The Travelers Reviews

The Temptatation of Marguerite
Most of the episode was a series of offers from M. Locke to lure Marguerite to sell her soul. For the most part she remains resolute, staunch in her convictions and in support of her friends. As the stakes rise and her own fortune is at risk, she tries to beat Locke at his own game, a dangerous ploy. Then she loses all bargaining power when she is forced to beg for the lives of her friends. Eventually she is reduced to an offer to trade all her jewels for her life. It appears once again that there are limits to what Marguerite will give to attain her fondest wishes. She won't let millions of people die, won't kill her friends and won't die herself. Though, had it been painless, would she have made the 'leap of faith' to immortality?

The Torture of Lord John Roxton
This adventure touched all of Roxton's nerve endings. Guilt over losing Summerlee and Malone, over abandoning Marguerite. Helplessness, not being able to use his hunting skills to find and free her. Frustration when she rides away with Locke. Panic at the thought that Marguerite is dead. Then to lose a sword fight, followed by a kiss interruptus. This was offset however by the kiss and hug and the piece of paper folded up against his heart. No wonder, he at least, was happy as a laddie at the end.

The Nature of the Trickster God
What little I had heard of the various trickster gods was that they were basically benign, sometimes using their powers to mess with people but sometimes improving the lot of man. Locke seemed more like the devil, stealing souls, twisting people's base desires until they are damned. Despite the promises of a better life, his final words to Marguerite as he drowned her were "You'll have the rest of eternity to regret the choice you've made."

Strange juxtaposition
It was an episode where the slapstick alternated with the intense, often in a jarring way. The buffoon-like sidekicks, Challenger and Veronica doing their impression of Frick & Frack as they end up in a tangle while ambushing the henchmen, Roxton as a hapless foil to Locke. The rather flippant attitude shown by Veronica at the treehouse when they have a ransom note saying "your friend's life is fading' Yet the scenes of Roxton's frantic concern and Marguerite's drowning are very real in their emotion.

Questions, questions, questions
Marguerite spends a lot of time near the end quizzing Olmac about death and immortality. Many questions remain in the viewers mind. How does it all work? How do the portals fit in to the total plateau context? And the one that gets me. Why when Marguerite suggested there had been a rescue party for the lost Challenger expedition, did all three men dissolve into laughter?

Rachel Blakely rocks, Will Snow rules
What an actress, what a beauty. Miss Blakely has a ton of lines and mood changes and carries it off beautifully. The scene at the end when she's reading the note and trying to cover her tracks is great fun. She is so busted. Mr Snow plays the whole episode with great intensity and his smile after the kiss-priceless.

Great lines
"I slept like a queen. Now I want to return to my people."
Locke "I am immortal" M (sotto voce) "Here we go again." (shades of a walk with Bergen in Resurrection, the Faerie Queen in Unnatural Selection)
"You should trade me for your chef. I am a terrible cook."
Fondling some gems. Marguerite 'Stolen.' Locke 'Borrowed, actually.'
And just like I suggested, Marguerite just before she grabs the rifle out of Roxton's hands' "Shoot him"
Finally, defiant in defeat "I'll fight you every step of the way."
Lots to love and I have firmly determined that any discrepancies in the sanity continuum noted before are due to the fact they were under a spell by the trickster god.