanted to say FANTASTIC job on the images for this episode. I absolutely loved...Dite's farmer outfit, the image from the flashback of Dite/Heph kissing, Dite and Ares on the beach and Dite wearing the black outfit, all the crazy Xena's, the scroll filing cabinet!, and the gods in the cave-like meeting place at the beginning. The collage is awesome as always too.

Also LadyKate did some great editing, and really touched up the episode nicely. She also had some great additions, and Aurora did as well. From what I heard Sais and Tango both offered some input and lines into the episode too. So I was very pleased how it turned out and all came together.

And it is only fitting that the 200th episode of Xena is an Aphrodite-centric one

brabmuffin

Aiight im not good at this whole review thing.... But eh, I will give it a go....

First off Ryan you did an awesome job with this ep.. It flowed so smoothly... I love that I don't even realize that I am reading a "script"... Kudos

Ok now....

1... The baby shower...
OMG that was such a cute friggen idea, and I was dieing when Dite said something about strippers... I about fell outa my chair laughing...

2... I don't know what was funnier Gab and Ares as a "married couple" or Crazy Xena.... Both were wonderfully put together and totally fit with how the charicter would react... Again I was laughing hysterically picturing Xena running up and down the hall all crazy like... Oh and "the pinch" friggen great...

3... OMG you tease... the thing that has kept me on edge has been the pregnancy.... Needless to say I got more then a little excited at the thought of the baby coming this ep... Way to build it up

and 4... "From now on, we are doing things my way."
My favorite line through out the whole story... Had me grinning from ear to ear....

Again great job.. Can not wait for the next one....

Meltin2me

You totally captured the campy comedy style of the original Xena episodes. I was cracking up through so many of the scenes. The touching flashbacks with Aphrodite mixed in through out were perfect.

LadyKate

I just wanted to say that this episode was a pleasure to edit. Ryan did a truly fantastic job with it. And once again Aurora has done an absolutely wonderful job with the illustrations. I love the collage and the manips. Oh, and the rolling credits at the end are just great! Makes it so much more like a "real episode."

Some of the highlights of this ep for me:

* Dite inviting strippers to Gab's baby shower.

* The cop with the donuts.

* Ares and Gab posing as husband and wife (again, after OAHAF ). Those two are great when they bicker.

* Xena pretending to be a crazy woman who thinks she's Xena. Especially when she "puts the pinch" on Erika by literally pinching her. To quote Ares: "I would have paid to see that." (Hmm, maybe we could get Lucy to reenact this scene at the next con? )

* Pseudo-Hercules and Pseudo-Gabrielle.

* Gabrielle faking labor to break out of jail (and Ares' reaction). Oh, and Gabrielle finally using the pinch (the real one). YAY!

* The exchange in the butterfly scene where Darion asks if it's called the monarch because it's the most important of butterflies, and Xena replies, "Nah, it just wants other butterflies to think it is." And to give you all a bit of inside-baseball stuff ... those lines were actually suggested by Tango.

I was concerned that all the Dite angst would clash with the light comical stuff, but I think it worked out well. Also, I like the way this episode picks up some loose ends from the Conqueror storyline.

StussyGirl

Just wanted to say it was a great episode, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Thanks for the hard work that went in to it too. It was nice to have an Aphrodite centered story and to get the back story with the whole Caligula thing. I liked the G\A quips they thru at each other especially the one Ares made about being married feeling like seven years...haha. My favorite line was

ARES (disgusted):
What kind of strippers are you?

I was crackin up, I could just pitcher him making that face like in coming home as he is leaving the tent and Gabrielle catches his arm and he says "don't touch me".

Anyway, great ep, can't wait to see what happens next!

sarinou

OMG...you so made my day guys!

I just loved the whole episode but I especially liked the A/G interaction! It really craked me upto imagine them acting like a couple...

I have to say that when Xena was locked in the asylum and both Ares and Gabrielle were in jail I just thought "now how are they gonna get out of this one?!". Guess Gabrielle saved the day, right? Yeah, you rock Gabby!!

Also loved to have Dite back and to see her in a quite different scenario from the one we're used to see her. I always knew she would be a great drama character if she was given the chance.

Aurora

I love this episode. Ryan and LadyKate did a great job on it. One thing that I am really happy about with this episode is how it gave some serious scenes for Dite. She is usually just all about the comedy and it was really great--and something I really wanted--to see her in situations which weren't comical and were serious. I love how the episode became less of a full blown comedy and more of a mix of some comedy and drama, and that it all revolved around Aphrodite. That made it definitely a great episode for her character development.

It was also great to see her and Hephaestus' relationship fleshed out, something that was severely forgotten during the Twilight of season 5--and it was important to bring that into the ep. I loved the development of their relationship on the Hercules episode Love Takes A Holiday and I just wished that there had been more of those two on screen together (either on Hercules or on Xena). They deserved that and it is a shame that they never got it. So, it's great to see that concept brought up here for this episode.

Aside from it being a, more or less, serious Dite episode and fleshing out Dite and Heph's relationship as I mentioned above there were some other things that I really liked about this episode. It was hilarious to see Ares and Gabrielle as a married couple. The things Ares said to her were just too funny, getting on her nerves the whole time and being smug and cocky ("lets name our first born after Ares, you know, the God of War" "this is our fifth, she just keeps popping them out, one after the other", and so on). The dynamic and the bickering between them is just so great to see especially now that he's mortal and around more than usual.

The whole "Aphrodite Dite goes to a physic ward" was very fun and interesting to see. I enjoyed the crazy Xena and the fake Hercules and Gabrielle ("Gabrielle" was seriously freaky, lol--I can't even imagine the look on Xena's face when she encountered him. )

Gabrielle's way of getting out of the jail was very clever--and Ares' reaction was hilarious. What if he had been there for the birth instead of Xena? That'd be something......

I also liked that Aphrodite got to live at the farmhouse. And with Heph there with her I'm sure they'll fix the place up in no time. He's the ultimate handy man. lol

Also, my view on Xena and Ares and their conqueror issues is that Ares did a great deal of.....I don't want to say begging because that's not the right word but....he was very sincere in what he was saying to her and trying to make her understand that the Conqueror, though like Xena in body, was not the Xena he loved. And I think by the end of the scene, Xena understood this and saw his sincerity and his concern for the possibility that things may not be able to get back to normal between them because of what he did. He knows he messed up and he was truly sorry and I think Xena understood that. Whether issues will still arise, I don't know, and it'll have to be "wait and see" but I think they came to an understanding after he told her he loved her (which, by the way, we've not heard him say that in a long time). I think Xena can forgive him. After all, I'm sure she understands that he can have a weakness for any Xena out there but what he said to her really did show that Xena, as she is now, is the only real one for him.

This was a fantastic episode. Great job Ryan and LadyKate.

toxic

I've read the ep and it's a great piece of fluff. My favorite piece is when Pseudo Gab gets on the table and says: Now you listen to me. There's only one way to stop the cycle of violence and then gets hit in the face with mush and I also love the Hades' line about the mother in law joke followed by Xena's interpetation of the pinch as a madwoman. I would've loved to see more characters of the aslyum as though were my fave parts. I was thinking there could've been a Pseudo Alti who wears a lot of eye liner, has a fake raspy voice that doesn't always work, and EX CU of Pseudo Alti's eyes like when Alti uses her powers, but my only real complaints are the teaser and how easily Dite gave Caligula her powers. Why don't the gods just go to Cronos' crypt, get one of his ribs and they take down Artemis together, althoguh I bet Zeus and Hera alone would be powerful enough to stop Artemis. So Haeph gave his powers to Athena. Something tells me I should be expexcting a big showdown b/w Artemis and Athena.

If I had to gives this ep a numerical rating, it'd be an 8.5/10. Good job.

Ashlee

That was a great episode! I love Aphrodite and the writer did a great job giving her a stronger backstory. Loved the twist where Heph didn't end up dead because I thought he was for most of the episode.

I am so excited for the next two episodes. Since its titled The Fall I am predicting that this will be the inal episode with Artemis in it. I hope the final battle is super cool and I am wondering if Gabrielle will have her baby.

Just Lucky I Guess

Ha! That was a great episode. Plenty of one liners that were true to the humor of our characters.

The relationship between the Goddess of Love and the God of 'Arts and Crafts' is beautifully written. And makes perfect sense with the real seasons of Xena.

The writer gets five stars for this! The episode had many big story lines going on in it that blended together nicely without overloading.

But, the main themes always had to do with love; in one form or another.

Can't wait for more. I think most want to know who the last God standing will be...And how that will all work? And if Haimon and Sabina will be coming back anytime soon.

Keep it up! That was a 10/10! Good work. =)

Elaine

I enjoyed this episode. Aphrodite was always my favourite God (wrong thing to say on a shipper site I guess) and I was pleased with her character development. I always thought that Alex Tydings gave one of the performances of the entire series in Motherhood and was glad to see this replicated. I hope we see more of Hephaestus and Aphrodite. The Ares/Gabrielle banter was good but didn’t he get off easy with regards to his affair. I was never a fan of the twilight arc in the original series so I really hope this twlight won’t go on too long. But an enjoyable episode.