"Xena: Warrior Princess"
Who's Gurkhan? (2000)

Director:

Michael Hurst

Writers:

R.J. Stewart (teleplay)
Robert G. Tapert (story)

TV Series:

"Xena: Warrior Princess" (1995)

Original Air Date:

23 October 2000 (Season 6, Episode 4)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

Gabrielles comes home to Potedaia, where she meets her sister Lila. There, Lila tells her that a man called Gurkhan kidnapped her daughter...

Plot Keywords:

Battle | Bad Guy Turns Good | Pregnancy | Cult Favorite | Lesbian Subtext

Cast

Lucy Lawless	...	Xena
Renée O'Connor	...	Gabrielle
Adrienne Wilkinson	...	Eve
William Gregory Lee	...	Virgil
Willa O'Neill	...	Lila
Calvin Tuteao	...	Gurkhan
Tandi Wright	...	Sonata / Sarah
Gina Varela	...	Milda
Michelle Langstone	...	Lana
Stephen Hall	...	Auctioneer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jo Lo	...	Yo

Language:

English

Quotes:

Xena: [to the slaves girls in Gurkhan's harem] All right, girls... We're going on a cruise. Anyone care to come?

The danger of vengeance

Directed by the very talented Michael Hurst, "Who's Gurkhan?" dealt with some very dark subject material.

Revenge is not an uncommon theme on "Xena", it's not even an original concept for Gabrielle to be the one seeking it, but "Who's Gurkhan?" dares to take Gabrielle closer to the edge than "The Return of Callisto". It is the darkest Gabrielle ever is in the series.

While Gabrielle's character explores her dark side, Virgil finally shows his "Joxer" colour as he is sadly reduced to the comic relief. Not that Lee can't pull off the humour, but, until now, he's always been a much more dramatic character. Both Lee and Wilkinson were woefully underused.

Make-up, sets and costume outdid themselves again, which gave Hurst more to play with, which, with his cineographic eye, made for a very visually stunning episode.