The People Vs Xena!!!

WARNING!!! POSSIBLE SPOILER INFO IN THIS POST! READ AT THY OWN RISK!!!
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Folks, I'm an angry bird of prey this morning. And it's been brewing
for a couple of weeks. I'm angry at Xena. (Yeah, I know it's a tv
show...but humor me). In fact, I'm furious at her! Xena went off
the deep end in "Bitter Suite" and change my whole view of her.
She's no longer the hero, the eternal champion, the defender of the
weak that we once loved and admired. She's fallen from that lofty
status in my opinion. And I intend to place her on trial before you
folks and prove her guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt!

When this whole "rift" thing began, it seemed to be a series of
collosol blunders on the part of both Xena and Gabby and it quickly
began to spiral out of control! It begins with Xena learning that an
old Arch-enemy (Caesar) has invaded far off land. She hates the guy
and decides to head off to Gaul in order to kill him. Sure, the guy
had crucified her, and I wouldn't argue if her intent was simply to
bring him to justice...but murder? (Now gang...murder doth not a
hero make! And Xena is supposed to be a "hero")! Lil Gabby tags
along. Now...keep this in mind folks. Xena knows that Gabby will
follow her anywhere and knows she will be leading Gabby right into
the teeth of the Roman army (the best the world has to offer at that
time). There is a high degree of risk and danger in this crazed
attempt and she's leading Gabby right into it. Gross negligence I say!

So they get up there and Xena, her lust for blood at an all-time high
at that point, seemingly forgets about her partner (who goes off and
gets raped by some demon-god in a temple). Remember Xena's feeling's
toward the gods? Under normal circumstances she would probably have
counsiled Gabby to beware this cult and trust in herself. (Xena's
pretty persuasive and probably could have talked Gabby into staying
away from the temple). Also, remember, Xena had been warned about
this temple of Dayhok and Ares wanted her to destroy the temple.
(Ares is the god of war, mind you...not the god of evil). So his
divine knowlege should have tipped Xena off. She ignored him,
abandoned Gabby and rushed off to commit murder. Well...we know what
happened there. Gabby (in her pursuit for goodness) got hooked up
with the wrong folks and ended up carrying the demon-seed. Xena
never had the chance to kill Caesar and Dayhok now has gained a foothold
into this world. Can we say...Doh!! So Xena creates a little thing
called Stonehenge! How has that helped the situation?

Ok, so Gabby has this baby and things begin to go horribly wrong.
People are dying left and right and everyone wants to blame Hope.
(I did too). But Gabby cannot believe that her child is evil!
(What mother would)? There is absolutely NO concrete evidence that
Hope has killed anyone! (We have not seen the child actually kill,
though she later talked about it). Xena wants to kill Gabby's baby
and Gabby, of course, does what she can to protect the child. She
ends up lying to Xena, telling her that she killed Hope....but she
didn't. She saved the babe instead.

So now we have the pair heading back to Greece it seems, but Xena
gets side-tracked again! She learns that yet "another" arch-enemy of
hers (Ming Tien) has risen to power in the Empire of Chin and she
rushes of to assassinate this guy! (Doesn't she ever learn)? Gabby,
in an attempt to keep Xena from committing murder and hopefully
saving her from reverting back to her former "dark self", tried to
stop her. Bull-headed as usual, Xena refuses to listen cuz she knows
better than anyone what to do and rushes off to do Ming in.
She even goes so far as to tell Gabby that this is "more" important
than her friendship.

Somehow, Gabby beats Xena to the emperor and informs him of her plan.
(Bad move I'll agree....but consider Gabby's motives here). One
thing leads to another, Xena kills Ming Tien and lies to Gabby about
it. The two are best buds again but there's an uneasiness about this
whole affair now.

Now we come to "Maternal Instincts". Hope has grown up and found
Callisto and that spells trouble for Xena! They are in the village
where Solon is and word gets out that Callisto is coming. Hope has
already arrived. Gabby is the only one who knows, but she still
believes Hope was just an innocent with the gift of growing up
quickly. (Hey! In Greek mythology, ANYTHING can happen)! When
Callisto arives, Gaby sends Hope to the same hut that Solon is
hiding in so that she will be safe. (Again...consider Gabby's
motives). She's trying to protect her child!

Well, we now know that Solon gets wasted (though we Still haven't
seen Hope actually kill anyone yet... we know she desired it).
There's a huge funeral and Xena blames Gabby for the whole mess! All
of a sudden it's all Gabby's fault now! Nevermind the fact that
Gabby was only trying to protect Hope...her daughter! Folks, there
was never any hint or mention that Gabby had a desire to lash out at
Xena or Solon! Sure...she might not have been able to see the truth
very clearly, but isn't the old saying that "Love is Blind"? In each
and EVERY case, Gabby acted with the best of intentions. There was
NEVER any malice behind her actions...unlike that of Xena. Xena has
been driven by a desire for revenge and murder for most of this
season now. But when her plans go awry and things blow up in her
face....she looks to place the blame on someone else. And who does
she choose?

In Bitter Suite, we find a vengeful Xena riding into the Amazon
village, blood in her eyes and murder in her heart. She plans to
kill Gabby and nothing will stop her! Dragging her hapless (and
innocent) victim behind her, they arrive at a cliff. Xena attempts
to throw Gabby to her death, but a fight ensues and they both go over.
In the Land of Illusia, we learn that Xena is now actually "listening"
to advice from those whom she's hated for years! (Callisto and Ares)
, both of whom hate Gabby. (So who's using bad judgement now)?
So the two meet (in Xena's mind) and Xena
goes through with the act of MURDERING the only friend who ever tried
to help Xena return to the light. Gabby is the best friend Xena
ever had and Xena tried to Murder her!

At this point, we learn that Gabby witnessed the evil deed and Xena
tries to blow the whole thing off by telling Gabby that it was just
an illusion, that she wouldn't really try to kill her. Uh....I don't
think so princess! Remember the carnival ride behind the horse and
your attempt to throw Gabby off the cliff? Gabby isn't buying into
it either!

Gang.... in all fairness, Xena was pushed hard in these episodes.
She was put under unbelievable stress. But so was Gabrielle. She
worried that her friend was reverting to evil, she was raped and
worried abut the safety and welfare of her child too!

My argument is
this...... EVERYTHING Gabby did was motivated out of a desire to do
the right thing...to help Xena or to help her child. At no point was
there "ever" any malice in her heart (until right after Xena dragged
across country). EVERYTHING Xena did was motivated by a desire to
kill, harm or destroy! Vengence was Xena's downfall. Xena...a
hardened warrior; a normally superb leader in battle; broke under the
pressure. She cannot be counted on when under duress.

Sure....she's
done some good things in the past. But that doesn't excuse her
actions here. She's unstable and should be put away. Rehabilitation
has failed in her case. Gabby, the kindest, gentlest, most patient
person I've ever seen, could not help Xena. In the end, Xena has
failed. She has failed her friends and she has failed at life. I
have absolutely NO sympathy for her. She should be severly punished
for her actions! It CAN be said that her actions even led to the
death of her only Son...Solon! All of these things happened like a
"domino effect", but it started with Xena's desire for revenge and
murder.

The case comes down to this....it's simply a question of "Motives".
Why did Gabby do what she did vs why did Xena do waht "SHE" did?
WE cannot condemn a person simply because they used bad judgement
(as in Gabrielle's case). But we can throw the book at one who's
motivated by a desire of vengence, murder and hate! (As in Xena's
case).

I must confess that I'm a bit confused as to why
a lot of folks seem to thing Solon orchestrated this "Land of Illusia".
What possible means would he have to pull off such a feat? He was
just a kid who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
If he had the power to do something like this, "Rosemary's baby"
might not have been able to snuff his life out. No... I'm more inclined
to believe that either Ares, Callisto or the Fates sent the "dynamic
duo" into Illusia for some purpose. Or perhaps it was the near-death
experience that the two went through, coupled with their own internal
struggles that landed them there. Who knows? But Solon????? Nah.
He's fertilizer now. (Sorry, but it's true)!

The People rest their case......

*Wink*

Hawk †