Xena: Episode 113, "Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards"

[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 113, "Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards"

Clare: In the twenty-first century, genre television has developed some discreet methods to cover up a lack of budget, scheduling conflicts, and pregnancy, among other obstacles. (But, like, don’t deal with a pregnant actor the same way Joss Whedon dealt with Charisma Carpenter? That’s not cool.) “Midnight,” widely considered to be one of the best Tenth Doctor stories, has little to no Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and takes place almost entirely on a bus.

But don’t ever accuse the Xena writers of being as subtle (ha!) as Russell T. Davies and company. I can’t find a specific reason as to why “Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards” is a honest-to-Bowie clip show, but age-old speculation is that it was to save money and give Lucy Lawless a break. So it’s up to them to cobble together an episode out of the ever-game O’Connor, New Zealand’s finest extras, and old movie clips. ( Read more... )