| "When a Man Loves a Woman" | |||
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| Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 314 |
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| Directed by | Charlie Haskell | ||
| Written by | Gene O'Neill Noreen Tobin |
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| Original air date | 10 February 1997 | ||
| Guest stars | |||
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Sam Jenkins (Serena/Hind) |
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| Episode chronology | |||
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"When a Man Loves a Woman" is the 14th episode of the third season of the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
Contents |
Hercules asks Serena to marry him. But Ares is still manipulating the situation and, determined to destroy the pair's relationship, makes Hercules a deal - Serena's hand in return for Hercules giving up his godly powers.
Iolaus is collecting water from a well when some soldiers come up, discussing the Golden Hind. Recognizing Iolaus as the one that had been shot by the Hind, then helped Hercules defeat them in the previous episode, they start a fight. Hercules shows up, and the two quickly dispatch all of the soldiers. Iolaus is ready to get back on the road, but Hercules wants to stay around a bit, ostensibly to help the Hind, but as Iolaus figures out, also for the Hind's human form, Serena.
At the temple, Ares and Strife discuss what is happening with the Hind and Hercules. Thinking she belongs to him because he saved her from destruction by Zeus, Ares is of course angry to see her with his hated half-brother. Strife is anxious to do something about it, but Ares tells him just to keep watch on the couple. In the forest, Hercules finds the Hind practicing archery. She almost shoots him by accident, but he catches her arrow, chalking it up to her training by Ares. After she turns into her human form, Hercules professes his love, and asks her to marry him, presenting a necklace for her. She begins to say "no", saying she belongs to Ares, but Hercules wants her to go to him and get him to release her.
In the village, Iolaus is helping the villagers build a cistern. Joxer, the companion of Xena and Gabrielle arrives, saying he tires of Xena and wishes to find Hercules. Iolaus is preoccupied with the cistern, and ignores Joxer as he works.
Serena, as the Hind, goes to Ares and asks for her freedom to be with Hercules. He contains his displeasure, and hopes she will stay with him. She presses him further, and he agrees to give her some "leeway", saying she will tire of his boring half-brother. As she goes, Strife questions Ares' actions, but he seems to have a plan.
In the village, Iolaus is still trying to raise the cistern, with little help from Joxer. Hercules comes along and easily raises the barrel so it can be tied off. Serena soon enters the village, and takes in the sight of the market activities and children playing. Hercules comes over to greet her, and she tells him she accepts his proposal. Before he can be too happy, the ropes holding the cistern break, and a man nearby is pulled up by a rope around his neck. Hercules runs over to help, holding up the cistern as the men get a ladder to reach the hanging man. As the crowd gathers Joxer, trying to look impressive, eases the crowd back, and accidentally touches Serena, transforming her into the Golden Hind in front of everyone. The crowd quickly turns on her, led by a bearded old man. Hercules is caught trying to save the hanging man, and barely gets to her in time. Flanked by Hercules, Iolaus, and Joxer, they get Serena to safety. Later, Hercules explains the Hind/Serena situation to Iolaus, who wants to be at their wedding, but says he must go for now. During this conversation, he remembers his first wife, Deianeira, and goes to the other side to ask her permission to remarry.
Traveling with Serena, Hercules reassures her that he will return soon, and gets wisked to the other side by Hades. He soon finds his family, even his dog, but before he can explain much, his son Klonus runs up and says someone took his brother Aeson. Finding him in Tartarus, Hercules is dismayed to see his son angry that his father is remarrying. When Aeson mentions Serena by name though, Hercules sees through the disguise, and Strife is revealed, taunting him. Hercules releases the real Aeson, and rejoins his family, including daughter Ilea. The reunion is not happy for long, as Deineira is distraught over her husband's pending marriage. She asks him not to come back to the other side anymore, and Hercules leaves, saying he will always love her. As he leaves, she says the same. He emerges just in time, as Ares had been making one last attempt to turn Serena back to him. Angry over Strife's deception in Tartarus, Hercules goes to Ares to settle things.
At the temple, Hercules confronts Ares. The god of war proves to be clever though, and points out that a union between an all-powerful half-god, and a woman whose blood can kill gods, would be too much for the other Olympians to handle. To allow the marriage to occur, they demand Hercules give up his strength. Making the ultimate sacrifice for love, Hercules gives up his strength to Ares in a bright light, becoming a normal man. Later on, Ares tells Serena the same thing, that she must give up her life as the Golden Hind, last of her kind. She agrees, and she runs away in human form.
Meanwhile, Joxer is trying to convince Iolaus to be his sidekick, and attempting to impress him with his form, cuts the ropes holding the cistern. Hercules runs up, put without his strength, proves unable to lift the barrel without help. Iolaus, unsure what to think about the strength for love trade, goes on to Thessala, leaving Hercules behind.
Serena and Hercules go to a lakeside to be wed. As they begin to recite their vows, Iolaus arrives to bear witness and be the best man. A vision of Deineira and Hercules' children appears in the sky and they drop flower petals onto the scene as the married couple smiles on.
This is Joxer's (Ted Raimi) first appearance in "Hercules", and he only makes one other, in the fourth season episode "Stranger in a Strange World." The music that accompanies Joxer's appearances during his turn as a "Xena" regular, first heard in the episode of that series "For Him the Bell Tolls," is actually heard in this episode, which aired the week before.
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