In the first episode, The Warrior Princess, Lawless seems a bit new to this kung-fu stuff, but viewers are introduced to her devilish sneer, patented "Yi-yi-yi!" war cry, and that brilliant morph of Brazilian samba and Bulgarian women's choir soundtrack by Joe Lo Duca. The plot involves the evil Xena and her band of thugs driving a wedge between Hercules (Sorbo) and faithful sidekick Iolaus (Hurst). Of course this fails, and Xena, pissed as ever, swears vengeance. In The Gauntlet, Xena's nutcase lieutenant Darphus (Chamberlain) leads a mutiny after Xena saves a baby's life. She is forced out of the bad boy club in an un-initiation rite involving a giant spanking machine where her previous subordinates get a crack at kicking her ass. Lawless, stripped down to leather underwear, begins to truly shine here, cutting a swath through the emotional gamut. Xena survives and teams up with Hercules to stop the renegades. The final episode, Unchained Heart, unchains a few more things, including X & H's libidos as manifested in some previously un-U.S.-released sexy scenes. After Xena killed the mutinous brute Darphus in the last episode, he is brought back to life by Ares for the purpose of killing Hercules. Darphus is also given this dog/lizard thing that eats people and grows into a temple-sized monster with the help of some of the best special effects on TV. Darphus' undoing is the ultimate dog-bites-man tale. (Universal also has released the original four two-hour Hercules telefeatures, two of which not only served to launch the beefcake TV series, but also to introduce future Xena stars Reneé O'Connor and Lucy Lawless in non-Xena roles. These titles, along with the new movie, Young Hercules, edition will be reviewed in a future edition of "Scanlines.")