Xena: Episode 111, "The Black Wolf"

[helloladies]

In a time without a Black Widow movie on the horizon, two fans in turmoil cried out for a heroine. She was Xena, a mighty female protagonist forged in the fires of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. The action, the camp, the queer subtext. Her adventures will rock their worlds.

Xena: Episode 111, "The Black Wolf"

Clare: And now for today's episode, which is actually a pretty standard jailbreak episode. I was very concerned that it starts off with our ladies separated—like, what was Gabrielle up to before she came across Argo at the farrier's? Whoosh posits that this might be part of Gabrielle's newfound independence, but I think they're taking a breather from "Hooves and Harlots," with their relationship mending when Gabrielle joins Xena in the dungeons and Xena introduces her as her friend to Salmoneus.

Renay: This was my first question when I watched this episode: where is Gabrielle? I'm now trained to, at all times, want them to be on adventures together! No separations allowed, show! I fall more in line with your reading on her initial absence, though, which I think holds up really well!

Clare: A little like "Hooves and Harlots," we meet even more people from Xena's past, including a surrogate sister. (How interesting that the children Xena and Gabrielle know and love are related to them as younger siblings and not, you know, sons and daughters!)

Renay: I like that they relate them this way because it creates a more equal footing in the relationship that is shown developing over the course of the episode that's not complicated by different levels of power. The show is very good at bringing on people and framing Gabrielle and Xena's friends as equal in each relationship, which I really love.

Clare: Salmoneus is actually a character from Hercules who played a pivotal role in bringing Xena back from the Dark Side, although he just seems to be a wacky friend of Xena's here. He plays very broadly and we get a big whiff of the show's indulgence in Flintstones-esque modern puns (agents and press releases, oh my!), but "Those boots! That leather! Those legs! Xena!" is kind of a perfect line. (As is Xena growling her defense of her embroidery skills.)

Renay: Salmoneus was my favorite character of this episode. I got that "queer-coded character" vibe from him, because I grew up on so many Disney movies that used this character trope. When I looked back at the characters and their companions later, it was way too easy to go "OH, okay!" How accurate that is remains to be seen, but he caught me off guard every time he interacted with Xena.

I also really loved Koulos, because I felt sorry for that complete sad sack. Xena comes into his city, beats up his dudes, effectively seduces Xerxes away from him, and then embarrasses him personally over and over until the bitter end. It was like, Koulos: Mall Cop, the hapless enforcer who can't do anything right. And unlike Blart there's no happy ending for him once Xena sets her mind on something. Poor Koulos.

Clare: Hermia and Flora are a little more interesting, in that Xena—and this is still evil!Xena or perhaps even a very young Xena—spent so much time with the family that she taught Flora how to fight. All of Hermia's menfolk are conveniently dead and the plot puts the focus on Xena's relationship with Flora. This might be why Gabrielle is missing until the end of the episode, because the show isn't really interested in pitting Xena's proteges together. (Because it likes its female characters! Whatta concept.) Flora's managed to become the Black Wolf all on her own; she's so wildly successful that she manages to overthrow an entire government at the end of the episode. It also highlights that Xena's skillset isn't what made her evil; she passed on the same skillset to a young girl who always used it for good. The show never really feints towards that idea, and that's because it has so many female characters. They can't be reduced to a single element!

Oh, this show.

Renay: This is the shameful moment where I admit I had utterly no clue Flora was The Black Wolf until the show admitted it, and then I was seriously facepalming. How many different ways did the show code that reveal into the episode? A lot. On a rewatch it's super obvious, whereas on a first viewing it would have been only mildly obvious, but still obvious enough for people familiar enough with tropes. I need to be better at tropes.

My favorite lines here were: "You embroider?" followed by, "I have skills." Such good timing.

Clare: FEMSLASH ALERT: That entire scene where Xena introduces Gabrielle to Salmoneus. Their height difference is really emphasized—Gabrielle tries to embrace Xena about the shoulders, but hits her waist instead—they do a cute prom pose, and Xena will cut you to ribbons if you try anything on her girl. Ugh, I adore them.

---

Supplemental Material

Much like Xena herself, Renay and Clare have powerful allies in their quest.

• The Hercules and Xena Wiki entry for "The Black Wolf".
• Xena megafan website Whoosh's episode guide for "The Black Wolf".

Comments

[frayadjacent]

I was eagerly awaiting your review of this episode, and then I went on vacation and missed it! Glad I went back to see if you'd done it yet.

This episode introduces/deepens some things that are really prominent in later seasons -- it felt much more significant to me after having watched the series than it did the first time. First of all, it's a good early example of how committed this show is to women characters and relationships between women, all the time, everywhere. And there are many women who are pivotal characters in Xena's backstory.

Also, this episode started to reveal that Xena wasn't just an evil person -- her slide toward murderous warlordy ways happened over time. At the time when she knew young Flora, she was helping and teaching the villagers how to defend themselves from the very sort of warlord she would later become.

Like you said, Flora took Xena's skills and attributes and used them for good, but this episode suggests that Xena started out that way too. So I think Flora is partly a reflection of Xena's younger self, and also perhaps a "but for the grace of god" suggestion that Xena herself didn't have to go down the path she did -- she could have chosen another way much earlier.

I really liked the little bit of relationship between Flora and Xena that we got here. And I loved Gabrielle breaking into prison and bringing Xena her chakram. (I agree that they were traveling separately partly because of Gab's newfound independence.) And I love Salmoneus. I never put my finger on the Disney Character type but you are so right! Perhaps that's part of why I like him.

"I have many skills" is an oft-quoted line in Xena fandom. :D