PATREON ONLY: Xena Warrior Princess 4x11 Reaction
Added 2024-12-18 17:01:10 +0000 UTCComments
Well, I don't love that episode. Not for the reasons others might dislike it, maybe. It's nice when they take a stab at continuity, but this one is a step down and a deviation from what was seen in "The Price." But oh well.
Koz
2024-12-22 17:21:07 +0000 UTCI am glad that you appreciate it but I still don’t think very highly of it. It’s supposed to be a continuation of the story in ‘The Price’ with the return of The Horde. I’m not saying it wasn’t well-intentioned because I think it was. The really big problem I have with it however is the ultimate goal of trying to unite the Greek villagers and The Horde (we find out they’re called The Pomira in this episode) via the oh so convenient plot device of using a girl apparently taken from her Greek family by The Pomira and raised for six whole years as the leader’s adopted daughter because his own daughter died. They’re trying to say by the end of it that there’s no reason to treat The Pomira differently just because they can’t be understood because now there’s a bridge of communication via Pilee/Vanessa. But throughout all of that narrative undertaking the actual Pomira never get any lines or even much screen-time themselves. Not even the father. Only this young white girl does. So they sort of shoot themselves in the foot because what they intended and how it comes across does not match. It’s honestly pretty grievous cultural appropriation if you ask me. And I’m somebody that defends the India arc so a reaction like that from me means it’s much worse. It’s certainly nowhere near as successful as ‘The Price’ is which didn’t try to bridge a gap or jump the hurdles. That episode just attempts to make it clear that blatant judgement out of hate and anger can make you lose your humanity. This episode attempts to say that just because someone doesn’t look or sound human, it doesn’t mean they’re animals or barbarians. Yet…, the plot device they have to make that argument with is a white girl who talks like the “non-animalistic” party while the “animalistic” party gets no such opportunity to show and prove that they’re not just animals that would likely just kill every single one of the villagers if not for the girl that’s the leader’s daughter saying “No”. Erm… that’s really not how to do that story at all. Sorry. The only thing that works with this episode for me is Gabrielle’s motivations to find Pilee/Vanessa and bring her home because that adds on to her characterization. Those moments where they focus on how she thinks and feels about things not working out the way she expected them to or how she “Hope’d” (I’m so sorry, Gabby 😬) they would - those were the high points. But that’s not saying much since I really should be more interested in the overall storyline if it’s trying to sincerely explore the differences in the cultural identities and lifestyle of The Pomira compared to… everybody else… who is white and typically Greek (Australian/American) and doesn’t speak in tongues. I mean for gods sake, at least have Pilee/Vanessa look like Pomira in that ending scene rather than the taken Greek girl. Oh, they missed the mark so far with this one. I admit it. I have to admit it. It’s really the worst. Perhaps if Steven L. Sears was apart of this one instead of a writer I had never seen in the writing credits yet, (I’m not saying Steven doesn’t have duds - ‘Succession’ or ‘Them Bones, Them Bones’, bleh) he might have picked up on the flaw in the narrative with this episode and they changed things before it went to production. If the goal and intention really was to reconcile the stark differences between the respective parties, then make sure to equalize the dialogue and screen-time between them so it doesn’t look like only one side (the “human” side) is speaking for both those sides because that’s… Anyway, next episode is ‘If The Shoe Fits…’. Oh boy,… the mid-season really struggles. Get to the India arc already. It’s far more exciting.
Girl4Music
2024-12-18 20:52:21 +0000 UTC
