Yuku free message boards

"Lust and violence -- or truth and hope. I think I'll stick with the status quo."

If he did nothing else, at least we should give him credit for summarising season 6 with that statement.

I can't make up my mind. Just the concept of Alexis Arquette as a mad Roman emperor is genius in itself. He played it lovely as well, the dramatic expressions, the madness, the decadence. Loved it, and there was depth to it as well. Like the scene with him on the throne or in a temple or whatever it was. This was a lovely take on those infamous mad Emperors.

However I did not care for the storyline they put him into. Never been a big fan of the episode, because to me it didn't really work. Xena once again played the evil seductress, Ares felt strange and out of place, Eve showed off the worst side of religious zeal, Gabrielle felt like a prop and I dislike Aphrodite's complete submissiveness and I don't buy it as a result of her insanity.

However it is the character I am supposed to rate so I'm giving him a solid 8. Perhaps not the best or most powerful villain, but brilliant casting and delicious character. Had they put him to better use he would easily have made a 9.

LadyKate63 wrote:

---

Ares' role in this episode was very dramatically revised from the original draft (where he spends most of the ep trying to stop Xena from killing Caligula because it would kill Aphrodite), which is probably why it feels weird -- it's almost like the writers didn't quite know what to do with him. However, I actually quite like what we saw of him in the final version. His concern for 'Dite was very touching.

That does make sense. Because in the finished version it feels as if they just don't know what to do with him and randomly throws him in a dungeon only to take him out and play a little to add to the skin quota. The only thing that felt right and good was his concern and connection to Aphrodite. I understand what they were playing at with Gabrielle (friends thing and all), but I wouldn't have minded a little more Ares and Aphrodite interaction in this episode. After all they were siblings and they both survived the Twilight, I think there would have been quite a strong connection between them that could have been used to bring her to her senses.