We come not to bury Xena, but to praise her.

I never taped Xena, until the final episode. One didn't have to. The feminist offshoot of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys was shown on Global, CHCH, CKVR, Fox-29 in Buffalo, and a few of the WB superstations, often more than once a week; at one point I counted eleven showings in a single week. One watched because it was loosely in the category of speculative fiction, and because there was always an hour during the week when all the reruns had been watched and nothing better was on. Xena was absurdly anachronistic and inconsistent, going from the Trojan War to the birth of Christ in barely more than a season. Where serious shows like Babylon 5 were redefining "good" television as an art form that built a vast level of consistent detail and plot depth stretching across seasons, Xena was humorously, outrageously "bad", making not the slightest concession to depth or consistency. With her flying kicks, pressure-point dramatics, and mastery of any weapon, this show drew strongly on the tradition and symbols of cheesy Hong Kong martial-arts films (in the same way that the early Hercules was based on WWF wrestling). Even though you couldn't take it seriously, it was fun to watch.

In fact, as I have argued that television in the 1990s became the dominant visual art form because of its increase in quality (compared to, say, the movies), I have to conclude that Xena was one of the shows that redefined the boundaries of television during the period. Great art challenges one's perceptions and expectations, and many episodes of Xena did that. As early as the fourth episode of the first season, the show mixed up the stories of Moses and Pandora, and it went on to trample with the logic of legend again and again. The show explored love, hate, madness, silliness, motherhood, death, betrayal, and more, and sometimes it leaped past any boundary of logic, as in "You Are There", in which a tabloid journalist follows Xena on a quest to steal the golden applies of Valhalla to restore the divinity of Aphrodite. A minor controversy arose when the show used symbols of Hindu legend, but that story was very tame and faithful to the traditions of India compared to what the show did to Christian and Jewish mythologies, never mind the extreme liberties taken with the Greek legends. The show reveled in cliché, but one of the ways it stayed fresh was by keeping the characters unpredictable. Gabrielle might betray Xena to save her from her violent impulses against the minions of Ming Tien, or for the sake of the unholy child she had with Dahak, and yet the love of Gabrielle and Xena was a touchstone for the entire series, stronger than the bonds of death on many occasions. In the fifth season, the plot jumped ahead twenty-five years, without losing any opportunities for developing character. It could verge into really silly stories like "Married With Fishsticks" (Gabrielle dreaming she was a mermaid), "Old Ares Had a Farm", or "Been There, Done That" (a riff on "Romeo and Juliet" and "Groundhog Day"). Individual episodes borrowed plots and themes from many films, from "Fame" to "Indiana Jones", from "A Fistful of Dollars" to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". The series was never limited by the conventions of mundane reality.

Some people argue that Xena became too mystical and that this was a flaw. While I concede that you had to pay attention and have a well-rounded background to follow it at times, I think this was one of the show's great strengths. Some of the most thoughtful and interesting episodes were those based on Hindu, Chinese, and other traditions outside the classical (Greco-Roman) mythologies. If Xena had a theme, it was most closely explored in "Between the Lines", in which the evil shamaness Alti battles with Xena in a future life. This explores the roles of Xena, Gabrielle, and others not just as characters, but as archetypes, battling for good, evil, and redemption across all time. The same theme is explored in a much less serious way in "Deja Vu All Over Again", in which a group of suburban Californians explore their past lives as Xena and Gabrielle. As early as the second season, "The Xena Scrolls" touched on the timelessness of the Xena archetype. So the show was much less about the actual characters than it was about the concept of Xena and Gabrielle.

Another feature of Xena that added depth was the use of mirror characters. Xena herself, of course, started out as a feminine mirror of Hercules, initially evil and selfish against Hercules's goodness. Gabrielle is goodness to Xena's darkness, innocence against worldliness, and (to emphasize the other points) blonde versus brunette. Joxer, somewhat paradoxically, is another male mirror, ineffectual against Xena's strength, a blowhard versus Xena's understated focus. Some of the other recurring characters, such as Lao Ma, Borias, Julius Caesar, Alti, and Callisto all contained and explored different facets of Xena's personality. The concept of mirror characters was explicitly addressed early in the show, in "Warrior...Princess" where Lucy Lawless played both Xena and Diana, and in the second season in "Warrior...Princess...Tramp", which added the character of Meg (who Joxer ended up marrying in season five).

Xena's ability to face these characters on their own terms and absorb their story energy without ultimately compromising her principles was a genuine artistic strength of the show. This detailed approach allowed the series to thoroughly explore all aspects of her character, which underlined Xena's function as archetype, not just as hero. One of the advantages of television over other media is this episodic structure, allowing writers to take different takes on the same theme, setting, or characters.

Another thing that differentiated Xena from the rest of genre (or mainstream) television was the strength of the female characters. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed, and other shows had a similar aspect, but Xena went further than the rest in establishing a character that stood absolutely outside the constraints of traditional feminine roles. Xena was a girl who would hit back, or hit first with little provocation, and she never deferred to anybody, not even the gods. In the early shows, she overcompensated for being female, acting as though she had more testosterone than any of the male warlords she faced. But over the years she transcended that to become entirely self-defined; she compromised with no one, acknowledged no limitations, tolerated no boundaries in her dealings with anyone. Where, for example, Buffy would struggle to fit into a semblance of normal society, Xena never yielded to the expectations of others. I think that in particular is what drove the obsession of the most hardcore fans (okay, so I've been doing research on web sites). Before lesbian images were common on television, they played with the Gabrielle-Xena relationship to great effect, joking with themselves in the process. However, in the final analysis, they never stepped over the line into any behavior that could not have transpired between close straight comrades. The setting was tropical, the culture was one that allowed public baths and few possessions, and the relationship of travelling comrades-in-arms would have no room for physical modesty. The show had a bit of nudity, but no more than you'd see in a college dorm or a few dozen science fiction conventions. The close emotional relationship (on good days and bad) was founded in a history of ordeal, and I have seen straight female friends share massages or even kiss in extreme moments (and Xena had many of those). Both characters clearly demonstrated an interest in (several) men, and neither showed any interest in women except (possibly) each other. Which is not to diminish the interest of those who found the relationship to have a lesbian overtone; characters in the show came to that conclusion, and the show earned praise for not shying away from this imagery. In particular, if you compare this relationship with, say, Willow and Tara, the latter clearly express their affection in a way that includes sexual content, and that is just missing from the portrayal of Xena and Gabrielle. But the show is fantasy, so different viewers can imagine whatever they like to be happening offscreen.

I would not say the show succeeded on every point. I found the whole Dahak plotline to be depressing and unpleasant, with its only redeeming virtue being a foundation for the episode "The Bitter Suite". However, artistic strength and integrity requires a willingness to take artistic risks, so I don't begrudge the show's creators this slip. More serious was the plot which resulted in the death of the Olympian gods. Like a bad role-playing game where the heroes end up with the ability to kill gods, the story was left with the question "what else is left?" I believe this resulted in the show coming to an end a season later; cracked as the setting of Greek mythology was, it was still the foundation of the milieu and the stories could not go far without it. On an individual basis, many of the shows of the sixth season were very strong, but collectively they added up to less than the sum of the parts.

So on the basis of originality and artistic value, I have chosen my ten favorite episodes:

1. "The Debt": This two-part episode from the third season shows the essence of the Xena archetype. Xena and Gabrielle go to Chin, to battle the evil Ming Tien, the warlord son of Xena's mentor Lao Ma. The martial-arts moves that are the core of Xena's schtick derives from Chinese legend. This is the episode where Gabrielle betrays Xena to save her from her violent side, causing Xena to be captured by Ming Tien. Xena reaches her full potential, commanding the elements and flying through the air to defeat Ming Tien in a classic scene. But in the end, Xena fails to overcome her dark nature, and she kills the young warlord with a hairpin given to her by Lao Ma in an explicit rejection of the path of enlightenment.

2. "The Bitter Suite": Also in the third season, this was the first of the musical episodes, in which an guide appearing like Callisto guides Xena and Gabrielle through a rich symbolic journey of Tarot archetypes. They need to do this to reconcile after Xena kills Hope, Gabrielle's ill-fated daughter by Dahak. Symbols and story are interwoven brilliantly in one of the most interesting hours of television ever produced.

3. "Between the Lines": This is the strongest of several episodes showing Xena and Gabrielle as archetypes of good who will be battling evil, in various incarnations of the shamaness Alti, for all time. In the fourth season, Xena and Gabrielle go forward in time in India. In a reversal of roles, Gabrielle becomes a warrior, while Xena becomes the Mother of Peace. In a fascinating evocation of the series theme, Alti, Xena, and Gabrielle battle not so much with weapons as with images of their best and worst deeds. The only sour note of this episode was Gabrielle ending up with a short haircut at the end, which she kept for the rest of the series.

4. "Fallen Angel": After being crucified by the Romans, the souls of Xena and Gabrielle become entangled in the war between the angels and demons. In this remarkable beginning of the fifth season, Callisto leads the forces of Hell in an assault on Heaven. Gabrielle is captured, and Xena goes after her. Callisto declares her eternal hatred of Xena, but Xena redeems her, trading places with Callisto in Hell, freeing Gabrielle in the process. Then Xena tries to lure Gabrielle back to Hell, saying their love is stronger than good or evil. In the end, Callisto, now good, goes to Eli to help him resurrect the bodies of Xena and Gabrielle.

5. "Ides of March": The spirit of Callisto makes a deal with an unnamed god to bring ruin to Xena. She is allowed to return to the living, but she can't confront Xena directly. Instead, she persuades Caesar to go after Xena, promising him limitless power in return. Caesar posts a reward and also dispatches his loyal Brutus to find them. Despite Callisto's strategems, Xena and Gabrielle remain true to themselves and each other, and Callisto is forced to take a hand directly, taking down Xena with her own chakram. Xena and Gabrielle are captured by the Romans and crucified. In revenge, in the moment Caesar declarses himself emperor, Brutus leads the Senate to murder Caesar. The episode ends with no indication of a part two, second part, and the next episode was the unreleated "Deja Vu All Over Again", which gave no indication that the heroes would ever come back to life at the end of the fourth season. The trailers for "Fallen Angel" at the beginning of the fifth season did nothing to dispel this uncertainty either.

6. "You Are There": After dispatching the Olympian gods at the end of the fifth season, Xena travels north to explore the feminine side of the Norse mythos, the Valkyries. But while three previous episodes explored this plotline with detail and originality, "You Are There" exploded the whole storytelling form by appearing to be a Geraldo-style piece of investigative journalism. The infinitely-adaptable Michael Hurst played the role of the reporter, dogging Xena in her quest to steal the golden apples of Valhalla. To further step outside any traditional mythology, the Olympian gods were tossed into the mix, with Xena wanting to use the apples to restore the divinity of Aphrodite and return love to the world (which apparently couldn't happen without her, Norse and other archetypes notwithstanding). This episode was a genius stroke of metafiction worthy of John Barth or Luigi Pirandello.

7. "Death in Chains": This episode, early in the first season, showed many of the enduring strengths of the entire series. King Sisyphus captures Celesta, the goddess of death, because without her, no one, and in particular Sisyphus himself, could never die. Hades, Celesta's brother, asks Xena to help rescue Celesta. Xena had to consider the benefits of not letting anyone die, and when she rejected Sisyphus's argument, he accused her of supporting Death because a warrior was powerless if they couldn't kill their enemies. This related to the common perception of Xena as the unreformed killer who fought for personal gain, a theme that extended through the first season. But Xena did not kowtow to Death or to the gods; she dealt with them on her own terms and for her own reasons, with strength and ingenuity that even they had to admit.

8. "The Xena Scrolls": This episode was set a pulp-style 1930s. The brassy archeologist played by Renée O'Connor had found the lost scrolls of the legend of Xena, assisted by a tall, mousy, dark-haired scholar played by Lucy Lawless, in a very amusing reversal of roles. They found the tomb of the war-god Ares, and they opened the tomb, to their great regret. Encountering the descendants of his favorite ladies, Ares got them to express the personalities of the ancient heroes, with the quiet scholar discovering the ululating Xena cry and the skill of wielding the chakram. This episode, shown in the second season, was the first to step completely outside the linear chronology of the series and display the characters as archetypes. A descendant of Joxer appears, as a French villain again evoking Indiana Jones. In an amusing closing scene, a descendant of this character (also played by Ted Raimi) is in Hollywood trying to sell the story as a series, with the actual Xena scrolls as proof.

9. "Been There, Done That": Xena, Gabrielle, and Joxer are trapped in a time-loop created by a doomed romance between members of feuding clans. Xena is forced to relive the day over and over, and she's the only one who realizes it. The first time, Joxer is killed; trying to prevent that the second time, Xena is unable to prevent Gabrielle from being killed. After several days of different attempts, Xena starts the day by killing Joxer with the chakram, much to Gabrielle's horror (this was one of the funniest scenes of the season). Investigating further, Xena discovers that the village girl is poisoned by her boyfriend's relatives, and he was given a wish by Cupid, which he used to wish that tomorrow would never come. Finally Xena manages to compute all the angles to start the day by using the chakram to prevent the girl from drinking poison, which breaks the cycle and allows Xena (and everyone else) to return to a normal existence. Aside from creating an opportunity for many humorous bits, this episode from early in the third season also put another crack in the linearity of time, allowing the audience to accept much wider violations of temporal causality in later seasons.

10. "The Quest": Possibly I just liked this show because it revolved around Autolycus (played by the masterful Bruce Campbell), not to mention Iolaus (played by Michael Hurst). But I think this two-part episode (the first part was "Destiny") is the first time Xena was killed. In this episode, Autolycus steals the dagger of Helios, and Xena takes the opportunity to inhabit Autolycus's body. Meanwhile, the Amazon ruler Velasca orders Xena to be given to the gods on a funeral pyre, which would make it difficult to revive her body. When Autolycus channels Xena at the funeral, Gabrielle helps him (her?) to rescue Xena's body and carry it off. They decide to look for a temple which has ambrosia, which they will use to bring Xena back to life. Velasca, however, decides to stop them, wanting the ambrosia to become a goddess. In the final battle, Xena inhabits Gabrielle's body, Velasca is cast into a pit of wooden spikes, and Gabrielle recovers enough ambrosia to resurrect Xena. But in a closing scene, a morsel of ambrosia falls onto Velasca's lips, which saves her life and sets the scene for future conflict.

While I didn't put the final episode, "Friend in Need", on this list, it was a very satisfying conclusion to the series. It went back to the show's true oriental roots, with Xena taking on a powerful demon to restore thousands of souls that she herself had had a role in killing, in the days before she was reformed. But it wasn't just the martial-arts effects or yet another quest to bring Xena back to life that marked this two-part episode as special. Xena passed on the last of her wisdom to Gabrielle, following her friend's lead at more than one point. In the end, Xena had the means to defeat death, as so many times in the past, but she chose not to, to allow the tormented souls to find peace; to the end, Xena chose her own path. Gabrielle continued on with sword and chakram, wearing a smile, for Xena lives on in her heart.

In almost every season, the show had at least one episode worthy of a Hugo nomination. The third season was the best, with the Dahak/Hope plot, the journey to India and its detailed exploration of the theme of peace, the Julius Caesar plot, and the Furies, and several other top-notch episodes. But in the final analysis, Xena was a fun show to watch. And the reason for that was that the central character had no limits at all; she could go anywhere, do anything, be anyone she chose, accept or make any challenge, even overturn the gods themselves. The boundaries of television were changed by Xena. Fantasy, female heroes, lesbian images, and the concept of a self-defined hero were redefined by this series, with a lasting impact on anything that follows. Xena: Warrior Princess won us over with brass and slapstick, but in the end, the show transcended anyone's expectations. She lives on in our hearts as well.