Xena: Warrior Podcast

This week on BUFFY: THE VAMPIRE PODCAST, get ready for --*record scratch*-- wait, what? Who are we?? Which series is this?!?! Identity crises are the name of the game because Vera, Katie, and Livy are talking about 2x07 "Intimate Stranger." With the show's first foray into body swap territory, this Xena and Callisto classic sure has an uncanny resemblance to another famous body swap episode at the time...you know the one. We lose our minds over how great Lucy Lawless and Hudson Leick are at inhabiting each other's roles, try to puzzle out why feeling guilty always leads to SPINNING INTO A ROCK, navigate through the minefield of consent issues that is the Callisto/Ares hook-up, and discuss the terrible extenuating circumstances that forced the ep's unnatural ending into existence. (Y'all, Gilbert Gottfried is always bad news.)

The power, the passion, the podcast!

iTunes: http://apple.co/2f0NAIM

Twitter: @xenawarriorpod

Tumblr: xenawarriorpodcast.tumblr.com

Facebook: facebook.com/xenawarriorpodcast

————————————————————————

Vera: (@hollywoodgrrl)

Katie: (@katetocci)

Livy: (@PonderousLivy)

Music: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_Hawk_and_a_Hacksaw/

Beware the trusty shamrock on this week's XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST! Vera, Katie, and Livy continue on the topic of sequels with 2x06 "Warrior...Princess...Tramp," a comedy sequel to last season's "Warrior...Princess." We talk about the strategies this sequel uses to achieve success: by being bigger, bolder, and finding new ways to be funny. Most notably via the introduction of Meg, one of our all-time favorite supporting characters on the show, and a great showcase for Lucy Lawless's comic chops. We discuss Meg's incredibly sweet and romantic meet-cute with Joxer (Joxer/Meg OTP!), sexual mores in the 90s, and baby-throwing 2.0.

The power, the passion, the podcast!

iTunes: http://apple.co/2f0NAIM

Twitter: @xenawarriorpod

Tumblr: xenawarriorpodcast.tumblr.com

Facebook: facebook.com/xenawarriorpodcast

————————————————————————

Vera: (@hollywoodgrrl)

Katie: (@katetocci)

Livy: (@PonderousLivy)

Music: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_Hawk_and_a_Hacksaw/

On this week's XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, guess who's back and badder than ever? AIIIIIIIEEEEE its Callisto!!!! Vera, Katie, and Livy dedicate the podcast to an in-depth discussion of 2x05 "Return of Callisto." In the tradition of all great sequels, this ep takes what came before and elevates it to a whole new level of dramatic intensity. Because Callisto isn't the only one who's back; Perdicus 2.0 returns on bended knee and Gabrielle embraces a heterosexual lifestyle with him...for a couple of minutes. (It's tough out there for a Perd.) We discuss why Perdicus is Gabrielle's type, swoon over sex scenes both literal and metaphorical, speculate on whether Callisto is a murderous manifestation of Xena's repressed jealousy or maybe just her number one fan, cry a thousand tears over Xena resorting to prayer to save Gabrielle's blood innocence, and lose our minds over that final, shocking scene. Is it vengeance or is it justice? IDK, but it sure is AWESOME!

The power, the passion, the podcast!

iTunes: http://apple.co/2f0NAIM

Twitter: @xenawarriorpod

Tumblr: xenawarriorpodcast.tumblr.com

Facebook: facebook.com/xenawarriorpodcast

————————————————————————

Vera: (@hollywoodgrrl)

Katie: (@katetocci)

Livy: (@PonderousLivy)

Music: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_Hawk_and_a_Hacksaw/

Join us for a Bacchanalia on this week's XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST! First Vera, Katie, and Livy debate whether 2x03 "The Giant Killer" is a gigantic waste of time or maybe only a tiny bit bad? Sure the pace is slow and the plot predictable, but there's also a significant close-up of Xena and Gabrielle holding hands, plus the novelty of seeing Gabs friend-zoned by her own BOTW! Then we sink our fangs into the trippy frightfest that is 2x04 "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," the show's unique take on the Lesbian Vampire trope. We discuss the horror film history of transgressive female sexuality, the self-defeating short-sightedness of the patriarchy, and how Renée O'Connor would kill it as a Deadite.

The power, the passion, the podcast!

iTunes: http://apple.co/2f0NAIM

Twitter: @xenawarriorpod

Tumblr: xenawarriorpodcast.tumblr.com

Facebook: facebook.com/xenawarriorpodcast

————————————————————————

Vera: (@hollywoodgrrl)

Katie: (@katetocci)

Livy: (@PonderousLivy)

Music: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_Hawk_and_a_Hacksaw/

On this week's XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, Season 2 here we come! Vera, Katie, and Livy discuss 2x01, "Orphan of War" and 2x02, "Remember Nothing," both very juicy episodes about the people Xena loves. And foremost among them...wait for it...wait for it...is the Great Borias! We investigate how one man can be so great (spoiler alert: he can't). Plus lots of juicy interpersonal drama as Xena's son Solan is introduced, bringing to the fore Xena and Gabrielle's differing feelings about motherhood. Then to cap it off, in the second ep we finally meet Xena's brother Lyceus, who is a peach, and her fiance Maphias, who is ok...ish. He's no Borias, let's just say that. But who cares about all these men anyway when you've got Gabrielle and Chekhov's blood innocence about to go off! 😱

The power, the passion, the podcast!

iTunes: http://apple.co/2f0NAIM

Twitter: @xenawarriorpod

Tumblr: xenawarriorpodcast.tumblr.com

Facebook: facebook.com/xenawarriorpodcast

————————————————————————

Vera: (@hollywoodgrrl)

Katie: (@katetocci)

Livy: (@PonderousLivy)

Music: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_Hawk_and_a_Hacksaw/

Welcome to our very first XWPodcast MINISODE! For each one of these we'll be exploring bigger/broader topics as related to Xena: Warrior Princess in even more glorious detail than in our regular Monday show (which means we'll be talking freely about the series as a whole, so beware of spoilers!). Today, we're traveling through the gateway to Antarctica Middle Earth Ancient Greece: New Zealand! XWP and Hercules: TLJ were on the ground floor for US-backed fantasy productions in NZ, and we can't even imagine what Xena would look like filmed anywhere else. Join Vera, Katie, and Livy as we discuss New Zealand's stunning landscape and its significance to the Xenaverse, as well as to other Hollywood-produced fantasy genre aesthetics (for example, that little trilogy based on a series of books that dropped on the scene a few years later...).

The power, the passion, the podcast!

iTunes: http://apple.co/2f0NAIM

Twitter: @xenawarriorpod

Tumblr: xenawarriorpodcast.tumblr.com

Facebook: facebook.com/xenawarriorpodcast

————————————————————————

Vera: (@hollywoodgrrl)

Katie: (@katetocci)

Livy: (@PonderousLivy)

Music: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_Hawk_and_a_Hacksaw/

Charge those defibrillators, it's time for another episode of XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST..."STAT!" This is a milestone week as Vera, Katie, and Livy reach the end of the first season! But before we can celebrate, we find ourselves DISAAAAPPOINTED by 1x23 "Death Mask," an episode that looks juicy on paper with its focus on Xena's origin story and family ties, but poor choices in writing, directing, and casting combine to make this story a real snooze (boob flex notwithstanding). Then it's on to 1x24, "Is There a Doctor in the House?" We discuss this unconventional finale as a bottle episode, as a medical procedural in the mold of ER, and as an anti-war, anti-violence mission statement -- before it abruptly becomes a first-rate operatic melodrama and gets us all misty-eyed. Ah, the miracle of TV CPR!!!

The power, the passion, the podcast!

iTunes: http://apple.co/2f0NAIM

Twitter: @xenawarriorpod

Tumblr: xenawarriorpodcast.tumblr.com

Facebook: facebook.com/xenawarriorpodcast

————————————————————————

Vera: (@hollywoodgrrl)

Katie: (@katetocci)

Livy: (@PonderousLivy)

Music: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_Hawk_and_a_Hacksaw/

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST--AAAIIIEEEEEEEEE!!! We're screaming because it's time to talk about 1x22, "Callisto!" Vera, Katie, and Livy take on the titular character in all her glory, discussing the ways in which her physicality, costuming, dialogue, and camera framing all add to her complexity as a villain/monster/victim/foil/you name it she is it. When we can pull ourselves away from talking about Callisto, we also explore the experimentalism of director TJ Scott, Joxer's controversial role in the Xenaverse, and the significance of who gets to, uh, finger Xena's chakram.

The power, the passion, the podcast!

iTunes: http://apple.co/2f0NAIM

Twitter: @xenawarriorpod

Tumblr: xenawarriorpodcast.tumblr.com

Facebook: facebook.com/xenawarriorpodcast

————————————————————————

Vera: (@hollywoodgrrl)

Katie: (@katetocci)

Livy: (@PonderousLivy)

Music: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_Hawk_and_a_Hacksaw/

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, Gabrielle steps into Xena's boots (and boobs?)! We've reached 1x21, "The Greater Good" and it is A BIG DEAL, so much so that we're devoting a whole episode of the podcast to it. (1x22 "Callisto" gets the same treatment next week, don't you worry.) Join Vera, Katie, and Livy for an in-depth conversation about the subtle power of Renee O'Connor's acting choices, the distressing vulnerability of Xena without her physical strength, the necessity of comedy to underscore tragedy, and the many, many uses of fizzy water!

The power, the passion, the podcast!

iTunes: http://apple.co/2f0NAIM

Twitter: @xenawarriorpod

Tumblr: xenawarriorpodcast.tumblr.com

Facebook: facebook.com/xenawarriorpodcast

————————————————————————

Vera: (@hollywoodgrrl)

Katie: (@katetocci)

Livy: (@PonderousLivy)

Music: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_Hawk_and_a_Hacksaw/

Daddy issues abound on this week's XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST! First Vera, Katie, and Livy talk about 1x19 "Altared States," notable less for its ripped-from-the-Old-Testament plotline and more for its insinuating teaser, which, uh, is so NOT about fishing. (Also hello, Karl Urban!) Then it's on to 1x20, "Ties That Bind," where Ares pretends to be Xena's dad and Freud has a field day. We discuss the gorgeous on-location cinematography, Gabrielle's evolution from comic relief to co-lead, and the symbolic meaning of Ares' stupid little earring.

The power, the passion, the podcast!

iTunes: http://apple.co/2f0NAIM

Twitter: @xenawarriorpod

Tumblr: xenawarriorpodcast.tumblr.com

Facebook: facebook.com/xenawarriorpodcast

————————————————————————

Vera: (@hollywoodgrrl)

Katie: (@katetocci)

Livy: (@PonderousLivy)

Music: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/A_Hawk_and_a_Hacksaw/