Official Xena Magazine #4
Tale of the Century
Birth,
death and the fall of gods are the key ingredients of Xena's eagerly awaited
fifth season adventure, Seeds of Faith. But the episode's epic storyline isn't
the only thing that will earn it a place in the history books. Kate Barker reports from
the set of a very special Xena episode...
This is the episode of Xena: Warrior Princess that has the honour of taking the series into triple figures. It is Seeds of Faith: the 100th episode.
In true Xena-style, the producers have decided to play with history again for episode 100, which deals with events that threaten to alter the very nature of the universe. Seeds of Faith focuses on the time known as the Twilight of the Gods, when the role of the ancient deities begins to diminish and humans start to shape their own destinies. Leading the challenge against the immortal Olympians is Eli (Timothy Omundson), the prophet and healer who has already had a profound influence on the lives of Xena (Lucy Lawless) and Gabrielle (Renee o Connor)
During a break in filming, director Garth Maxwell discusses the episode's incredible theme Its the clash of two mythologies: the pagan gods and the beginning of a more civilised religious era," he declares. "I' m trying to hang-on to a relatively sur real look for this episode," Maxwell continues. We ye set it in North Africa!"
Its about 4pm now, and on Xena's well- used village set, the clouds are starting to settle in Maxwell sighs and laments the fact that the Southern Hemisphere Winter limits the avail ability of daylight hours. "Shooting days are short the light's over by 6pm. Trying to shoot North Africa in the middle of New Zealand has been a bit of a task;"
Returning to the overall visual style of Seeds, Maxwell promises that viewers are in for some unique sights. "It's an interesting, quite abstract conjunction of ideas," he says. "The trick for us is turning the abstract into some thing more concrete."
In front of the cameras, the action is far from abstract. Eli is about to meet his destiny at the hands of regular villain Ares (Kevin Smith), the God of War.
"First positions, please," calls Maxwell, before adding, "reset the blade." With that com mand, the light prop sword in Ares' hands is replaced with a heavier, steel version for the close-up. The shot is completed and Maxwell gives his approval.
Seeds of Faith presents Xena's characters with some serious challenges. Gabrielle must accept Eli's demand that she resists taking up weapons to alter his fate, while Xena finds it dif ficult to believe in the sincerity of the once-evil Callisto (Hudson Leick), who is now an angel and an agent forgood.
It's a big deal for the actors too, although after some particularly heavy scenes, they can still find ways to lighten the mood. Following their characters' face-off, Smith and Omundson pose for a publicity shot. Omundson holds a cut-off sword blade prop into his chest. "I wish
they'd had strap-on one," he muses. "I could bump into things with it!" Collison seems to be a recurring theme theme during the making of Seeds. At one point during a scene change, Maxwell trides across the town square set, almost bumping into a deceptively unpregnant-looking Lucy Lawless.
"Just bowl over the pregnant woman," Lawless sighs melodramatically. 'Men!"
For Lawless, a century of episodes doesn't justify everything that has happened during the past four-and-a-half seasons of Xena. "The number 100 doesn't sound big enough for me," she admits. "It feels longer!"
Xena's real life alter-ego quickly adds that this is not a complaint. "I mean that in a good way," Lawless insists. "It feels like we've achieved so much and the number 100 doesn't really sum it up. 500 would be better... or 1000!"
Lawless describes Seeds of Faith as a 'much more standard" episode than other major fifth season offerings like the musical Lyre, Lyle, Hearts On Fire, or the special effects spectacular Fallen Angel. Like many stories before it. the episode thrusts Xena to the centre of a major historical event.
"As usual, we take credit for all these transitions in history," laughs Lawless. "We play with time lines an awful lot -- everything seems o happen over the course of Xena and Gabrielle's life -- but it doesn't matter a jot!"
Of course, some might say that a situation like the Twilight of the Gods is simply indicative of a world in which dramatic things happen most all the time.
For Kevin Smith, episode 100 is certainly something to be proud of. Yet the actor reports hat the process of filming the episode hasn't been all that different to his previous work on the show. "The thing about Xena is that it exists in this world of extraordinary events," he explains. "So in a way any extraordinary event in this world just becomes one of so many other. You're asked to do these things on a regular basis, and the fact that this is the 100th episode doesn't really change that."
While the events in episode 100 may not ave life-changing effects on Smith, they certainly do to his character. The actor gives his interpretation on what is going through Ares' iind as Eli predicts the people's eventual denial the gods. "They're coming to a point in time here the belief systems change," Smith reasons. "and there's an inevitability about it which think even Ares acknowledges.
"But he's not going to go without a fight," adds, "And being that his brief on Olympus the God of 'War, he'll do it in the way he knows best.
One stategy is for Ares to momentarily shift his focus of reclaiming Xena and
concentrate on the increasingly assertive Gabrielle. Smith says that since witnessing
Gabrielle do more than merely hold her own in battle, Ares has developed a 'grudging
respect" for her. And it is Gabrielle's increasing ability in the fray' that becomes
a dangerous tool at Ares' disposal in Seeds of Faith.
"Gabrielle's essence is pure," Smith explains, "so one of Ares' big
things with this episode is trying to subvert her. He figures if he can subvert her --
subvert the purest of the pure -- then he's got a foot in the door for this big
battle."
At first glance, one might think that the conclusion of Ares' confrontation with Eli might
give the God of War that edge. But for Smith, the immediate aftermath of that struggle has
been his personal highlight of making the episode.
"It's that moment of realisation," be says. "that moment when you can
almost feel the balance of power shifting. As soon as Ares does it, he goes, 'Oh, what
have I done?' He has a line, 'There's a difference between killing a man and killing a
cause.' He knows the dynamic of it too."
However. Smith insists that Ares is not evil -- he's just a realist. "I think in his
heart of hearts he realises it's futile; that the nature of the world is changing.
"I think he knows in his very marrow that the end is coming. But a cornered rat willl
fight more ferociously'. That's really what this episode is about, as far as Ares is
concerned."
There's something else that Seeds oj Faith is about -- something audiences have wanted an
answer to since the question was first raised, only' a few episodes into the fifth season.
In the 100th episode, the circumstances surrounding Xena's mysterious pregnancy are
finally revealed.
Drama, death and revelation -- all elements destined, as Lawless puts it. to "twang
those heart strings a little harder than usual.
"For the 100th episode," she concludes, "you've got to make a biggie."