78: 5x14 "Amphipolis Under Siege"

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, it’s a battle on the home front! Vera, Katie, and Livy return to where it all began with 5x14 “Amphipolis Under Siege,” a rousing episode that marks the beginning of the show’s return to form. We discuss comeback kid R.J. Stewart’s strategic use of Xena continuity to remind the audience why they fell in love with the show in the first place, Xena back in her beloved Warrior Princess duds!!!, Ares as an object of pity and sympathy, and the long overdue introduction of Athena, a magnificent character underserved by not enough screen time and not enough costume. Plus: dusty temples, Cyrene remains the greatest, our frustration with long cons, textual girlfriends, Casablanca, and what an Ares/Xena/Gabs threeway would look like. Glede ma glede!

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77: 5x13 "Eternal Bonds"

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, Chris Manheim is at it again! Vera, Katie, and Livy are getting hot and heavy with 5x13 “Eternal Bonds,” a.k.a. A Very Hetero Episode that is nonetheless very attuned to the characters and kicks off the quality upswing as we enter the back half of Season 5. We discuss the show’s handling of Baby Eve, poopy diapies and all, the moral complexity of exposing a child to a life of violence and the intimate beauty of the breastfeeding sequence. Plus: The B word, Ares goes downtown in dreamland, Xena chops it out, the Beesley dunes, Gabrielle and Joxer resolve their issues through the magic of hurt/comfort, and Ares reduces Vera to singing boy band hits of the 90’s. The power, the passion, the podcast!    

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76: 5x12 "God Fearing Child"

Oh baby, it’s time for another episode of XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST! Vera, Katie, and Livy have a special delivery with 5x12 “God Fearing Child,” and ARGH get out of the way, Hercules!! We discuss this episode’s mothers and fathers, as Xena reckons with the specter of Solon just as she’s about to give birth, and Hercules reckons with his daddy issues which no one cares about. Plus: the dysfunctional family unit of Zeus, Hera, and Ares; Meg Foster on Cagney and Lacey; Ares’ manipulative sincerity; Gabs is invisible which is awesome but also we can’t see her arms anymore, boo; the afterlife makes no sense; and Xena lost her pants just in time! "Heeeeeey!"  

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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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