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scifi_rewatch“Xena” is a world that plays by its own rules. Ancient Greeks wear wildly colorful outfits and speak in vernacular. Martial arts fighting on top of peoples’ heads is the norm. The beautiful, New Zealand landscape flies by as filler between scenes. The soundtrack is haunting and distinctively Eastern. Most of the lyrics, and the bagpipes, I believe, are Bulgarian.
In the first episode, a lot of things seem too easy. The fighting has some of the same slapstick elements as does some of the dialogue. Besides for tame, cable-appropriate deaths, no one seems to get that hurt.
Moreover, I find it difficult (in just one episode, I mean,) to feel for Xena and Gabrielle. I know that Xena feels haunted by her past (I don’t even think the producers know in 1995 just how varied that past would become.) I know that Gabrielle is chafing against her restrictive villager's life. But we don’t actually see much of that, so the emotional connection isn’t there. Yet one might say that “Xena,” at least, doesn’t dwell on the angst. And though emotional links may need to be built up with time, the witty dialogue and amusing fight scenes keep me invested in the characters. I have to say…I wonder if Renee O’Connor was as tired by the end of the shooting day as Lucy Lawless, because boy does that babbling bard have a mouth on her. :P
In the beginning, I guess sometime soon after The Xena Trilogy on “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” Xena rides through landscape with a haunted look on her face. She remembers taking part in many battles, and men crying out her name triumphantly amidst destruction.
In the present, there is only stillness. A straggling boy comes out of a solitary house and asks for food. He says that “Xena” killed his parents, describing her as “throwing thunderbolts and breathing fire.” Xena tosses him some food and rides away. When she’s alone she buries all of her armor, a symbolic sign of leaving that life behind.
But she doesn’t get too far before some warrior thugs herd villagers into the clearing. Xena hides as the main thug tells them to give up their girls or they all die. A brash blonde named Gabrielle darts out of the crowd and demands “Take me…let the others go.” She’s about to get whipped for her insolence before Xena steps out, and our first martial arts scene begins.
Standard “Xena” stuff here…spinning around on a pole in the ground, kicking a knife into a man’s chest. :P At one point, Xena throws a staff at a thug going for Gabrielle, and our stars lock eyes before Gabby knocks the goon out. :P We see the chakram in action for the first time, severing staffs and swords alike once Xena digs it up and throws it.
When most of the goons lie dead or wounded on the ground, Xena approaches the head thug and toys with the blue sash on his neck. “You’re with Draco,” she sneers. “Tell him Xena says hello.”
Who’s Xena? The opening sequence tells you! There’s a voiceover that says the ancient times cried out for a hero, and Xena was there to answer that cry. Interestingly enough only Lucy’s name is given, though Renee appears in the montage as usual.
Gab’s parents warily wash Xena’s wounds, wanting her to leave quickly. Young blondie, who’s been fangirling the Warrior Princess about her fighting technique, points out that Xena just saved them. Her betrothed, Perdicas, tries to fight with her, but Gab’s having none of it.
When the two women are alone, Gabrielle begs to travel with her. She doesn’t want to be a villager and marry boring Perdicas; “I was born to be so much more.” Xena refuses, saying “I travel alone.” She’s headed for Amphipolis and Gabs deftly asks, “I study maps…what route do you usually take?” :P Her tactics work better on some others.
Meanwhile the warlord Draco is recruiting men by having them shoot arrows at him. The one who is actually able to clip his shoulder is signed up. Nice intro into the dude’s bad-assery. :P
Alone in his tent he’s approached by Xena. She asks Draco to spare Gabrielle’s village, which the warlord promises to do so long as Xena “join” with him. This is a common refrain with Xena and the men in her life—they either want to bed her, fight her, or both. I was immediately struck by the Warrior Princess, who gave Draco a scar sometime in the past for getting fresh. :P That’s girl power!
Xena refuses, saying instead that she’s “going home.” Draco is incredulous; what does she expect by a homecoming? He tried it once… “my father almost beat me to death with a butcher’s axe.” Is it possible to go back after being a bloodthirsty warrior for so long? Xena is willing to try.
Back in the village Gabrielle tries to sneak out of her bedroom, but the ruckus she makes wakes her sister, Lila. Lila is amused, then shocked, by Gabby’s desire to join with Xena and become a warrior. “Even I can beat you up!” Lila claims. “Well, you’re very strong for your age.” :P
Feminist ideas abound in “Xena…” Gabrielle doesn’t love Perdicas, so she chooses not to marry him. :-O Moreover she’s choosing her own destiny by leaving her village and starting off on an adventure. This sets up that Gabrielle is going on as much of a journey as Xena is through her redemption arc.
Xena’s horse doesn’t want to cross a bridge on the way to Amphipolis…a blinded Cyclops is on the other side! Turns out he owes his condition to Xena. He tries to club her to death, but Xena chakrams his belt off, and he trips over his own pants. Sometimes winning a battle is like middle school bullying. :P “I’m a blind Cyclops for crying out loud!” the buffoon wails. Xena suggests that he sell himself off as protection for a village.
Instead, he captures Gabrielle as she crosses the same bridge, crying “Being an adventuress isn’t that hard!” But you gotta give it up for the Battling Bard…once she finds out the Cyclops hates Xena, she concocts a story about chasing the Warrior Princess for revenge. The Cyclops lets her go, and asks that Gabby send him a leg. “She’s got two, doesn’t she?” Gab rebuffs.
Back in Draco-land, the warrior’s onto his next tactic for getting Xena to join him…torch her home-village in her own name! :-O He’s still pretty convinced that her old neighbors won’t accept her back anyway, because “There’s no rest for the wicked.”
Some of his goons track Xena personally. We get a great shot of Xena’s legs walking along a tree branch as the hapless dudes ride below her. Slowly she takes goons out before she’s riding behind the head goon. They come up to her abandoned horse, and Xena puts the pinch on the guy! Just in case you didn’t think her fighting repertoire was cool before. :P
With air escaping him, the head goon tells Xena of Draco’s plan. This does not make the warlord happy. While discussing battle strategy with his other officers, he deftly beats the crap out his head goon during a duel. Enraged after he’s knocked into a table one too many times, the head goon tries to knife Draco and gets knifed in return. “Get someone to clean my knife,” he says nonchalantly. “Oh, and Xena is mine.”
Back on the road to Amphipolis, Gabrielle plays dead, prostrating herself to Hermes, the god of travel. A man in a wagon comes up, but he doesn’t want to take her along until she introduces herself as a bard, loudly proclaiming the story of Oedipus. The old man snorts, saying he grew up where Oedipus was king. “Most tragic of all men…biggest fool more like!” This is the first, and definitely not the last time that “Xena” brushes shoulders with real-life mythology and events. ;)
Xena returns home, still riding through striking terrain. She comes across some women singing as they harvest wheat by the edge of the village, and she smiles. Downtown, though, things don’t go so well. She enters a tavern and people hush up, recognizing her immediately. A middle-aged woman walks up and faces her incredulously. “Mother,” Xena says nervously. The woman pulls her own sword on her. :-O
“Weapons aren’t welcome in my tavern,” she says. “And neither are you.” Xena tells her (and everyone) that Draco is on his way, and Xena can help the villagers build a defense. But they’re not having any of it…years ago she created an army with her neighbors, and all they remember now is burying their sons. As Xena’s mother tells her to leave…this is no longer her town, and they no longer have a connection…the villagers shout out one-liners like “Yeah!” and “Get out of here, Xena!” in the background, a common tactic on the show. Adds to the sense of community, in a somewhat campy way. :P
Later that night Xena comes back to the tavern for her sword and runs into her mother again. She tells the woman that she’s changed, and she wants to spend the rest of her life making up for what she did. Mommy starts to look like she’s about to soften…but then the angry villagers are back, claiming that men are looting in Xena’s name. “Do what you want with her,” Xena’s mother says, disgusted.
Xena submits herself to stoning, even taking her sword off again “to make the fight fair.” Gabrielle rushes forward, protesting wildly. First she tells the truth of how Xena saved her own village, so she’s obviously changed. When that doesn’t work, she’s back to concocting stories, like maybe how Draco and Xena are lovers, and Draco will be even more pissed “if you’re messing with his woman.” Finally, the villagers allow the two women to leave.
Once again Xena wants to leave Gabrielle behind before the blonde reminds her indignantly, “I just saved your life!” Reluctantly, Xena lets her new companion clamor on back of the horse. She tells the girl that they are off to visit her brother.
Her brother happens to be in a tomb. :-/ Xena brushes some dirt off the top, saying “You always did have trouble keeping your face clean.” She tells him that their mother doesn’t believe that she’s changed, but she has to believe that her brother can see it. “It’s hard to be alone,” Xena sighs. Gabrielle stands in the doorway behind her. “You’re not alone,” she says, and the two women smile at eachother. It’s a nice, quiet moment of genuine camaraderie in the episode.
Back at Amphipolis, the villagers have arranged for a treaty-talk with Draco. They offer to supply his army with provisions whenever they’re in the area, but Draco doesn’t want any of that…he wants Xena. He’s about to get rough on the village leader when Xena comes in behind him. “How’s the homecoming going?” Draco mocks, and he repeats his offer. But Xena still refuses to join with him…so that means a fight. Draco chooses the weapons—staffs. Xena chooses the conditions—they fight on some nearby scaffolding. The first person to touch the ground dies.
More martial arts goodness! It’s especially enjoyable because of the enhanced conditions, and because Draco is actually a match for Xena. The fight also puts the villagers back on Xena’s side, though maybe it’s because she’s the lesser of two evils. When the scaffolding falls apart, the villagers invite the Warrior Princess to continue the fight by jumping on their heads and shoulders, and both warriors get to that. Oh, “Xena” show. :P I hear that one of the heads belonged to series creator/Lucy’s real-life husband, Robert Tapert.
Draco’s about to fall…one of his goons rushes forward, but Gabby trips the guy and the warlord ends up on the ground with Xena’s feet on his chest. Instead of killing him, Xena makes him swear “on the head of Ares” to leave the village by nightfall. Have to wonder what Ares, who will become a character in his own right later, would have to say about this. :P
Of course we don’t know how much we can trust Draco to keep his word…but for the time being, he kills one of his own goons who comes at Xena with a knife. “A deal’s a deal,” he says nonchalantly. Bye bye, Draco!
Once things calm down, Xena’s mother finally gives her a hug and her forgiveness. But Xena isn’t going to stay…perhaps, even after her success with defeating Draco, she knows things can’t be the same again. It certainly wouldn’t be as interesting a story that way. :P
So off Xena goes to camp in the woods…Gabby sneaks up on her. She was unable to get a fire going on her own. “You know I’m sending you home in the morning,” Xena warns. “I’m not the little girl my parents want me to be,” Gabs defends herself. Xena considers this, then tosses her a sleeping roll and says, “It’s not easy proving that you’re a different person.” Love how much this dialogue says so effortlessly, sans angst.
In the morning, Xena, Gabs and horsie walk off into the distance. The dialogue is a little clunkier here… but the intent is nice. “You know where I’m headed there’ll be trouble,” Xena warns again. “I know,” Gabrielle replies. “Then why would you want to go there?” “Cos that’s what friends do….stand by each other when there’s trouble!” “All right…friend.”
I suppose in all honesty, given the people Xena’s encountered so far, Gabrielle is the closest to a friend. But one also has to wonder what makes Gabrielle so sure that Xena is a changed person after just one or two good deeds…when all other villagers are afraid of her and warlords revere her. I think it speaks to Gabrielle’s innate goodness. She forgives easily, and wants to see the best in people. It’s a trait that will be refined and tested in the next several seasons as she goes on a journey of her own. Meanwhile Xena’s on the opposite track…finding love, trust and acceptance after a lifetime of darkness.
___
In the first episode, a lot of things seem too easy. The fighting has some of the same slapstick elements as does some of the dialogue. Besides for tame, cable-appropriate deaths, no one seems to get that hurt.
Moreover, I find it difficult (in just one episode, I mean,) to feel for Xena and Gabrielle. I know that Xena feels haunted by her past (I don’t even think the producers know in 1995 just how varied that past would become.) I know that Gabrielle is chafing against her restrictive villager's life. But we don’t actually see much of that, so the emotional connection isn’t there. Yet one might say that “Xena,” at least, doesn’t dwell on the angst. And though emotional links may need to be built up with time, the witty dialogue and amusing fight scenes keep me invested in the characters. I have to say…I wonder if Renee O’Connor was as tired by the end of the shooting day as Lucy Lawless, because boy does that babbling bard have a mouth on her. :P
In the beginning, I guess sometime soon after The Xena Trilogy on “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,” Xena rides through landscape with a haunted look on her face. She remembers taking part in many battles, and men crying out her name triumphantly amidst destruction.
In the present, there is only stillness. A straggling boy comes out of a solitary house and asks for food. He says that “Xena” killed his parents, describing her as “throwing thunderbolts and breathing fire.” Xena tosses him some food and rides away. When she’s alone she buries all of her armor, a symbolic sign of leaving that life behind.
But she doesn’t get too far before some warrior thugs herd villagers into the clearing. Xena hides as the main thug tells them to give up their girls or they all die. A brash blonde named Gabrielle darts out of the crowd and demands “Take me…let the others go.” She’s about to get whipped for her insolence before Xena steps out, and our first martial arts scene begins.
Standard “Xena” stuff here…spinning around on a pole in the ground, kicking a knife into a man’s chest. :P At one point, Xena throws a staff at a thug going for Gabrielle, and our stars lock eyes before Gabby knocks the goon out. :P We see the chakram in action for the first time, severing staffs and swords alike once Xena digs it up and throws it.
When most of the goons lie dead or wounded on the ground, Xena approaches the head thug and toys with the blue sash on his neck. “You’re with Draco,” she sneers. “Tell him Xena says hello.”
Who’s Xena? The opening sequence tells you! There’s a voiceover that says the ancient times cried out for a hero, and Xena was there to answer that cry. Interestingly enough only Lucy’s name is given, though Renee appears in the montage as usual.
Gab’s parents warily wash Xena’s wounds, wanting her to leave quickly. Young blondie, who’s been fangirling the Warrior Princess about her fighting technique, points out that Xena just saved them. Her betrothed, Perdicas, tries to fight with her, but Gab’s having none of it.
When the two women are alone, Gabrielle begs to travel with her. She doesn’t want to be a villager and marry boring Perdicas; “I was born to be so much more.” Xena refuses, saying “I travel alone.” She’s headed for Amphipolis and Gabs deftly asks, “I study maps…what route do you usually take?” :P Her tactics work better on some others.
Meanwhile the warlord Draco is recruiting men by having them shoot arrows at him. The one who is actually able to clip his shoulder is signed up. Nice intro into the dude’s bad-assery. :P
Alone in his tent he’s approached by Xena. She asks Draco to spare Gabrielle’s village, which the warlord promises to do so long as Xena “join” with him. This is a common refrain with Xena and the men in her life—they either want to bed her, fight her, or both. I was immediately struck by the Warrior Princess, who gave Draco a scar sometime in the past for getting fresh. :P That’s girl power!
Xena refuses, saying instead that she’s “going home.” Draco is incredulous; what does she expect by a homecoming? He tried it once… “my father almost beat me to death with a butcher’s axe.” Is it possible to go back after being a bloodthirsty warrior for so long? Xena is willing to try.
Back in the village Gabrielle tries to sneak out of her bedroom, but the ruckus she makes wakes her sister, Lila. Lila is amused, then shocked, by Gabby’s desire to join with Xena and become a warrior. “Even I can beat you up!” Lila claims. “Well, you’re very strong for your age.” :P
Feminist ideas abound in “Xena…” Gabrielle doesn’t love Perdicas, so she chooses not to marry him. :-O Moreover she’s choosing her own destiny by leaving her village and starting off on an adventure. This sets up that Gabrielle is going on as much of a journey as Xena is through her redemption arc.
Xena’s horse doesn’t want to cross a bridge on the way to Amphipolis…a blinded Cyclops is on the other side! Turns out he owes his condition to Xena. He tries to club her to death, but Xena chakrams his belt off, and he trips over his own pants. Sometimes winning a battle is like middle school bullying. :P “I’m a blind Cyclops for crying out loud!” the buffoon wails. Xena suggests that he sell himself off as protection for a village.
Instead, he captures Gabrielle as she crosses the same bridge, crying “Being an adventuress isn’t that hard!” But you gotta give it up for the Battling Bard…once she finds out the Cyclops hates Xena, she concocts a story about chasing the Warrior Princess for revenge. The Cyclops lets her go, and asks that Gabby send him a leg. “She’s got two, doesn’t she?” Gab rebuffs.
Back in Draco-land, the warrior’s onto his next tactic for getting Xena to join him…torch her home-village in her own name! :-O He’s still pretty convinced that her old neighbors won’t accept her back anyway, because “There’s no rest for the wicked.”
Some of his goons track Xena personally. We get a great shot of Xena’s legs walking along a tree branch as the hapless dudes ride below her. Slowly she takes goons out before she’s riding behind the head goon. They come up to her abandoned horse, and Xena puts the pinch on the guy! Just in case you didn’t think her fighting repertoire was cool before. :P
With air escaping him, the head goon tells Xena of Draco’s plan. This does not make the warlord happy. While discussing battle strategy with his other officers, he deftly beats the crap out his head goon during a duel. Enraged after he’s knocked into a table one too many times, the head goon tries to knife Draco and gets knifed in return. “Get someone to clean my knife,” he says nonchalantly. “Oh, and Xena is mine.”
Back on the road to Amphipolis, Gabrielle plays dead, prostrating herself to Hermes, the god of travel. A man in a wagon comes up, but he doesn’t want to take her along until she introduces herself as a bard, loudly proclaiming the story of Oedipus. The old man snorts, saying he grew up where Oedipus was king. “Most tragic of all men…biggest fool more like!” This is the first, and definitely not the last time that “Xena” brushes shoulders with real-life mythology and events. ;)
Xena returns home, still riding through striking terrain. She comes across some women singing as they harvest wheat by the edge of the village, and she smiles. Downtown, though, things don’t go so well. She enters a tavern and people hush up, recognizing her immediately. A middle-aged woman walks up and faces her incredulously. “Mother,” Xena says nervously. The woman pulls her own sword on her. :-O
“Weapons aren’t welcome in my tavern,” she says. “And neither are you.” Xena tells her (and everyone) that Draco is on his way, and Xena can help the villagers build a defense. But they’re not having any of it…years ago she created an army with her neighbors, and all they remember now is burying their sons. As Xena’s mother tells her to leave…this is no longer her town, and they no longer have a connection…the villagers shout out one-liners like “Yeah!” and “Get out of here, Xena!” in the background, a common tactic on the show. Adds to the sense of community, in a somewhat campy way. :P
Later that night Xena comes back to the tavern for her sword and runs into her mother again. She tells the woman that she’s changed, and she wants to spend the rest of her life making up for what she did. Mommy starts to look like she’s about to soften…but then the angry villagers are back, claiming that men are looting in Xena’s name. “Do what you want with her,” Xena’s mother says, disgusted.
Xena submits herself to stoning, even taking her sword off again “to make the fight fair.” Gabrielle rushes forward, protesting wildly. First she tells the truth of how Xena saved her own village, so she’s obviously changed. When that doesn’t work, she’s back to concocting stories, like maybe how Draco and Xena are lovers, and Draco will be even more pissed “if you’re messing with his woman.” Finally, the villagers allow the two women to leave.
Once again Xena wants to leave Gabrielle behind before the blonde reminds her indignantly, “I just saved your life!” Reluctantly, Xena lets her new companion clamor on back of the horse. She tells the girl that they are off to visit her brother.
Her brother happens to be in a tomb. :-/ Xena brushes some dirt off the top, saying “You always did have trouble keeping your face clean.” She tells him that their mother doesn’t believe that she’s changed, but she has to believe that her brother can see it. “It’s hard to be alone,” Xena sighs. Gabrielle stands in the doorway behind her. “You’re not alone,” she says, and the two women smile at eachother. It’s a nice, quiet moment of genuine camaraderie in the episode.
Back at Amphipolis, the villagers have arranged for a treaty-talk with Draco. They offer to supply his army with provisions whenever they’re in the area, but Draco doesn’t want any of that…he wants Xena. He’s about to get rough on the village leader when Xena comes in behind him. “How’s the homecoming going?” Draco mocks, and he repeats his offer. But Xena still refuses to join with him…so that means a fight. Draco chooses the weapons—staffs. Xena chooses the conditions—they fight on some nearby scaffolding. The first person to touch the ground dies.
More martial arts goodness! It’s especially enjoyable because of the enhanced conditions, and because Draco is actually a match for Xena. The fight also puts the villagers back on Xena’s side, though maybe it’s because she’s the lesser of two evils. When the scaffolding falls apart, the villagers invite the Warrior Princess to continue the fight by jumping on their heads and shoulders, and both warriors get to that. Oh, “Xena” show. :P I hear that one of the heads belonged to series creator/Lucy’s real-life husband, Robert Tapert.
Draco’s about to fall…one of his goons rushes forward, but Gabby trips the guy and the warlord ends up on the ground with Xena’s feet on his chest. Instead of killing him, Xena makes him swear “on the head of Ares” to leave the village by nightfall. Have to wonder what Ares, who will become a character in his own right later, would have to say about this. :P
Of course we don’t know how much we can trust Draco to keep his word…but for the time being, he kills one of his own goons who comes at Xena with a knife. “A deal’s a deal,” he says nonchalantly. Bye bye, Draco!
Once things calm down, Xena’s mother finally gives her a hug and her forgiveness. But Xena isn’t going to stay…perhaps, even after her success with defeating Draco, she knows things can’t be the same again. It certainly wouldn’t be as interesting a story that way. :P
So off Xena goes to camp in the woods…Gabby sneaks up on her. She was unable to get a fire going on her own. “You know I’m sending you home in the morning,” Xena warns. “I’m not the little girl my parents want me to be,” Gabs defends herself. Xena considers this, then tosses her a sleeping roll and says, “It’s not easy proving that you’re a different person.” Love how much this dialogue says so effortlessly, sans angst.
In the morning, Xena, Gabs and horsie walk off into the distance. The dialogue is a little clunkier here… but the intent is nice. “You know where I’m headed there’ll be trouble,” Xena warns again. “I know,” Gabrielle replies. “Then why would you want to go there?” “Cos that’s what friends do….stand by each other when there’s trouble!” “All right…friend.”
I suppose in all honesty, given the people Xena’s encountered so far, Gabrielle is the closest to a friend. But one also has to wonder what makes Gabrielle so sure that Xena is a changed person after just one or two good deeds…when all other villagers are afraid of her and warlords revere her. I think it speaks to Gabrielle’s innate goodness. She forgives easily, and wants to see the best in people. It’s a trait that will be refined and tested in the next several seasons as she goes on a journey of her own. Meanwhile Xena’s on the opposite track…finding love, trust and acceptance after a lifetime of darkness.
___
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