Season Five Rewind
Another season of Xena has come and gone, and with it the internet is buzzing with the expected debate over the quality of this season, and how it compares to previous years. There are those who claim it is the best season of the show yet, and things on the horizon look wonderful. Other fans reminisce about the first couple of years, and long for the days of simple stories about a friendship (with the requisite bad-guy thumping, of course).
What do I think? Well, the honeymoon may be over, but that doesn't mean its time to bail out of the marriage.
A Rocky Road
Personally I found the fifth season to be somewhat uneven. While the average quality of the show was still high, it had its share of bad episodes. Of course, what constitutes a "bad" episode for this show still tends to be steps above the competition.
I point to episodes like Fallen Angel, Seeds of Faith, and Motherhood as examples of the best the series has to offer. But at the same time episodes like Back in the Bottle and Life Blood were dull and uninspiring - a characteristic I've personally never experienced with this series before. Some fans may point to Married with Fishsticks as the worst episode of the season, but I personally enjoyed it, as I did Lyre Lyre Hearts on Fire another unpopular episode with the general internet fan base.
Behind the Wheel
There was quite a bit of discussion about why this season was so uneven (or, in the words of the generally negative fans, "bad"). Much of the blame was laid at the feet of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who were brought on as producers after Hercules wrapped. Many fans said that the two never really understood the way Xena was different from its sibling show. Some claimed they brought the "stupid comedy" trend over from Hercules. Some argued that Rob Tapert's need to control all the aspects of his pet project limited Kurtzman & Orci's ability to do their job properly.
I think it is a bit more complicated than that. While I think there is a small degree of responsibility that can be given to the "new guys", I tend to believe that they were convenient scapegoats for fan frustration.
After all, things were rather busy at RenPic this past year. There was one series wrapping up and two new shows starting production. Let's not forget Lucy's pregnancy, and the fact that Steve Sears (one of the show's core writers) left to pursue a new series of his own. R.J. Stewart and Rob Tapert were distracted by the need to get Cleopatra 2525 off the ground. Is it any wonder that this season came out feeling a little unsettled?
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