By Paul Leone.
Figurine of an Amazon on horseback on display in the Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University. The Amazon and horse were originally separate pieces, later put together.
Picture courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Completing our review of the series. The first reviews can be found here, here, here, here, here, and here.
The Adventures of Aella the Amazon.
Part Seven: Season Six
(Disclaimer. This is a work of fiction and fantasy; no such show exists... at least in our timeline).
Season six was an unexpected blessing for Aella fans. The executives at Sci-Fi weren’t happy with the show after ‘the star’ left and it was announced midway through the fifth season that the show would not be renewed. The fans jumped into action, and for once, an Internet petition worked to save a show. The Adventures of Aella the Amazon – belatedly renamed The Adventures of the Amazons – would return for one last season. When the dust settled, fan reaction was mixed, but tended to be positive. Émilie Dequenne and Eva Green had good chemistry as estranged cousins and reluctant partners, and there were a lot of popular stories and entertaining guest stars, as always. Eliza Dushku as Xanthe, an Amazon with her eyes set on the crown, dialled the hamminess up to 11. If memes had been a thing back in 2004, she would have been all over the place. Other notable guest stars included Anna Faris, Clancy Brown, Carla Gugino, Traci Lords, Caroline Proust, Bar Refaeli, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, and Emilie de Ravin.
Hamminess up to 11? Our Faith?
Picture courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The last season of Amazonian adventures kicked off with More Misadventures in Massalia, one of the handful of classical heist episodes with a nice subplot about Agave being increasingly impatient with the subterfuges inside subterfuges. This was followed up by a two-part horror story, Night of Terror and Day of Terror, with the aforementioned Brown and Gugino playing husband and wife magicians up to no good.
Amanda Plummer returned one more time as Arete in Summons of the Siren with Marie-Ange Casta (Laetitia’s younger sister) as the siren in question. The third musical episode, Mysteries and Muses in Marathon was on a par with the previous entries, with most fans considering ‘Midnight in Marathon’ (Dequenne and Anna Faris’ duet/duel) the best song of all the musical episodes.
Ryan Reynolds returned as Gwydion in The Bard’s Return and trouble was right on his heels (in the shape of a jilted ex-girlfriend, played with sympathetic spite by Jessica Biel).
Echoes of Atlantis was a follow-up to season four’s Dreams of Atlantis, and again consisted mostly of flashbacks, this time to the chaos that followed the destruction of the island kingdom.
Sayid the Spouse! was a playful episode where, despite a hundred and one obstacles and enemies, Sayid and Amira get married.
In The Window of Time, Menippe and Agave used an ancient magical mirror, something not unlike a non-sentient version of the Guardian of Forever from Star Trek, to peer at various versions of them from the dawn of humanity down to the early 21st Century.
Ten episodes into the season, the big bad showed up in The Tomb of Abraxas, which sees Xanthe succeed in drinking the blood of the demon Abraxas, thus gaining many of his (vaguely defined) powers. Agrippina’s Alexandria Adventure was told largely in flashbacks about Agrippina foiling a plot by the wicked noblewoman Theodora (Caroline Proust); Menippe is barely present in the framing story and Agave doesn’t appear at all.
Song of the Satyr was the fourth and final musical episode, a somewhat lacklustre affair as far as music goes, but the dance numbers, especially Menippe Makes Up Her Mind, were fantastic.
Xanthe returned in House of Cards and nearly brings down the entire Amazonian society with a few well-aimed blows. Next was The Revenge of Lamia – never mind that it was the long-gone Aella who thwarted her way back in season two; this was a good episode somewhat marred by an overly long and definitely gratuitous scene where Lamia slakes her thirst on guest star Traci Lords.
The Dryad’s Dilemma featured Bar Refaeli as the dryad in question; a forgettable episode aside from that bit of stunt casting. In The Hidden Heiress, a surprise rival to Agave and Xanthe’s royal ambitions appears in the form of Emilie de Ravin as Polydora. Is she who she claims to be? You’ll no doubt be shocked to learn she is not who she claims to be.
Bar Refaeli as the dryad Eurydice. A forgettable episode apart from the casting.
Picture courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The Cult of Typhon and The Claws of Typhon were a two-parter that saw our heroes fail to prevent Xanthe from claiming a powerful weapon; Xanthe, it should be noted, had a bit more success in her endeavours than Alexander the Great.
Prelude to War focused on Agave convening the council of Amazons to name a queen; it blows up in her face and the episode ends with the out-of-nowhere declaration that the gods are retreating to Olympus until the end of time, as well as an invitation for the Amazons to join them there.
The last three episodes: Wrath of the Amazons, Woes of the Amazons, and Wonders of the Amazons, see our heroes desperately trying to stop Xanthe from claiming the crown and then, in the absence of the gods, conquering the entire world. In the end, they manage it – just barely. The real question is whether Agave and Menippe stay or go? Agave, now Queen, departs for Olympus, but Menippe stays – and finally marries Samir. Cue one last song by the Muses (Departures and Dreams) and roll credits. The long and colourful adventures of the Amazons at last come to an end.
Amazons attack... now and forever.
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Paul Leone is the author of the SLP book In and Out of the Reich.
His extensive list of books can be found Here.