EDIT

Episode Summary

The year was 1789, Count Francois Demarigny was not interested in joining the French Revolution, he just wanted the lady Marie deValle's money. He pretended to be the Chartreuse Fox, and his comrades Jean-Pierre and Robert pretended to be highwaymen. But the Lady Marie outsmarted them, for she herself was the Chartreuse Fox. When she was captured by the French police and taken to the guillotine, tales of Hercules - champion of the common man - inspired Robert and his friends to take action. They freed Marie, gave strength to the peasants and vowed to continue fighting injustice.moreless
7.6
out of 10
EPISODE RATING: Good
35 votes
  • Your Rating: 10
    "Perfect"
  • Your Rating: 9.5
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 9
    "Superb"
  • Your Rating: 8.5
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 8
    "Great"
  • Your Rating: 7.5
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 7
    "Good"
  • Your Rating: 6.5
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 6
    "Fair"
  • Your Rating: 5.5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 5
    "Mediocre"
  • Your Rating: 4.5
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 4
    "Poor"
  • Your Rating: 3.5
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 3
    "Bad"
  • Your Rating: 2.5
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 2
    "Terrible"
  • Your Rating: 1.5
    "Abysmal"
  • Your Rating: 1
    "Abysmal"
Rate It
  • Troyes, France: 1789 Marie de Valle makes a deal with a man claiming to be the infamous Revolutionary Chartreuse Fox to try an turn two highwaymen into fellow Revolutionary fighters. But no-one is as they seem. I want to like this ep but it's not great.moreless

    6.7
    "Fair"
    This episode is a break from the norm of the series, being set during the French revolution. It is in the same vein of 'Xena: Warrior Princess'' popular 1940s-set episode 'The Xena Scrolls'. However, whereas 'The Xena Scrolls' has a definite charm to it, sadly I find this episode to be very messy and not as much fun as it should be. I really want to like it more than I do, but find it hard to do so for various reasons.

    The episode follows the template set by 'The Xena Scrolls' of using an unusual time-period surrounding as the basis for what is essentially as clip show. They obviously had a lot of fun filming it, but as I say, it doesn't completely work on-screen, and is not the minor classic that it might have been.

    Marie de Valle is played by Danielle Cormack, who plays the recurring role of Amazon Ephiny in 'Xena: Warrior Princess'. She fits into the episode well, seeing as she's usually more at home on 'Xena'.

    Being set in France, the actors get to try out French accents with varying success (the producers toyed with the idea whether to just do it in American or not). Michael Hurst sounds pretty spot on, and Robert Trebor and Danielle Cormack are reasonable, but Kevin Sorbo's for the most part is rather questionable!
    One fun thing with the accents in this episode though, is that at points a character will say something in a really deep French accent, then give up and just do it in American!

    I think part of the reason this episode isn't as great as it might have been, is due to the fact that the characters aren't really all that likeable. It is not until the climax of the story, that I started to remotely warm to them.

    I think the thing that let this episode down was the script. It was a great idea for a clip show surrounding, and they obviously loved filming it, but the script is messy, as well as as I mentioned not having overly likable characters until quite late on.moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    0 2

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

See All
  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • This is the only clip show of Xena or Hercules to feature a clip from a clip show. The clip of the lady telling Hercules her village is under attack and they need her help is from "Cave of Echoes", season two's clip show. Edit
  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Robert: Eet cannot 'urt to leestin, Jean-Pierre.
      Jean-Pierre: What?!
      Robert: (momentarily losing his bad French accent) I said, it can't hurt to listen!

      Edit
    • Robert: (after he and Jean-Pierre fight soldiers with fish as weapons) Just for ze halibut! Edit
    • Jean-Pierre: (fighting side by side with Robert) Deja vu! Robert: It does seem familiar. Edit
  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Robert: Well, one for all and all for Marie, eh? This is a paraphrase of the motto of Alexander Dumas' fictional characters the three Musketeers, which is, "All for one and one for all". Edit
    • Jean-Pierre: So, what shall we call ourselves? Robert: What about Robert Hood? Well, we take from the rich and give to the poor, eh? Francois: It's too English. Jean-Pierre: Oh, I know! How about ze Powerful Rangers! Francois: Haha! No. Oh, this is it, this is it! Now, imagine a banner, our portraits in profile, gothic block letters across the top, and it says- The Four Muskrats! These are three different allusions, the first to the English outlaw/freedom fighter Robin Hood, next live action cartoon The Power Rangers, and finally the Alexander Dumas novel The Three Musketeers. Edit
    • The Chartreuse Fox is a play on the fictional character the Scarlet Pimpernel, an undercover agent rescuing the French aristocracy during the French Revolution. It was made into a movie starring Leslie Howard, and later into a tv mini-series starring Richard E. Grant. Edit
More
Less