Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Season 3: Difference between revisions

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Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Season 3 (view source)

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      |epnum = 301
      |epname = Mercenary
-     |epdate = 1996-10-12
+     |epdate = 1996-09-30
      |firstwatched = 2025-08-19
      |thoughts = Last season we had a Terminator episode, now half of this episode was essentially Tremors. It's kind of amazing what they can shoehorn into this setting.
@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
      |epnum = 302
      |epname = Doomsday
-     |epdate = 1996-10-19
+     |epdate = 1996-10-07
      |firstwatched = 2025-08-24
      |thoughts = This franchise playing loosey-goosey with time does allow them a lot of freedom to do whatever they want around old material. Adaptation of a specific myth? Sure. A followup story taking place the next year? That's what we've got here. Daedalus, in a bad place thanks to the death of Icarus, is designing weapons being used by a bad king. Including some... battle suits. If this were fifteen years later I'd say they were taking inspiration from Iron Man, but he wasn't very influential in the 90s. A viewer at the time might compare these "megoliths" to the lifting mech thingy Ripley uses in Aliens?
@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
      |epnum = 303
      |epname = Love Takes a Holiday
-     |epdate = 1996-10-26
+     |epdate = 1996-10-14
      |firstwatched = 2025-08-25
      |thoughts = Not just a Hercules-lite episode, but a Hercules-not-at-all episode. Just an Iolaus adventure beginning to end.
@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
      |epnum = 304
      |epname = Mummy Dearest
-     |epdate = 1996-11-02
+     |epdate = 1996-10-21
      |firstwatched = 2025-08-29
      |thoughts = They set it up with shots of things like the pyramids, so I was wondering just how far Hercules had traveled this time. But no, instead some Egyptians traveling close to him. And of course, Salmoneus there to get caught up in things by buying a cursed mummy for his House of Horrors.
@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
      |epnum = 305
      |epname = Not Fade Away
-     |epdate = 1996-11-09
+     |epdate = 1996-10-28
      |firstwatched = 2025-09-01
      |thoughts = Hercules sure finds a way to cheat death a lot for his friends. Except, y'know, his wife and kids. Didn't Iolaus end up "dead" when turned to stone by the she-demon too? He's becoming a regular guest down there.
@@ Line 61: / Line 61: @@
      |epnum = 306
      |epname = Monster Child in the Promised Land
-     |epdate = 1996-11-16
+     |epdate = 1996-11-04
      |firstwatched = 2025-09-06
      |thoughts = On the subject of wife and kids, Iolaus said "You know?  I have got a great life, but, uh--
@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
      |epnum = 307
      |epname = The Green-Eyed Monster
-     |epdate = 1996-11-23
+     |epdate = 1996-11-11
      |firstwatched = 2025-09-09
      |thoughts = Second role for [[Karl Urban]], following up being the bad son in a not-Abraham story over on Xena. Instead playing a big buff Cupid who turns into a cheap CG monster when he gets jealous.
@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
      |epnum = 308
      |epname = Prince Hercules
-     |epdate = 1996-11-30
+     |epdate = 1996-11-18
      |firstwatched = 2025-09-12
      |thoughts = The premise seemed a bit too easy on Hera's part. If she can so easily conk him and cause him to lose his memories, it only seems a marginal additional effort to like... kill him entirely by dropping something on him. Or knock him unconscious and bury him. Whatever.
@@ Line 92: / Line 92: @@
      |epnum = 309
      |epname = A Star to Guide Them
-     |epdate = 1996-12-21
+     |epdate = 1996-12-09
-     |firstwatched =
+     |firstwatched = 2025-09-16
-     |thoughts = }}
+     |thoughts = In the last Xena I watched I said the people at the end were Joseph/Mary/Jesus in all but name, and this pulls the same. Iolaus and a few other guys having mystical dreams from a high power and in the end are implied to be the wise men of legend visiting Jesus's birth.
+Early in the episode Iolaus is kind of down about only being seen as Hercules's sidekick and wondering when he himself will be seen as doing something important. Ignoring the past times he's done just that, this episode seems like it's supposed to answer that question... but I don't think I'd agree. God only had to send out three dreams, and since one of them was Iolaus he knew he'd get Hercules as part of the package. Maybe it would be a godly faux-pas to _directly_ call on a demigod son of Zeus for assistance.}}
 {{episodelist-info
      |epnum = 310
      |epname = The Lady and the Dragon
-     |epdate = 1997-01-25
+     |epdate = 1997-01-13
-     |firstwatched =
+     |firstwatched = 2025-09-22
-     |thoughts = }}
+     |thoughts = I don't know if I've put it down in words here before, but with as many brawls as they get into in this show I've wished there could be a bit more to them. It's a bit much to expect, but like if Jackie Chan was fight coordinator there'd be more interesting stuff going on in these repeated beats. And while this wasn't exactly Jackie Chan, I highly approve of the silly meat fight Iolaus gets into, including sausage links as nunchaku and meat getting sliced by weapons and landing on bread.
+I want to knock Iolaus for so swiftly falling for the ~widow of his friend, but in the end I guess she deserves much of the credit/blame, apparently having tricked several heroic men into dying in fights against a dragon.}}
 {{episodelist-info
      |epnum = 311
      |epname = Long Live the King
-     |epdate = 1997-02-01
+     |epdate = 1997-01-20
-     |firstwatched =
+     |firstwatched = 2025-09-27
-     |thoughts = }}
+     |thoughts = Another Hercules-lite episode, a direct sequel to the last one. Much the same as then, Iolaus makes for a pretty fun leading man. This time his identical cousin kicked the bucket, though, so is that the end of this particular sub-series?
+Subtitles made Orestes's death kind of amusing, in that it straight up said "[expires]".
+Goofy name of the episode: the doctor, Illegibus.}}
 {{episodelist-info
      |epnum = 312
      |epname = Surprise
-     |epdate = 1997-02-08
+     |epdate = 1997-01-27
-     |firstwatched =
+     |firstwatched = 2025-10-03
-     |thoughts = }}
+     |thoughts = Another ~crossover episode with Xena, without actually featuring the leads.
+Given the rules of how the world seems to work within this franchise, I think Callisto had one of the best threats I've seen. If Hercules intentionally sends her back to the underworld, she'll find his dead kids and make their afterlife hell.
+This episode is another case of "everything is extremely close". So there's a prominent labyrinth with a godly treasure aaaand it just happens to be within a few hours (at most) walking distance of Corinth where Hercules is meeting with his family and friends (and Falafel).}}
 {{episodelist-info
      |epnum = 313
      |epname = Encounter
-     |epdate = 1997-02-15
+     |epdate = 1997-02-03
-     |firstwatched =
+     |firstwatched = 2025-10-10
-     |thoughts = }}
+     |thoughts = YET AGAIN Hercules falls deeply in love with someone he's barely interacted with, then leaves immediately.
+Strife is an unusual god. I presume they'll be back.
+I sometimes joke about how many actors have multiple roles in this franchise, and especially that Hercules has half-brothers on both of his parents' sides played by the same actor... but Iphicles (seen last episode) and Ares (seen this episode) really do look quite different. Changing up the head hair and facial hair goes a long way.
+Speaking of actors in different roles, the woman Hercules fell in love with this episode is the same woman he fell in love with five episodes ago. Maybe Hercules just has a type.}}
 {{episodelist-info
      |epnum = 314
      |epname = When a Man Loves a Woman
-     |epdate = 1997-02-22
+     |epdate = 1997-02-10
-     |firstwatched =
+     |firstwatched = 2025-10-20
-     |thoughts = }}
+     |thoughts = OK, so surprisingly a direct continuation. At the end of the last episode it seemed Hercules was saying his goodbyes, but I guess by the beginning of this one he'd had second thoughts. So he actually decides to propose to her, and... Hercules's marital situation is really a big mess. His wife and kids died 2-3 years ago (if a season is a year), and he's been able to visit them on several occasions. So it feels more to me like they're just quarantined from each other for an indefinite period of time. Given that, how could Hercules be surprised how upset Deianeira was when he told her he wanted to get remarried?
+Surprisingly to me, the wedding actually went through, with the consequences of Hercules losing his powers and Serena no longer being a Hind (which really solved some of the potential problem she was worried about). Buuut I'm pretty sure he's not a weak married man for another three seasons, so I'm assuming something goes wrong in the near future.
+Separately... Joxer. I usually enjoy characters from one show going to the other, helping sell the idea of a shared universe, but he really didn't do anything in this episode so it felt like a waste.}}
 {{episodelist-info
      |epnum = 315
      |epname = Judgment Day
-     |epdate = 1997-03-02
+     |epdate = 1997-02-17
-     |firstwatched =
+     |firstwatched = 2025-12-09
-     |thoughts = }}
+     |thoughts = OK, so I wasn't expecting the change in the status quo to last long, but I was still pretty surprised that Hercules's new wife died before the episode was a quarter through. At first I thought it was just part of a dream, but nope.
+Zeus shows up near the end, and it's totally understandable why Hercules can't stand the guy anymore. Hercules is like "That's the second time you've let someone murder my family!" and Zeus is like "What, not even a thank you for your powers back?"
+After the first time Hercules's family was murdered it was hard to think he'd be able to form further long-term attachments, and boy that really must be burned for him now.
+A silly Hercules-power note, but I thought it was amusing how at the end he just places Serena's necklace on her grave and smacks it with his hand to embed it in the rock.
+This was another crossover episode with Xena and Gabrielle showing up, which I did not expect. But it worked well. Both a direct continuation of the last episode, and a continuation of the longer Xena story thread of Ares trying to get her to turn back to her old ways.}}
 {{episodelist-info
      |epnum = 316
      |epname = The Lost City
-     |epdate = 1997-03-08
+     |epdate = 1997-02-24
-     |firstwatched =
+     |firstwatched = 2025-12-22
-     |thoughts = }}
+     |thoughts = Another no-Hercules-at-all episode. From a series story standpoint, this makes enough sense. Hercules did just lose his wife (AGAIN), so giving him an episode off to grieve before throwing him back into another adventure of the week seems fair enough. Looking at the wiki, though, I see it was originally written as an episode for Hercules and not Iolaus so... just worked out that way, I guess.
+After watching this episode, it struck me that it's just as old now as the 60s hippy tropes were at the time of this episode's creation.}}
 {{episodelist-info
      |epnum = 317
      |epname = Les Contemptibles
-     |epdate = 1997-04-19
+     |epdate = 1997-04-07
-     |firstwatched =
+     |firstwatched = 2026-04-02
-     |thoughts = }}
+     |thoughts = Man, this franchise is weird. You don't go into an episode of Hercules expecting 1789 France.
+So it was a clip show... but this franchise does clip shows weird, too. Generally they're the type of thing you do to produce a cheap episode, but in this case the framing story is full of entirely atypical locations, costumes, props, which must've cost a pretty penny.
+The intentionally exaggerated bad French accents were quite amusing.}}
 {{episodelist-info
      |epnum = 318
      |epname = Reign of Terror
-     |epdate = 1997-04-26
+     |epdate = 1997-04-14
-     |firstwatched =
+     |firstwatched = 2026-04-07
-     |thoughts = }}
+     |thoughts = That crazy king is why the kingdom needs a 25th amendment.}}
 {{episodelist-info
      |epnum = 319
      |epname = The End of the Beginning
-     |epdate = 1997-05-03
+     |epdate = 1997-04-21
-     |firstwatched =
+     |firstwatched = 2026-04-24
-     |thoughts = }}
+     |thoughts = Time travel isn't exactly what I expected from Hercules, but done well enough. Though I don't buy that Hercules and Autolycus so easily start throwing around terms like timeline and paradox appropriately.
+Feels very strange that the time travel return of Hercules's second dead wife (though... now not ever wife at all) from just a handful of episodes earlier, doesn't even have the same actress.
+Double Bruce Campbell done well for the budget, and even directly references some similar shenanigans from [[Army of Darkness]].
+So the episode tried to make the time travel as un-messy as possible. The events of this episode make a changed past, but nobody from the past remembers Hercules or Autolycus being there. But I still wonder how much this changes. Like, as things originally went Serena saved some people's lives with powers she now no longer has. But perhaps in the altered timeline, they no longer needed saving.}}
 {{episodelist-info
      |epnum = 320
      |epname = War Bride
-     |epdate = 1997-05-10
+     |epdate = 1997-04-28
-     |firstwatched =
+     |firstwatched = 2026-05-04
-     |thoughts = }}
+     |thoughts = I felt lucky I watched this episode away from home. They said the character name Alexa about a hundred times.}}
 {{episodelist-info
      |epnum = 321
      |epname = A Rock and a Hard Place
-     |epdate = 1997-05-17
+     |epdate = 1997-05-05
-     |firstwatched =
+     |firstwatched = 2026-06-18
-     |thoughts = }}
+     |thoughts = Not a fun episode, but again shows Hercules's goodness. Even with a possible murderer, he tries to give him some dignity as he's dying. Versus the townspeople who are celebrating and making a party out of it.}}
 {{episodelist-info
      |end = 1
      |epnum = 322
      |epname = Atlantis
-     |epdate = 1997-05-24
+     |epdate = 1997-05-12
      |firstwatched =
      |thoughts = }}
@@ Line 178: / Line 220: @@
 [[Category:Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Seasons]]
+[[Category:1996 Television Seasons]]
+[[Category:1997 Television Seasons]]