Xena: Episode 116, "Mortal Beloved"

[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: MARCUS! This episode was mostly fascinating to me because it walks a fine line between a explicit straight relationship and an implicit queer relationship. While Gabrielle doesn’t have much to do in contrast to the A plot, it kind of speaks volumes that she waits for Xena. I mean, we’ve seen Gabrielle wait for Xena before, but she usually has stuff of her own to do while waiting or we just don’t see her (as in the previous episode, "Warrior... Princess".) We have not gotten shots of Gabrielle longingly waiting for Xena to come back from the war from the dead yet. Really devoted waiting is a very wifely thing in Greek literature. I’m not sure if this is intentional—the Xena writers have a shall we say loose interpretation of what counts as Greek mythology—but it makes my heart happy. I mean, when Xena comes back, Gabrielle shyly tells her that seeing her after getting knocked out was "a pleasant sight." ( Read more... )