The fourth season of New Zealand fantasy drama Xena: Warrior Princess saw Xena (played by New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless) and Gabrielle (played by Renée O’Connor) begin the real changes that would come about as they looked for what was their true way forward. The season started with the darkness of “Adventures in the Sin Trade” but did have some lightness in episodes such as “In Sickness and in Hell” and “The Key to the Kingdom”.
Regulars Ted Raimi as Joxer, Martin Csokas as Borias, Erik Thomson as Hades, Karl Urban as Caesar and Bruce Campbell as Autolycus returned in the first half of season four.
There were 22 episodes in season four and it was first broadcast from September 1998 until May 1999.
Xena Season Four, Episodes One to Four
Season four kicks off with the two-part episode “Adventures in the Sin Trade”. Xena, distraught after Gabrielle’s death at the end of season three, goes to see Hades to rescue her but finds she has gone to the Amazon land of the dead, somewhere Xena has been before as shown in flashback to her time with Borius when she meets the evil shamaness Alti (played by Claire Stansfield). Xena discovers that her killing under Alti’s influence of Cyane (played by Victoria Pratt) and other Amazon leaders had trapped them in the land of the dead, preventing them from progressing to Eternity. Helped by young Amazons Otere and Yakut, played, respectively, by Sheeri Rappaport and Kate Elliot, Xena harnesses the spirit world to battle Alti in the present day and free the dead Amazons. During her climatic fight with Alti, Xena learns that Gabrielle is still alive.
In “A Family Affair”, Xena and Joxer travel to Poteidaia where they believe they have found Gabrielle but it turns out to be her evil daughter Hope. The village is being terrorised by Hope’s child The Destroyer. When the real Gabrielle turns up, she helps Xena kill The Destroyer, which, in its death throes, also kills Hope.
After the darkness of the opening episodes, it was time for a little comic relief, and “In Sickness and in Hell” provides that. If Xena suffering from lice and Gabrielle from a fungal infection while helping Joxer protect a village from marauders wasn’t enough, a killer rabbit and an unfaithful Argo were added to the mix.
Xena Season Four, Episodes Five to Seven
The war between the armies of Caesar and Pompey (played by Jeremy Callaghan) had come to Greece in “A Good Day” and Xena was forced to take a hard line with local villagers as she used subterfuge to force the armies into a major battle and bring an end to the stalemate. However, things do not go according to plan and Gabrielle leads a makeshift army of Greek soldiers and for the first time has to come to terms with men dying under her command.
Tara (played by Shiri Appleby) is back in “A Tale of Two Muses”, and Xena and Gabrielle save her from being whipped for committing the crime of dancing. With help from Autolycus, they set out to change the ways of the village.
In “Locked Up and Tied Down”, Xena is sentenced to life imprisonment on Shark Island for the murder years ago of Thalassa (played by Katrina Browne), who turns up very much alive as the ruler of the prison. Xena using a rat to escape was one of the highlights of the whole show.
Xena Season Four, Episodes Eight to 11
“Crusader” sees Xena and Gabrielle team up with Najara (played by Kathryn Morris) to help stop marauders taking people for slaves. Najara is guided by the Jinn, and Gabrielle is curious to find out more, but it turns out Najara has a dark side.
In “Past Imperfect”, Xena goes to help a town under attack but has flashbacks from when she attacked a town in a similar way to get her hands on the Ixion Stone. The army in the present turns out to be led by Satrina (played by Catherine Boniface), who was her servant during the battle in the past. The flashbacks reveal the full story of why Xena gave up her son to be raised by the centaurs.
“The Key to the Kingdom” sees Xena lookalike Meg, Joxer and Autolycus hatch a plot to steal the key that will let them get their hands on the Crown of Athena, but the key turns out to be a baby.
The season reached the half-way point with “Daughter of Pomira” in which we learn that Pomira is the correct name of the Horde, apparent savages with whom Xena once did battle. Xena and Gabrielle set out to rescue Vanessa (played by Beth Allen), a child once kidnapped by the Horde. Their quest though is not helped by Horde-hating Milo (played by Craig Ancell) or by the fact Vanessa is now a teenager known as Pilee who is happy in her life with the Pomira.
Lesbian Subtext
The tearful reunion between Xena and Gabrielle in “A Family Affair” was beautiful, but the true subtext here was the lengths that Xena was willing to go to in order to rescue Gabrielle from death.
Gabrielle gives Xena a massage at the start of “Locked Up and Tied Down” with some interpretable dialogue (try listening with your eyes closed).
Before the true nature of Najara is revealed in “Crusader”, Xena is willing to leave Gabrielle with her because of the visions she’s had of a shared death. Later, Gabrielle throws her body across Xena’s to stop Najara killing her. The visions though start to put strain on the relationship between the two in “Past Imperfect” as Gabrielle becomes annoyed at Xena’s attempts to protect her.
Actor spotlight: Lucy Lawless
New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless was nominated for a Saturn Award for playing Xena in 1997 and won a Saturn Award and was nominated for a Golden Nymph for playing Lucretia in Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Her career also saw her voted into the Cult TV Hall of Fame in 2011. This career dates back to the early 1990s playing a number of one-off roles, until she played Lysla in the TV movie Hercules and the Amazon Woman. A second appearance as Lyla in the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episode “Outcast” followed before she guest starred as Xena. That character proved so popular that the spin-off series Xena: Warrior Princess was created.
Since Xena, Lucy has played, among other roles, Sharon McMahon in two episodes of The X Files, Kathleen Clayton in Tarzan, D’Anna Biers in Battlestar Galactica, Marybeth Duffy in The L Word and Helen Burton in No Ordinary Family.
Xena Trivia
Victoria Pratt, who played Cyane in “Adventures in the Sin Trade” was later to become one of the stars of Cleopatra 2525, when she played Rose ‘Sarge’. Her genre portfolio continued as Shalimar Fox in Mutant X. Kate Elliot, who was to return twice as Yakut in Xena episodes, also appeared in Cleopatra 2525 as Lily.
“A Tale of Two Muses” was Shiri Appleby’s second appearance as Tara, the first being the season three episode “Forgiven”. Also making his second appearance in the episode was Hemi Rudolph, who played Telamon; he was in the series two episode “A Solstice Carol” as the head guard.
Katrina Browne who played Thalassa in “Locked Up and Tied Down” also played Mendala in the third season episode “When in Rome…”. And we haven’t seen the last of Najara, as she returns in the sixth season episode “The Covert”.
Catherine Boniface, who played Satrina in “Past Imperfect”, was making her fourth appearance in the show. She was a priestess in the second season episode “A Comedy of Eros” and played Meridian in the third season episodes “The Deliverer” and “Gabrielle’s Hope”. She was reunited with Lucy Lawless in 2010 when she played a priestess in the Spartacus: Blood and Sand episode “Shadow Games”.
Xena: Warrior Princess is listed as one of the ten best fantasy television shows of all time.
See also:
Xena: Warrior Princess, Season One, Episodes One to 12.
Xena: Warrior Princess, Season Three, Episodes 12 to 22.
Steve Rogerson - Steve Rogerson is a UK-based writer specialising in television, technology, sports and beer.
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