Minisode 05: Queerbaiting (and Why Xena Isn't!)

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This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, queer fans deserve better! Before Vera, Katie, and Livy embark on S5, we’re talking about Queerbaiting (and Why Xena Isn’t), the topic chosen by patrons in our Patreon poll. From Supernatural to Supergirl, Rizzoli & Isles to Sherlock, Once Upon A Time to The 100, we examine how creators sour their relationships with fans via manipulative advertising, false promises, recriminations, insults, and other harmful and exploitative behaviors. We also look at Hannibal, a positive example of a show evolving to meet the expectations of its fanbase. Finally we go back in time to Xena, examining the context in which the show was made, the producers’ intentions, how fan desires molded the trajectory of the show, and how Xena and Gabrielle are freaking canon, y’all! 

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Hermes Mailbag 03 - Transcendent Luuurv

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This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, we’ve got mail! Vera, Katie, and Livy (along with special guests, Borias and Satrina!) celebrate the end of Season 4 by answering the questions you sent to our ultra-chic Hermes Mailbag! Discussions include: whether we’d have been satisfied with “Ides of March” as the series finale, the importance of Gabrielle’s pacifist interlude to her overall arc, desert island seasons, Xena and Gabrielle’s favorite subscription services, what is transcendent love, does the concept of soulmates negate free will, managing a fandom-work-life balance, Callisto makes a friend, and Cyrene’s Tavern: Where Everybody Knows Your Name!

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65: 4x22 "Déjà Vu All Over Again"

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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"

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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"

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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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