Well, this is it; after almost three years and nearly 150 posts about Xena, I finally got to the end of that series. In my very first Xena post, I mentioned how Xena became my favourite show of all time as soon as I started watching it, and doing these reviews has only confirmed that for me. Also, Gabrielle is still my favourite character and, yes, I still like Joxer (when he’s written properly). As I mentioned last week, I think the overall theme of the series may be how love can be transformative, not just for individuals but for the world at large. Gabi’s love certainly transformed Xena, which led her to make the world a better place. Of course, Xena always had that goodness inside her, but without Gabi she may not have been able to find it when she needed it. (Yeah, I’m definitely still a Texter.) I think that’s why I love the show so much, because it shows us that we can actually make a difference by doing what’s right and putting more love into the world than we take out.
Back in that inaugural post, I also laid out my personal list of episodes, from most to least favourite. But watching all the episodes for my reviews has changed my feelings on some of them, so I’m putting a revised list here. You’ll notice that quite a few episodes moved up in the list—some substantially, like Many Happy Returns—and some dropped down a bit. But keep in mind that just because an episode moved down on the list, that doesn’t necessarily mean I like it less than before. Some episodes had to fall to make room for others that were moving upwards, and some went down not because my opinion on them changed, but because there are so many quality episodes that others just end up suffering in comparison. In my original list, I mentioned that any episode up to #115 would be a 7 out of 10, but in this list I’d probably extend that to #119. Only the last fifteen episodes are what I’d consider below par, since the creators and actors set the bar so high on this series.
1. One Against an Army 68. Takes One to Know One
2. When Fates Collide 69. Ties That Bind
3. Kindred Spirits 70. Succession
4. Remember Nothing 71. Prometheus
5. A Family Affair 72. You Are There
6. Sins of the Past 73. Lyre Lyre Hearts on Fire
7. The Price 74. Gabrielle’s Hope
8. The Quill is Mightier 75. Destiny
9. Return of Callisto 76. Royal Couple of Thieves
10. Old Ares Had a Farm 77. A Fistful of Dinars
11. Intimate Stranger 78. A Solstice Carol
12. A Day in the Life 79. Warrior … Princess
13. The Ides of March 80. A Friend in Need Part II
14. Many Happy Returns 81. Legacy
15. Endgame 82. Animal Attraction
16. Locked Up and Tied Down 83. In Sickness and in Hell
17. Callisto 84. Them Bones, Them Bones
18. The Quest 85. Sacrifice
19. Motherhood 86. The Furies
20. Amphipolis Under Siege 87. The Convert
21. Warrior … Princess … Tramp 88. God Fearing Child
22. A Comedy of Eros 89. Athens City Academy …
23. The Bitter Suite 90. Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts
24. Crusader 91. Ten Little Warlords
25. Eve 92. Send in the Clones
26. Is There a Doctor in the House? 93. Death in Chains
27. Forget Me Not 94. Fallen Angel
28. Looking Death in the Eye 95. Past Imperfect
29. Been There Done That 96. The Deliverer
30. Warrior … Priestess … Tramp 97. The Execution
31. Hooves and Harlots 98. Last of the Centaurs
32. Between the Lines 99. A Necessary Evil
33. Blind Faith 100. For Him the Bell Tolls
34. To Helicon and Back 101. The Debt Part II
35. When in Rome 102. Deja Vu All Over Again
36. The Ring 103. Path of Vengeance
37. Lost Mariner 104. Adventures in the Sin Trade II
38. Who’s Gurkhan? 105. A Friend in Need
39. Tsunami 106. The Rheingold
40. Maternal Instincts 107. Orphan of War
41. Little Problems 108. Adventures in the Sin Trade
42. Return of the Valkyrie 109. The Debt
43. The Greater Good 110. Coming Home
44. The Play’s the Thing 111. Daughter of Pomira
45. Dreamworker 112. Married With Fishsticks
46. The Reckoning 113. The Path Not Taken
47. The Prodigal 114. Here She Comes …
48. Sacrifice Part II 115. King of Assassins
49. The Abyss 116. Vanishing Act
50. The God You Know 117. Ulysses
51. A Good Day 118. Cradle of Hope
52. Dirty Half Dozen 119. Haunting of Amphipolis
53. Livia 120. Purity
54. The Xena Scrolls 121. Back in the Bottle
55. Antony and Cleopatra 122. Altared States
56. If the Shoe Fits … 123. Giant Killer
57. Eternal Bonds 124. Dangerous Prey
58. Devi 125. Death Mask
59. Fins, Femmes, and Gems 126. Chariots of War
60. The Way 127. Black Wolf
61. Paradise Found 128. The Titans
62. Seeds of Faith 129. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
63. Key to the Kingdom 130. Heart of Darkness
64. Punch Lines 131. A Tale of Two Muses
65. Chakram 132. Soul Possession
66. Mortal Beloved 133. Lifeblood
67. Forgiven 134. King Con
As I said, some episodes moved up on my list because my feelings for them grew upon re-watch. I could very well change my mind (and probably will) after another re-watch, but this is how I feel right now. I think I might actually watch all the episodes again, this time taking into account my speculations about the revised episode order that I brought up in various Geography/Timeline posts. I’ll see if my revised order really does make the overall story flow better. Speaking of which, I’ve contemplated doing a special timeline post where I try to put Xena’s past exploits into some kind of logical order, but I think I’ll hold off on that for now. Maybe one of these days I’ll try it, but for now it’s time to say farewell to my Xena posts (as much as I love covering the show) and move on to the next show I’ll be reviewing. I’ve decided to do Frankie Drake Mysteries, a show about female detectives in the 1920s. I’ve never seen it before, but the setting appeals to me and I do love shows about kick-ass women (did I mention that Xena is my favourite show of all time?), so I think I’ll enjoy this. Join me next Wednesday for my first Frankie Drake review and thanks for reading my Xena posts.