San Jose Mercury News
22 June 2001
`Xena' blazed the way for superwomen
BY CHARLIE MCCOLLUM
Xena has one last battle to fight before she and her gal pal Gabrielle can ride off into the sunset. All that stands against them are 20,000 or so samurai warriors. It should be a piece of cake.
During its six seasons on the air, ``Xena: Warrior Princess'' (8 p.m. Saturday, Ch. 20) was a true television phenomenon. It broke a lot of rules about linear plot development, changed the way we perceived women as action heroes and gave American viewers their first lesbian (well, maybe) superhero.
In fact, if ``Xena'' hadn't altered the TV landscape back in 1995, it's doubtful there would have been a ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer,'' let alone those bad girls on ``Dark Angel'' and ``Witchblade.''
Originally conceived as a villainess on ``Hercules: The Legendary Journeys,'' Xena was always larger than life, altering the course of history and dethroning warlords, kings and gods. Time and space meant absolutely nothing to Xena and her friends as they skipped from the ancient times to the underworld to various alternative universes.
Somehow it made sense, most of the time, but what really kept the series together was the relationship between Xena (Lucy Lawless) and Gabrielle (Reneé O'Connor). Amid all the camp humor -- and the show was keenly aware of its audience's perceptions and expectations -- there was a warmth in the relationship that was undeniable.