ORBzine - Hercules TV Review
[Season 1 ! Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 ]
Pilot Movies 1994 (2 hrs each)
1- 1 29 Jan 95 The Wrong Path 1- 2 5 Feb 95 Eye of the Beholder 1- 3 12 Feb 95 The Road to Calydon 1- 4 19 Feb 95 The Festival of Dionysus 1- 5 26 Feb 95 Ares 1- 6 5 Mar 95 As Darkness Falls
Hercules [Season 1, Episode 7]
Pride Comes Before a Brawl
Shown 12 Mar 95
Iolus [Guest Star Michael Hurst] and Herc take seperate routes [arguing like R2D2 and C3PO].
This is Nemesis' first appearance. She's after Iolus.
1- 8 19 Mar 95 The March to Freedom 1- 9 26 Mar 95 The Warrior Princess 1-10 2 Apr 95 The Gladiators 1-11 7 May 95 The Vanishing Dead 1-12 14 May 95 The Gauntlet 1-13 21 May 95 Unchained Heart
2- 1 15 Sep 95 The King of Thieves
Hercules [Season 2, Episode 2]
All that Glitters
Shown 22 Sep 95
Herc and pals [Salmoneus, King Midas, Jennifer Ward-Leland ] team up to defeat some Capitalists.
The theme is feudalism vs capitalism.
2- 3 29 Sep 95 What's in a Name? 2- 4 6 Oct 95 Siege at Naxos 2- 5 13 Oct 95 Outcast 2- 6 20 Oct 95 Under the Broken Sky 2- 7 27 Oct 95 The Mother of All Monsters 2- 8 10 Nov 95 The Other Side 2- 9 17 Nov 95 The Fire Down Below 2-10 24 Nov 95 Cast a Giant Shadow 2-11 1 Dec 95 Highway to Hades 2-12 19 Jan 96 The Sword of Veracity 2-13 26 Jan 96 The Enforcer 2-14 9 Feb 96 Once a Hero 2-15 16 Feb 96 Heedless Hearts
Hercules [Season 2, Episode 16]
Let the Games Begin
Shown 23 Feb 96
Herc's damsel [a female bodybuilder, Cory Everson] and Salmoneus [there's no sign of Iolus] help Herc run the Olympic games to stop the Spartan War.
If this mentality were maintained in 1936, would they have let the Axis conquer the world?
Ares' team cheats. Unfortunately, Kev Smith doesn't make an appearance.
2-17 1 Mar 96 The Apple
Hercules [Season 2, Episode 18]
Promises
Shown 15 Mar 96
Herc and Iolus go to meet old pal Barias [Joel Tobeck]'s wedding. Falafell the merchant [a recurring character] pops up.
Marton Csokas is the bandit Tarlas [clean-shaven and bald] who kidnaps the bride. Herc and Iolus go to save her.
2-19 30 Mar 96 King for a Day
Hercules [Season 2, Episode 20]
Protean Challenge
Shown 4 May 96
Herc must help a pal wrongly accused of theft [his hand will be cut off!]. Iolus get jealous of Herc over a babe [a reference to the fight over Xena in Season 1].
This ep was nicely directed.
Herc won't free a thief from Sharia, but he would if the sentance was a life of hard labour [slavery!] ...
The Disclaimer compares Proteus to a candidate of 1996 POTUS elections [Ross Perot, the year it was made]
Hercules [Season 2, Episode 21]
Wedding of Alcmene
Shown 12 May 96
Herc and GS Iolus visit Herc's mom, engaged to his pal Jason [King!].
Jason must abdicate, and names Herc's brother Ipicles as heir [very young-looking Kev Smith, in black leather, clean-shaven].
Hera's goons plot an attack [good makeup on the Demon, but it looks dated by reasonable CGI SPFX sea-monster].
There's even a centaur [named Derek!].
2-22 18 May 96 The Power 2-23 25 May 96 Centaur Mentor Journey 2-24 6 Jul 96 The Cave of Echoes
3- 1 12 Oct 96 Mercenary 3- 2 19 Oct 96 Doomsday 3- 3 26 Oct 96 Love Takes a Holiday 3- 4 2 Nov 96 Mummy Dearest 3- 5 9 Nov 96 Not Fade Away 3- 6 16 Nov 96 Monster Child in a Promised Land 3- 7 23 Nov 96 The Green-Eyed Monster 3- 8 30 Nov 96 Prince Hercules 3- 9 21 Dec 96 A Star to Guide Them 3-10 25 Jan 97 The Lady and the Dragon 3-11 1 Feb 97 Long Live the King 3-12 8 Feb 97 Surprise 3-13 15 Feb 97 Encounter 3-14 22 Feb 97 When a Man Loves a Woman 3-15 2 Mar 97 Judgment Day 3-16 8 Mar 97 The Lost City 3-17 19 Apr 97 Les Contemptibles 3-18 26 Apr 97 Reign of Terror 3-19 3 May 97 The End of the Beginning 3-20 10 May 97 War Bride 3-21 17 May 97 A Rock and a Hard Place 3-22 24 May 97 Atlantis
Hercules [Season 4, Episode 1]
Beanstalks and Bad Eggs
Shown October 1999
Herc teams up with Autolycus [Bruce Campbell] to climb a beanstalk. For some reason there's a giant living in the clouds, and he has a batch of golden eggs.
The eggs hatch to reveal harpies [which owe more to the movie Gremlins than the traditional half-bird half-woman monster] and Mr Campbell tells the Giant I hate to break it to ya, big fella, but you're got Harpies.
4- 2 18 Oct 97 Hero's Heart
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 4, Episode 3]
Regrets, I've Had A Few
Shown First Weekend, November 1999
This week the show has an extended flashback - possibly as a precursor to a Young Hercules show. If they ever release such a dreaded item, this reviewer will not need to be reminded to ignore it.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 4, Episode 4]
Web of Desire
Shown Second Weekend, November 1999
Hercules, like Robin Hood, has to fight off an arachnoid foe. But unlike the lower-budgeted show this time the villain is a gorgeous babe in a bikini top and CGI giant-spider legs [all 8 of them]! Yes, the SPFX that work so well for the centaurs get re-employed to great effect.
This episode also sees the debut of a recurring character - a Sumerian/Nubian pirate queen called Nebula [ Gina Torres].
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 4, Episode 5]
Stranger in a Strange World
Shown Third Weekend, November 1999
Hercules comes to blow with his brother Ares in a massive cross-over with lots of familiar faces. The sidekick gets sucked into a mirror universe, a la ST:TOS episode Mirror, Mirror, finds himself a Stranger in a Strange World, and announces I am not a numeral, I am a free man!! Subtlety indeed from an American TV show, especially one of such a genre.
In the mirror universe we see a villainous Herc [Sorbo with Ares' beard & black togs], a straight-laced Aphrodite [Alexandra Tiddings with her clothes on!], a gangsters-moll Xena [who prefers Herc to his sidekick, poor guy], a hard-ass Joxer [like Jett, but one of the good guys] and even a cameo from Gabby! Yes, the gang's all here for a massive crossover that only lasts one episode, is purely for laughs and has absolutely nothing to do with any plot arc!!!
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 4, Episode 6]
Two Men And A Baby
Shown Fourth Weekend, November 1999
Herc meets up with his old friend Nemesis - who is on the run with a baby in her arms and a posse of soldiers on her tail. She tells Herc the child is his - and it turns out that Ares and Discord are after them!
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 4, Episode 7]
Prodigal Sister
Shown First Week, December 1999
Hercules is missing his sidekick Iolus for some strange and un-explained reason. But the big lunk is unconcerned about his nearest and dearest, and instead continues his good deeds. He starts by freeing a group of convicts - err, slaves - and states that he does not agree with slavery, even in areas where it is legal.
The renegade Amazons who are the villains of the episode share his enlightened views; they kill the men, women and boys they capture. Young girls get raised as Amazons themselves, and are told that they were abandoned by their birth parents.
Hercules falls in with a young blind man who lost his family [and sight] in a raid by such Amazons 13 years previously - parents dead and sister captured. The Amazon tribe had signed a treaty and given a valley of their territory over to other tribes - but the renegades wanted the land back, and 13 years later are still on the rampage.
Typical of the pseudo-incestuous casting of this show, the young man is played by Dean O'Gorman - who also plays Young Iolus. We also get a cameo by Ephiny [ Danielle Cormack ].
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 4, Episode 8]
... And Fancy Free
Shown Second Week, December 1999
Hercules helps a young maiden enter a dance competition - their tutor is the mysterious Widow Twanky who closely resembles the missing Iolus ...
4- 9 24 Jan 98 If I Had A Hammer
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 4, Episode 10]
Hercules on Trial
Shown Fourth Week, December 1999
Hercules is put on trial after a copy-cat hero gets killed imitating him. An interesting cameo; Cassandra is played [for the second time] by Claudia Black , the leather-clad mega-babe from Farscape!
4-11 7 Feb 98 Medea Culpa 4-12 14 Feb 98 Men in Pink 4-13 21 Feb 98 Armageddon Now (1) 4-14 28 Feb 98 Armageddon Now (2) 4-15 7 Mar 98 Yes Virginia, There is a Hercules 4-16 28 Mar 98 Porkules 4-17 4 Apr 98 One Fowl Day
Hercules [Season 4, Episode 18]
My Fair Cupcake
Shown First Week, April 2000
Conflict has broken out between 2 Greek kingdoms, Antioch and Carpathia. Herc sends Iolus ahead to Antioch, to prepare for a peace conference.
Autolycus [Bruce Campbell] trains his ex-GF, Cupcake [from Widow Twankie's dance school] to be posh enough to seduce Prince Alexandrus of Antioch, so Autolycus can steal the Saphire of Antioch. However, he puts her undercover as the Princess of Carpathia ...
4-19 2 May 98 War Wounds 4-20 9 May 98 Twilight
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 4, Episode 21]
Top God
Shown 16 May 98
Shown 31st December 2001 - Monday - New Year's Eve
Herc's mother has died. Zeus [Roy Dotrice] appears, and asks Herc to join him in Olympus.
The main story is told in Flashback to Young Herc, played by the second actor to get the part. His sidekick is Young Jason, not Young Iolus.
Young Herc meets Young Apollo. They hang out together, having cliched teenager-movie cliches, but eventually their competitiveness overcomes them. They try to see who is .... Top God.
Hercules [Season 4, Episode 22 - Finale]
Reunion
Shown Third Week, April 2000
Zeus takes Herc to Mount Olympus and makes him a full god. Since he is now alone, Iolus goes home and meets his family. However, as a merc he is not welcome there.
Hera [ Meg Foster ] topples Zeus from power, aided by Apollo [a blonde guy on a flying skateboard] and Ares. Herc kicks their asses, but Hera kicks his and then tries to throw him into the inescapable pit into which Zeus threw his own father, Kronos.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 5, Episode 1]
Faith
Shown 3 Oct 98
Shown 13th January 2001 - Saturday
Tony Todd [ Candyman ] plays Gilgamesh, Son of Ra. His land is suffering from the war of the gods - the Summerian pantheon is taking on Dahawk, and losing. He summons Herc and Iolus to help. They get a lift from Nebula [ Gina Torres , who has a secret of her own.
Note: this episode was directed by Michael Hurst.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 5, Episode 2]
Descent
Shown 10 Oct 98
Shown 20th January 2001 - Saturday
Herc and Nebula set out to retrieve Iolus' soul from the Summerian God of Death. This flies in the face of Hades' statement to Xena in the other show's season opener [Adventures in the Sin Trade] which was made around the same time as this.
Herc's aim is to kill the God - thus making Dahawk's conquest all the easier. And since Dahawk killed Herc's friend, this is not a good thing.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 5, Episode 3]
Resurrection
Shown 17 Oct 98
Shown 27th January 2001 - Saturday
Herc is shipwrecked and washed ashore somewhere called Eire, where everyone speaks with Oirish accents. He has to help the druids against the babelicious Morrigun [ Tamara Gorski ]. At first she appears to be Hera's Air Enforcer, but it seems she works for an Oirish pantheon of gods or something. This is never explained. References made include:
The stupid plot and the dodgy accents are a pain, but there are good points to the episode. Morrigun [in RL mythology she was part of the Triple Goddess] is a babe, and slo-mo beats the crap out of Herc. Then we get some Highlander type scenes where he runs through hills and swims underwater to discover his inner strength.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 5, Episode 4]
Genies and Grecians and Geeks, Oh My
Shown 3rd February 2001 - Saturday
Autolycus [Bruce Campbell] and Salmoneus [Robert Trebor] steal a magical lamp from a Sultan. The Genie, Jeanie, appears and grants them 3 wishes. Of course, the wishes don't turn out as they intended.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 5, Episode 5]
Render Onto Caesar
Shown 10th February 2001 - Saturday
Hercules is still in Eire, trying to convert Morrigun [the babelicious Tamara Gorski ] to the side of good. This is interrupted when the invasion fleet of Xena's foe Julius Caesar [Karl Urban] arrives.
Rome brought civilisation, which makes mankind healthy, wealthy and wise. Of course, in Fantasy this is unnecessary because of magic. But Herc takes it upon himself to kill the Gods [without Hind's Blood!], and thus remove magic from the world. The plot [or lack thereof] is pretty stupid.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 5, Episode 6]
North By NorthVest
Shown 17th February 2001 - Saturday
Herc finds himself in Scandinavia, surrounded by Vikings. The Norse Gods are doomed by fate, and Dahawk has a hand in it.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 5, Episode 7]
Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bridge
Shown 24th February 2001 - Saturday
This is the second part of the story about Herc and the Norse gods. Herc can outfight Thor, but can he outsmart Loki and Dahawk?
Directed by Michael Hurst.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 5, Episode 8]
Darkness Rising
Shown 3rd March 2001 - Saturday
Herc is back in Eire, reacquainted with Morrigan [ Tamara Gorski ] again. However, just as he is on his way to earning some love interest ... Evil strikes!
A dream shows Herc that Nebula [ Gina Torres ] is in trouble. He travels to Sumeria with Morrigun in tow,
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys [Season 5, Episode 9]
For Those Of You Just Joining Us
Shown 10th March 2001 - Saturday
Just as the Dahawk arc gets going, we get another silly episode. This is a sequel to the previous Season's Yes Virginia, There Really Is A Hercules where the actors played the Production team, and Kevin Sorbo really WAS Hercules.
This time Producer Bruce Campbell gets the rest of the team [Ted Raimi is missing, but Sorbo has a groupie present] to go on a team-building course with him. The camp they go to is run by the perky little Renee O'Connor , of all people. This season's new discovery, Tamara Gorski , gets a cameo - as does Robert Trebor.
The writers are stuck for ideas - nothing new there. Sorbo gives a few ideas, and thus fleshes out the first half of Season 5 to those who have missed it. Meanwhile, someone [probably inspired by Ares] is trying to kill them.
The disappointments about this episode? Well, it's just not funny. Also, Hudson Leick keeps her clothes on during the sweat-lodge scene.
5-10 16 Jan 99 Let There Be Light 5-11 23 Jan 99 Redemption 5-12 30 Jan 99 Sky High 5-13 6 Feb 99 Stranger and Stranger 5-14 13 Feb 99 Just Passing Through 5-15 20 Feb 99 Greece Is Burning
Hercules [Season 5, Episode 16]
We'll Always Have Cyprus
Shown 27 Feb 99
5-17 27 Mar 99 The Academy 5-18 24 Apr 99 Love on the Rocks 5-19 1 May 99 Once Upon a Future King 5-20 8 May 99 Fade Out 5-21 15 May 99 My Best Girl's Wedding 5-22 22 May 99 Revelations
Hercules [Season 6, Episode 1]
Be Deviled
Shown 2 Oct 99
Femme warlord Arsiana [ Katie Wolf ] leads jailbreak to find the Sword of Hera. She's a Callisto clone [orphaned in a blaze] who looks like Serena [ Sam Sorbo ]. Sin [a demon, whose powers are weak in Earth-realm] tempts her with an Apple.
Xerxes escapes from Hell [sent there by Hades]. Xerxes is a Bogeyman, blamed for unsolved mystery murders. He was convicted of killing parents, and got a juvenile death sentance.
Herc [who fought his own stepmom, and even murders his own dad] hunts Xerxes down for the executioners! He also hunts the escaped cons [to put them in slavery!].
Hercules [Season 6, Episode 2]
Love, Amazon Style
Shown 9 Oct 99
Aphrodite casts a spell on Amazons to make them obey orders from men. Deimos [Joel Tobeck] enslaves them.
Hephaestus dumped Aphrodite, so she goes to the Mall!
Iolus tries to seduce an Amazon [frigid man-hater]. Salmoneus is in prison for tax fraud.
Diemos needs Amazons to get him the Kronos stone [so he makes fireballs that can break Hephaestus metal].
6- 3 16 Oct 99 Rebel With a Cause 6- 4 30 Oct 99 Darkness Visible 6- 5 6 Nov 99 Hercules, Tramps & Thieves 6- 6 13 Nov 99 City of the Dead 6- 7 20 Nov 99 A Wicked Good Time 6- 8 27 Nov 99 Full Circle
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