Xena, Gabrielle, and Joxer team up with Orpheus to bring down Bacchus and his Bacchae. But the stakes change when Gabrielle is bitten and becomes a Bacchae herself.
Summary[]
Joxer shows Xena the head of Orpheus.
When Xena and Gabrielle save Joxer from being torn apart by three wolves in the Bacchae forest, the lovable rogue tells them he has come on a mission of vital importance. They are shocked when he presents them with the talking head of the musician, Orpheus. Orpheus, whose music once kept the evil god Bacchus and his army of deadly, feral maidens subdued, explains that Bacchus has cursed him by taking his body, leaving him his eyes and ears to observe the horror he brings to the world.
Xena and Gabrielle deal with Bacchus.
Gabrielle and Xena, who have heard stories about several young girls being kidnapped, realized that Bacchus has been capturing the innocent maidens, who will be transformed into full-fledged Bacchae once they are forced to drink his blood. When Orpheus asks for Xena's help in defeating the wicked god, she agrees and the group sets off to retrieve Orpheus' lyre which, when combined with his singing, has the power to put the Bacchae to sleep. Meanwhile, Bacchus is furious when his minions report back that Joxer and Orpheus were snatched from their grasp by Xena.
The Festiful season.
Upon arriving at Orpheus' home, Xena and her companions find Melodus slain and the lyre he was guarding missing. The Warrior Princess heads off in pursuit of the attackers, leaving Gabrielle behind to protect Orpheus and keep an eye on Joxer. Xena soon comes upon the Bacchae with the stolen lyre, who have been set upon by thieves. A deadly fight ensues and the Bacchae escape into the woods with the instrument.
Meanwhile, Gabrielle, who has left her charges to check out a loud party in the village hall, who was rescued by Joxer from the masked revelers who, it turns out, are Bacchae. When Xena returns to Orpheus' village, she and her cohorts review their battle plan. They must first retrieve the lyre and find someone to play it. Then, while Orpheus sings and the Bacchae are put to sleep, they will find Bacchus, kill him and free the innocent girls.
Meanwhile, in a frenzied celebration back at his lair, Bacchus prepares to initiate a new group of women into his army and vows that one of them will be Xena. As the Warrior Princess and her companions make their way to the catacombs, they stop at a Dryad graveyard.
Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer deal with Dryads.
There Xena explains that the Dryads are sworn enemies of Bacchus and that a Dryad bone through the heart is the only way to kill a Bacchae. Just then, they are attacked by flying Dryad skeletons which explode from their graves with their razor-sharp claws outstretched. Xena manages to drive them off, shattering one of the skeletons to pieces.
Joxer checks that Xena isn't a Bacchae.
She and Joxer begin gathering the bones when, to everyone's horror, Gabrielle suddenly morphs into a Bacchae. Xena then watches helplessly as Gabrielle flees into the Bacchae catacombs and escapes underground.
Xena, Joxer, and Orpheus follow, feeling their way through the dark and dangerous labyrinth. Gabrielle lures the group into the Bacchae throne room, where they come face-to-face with Bacchus, who orders Gabrielle to attack them. Xena, who would rather die than join him or hurt her friend, plunges into a seemingly bottomless pit. Convinced she is dead, Bacchus leads his minions away, unaware that Xena is suspended from two Dryad bone fragments, which she jammed into the walls of the pit as she fell. Slowly, she pulls herself out.
Gabrielle turns Xena who kills Bacchus.
As the initiation ceremony begins, Xena rejoins Joxer and Orpheus. Just as Gabrielle is about to drink from the goblet of blood which will seal her fate forever, Xena flings her chakram, knocking the cup from her hand. Xena fights her way to Bacchus and jams a Dryad bone into his chest, only to be mocked by the demon god.
Everyone turns back into human when Bacchus is killed.
When he reminds her that only a Bacchae can kill him, Xena shrewdly allows Gabrielle to bite her and she transforms into a deadly monster. She stabs Bacchus again and this time, he explodes in a ball of fire. All of his victims, including Xena and Gabrielle, are transformed back into their mortal forms and brave Orpheus is reunited with his body.
Disclaimer[]
No Bloodsucking Bacchae were harmed during the production of this motion picture. However, a few Driads [sic] lost their heads.
Background Information[]
- Xena 'technically' kills a god for the first time in this episode, as Bacchus dies when Bacchae-Xena stabs him in the chest (whether he is somehow alive at the end of the episode or not).
- The end of this episode implies that Bacchus may have survived, but he never returns afterward.
- His appearances on Young Hercules were set years before this episode.
- In Greek myth, Dionysus/Bacchus traveled the Earth with an army of Satyrs and wild women called Maenads, who rode on war-trained bulls and fought battles.
- Bacchus is portrayed very differently here than when he (as Dionysus) is mentioned in the episode "The Festival of Dionysus" from the first season of Hercules. In that episode, Hercules says of Dionysus, "that old lush isn't as bad as most of the gods." According to Greek and Roman myths, Bacchus/Dionysus was portrayed with two forms: that of a corpulent, jolly, party-goer and a horned, effeminate youth with great beauty but macabre and sinister aspects, chief of these — madness.
- If the characters are meant to be different, then this would be the only instance of the Xenaverse separating the Greek and Roman aspects of a god for story purposes.
- Dryads are portrayed in this episode as vicious, winged skeletons, but in mythology, they were nonviolent maidens associated with trees. They were considered supernatural beings but had no godlike powers and died only when their tree died.
- "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was the highest rated second season episode in 1997 when the season concluded.
- Despite having died in Young Hercules, it seems that Eurydice somehow returned from the Underworld, got back together with Orpheus, returned to Bacchus and died once more. At some point, she also crossed paths with Xena.
- Chakram Count: 2
1) To save Orpheus from the Dryad.
2) To stop Gabrielle from drinking the blood.
Links and References[]
Guest Stars[]
- Matthew Chamberlain as Orpheus
- Anthony Ray Parker as Bacchus
- Kym Kristalie (credited as Kym Krystaly) as Bacchae #1
References[]
People[]
Deities[]
Places[]
Other[]
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| << Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 >> | ||||||
| #01 | Orphan of War | #09 | A Solstice Carol | #17 | The Execution | |||
| #02 | Remember Nothing | #10 | The Xena Scrolls | #18 | Blind Faith | |||
| #03 | The Giant Killer | #11 | Here She Comes... Miss Amphipolis | #19 | Ulysses | |||
| #04 | Girls Just Wanna Have Fun | #12 | Destiny | #20 | The Price | |||
| #05 | Return of Callisto | #13 | The Quest | #21 | The Lost Mariner | |||
| #06 | Warrior... Princess... Tramp | #14 | A Necessary Evil | #22 | A Comedy of Eros | |||
| #07 | Intimate Stranger | #15 | A Day in the Life | |||||
| #08 | Ten Little Warlords | #16 | For Him the Bell Tolls | |||||