Xena freaks me out when she flutters her eyes when she does her war cry for the first time...I thought she was being demon-possessed the first time I watched it! And the look Gabs gives Xena when she tells her not to follow her and leaves the hut is the most PERFECT look of hero worship I've ever seen. It's very obvious why Gabbers wants to go with her. I love the way Gabs makes Xena crack into a smile with her "It's not the gentle part that bothers me...it's the dull, stupid part" referring to Perdicus. Despite Xena's stoic nature, she DOES have a sense of humor...which is why she kept Salmoneus around, and I think Gabs amused her to a certain degree as well.
And one thing I noticed about the show early on is the "off-screen" voices are always right on the mark. They're very obvious in SotP. "Now's our chance! Teach 'em a lesson! We're with you, Xena" etc. are always sounding in the background of the fights. I have this mental picture of the writer, director, Rob, Eric, etc. all sitting around a microphone yelling out phrases to be inserted in the background. And what is up with Xena's hair? Why, oh why, did they put that red barrette thingy in it? Yeesh! Glad that thing was dropped early on! I love it when Xena says, "Come on, Boy" to Argo. Do you think she hadn't bothered to check Argo at that point to see if she was a boy or a girl? And I always kind of feel sorry for the Cyclops when Xena depants him. Nothing worse than a blind Cyclops with flabby thighs! Gabrielle kills me with that "not that kind of do her" line when outtalking her way with the same Cyclops. I love that whole scene...Gabs quick-thinking is fantastic! Her line "I feel we've bonded in our hatred for the she-demon" is hysterical! When Xena is fighting in her shift, she has on white panties, but when she's kicking men off their horses to ride behind Hector, they're black. Are her underwear and leathers a one-piece ensemble? Speaking of fashion, why do both of Cyrene's dresses have the shoulder's cut out of them? But back to the dehorsing Hector's men scene...I love it when Xena does stuff like that...rides behind Hector with that superior "this is fun" smile flirting on her lips! The Warrior Princess at her BEST! I love the final fight scene with Draco! But check it out when Draco first starts stepping across the heads of the crowd, amidst more great voice-overs (You can use my shoulders, Xena). Xena is standing on the scaffolding, her body turned to Draco, looking down at...nothing. You can see her in the background for two long shots. In the closeups, of course, she's watching Draco's movements. Why do I have the feeling that wasn't really Lucy up there? Very nice trip by Gabbers, though, to keep Draco's henchman from keeping his boss from touching the ground! And the scene with Cyrene at the end is too brief, but when they hug and Cyrene calls Xena "my little one", I tear up every time! Makes my heart ache just to write about it! And the final scenes with Xena and Gabbers are great. Love Xena's eye roll when she realizes Gabbers isn't going to go away, but when she tosses her the bedroll, the rest was history. Gabrielle is just too enthusiastic not to keep around! But I think I knew Xena was going to keep her when Gabrielle walked into Lyceus's tomb and told Xena she wasn't alone. Xena could have been irritated to be eavesdropped on, but seemed relieved to see her instead. I knew right then they were destined to be together. And as for Gary's thoughts: I liked this show a lot. It set up Xena and Gabrielle in the right way,and I believe that Xena was shown to be as the show promoted at the beginning of each ep. She is a warrior-princess who fights for right and protects the weak. We were told that she went a bit overboard taking one village after another,but she did it for the best of reasons. In the beginning she gives an orphaned boy her food,since food is scarce after the Evil Xena killed his parents and looted the countryside. This showed her remorse. She then buries her weapons and armor,and wants to begin anew with her mother in Amphipolis. Near Potadiea,she spots Draco's men trying to kidnap the girls as slaves for Draco. Gabby actually fights here,too,and Xena then joins in,beating the bad guys. This showed her purpose in life now,and a renunciation of her evil ways. The rest of the show was her trying to get Draco not to sack the village,and her wanting him to join her in fighting for good. He says no,and the fight at the end on the scaffold,with Xena winning,was a good one. Despite Draco's evil ways,he kept his word and left the village. Xena was reunited with her mother,and Gabby goes off with her as a sidekick. After all,Gabby saved Xena from being stoned to death by Xena's fellow villagers. This show made me believe that Xena was just a woman who was over-exuberant in her defense of her village and then it got out of control. I never believed her to be truly a bad person until in subsequent episodes she is shown in flashbacks as a killer and evil person in general. In the Debt,she is a kidnapper and murders surrendering soldiers,and cuts off their heads to put on stakes along the Great Wall of China. We see in Locked Up-and Tied Down how she disfigured a girl and left her to be eaten by sea-crabs. She also murdered some Valkyries. She wanted the Exion Stone from the Centaurs for herself. She was the Destroyer of Nations. She killed the Northern Amazon leaders and left them to die out. So many back-stories,and the honorable warrior-princess we loved from this first show made me think less of her as the series progressed. I wish we didn't have to know the bad stuff as it was shown. I would rather believe in her as shown at the beginning of each ep. with her great smile with the fire in the background. In reality,she was destroying a village and killing innocent people. That's it .I want her as she was promoted. The back-stories are fine,but made her look bad and "unforgiven".