Within the palace, King Minos health was fading fast as a result of Pasiphae’s long term poisoning. On his deathbed, Alexander Siddig acted his heart out as the ailing monarch. In all honesty, it has not been much of a role for Siddig and we hope he has been well rewarded for his efforts.
Minos’ last and somewhat ludicrous wish is that Pasiphae and Ariadne look after each other. Such thoughts are clearly on the top of the Queen’s list; Pasiphae is readying herself for the moment where, if unobstructed, the throne will pass to her stepdaughter.
After a little pricking of Jason’s conscience the heroes entered the palace concealed in wine barrels. Pythagoras’ concoction of a seaweed chloroform enabled them to render the guards unconscious and, despite the murderous nature of the mission, everything remained remarkably light-hearted with Hercules stuck in a barrel and Pythagoras left hanging on the shoulders of a palace guard.
Jason’s inevitable failure to do the deed when standing over a sleeping Queen allowed the story to change gear. Shot by an archer and hiding out with Ariadne overnight, we were treated to some intimate moments between the two that both feel as if they have been a long time coming and, at the same time, remind us of how little the pair actually know each other.
Ending with a promise and a kiss, Jason departed and the princess condemned herself by trusting her devious new maidservant Ione. Given Ariadne clearly knew the Queen had orchestrated the death of the girl’s immediate predecessor, it’s a wonder she was so trusting!
While Jason’s mind focussed on the matter in hand, Hercules remained very flippant throughout as though events with Medusa had not happened at all. While some of the writers have managed to scratch the service of the man, this week he was sadly back to his boorish old persona full of latrine gags and talk of carpenter’s daughters.
Returning to face Circe, her story was shut down remarkably fast as despite formidable magical abilities, Jason was able to simply outwit her and strike her down. With the skeletons summoned as her dying act failing to withstand much more than a light battering from our heroes it all felt a bit perfunctory.
Of course, the hook bringing us back next time is Ariadne’s fate as she was condemned as a traitor in front of the court. It is always difficult to fairly judge the first part of a two-parter, as elements towards the tale’s overall resolution are often laid in plain sight. This time however, we boggle to think what those might be, other than Minos’ reference to his enemies?
Roll on the finale!
Aired at 7.55pm on Saturday 21 December 2013 on BBC One.
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