First, an update about the 2012 XenaCon currently going down/ending as we speak: according to this picture taken by a Facebook Xena Movie Campaign team member, 2012 no longer marks the last year for Xena Conventions. No sir; they're definitely having one in 2013 and guess who'll be there, girl. This bitch. Now, back to the discussion at hand.
Because I'm about to watch and review all six seasons of Xena: Warrior Princess, the greatest TV show on Earth, I'll disclose a few things about my initial viewing of the entire series two years ago in 2009. Topics covered include how long it took me, notes that I took (few as they were), and what I thought about each season.
After I moved to a new city in 1996 and stopped watching Xena, I remember:
1) reading about a musical episode ("The Bitter Suite") that was about to air. I was (and still am) majorly into musicals and operas, so I was thrilled about it at the time but was just too busy with my budding adult life to watch it.
2) randomly seeing pictures of Gabrielle with short hair but not knowing why she cut it and even hating that she cut it.
3) hearing about the cancellation of the show when I was in my early 20s and lamenting that it was ending but also being impressed that it lasted six seasons. (In retrospect, I'm pissed that it only lasted six seasons.)
All of this was prior to 2009, when I finally sat down and watched the whole series properly from beginning to end. I can't remember what possessed me to do it, other than I never stopped loving the show and all of the eps were streaming on Netflix.
1) reading about a musical episode ("The Bitter Suite") that was about to air. I was (and still am) majorly into musicals and operas, so I was thrilled about it at the time but was just too busy with my budding adult life to watch it.
2) randomly seeing pictures of Gabrielle with short hair but not knowing why she cut it and even hating that she cut it.
3) hearing about the cancellation of the show when I was in my early 20s and lamenting that it was ending but also being impressed that it lasted six seasons. (In retrospect, I'm pissed that it only lasted six seasons.)
All of this was prior to 2009, when I finally sat down and watched the whole series properly from beginning to end. I can't remember what possessed me to do it, other than I never stopped loving the show and all of the eps were streaming on Netflix.
**Before 2009, I had never seen a single episode of seasons 3, 4, 5, or 6.**
It pains me to say that I didn't document my progress with the full Xena viewing in 2009, because I simply wasn't aware of how the series as a whole would affect me.
I mean, don't get me wrong. I had always loved Xena, even though I'd only seen various episodes of the first two seasons before 2009. I just had no idea it would get as serious and deep as it did. When I realized, during the viewing in 2009, that I wanted/needed to take notes, I was already almost finished and just thought, "fuck it."
I mean, don't get me wrong. I had always loved Xena, even though I'd only seen various episodes of the first two seasons before 2009. I just had no idea it would get as serious and deep as it did. When I realized, during the viewing in 2009, that I wanted/needed to take notes, I was already almost finished and just thought, "fuck it."
Watching every single episode of Xena is no easy feat. Many are unaware of what an undertaking it is. Each episode of Xena is roughly 44 minutes long and there are about 22 episodes in each season (thank god!) In 2009, it took me three months to watch the series (minus the last two episodes, which I couldn't bring myself to watch and had been told not to watch by some serious Xena fans. I was afraid [and still am] that watching the final episodes would snuff my love for the show.)
In 2009, I worked a full-time job, so that meant that I could comfortably watch about 1 or 2 episodes per work night. Every morning when I woke up, I played the previous night's Xena episode as I got ready for work, which always put me in a good mood. I fit in eps every time I got a chance and then started reading the reviews from AUSXIP after each episode about halfway through the series, which would take up about 30 minutes, post-viewing.
When I told my friends what I was doing (they love me for loving Xena, as they should), they couldn't believe I would even think of dwindling away so much time on a TV show like Xena. Now, they tell me all the time that they'll sit down to watch all of Mad Men, Roseanne, Law & Order: SVU, etc; knit; play video games; watch sports; play sports; go out; get wasted; do drugs; attend plays; dance; read books; cook food; eat food; pan handle, or what-have-you. I consider some of these activities to be art-forms, some to be observations of art, and some to be a complete waste of time - whatever!
The point is, I think watching Xena is a serious exercise in art appreciation and an art form, because of what it does to me and what it makes me want to do. If you let it, this show will open your mind and change you for the better. My best friend, Luscious L, once said, "Watching TV can be good for you, if you think about what you're watching." In that spirit, watching Xena is extremely beneficial. It's all about people dreaming big and making it happen.
The point is, I think watching Xena is a serious exercise in art appreciation and an art form, because of what it does to me and what it makes me want to do. If you let it, this show will open your mind and change you for the better. My best friend, Luscious L, once said, "Watching TV can be good for you, if you think about what you're watching." In that spirit, watching Xena is extremely beneficial. It's all about people dreaming big and making it happen.
Because seasons 3, 4 and 6 took me by such surprise in their strength in 2009, I can't exactly remember the impacts of seasons 1 and 2. I recall liking them. They are, after all, what made me fall in love with Xena in the first place. I definitely remember thinking that season 5 sucked, but that could just be because season 5 lost it. "It" being Xena and Gabrielle's connection. I wonder if, when I watch the series again knowing that "it" returns (with a vengeance) in season 6, I'll actually like/enjoy season 5 and maybe liken it to the innocence of seasons 1 and 2. It will be the biggest surprise in the world for me, if that happens after the 2012 viewing. More on the seasons tomorrow.
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