XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS is a rarity in
genre television. With tongue stuck firmly in cheek it stands alongside
brother series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys as an antidote to the
conspiracies and doom-laden ongoing plots that seem to be afflicting
just about every other show currently on air. Entertainment is to the
fore, with a winning combination of fast paced plots, outrageous action
scenes plus a visual flair and eye for comedy that is often sorely
lacking in television Fantasy.
Girl Power
The decision to make both leads women has, whether by accident or
design, tapped into the current rise of girl power. Xena (Lucy Law-
less) and her travelling com- panion, Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor), are
both strong characters, well written with just the right amount of
self-deprecating humour. They have pre- dictably been labelled 'role
models', although the idea of a former killer be- ing a role model is
some- what disturbing to say the least. It is practically guaranteed
that the world will one day be taken over by monosyllabic,
karate-chopping, sword-wielding babes in leather bodices. Actually, it
doesn't sound so bad...
Producers Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert, not content to simply duplicate
the success of Hercules, have given Xena a darker side, opening up new
avenues for the series to explore. Xena's introduction (in the Hercules
episodes The Warrior Princess,
The Gauntlet and Unchained Heart) charted her fall and rise from
all-conquering warmonger to lone warrior in search of her identity. Lucy
Lawless has said, "Xena's agenda is just to get through the day without
killing someone". Whereas Hercules is the perfect hero, Xena is flawed.
She can, and often does, kill and is not above making mistakes. Her
journey down the long and difficult road to redemption provides the
foundation stone for the series.
The efforts to make Xena as different from Hercules as possible can also
be seen in the almost total absence of monsters. Instead, the writers
must content themselves by dealing with the monsters within Xena, the
violent urges she is constantly trying to suppress. It is a good
decision, which adds much needed depth to the show.
In the second episode, Chariots of War, she kills a warlord without the
slightest hint of remorse. By Season Two's Return of Callisto we are
seeing a very different character. Xena is no longer a heartless killer,
and her guilt over one act of vengeance has crucial consequences further
down the line.
Her struggles with her conscience manifest themselves almost
immediately. In the pilot, Sins of the Past, she is rejected by her
mother and stoned by the villagers of her hometown, Amphipolis. Eleven
years before, Xena had rallied them to defend the village against the
warlord Cortese. Many died, including her younger brother, Lyceus. She
refuses to defend herself against their wrath, knowing that they are
right to blame her for the tragedy which befell them. She is only saved
by the arrival of Gabrielle, who promptly talks - as she tends to do! -
the warrior out of trouble.
Lights, Camera... Action!
We are quickly shown, however, that this is not how Xena usually
extricates herself from sticky situations. She likes to fight. In fact,
she loves to fight. She's the kind of person you would definitely want
on your side. It is hard not to feel sorry for her opponents as she
glares at them with flashing eyes, smiles that wicked smile - and then
flattens them with her trademark split-kick. The bad guys may as well
beam into the scene wearing Starfleet security uniforms for all the
chance they have of getting out in one piece.
Fans of Raimi and Tapert's Evil Dead movies will feel instantly at home
with the knockabout humour. The action sequences are a giddying mix of
quick cuts, swooping cameras, hilarious stunts and exaggerated sound
effects. Xena's ability to pluck an arrow out of mid-air, to anticipate
a blow before it arrives, and the uncanny way in which her trusty
Chakram always finds its way back to her hand, all embellish her
mythical nature. When she defies gravity, running up trees and
somersaulting through the air, it merely serves as proof that the Force
is not limited to a galaxy inhabited by Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.
And as she breathes into the ear of her victim, after paralysing him
with her infamous pressure point attack, "I've just cut off the flow of
blood to your brain - you'll be dead in seconds unless I release you"
you have to believe her. They always tell her what she needs to know.
Friends and Foes
Xena : Warrior Princess features several recurring characters. Ares, God
of War (Kevin Smith), is Xena's biggest fan. Striding about in black
leather, his attempts to woo her back to a life of murder and mayhem are
both dramatic and amusing. Smith has appeared in several episodes and
always steals the show.
Ares isn't the only god on hand, with both Hades (Erik Thomson) and
Aphrodite (Alexandra Tydings) taking time out from their duties on
Hercules. Tydings, as always, is a delight, playing the Goddess of Love
as a self-absorbed Californian beach babe with attitude.
Other characters to look out for are the Amazons Ephiny (Danielle
Cormack) and Velasca (Melinda Clarke), Hercules regular Salmoneus
(Robert Trebor), and Autolycus, the King of Thieves (Raimi stalwart
Bruce Campbell). The appearance of Autolycus in The Royal Couple of
Thieves provides one of the comedic high points of the series, as he
joins forces with Xena to try to recover a stolen weapon. When he tricks
Xena into posing as his concubine you have to wonder about his sanity -
and fear for his life. '
Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst reprise their Hercules roles in
Prometheus, one of those rare crossover stories that actually works.
Hurst also makes cameo appearances in The Quest, as Iolaus, and Mortal
Beloved, as the whinging
old ferryman Charon who gives Xena an amusing tour of the underworld;
"Looking to the left you will see the Caves of Despair. And coming up on
the right, the Hanging Gardens of Disgusting Diseases". Sounds just like
a Club 18-30 holiday...
Towards the end of the first year the producers changed the shows'
emphasis slightly. Xena's most interesting foes are those who can hold
their own against her, and the introduction of Callisto (Hudson Leick)
was a turning point. She is the embodiment of Xena's darker side, out to
avenge her family's deaths at the hands of the warrior's army. Leick is
superb in the role, conveying the madness she has been driven to with
wild eyes, a manic smile and a barely perceptible quiver in her voice.
Callisto is also the first character to make the leap from Xena to
Hercules, in the episode Surprise.
Last, but by no means least, is Joxer (Ted Raimi), a bumbling would-be
warrior who takes over the reins of comic relief from the maturing
Gabrielle. Raimi does a fine job in the role - which is no mean feat
considering he is beaten senseless with alarming regularity. "I
cultivate this image," Joxer says, "it let's me get the jump on people".
Obviously the endless physical abuse has had more effect than he cares
to mention.
Warrior's Companion
The importance of Gabrielle to the development of the series cannot
be underestimated. The strong and believable friendship that grows
between the two women over the course of the first year is the heartbeat
of the show.
Gabrielle is the series's moral centre, keeping Xena's wilder emotions
in check and effectively ensuring that our hero retains the viewer's
sympathy. This is beautifully illustrated during a campfire scene in
'Callisto'. When Xena wonders what the need for revenge might drive her
to should Callisto harm anyone dear to her, Gabrielle makes her promise
that, no matter what happens, she will not give in to the hatred that
burns inside her. It proves to be both a moving and pivotal scene,
beautifully played, and exemplifies the depth of character that has been
woven over the course of the first 22 episodes.
The most important event in Gabrielle's growth, however, occurs in one
of the first season's lesser instalments. Hooves and Harlots sees her,
by a bizarre twist of fate, become an Amazon princess. During the course
of the story she begins to learn how to use astaff. This fulfils the
necessity for the character to be able to fight at Xena's side - without
killing anyone - and also marks her transformation from sidekick to able
companion.
These developments are handled deftly and consistently. Although it
comes as a shock when Gabrielle demands that her friend should teach her
how to use a sword in Return of Callisto it is a wholly believable
change, born out of the depths to which their enemy will plunge in order
to torture Xena. The scene is played with fierce conviction by O'Connor
and Lawless in what is undoubtedly the series' most intense story to
date.
This episode also sees Xena and Gabrielle's first kiss, an event which
has been jumped upon by gay viewers. Whether or not this is justified is
open to debate, as it could be viewed as a simple declaration of the
depth of their friendship, but it is handled with an admirably light
touch and adds another facet to the series' growing back story. Maybe
we'll find out one day.
Changes of Pace
The road Xena and Gabrielle travel is much like a pinball machine.
They have been hurled into adventures from legend (the siege of Troy in
Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts) and bounced into meetings with history
(Julius Caesar's appearance in Destiny). Then, when the ball gets stuck,
the writers tilt the table, throwing up comedies such as Warrior...
Princess... Tramp, in which Lucy Lawless is given the opportunity to
play both Xena and her remarkably coincidental twins Diana and Meg. In
Here She Comes... Miss Amphipolis, Xena is amusingly offended to be
called in to help a group of "under-dressed, over-developed bimbos" in
the Miss Known World beauty contest, despite her own scantily clad
state. She wins the contest herself, naturally.
The show isn't above lampooning itself either, as illustrated by The
Xena Scrolls, which ends in the present day with a young writer (Ted
Raimi) pitching the idea for the series to Robert Tapert, suggesting
that it could be made on the cheap in a Third World country using the
locals as extras! One imagines that went down well in New Zealand.
Looking beyond the action and humour, it is the underlying core of the
characters' respective 'journeys of the soul' that proves to be the most
satisfying aspect of the show. For Xena it is the rediscovery of her
humanity. Although we spend each episode rooting for her, it must be
remembered that she was once a brutal killer. It seems safe
to say that, when the character does find inner peace (of which she is
given the briefest glimpse at the end of Remember Nothing, Xena's answer
to It's a Wonderful Life), the series will draw to an end. For Gabrielle
it is the voyage to maturity. Considering this is a character who
started out idolizing Xena and hanging on her every word, it is a
journey that has already come a long way.
Rising Stars
Both actresses have thus been given the scope to show considerable
acting ability. Lucy Lawless is a master of the sardonically raised
eyebrow, and her wonderfully expressive features allow her to speak
volumes with just one look. She has an unquestionable flair for comedy,
and revels in the series' dramatic moments (as shown by her marvellous
performance in the season one finale Is There a Doctor in the House?).
It is also easy to forget that her natural voice and New Zealand accent
are quite different to those that she gives the character. Along with
her ability to handle the physical demands of the series, she
continually amazes with both the depth of emotion she portrays and the
conviction with which she carries this, her first starring vehicle.
Renee O'Connor is also excellent, forcing the writers to abandon any
plans for Gabrielle to remain as mere comic relief -although she is
still not averse to the odd wisecrack ("You're not much for girl talk
are you?" she asks Xena in Prometheus). She has also had plenty of
episodes in which to shine. In The Greater Good, possibly the series'
finest hour to date, Xena is shot with a poisoned dart that gradually
incapacitates her. O'Connor is a revelation in the scene where Gabrielle
returns to find Xena dead, silently kneeling beside her friend's body
and stroking the warrior's hair. Moments later we see her expelling her
rage and grief by furiously battering a tree trunk with her staff. It is
a sequence that is so simply shot and wonderfully acted that it carries
an immense emotional impact, something few people would have thought a
series such as this was capable of.
Never Work With Animals
On 8th October 1996, while filming a promotional sketch for The
Tonight Show, Lucy Lawless suffered multiple pelvic fractures when her
horse fell. Naturally, this had a dramatic impact on the filming of the
second season and the writers and producers had to dig deep in order to
cover for her absence. The ending of Intimate Stranger was changed to
leave Xena's spirit trapped in Callisto's body, allowing Hudson Leick to
continue as Xena in Ten Little Warlords. She does an impressive job,
perfectly imitating Lawless's phrasing and intonation. The biggest
compliment to her is that it was as though Lawless had never been away.
The running order was then re-shuffled and the end of Destiny altered so
that Xena 'dies' after taking a massive blow to the head, allowing the
events of The Quest to take place. In the end, a potentially damaging
situation was catered for with such ingenuity that you might almost
think it had been planned. And, happily, Lucy had recovered enough by
the end of November to be able to return to work.
Hit or Myth?
Xena is currently a regular in the top three syndicated action shows
in America, even beating Hercules and Deep Space Nine to the top spot
with its' second season Hallowe'en episode Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. A
long and prosperous future seems assured. One thing is for certain; the
series has yet to rest on its laurels since hitting its stride midway
through the first season, and Raimi and Tapert do not seem like the kind
of people who are afraid to take chances in order to prevent format
becoming formula. With them at the helm it is possible that Xena's
courage could indeed change the world.
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