The Bitter Suite
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"The Bitter Suite" | |
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(Ares) | |
"The Bitter Suite" is the twelfth episode of the
The series focuses on
In the episode, Xena and Gabrielle are brought to the Land of Illusia, where they have to work together again, letting their past mutual grievances go, in order to escape alive. Throughout the episode Xena and Gabrielle deal with the problems that had recently torn them apart and learn to focus on the stronger bond that brought them together in the first place.
The episode started the trend of many non-musical, live-action TV shows doing at least one musical episode.
Acclaim
Noted for being a rare musical episode of the series, combining both humor and drama, "The Bitter Suite" was nominated for two Emmy Awards. Regular series composer Joseph LoDuca was nominated for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for the song "The Love of Your Love" and LoDuca and lyricist Dennis Spiegel were nominated in the same category for the song "Hearts Are Hurting."[1] It was LoDuca's second and third nominations for the series out of a total of seven nominations, and one award, through the six-year run of the series.
Plot
After Gabrielle's daughter
At the start of the episode, Xena attacks and attempts to kill Gabrielle, only to be thwarted at the last moment when both fall into the sea and are brought to the land of Illusia. Both of them awaken completely nude, and are guided and given new clothing by
The land of Illusia is never actually explained, though it is implied that it was created by a primordial divine force called 'Aleph', and by 'the fates'. The entire episode appears to be a deus ex machina to bring the two of them back together when nothing else could. Throughout the episode the two are forced to realize what drove them apart, and what is truly important to them. Ultimately realizing that the only thing separating the two of them is hate, and that they truly do love each other, and would sacrifice their own lives for each other.
Production
"We decided to use an orchestra and chorus for the episode. We also brought in a Broadway director/choreographer named Jeff Calhoun, I had a chance to work with some wonderful lyricists; all the things that wouldn't be part of an ordinary episode. There are seven main numbers, as many as you would find in a full-length musical. As you tend to find with any Xena episode, we cram that TV screen with music and images and special fx, and this episode is no different."
—Joseph LoDuca, series Soundtrack, about The Bitter Suite.[2]
"The Bitter Suite" was shot in November 1997, in
At the Panathenaea Convention in London, England, on September 2, 2000, Willa O'Neill mentioned that she did her own singing in "The Bitter Suite." She explained that she had to audition to Joseph LoDuca in Detroit by telephone. When they recorded the songs, the singing was done in a sound studio in New Zealand, but the actual taping was done in Detroit. After taping it, they then played it back while filming the episode. She found it weird to hear her voice singing during the filming.
Tarot card references
The costumes and scenes in "The Bitter Suite" are based upon
Callisto was
Most of the tarot-based costumes are based upon those depicted in the BOTA tarot deck, with the exceptions being Lila's hierophant costume (loosely based upon that of the Rider–Waite tarot deck), Gabrielle's world costume (based upon the universe card of the Golden Dawn tarot deck, which is the equivalent of the world card), and Ares's emperor costume. Ares's emperor costume combines traits from Roman emperors' outfits and the king of wands from the swiss 1JJ tarot deck. Xena's skirt from her 'chariot' costume is taken from the queen of wands from the swiss 1JJ tarot deck, and the other parts of her chariot costume incorporate aspects of Roman legionaries' uniforms. The orange-and-green and orange-yellow-and-green costumes of the people of the village of peace are based upon the clothing depicted in the suit of wands of the Rider–Waite tarot deck.
The black-and-white checkered floor that is shown when Xena is in her BOTA high priestess card costume is taken from the justice card of the Golden Dawn tarot deck. That Golden Dawn justice card is related to the BOTA high priestess card because both cards incorporate the two
Book of Tokens references
In
A line in the heh/emperor chapter of The Book of Tokens is: "thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen", and in The Bitter Suite, Emperor Ares initially has his throne turned around backwards for a while, so that only the back of his throne can be seen, and he himself can not be seen. A line in the daleth/empress chapter of The Book of Tokens is: "therefore is the door a cause of separation, and of the setting of one part against another", and in The Bitter Suite, during the time when Gabrielle is wearing her BOTA tarot empress costume, a mere door separates the village of peace from the lair of warriors, from which Gabrielle and Xena are set against each other. In the zain chapter of The Book of Tokens, the phrase "the path of the sword" is used twice, and in one of those usages, the larger passage is: "the airy spirit of the path of the sword; and this airy spirit is the breath of my angel". In The Bitter Suite, Xena's warriors form a sword-ridden path for her to walk through as she moves toward the door to Gabrielle, and as Xena begins walking through that path, airy vocals begin, and those airy vocals end shortly after Xena finishes walking through the path.
In The Book of Tokens, the temperance card is associated with trial by fire and purification, and in The Bitter Suite's temperance card scene, the wall of falling water tries Gabrielle and Xena, and burns Xena at first because she still hates a dead enemy, but allows her to pass through after she loses that hate. The temperance card scene, which has burning water that falls into a river, which is beside an
Soundtrack
The Bitter Suite: A Musical Odyssey | |
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Varèse Sarabande |
A soundtrack containing the entire musical score of the episode was released by
All music is composed by Joseph LoDuca
No. | Title | Lyrics | Performer(s) | Length |
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1. | "The Sweat Hut/Slapped Out Of It/Xena's In Town" | 4:42 | ||
2. | "Horrible Drag/On The Edge/Song Of The Fool" | 5:09 | ||
3. | "What's Still Unwritten... (Song Of Illusia)/Little Ditties/Into The Chandra/Joxer The Mighty/Prepping Gabby" | Pamela Phillips Oland, Stephen L. Sears, Chris Manheim | Michelle Nicastro, Keith Black, Robert Bugar, Gia Warner, Ted Raimi | 5:17 |
4. | "War And Peace/Gab Is Stabbed" | Oland | Kevin Smith, Willa O'Neill, Black, Ron Coden, Judd Mather, Julie Moran, April Arabian Tini, Warner | 5:52 |
5. | "Melt Into Me/Let Go" | Oland | Smith | 2:28 |
6. | "Dead?/Hearts Are Hurting (Part 1)" | Dennis Spiegel | Lucy Lawless, Susan Wood | 2:35 |
7. | "The Deliverer" | 4:07 | ||
8. | "Hate Is the Star (Son Of The Torment)/Hearts Are Hurting (Part 2)" | Oland, Spiegel | Phil Marcus Esser, Lawless, Wood | 5:42 |
9. | "The Way Out/The Love Of Your Love/Passing Through" | Joseph LoDuca | Lawless | 7:10 |
Total length: | 43:02 |
References
- Variety Magazine, February 6, 1998
- ^ Joseph LoDuca, Xena: Warrior Princess composer, from the article "Bitter Suite: The Making of a Musical," Topps Official Xena Magazine #3, May 1998
- ^ Green, Michelle Erica. "Susan Wood: Singing for the Bard". LittleReview.com. Archived from the original on 2023-11-16. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
External links
- "The Bitter Suite" at IMDb