Hercules: The Legendary Journeys was never a serious show, which is why it was a little jarring during Season 4 when Hercules and Thor went up against Loki in a shockingly dark storyline that made it clear, no matter how many gods were punched, a greater evil was coming. To break up the grim darkness, the show came back from its midseason break with “For Those of You Just Joining Us,” which doubled as a clip show to bring fans up to speed, and a wacky adventure that broke the fourth wall.
Set in the present, the episode is about a work retreat to figure out plot lines for Season 5. It includes the show’s regular actors playing writers and producers. Kevin Sorbo as Kevin Sorbo and as Hercules. It’s a strange but delightful episode that hits everything wrong (the giant chicken) and right (it’s supposed to be a stupid show) about the wildly successful series.
“For Those of You Just Joining Us” starts with producer B.S. Hollinsfoffer (Robert Trebor, normally plays Salmoneus the shifty merchant) watching the giant chicken from “One Fowl Day,” which came after the multi-episode story arc involving Hercules turned into a pig (in reality, Kevin Sorbo got married and was on his Honeymoon). To say no one liked that episode would be an understatement. Hollinsfoffer’s solution is a retreat to Camp Wannachuck that includes Rob (Bruce Campbell), Jerry (Kevin Smith, not that one, the one who plays Ares), Paul (Michael Hurst, he’s Iolaus), Liz (Hudson Leick, she’s Callisto on Xena), and as the camp leader, the cheerful Sunny Day (Renee O’Connor in her one and only cross-over appearance that’s not as Xena’s sidekick Gabrielle).
From Sunny Day whistling the theme song to Xena to Paul suggesting they kill off Iolaus, “For Those of You Just Joining Us” is filled with winking nods to the actual production of the show, right down to the snarky response that they’ve already killed Iolaus twice. Kevin, constantly insisting he’s “just an actor,” ends up laying out the entire Gilgamesh arc for Season 5 to approving nods from the production staff. Even by the usual standards of Hercules, it’s over the top, but then it gets even better.
There’s a killer loose on the grounds of Camp Wannachuck, first attempting to poison everyone over dinner, and then locking them into a sauna. Both times, Kevin saves them by discreetly using his Herculean strength. Sunny Day reveals herself as the killer, but she’s been wearing a latex mask, and is really Hollinsfoffer, leading to the sight gag of Renee O’Connor’s tiny frame being replaced by Trebor’s much larger one with no explanation.
That’s when Ares appears, admits his part behind the plot, and tells Hollinsfoffer he’ll never work in this town again, because he’s always wanted to say that. It turned out to be true, as Robert Trebor never appeared as Salmoneus after the episode aired. The staff realizes quickly that if Ares, the actual God of War, is real, that must mean so is Hercules… and they all turn to look at Kevin.
To their credit, the team behind Hercules: The Legendary Journeys knew how to do a clip show, with the earlier “Yes Virginia, There is a Hercules” establishing the modern-day setting of the show within a show. “For Those of You Just Joining Us” did everything it set out to do by reminding fans how funny the show can be, serving as a breather between dark storylines, establishing Dahak as the biggest, baddest villain in the series, and getting fans caught up after the hiatus. It’s not the worst episode, that would be a toss-up between Season 4’s “One Fowl Day” and “Porkules,” but it’s the weakest of an otherwise incredible season.
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys remains a weird pop culture artifact of the ’90s, right up there with the need for everything to be “Xtreme” and why kids became obsessed with Marvel Universe trading cards. Today, it’s not as fondly remembered as Xena, having never hit the same creative highs as its own spinoff, but then again, it’s hard for anyone to compete with Lucy Lawless.
If you need to unwind for a few hours with a show that doesn’t take itself seriously, you can do worse than streaming Hercules on Amazon Prime Video.
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