Animal Attraction
written by Chris Manheim - Producer
The Chakram Newsletter: Issue 11
SD: “Animal Attraction” - Xena found out she was pregnant. Gabrielle got a horse, the return of Allison Bruce (who played Melosa, Queen of the Amazons in “Hooves And Harlots”) and it was a western.
Chris: That's right. It was our High Noon.
SD: Did you want to do High Noon and added all the other things or the other way around. You did need to have Xena discover she was pregnant.
Chris: That was the reason for the episode - Xena's pregnancy. And we had been talking about giving Gabrielle a horse so she could ride alongside Xena.
SD: Would Gabrielle have gotten a horse if Lucy hadn't become pregnant?
Chris: As Gabrielle became more and more formidable as a warrior, I think people here felt it was too subservient for her to be walking while Xena rode Argo. She's developed past that stage.
SD: Was this an easy show to put together?
Chris: It flowed very smoothly. No pulling teeth with this one. I really enjoy writing an episode where there are multiple storylines. Every character has their own thread and somehow they have to weave together to make a tapestry that's complete at the end.
The only lost thread was the Joxer story. I’ll always be sorry we had to cut for time scenes that fleshed out his relationship with Gabrielle.
SD: You were able to make up for it in “Eternal Bonds” which you also wrote.
Chris: That's true. There was a lot of the Joxer/Gabrielle story in “Eternal”.
SD: Was there ever any thought of keeping the two of them together?
Chris (laughing): Not really. In “Eternal,” there was supposed to be a kiss between them when Gabrielle thinks Joxer's really dying and he's asked her why there wasn’t an “us.” And it was written that the last thing she does for him is kiss him goodbye. But that kiss didn't materialize. And I believe it was because of Renee's and Ted's resistance to it. Even the actors would have felt odd about trying to make that happen. It would have been a lie to the characters. It's not the truth about who they are.
SD: The vote for best line in the episode went to Xena after she discovers she's pregnant: “Gabrielle's gonna freak!”
Chris: (laughing)
SD: I'm thinking if you're looking for a way in which to give Gabrielle a horse, what else but in a western.
Chris: That probably had something to do with the decision to use that format.
SD: And this one had all the bits you usually find - a sun dial, spurs jangling, the gunshot ricochet noise when a knife was thrown.
Chris (laughing): I do like a good western.
SD (laughing): Then there was the conversation between the two horses with Gabrielle following along looking from one to the other.
Chris: That was well filmed. And Renee played it perfectly.
SD: It was a pleasant surprise to see Allison Bruce in the role of Talia. We haven't seen her since she played Melosa, Queen of the Amazons in “Hooves & Harlots.”
Chris: She was cast down in New Zealand. I'm really glad they used her because I thought she was very strong in the role. Another scene that was cut for time was Talia talking with Amarice where we learned more of Talia's back story with Darcon, the man she's going to face down in the final gunfight; she did a fantastic job with the character.
SD: The fans have wanted to see Allison again. You could bring Talia back any time you want. It was also nice to see Armand. He's so sweet.
Chris: I don’t know if they could bring him back again. With Amarice (Jennifer Sky) gone, it would just draw more attention to that fact.
SD: Was Jennifer signed for Cleopatra 2525 when you wrote this story?
Chris: No, she wasn't.
SD: So the two characters might have been used again?
Chris: Possibly.
SD: Xena announcing her pregnancy - you had a choice of making it serious or comic.
Chris: We went for the comedy. There’s enough seriousness about this pregnancy. I'm glad we did it the way we did. I just don't see how we could have played it serious and not have Xena realize it herself. If we had decided to play it really serious, that moment would have been when Xena came to the conclusion she was pregnant without having to go to a healer. But, because she was in such denial, that leads to comedy.
SD: That was such a funny bit with the healer trying to convince Xena she was pregnant:
Xena: “It's impossible! I cannot be pregnant! If you weren’t such a quack, you would know that getting pregnant involves certain physical requirements that I haven’t met in a long time! And I mean a very long time! No one, zilch, zippo. I am a love-free zone! Therefore it is utterly impossible that I be “up the duff!” So what's your diagnosis now?!
Healer: Mood Swings?
Chris (laughing): Lucy was terrific. And Renee played it so perfectly when Xena made her announcement to them in the stable.
SD: We had Xena pregnant, Gabrielle and the horse, Talia and Darcon, Joxer and Gabrielle, and Amarice and Armand. How did so many stories wind up in one episode? Was any of it done to give Lucy more down time?
Chris: That was part of it. Another part was that, except for the ending, there was very little action in the show because Lucy was pregnant. That’s why Talia had to stand up for herself at the end and her character had the big fight scene. The challenge was how to have a fight and have Xena take part, but not be kicking as much butt as usual.
SD: And without two or three fight scenes in the show, you had more room for other stories.
Chris: Yeah. And there was much more talking. I’m all for every character in a story having an arc. I don't care if it’s just three scenes. In my universe, I like them all to have arcs. I think it's fun to bounce back and forth between stories. And then have them all come together at the end.
SD: And the challenge is to have the stories bump into each other with the characters walking in and out of each other’s storylines.
Chris: I love doing that. It's not easy, but it's fun to keep all those plates spinning.
SD: Did you know at the time you wrote this episode exactly where the show was going with the child and who the father would be?
Chris: We weren't entirely sure who the father was. That’s why we wanted to keep it a mystery. And we figured we’d better keep it a mystery for Xena too.
SD: Do you remember any of the candidates for fatherhood?
Chris: We discussed it being Ares at one point. Trying to see if we went that way, how would it play out. The child would be half god/half mortal. It would be another Hercules. But, given how dark Xena is and Ares as well, we thought that might be a problem. As it is, given Eve’s origin, what power/spirit is in this child?
SD: Were there any other candidates?
Chris: I think someone joked about it being Hercules, but that was never really a consideration. I put all the possibilities in the talk between Xena and Gabrielle when they were waiting for the bad guys to ride into town. I thought that was where the fans would go, so why not just name everyone possible.
SD: Was there any talk about Hope? Gabrielle gets pregnant and Xena knows the child is evil. Xena gets pregnant and knows the child is good. It seemed unfair to some people. But Hope was born because you wanted to do your version of Rosemary’s Baby - not out of a wish to give Gabrielle a child.
Chris: Right. There is a reference to Hope at the end of the season. But it’s not hit on the head. We discussed hitting it harder, because there's been conversations among Lucy, Renee and others in New Zealand about how does Gabrielle feel.
But when Gabrielle was pregnant, they knew who the father was. They knew what they were dealing with. They also let it be born and the child killed someone before there was talk about having to kill it. So I think it would have been precipitous of Gabrielle, especially in the face of Xena’s belief that this is a good and positive thing, to say she should abort it.
SD: I asked Renee if Gabrielle was thinking at all about Hope when she found out Xena was pregnant and she said no.
Chris: It's Gabrielle's nature to go to a hopeful place for her friend.
SD: Have you ever stated clearly that Ares is not Xena’s father for viewers who think he might be?
Chris: He's not. Xena would be repulsed if there was any hint that was true. And she'd make mention of it. She wouldn't keep quiet on that score. That’s not Xena.
SD: I wanted to ask you a couple things about “God Fearing Child.” You wrote the story and Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman wrote the script. How did that come about?
Chris: Because Hercules was added to the story. When that happened they took over doing the script because I've never written Hercules. Kevin trusts Bob and Alex and he had no idea who I was. With them in charge of Xena at that time, they straddled both worlds.
SD: Rob said Kevin didn’t want to kill Zeus!
Chris: No, he did not.
SD: They had to use second unit to film that part of the scene. I thought that was a very powerful moment. Wish I could ask Kevin why he didn't want to do it.
I haven't read much Greek and Roman history. In that time, and in the show now, are the gods meant to be real physical presences?
Chris: I think you have to say yes. In mythological times, they appeared in all kinds of guises as well as human form. They interacted with human beings.
SD: They really did walk the earth or, at least, people believed they did?
Chris: For instance, Zeus would turn into a swan to make love to one woman, a bull to make love with another. He was big into turning himself into animals and serpents. According to the myths, the gods would talk to people on earth. They made their presence corporeal.
SD: Was Hercules always part of the “God Fearing Child” story?
Chris: No. When I first wrote the story, Hercules was not in it. Xena and Amarice were busy trying to fend off Zeus. I think it was Gabrielle and Joxer who went to the Underworld to get the Helmet of Invisibility so Xena could give birth and be invisible doing it.
SD: Was Solan in your version?
Chris: No, he was an element added to give weight to the mother/son story with Xena. To provide heart to the Xena/Gabrielle portion. Before that, it was mostly about Hercules and Zeus.
SD (laughing): I wonder if anyone can tell me how Solan created Illusia if he was in Tartarus? Oh, well, I'll table that for now.
With the supposed imminent demise of the gods, was there talk about how that would jibe with Ares being alive in past episodes that took place in the 1940s and 1990s?
Chris: Yeah, we went back and forth on how to kill him and maintain the integrity of “The Xena Scrolls.” I’ll be just as interested as anyone else when I read the script to see what happens.
SD: What can you tell me about the end of this season?
Chris: I know that Xena will be faced with her greatest challenge yet, emotionally and physically. We’ve been working to make Xena and Gabrielle mean a lot to each other and support each other in the last episodes of this season.
Even before we knew what the fans were asking for, I know it’s something Rob has felt very strongly about now that we've got Xena back full time. Let's see more of her and Gabrielle and the emotional support they provide each other.