In
the sixth and final season, some of the fun subtext
and loving scenes appeared with even more frequency. Episode
19 of Season 6 (“Many Happy Returns”) saw Xena commissioning
a poem from Sappho as a gift for Gabrielle. At the end of the
episode, Gabrielle read these lines to Xena (which were written
in real life by the poet from the Isle of Lesbos):
There's
a moment when I look at you
And no speech is left in me.
My tongue breaks, then fire races under my skin
And I tremble,
And grow pale,
For I am dying of such love.
Gabrielle’s
perceived betrayal in season three resulted in a vicious attack
in which Xena almost killed her. The murderous Xena of old appeared,
dragging Gabrielle behind her horse and almost throwing her
off a cliff. In the wake of “the rift,” a significant
group of women stopped watching, in the middle of emotional
online discussions about partner abuse. But the warrior companions
endured and wounds healed.
And
then came the end, the final episode of Xena: Warrior Princess.
Xena and Gabrielle had been through a lot in six years. As media
attention gathered on the upcoming finale, fans were elated at
Lawless’ statement on the Conan O'Brien Show that this episode
“outed my character.” It seemed those who were looking
for text rather than subtext in Xena were finally going
to find validation.
Instead,
the Xena fandom was rocked and shocked when the relationship
not only remained subtextual in the finale, but Xena allowed herself
to be killed and beheaded, leaving her soulmate to travel the
world alone. The ultimate redemption of Xena may have been true
to the creator’s idea when the series began, but in the
context of lesbians in media, the story was all too familiar and
painful. The lesbian always dies, in this case the very gruesome
death of a hero, and the eternal partners were separated. Even
TV Guide panned the ending, saying that Xena deserved better.
Grieving
fans invested in this fictional relationship felt betrayed and
scrambled to create alternate endings, in particular latching
on to the Episode 18 of Season 6 (“When Fates Collide”),
which appeared just weeks before the finale and featured the love
story front and center. Xena and Gabrielle rode off on horseback
together in the final shot, and many a fan now considers this
the real end to the Xena story on television (writer Katherine
Fugate has since said that she wrote the story as if the two were
lovers).
So
what is the ultimate legacy of Xena:
Warrior Princess for lesbian and bisexual viewers?
The are they/aren’t they debate in the media brought lesbian
visibility to a mainstream television show, and these two women
who loved and shared their lives together became lesbian icons.
Xena and Gabrielle were partners in the true sense of the word.
They became role models of strong women who dealt with complex
moral problems, fought for social justice, and paved the way for
other female action shows and more explicit lesbian relationships
on television.
For
a majority of lesbian viewers, there was never any doubt about
Xena and Gabrielle, or their relationship’s importance to
the show. Xena was a long running series centered on a positive
portrayal of a same-sex romantic partnership, something that has
yet to be duplicated on television. O'Connor summed it up nicely
in a February 2001 interview with Upbeat magazine:
The
show became a lightning rod for fans who responded to a tough
chick with a sword and her feisty companion, and the show continues
to attract new viewers today in reruns and first runs around the
world. Television programmers in 115 countries might not have
a clue about the subtext, but Xena's wide reach means
that viewers in Saudi Arabia or Turkey have been exposed to love
between women.
Online,
the Xena/Gabrielle coupling lives on through fan fiction, and
has spawned a new industry in the publication of original lesbian
fiction from writers who began by posting fan fiction on the web.
The Xena: Warrior Princess Subtext Virtual Seasons airs
new episodes regularly, with a huge following.
As
a cult hit and the driving force behind the creation of an enduring
fandom, Xena’s audience became more than merely passive
viewers, and in the process, cemented Xena’s place in the
history of women in television.
