Xena: Warrior Princess 2x14: "A Necessary Evil" Reaction
Added 2021-10-24 21:05:25 +0000 UTC
Comments
Why didn’t they just keep the dagger of Helios that they had last episode? Could have killed both of them as Gods that way.
Girl4Music
2023-11-08 22:18:20 +0000 UTCVelasca kinda reminds me of Dark Willow. The whole power corruption and vengeance thing. Similar kind of powers. The storm and the lightening when she teleports. The sadistic way she talks. The torturing… Of course Willow is a much better person than Velasca. But there are parallels.
Girl4Music
2023-11-08 22:12:44 +0000 UTCBuffy, Xena and Charmed are the only TV shows that I’ve seen that make you fall in love with the villains/antagonists just as much as you do the heroes/protagonists. They’re written well. Given in-depth backgrounds and lore. I mean, sure, they’re murderers and homicidal maniacs but they’re fun and interesting. They’re not a one-note. They have personality and qualities that you love to watch in them. You know? The writers make them worth the screen time that they actually get within the show. I just think that’s lost a little in TV shows now where there is a clear heroes VS villains distinction. And okay, yeah, maybe it’s for good reason. You’re not supposed to love or like the ones causing all the chaos and the pain and the tragedy. But I don’t think there’s any real danger when you know the difference. This is what I mean about TV shows treating us like children and not letting us interpret and make our mind up for ourselves on the characters, narratives and themes. We are capable of differentiating from characters we should be rooting for and characters we shouldn’t be. But still… a fun and interesting villain every once in awhile wouldn’t go amiss. You know what I’m saying?
Girl4Music
2023-11-08 22:07:06 +0000 UTCCallisto - The “villain” or the “victim”? Callisto is an antagonistic character whose mind has been psychologically warped over the death of her family. And yet, she acts and speaks so sincerely and playfully as if she recognizes her own behaviour and attitude and she is so apathetic that anything she has done or said to others doesn’t register in her head that it comes anywhere even close to her own torment. Her own life so twisted because of Xena, she turned into a psychopath, bent on destroying everything good in Xena’s life. But not the textbook definition of one. Oh, no. The most interesting thing about Callisto, for me, is that she is extremely self-reflective and expressive of her pain, despite feeling no remorse or regret of causing pain to others. Regardless of all the hatred, anger and vengeance she has towards Xena, she seems to be able to just tell it all to her just like that. As if she’s aware that she’s doing it and she’s passed the point of caring about that she’s doing it. Here she taunts Gabrielle with details of murdering Perdicus just to get a rise out of her. Just to see her react in anger. Just to torture her. And I just find it so interesting the humorous way she acts despite being so depressed, damaged and deranged. Why would a psychopath be so honest? It’s not common for a psychopath or sociopath to be sincere because they’re pathological liars. They don’t understand other’s feelings when they hurt them and they don’t recognize that they are a psychopath. But Callisto is not like that at all. She’s a psychopath with a self-aware purpose. In fact she acts just plain evil. But you also can’t see her as evil because of the fact she expresses herself as a victim of evil doings. All of this is so clear in her demeanor - Remarkably portrayed by the incredible Hudson Leick. Easily one of the greatest actresses I’ve ever known and Callisto is definetly the greatest “villain” I’ve ever known. She has puzzled me for years.
Girl4Music
2023-11-08 22:01:06 +0000 UTCLiam: I hate to side with Cray Cray... Glory: Am I a joke to you? Great reaction as always. Love Callisto, and seeing your enjoyment of her character is always a pleasure.
Raven Dark
2021-10-25 02:54:11 +0000 UTCIn my top 5 episodes of the series, this is one of my absolute favourites. Such a great episode with so many wonderful moments and Hudson Leick having an absolute blast here as Callisto and stealing the entire episode with some of her best and most iconic lines ever! I do think that scar really adds to her appearance and demeanor in this episode. Though i also love the glimpse we get of a more vulnerable side of her in this ep too - her facial reactions as Xena talks to the village about Cirra are so affecting and the campfire scene with Gabrielle is SO good when she lowers her defences quite movingly before her covering that emotion with another vicious twist about Perdicus. Hudson spoke at a convention once that was one of her favourite scenes in the show. And then of course we get the cherry on top with her becoming a god! "HERE COMES TROUBLE!" (That wink to Gabrielle as the trio hide behind the rocks is everything too). What's so awesome about this episode on another level is how it's basically filled with a team of amazing and powerful actresses all playing off each other so well. This was really one of the first series of this era to showcase such a balance of incredible female characters before many other shows that followed did and I think Xena's landmark place in the TV landscape still needs to be recognised more for its importance to a lot of the modern audience. I honestly think it deserves as many reactors as Buffy has secured online these days.
Tony Tenser
2021-10-24 23:15:18 +0000 UTCThis may be my favorite Callisto appearance. (MAY be.) There’s so much to like about it. The pair of Herc references really work, especially the first one where Gabby wonders why they don’t just go get Herc, which is so logical in the universe. Callisto has an arsenal of great lines. Xena is believable in finding a way to deal with a newly made god. And Gabrielle is great because she’s great as a rule. Terrific.
Koz
2021-10-24 22:10:31 +0000 UTC
