Review: Soul Possession
Added to this tangle of story is the almost insulting portrayal of Joxer. I understand he is the comic relief, but the profound grief he displays in the opening moments of A Family Affair is neatly dismantled. If he were with Xena during these events, why would he still be taking flowers to the lava pit? And why would Xena be checking down in the pit for Gabrielle? Doesn't she already know the bard isn't there?
I would rather have kept the crude knot we had before this episode, rather than the hopeless snarl it has now become.
I have read in other reviews that the show's continuity is fouled up as well. I don't know about that - I don't watch the show to nitpick details to that extreme. I also don't care to sit through the episode again to see if these criticisms are correct. It just didn't make any impression on me.
Some other random thoughts that come to mind:
What was the deal with switching the souls back at the end? I didn't realize Ares had the ability to do that sort of thing. Was this simply to placate the mob that got all irate over Déjà Vu all Over Again? I suppose that if Ares was going to make Xena his bride (or whatever his plan was at that point - I was too disinterested to care) it was necessary for him to actually have a "bride". (Though it strikes me as an awfully stupid double standard.)
For that matter, why didn't Ares mention this contract when he encountered Xena-as-Harry back at the end of season four? The more I look at this story, the more obvious the holes in the patch become, and the more upset I get.
I must admit that it was nice to see Josh Becker return to the director's chair, even if he didn't have a very good story to work with.
I think, in the final analysis, this episode failed for the same reasons I felt Send in the Clones was a weak offering. The story was divided between two different settings, and as a result neither one received the attention it deserved. This weakness was exacerbated in this case by Soul Possession's split personality. The modern-day press conference was paced and presented as a comedy, while the ancient-day central story was presented in a more dramatic fashion (making Joxer's comic excesses even more bothersome).
Sorry gang, but after
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