Been There, Done That

"No, no, yes, no. I tried that. Yes, both ways. No, I don't know. No, again. Are there any more questions? Good."

- Xena When Xena is the only person who realises that the day is repeating itself, it is up to her to work out what it is that is causing it.

Summary
It's dawn in the stables. The rooster crows. Argo eats an apple. Joxer walks into the stable carrying a helmet full of goose eggs and gets bonked on the head by a horseshoe. The stable boy peeks down below, hoping he hasn't hit anything. And Gabrielle is annoyed with Joxer. This same scenario is played out each morning. Same plot, same characters and the same dialogue. Xena needs to find a way out.

Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer head into the town square the first day, where they witness a confrontation between two feuding families: the House of Menos and the House of Lycost. When Joxer gets in the middle of the fight, he is stabbed and dies. Later that afternoon, Gabrielle mourns at his funeral.

It's dawn again the following day at the stables and when Xena wakes up, she hears a familiar voice -- it's Joxer. He's alive. Gabrielle and Joxer have no memory of the previous day, but Xena remembers it all. She begins each successive morning with a knowledge of events which have already transpired and runs all over town saving people from dying because she knows their fate. Argo even gets killed by an angry mob, but when Xena wakes up the next morning, Argo is still alive. Xena realizes that if the day is repeating itself, then the town has a lesson to learn. Perhaps she can save the feuding families from a bloodbath and break the cycle.

Ultimately, Xena learns that beautiful young Hermia has drunk the stolen poison, sure she will never be allowed to marry her beloved Neron. Akin to the Romeo and Juliet tragedy, the young lovers are certain that the hatred between their respective Houses will keep them apart forever. Neron tells Xena that Cupid has answered his pleas for help by causing the day Hermia drank the poison to be repeated over and over again until a hero can be found to fix everything. Neron thought Cupid meant Hercules or Sinbad, but it turns out Xena is the hero. As the events of the fateful day unfold once again, Xena is able to knock the poison from Hermia's grasp in a stunning long distance maneuver with her chakram.

Xena is also able to finally bring the town feud to an end. She learns from the midwife that Lady Menos actually saved the lives of Lady Lycost and her baby following childbirth. After hearing this story, Lord Menos and Lord Lycost decide to make peace and they agree to the marriage of Hermia and Neron. Xena is pleased to wake up the next morning to a brand new day.

Disclaimer
"The rooster was not harmed during the production of this motion picture, although his feathers were severely ruffled. However, a little gel and mousse straightened out the mess."

Behind the Scenens

 * This episode was one of seventeen that fans selected to be featured on the Xena: Warrior Princess: 10th Anniversary Collection, and is subsequently considered one of the greatest episodes in history.
 * At one point, it is said, "Well, frankly, I-I was expecting Hercules or at least Sinbad..."; The Adventures of Sinbad was a short-lived syndicated series that competed with and.
 * When Lucy Lawless was told that producer Liz Friedman was gay she said, "If I`d only known! She`s the first woman I`ve worshiped! I`d crawl 40 miles through broken glass just to wank off in her shadow!"; This was paraphrased in a line about Joxer in this episode as an in-joke.
 * Lucy Lawless ad-libbed several lines and gestures in the episode that were added in the final cut. These include the line Xena said about Joxer willing to crawl 50 miles in broken glass for Gabrielle, the line of Joxer asking Xena "Is that a hickey?", as well as Xena sucking her thumb when laying back down after killing Joxer and placing the turnips questionably in front of Gabrielle at the end.
 * In an interview, Lucy Lawless stated that she had to keep very accurate notes with this episode because they shot it out of sequence. She stated that she had a large list she would make each day about what her character knew at the time so she could act properly.
 * This episode's script number is 224. As well as the previous episode, it was also filmed during series two, and was originally intended to air in that series. However the TPTB wouldn't let the producers have 24 episodes, and so they became the first two episodes of this series.

Goofs

 * Many fans falsely claim that this episode has the lengthliest chakram flight; it is surpassed by the the throw at the end of "Coming Home."

Trivia

 * Joxer questions Xena's scar on her breast (asking her if it's a hickey). This is a real scar on Lucy Lawless, and so the writers included a reason for the scar in "A Friend in Need I," depicting Xena in a fight with a fierce samurai, who pushes her into a spiked wall.
 * This episode mirrors events similar to the 1993 film Groundhog Day, in which the day also repeats itself.

Guest Stars

 * Ted Raimi as Joxer

People

 * Xena
 * Gabrielle
 * Joxer
 * Argo
 * Hercules (Mentioned)
 * Sinbad (Mentioned)
 * Bacchae (Mentioned)

Gods

 * The Furies (Mentioned)
 * Ares (Mentioned)

Places

 * Greece