Amac Productions

I hope you enjoy the above surprise!

If you like this, I think I’m going to add the reaction video so you can check out my reactions as I watch the episode and then I’ll add some more in depth thoughts here!

What do you think? Let me know!

Alright, let’s jump right into this episode.

First things first, is anyone else off put by how straight this show feels?

I mean, that opener is the gayest thing happening here and I just.. find it all so boring and straight and uninteresting. Especially Hercules. He’s as interesting as paint drying.

Despite these two shows being created by the same people, they have such different vibes to them.

Like I thought Hercules and Iolaus traveled around like Xena and Gabrielle.

Except they seemingly don’t. I don’t know and I don’t really care, so let’s talk about Xena.

Xena is introduced with her theme right off the bat, suggested as the ‘perfect woman’ for Iolaus. That right there, I rolled my eyes so hard. Blech. So weird and odd compared to her show.

I did not enjoy that suggestion.

However, I did enjoy her kicking everyone’s butt.

Like damn.

Then she declares she wants Hercules head so no one can stop her from taking over Greece. Yeah, that seems on brand for the warlord Xena.

And I mean, I wouldn’t have really objected if she succeeded. I’ve heard some not nice things about Kevin Sorbo and his time on his show after Xena became more popular than his show. So, hey. I’m good with getting rid of the boring people.

I also know this episode was referenced in Xena’s clipshow episode, but I blocked that episode out. It was not my favorite, so I forgot she seduced Iolaus.

But apparently, she also seduces the other guy, and another from her army.

While seemingly completely uninterested in all of them and that is my favorite part of the entire thing. She’s got all these guys around her finger.

Does she like any of them? Nope.

Does she care if they die? Nope.

Does she send every single one of them to their death? Yep.

With glee, mind you.

She’s thrilled to be rid of each of them. Except the last one, who didn’t die like he was supposed to, so she just killed him herself.

That is so real of Xena. I’ll just use these guys until I no longer need them, by which they’ll die. Something that I also thought about happens on her own shoe. Like unless you’re Gabrielle who did die in the season one finale of Xena, but came back to life because Xena wouldn’t let her go, you’re going to die as her love interest.

Or you know, be shooed away back to his own show.

So funny to think about. I love that.

You love Xena, you die.

Unless you’re Gabrielle. Then she’ll ensure you survive. No matter what she has to do.

Yeah, no one else really stood a chance, did they?

Back to this episode, I have to compliment Xena’s plan to turn the friends against each other. She’s a master manipulator. I do mention it, in my watch through that it happened far too quickly that Iolaus didn’t believe Hercules and took Xena’s word.

But also, fragile male egos are a thing.

They just used that on NCIS: Hawai’i. So it’s not totally unbelievable.

I just feel like that it would be nearly impossible for Xena and Gabrielle to let this happen to them. Like there was a brief issue in the giants episode, but it was resolved, and it was early in their friendship, so it made a lot of sense.

But now?

Now, I feel like it would take way more than some guy to get between them.

Like your friendship isn’t that strong if someone can just waltz in and destroy all the supposed trust between you.

I did like Xena’s masterplan of turning them against each other to softened Hercules up for herself.

But overall, she doesn’t quite feel like Xena to me.

And I think this is more due to it being Hercules’ show rather than Xena’s. Lucy Lawless does an incredible job of making Xena feel larger than life, but she doesn’t come across like there here. She actually feels small.

Something she didn’t feel next to Hercules in the crossover episode of Xena season one.

So it’s a little weird.

Almost like she hasn’t nailed down the exact vibe or feel she wants Xena to have. She doesn’t take up as much space as she does on Xena. I miss that. It’s part of her character. That people take notice when she’s there.

She’s a formidable woman all her own.

Although, it could also be because she was trying to make herself seem smaller beside Iolaus, to convince him she needed his help or Hercules at all.

Either way, I’m missing her series after this first episode! So onto the next!

Thanks for reading! Be sure to tune in next week for another reaction video and my thoughts after I let it soak in for a bit!

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