Final Tributes - Page 2
© Michael Martinez
Why do we do what we do? What was so compelling about a show which couldn't wait to make fun of itself every season that we had to rush out onto the Net and share our love for it? I really have no idea. I can remember dozens, hundreds of scenes which I loved. There were moments when I thought some great characterizations had been pulled off. There were episodes where I wanted to sit down and write to someone say, "That was a great story!"
Of course, my favorite episodes don't fit the Xenite stereotype. I liked "For Him The Bell Tolls", which was a great Ted Raimi vehicle and really show-cased the kind of parallel existence that Joxer led: his "real" life, where he was a fumbling nitwit, and his fantasy life, where he was suave, debonair, and an excellent swordsman. And I wanted to hang Gabrielle for being so callous and insensitive at the end of "A Comedy of Eros". She did love Joxer, after all. Just not "that way". And she didn't really understand that until he lay dying in her arms. Joxer's death scene was pretty good. He did exactly what everyone knew he should do: put Gabrielle first, even though he knew she didn't need him to save her. That wasn't just Joxer. That was Joxer expessing his deep feelings for Gabrielle twenty-five years later, after raising a family with Meg.
Meg, of course, is a love me/hate me kind of gal. She sets out to do something and then changes her mind, unravelling the careful plans of masterminds and nitwits alike. And somehow she comes out on top, endearing herself to the fans (well, some of us). She is Clark Kent to Xena's Superman. Xena always has to do what's right, because she has such a heavy load of sins to atone for. Meg has sins aplenty, too, but she doesn't really try to atone for them. She just wants to live life and get something out of it. When the first episode of Xena: Warrior Princess opened, our heroine was burying her armor and weapons in the woods. Hercules (and Salmoneus) may have unchained her heart, but they couldn't keep her from feeling the guilt which had also been freed.
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