television history
13.08.2002 By FIONA RAE
She started as a devil woman out to break up the friendship between two great mates, Hercules and Iolaus, and she ends tonight,
on New Zealand telly anyway, giving her life to save 40,000 others.
RIP Xena: Warrior Princess.
Like Buffy, she saved the world a lot. And after six seasons, Renaissance Pictures packed up, sold off the family silverware,
swords and round throwy-things and went back to the US.
It's hard not to be a fan of something that was filmed here, starred the gorgeous Lucy Lawless and, despite the American accents
and sensibilities, had a little spark of Kiwi cheek bubbling under the surface.
Plus, there was always the little added thrill that, as with The Lord of the Rings, everyone knew someone who worked on Herc
or Xena or the other shows produced by Renaissance - Young Hercules, Cleopatra 2525, Jack of All Trades.
The Xenaverse is like the Buffyverse - somewhere along the line you become an insider.
If you try to explain it, it sounds silly: "She's a, y'know, warrior princess and she goes about, y'know, helping people and she, ah,
ululates".
Being part of the Xenaverse means understanding the significance of something that happens in episode 10 because it was a
direct reference from episode five.
Sad to say that, like some Catholics, I lapsed.
This sixth and final season seemed a million miles from the carefree earlier times, with their silly escapades with Joxer and
Autolycus and legions of Kiwis doing their best yank accents (Danielle Cormack an Amazon! Giving birth to a centaur!).
The complicated stories and incomprehensible relationships were beyond an occasional look; only the faithful could keep up.
And seeing the late, great Kevin Smith - who played Ares for so long and was about to get his big Hollywood break - was just too
sad.
So here it is, the last Xena episode ever.
Last week's part one started out with another lengthy flashback set in the time when Xena was bad and hanging out with Marton
Csokas, which led to her allowing herself to be killed (pierced with arrows and beheaded by a samurai) so she could enter the
spirit world to fight a demon.
Controversial? Perhaps only among Xena fans who were unhappy the great warrior princess could be killed by a bloke.
After all, a show that had done so much for lesbian subtext could surely have come up with something better.
Tonight, Xena faces off against a Monkey-inspired demon while Gabrielle has to collect her body and severed head and journey
to Mt Fuji and fight a samurai, and ... well, it's complicated.
But don't worry, Xena still lives - on the internet and in reruns and merchandise.
Six years turned her into an icon, and she fought and won her little part of television history.
* Xena: Warrior Princess, TV4, 8.30pm
