Xena: Warrior Princess 1x24 "Is there a Doctor in the House?" Reaction
Added 2021-08-01 22:50:49 +0000 UTC
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In a 60 minute featurette called “What You Didn't Know About Xena” where the directors talk about the different techniques they used in the shooting of the episodes in Season 1 you get this commentary by T.J. Scott: “My favourite scene in ‘Doctor In The House’ is inventing CPR and Xena waking up Gabrielle and saving her. Having that moment that you realize that this rag-tag little girl that Xena had picked up along the way, who was a bard, who was a bit of an annoyance, she was falling in love with and the tears of “I’m about to lose someone that I love.” It just shows you how much the cast/crew/creators agreed with the fandom that Xena and Gabrielle were much more to each other than just best friends and they embraced the perspective that they were falling in love with each other. That their growing emotional bond was romantic instead of platonic. That they side with the Xena and Gabrielle shippers because they knew that’s what was in the characters hearts. I mean you wouldn’t see a scene like this one if that wasn’t the truth. Xena wouldn’t react like that to Gabrielle’s death if she wasn’t falling in love with her. It adds on to the emotion and the tension and the depth of the show. It makes sense to see it this way as opposed to just two best friends fighting the greater good together. I mean it is that - but it’s a love story at the same time. And I love that the likes of T.J. Scott and Robert Tapert agreed with and embraced them being best friends evolving into lovers. You don’t get that often. It’s actually very rare. Even in today’s paradigm where queer representation is everywhere on TV but is rarely ever written this well and this sincerely at that. Amazing! I could honestly gush about this subject forever but I’ll leave it here. I know you will see it for yourself.
Girl4Music
2023-11-05 17:57:08 +0000 UTC‘Is There A Doctor In The House?’ finds our heroines, Xena and Gabrielle, in the middle of an ongoing civil war between the Mitoans and the Thessalians. They end up bumping into a friendly face in the name of Ephiny, an Amazon in Gabrielle’s tribe, who is extremely pregnant and about ready to have her baby. They capture a Mitoan commander and take refuge in a Thessalian temple where the wounded, sick and dying are being treated. This episode is very upsetting. To cut to the chase: SPOILER ALERT! Gabrielle dies. Not only do you get to see Xena’s impressive demonstrations of medical aid and respiratory reparation, but you also come to see the incredible influence Gabrielle has had on her life throughout season 1. Xena showcases such vulnerability, compassion and even fear while begging and pleading for Gabrielle to wake up. She absolutely crumbles down in emotion the likes you’ve never seen from her in the show thus far, and you realise that this adventurous and naive young woman she helped on to the back of her horse, Argo, not too long ago, has had an unbelievable effect on her mindset and personality. She has fallen completely in love with her and her ways of empathy and understanding of the Greater Good and she just can’t let her go peacefully. She demands for her to return to the land of the living, screaming “Don’t leave me! DON’T LEAVE ME!”. Through much persistence and determination, Xena’s remarkable medical and healing skills somehow miraculously bring her back to life again. Don’t ask me how, she just does it, and Xena claims it’s entirely Gabrielle’s doing. I disagree. I think it was Xena that achieved that feat because her love for Gabrielle guided her efforts. Their relationship reaches even greater heights. At least from Xena’s point of view it does. Elsewhere in the episode, before that dramatic and climactic ending, that I also thought was a great addition to the theme, we go back to Ephiny and watch her talk with the Mitoan general named Marmax, who the Amazon has been put in his care. Ephiny has developed a hatred for the Mitoans because they killed her husband, but is able to tolerate Marmax because she wanted him to understand something about hatred. That the war has to end somewhere for their children’s sake. She challenges him by asking “Is bloodshed all you want them to know?” and the scene cuts. I thought that was very powerful and it made me appreciate the episode all the more. This episode inspired me a lot and makes it on my TOP 10 because of it.
Girl4Music
2023-11-05 17:44:26 +0000 UTCDon’t forget Demoncritis. Greek philosopher who conceived Atomic theory. Although I think Gabrielle is the one that did that in this show.
Girl4Music
2023-11-05 17:39:24 +0000 UTCA lot of the narrative tensions to this show are the conditions and consequences of war. Always a relevant subject unfortunately This episode especially is just absolutely fantastic. It’s insane all that this episode makes me feel. Especially with Gabrielle and Xena inventing CPR to save her life. And I love the notion that Xena thinks it’s a miracle when it was her efforts and fine medical skill and education. She doesn’t know this because she doesn’t understand what she’s just done. They develop CPR together as the show progresses when Gabrielle gets her turn to save Xena’s life.
Girl4Music
2023-11-05 17:27:13 +0000 UTCEven 25 years later, the resuscitation scene gets me so emotional. You really feel it. And it's such a beautifully done homage to the resuscitation scene in the movie, The Abyss.... that it also stands on its own.
Octavia
2023-11-04 06:32:21 +0000 UTChttps://youtu.be/IHjidXymfs0 Check out Lucy Lawless reaction to that gut wrenching scene…even she got emotional
Alex Prado
2021-08-03 21:03:26 +0000 UTCI think you're now seeing that there's way more to Xena than just being an "action show". This episode is a superb example of how good this series does intense drama and the acting, writing and TJ Scott's direction here packs a hell of a punch with commentary on the casualities of war both physically and mentally. I love how raw Lucy plays her anger and distress at possibly losing Gabrielle and she gets so immersed in the emotion of the scene she actually reverts back to her natural kiwi accent at one point. I'm so glad Gabrielle didn't die given the great love I have for her character and if Renee O'Connor had departed this show I probably would have stopped watching. It's a great first season finale and for me the best episode of the season along with Callisto. I can't wait for you to start Season 2, if you liked what you've seen so far, you ain't seen nothing yet.....
Tony Tenser
2021-08-02 00:19:02 +0000 UTCGalen and Hippocrates, two historical figures, show up here, with Galen’s portrayal the less flattering of the two, but oh well. And the inspiration for the Hippocratic Oath and the apparent invention of CPR are additions to the catalog of discoveries being made in this universe. This one is great, and the bottle nature of this episode (with almost everything happening in one place) is a help, not a hindrance, to the drama. Ephiny and her new son! Aww. And Marmax proves a likable fellow, without betraying his basic personality. And the climax is stellar. I really like this as the first season finale.
Koz
2021-08-01 23:56:55 +0000 UTCYou're absolutely right, that ending could have gone either way. No doubt there would have been a lot of stories to explore in future seasons too had Xena been further fuelled by her guilt over Gabrielle's death. Nonetheless, going by what we saw from Gabrielle this season alone (no comment on what she'll offer in future episodes), I'm very glad they made the decision not to kill her off. We saw a new dimension of Gabrielle get fleshed out in the campfire scene in Callisto and in this episode, that while she fights, she is conflicted and opposed to perpetuating a cycle of violence. That is something interesting that they could explore more with her character especially when placed alongside Xena's own philosophies as a seasoned warrior. Plus, even in something much more simple like Gabrielle's fighting ability and tactical knowledge, there is so much more room to grow.
Judson
2021-08-01 23:22:09 +0000 UTC
