Xena

A classic 1990s female series that greatly overshadowed its parent series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. (2009.01.25)

The excellent Season 1 is still very close to the original adventures of Hercules, in which Xena first appeared as a supporting character. The whole opening story about fixing an initially negative character is something that never really caught on. The constant suspense of seeing if Xena does something wrong and forgets her new mission and becomes the destroyer of nations again is simply excellent stuff that managed to captivate audiences for six whole years. But to make things even more difficult, Xena's partner from the very first episode is Gabrielle, who has an even thornier road ahead of her than the seasoned Xena. From the classic ancient stories, we get Pandora's Box, The Titans, The Trojan War... Prometheus is rescued by Xena side by side with the visiting Hercules. Black Wolf is a variation on Spartacus. Xena meets her lookalike, Princess Diana, for the first time. She travels to the underworld. From the biblical stories, we have Isaac. We also get the first meeting with the Amazons, Ares, and Callisto. The final episode even introduces the offspring of a centaur and an amazon. Lucy Lawless inhabits her role nicely, her pale blue eyes contrasting with her dark hair. It’s a joy to behold. (2020.07.13)

Season 2 is slowly moves away from the original Herculean concept, and mythical monsters become less and less important. On the other hand, Xena's past plays the main role. We learn about the existence of her son, and about the betrayal that connects her to Caesar (Karl Urban). Genre-wise, it's more varied. For example, we get a great horror episode in which vampires are replaced by Maenads. Christmas replaces the solstice holidays. The prostitute Meg, another Xena lookalike, appears. There is also a beauty contest, the winner of which is, of course, a tranny. There's also an Indiana Jones parody. The story with Callisto (Hudson Leick) deepens. There are also great comedy episodes and even better dramatic episodes, and from the classics of antiquity, we also get time for Ulysses. (2020.07.13)

Certainly, of course, even Xena needed an adaptation of Charles Dickens and offered up his "A Christmas Carol" as A Solstice Carol. In the second season, the concept of solitary episodes still prevailed, so it was not a problem to introduce occasional horror episodes (replacing vampires with maenads), a parody of Indiana Jones, a parody of the Miss Universe pageant, something classic from biblical times (the story of David and Goliath from the 1st Book of Samuel), or conversely, classical antiquity (Homer's Odyssey). And so, a Christmas episode set during Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem also had to be included. Xena and Gabby are classically in a good mood, planning gifts, and doing good deeds... There is also a reference to Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in the form of an action figure. The wooden sheep that Gabrielle receives from Xena plays a certain role in the episodes Gabrielle's Hope and Maternal Instincts. The parallel Christmas episode from the series Hercules is A Star to Guide Them. (2024.01.06)

Season 3 offers for the first time a dense story arc that runs like a red thread through much of the series. On the shores of Britain, we meet the legendary Boadica. Xena and Gabrielle's friendship is shaken to its foundations by current and past events in the Chin Empire. The individual pieces of the puzzle lead to the first climax in the famous musical episode (for which an excellent separate soundtrack was released). However, it takes a long time for Xena and Gabrielle to truly forgive each other. It is therefore necessary to occasionally blow off steam with the help of one of the comedy episodes. Such certainty can be found in the episodes with Xena's lookalikes or regular encounters with Aphrodite, the goddess of love (the lovely Alexandra Tydings). In any case, the finale is breathtaking and it is no wonder that its denouement was so inspiring. (2020.07.13)

Season 4 could be described as the one people were waiting for. The introduction is truly phenomenal. The denouement set in the land of the dead amazons is still one of my favorites. Along with answers to burning questions, new characters, the amazon Cyane (Vicky Pratt) and the shaman Alti (Claire Stansfield), are introduced for the first time. I had to learn about their careers immediately and I love coming back to them. Vicky Pratt used to be a fitness queen, still acts today, and has written a mystery novel. Claire Stansfield used to be the queen of B-movies in the 90s and has since tried everything - directing and fashion designing. After a great opening, the series slowly got back to its old ways, but only briefly. Xena and Gabrielle's next trip was to India. They were reunited with Alti, and Gabrielle tried the path without violence, but that proved impossible with Xena by her side. The cliffhanger of this series concluded with the merging of Xena's fate with the Ides of March... (2020.07.13)

Season 5 was not an easy season for the show. The concurrently broadcast Hercules: The Legendary Journeys had come to an end. This is the last time we get to see Kevin Sorbo as Hercules. Xena (and Lucy Lawless) was pregnant. The time was ripe for a second musical episode. For most of the series, Xena walked around in a new costume and got a new chakram as well. The amazon Amarice (Jennifer Sky) remained as a memory of the events of the previous season. After the death of Caesar, it was logical that Xena would become involved in the story of Antony and Cleopatra... The entire series also had to be moved forward in time 25 years. Yes, all of those things happened. And although the original plans looked different, the result is certainly not bad. The style had changed, and it was clear that the show had passed its 100th episode and it was necessary to come to terms with the classic format of the show and the new episodes. Yet the warrior princess did not lose her charm even after five years. Fortunately, the fears of those who thought the final season would be devoted exclusively to the youngest generation, Livia (Adrienne Wilkinson), the lost daughter of Xena raised by Rome, proved false. At the time of Season 5, there was also another spin-off in the works called Amazon High, but the idea of a standalone Amazon series didn't take off and the material filmed for its pilot episode was turned into a regular episode of Xena called Lifeblood. (2020.07.13)

The final Season 6 is a nice mix of classic ideas and a modern conceptualization of the series. Though it all takes place after that 25-year shift forward, Xena's daughter Livia used to be the champion of Rome, but after meeting her mother, she chose a similar path to her and turned into a peacemaker (and changed her name to Eve). Xena and Gabby are seasoned partners, able to withstand the seductions of Lucifer and the pitfalls of the Sahara desert. There are no issues integrating Norse mythology into Xena's world and making Xena one of the mythical Valkyries. There are also no issues in returning to Rome and dealing with Caligula (Alexis Arquette). The episodes from the 20th century or alternate futures are also excellent (what if Caesar hadn't betrayed Xena...). All's well that ends well. The legendary series offered us a lot. One cannot forget the skirmishes with Callisto and Alti, the comedies full of friendly gods and goddesses from the mythical Mount Olympus. Several celebrities have stepped out of their shadows and gone on to work on such projects as The Lord of the Rings or (Ash vs) Evil Dead. Xena's stunt-woman Zoë Bell also broke through in Tarantino's films. (2020.07.13)