The thing is, even though Eve was kind of a focus in the the beginning episodes, all she did for one was chant "In the name Eli" over and over again haha. It's like they didn't really know what else to have her do since she doesn't do violence.
I think the problem I had was Eve was she was too much of a retread for Xena: the one with the bad past trying to make amends. Plus, the performance was so bland, partly because the character wasn't given a terrible lot to do. On top of that, I do feel her presence took away time between Xena and Gabrielle, whom I am always more interested in.
I agree. That's why I wish she were well written the most during those beginning episodes of the season where it had made sense that her character was the main focus of the plot. Eve was baptized at the end of season 5, and now at the beginning of season 6 she had these new holy powers to cast out demons by chanting Eli's name. It went totally unexplained and it had made me wish that Eve had discovered that she had a whole bunch of other new holy powers in addition to that one. Eve having these new holy powers could've been a great workaround of how her character would now defend herself out there in the world without using violence. After the whole Mephistopheles/Lucifer 2-part episode was over
that was when she should've left the show to go redeem her life the same way that her mother did after her 3-part episode adventure with Hercules in his series.
I get what you mean about Eve being a Xena retread, but I actually liked it because it's that whole "like mother, like daughter" thing, only different because Eve was going to redeem herself in a different way than her mother does. Xena chooses to physically fight for good in order to redeem herself, Eve verbally spreads the message of good in order to redeem herself (as well as doing good, non-violent actions/deeds for people & also willing to accept/let justice prevail for her past evil actions). Everything happens for a reason. Xena's evil past ironically made her into a stronger warrior for good than she would've been without that past. Eve's evil past ironically made her into a better messenger for Eli than she would've been without that past. Eve literally knows up, close, & personal, from firsthand experience, the power of Eli's love & light because it was that holy power that had defeated Livia for good. Also when (adult) Eve had awakened after Livia was defeated, in that moment, Eve came to the full realization of why her violent deeds (& violence in general) is so disgusting & horrible. Even though she herself had never been on the receiving end of violence & war, in that moment she had realized why it was wrong, so all of that (in addition to needing to redeem herself for her sins) gives her a stronger motivation to being the messenger of Eli.
And yes, Varia, that was her name. So obnoxious, and I never truly believed for a second Gabrielle would lose in a fight to her (granted, I know the show is called Xena and not Gabrielle, but still). With that said, I will always enjoy the touching scenes and dynamics between Xena and Gabrielle (I wouldn't love the show if I didn't), but the new characters just didn't do anything for me as they felt like lesser versions of characters already introduced.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SAYING THE BOLDED PART! I wholeheartedly 100% agree!!! That fight was total bull$!ht! So many episodes in the final season was dedicated to this totally obnoxious character and taking away precious screentime from our main leads.
The one thing I did enjoy though, though it was pretty sad, was seeing their world slowly being stripped away: the Amazons, the Centaurs, the Gods. It was very symmetrical that as the show ended, so to was the world they had slowly created as "modern" times and ideas started to creep in.
I never thought about it that way, but you're right. The final season was very symmetrical in that sense. The time skip led to that, and now looking at it from another angle (though I'm sure unintentional by the writers) it's like the time skip was a plot device used to gradually & symmetrically close the book on the series' story.
When season 6 had originally aired I never got why so many episodes had focused on Xena & Gabrielle's relationship ("Legacy", "The Abyss", The Ring Trilogy, "You Are There" (to an extent), and pretty much all of the episodes after "To Helicon and Back" except for 1), but now I do given that it was the final season & all. I remember that subtexters were mad after season 5 because a majority of them had felt like Xena & Gabrielle were more like business partners in that season rather than intimate partners, so originally I felt like season 6 was a response to that fan outcry when it had originally aired. While that may possibly be true, I also now think that just focusing on the relationship between 2 main leads (which at it's core is really the heart of the series after all) for the final season is why they had wrote it the way that they did. When I was younger I wanted Eve to permanently travel with Xena & Gabrielle for the final season so that those 3 could finally be the family group that they were supposed to be, but now I have a much greater appreciation towards the writers for not making that choice after all.
Even "A Friend in Need" now better works for me if you look at it from the angle of both Xena & Gabrielle's relationship AND Xena & Gabrielle period being the main focus of those final episodes. There are many reasons as to why the fans hate "A Friend in Need", one of those many reasons is that they feel like we were introduced to a whole bunch of new characters (Akemi, the monk, the Ghost Killer, Yodoshi, etc.) at the very last minute who we the audience could care less about. That's one way of looking at it, another way of looking at it is realizing that "A Friend in Need" at it's core is purely a Xena & Gabrielle story, while those new characters were merely secondary & were only around just to service our 2 main leads characters/character development & the plot of that episode. It's like how in the very 1st episode of the series
that at it's core was a Xena & Gabrielle story while Draco, his army, Xena's mother, the almost captured villagers of Potedaia, & Gabrielle's family were only there to service our 2 main leads characters/character development as well as the story of that episode. It's like how in your typical Xena episode Xena & Gabrielle will go to some random village in trouble to do the greater good, but all of those 1-episode characters are only there to service Xena & Gabrielle's story & develop their characters; "A Friend in Need" is no different from that. I know that this kinda, sorta contradicts what I had said earlier about how new characters in the final season eat up screentime from our mains, but not really. Look at the episode "Dangerous Prey" for example. That episode (at least to me) sucks because it's not a "Xena: Warrior Princess" episode, it's a "Varia: the Obnoxious Amazon" episode. Xena is there in that story to support & develop Varia's character rather than it being the other way around. Varia, a new character in a FINAL SEASON given main lead character type of treatment & screentime,
that's an example of what I had meant about new characters eating up precious screentime that's rightfully reserved for our established main leads in the final season. Akemi, Yodoshi, the Ghost Killer, the Monk, etc. do not do this in "A Friend in Need". "A Friend in Need" is Xena & Gabrielle's story at it's core, not those other characters. Those new characters give the 2 main characters that we've known ever since episode 1 their final character development in the series, and thinking about it from that point of view helps me to better appreciate those characters as well as "A Friend in Need" as a whole.
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