Locked Up and Tied Down
Story by Robert Tapert and Josh Becker
Teleplay by Hilary Bader
Directed by Rick Jacobson
Xena is banished to Shark Island Prison for all the crimes and murders she committed in her dark past.
Tropes
- The Alcatraz: Shark Island is most heavily guarded prison for women in the land.
- An Arm and a Leg: "You know, a wolf if caught in a trap will gnaw off its own leg just to get away. I was lucky. The crabs did it for me."
- Heroic BSoD: Xena starts out the episode contemplating her life and not liking the answer. Being brought to trial for the murder of Thalassa causes her to give up and resign herself to life in prison.
- Heroic Vow: After the truth comes out and being freed from prison, Xena openly doubts she'll ever forgive herself for her past.Xena: But I won't let that monster that I used to be, the one that's sleeping so close to my heart, destroy all the good I can do now.
- Irony:
- Thalassa lampshades how the one crime Xena went to prison for is something she didn't actually do.
- After Xena saves her during the climax, Thalassa laments the cruel irony of owing her life to the person who ruined it in the first place.
- Never Found the Body: Everyone assumed that Thalassa had died on the beach, being ripped apart by the crabs and whatever was left being washed out to sea. One witness even recalls seeing the water drenched in blood by the time they got back. However, she did survive, albeit losing an arm.
- Noodle Incident: Xena faced Ersina two years ago and is the reason she's in prison.
- Prison Episode: Xena goes to prison for one of her crimes, except she didn't actually do it. Gabrielle poses as a new healer to try to bust her out.
- The Reveal: Thalassa is both Not Quite Dead and running the prison.
- Shadow Archetype: Xena remarks that Thalassa was a lot like Gabrielle before she was left to die on that beach. Thalassa even remarks that Gabrielle reminds her of the person she used to be.
- Swarm of Rats: Xena is attacked by one while in the bottom of a pit. She manages to scare them away by killing many of them with her bare teeth.
