Devi (episode)

Xena and Gabrielle travel to exotic India, where Xena helps rescue a beleagured magician named Eli, and Gabrielle discovers that she may have the power to heal. But that ability may come from a sinister source, and Xena is suspicious of the power's source.

Summary
Xena and Gabrielle are amazed by the sights they see performed at a street bazaar in India: fakirs lying on a bed of nails and people walking across hot coals. It's all fun and games until someone loses her soul. In the midst of a magician's routine, his assistant Maya is suddenly inhabited by an evil spirit. Xena fights the powerful demon. The possessed girl collides into the magician and as Gabrielle pulls the girl off to help him, the spirit is cast out.

Gabrielle is heralded as a devi, a healing deity, while Vikram, the village priest, accuses Eli, the magician, of bringing demons with him. As Gabrielle tries to calm the crowd, Xena helps Eli escape.

Xena hides Eli in the temple, figuring that it's the last place Vikram will look. She learns that when Eli was young, he once spontaneously cast a demon out of a man, and has been searching the world ever since to learn how he did it and rediscover this power. He is curious about Gabrielle, but Xena assures him that Gabrielle is no devi. Meanwhile, Gabrielle, surrounded by an adoring crowd, somehow gives a man back his sight.

When Xena returns, she finds Gabrielle with followers and bodyguards. Gabrielle believes a good spirit has given her the power to heal, but Xena is skeptical about where this power comes from.

Xena returns to the temple to find Vikram dead. Signs point to Eli, who swears he was out looking for food when it happened. Eli and Xena are attacked by feral dogs, whom Eli believes to be Gabrielle's bodyguards transformed by evil magic. He gathers holy water from the Ganges for protection.

When Eli is attacked by Gabrielle's head bodyguard, Xena makes Eli squirt him with holy water. The water burns and destroys the demon. Xena, knowing that the water can only hurt spirits when it is handled by a priest, tells Eli that he is actually the devi. He cast the demon out of his assistant -- and right into Gabrielle. Eli refuses to believe that he has this power, and Xena is forced to try to exorcise Gabrielle alone.

Xena fights the possessed Gabrielle, and just when Xena has no choice but to kill her friend, Eli returns. Xena puts the pinch on Gabrielle to give him time to cast out the spirit. Gabrielle is saved and thanks Eli as he goes off to learn how to use the power he's sought for so long.

Disclaimer
In memory of Women's Best Friend:

Background Information

 * This is Timothy Omundson's (Eli) first appearance on the series.
 * This episode was written in part to allow Gabrielle to explore her long cherished ambition of being a healer.
 * Joseph LoDuca was nominated for the 1999 Emmy Award for "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)" for this episode.
 * Apparently, finding out that her instructor had evil motives in the previous episode hasn't deterred Gabrielle from expressing continued enthusiasm in practising yoga.
 * While the lick by Tartaka was in the script it was decided on the set to make the lick cause an acid burn on Xena's face. Renee thought the gag was hilarious, but said later that she didn't enjoy it as much as she thought because Lucy's make-up tasted awful.
 * Writer Chris Manheim went through several names for this episode before settling on "Devi", including "Smoke and Mirrors", "Kashatria", and "Devata".
 * Missing Scene: Originally when Eli is running through the forest, he notices a bird (like a crow) looking at him. He turns and finds himself facing a tree where the bird has it's nest in a knothole and it's collecting shiny objects - one of which is a bit of mirror and he sees his own reflection and realizes he's running from himself, not Xena.

Guest Stars
Timothy Omundson as Eli Monroe Reimers as Vikram Mukhtar Ali as Ravi Kamahl Santamaria as Hypnotized Man Alex Reekers as Maya Ajay Sharma as Villager # 1 Sant Ram as Bodyguard #1 Sreejith Soman as Villager #2

Ron Lal as Bodyguard #2