Xena: Episode 118, "The Prodigal"

[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.

Clare: After Gaby freezes during an ambush, she decides that she’s too much of a liability (the ever-present danger for an action heroine’s girlfriend) for Xena and decides to go home to talk things over with her sister. Xena demolished my heart with her tentative little wave goodbye to Gaby. NO, GABY, NO!

Whoosh tells us that Lucy Lawless was very busy with Xena: Warrior Princess promotion, which is why we ended up with a Xenalite episode.

Renay: Ah, the days when actors could take a break from the show to promote the show instead of our new system of filming, convention, filming, convention, filming, filming! I can't complain, though, because I really liked this episode, the focus on Gabrielle's relationship with where she came from, and her relationship with her sister.

Clare: I liked seeing Gaby go back to her village and take charge. Remembering the pilot (that was so long ago!), Gaby was always so frustrated by the lack of agency Poteidaia offered her. That’s why she left! So seeing her work with what she’s got, with Meleager the drunken warrior, and the landscape that she knows pretty well, was really nice to see.

Renay: Watching her deal with her self-doubt was pretty gutting. No one's perfect, Gabrielle! But it was definitely nice to watch her return to Poteidaia and show just how much she had learned, both with Xena's help and without it. Gabrielle helps Meleager regain his confidence, and in doing so restores her own and realizes she's competent and can think on her feet. :D I like to think I'm getting better at spotting metaphors and tropes. Better Pop Culture Living through Xena: The Warrior Princess.

Clare: I was a little disappointed that we never actually see Gaby and Lilla sit down and talk about Gaby’s feelings, though. I mean, Gaby’s relationship with Meleager covered that territory, as she gets a chance to explore those feelings and prove herself. And, obviously, action is more valued than words on this show. But it did feel a little weird to have a character set out to have an Important Conversation with her sister and that never… happening?

Renay: Yes, that was SO STRANGE. I guess the scene in the forest and the scene as they're keeping watch attempt this even though they get sidetracked into Lilla's perspective. Then at the end Lilla accepts that Gabrielle will inevitably move on and embraces it as something positive instead of something she needs to be envious over. It's like they had Lilla intuit Gabrielle's feelings and spit them back out at her rather than them having a conversation to help Gabrielle work through her feelings with help. I guess it was a good time saver, but otherwise, this was like the pasted on way to get her back to Poteidaia to be awesome and humiliate Damon.

Also, can I just say the sword fight at the end was CAMPY GREATNESS? This show is a big fan of the magical hovering weapons that can exert their own force in order to stab someone the right way. Into it.

Clare: Oh, Xena just happened to be lingering at the last spot where Gaby left her? NICE TRY DORK WE KNOW YOU MISSED HER WAY MORE THAN YOU LET ON.

Renay: Not only lingering but actively watching and not helping because she knew Gabrielle was going to wipe the floor with their stabby death wagon. I bet there was a fistbump.

Supplemental Material

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

• The Hercules and Xena Wiki entry for "The Prodigal."
• Xena megafan website Whoosh’s episode guide for “The Prodigal."

Comments

[frayadjacent]

Yaaaayyyy! I'm glad you appreciate the campy fight -- I love that stuff! This is a lovely episode for Gab. I somehow never noticed that she never had the conversation with her sister? I'm guessing there's deleted scene there somewhere.

Xena is such a dork for Gabrielle. Oh my heart.

[renay]

I am super into their campy fights, which I didn't expect at all when I started this show. I was all convinced I'd hide my eyes through them but now I get way into them like a nerd. XD