When Gabrielle is knocked unconscious into the sea, a merman convinces her that she is his wife and the mother of three.
Summary[]
Gabrielle tries in vain to quiet Eve's cries. Despite Xena's reassurances, Gabrielle doubts her ability to be a good mother. Joxer shows up with baby back ribs to feed Eve, who, Gabrielle points out, has no teeth. Gabrielle and Joxer leave Xena alone with Eve. At the pier, Discord and Aphrodite trade insults that escalate into a fireball fight. Having gone to town to find some baby food, Joxer and Gabrielle get caught in the middle of their fight and Gabrielle gets hit in the back of the head by a ship's boom and falls into the sea unconscious. When she awakens in an underwater sea cove, Gabrielle is alarmed to discover that her legs have become a mermaid tail and she remembers nothing! A man named Hagar (who looks like Joxer) informs her that not only is she his wife, but also that they have three "kids" Flipper who has gills on his neck and flippers instead of hands, Urchin who has sea anemones for hair and Baby Roe who resembles a squid!
Upon hearing the scary bunch call her "Mama" Gabrielle passes out and later awakens in her "home" Though underwater, the house is dry which has caused her tail to turn back into legs. Gabrielle is distressed to find her home is a mess and her kids terrorize her. Sturgina (Discord) and Crabella (Aphrodite) arrive to bring Hagar the mind eraser potion he has requested. Obviously infatuated with him, the girls console him about his wife Crustacea having left him until they see Gabrielle, who looks just like her! Hagar confides in them that if he's to win the Council election, he needs a wife and mother and Gabrielle is the perfect stand-in. Later, the scheming Sturgina and Crabella return to the house, introduce themselves as Crustacea's best friends and insist that she join them at "the club" to aquacise. Once in the pool, the girls drop hints that Crustacea was on the verge of leaving her family. But their plan backfires and rather than leave, Gabrielle decides it's her duty to raise better kids.
Hagar, Sturgina and Crabella plot against an amnesic Gabrielle (Crustacea)
Back at home, the kids manage to tie Gabrielle up and dangle her above a trapdoor where a great white shark hungrily awaits his dinner. As the fraying rope snaps, Gabrielle instinctively flips through the air and lands mere inches from the trap door opening. The kids are so impressed with her feat that she is finally able to control them. Through a couple of choice moves and some straight talk, she is also able to gain the respect of her condescending husband. In bed that night, Gabrielle asks Hagar how they met and he relates the story of how he pretended to be unconscious after being hit in the head with a Paint Bucket so that Crustacea would give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Still looking for a way to get rid of Gabrielle, Crabella and Sturgina invite her to a mother/daughter 'swim'boree class where they have a surprise waiting for her in the pool. As Gabrielle poses for a portrait with her back to the pool, an octopus' tentacle wraps around her ankle and pulls her into the water. The bloody underwater struggle ends with Gabrielle's victorious emergence from the pool. She returns home where Hagar has prepared a special meal for her and promises to start sharing responsibility. Hagar takes Gabrielle to the beautiful coral garden where he proposed to Crustacea and asks Gabrielle to marry him, which she interprets as a tender request to renew their vows. While Gabrielle is trying on her wedding dress, Crabella and Sturgina slip her a potion to reverse her amnesia.
Gabrielle remembers who she is and must say goodbye.
That night, Gabrielle tells her kids a story about a warrior princess and her sidekick that sounds strangely familiar to her. The next day as the wedding ceremony is underway, Hagar is about to confess his deception when Gabrielle's memories return. Gabrielle promptly calls off the wedding as Hagar explains that although he was using her at first, he truly fell in love with her. When Sturgina and Crabella demand that Hagar pick one of them to be his bride and he rejects them both, they try to kill him. Back to her normal self, Gabrielle leaps into action sending Crabella into the pool and Sturgina into the wedding cake. Gabrielle says goodbye to her 'family' and Hagar gives her a farewell kiss. As Gabrielle regains consciousness on the dock, she realizes that Joxer is kissing her and she sends him flying backward into a pole. Aphrodite says Gabrielle was out for about a minute. Xena helps Gabrielle get up and sends the squabbling Discord and Aphrodite away. Xena looks skeptical, then asks Gabrielle if she is okay. Gabrielle says she's better than ever. As Eve starts to cry, Gabrielle takes her in her arms and begins telling her the story of a woman's underwater adventure....
Disclaimer[]
No Sea Nymphs or other Denizens of the Deep were harmed during the production of this motion picture.
Background Information[]
Behind the Scenes[]
- Shooting Dates: November 10 to November 19, 1999 (8 Day Shoot)
- Rating: This episode scored 3.5 million viewers on its original airing.
- This episode aired out of order and was supposed to have aired before "Amphipolis Under Siege." This is evident by the fact that Xena, after returning to her regular armor in the previous episode, is here back in her alternative, less tight maternity outfit.
- This episode was a cover-up for Lucy's pregnancy when she gave birth to her son two days after shooting on this episode began.
- This episode was widely criticized, as well as being seen as the reason behind the ends of Alex Kurtzman's and Roberto Orci's respective tenures as writers and/or producers on the series.
Key Events[]
Goofs[]
- You can see Renée's wig unattaching during the scene where she is hung upside down under the shark pool.
- Although Eve's status as the Bringer of Twilight is now common knowledge among the gods and Zeus is dead as a result, Aphrodite and Discord come within 50 feet of Eve and do not react at all.
Trivia[]
- The title is a reference to Married... with Children.
- This is a "Xena-Lite" episode.
- The scene where Hagar tells Crustacea when they meet is a direct reference to the famous John Travolta film Saturday Night Fever, complete with "Stayin' Alive" playing in the background. Crustacea wears heart-shaped sunglasses in a pose identical to the poster of Lolita
- The central plot of this episode is based on the 1987 movie Overboard, which starred Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.
- Though Xena doesn't use her chakram in this episode, she threatened to use it on Aphrodite and Discord if they didn't leave.
Links and References[]
Main Cast[]
- Lucy Lawless as Xena
- Renee O'Connor as Gabrielle/Crustacea
Guest Stars[]
- Ted Raimi as Joxer/Hagar
- Alexandra Tydings as Aphrodite/Crabella
- Meighan Desmond as Discord/Sturgina
- Joseph Main as Urchin
- Rupert Simmonds as Flipper
- Steve Cleary as Swimming instructor
- uncredited as Eve
- uncredited as Roe (voice)
References[]
People[]
Gods[]
Places[]
Other[]
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