75: 5x11 "Punch Lines"

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, live free or pie hard! Vera, Katie, and Livy are horsing around with 5x11 “Punch Lines,” a clip show celebration of Xena’s comedies. We discuss how this episode fits into the tradition of Gabrielle-focused clip shows, the cinematic history of pie fights, getting laughs out of Xena’s pregnancy, the very problematic (coin!) ‘romantic comedy’ supercut, Gabrielle’s writer’s block, and Aphrodite’s therapeutic seduction. White chocolate, anyone?

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74: 5x10 “Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire”

Welcome, all you baddest mama jammers, to another episode of XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST! Vera, Katie, and Livy are rocking out to 5x10 “Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire,” the show’s second, way-more-mediocre musical episode. Season FIVE! *shakes fist* We discuss our fave jukebox musicals (of which this is not one!), the thematic cohesion (or lack thereof!) with the song choice, RenPix’s obsession with Bye Bye Birdie, our long history with the Jace dance, how the male gaze can be challenged in an all-female space, whether Cyrene’s obsession with finding Xena’s baby a father is in character or not (it’s not!), and whether Gabrielle’s jealousy over Joxer is in character or not (it might be?). Plus: Vera performs a dramatic reading of the Xena rap (what Xena rap?) and Gabs shimmies to freedom!

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73: 5x08-09 "Little Problems" & "Seeds of Faith"

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, Vera, Katie, and Livy are in the soup with 5x08 “Little Problems” and 5x09 “Seeds of Faith.” We discuss what these two episodes have in common: reflective surfaces conveniently placed everywhere you need them! We also discuss how these episodes differ: one is a fairly serious meditation on belief and sacrifice, the others is about Gabrielle and Aphrodite impersonating conjoined Scandinavian twins. Check out those moosels! Plus: our fave ships Gaphrodite and Gares, Gabrielle’s fall from grace gets cut for time, a new vision of all-female family, the Rift Part 2, and forgiving your enemy means loving them like they’re your child (because they actually are your child, plus they’re also the father of your child, yes it’s confusing). TOUCHING!

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72: 5x07 "Back in the Bottle"

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, you spin me right round baby right round! Vera, Katie, and Livy put up a force field to protect themselves from 5x07 “Back in the Bottle,” the staggeringly lazy, tone deaf conclusion of the Chin two-parter. And you thought “Purity” was bad! We discuss the terrible script, so busted that the writers tried to save it with the last minute addition of...Ming T’ien? Also: Gabs has her first Boyfriend of the Week in YEARS and the sparks aren’t exactly flying, Voldemort and Quirrell stand on a Roomba, Genghis Khan subscribes to the Green Dragon newsletter for some reason, romantic psychic links, and the cowardly awfulness of having your hero declare she has “no choice” in a beyond-serious moral dilemma. The Problematic Jar is overflowing!!!

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71: 5x06 "Purity"

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST -- ugh, next slide! Vera, Katie, and Livy take on 5x06 “Purity,” the first half of the show’s misguided return to Chin. We discuss the shallow characterizations of new characters Pao Ssu and K’ao Hsin, Joxer’s blatant racism, and the writers’ infuriating retcon of “The Debt” -- seriously, since when has Lao Ma been Xena’s MOM? Plus: Gabrielle is really good with her feet, Be Less Gay :(, YAAS, Rick Jacobson uses his powers for evil, that’s not how the Force works!, and we give up covering these episodes in a single podcast halfway through. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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