• A LOST LOVE--
  (Hercules kisses Morrigan.)
  A TORTURED SOUL.
  (Havisha screams.)
  FATE HAS BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER--
  (Havisha throws a dagger, and it hits Morrigan in the shoulder.)
  AND VENGEANCE--
  Hercules: Morrigan!
  COULD TEAR THEM APART.
  (Hercules fights Havisha.)
  AN ALL NEW HERCULES!
• ON AN ALL NEW HERCULES--
  A LOST LOVE FROM A BETTER TIME--
  (Hercules kisses Morrigan.)
  A TORTURED SOUL FROM ANOTHER WORLD.
  (Havisha screams.)
  (Havisha rises up out of a grave.)
  Havisha: Why am I alive?!
  FATE HAS BROUGHT THEM TOGETHER--
  Havisha: This isn't your fight, stranger.
  Hercules: It is now.
  (Havisha throws a dagger, and it hits Morrigan in the shoulder.)
  AND VENGEANCE--
  Hercules: Morrigan!
  COULD TEAR THEM APART.
  Hercules (to Havisha): Stop!
  (Havisha swings a sword at Hercules.)
  Havisha: Prepare to meet your fate.
  AN ALL NEW--
  (Havisha pulls a dagger on Hercules.)
  (Hercules throws Havisha.)
  HERCULES!

Thank you to TPTB for a strong, serious episode to make up for last week's piece of junk. This is primarily a flashback episode again, with something weird added: the characters in the flashbacks are black and white. What's with this? Budget ran out for colored flashback characters? Anyway, Hercules deals with an undead woman named Havisha, who's out for revenge. This is the secondary storyline. The real story is what happened between Hercules and Morrigan a while ago that has Hercules giving Morrigan the cold shoulder now.

Hercules: Whoa! What happened between Hercules and Morrigan now? Hercules seems to hate her guts. We need several flashback sequences, so we'll use the storyline of the Oracle of Cyprus in danger of dying, let Hercules and Morrigan travel together, and they can talk it out. But really, in the beginning, Hercules has clearly lost all love he had for Morrigan. He can barely tolerate the sight of her. Yet Morrigan's reason (which I'll explain just below this character) convinces him to forgive her. And yet again, Hercules plays the role of Aegina (whom I discussed in the "Sky High" commentary) to Havisha, trying to convince her that murduring innocents would not honor her lover, Drayus. And before Havisha dies again, Hercules succeeds once more. Line of the episode: (Jason is bragging about his ability at darts.) Hercules: "I always try to spare you, Jason. Then you have to go and do something like that. I'm left with no choice but to..." (Hercules throws a dart behind his back, and it hits a bullseye.) "...defend myself."

Morrigan: Morrigan still clearly loves Hercules, and wishes Hercules would love her. We learn that Hercules hates her because she asked him to marry her, and the night before their wedding she left for Eire, leaving only a cryptic note behind. Hercules finally listens to her, and Morrigan explains that she left because she never thought that Hercules might need Greece. I don't know why, but it resolves their differences, and the two part ways. And I'm left hoping that they'll join up together again.

Jason: We haven't seen the brash, arrogant side of Jason since Alcmene died in "Twilight". He boasts that he's the master at darts, and when Hercules refuses to compete, Jason calles him a chicken. Of course, Jason is humiliated and tought a lesson: never tease the strongest man in the world. Hercules should thank Jason, though. Jason convinced Hercules to take Morrigan along to Cyprus instead of him, and it gave Hercules and Morrigan the chance to work out their issues.

Havisha: At the end of the episode, I was thinking of one word to describe her: Darphus. Darphus ("The Gauntlet", "Unchained Heart") acted similarily like her, especially after an emissary of Ares rose him from the dead after Xena killed him. Revenge is what brought her soul back from the dead, and she has it. She killed the last two thugs responsible for her death and the death of her lover by covering them with wine and setting them on fire. That Darphus-like action could have earned Havisha a TV-14 rating for herself. However, Havisha finally realizes that killing the Oracle (who saw Havisha's and her lover's death, but never told Havisha) isn't honorable to her or her lover. Thus, when her lover appears to take her back, Havisha goes willingly.