Xena: Season 3, Episode 19: "Tsunami"

I actually very much enjoy this episode. It's unique because of its situational, dark and dire setting. I totally remember it.

For the time, the special effects on this were awesome. I’m not kidding, I rewound the tsunami scene a few times. Here, in 2016. It was intense, dawg! In my review I noted the special effects and wondered how accurate that tidal wave was. I've since watched several unbelievable videos of the tsunami that happened in Japan in 2011. The closer the tidal wave gets to land, the more it falls like a wave. Xena and Gabrielle weren't too far from land, as it happened, so I determined the episode was on the mark with its tidal wave presentation. The waves do really fall like that. (At the bottom of this review, I've posted two tsunami videos from 2011, where you can see tidal waves.)

I have to elaborate on my "hated" section. Sorry, I'm going to punch holes in all of this, even though I liked this episode.

1) Like, seriously, why didn’t Xena just kill Macon?.. I don't understand it. She went out of her way to keep him alive, even when he tried to kill people, including Gabrielle. When has that ever been her MO? She acted toward Macon the way our government right now is acting toward Trump and Russia. When do you decide, "him or us?"

2) Petrodes was over the top and awful. You can tell he’s like a stage actor.

3) I didn't buy Xena helping other people before she found Gabrielle after they got hit by the tsunami. While Xena dealt with Thadeus, Gabrielle could've been drowning under a box or something. Bad writing.

4) In how many episodes is Gabrielle going to be taken hostage by knife or rope? God dammit. It seems like it's happened in every single episode. It's lost its seriousness.

5) Again, when the rocks come up through the boat, the boat was tilted at like 160 degrees. They should've been floating in water weighted on one side of the room.

Reading about Mount Etna is also interesting. About 8,000 years ago, part of Etna really did collapse and cause a huge tsunami. Scientists suspect a whole village was abandoned because of it. I think Xena based this episode off of that event.

Also, extra side note to any concerned, I just found out that Atropaic eyes painted on the side of a trireme (ancient boat, like the in this ep) were supposed to ward off bad luck. That's why we keep seeing that. I had no idea!

SPOILERS: My reviews are full of them! I'll try to note when I'm about to spoil the series by posting [SERIES SPOILER] before said item and [END SPOILER] after. Please don't read the review, unless you've seen the episode under discussion or don't care if I spoil it.

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EXTRAS:

1) Palm reader: “Perhaps, I misread.” X: “Perhaps. Sorry. Your dinar.” — Love the shit out of this simple joke.

2) X: “If you buy into that kind of thing. Look, your future is less in your palm than in your own two hands. It’s what you make of it.” — Just a quick lesson before the storm.

3) Things Macon says that'll piss you off:

“I got somethin’ you can look at. Betcha’d like it, too."
“Well, whaddya know?! The bitch has bite, after all!”

— Every Trump supporter right now.

4) X: “That’s no rain cloud.” Captain: “She’s right. It’s ash.” X: “The air is full of it. Look at the sea.” — Love the way Xena says this. 

5) Captain: “The water ‘round here’s full of reefs and geysers. But with any luck, we can ride the current away from here.” X: “Do it.” — Love the way Xena says, do it, but she and the captain know at this point that they're fucked.

6) X: “Must be the air that’s trapped in one of the cabins that’s keeping us buoyant, but it won’t last forever.” — Such as the one they're in? I got problems with this episode, you guys!!

7) G: “What are we going to do?” — A question I’ve been asking my friends since November 8th.

8) Macon calls everyone, “Bunch a’ losers!” — I believe Hillary Clinton says these same words while she's impersonating Donald Trump on SNL, and it's hilarious, but it is too frickin' soon to even look at that footage, let alone post it. 

9) X: "Feel the water here.” G: “It’s warm.” X: “The geyser’s on this side of the ship.” — Come on..

10) X: “Whatever you’re hiding from, turn around and face it. I know you can do it. You have to.” Petrodes: “I can’t swim!” — I am seriously a strong advocate for swimming. Love that they brought this up, but Petrodes, when they escape, suddenly knows how to swim.

11) Soraya: “No buts! We’re having a baby, and that’s that." — Uegh! Soraya, shut up. Please!

12) G: “He doesn’t get it, does he?” X: “Not a clue.” — They could easily be talking about PEOTUS.

13) Groaning boat noises were good. I hate to cite Titanic, but that's what’s happening here, and no I'm not posting a video of it.

14) Remember when Macon took that vote? That's how our election should’ve turned out.

15) I was truly surprised no one died.

Here is a video from 2011 that shows tidal waves at the beginning of the footage. (These videos are really hard to watch. Definitely not for the faint of heart.) There are no deaths on camera in these videos. But according to CNN just three weeks ago, the combined total of confirmed dead or missing from the tsunami in Japan was around 22,000.

The second video is longer and more detailed Japanese tsunami footage, but it shows all of the tidal waves captured on film. All the way from 2:15 'til about 11:00.

I wasn't a die-hard fan of Blind Melon, but Petrodes looks like the lead singer. The lead singer passed away in the 90's. Man, this is a depressing review. Sorry!

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