Full of broad comedy and returning to the theme of our heroes being penniless, we saw a hungry Jason so desperate that he was prepared to steal stale bread meant for pigs. Running from a stall owner, he hid in a shine and found some meat he could not resist helping himself to. It was clearly a dumb move but a combination of his desperation and naivety meant we just about found it plausible.
Meanwhile Hercules was drunk and dejected over their failure to cure Medusa and, while trying to be supportive, it was frustrating Pythagoras no end. Abandoning him in the tavern, he returned to discover a guilty looking Jason slowly taking on animalistic characteristics, before turning into a werewolf overnight!
Once Pythagoras realised Jason’s folly, taking meat from a shrine to the Goddess of Witchcraft, he began searching for a cure and left Hercules on guard. The big man’s best solution was to knock Jason unconscious and trap him in the smuggler’s hole, under the dining table.
The cure, once discovered, necessitated an amount of silver and this saw the boys reach out to Ariadne for help. As she snuck out of the palace, there was an interchange with a new maidservant Ione (Lou Broadbent) whose loyalties remained unclear, one to watch perhaps?
The conclusion of the tale felt a little rushed, with Ariadne making a sharp exit and the guards stomping off into the night before the priest of Hecate leapt out from behind a pillar. It might have been nicer to see Ariadne having to avoid a patrol in order to get back into the palace; like the castle from a certain other fantasy series, it does seem remarkably simple to sneak in and out of the palace of Atlantis.
As well as reigniting Jason and Ariadne’s mutual attraction, we also saw her spurned beau Heptarian. On this occasion, he was far from villainous and attempted to protect the city from attack. A fleeting scene with the ailing King Minos and his duplicitous Queen was enough to reintroduce her long-term poisoning scheme, ready for next time where we imagine it may bear fruit.
The best thing about this episode was the room made for the amiable double-act of Pythagoras and Hercules, with some great one-liners. While there was a fair amount of running, some well-placed modesty chickens and amusing Scooby-Doo style antics, the younger man got to both lead the action and save the day – as well as finding the time to fathom the concept of a clock when waiting for sunrise too!
Aired at 8.20pm on Saturday 14 December 2013 on BBC One.
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