Xena: Warrior Princess

[sam7777]

I like drama when it's well done but not when it descends to soap (not that that's bad but just not my thing) or pain for the sake of pain which just sucks in my book. For example, my favorite Shakespeare is the drama MacBeth. I like it better than my fav comedy "Twelth Night". Comedy is harder to pull off so tends to get more of my respect. It's easy to make people cry but harder to make 'em laugh IMHO.

Quote:

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just that going through the darkness makes the brightness so much brighter

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Yes but without much brightness it just becomes tedious to me and I see the bright side too often forgotten so we can be "serious". Yawwwnnn. I like a mix of happy and sad (about 60-40). Also, I'm a romantic and love to see happy couples. Don't mind if they go thru stuff but I like to see 'em together in the end and especially so for lesbian couples who almost never end well.

Quote:

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Absofreakinlutely (I insist that they are lovers no later than the end of Return of the Valkyrie), which is why S6 is my favorite

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Oh yeah. How about that ep were Xena was lusting cross the balcony towards gabrielle and ignoring Caesar. That was text as far as I am concerned. S6 was rapidly becoming my fav season till the awful cliched end but a new Xena movie can fix that if they can get it made. FIN (or Futile Inane Necrosis as I know it) put me off Xena for three years but I can come back to the show now because it's just two awful bad hours out of 120+ hours compared to two bad seasons that I suffered on other shows like X-Files and you know what.



While we may disagree on some things GG, I think we can both agree that Xena has something for everyone. Also as far as I'm concerned Xena was the most feminist show out there. They never turned either Xena or Gabrielle into a victim or sex object though undoubtedly they were both very sexy.

_____________________

I still see dead lesbian cliches

[Webberific]

It's definitely true, this show offers something for everybody! I totally concur.



But I guess I'm with sam regarding the serious drama stuff. I'm more into the fun episodes. (And for some reason, whenever I tuned into the show, it was almost always a really serious episode, so that's probably another reason why I stopped trying to watch it when I did.) In any event, I had no problem with the idea of using the Rift as a narrative device. I got turned off by how the Rift was accomplished: I'm sure there could have been alternate methods of setting the Rift into motion and bringing it to a serious boil, but the Hope/Eve paradox and their individual arcs during their respective seasons really turned me off. Xena losing her son, plus having to kill Evil Hope, then later -- although I've not seen it in the S5 episodes -- the whole thing about having to kill Livia (which turns out a little different, since she reverts back to Eve)...I dunno, none of it sat well with me.



I didn't enjoy the "Adventures in the Sin Trade" two-parter either. For me though, I think the primary reason is because I didn't like Alti, namely the crazed Alti with all that eye makeup and the maniacal growly voice. Yeah, I know we weren't supposed to like the character, but there was just something about that Alti that made those episodes hard to watch. Same goes for any episode with that Alti (including "Between the Lines": it had so much great stuff going for it, but Alti didn't work for me in this one too). On the other hand, I didn't have that strong a negative reaction when I saw her (less cackling and less makeup) in "When Fates Collide" (which is the name of the episode where X & G stare at each other from their balconies ). Maybe it's because she seemed more like an actual person with a way-troubling lust for power, rather than being shown too-obviously as an evil witch-like figure. I'm actually putting off watching "Send in the Clones" because I'm not sure how I'll react to Modern-Day Alti.



(BTW, GG, I knew that "You Are There" is S6 -- I just mentioned it in my previous post to say that, since it had clips from -- and many references to -- events in season 5, I had an idea of what happened in S5.)



(Edited because I can't spell.)

Edited by: Webberific at: 9/2/04 12:10 am

[skittles]

GG: regarding your comment that I should see Sam7777's essential Xena episode list.... Right, as if I could pry the Xena episodes out of your strongly clenched hands...

skittles

Prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child.

[Gatito Grande]

Not till you get a non-tape-eating VCR, skittles, or I get the DVDs: whichever comes first. But wouldn't you really rather have fajitas w/ your Xena, too?



GG skittles, if you didn't closely read Webberiffic's post above, then DON'T : it's "spoilerrific" for what comes next . . . Out



Speaking of which, Webber--- I largely agree w/ you re Alti: she just wasn't as interesting as a well-motivated villain like Callisto. However, I can overlook that in a stunningly produced saga like Sin Trade: I mean, the music alone! Vicky Pratt and her bodacious bod! The fact that Lucy looks great (and acts even better, supposed mental/physical exhaustion aside) all Shaman-esque! Our first view of the "DCV"! (I won't ID that for skittles' unspoiled sake, but the 'v' is for "vision" for those of you in the know ). I even like how all-knowing Alti gives EvilX a living sex-toy (who---surprise, surprise---just happens to be Small and Blonde! )



Well, 'nuff said: you can tell I liked Sin Trade.



sam--- re your "FIN" unpacking: good one, I admit it. Still trying to come up w/ a come-back!

[Gatito Grande]

Hey-ho: I'm back again. skittles and I are now heading into S4 (and Marms' mom, feel free to closely read my post above on Sin Trade: now that you know what the "DCV" is! ). This has made me consider, again, what order to show the eps in (not that we'll see every one: this is just a "Best of" selection I'm showing).



Back in May, I came up w/ this order:



1) Adventures in the Sin Trade I

2) Adventures in the Sin Trade II

3) A Family Affair

4) In Sickness and in Hell

5) A Good Day

6) The Key to the Kingdom

7) Crusader

8) Past Imperfect

9) Locked Up and Tied Down

10)A Tale of Two Muses

11)Daughter of Pomira

12)If the Shoe Fits

13)Paradise Found

14)Devi

15)Between the Lines

16)Deja Vu All Over Again

17)The Way

18)The Play's the Thing

19)The Convert

20)Takes One to Know One

21)End Game

22)Ides of March





Well, after further consideration, I've decided that one really shouldn't break up the "India Arc" . . . yet I *still* don't like Deja Vu All Over Again (World's Cutest Director or no) anti-climactically after Ides. Ergo, here's my latest take:



16)The Way

17)The Play's the Thing

18)The Convert

19)Takes One to Know One

20)Deja Vu All Over Again

21)End Game

22)Ides of March



Takes One to Know One is silly and meaningless enough (though the b-day cake scene at the end is kinda sweet) to have the equally silly Deja follow it. And, it makes a nice break, before we barrel into the end-of-the-season drama of End Game and Ides.



Now what does everybody think?



Still very happy w/ my re-ordering of the earlier part of the season: especially Locked Up and Tale of 2 Muses after A Good Day, Crusader, and Past Imperfect.



[skittles, you'll soon see why this order makes *so much* more sense . . . ]



GG . . . who had the cojones to show "Warrior . . . Priestess . . . Tramp" after The Rift (we went straight from "Debt 2" to "Maternal Instincts" ), and "Forgiven" right before "Sacrifice"! Out

[Hemiola]

Hi GG



I don't have your expertise (or knowledge of episode titles ), but I thought I would mention some concepts/ideas/sources that appeared on the series and which struck me as amusing at the time that I first saw them:



The Xmas (oops, I meant solstice episode). I remember laughing at the idea that the toymaker was named "Santocles" (get it?*wink*wink*nudge*nudge*). Shouldn't he have been named "Nicholas" which is, after all, an actual Greek name?



The whole "Rome/Caesar" arc--I positively got the warm fuzzies when Xena approached the captured Brutus and said to him "I have heard it said the Brutus is an honorable man." Clearly isn't the only Shakespeare fan in the TV writing game. Which leads me to...



The hilarious disregard for any kind of realistic historical timelime--I was always amused that, in one episode, Xena could be interacting with Julius Caesar, while in another she is interacting with a young David (who lived over a thousand years before Caesar ). And don't even get me started on the episode based on the Abraham/Isaac story .

[skittles]

The Great Xena Professor GG has explained to me that I can & should "suspend disbelief" and "forget historic timelines" I find it easy to sit & enjoy Xena... Sometimes I even laugh!!



I even enjoy the "views" too!! And I don't mean geographically scenic views.



Historic Timelines are easy to dismiss, especially after just viewing the beginning of season 4.... Native American Culture on Xena?? ok, anything is possible. (oh, yeah... the Bering Straights Bridge!! so that's how its possible!!)



I'm just enjoying my course in Xena Appreciation. It's fun!

skittles

Prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child.



When life hands you lemons, ask for a bottle of tequila and some salt

[Gatito Grande]

Geez, Hemi, I never even thought of the Shakespeare connection to the "honorable" Brutus! (But don't get me started on the "Bruti!" In addition to the three different actors---one in Destiny and When in Rome, the second in A Good Day, and the third from End Game on---there's the whole deal of Brutus, according to Xena in End Game, being "young." How young could he be, vis-a-vis Xena, when "ten winters ago" he helped C,JC crucify Young Warlord/Pirate Xena, and thereby turned her into Evil Xena?)



And why am I ranting on and on about the above? Oh yeah, because I can never shut up about Xena!



Another example of the timeline-screwiness: what about Xena interacting w/ Ulysses , who "lived" (mythologically so anyway) about 200 years or so before David? (If Ulysses is the oldest historical character---I'm not going to touch the "Abraham" stand-in---then I guess Genghis Khan is the latest, giving us a grand span of about 2500 years! Though I hate those latter Chin eps so much, that I don't like to acknowledge the GK character).



So much fun to dissect and discuss!



GG skittles, it's not that they crossed the Bering Straits---they're explicitly on the "steppes," i.e. Siberia---it's just that the First Nations peoples/cultures on either side of the Straits are essentially the same. There was a joint Russian/American/Canadian archeological (traveling) exhibit of First Nations' artifacts a few years back, that made exactly this point. Out

[sam7777]

GG: I like the idea of reordering Xena eps. That's a good way to mix up the tone. I would put the reincarnation/modern time eps all at the end in place of a certain ep and end the series that way with X/G in their next lives. You could laso reorder them "historically" for fun and see how that works out. It would be great to have them on recorded a DVR or a computer to reorder them at will and get rid of the eps you can't stand.



This would be a good thing as Xena descended into long periods of melodrama like the Hope thing that I just got bored of after a couple of eps. Xena was best IMHO when they didn't take themselves too seriously.

_____________________

I still see dead lesbian cliches

[Gatito Grande]

sam: generally speaking, I like to break up long runs of drama w/ a comedy (as long as nothing in the comedy marks it as being out of order. Point of fact: in showing early S4 to skittles tonight, you really have to keep In Sickness and In Hell where it is, because of the whole "Xena reunites w/ Argo" factor).



But more than that: as always, first and foremost for my ep ordering is the X&G relationship. That is, any relationship goes through its up-and-downs, its tensions and its resolutions. The last two eps skittles and I saw tonight, A Good Day and Crusader---skipping over the *completely pointless* Key to the Kingdom (whose sole value to me, is to speculate that G is off sulking/recovering from her trauma from AGD, hence her complete absence from the ep)---show tension building. That starts to resolve, a little, in Past Imperfect (w/ that ending I so adore: if only it went on a little longer! {sigh}), and a lot more by the end of Locked Up: now it's time for a light-hearted "party" ep like Two Muses!



GG It's all about the ebb-and-flow. Out

[kukalaka]

I'm watching Xena for the first time now and just finished season 1.



Some of it is really cheap: There's a staircase that shows up in every other episode, the Greek "army" in the Troy episode was laughable at best and that Chakram... "Oh, look, it's set on stun again!" *g* (Not to mention swords being stuck in what's supposed to be rocks.)





BUT I love it.



Some of the emotional scenes are... wow.



"The Greater Good" when Gabrielle thinks Xena's dead. First she was all quiet, stroked Xena's hair and kissed her. Then she gave a pep talk to Salmoneus (sp?) and then she went off to pummel that unfortunate tree with her staff. Heartbreaking.



As was the earlier conversation with Xena, when she was talking about her pony that had died and said "That's what happens with things you love. Sometimes they just leave you."





"Callisto", just one ep later: She made Xena promise her she would not become a monster if something happened to her *sniff*





And, of course, "Is there a Doctor in the House" when Gabrielle dies and Xena refuses to let her go. First she does mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before she pounds Gabrielle's chest in despair thereby performing a heart massage that gets her back.





And it's fun. We watched ADITL out of order and I nearly lmao. When that love strucken guy asks Gab whether Xena ever thinks of settling down and getting married:

"Nah, she likes what I do..." [gets smacked by a fish Xena throws at her] "I think she likes what she's doing."

Now, what would you be doing to her... *gg*

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IDIC

[Gatito Grande]

Well, as I just posted on the Crappy Feelings thread, I feel crappy that the Oxygen network (the only source for broadcast XWP in the U.S.) has just started its Fall schedule today, and Xena has been cut back to one hour per day (and bumped an hour earlier, to the unpleasant hour---for night owls like me---of 9AM).



Would you all, who love Xena: Warrior Princess (or even if you don't) please contact Oxygen, and let them know that "one is not enough" (and 9 is too early for GG!)?



Here's the general feedback addy:



feedback@oxygen.com



Please send a message there, first (I'm working on finding/checking more specific contact addresses).



GG Thanks, everybody---Battle On! Out

[skittles]

Not only would I like to protest O's cutback, but my cable's decision not to carry Oxygen.... I can't even get a 'fix' that way.... not that I'm allowed (by Professor GG) to watch anything ahead of my Xena Appreciation class... now in Season 4 just past the India arc.

skittles

Prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child.

When life hands you lemons, ask for a bottle of tequila and some salt

[Jennpurr]

As a late bloomer to Xena, I can only say... I love this show! I have to thank my beautiful g/f for getting me into it. I can't believe I never watched it before now.



And what the frell... all that chemistry between Renee and Lucy and they wasted it. Grrr... I guess it doesn't really help to get upset over it, but...



Anyway...



Xena was cut down to one episode per day due to Oxygen showing Ellen now. It's starting from the beginning of the show. Sorry to all the Xena fans who are upset about this. I think it's cool that they are showing Ellen again.



That's another subject though.



I need to start getting these DVDs now.



Thank you, baby.



Jen

Edited by: Jennpurr at: 10/4/04 3:16 pm

[sam7777]

I wish that Oxygen did not have a monopoly on Xena and that the repeats were syndicated as before on the USA channel and local stations as well.



I saw "Fallen Angel" recently and it underscores what really bothered me about FIN. I don't think that Callisto should be redeemed and not Xena. FIN doesn't have Xena redeemed at the end but has her soul trapped to protect the souls of the villagers. This is why I find FIN to be



Futile: Because Xena's soul is trapped, Xena is not redeemed but trapped in a sort of "hell".



Inane: This ending invalidates the karmic wheel that Xena and Gabrielle's souls were on since it prevents Xena's soul from being reincarnated. So all thos eps set in the present are invalidated as well and any of the warrior path stuff.



Necrosis: After all her sacrifice, Xena's reward is to bite the big one. She might as well stayed a warlord. At least that got Callisto to heaven.



This is why we need a Xena movie to invalidate FIN IMHO. Xena deserves a better ending.

_____________________

I still see dead lesbian cliches

[Gatito Grande]

sam, you and I are never going to agree about FIN (also, FA's cosmology was even *worse* than FIN's, IMO), but let's focus on what we do agree on: the need for a movie!!!



Jen: "Welcome to the party, Ms. Fashionably Late!" (Quick, what episode is that line from, and who said it? {skittles, don't worry: you haven't seen it yet})



However, I really don't think you can say "Oxygen cut down Xena to add Ellen" (You can just as easily say "They cut down Xena to add Living Single." However, I would prefer to get rid of something like A Different World---does *anybody* watch that?)



I just checked the schedule again: It's



2 hours a day of A Different World

2 hours a day of Ellen

2 hours a day of Living Single

2 hours a day of Roseanne



. . . and only 1 hour a day of Xena (note: all of the above are half-hour sitcoms, so that's actually 4 episodes/day of them, while only 1 episode/day of XWP)



GG What the f*ck is wrong w/ this picture??? Please send an email! Out



Are any one of those other shows now or ever going to have a Sold-Out Tenth Anniversary Convention??? Give me a break! Xena: Warrior Princess is a cult classic---on everybody's lists of "greatest TV character," "Top reasons the 90s ruled," "Essential breakthroughs in popular culture," "Pop feminist icons" (*and* "Most Romantic Couple"!!!), etc. etc. ---and those other shows (Ellen's "Puppy" episode excepted) are humorous one-noters at best (and I used to like Roseanne and Living Single---and the last season of Ellen) . . . but in terms of cultural significance---not to mention production values---there is just no frickin' comparison!



(And am I upset about this, or what? )

[skittles]

GG, one reason those shows are getting two hours: lowest common denominator in the intelligence level of viewers.



Watching Xena you get a little history/mythology lesson (sometimes inaccurate, but you still get one) and that is a little too much to ask of some viewers.... they might actually have to THINK!!!!



It doesn't make the cut easier to bear, but makes it more understandable.... Oxygen is selling out!

skittles

Prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child.

When life hands you lemons, ask for a bottle of tequila and some salt

[kukalaka]

I just watched "Return of Callisto" and, man, you do need patience for this show.



What the hell were our girls thinking? Gabrielle marrying this Perdicus-guy (who imho is, no was *fg*, as dull as Riley) out of pity getting him killed in the process. And Xena letting her...



Not to mention that Gabby's leaving her just when Callisto's on the loose. Great timing!



*grmml*



I'm really looking forward to "The Quest" now Just wish I wasn't spoiled already.

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IDIC

[Gatito Grande]

I love Return of Callisto (there's a shocker, eh?). RoC (note: Return of Callisto is abbreviated "RoC," not to be confused w/ the Great Goddess ROC, Renee O' Connor!) is the episode in which I identify Xena tumbling head-over-heels in love w/ her bard . . . during Gabrielle's wedding to Per-dick-less (don't you hate it when that happens?). You just look at the growing expressions of confused cognitive dissonance on the Xenster's face during the ceremony, and the pained "A-ha!" moment right after kissing her (speaking of coming late to the party, Xena ).



Why Gabrielle married Perdy in the first place? That's an eternal mystery. I've heard some say "it was gay-panic: she was afraid of what she was feeling for Xena." Me? I just see Young Gab as extremely manipulatable (on top of being naive): Nerdicus pulled that guilt-trip "I'm going home," when 1) Gabby felt guilty for P going out in search of adventure in the first place and 2) G's always had that pull towards non-violence . . . at least until S5!



At any rate, combined w/ all those childhood memories (esp. of how P was sub to Gabby's dom---Mistress Gabrielle hadn't yet figured out/realized how eventually Xena would be her slave, too! )*, and being impressed by just how "manly" {snort!} he'd gotten since he left home (I know it's hard to believe, but on G's scale of things, at the time, he musta given her a pretty good kiss back in Troy), that was enough---under the above manipulation-conditions---to get Gabby to cave.



GG Thank the gods---sorry Perdy!---that Callisto didn't give Gabrielle time to (as she inevitably would have) "repent at leisure." Out



* Showed skittles Ides of March tonight: as Xena (explicitly!) says there "Whatever Gabrielle wants, Gabrielle gets." Even when Gabby wasn't wielding a weapon (post-staff, pre-sais), she was still cracking one mean pussy-whip eh?

[kukalaka]

Xena at the wedding was really great to look had. "I’m so happy for you." Yeah, right, that's what you look like.



One might have thought the events in "Is there a Doctor in the House" would have given her a clue though Dense warrior.



As for Gabrielle: It's not that hard to confuse close friendship with love, especially when you don't know what you're looking for. It's happened to me (I didn't marry the guy though). Also, he seemed to love her and that can be very tempting.





ETA: What really cracked me up was the way Xena rolled her eyes when Gab did her "He’s so sensitive and kind." speech.

Edited by: kukalaka at: 10/8/04 5:16 am

[sam7777]

GG: FA's cosmology was screwy but at least it fit in with the rest of Xena unlike FIN's which invalidated the idea of Xena's spirit being resurrected taking her off the cosmic wheel that they had built up the past couple of seasons. That's what makes FIN *worst* than FA. Xena deserved a better ending and I'm certianly not the only fan to think so. Alot of folks were put off by FIN. I do agree that we need a movie set after FIN to make up for the badness.



Saw "You are There" recently and it's a lot of fun. It's another example of Xena's clever clip shows with a plot. It's completely anachronistic and screws up the timeline but all for fun. They play with the subtext between Xena and Gabrielle which points out the irony that they can't really say the two are lovers due to the small minded folks at Universal. And the stuff with Eve is just hilarious. It was great to see Kevin Smith as Ares. He is sorely missed.



They are on 6th Season on Oxygen. I plan to watch up to "Soul Possession" and then start over with first season. it's been 2 years since I watched Xena and it will be fun to go thru the eps again. The poor ending guaranteed that I won't get the DVD sets or other merchandise but it's fun to tape them off of Oxygen and see them again. Oxygen doesn't squeeze out the credits so you can see all the funny disclaimers at the end of the episodes.

_____________________

I still see dead lesbian cliches

[Gatito Grande]

Great, sam: I look forward to your piquant comment on upcoming eps!



GG But say: can you and I have a moratorium on FIN here? I won't praise it, you won't bash it? Out

[sam7777]

GG: Works for me. We can both look forward to the movie instead. Keeping my fingers crossed that Universal releases the rights.



BTW the disclaimer to the "The Ring" is hilarious taken in the context of the episode:

Gabrielle's popularity surged during the making of this motion picture.



No kidding she's got Beowulf and Brunnhild both lusting after her while Xena is all annoyed (especially at Brunnhild). I'm glad that Gabrielle didn't keep the long hair that she got at the end of 6th season's Ring eps. I like her short hairdo better.

_____________________

I still see dead lesbian cliches

[Webberific]

(btw this has S6 spoilers, so skittles, don't read)



But sam, can you really blame Beowulf and Brunhilda?



I love it when Odin calls Brunhilda on her feelings: "They tell me you've fallen in love with her partner. Is it possible you thought that killing Xena would kill any chance you had with Gabrielle?" Just look at her expression -- busted! Hee. Oh, and you're right sam, I can't forget it when Xena's all jealous. "I don't like her." Makes me laugh everytime. And in the end, Brunhilda acknowledges that she doesn't have a chance in heck... but she still takes the ring (saving Xena) and turns herself into the flame to protect Gabby until Xena can rescue her. Aww.



I love The Ring. It's one of my favorite episodes. I've gotten caught up on a lot of fourth season and many of the episodes from the fifth season that you kittens recommended. Also about 98 percent of the sixth season.

Edited by: Webberific at: 10/15/04 12:05 am

[Gatito Grande]

I've never forgotten that someone (probably on the Nut Forum) said, right after The Ring was first shown, that the ep "kicked Xena and Gabrielle out of the closet, and into the next room!"



Yeah, once the phrase "in love with" was uttered, there was no way that the subtext was any longer "sub"!



GG Brunhilda, to G: "Is Xena all you think about?" Brunie, baby: Duh!!! Out



"But Gabrielle, you're my Source: don't you know that by now? When I reach down inside myself and do things I'm not capable of, it's . . . TO KEEP EVERYONE ELSE'S HANDS OFF OF YOU!"

[Kieli]

Quote:

---

"But Gabrielle, you're my Source: don't you know that by now? When I reach down inside myself and do things I'm not capable of, it's . . . TO KEEP EVERYONE ELSE'S HANDS OFF OF YOU!"

---

ROTFLMFAO! Sorry I just couldn't help myself...I'll go back to lurking now. I spent enough of my years in the NutForum & NutForum Jr dissecting the eps down to the last comma. Into rehashing? Me? Not so much

*sigh* I wish to hell we had Oxygen in our communist run outfit of an apt complex

Time flies by when the Devil drives.
It's not the pace of life that concerns me, it's the sudden stop at the end.

[kukalaka]

I watched some more Xena including "The Quest"



Gabby was just adorable as was the kiss. Digging up old usenet discussion on the subtext (which isn't exactly subby here, but anyway) is really fun. The things people choose to believe in order to make things fit their view of the world "I think she was aiming for her cheek..." Yeah, right...





While I found "Here She Comes ... Miss Amphipolis" rather boring, there were some great scenes, especially this one:



G: “So, Miss Known World is a man?”

X: “Yep.”

G: “It’s kind of funny, huh?”

X: “Why? Beauty is beauty.”



You go, Xena!

[sam7777]

Yeah the subtext was certainly growing even then until they threw it out in 6th season IMHO. I just watched "Send in the Clones" one of their clever clip shows and I love the bit where they start showing Xena/Gabrielle kissing and Xena goes something like "Oh right" while chomping on Pizza. They play with the subtext all through this ep. Basically X/G are cloned in the present and have their memories restores by clips of the show. I love how Garielle says "What are they trying to say about our relationship".



BTW next week on Tue Oct 26, Oxygen restarts from season 1. Time to relive the days when Gabreille wore that awful blue peasant garb.

_____________________

I still see dead lesbian cliches

[Gatito Grande]

I've always loved Miss Amphipolis, and the story behind it is really quite touching: Chris Manheim wrote the ep in memory of her brother, a drag queen who died of AIDS.*



I always think it's so startling to see Lucy as a blonde, and then I'm always struck when she reverts back to brunette Xena at the end! (One of my all-time favorite Xena music videos, "She's in Fashion," relies heavily on Miss A as a sort of visual theme). And this is just a Lucy-lovin' (i.e. worship) ep: the close-up of the legs, the almost-revealing-more-than-legal shot in the steambath, the shake-your-moneymaker shot (Why do I have the feeling that Rob "Lucy and I did not become involved until after her accident" Tapert was there in the editing room? )



Renee as Gabrielle as the Marquesa: Too Cute for Words. (Love her "You go, girl! Miss A all the way!" )



Last but not least, Sal: this is his last ep (Robert Trebor appears again in Deja Vu All Over Again, but it's not the same), and I just love the guy. The way he just about knocks the podium over (or is he channeling Rob there? ), his song, his easy, breezy patter: love him



GG Fun, fun, fun ep: so typical of S2 Out



*"Karen Dior" is not much of an actor, but she (does she ID as he? He as she? ) has a nice way w/ a couple of lines: "I'm no princess, I'm a queen!, and "You have no idea."

[Gatito Grande]

When the Xena ep schedule on Oxygen started getting screwy last week, I had an awful feeling that it signified an effort to kill the show entirely, and I was correct (I just didn't know how soon).



When some lame-*ss show called "Life and Style" was on at 9 this morning, I feared the worst. After checking the website (where, under Xena, they had "Nothing on Xena"), and seeing that this "Life and Style" bullsh*t appeared to be permanent, I tracked down a phone number, and gave Oxygen Media (they're in NY) a call.



After leaving multiple messages (on multiple voicemails), "Simone" called me back. It seems they're (and I quote) "resting Xena" for November. Just for November, I asked? Well, no: "maybe December too."



I guess "resting" must be the warmer, fuzzier version of "hiatus" . . . in turn the warmer, fuzzier version of cancellation.



I paraphrase: Are we going to let these bastards defeat the elite fandom in all of TV history? Their plans to 'rest' Xena? I say we kill 'em all!!!



I posted the email before: feedback@oxygen.com Use that, but also give 'em call (give 'em a call repeatedly). All I have is the switchboard number (for now), but I have a couple of names in the programming department (the aforementioned Simone, and Dave).



Here's the number: 212-651-2000



I believe that it is vital to the longterm interests of fandom---a movie, continued cons, continued good press/"buzz", future success for Lucy, Renee and everyone connected to the show---to keep Xena broadcast on American TV (DVDs are great, but no substitute).



Please: I know I go a little mental over this, but consider what this show means, to all of us. Isn't the preservation of the show for new channel surfers---future Hardcore Nutballs!---worth a call? (Or at least an email or thousand?).



"Take the network!"



GG It's the "Way of the Warrior" . . . and of Friendship, to our show Out