This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, malakas! Vera, Katie, and Livy explore Ancient Greece through the eyes of superhuman assassin Kassandra in Minisode 18: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the video game with major Xena vibes that is helping us survive quarantine. We discuss the queer romances, the historical realism, the immersive worldbuilding, the unexpected bursts of comedy, and the woman at the center of it all whose muscular arms can move mountains, mountains she climbs and jumps off. Plus: we...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, it’s time for some comic relief! Vera, Katie, and Livy are dipping their toes into the exciting world of Xena comics in Minisode 17: Xena Comics (Road Warrior), in which we talk about the new run of Dynamite comics and the VERY IMPORTANT PANELS the fandom wholeheartedly embraced. We discuss our own (limited!) history with comics, how supplementary media factors into the ‘what is canon’ debate, and the awesomeness of opening up the world of Xena to female...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, put on your top hats, sink your coal pits, and be sure to pack your largest thermometers! Vera, Katie, and Livy are off to Yorkshire in Minisode 16: Gentleman Jack. We discuss all things Anne Lister: the historical figure, her coded diaries, the academic who decrypted them, and the HBO/BBC period drama that brought her trailblazing story to life. Plus: Anne the capitalist, what a time this was for lewks, so many Ann(e)s, the swagger, crumpet acting, queer...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, resistance is futile! Vera, Katie, and Livy are assimilated and loving it in Minisode 15: Seven of Nine. In another of our special minisodes no one asked for, we discuss our newest obsession, our fannish histories with the Star Trek franchise, how Seven is the quarantine heroine we deserve, and the evolution of the character from Voyager to Picard. Plus: the many parallels between Janeway/Seven and Xena/Gabs, is Seven’s catsuit problematic?, Janeway’s ‘up...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, we’re breaking into showbiz! Join us for Minisode 14: Modern AU Pitch-a-thon! where Vera and Livy role-play as a Hollywood writing team pitching a truckload of modern-set Xena stories to development executive Katie. Will she greenlight the show about Xena and Gabs as members of the US Women’s National Soccer Team who find love on the path to Olympic glory? Or will she give the go-ahead to the show where Xena is a moody teen with dyed black hair who must...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, Vera, Katie, and Livy’s friendship is sorely tested as we force ourselves to pick the ten best Xena episodes of Xena (as opposed to the best Gabs eps, which we picked in the previous podcast). Join us for Minisode 13: Best Xena Eps of Xena (a.k.a. We Hate Lists!) as we argue over what makes a Xena episode a Xena episode, why fake trilogies are not allowed, and why any episode with Cyrene is automatically best. Plus: are bunny teeth an automatic...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, you can’t spell GABS without ABS! Vera, Katie, and Livy are going through our favorite Gabrielle episodes in Minisode 12: Greatest Gabsisodes. We not only discuss all the famous, beloved Gabs stories, we also talk about some deep-cut eps that people don’t often list even though they’re key (anyone hungry for some fishsticks?) Plus: we talk about the Xena fandom’s many charitable initiatives and how the fans model the show’s central ethos by coming together...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, we’ll have pizza, and margarita shooters! Vera, Katie, and Livy are having a frelling good time with Minisode 11: Farscape, the crazy-balls puppet-heavy sci-fi show with even more tonal shifts than Xena! We discuss the creative freedom of this Australian co-production, its use of fanfic tropes, and the ways in which its sweeping love story challenged the very 90’s idea of the UST slow burn. Plus: the time Vera tricked Cate Blanchett into discussing Farscape...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, all this has happened before, and all this will happen again! Vera, Katie, and Livy tackle one of the trickiest Xena fan questions in Minisode 10: Reboot or Revival Extravaganza! We discuss successful TV examples of both formats, and debate what version of Xena: Warrior Princess best suits our cultural moment. The answer to that question is ours, of course! Join us as we pitch you on our proposed reboot concept, Xena: Warrior Podcast’s Xena: Warrior...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, we’re spending the holidays with the person we love… Sandra Bullock!! Vera, Katie, and Livy are talking about one of our favorite Christmas movies in Minisode 09: While You Were Sleeping! Join us as re-experience this cozy ‘90s rom-com, complete with pointy bangs, cozy sweaters, long skirts, and terrible misunderstandings! Plus we talk about our fond memories of early Sandy movies, Chicago hot dogs, is Joe Jr. problematic? (coin!), and Vera’s first movie in...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, when did they do the deed? In Minisode 08: The Amazon Wiggle, Vera, Katie, and Livy are speculating wildy about exactly when Xena and Gabrielle began a romantic relationship. First we offer up our hypothesis (which involves Vera’s favorite episode, “The Quest”) before digging into a deeper question -- weren’t Xena and Gabs romantic from the start? Plus: in honor of Winter Solstice, we talk about some of the things making us happy right now, including...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, we’re partying like it’s 1999... B.C.! Vera, Katie, and Livy are doing the weirdest double feature with Minisode 07: Episode Commentary Shenanigans, the first of our Patron-selected minisodes! With the help of copious amounts of whiskey, we provide a watch-along commentary for our least favorite episode, ULYSSES, so get ready for lots of screaming about Ulysses’ chest hair, Gabrielle’s belly dancing, and Xena’s terrible taste in men! Then, to get the taste...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, the postman always rings twice! Vera, Katie, and Livy (not so jet-lagged now) pick up where they left off in our Hermes Mailbag! Once again we’re answering your questions, including what would Gabrielle’s theme song be, what aspects of the show did we appreciate more on the rewatch, and the all-important question, who is the horniest character in all of Xena? Plus: Vera gets appreciated, Xena’s secret blacksmithing past, Virtual Season 7, the comics, the...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, we’re BAAAAAAAACK! Vera, Katie, and Livy return from their Greco-Roman adventures and answer your questions on all things Xena in the first part of our AFIN Mailbag! After chatting about our trip (So! Many! Old! Things!) we discuss such topics as best and worst finales of all time, would we have had a different reaction to the finale if we’d watched it live, how fanon changes fandom’s relationship with canon, metatextual shenanigans, and Gabrielle as the...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, the pins are coming out! It’s time for The Great Unpinning, in which Vera, Katie, and Livy wrap up “A Friend in Need” by picking up all the conversations we’ve shelved since the beginning of the podcast. We discuss the fan response to the finale, the history of the harmful trope Bury Your Gays, and how Xena’s ending both does and doesn’t fit the trope. Also: brutal violence, misogyny, anti-heroes, and how Walter White is the worst. Plus: a very helpful...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, it’s journey’s end. Vera, Katie, and Livy climb the mountain that is 6x22 “A Friend in Need Part II,” the final episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. We discuss the challenge of endings, the visual callbacks and thematic importance of “Sins of the Past” and “The Gauntlet,” the use of sound design and editing in Xena’s last stand, Gabrielle’s hero’s journey and her culture clash with Morimoto, and the episode’s final presentation of personal desire vs. the...

KILL BILL SIRENS, KILL BILL SIRENS! This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, Vera, Katie, and Livy journey to the Land of the Rising Sun for 6x21 “A Friend in Need Part I,” the first half of the spectacular series finale. HOOOOMG, heavy breathing… We discuss why Japan is an appropriate setting for Xena’s last adventure, the cinematic influences that aren’t just an homage but a full circle of exchange, and divisive new character Akemi, whose compelling mix of innocence and guile keeps us guessing....

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, we’ve got mail! It’s the fifth installment of our fabulous Hermes’ Hermès Mailbag, and Vera, Katie, and Livy are answering your questions! We talk about our favorite episodes and lewks, pitch alternate universe concepts, discuss S6’s use of color, mourn the loss of the When Fates Collide kiss, and examine the big question that started it all, why does Buffy gets more critical attention than Xena? Plus: we give you a behind-the-scenes look at making the...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, here comes the bride! Vera, Katie, and Livy are pulling a major retcon with 6x20 “Soul Possession,” a weird grab bag of an episode that makes a tangle out of its many loose threads. We discuss Joxer as this episode’s emotional center, its puzzling decision to return to the events of Adventures in the Sin Trade and Déjà Vu All Over Again, Ares’ nonsensical contract, Xena’s last long con, and yet another in-show portrayal of Xena fandom. Plus: Ares’ wig,...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, things are getting Sapphic! Vera, Katie, and Livy are partying it up with 6x19 “Many Happy Returns,” the show’s final comedy, which also happens to be one of its giddiest and most moving. We discuss this ep as a nonstop nostalgia fest with its many references to A Day in the Life, Callisto, Chariots of War, and more. Then, don your bell bottoms and platform shoes because we’re trapped in the disco inferno of “Last Chance,” Melissa Good’s script for the...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, it’s love at first sight! Vera, Katie, and Livy are stepping into an alternate timeline with 6x18 “When Fates Collide,” one of Xena’s most romantic episodes. We discuss how writer Katherine Fugate found her way to Xena, why alternate realities are such a popular storytelling trope in fandom, the bold revisiting of “The Ides of March” that actually manages to match the original’s intensity, why this villain team-up works so well, predestination vs. free...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, Son of Borias, what have you done? Vera, Katie, and Livy are horsing around with 6x17 “Last of the Centaurs.” We discuss the glorious, nostalgic returns of Marton Csokas and Danielle Cormack, Xena having surrogate sons all over the place, the episode’s parallels to ‘Last of the Mohicans’ and its use of Holocaust imagery, and Gabs going murderous all of a sudden. Plus: Centaur genetics, Marton’s very extra screaming, Xena throws her cane away, does Gabs look...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, life finds a way! Vera, Katie, and Livy are working some weird science with 6x16 “Send in the Clones,” a modern-day set clip show that directly takes on fan culture. We debate whether this was a good idea (spoiler alert: it was not!), discuss other depictions of fans in movies and TV (ilu Galaxy Quest), and ponder whether the three types of fans that appear in “Clones” are true to life (ew Joxer fan!!! *coin*). Plus: Dr. Alexis Los Alamos, Xena discovers...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, war is hell! Vera, Katie, and Livy go once more into the breach with 6x15 “To Helicon and Back,” the show’s biggest battle epic, and the grim conclusion to the Amazons’ storyline. We discuss the many references to WWII films including Saving Private Ryan, They Were Expendable, The Longest Day, Patton, and… Jaws? Plus: Michael Hurst’s decision to shift the tone from the triumph and bombast of Liz Friedman & Vanessa Place’s original draft, the references...

This week on XENA: WARRIOR PODCAST, fables have never been sexier! Vera, Katie, and Livy are reckoning with 6x14 “Path of Vengeance,” an episode that goes back to the show’s roots with a plot full of Amazon justice and juicy moral dilemmas. We discuss Eve’s final appearance on Xena and how her character arc differs from her mother’s, Xena’s hypocrisy whenever someone she loves is facing punishment, Varia’s beatdown of Gabrielle as a necessary step in Gabs’s journey, and the episode’s many...