Monday November 20, 1995
876813
The innocent Timuron awaited punishment in the Underworld, and Hades wanted the real wrongdoer, King Sisyphus of Corinth, to take his place. Hades demanded that Hercules apprehend Sisyphus and bring him to the Underworld. It turned out that Queen Karis was unable to have children, and the King wanted Timuron's widow, Daphne, to bear him an heir. With help from Timuron, whose ghostly image scared away the palace guards, Hercules thwarted the king's plan and brought Sisyphus to the Underworld. In turn, Hades allowed Timuron and Daphne to enjoy one night together before saying goodbye.
Write a Recap »Hercules is set a task by Uncle Hades. to bring back a trickster King who sent a young man to Tarturus in his place. hide show
This episode kind of sequels the Xena episode "Death in Chains" and it's another one of those "I don't hate it, but..." episode. |
Sisyphus returns here played by the same actor that played him in the Xena episode, his wife is also the same actress, but the personalities and situations seem disjointedly different for episodes that ran so close together in airing order. Close enough that it seems they should have planned better for complimenting each other. Especially since they purposely used the exact same actors to play the characters. |
Disconnected from the Xena episode though, it actually is a pretty entertaining a engaging story of two young lovers who were unfairly taken advantage of by a trechourus king for his own purposes. Despite him preacing about all the good he's doing for his kingdom, he seems to ignore the human element of him gaining what he wants. |
I have to say Erik Tompson's Hades is always fun to see and I love hearing him talk about his work in the Underworld like a day at the office. All while wearing this feirce dark armor or riding his dark chariot. His and Hercules' relationship is kind of weird though as Herc comes off more as his equal then his nephew. But that's the problem with ageless Gods. |
All-in-all, decent ep just disjointed in the series of events that started on Xena.
Hades 'persuades' Hercules to bring back King Sisyphus, who has escaped from the Underworld and tricked a young newlywed man into taking his place, in this episode that starts off with a lot of potential but ends up a rather average fare... hide show
This episode is a sort-of sequel to the 'Xena: Warrior Princess' episode 'Death in Chains' that was originally broadcast the week prior to this. I say 'sort-of' in that King Sisyphus and wife Queen Karis are played by the same actors, but much of the detail is different from that depicted in 'Death in Chains'.
This is quite unusual for the two series, which usually tally their facts up well.
This story starts off with a lot of potential – there is the grand opening of Hades racing from the Underworld on his chariot to insist on Hercules' assistance. Then we have Hercules being accompanied by young Timuron, whom King Sisyphus had duped into swapping places with (although I never completely followed this). Hercules can see Timuron but Iolaus can't.
But after these promising beginnings, the story winds down into a rather average episode.
For one thing, I felt that more could have been done with the whole ghost element. (Also, the exact definition and powers of ghosts in the Hercules / Xena universe seems to vary slightly from story to story). Hades mentions the arrangement with his beloved Persephone from 'The Other Side' a few episodes earlier, a nice example of how episodes are slotting together with each other.
Michael Hurst still has his arm cast after he broke his arm filming the 'Xena: Warrior Princess' cross-over episode 'Prometheus'. He also makes a brief cameo as Charon, boatman of the river Styx, but there it is hidden by his costume.
The fight sequences are as creative and well choreographed as usual in the series, but beyond that the episode is a pretty average one.
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