Xena: Warrior Princess - General Discussion

[natyxg]

Oh, so that was the deal?  No wonder I felt like that whole episode was a mess!

 

Yep. Here's some info.

http://www.whoosh.org/epguide/ahigh.html

[SparedTurkey]

 

Even the clones were kind of gross/lame, all for the sake of "comedy". Soul Possession, specially, I found insulting.

Do you mean the clones in the AU episodes or the clones of Xena in the series?

 

Soul Possession seemed to be a weird one - that was the one in the 6th season yeah? When someone had brought it to the attention of the writers/whoever that there wasn't an explanation for Gabrielle surviving the Hope Fall? Cause that was weird and not needed - I think they had skated over that enough (they shoulda done the Sappho clone instead IMO)

[Donny Ketchum]

After just watching it on Netflix, I have to ask how "You are There" has not ended up here?  Sure, it was a rather original way of moving along a Xena story, but Nigel, the reporter, was greatly annoying, and him obviously being from the present took me way out of the episode, as were the interviews.  About the only enjoyable thing was the collection of reactions the various characters had to him.  (Of everyone, I think Aphrodite was the only one one-hundred-percent pleasant to him.)

 

Honestly, in my viewing of season six so far, I can sort of understand why almost no episode from that season has been considered in the thread of favorite episodes.  The whole tone of the show seems to have drastically changed by that season, and not in a fully enjoyable way.

[SparedTurkey]

 

After just watching it on Netflix, I have to ask how "You are There" has not ended up here?  Sure, it was a rather original way of moving along a Xena story, but Nigel, the reporter, was greatly annoying, and him obviously being from the present took me way out of the episode, as were the interviews.

 

I don't know - I didn't mind it that much? I thought it had some good moments - Nigel working his way through Viking angels running away after being kicked by Xena, Eve losing her shit, Ares/Aphrodite etc. And Nigel was supposed to be greatly annoying - that was the whole point as a mocking of 'tabloid documentarians' ala those on Today Tonight/A Current Affair. I certainly don't rate it as the worst of season 6 and find it better than some others - Married with Fishsticks for example.

[Donny Ketchum]

I don't know - I didn't mind it that much? I thought it had some good moments - Nigel working his way through Viking angels running away after being kicked by Xena, Eve losing her shit, Ares/Aphrodite etc. And Nigel was supposed to be greatly annoying - that was the whole point as a mocking of 'tabloid documentarians' ala those on Today Tonight/A Current Affair.

The problem I had was the lack of reactions to seeing most things related to him.  He was very obviously not from their era.  They should've been more curious about his attire and the technology he had with him like his microphone, his monitors, and his cameras.  Not to mention being in his studio several times.  That's another thing that took me out of the episode.

 

I'll give you "Married with Fishsticks," though.  That was terrible.

[sev]

"Married with fishsticks" was atrocious. I can handle the weirdness, the problem was that it completely missed the points that made "Overboard" (the movie the ep was inspired from) work:

- Before losing her memory, the main female character was a bitch.

- The main male character was wronged by the above.

- The guy never used the situation to get into the woman's pants.

 

In the Xena "homage":

- Even though some would find her annoying (not me), Gab is by definition a gentle soul.

- Joxer is deluded.

- The Joxer counterpart in the fishsticks world uses Gab's memory loss to sleep push her to sleep with him.. and basically at the end he gets a reward for not being too big a slime.

 

The ep stinks.

[John Potts]

Donny Ketchum We both enjoyed her freaking out over learning that neither Xena nor Gabrielle were virgins.

 

 

My favourite line is when Gabby points out that she was married at the time. "Well everyone has their excuses!" It may have been the one with the disclaimer in the credits that lampshaded the recycling of their actors: "the Greek gene pool - or rather gene puddle - was not harmed in the production of this episode"

[maplebrew]

Since I'm doing a Xena rewatch:

 

Married with Fishsticks - This was one experimental episode that DID.NOT.WORK.

Last of the Centaurs - As said in the upthread, a pointless ep. An excuse to bring Ephiny back one more time I guess.

Lifeblood 

The one with the stolen gold statue, Pax. Boring.

The one where Gabrielle and Xena rescue Gabbie's adult niece from the harem. Some good moments but ruined by gratuitous female exploitation and Xena being abused.

Friend in Need, 1 & 2. Great cinematography and costumes but ghastly story.

[maplebrew]

Don't know if anyone is on this board anymore but do y'all think that Aries is Xena's father?

[sev]

No.

Although Xena has some some very exceptional skills, which might even have godly origins, I think a demigoddess would be in a total different league.

[legaleagle53]

No.

Although Xena has some some very exceptional skills, which might even have godly origins, I think a demigoddess would be in a total different league.

 

True.  As Xena herself pointed out to the Furies when they asked her about it, Ares wouldn't be able to defeat her if she were his daughter -- at best, they'd always fight to a standstill.  She then told Ares when HE asked her about it that it didn't matter whether it was actually true or not, as long as the Furies believed that it was.

[maplebrew]

I'm inclined to think Xena is Aries daughter for all the reasons dangled in front of us during that Furies episode. There's also too many non-related Xena doubles out there (Meg, Princess, Priestess). It is more fun to think of Xena as being 100% human with "many skills" though. 

[SparedTurkey]

 

I'm inclined to think Xena is Aries daughter for all the reasons dangled in front of us during that Furies episode.

....... So she's been making out with her dad for most of her life?

 

I know this show is messy and jumps with timelines - but no. Nope. No. It's not Game of Thrones

[John Potts]

SparedTurkey So she's been making out with her dad for most of her life?

 

Given the source material, isn't that pretty much par for the course?

[maplebrew]

After the infamous last episode, we fans were told that the show was ultimately a Greek tragedy.

 

Xena "making out" with her dad, would fit in with another theme found in Greek tragedy, incest. This got played out just coy enough to prevent controversy and to allow for people to ship, or be repelled by, the two of them. Depends on what one wants to make of that episode. I'm firmly in the 'ew gross, they're father and daughter, camp. 

[Sesquipedalia]

My favorites are:

 

Sins of the Past

Hooves & Harlots

The Greater Good

Callisto

Is There a Doctor in the House?

 

The Quest

A Necessary Evil

A Day in the Life

Been There, Done That

 

The Debt Parts 1 & 2

Maternal Instincts

The Bitter Suite

One against an Army

Sacrifice Part 2

 

Adventures in the Sin Trade Part 1

A Family Affair

Crusader

The Ides of March

 

I don't really have any favorites from Seasons 5-6. For me the show started to lose its way with the India episodes in Season 4, and by moment when Xena's chakram changed to a yin/yang thingy, I knew it was downhill from there. It did make a bit of a comeback in Season 6 with several solid episodes, but I don't think I can call any of them my favorites.

 

Even though I'm a huge Xena/Gabrielle shipper--like I have never been as obsessed with anything in my life as I was with the subtext--The Debt two-parter is my all-time favorite. Lao Ma was such a wonderful character. I'm so glad they never brought her back later and ruined her. I have watched the scenes between her and Xena dozens and dozens of times.

[Sesquipedalia]

Xena is and always will be my all-time favorite show. But looking back on the episodes, there were soooo many stinkers. One early one I haven't seen mentioned is Ulysses. I also really hated Lyre Lyre and most of the episodes involving Eve. But I have to agree with those who brought up Lifeblood as the worst.

 

Except for FIN. To me FIN was the absolute worst. For years after I couldn't even be friends with anyone who liked the ending, and I will never stop being bitter about it. Most of the bad episodes are quite forgettable--honestly I had forgotten all about Lifeblood until I read this thread--but FIN will be seared into my memory forever and will always taint my beloved Xena.

[rcc]

They have found a writer.

 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/nbcs-xena-reboot-finds-writer-848493

[Xena]

I want to be excited about this.  I really do.  But I can't.   

 

I keep thinking about the original series - without Lucy.  And it just isn't possible.  

 

I think they could do something different, maybe change it up enough to be good on it's own - and then I read this (from Grillo-Marxuach) "Let me give you an itty-bitty peek at the store by telling you a few words you won't be hearing from me: Grim. Gritty. Dire. Depressing.  What I want to do is to make something that is both fresh and new but that is also respectful and evocative of that feeling of fun and adventure that was so perfect in the original. I believe I heard it referred to somewhere as 'the power, the passion, the danger.'"

 

And I go 'ugh'.  It just sounds... wrong.  The reason I STAYED with Xena, thru all of the silliness, was what I'm afraid they think is grim, gritty, dire, and depressing.  But that's just me. 

 

The casting on this - is going to have to be phenomenal.  It simply won't work if they don't find the right person.  On the other hand, I never would have thought Krysten Ritter could pull off what she ... pulls off in Jessica Jones.  But she does.  OMG, can we get Krysten for this?  LOL I keed, I keed.  but OMG, I can totally see her sneering in the leather breastplate, throwing out sarcastic comments as she whacks the bad guy in the head.... I'll go sit in the corner now.  

Edited December 21, 2015 by Xena

[rcc]

http://okbjgm.tumblr.com/post/140051884361/hows-that-xena-reboot-going-updated

 

Here's more about the reboot.

[Daisy]

IF they do this... 
I need it to focus on the Greek stuff. I honestly don't think the Judaeo-Christian worked on the show. Like I liked Eli and all but the whole thing just dragged. I just read an article that they also want to emphasis the relationship (and pretty much state it for what they were) - on the show, which I think is a big "not needed". I think the reason why Gabrielle and Xena worked wasn't because there was a name to their relationship. There were other people (other men, other women) for them, but it was so much more than slapping "True Love" or whatever.

 

I don't think i've ever been so apprehensive for a reboot before 

[Glade]

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2016/mar/15/xena-lesbian-warrior-princess-have-the-rules-of-tv-just-been-rewritten?CMP=fb_gu

 

I think it's great that they will fully realize the relationship between Gabriel/Xena and bring it out of the closet.  I'm still not sold on the reboot, but it is promising that the screenwriter seems to think that the original cast could still come back for a movie or a past-lives/reincarnation type of episode at some point, which is good.  If they can come back and be a real couple, even better.  This is, nicely, in the opposite direction of fantasy tv series about historical figures who were homosexual men--such as Davinci and Shakespeare, where the writers insist on making them straight.

[Ria]

I don't care if they are a couple or not. But I really disagree with the producer's statement that there is no point to doing the show unless they explore them as a romantic couple. What about female empowerment and redemption? Two much more important themes that the show explored. This reboot if not done correctly, has the potential for turning into a straight man's fantasy show and/or a corny love story instead of a show about independent women who didn't build their lives around men and the roles women were expected to fulfill.

[Sesquipedalia]

In 2016 it would seem bizarre to have them portrayed as just friends or treat the relationship subtextually, but the fact that the relationship will be explicit but not with the original actors just rubs even more salt in the wounds of the fans of yore. I wish instead they would do a short miniseries reunion with the original actors, like they did with the X-Files. 

[maraleia]

Watching this for the first time ever...I know so late to the party. What I've loved so far (I'm on episode 12 of season 1) is Gabrielle's evolution including her clothes. She finally got out of that peasant dress. Also, Renee is so much shorter than Lucy it's kind of funny. The stories are all over the place but I still love it.

[rcc]

http://moviepilot.com/posts/4035059

A recent article. It never ends and NBC still hasn't released any info on their damn reboot.

[rcc]

Rob talks about Xena and the reboot. Also about Ash vs Evil Dead among other things.  

http://www.salon.com/2016/11/08/big-bang-with-blood-how-ash-vs-evil-dead-became-a-horror-comedy-that-flips-gender-roles/

[Xena]

And... its dead.  Or at least Javier is no longer part of it (which quite frankly is pretty bad news, even I wasn't that thrilled about him in the first place, and even if they are still trying to work this, which all indications are they aren't):

https://moviepilot.com/p/xena-reboot-not-happening/4263905

Edited May 14, 2017 by Xena
Grammer still be real important!

[rcc]

The old "creative differences" excuse. Probably didn't agree with Rob. Ash vs. Evil Dead has a new showrunner this year because of "creative differences."

I'm not surprised. 

[rcc]

Excellent interview with Steven Sears posted today 5-22.

http://us.blastingnews.com/showbiz-tv/2017/05/how-xena-warrior-princess-paved-the-way-for-modern-female-tv-characters-001717943.html                         

[legaleagle53]

And the reboot is... still dead.

[rcc]

NBC wants some ideas about what they want to do. Javier had some ideas. Rob Tapert has ideas. The ideas aren't good enough for NBC. Xena reboot, series, movie, etc. is dead, dead, dead.

Edited August 22, 2017 by rcc

[rcc]

This is so cool. But why is Xena so shiny!                                                   

http://screenrant.com/justice-league-trailer-retro/

[rcc]

Rob gives a very recent interview on why NBC didn't pick up the series.                   

https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/96603171/warrior-princess-reboot-the-world-needs-a-superhero-like-xena

[Primal Slayer]

If only this was place active! I've been rewatching the series (like my 3rd or 4th rewatch since it ended forever ago) and I forgot just how great this series was. Im on Season 4 and just finishing up Hopes arc. Does feel weird that the whole Dahak storyline started on Xena but finishes on Hercules.

[link417]

Anything Gabrielle-centric. I had wondered why she played such an outsized role for a sidekick (and an annoying one, at that) and then I recall seeing Renee listed as a producer in the credits and it was like, “Ahhh, now I get it.” However, I can’t find anything online about her being a producer on the show so maybe I’m misremembering? I could’ve sworn, though . . .

[Primal Slayer]

Gasp! You didn't like Gabrielle????? How is that possible?

But no she wasn't a producer.

[link417]

1 hour ago, Primal Slayer said:

Gasp! You didn't like Gabrielle????? How is that possible?

But no she wasn't a producer.

Nope, I didn’t. But I like you!!! You’re funny!!!1!

[link417]

Not really an episode, but I liked some of the “No _____s we’re harmed in the making of this episode” gags.

[Joe Hellandback]

Anything with the India arc and King Con, just dreadful! Also Back in the Bottle, just terrible!

[Joe Hellandback]

Anything  with Callisto, singing, nudity, Annie/Harry/Mattie, Aphrodite or hurt/comfort. 

[Bort]

Agree about the India arc. I hated Gabrielle's pacifist phase. It's like, are you TRYING to get yourself killed? Don't hang around Xena, the warlord vengeance magnet, and then swear pacificism. It's just not smart.

[slf]

The India arc was definitely terrible. I wasn't fond of the Roman episodes and the Heaven/Hell stuff, either. The show kind of got away from what made it so appealing in the early days, imo. 

[slf]

I lived for the Amazon episodes.

[Joe Hellandback]

6 hours ago, slf said:

The India arc was definitely terrible. I wasn't fond of the Roman episodes and the Heaven/Hell stuff, either. The show kind of got away from what made it so appealing in the early days, imo. 

You couldn't have just another village which needed saving every week, variety was sometimes a good thing

6 hours ago, slf said:

The India arc was definitely terrible. I wasn't fond of the Roman episodes and the Heaven/Hell stuff, either. The show kind of got away from what made it so appealing in the early days, imo. 

 

On ‎06‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 3:55 PM, kariyaki said:

Agree about the India arc. I hated Gabrielle's pacifist phase. It's like, are you TRYING to get yourself killed? Don't hang around Xena, the warlord vengeance magnet, and then swear pacificism. It's just not smart.

Actually if you're a pacifist having a Demi-Goddess girlfriend/bodyguard is a pretty sensible thing. 

Edited April 26, 2018 by Joe Hellandback

[slf]

5 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

You couldn't have just another village which needed saving every week, variety was sometimes a good thing

Variety: yes. Those episodes: no.

[SparedTurkey]

Regardless of whether the India arc was good - the controversy about it was over the top.

Didn't it also start the christ/eli stuff? I liked it because it was different...and it looked like they had bought everything from Bali I want in my house

[SparedTurkey]

I love Callisto, loved Autolycus....even Salmoneous.

My ultimate favorite is One Against An Army. Can't explain it.

[Bort]

9 hours ago, Joe Hellandback said:

Actually if you're a pacifist having a Demi-Goddess girlfriend/bodyguard is a pretty sensible thing. 

But Xena would end up nearly dying because Gabrielle constantly needed rescuing from being kidnapped. Which she wouldn't have been if she'd just given the would-be kidnappers a concussion with her staff like she did before.

[Joe Hellandback]

1 hour ago, kariyaki said:

But Xena would end up nearly dying because Gabrielle constantly needed rescuing from being kidnapped. Which she wouldn't have been if she'd just given the would-be kidnappers a concussion with her staff like she did before.

Well Gabby (and Joxer) would always rely on Xena to protect them, it wouldn't have been a problem if not for the Callisto's interference