For all intents and purposes, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys had run its course by the end of season five. Even so, the producers wanted to generate a larger syndication package, thus the program was renewed for a sixth season -- consisting of a whole eight episodes. With Hercules' traveling companion Iolaus (Michael Hurst) having returned from the dead at the end of the previous season, there is no reason for Hercules (
Kevin Sorbo) not to persist in his mission to right wrongs and champion noble causes during his handful of remaining journeys. Again wandering far afield from his native Greece, the mighty muscleman finds himself in ancient Dacia (a.k.a. Transylvania) for a too-close encounter with the infamous Vlad the Impaler, and in Egypt, where Hercules saves Queen Nefertiti from an assassination attempt. Closer to home, Hercules attempts to aid King Oedipus of Crete to regain his throne from the usurping Creon and even prevents a holdup at the First Bank of Greece in Thracia. The climactic episode finds Hercules' immortal father, Zeus (formerly played by
Anthony Quinn and
Roy Dotrice, now enacted by Charles Keating), attempting to patch up his differences with his wife, Hera (
Meg Foster), whose jealousy toward Zeus's half-human son Herc served as motivation for the entire series. As had occurred in virtually every previous episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, the 111th and final installment ends with a humorous "disclaimer," assuring the viewers that nobody was really hurt -- not even gods, demigods, or monsters -- throughout the entire six-year run, though Ancient Mythology itself was given something of a beating! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide