The reviews presented on this page do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the XWPVS xenastaff, but the opinions of the individual reviewers.

Review for "Wampum" (XWPVS 8.4)
by: David J. Duncan

Observation and magical totems dominate the XWPVS episode, "Wampum". As with the other episodes in the series, this one has several layers for the reader to weave through and quite a plot as Xena and Gabrielle interact with yet another Native American tribe.

The teaser opens the story with a dual chase. Xena and Gabrielle are tracking a large animal through the forest. Meantime, a young brave, Falcon, is following them. After the two warriors encounter a bear cub, Gabrielle wants to take a closer look and encounters the mother bear. After climbing a tree, she falls to the ground out cold. Xena scares the bears off with her chakram. As she does, Falcon watches with amazement. He sneaks off before they can see him. Meantime, Xena lectures Gabrielle about the bear, instigating the Bard's own need to prove herself.

Both themes appear in Act I. Falcon continues to stalk Xena and Gabrielle. Meantime, Xena makes sure that Gabrielle is all right. The camp scene is interesting as well. As the two warriors sense something out there, we assume they mean Falcon but as we shall see later--there are others out there too. Falcon's meeting with the two warriors is well done, emphasizing the magic in the chakram and his bow. (At this point, the communication theme comes up again as there is another new tribe with yet another language.) Even though Xena rejects the trade, Falcon's theft of the chakram sets off still more events.

Act II further develops the storylines. One almost dreads what will happen when Xena wakes up and finds the chakram gone. (The reaction is right on target.) They track Falcon to his village. When Xena wants to charge in, Gabrielle puts the brakes on, reminding her that they are outnumbered. (Hmmm....While Gabrielle's patience is appreciated; she needs to remember that Xena held her own against those samurai in Japa, allowing their leader to kill her.) Meantime, Falcon's tribal connections particularly with Talon (rival), White Dove (prospective mate) and Snarling Fox (medicine man/mentor) are established here. While in Snarling Fox's hut, Falcon and the shaman chatter on about the chakram and its spirit. Then Snarling Fox sets out to learn the chakram's secrets. (How do they know about "the circle"? Some tribal folklore here would be helpful.) Even as this happens, Talon gets his cronies together to ruin Falcon's plans.

Act III pushes the themes onward. The magical element comes through when Snarling Fox figures out how to use the chakram and advises Falcon on what it can do. (Again, how does he know? Just curious....) Falcon's prayer to the Great Spirit was well done. Here we get some insight into his character and why he was so desperate to have the chakram--to prove himself a great hunter and to White Dove. Meantime, the watching theme continues with Xena and Gabrielle now watching the village even as they make an elaborate forest spirit costume. (I agree with Xena. The Amazon queen should be the spirit. ) The end scene was great, having Falcon fling the chakram into the forest and right at Gabrielle.

Act IV brings most of the story together. Gabrielle's accident with the pouches and the burning sticks lends this episode a needed comic twist. Meantime, the peer pressure scene between Falcon, Talon and the latter's cronies is insightful. One can imagine how pressure packed tribal relations such as those must have been and this was no different for Falcon. At this point, the act gets complicated. While the "forest spirit" retrieves the chakram, Xena is waiting in the tree for Gabrielle's signal. (Wait...uh, isn't Xena playing the spirit? If so, then who's the other player here?) The return exchange between the spirit and Falcon brings still more depth to the story. (Again, well done.) Xena takes on Talon and his cronies, saving Falcon's life in the process. (Having Xena stop the arrows with her bare hands was a nice touch. Shades of "Unchained Heart", perhaps?) The spirit returns the chakram to Gabrielle before disappearing.

Meantime, Falcon encounters a bear and kills it, proving himself in the process. In so doing, he assumes his rightful place as a great hunter. Even as he does so, Xena and Gabrielle move on. However, they are unaware of the spirit following them. "Wampum" has interesting paradoxes such as the differing bear experiences (Gabrielle and Falcon), the two weapon exchanges and the quest to claim the chakram. (On the latter point, Xena and Falcon show differences in approach there too.)

As with the other XWPVS episodes, the story's strands come together at the end. However, the reader is left wondering about the spirit's identity. (Kudos to the illustrator for that last picture. It really embellishes the scene.) As noted above, some background on the native legends concerning the 'circle' and how Snarling Fox knew about Xena's feats would have made the story even richer. Even so, the writers do a nice job with the plot and the character development--adding a touch of suspense in Act IV as well.

Nice piece all around!

Review: Episode 8.4 - Wampum
by: 41 Cyg

Another great episode! The writers are giving this nitpicker very few nits to pick, but I do enjoy the stories, so I guess it evens out. I give this one a solid 8 (out of 10).

There are a few points I would like to discuss, though.

Title: Why is this episode called Wampum? There is no reference `beads made of shell' or the modern meaning, money.

Teaser: Why didn't Xena recognize the animal footprints (I'm assuming they're the bear's.)? There are bears in Europe and Xena and Gabrielle would probably at least have seen the tracks. The North American Grizzly bear is now considered a subspecies of the Eurasian Brown bear, which would be the one known to Xena and Gabrielle, and the Black bear's track, though smaller, is not much different (After this review was posted on the XWPVS forum, MacavityCat suggested that since Xena was in a strange land, she could not be sure the tracks were a bear's and kept silent, rather than be proved wrong later. I answered that Xena could have said the track looked like a bear's (I've used that dodge myself.).

Act 1: After having camped under the stars with Xena for several years Gabrielle should know the sky better. The Big Dipper - Ursa Major was mentioned in the series and is easily recognized - Gabrielle should be able to find it almost automatically, if enough of the sky is visible (I can, in spite of living in a light polluted area for several years.). And what is the star they've been following? If the North Star is meant, the description is wrong. Polaris is easy enough to see, but is no brighter than the stars of the dipper. Any time the dipper is visible, there are other stars that stand out more.

Act II: Talon says he will prove Falcon wrong `tonight', but nothing happens until the night after.

Act III: The picture of Xena and Gabrielle laughing is great! If that contest that Nando's picture (Gabrielle on Fire from 7.21, (Mayan Madness) was entered in last season (without his knowledge) is still going on, the artist, Kathy Austin, should enter this one.

Act IV: The `Exploding Gabrielle' picture is very good, too, though `slightly goofy' may be an understatement. How did Gabrielle make the exploding pouches? Fine sawdust might burn easily, but it would not explode. Did Gabrielle make the Chinese black powder? Carbon (charcoal), of course, is common; sulfur is less so, but still can be found with a little persistence, but the third ingredient, saltpeter, is hard to locate.

I doubt Xena could throw an arrow with force of a bowshot. It's pretty amazing that Xena figures out that someone or something has helped recover the chakram, but totally believable. The `woods spirits' have been made very mysterious (I'd like to know more about them.), but we learn enough for their part in the story.

Disclaimer: Great!! Hits just the right note of humor and applicability.

Critic's Note: In response to a comment by CherylA on the xwpvs forum, I didn't see this episode as lighthearted. To me it was serious with liberal touches of humor.