'Crusoe' Calls Out the Spirits

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer

Confession: Back in the day, I used to watch Xena: Warrior Princess (XWP).

Now, I wasn't the obsessed / go to the conventions / decorate my house / collect every piece of XWP memorabilia possible type (no disrespect to those XWP folks who were - I'm all for the seriously dedicated, fun-loving fandoms).

But, I did enjoy the show for mainly one reason: it was an escape.

You were taken on a little adventure each week, and it required no knowledge of forensic crime scene investigations or wanna-be medical student terminology.

Remember that?

Or am I just showing my age?

Anyhooooo, Crusoe is evoking all my warm and fuzzy memories from my XWP days. That is, the little adventures we go on each week are reminiscent of what made XWP fun to watch. You suspend a little bit of reality, get yourself into a different mindset that revolves around the action/adventure/fantasy realm, throw in some history and just have fun with it.

I dig that.

And this week was all about ex-or-sizing the demons.

And finding one very special wedding ring.

Friday takes it upon himself to take a dream (or nightmare, depending on what side you're on) rather seriously, aiming to set free the spirit of a woman who, by the looks of it, was sacrificed on the island many moons ago yet still wanders in a state of unrest. He and Crusoe go back and forth about who's vision of a higher power/life-after-death scenario is right: Crusoe's Christian principles, or Friday's tribal practices. And it wasn't in any sort of overly-preachy way, either. More like a civilized this is what I think / this is what you think / did you notice we kind of think the same things and just call it something different type of discussion

It was an interesting dilemma. Crusoe didn't really take Friday too seriously, and thus, was more concerned with getting their fresh water supply running again whilst Friday was intent on pointing out the reason their water supply suddenly wasn't available was because of the spirit. But if put to rest, all will be well and good, and rewards will follow.

As if to drive that point home to the disbelieving Crusoe, he almost loses his wedding ring in this process (suffice it to say it had with him trying to unclog the well from which our castaways get their fresh water, sticking his hand where he shouldn't and essentially kicking off the whole spiritual-water-lost-wedding-ring conundrum).

Can I just say I was obsessed for him to find that darn ring?

And he did.

Rewarded.

And did we mention they also get their fresh water back?

Double reward.

This week also showed us via the flashback sequences that poor ol' Crusoe was the unpopular choice of husband according to Susannah's father. And he kinda wasn't all that handy with making an income on his own, either.

But hey ... I love him anyway. Noble, honorable, good guy, handsome. So what if he wasn't the richest guy on the block. What about love, eh?

Argh, the 17th century.

(cue the Heart rock ballad)

New episodes of Crusoe air Fridays at 9 p.m. on NBC. Visit NBC's Official Crusoe Web site for the inside scoop on the series. The site is awfully cool - and that's not just the Pirates fangirl in me talking.