Logline:
After escaping from Hades, Caesar takes control of the Fates' “Loom of Life,” which he uses to splice the past with a new future---a future in which Xena becomes his wife and Brutus remains his loyal aide. In the rearranged world, Gabrielle is a playwright for whom Xena feels an intense attraction. Sensing their bond, Caesar charges Gabrielle with being an assassin, and orders that she be crucified. Xena: Lucy Lawless. Gabrielle: Renee O'Connor.

Guest Cast:
Julius Caesar ... Karl Urban
Alti ... Claire Stansfield
Guard ... Ted Raimi
Brutus ... David Franklin
Clotho ... Leah Mizarhi
Atropos ... Elizabeth Pendergast
Lachesis ... Chloe Jordan

Production Information:
Written by: Katherine Fugate
Directed by: John Fawcett
Edited by: Rob Field

Ratings Information:
Nielson Rating: 2.9
My Rating: 2.5/5

My Comments:

The "what if" angle was good, but the soulmates and Alti plot devices are old

This episode was hailed as the single greatest episode ever wrote or filmed. It had Caesar in it and usually anything with Caesar is worth watching. But Alti? In my opinion is that she's an over used villian who stayed one too many episodes. Now, don't get me wrong. Claire Stansfield was and is Alti, she plays the villian well. However, after "Between the Lines", Alti just got "boring" because you know that whenver she shows up, you know what her plan is. It's unoriginal and boring.

I think the biggest problem with this this episode is that assumes that people care about the soulmates thing. The hardcore fans get it and know it. The occassional fans could probably care less about it. So I don't know what they're trying to do with the episode. It had the 'rub it in your face' they're soulmates, so deal with it. I don't know think that was the purprose. You always knew that Xena and Gabrielle would find each other in the end. Predictable.

The "what-if" angle was good and the episode had potential. But it was trite with the soulmates angle. It's a non-issue. Either you can accept the fact they're soulmates, if you don't then you never probably will.

And if you know they're soulmates, you don't need it drilled in that they are in every other episode. So much wasted potential. But overall, it was a decent episode that just fell apart.