65: 4x22 "Déjà Vu All Over Again"

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, become your breath, and on the count of ten, think yourself back to Ancient Greece! Vera, Katie, and Livy clarify their remembrances of 4x22 “Déjà Vu All Over Again,” the inexplicable Season 4 finale and Renée O’Connor’s directorial debut. We discuss why this clip show/bottle episode maybe wasn’t the best assignment for a first-time director, its nostalgic use of Season 1 clips, the many layers of texts and meta, how Harry is the worst even though he’s Xena, how to make the kisses on the show less frustrating, and the queer af identity scrambling that messes with normative views of gender and sexuality. Plus: Ares’ hair is out of control, set design by Spencer Gifts, we finally ship Gabs/Joxer, even the birds ship Xena/Gabs, and holy sh!t we finished Season 4 you guys!

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64: 4x21 "The Ides of March"

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, we choose the Way of Friendship. Vera, Katie, and Livy fulfill their destinies in (beware!) 4x21 “The Ides of March,” the sorta season finale, the culmination of several major long-running arcs, and a perfect expression of the ecstatic emotionalism Xena is capable of. We discuss why Callisto is so well-suited to the role of stage manager in the Last Temptation of Xena, Caesar and Brutus as the bizarro version of Xena and Gabs, what being a vessel of perfect love means for Gabrielle, when visual storytelling is so powerful that words become unnecessary, the use of parallel editing to create new meaning in the episode’s spectacular climax, and the radical portrayal of female love toppling the patriarchy and ascending to heaven. Plus: "Kyle" Urban, get a room Jesus, finding Mount Amaro on Google Maps, theramin ghost music, Xena’s best hair, Gabs’s missing henna, Hi Zoë!, The Walking Dead, and it’s my spine!!! This is our longest episode yet, so hold on to your butts!!!    

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63: 4x20 "Endgame"

In our village, every Monday we listen to a new episode of XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST! Vera, Katie, and Livy play for keeps with 4x20 “Endgame,” where shit gets real and major characters who’ve been part of the show for YEARS get killed...in the teaser!? We discuss how they done Ephiny dirty, the final Brutus and his sexual chemistry with Gabrielle (at least according to Renée), Amarice’s hat, Pompey the capitalist, can Gabrielle be a pacifist and an Amazon queen?, Xena’s many surrenders, plus Phil the French Bulldog weighs in with his opinions on the episode. 
 

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62: 4x18-19 "The Convert" & "Takes One to Know One"

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, get your aloe vera ready because the Queen of Sick Burns is back! Vera, Katie, and Livy go up against Najara again in 4x18 “The Convert,” discussing her Greatest Hits and whether her characterization in this episode is consistent with the woman we met in “Crusader,” plus actual character development for Joxer, vines!?, and Gabrielle working through her emotions via bad salads. Next, it’s 4x19 “Takes One to Know One,” which tries to solve the mystery of ‘how many Clue jokes is too many?’ One! One is plenty! 

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61: 4x17 "The Play's the Thing"

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, all the world’s a stage! Vera, Katie, and Livy go to the theater in 4x17 “The Play’s the Thing,” the show’s most meta episode yet. The writers waste no time in sending up the just-finished India arc and the still-underway pacifism arc, while also making light of every criticism ever made of Xena; from its skimpy costumes and hot tubs to its gratuitous violence and subpar acting, the show claps back with a gleeful vengeance, while also interrogating its own choices and history. We discuss the importance of examining Gabs’s character through a humorous lens at this critical stage of her journey; Zehra, Milo, and this episode’s debt to meta-theatrical movies; thespians!!!; why Spartacus is SO GOOD; a salute to foley; and Buffus the Bacchae Slayer, which you may have heard is playing just across the street.

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