Xena: Warrior Princess "Been There, Done That" #3.2 (1997) (TV)

"I'll rise but I refuse to shine!", 24 March 2006

"Been There, Done That" is the Xena take on the movie Groundhog Day. Unbeknownst to her companions, Gabrielle and Joxer, Xena is reliving the same day over and over until she manages to get things right. In this case, getting things right includes stopping the local townspeople from killing Gabrielle and/or Joxer who just happen to be caught in the middle of a feud between competing families. To accomplish this, Xena must discover the root cause of the feud and intervene before things get out of hand. As with Groundhog Day, the repeating day concept presents several opportunities for humor and, fortunately, the Xena writers didn't miss any of them. The funniest bit for me was waiting to see how Xena would handle Gabrielle and Joxer each morning to keep them safe and out of trouble. The sight of the pair bound and gagged with looks of outright astonishment on their faces is laugh-out-loud funny.

The entire episode is very nicely done. I may have missed "Been There, Done That" when the series first aired, but it has now become one of my all-time favorite Xena episodes. Good stuff!

8/10