70: 5x05 "Them Bones, Them Bones" Live at Xenite Retreat!

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, welcome to the doghouse! Vera, Katie, and Livy are proud to present 5x05 “Them Bones, Them Bones” recorded LIVE AT XENITE RETREAT 2018! First we give you the deets on our pre-Retreat brush with celebrity and we introduce our special guest for the live show. Then we break down this episode’s experimental visuals, its exploration of identity and belonging, and the behind-the-scenes staffing transitions that affected its production. Plus: Gabs goes way beyond Test Day, Xena embraces motherhood, the glorious return of TV CPR, hat bangs, Amarice’s confusing secret, Yakut’s private heartbreak, the mechanics of skeleton fights, and Alti can’t decide whether she wants to be Xena’s lover or her baby. Paging Dr. Freud!

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69: Xenite Retreat 2018 + 5x04 "Animal Attraction"

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, Vera, Katie, and Livy clip on their deputy’s badges and prepare for a showdown with 5x04 “Animal Attraction.” We discuss the show’s baffling decision to reveal Xena’s pregnancy in a rom-com western, pregnancy coat homages, 90’s lady gunslingers, and what ‘race you to Greece’ really means. But before we break down the episode, we give you the play-by-play of our own adventures at Xenite Retreat 2018, including our die-hard allegiance to Callisto’s Cut-Throats, our many leaps of faith, howling at the moon to Katy Perry, the recording of our very first live show, and meeting Steve Sears while dressed as cows. Moooo! (Note: "Animal Attraction" begins at 58:00.)  

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68: 5x03 "Succession"

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, may the odds be ever in your favor! Vera, Katie, and Livy get their Hunger Games on with 5x03 “Succession,” a high-concept, small-scale gem and Steve Sears’s final credited contribution to the series. We discuss the episode’s intriguing triangulation between Xena, Gabs, and Ares, the tension that Gabrielle’s battle prowess puts on her relationship with Xena, and how these character dynamics might have evolved if Steve had continued writing S5. Plus: if you combine Xena and Gabs you get one amazing person, Mavican or Mavican’t, Xena wears pants, Gabrielle squats, Xena watches TV, Ares’ little dumpling, very important rocks, legacy in all its forms, and Gabrielle has a wound and absolutely everyone is concerned about it!

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67: 5x02 "Chakram"

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, our prayers are answered! Vera, Katie, and Livy take a spin with 5x02 “Chakram,” an episode with an inspired premise and a less-than-inspiring execution. We discuss its disappointingly reductive take on Xena’s morality and identity, the sketched-in origin story for Xena’s iconic weapon, and the shifting power dynamic as Gabrielle steps into the role as Xena’s protector. Plus: the good, the bad, and the ugly new lewks; why hair beads tho?; Kal Kal Kal Kal Kal; Ares gives bad massages; Eli’s got a gun; Caleb’s got a hot tub?!; kiss the girl; and our opinions of the SuperChakram. Catch you around the Acropolis!

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66: 5x01 "Fallen Angel"

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, oh no, we’re going to hellllllll! Vera, Katie, and Livy take flight in 5x01 “Fallen Angel,” the spectacular season premiere and the most technically audacious Xena episode yet. We discuss the then-cutting edge digital effects, the religious art that influenced the look of heaven and hell, and the importance of the realistic B-plot in bringing this otherwise outrageous episode back to earth, with especially big props to Ted Raimi for his restrained and dignified performance. Plus: the ambivalence experienced when Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship, more emphatically articulated than ever, is set against the greater good; Callisto’s arc concludes with her becoming a creepy doll; sweet baby demon Gabs; so many lewks; compassion and forgiveness; the Good Touch and the Bad Touch. MICHAEL! 
 

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