I was introduced to Xena in the mid nineties by a friend who taped them off the TV and sent them to me. I probably watched a dozen episodes, really enjoyed it for what it was and that was that. Fast forward 20 odd years later and I decided to watch them with my 13 year old son and we both came slightly obsessed.
Firstly, you're not going to enjoy Xena if you treat it as anything other than an entertaining piece of fiction. Complaining that it's historically inaccurate is akin to asking why all Simpson characters have jaundice, it's just not important or relevant, it's just the way it is. You just have to accept its a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Xena contains high octane gravity defying action, comedy and farce, tragedy and darkness. Blending all these themes often feels incongruous, yet somehow it works. It's hard to think of another series except for Buffy that has attempted and achieved this. Watching this all the way through made me realise how influential Xena must have been for Joss Wheldon. Buffy may be the slicker, richer, more refined younger sister but Xena did it first - Strong female protagonists, the blend of humour, action and pathos, pushing the envelope with regards sexual identity politics, even having musical episodes and contriving to have babies return as adults (Connor - Angel anyone?).
Where Xena really succeeds is the relationship between the two main characters and whether you believe they were lovers or not (they totally were) the dynamic between the two is what knits the show together and makes it still enjoyable to this day. Xena's character becomes more nuanced as time goes on and they allow softer elements of her character to come through. Gabrielle slowly transitions from being a talkative, hostage prone liability to being a fully fledged warrior herself. Renee O'connors great physicality made this an obvious path to take and it was a great arc for the show.
Other characters come and go, the most significant being Joxer, the Jar Jar Binks of the Xena universe. Joxer is an irritating presence but played so well by Ted Rami that you grudgingly accept him as the comic relief and he becomes part of the family. The late, great Kevin Smith plays Aries, the God of war and his presence and chemistry with Lucy Lawless augments any episode he appears in. Hudson Leick is magnicent as Xena nemesis Callisto and lights up the screen in every episode she's in.
There is plenty to critisise and pick holes in if you have a mind to. CGI was in its infancy and effects that may have passed the mustard at the time aren't even to computer game standard today. Some of the support acting is at times painfully bad, editing choices at times curious and the ending of episodes often clumsy.
These are minor critisms given the shows strengths and they don't stop the warmth and entertainment flooding through, making this still a highly enjoyable and rewarding watch from beginning to end.
Firstly, you're not going to enjoy Xena if you treat it as anything other than an entertaining piece of fiction. Complaining that it's historically inaccurate is akin to asking why all Simpson characters have jaundice, it's just not important or relevant, it's just the way it is. You just have to accept its a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
Xena contains high octane gravity defying action, comedy and farce, tragedy and darkness. Blending all these themes often feels incongruous, yet somehow it works. It's hard to think of another series except for Buffy that has attempted and achieved this. Watching this all the way through made me realise how influential Xena must have been for Joss Wheldon. Buffy may be the slicker, richer, more refined younger sister but Xena did it first - Strong female protagonists, the blend of humour, action and pathos, pushing the envelope with regards sexual identity politics, even having musical episodes and contriving to have babies return as adults (Connor - Angel anyone?).
Where Xena really succeeds is the relationship between the two main characters and whether you believe they were lovers or not (they totally were) the dynamic between the two is what knits the show together and makes it still enjoyable to this day. Xena's character becomes more nuanced as time goes on and they allow softer elements of her character to come through. Gabrielle slowly transitions from being a talkative, hostage prone liability to being a fully fledged warrior herself. Renee O'connors great physicality made this an obvious path to take and it was a great arc for the show.
Other characters come and go, the most significant being Joxer, the Jar Jar Binks of the Xena universe. Joxer is an irritating presence but played so well by Ted Rami that you grudgingly accept him as the comic relief and he becomes part of the family. The late, great Kevin Smith plays Aries, the God of war and his presence and chemistry with Lucy Lawless augments any episode he appears in. Hudson Leick is magnicent as Xena nemesis Callisto and lights up the screen in every episode she's in.
There is plenty to critisise and pick holes in if you have a mind to. CGI was in its infancy and effects that may have passed the mustard at the time aren't even to computer game standard today. Some of the support acting is at times painfully bad, editing choices at times curious and the ending of episodes often clumsy.
These are minor critisms given the shows strengths and they don't stop the warmth and entertainment flooding through, making this still a highly enjoyable and rewarding watch from beginning to end.