Xena: Warrior Princess 4x13 "Paradise Found" Reaction
Added 2022-06-15 01:10:54 +0000 UTC
Comments
Your instincts are very good. You know when to spot when something isn’t quite right and people are not quite what they seem. That’s good. Also, about Xena killing the rabbit. Although it’s supposed to be symbolic like in the way Willow kills a deer in ‘Bargaining Part I’, signifying her descent into darkness, Xena and Gabrielle kill rabbits all the time. They’re both meat eaters. Rabbits, deer, pigs. All on their diet. They’re likely a bit more humane about it than Xena is in this episode though.
Girl4Music
2023-11-22 07:55:19 +0000 UTCThis is when the yin-yang representation that has been bubbling under the surface in the show starts to be made explicit visual symbolism. They show you Xena and Gabrielle sleeping on a bed designed as the yin-yang ☯️ symbol, visually depicting them as the human representation of yin-yang and each other’s balance in the theme of it. Oddly enough, Gabrielle here looks feminine for taking up the masculine side of the symbol, and Xena here looks masculine for taking up the feminine side of the symbol. But then again, that’s just the nature of yin-yang. It is both all at once, and yet not so separately because both contain the seed of the other. That’s what makes it balanced. These characters are literally The Tao. The Way.
Girl4Music
2023-11-22 06:55:51 +0000 UTCChris Manheim: Writer of ‘Paradise Found’ had this to say about what she was intentionally depicting in this episode: “The whole purpose of that episode, at least for me, thematically… I just don’t believe that good can be passive. It’s not enough to do no harm. It’s not enough to be passive and not hurting anyone else. I think good has to be proactive because evil is certainly proactive. When good’s asleep, evil triumphs. That’s what you’re supposed to learn, if you learn anything from that episode. Since evil is so proactive, good has to be equally proactive to balance it.” I’ve said that balance is one of the main themes of ‘Xena: Warrior Princess’ and I’ve always wanted to know what the writers thought about how Xena and Gabrielle constantly struggle with these polarities of light and dark, good and evil and peace and war throughout the show. Xena, in that she has to reconcile with her dark side to come to be at peace with her entire self and her purpose in her life. She needed to accept that part of her she was ashamed of due to her past experiences in order to use it for the greater good. Gabrielle, in that she had to accept Xena for that too, as well as letting go of such a strong hold on to her goodness and the light in herself. To understand that she can’t condemn herself for making the mistakes she does, or the conscious choices she makes to get out of the situations she and Xena get put in. To trust in her own human nature. One of the biggest questions I frequently ask myself regarding the show’s themes is ‘when is the right time and place to act in violence and to kill?’ That being because of the significance of the character, Gabrielle, for me, and her storyline of evolving from a farm girl into an experienced warrior. Teaching me that you can’t just “do nothing” in the sense that you don’t do anything when you come across adversity. Although, I’ve already learned that lesson just from watching the show, it’s nice to hear Chris Manheim’s views about this subject and how it is a staple to her writing in some of the episodes. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one that has these views about the themes of violence and pacifism. I have a question and I would like people to give their answer in the comments. If you were told to kill someone or be killed - would you do it? Could you do it? Regardless of the situation or circumstance, could you take someone else’s life away in the effort to save your own life? To save yourself. Okay, if you’ve answered ‘no’ to that question… What if it wasn’t you but someone you loved that would be killed if you did not kill that someone? I always ask the question as to whether it’s right to kill or to act in violence at all to protect or defend yourself or your loved ones. And it’s not an easy question to answer for the simple fact that it’s not black and white. It always depends on the situations and circumstances on what you have to do in the moment as opposed to what you think you have to do out of preconceptions and misinformation. There’s always a grey area with it. You can’t really make a decision while disregarding the situation or circumstance. And you have to be in it to know it. Gabrielle doesn’t really make a conscious decision each time she’s put in the situation or circumstance where she has to act in violence or kill to defend and protect herself or her loved ones. Her instincts or her heart decide for her. In truth, if she even tries to employ her mind to do that job, she nearly always fails in protecting or defending anyone or in helping or changing that situation or circumstance. And while she says she always makes those choices and must face the consequences for them, she really doesn’t. Her warrior spirit takes over. You have to ask yourself who really calls the shots when the conscious mind is at rest and whether you truly do have free will or not. That’s the greater picture to this subject and all these thoughts. What holds the reigns and drives the horse and leads it to water? Well, the old adage is that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. And therefore, you do have free will. And this is something Gabrielle had to learn. That she must follow in ‘the way’. Similar to Xena, but just the opposite way around. While Xena trusted her warrior instincts, Gabrielle constantly denied them. Until much later in the show,
Girl4Music
2023-11-22 06:38:23 +0000 UTC‘Paradise Found’ is such an interesting character study episode. Because Xena has this darkness in herself, and we all know it. We’ve seen it again and again, and she’s constantly been fighting it for all these years. She gives in every once in a while, especially when Gabrielle is in danger, but never to this level before. We see Xena sink to a new level- even when she was a crazy warlord, she still had her code of honor. But in this episode, she lets go of every bit of light, and she doesn’t even have that. Except, she lets go of her light and fully embraces the darkness to save Gabrielle. Which, in and of itself, is a good act, which should have created light within her, only it helped her sink even more into the darkness, because she cared so much. And this is just honestly fascinating, because it plays with the idea that good acts can lead someone deeper into darkness and evil, which is something Xena’s been struggling with her whole life - she wanted to protect her home, a good thing, but did it by becoming the most feared warlord in the world so everyone would be too scared to go attack it, a bad. Same with this episode - she wants to save Gabrielle, a good, but does so by almost killing everyone, a bad. And it’s just fascinating how Xena’s able to use her darkness for good, even if the actions themselves are bad, and it all makes sense. Someone being led deeper and deeper into darkness through a chain of events and good intentions is a fascinating trope. I love it.
Girl4Music
2023-11-22 06:27:45 +0000 UTCI’m blue, da ba di da ba da... This a strange episode. Which does not make it a BAD episode.
Koz
2022-06-29 04:28:16 +0000 UTCThe romantic subtext between our heroines was once again thick in this episode. In fact, for the scene where Xena first sees Gabrielle and Aiden doing yoga together, the director (Lucy Lawless' husband) gave Lucy the cue to react as if she has spotted Gabrielle in 'another man's arms'. XD I also liked how they communicated in the opening. Gabrielle pointed out that Xena may relish the violence more than the doing good (something quite sensitive and accusatory on paper) with zero judgement towards Xena, and Xena was completely open to the observation without being defensive at all. I like how the show pre-emptively addresses that Gabrielle joining Xena permanently at the start of the series didn't feel entirely natural. We see that it has mostly worked out well, but it still doesn't feel fully earned that a young girl would suddenly commit herself to a brand new way of life with a woman she just met. This is the second time this season (the first being with Najara's 'Way of Light' in Crusader) where they've let Gabrielle seek her own spiritual path. Unfortunately, both times turned out to be a sham. But, as they mentioned in the opening, they're on their way to India to seek more spiritual enlightenment.
Judson
2022-06-15 07:09:19 +0000 UTC
