I've always known XWP but never really watched it until a few weeks ago, when I saw it aired on a cable channel. I began to watch randomly and pretty soon I got hooked. It was season 5 and 6 and I stopped watching at 6x10 (Old Ares Had A Farm) because I wanted to see the whole series before seeing the end. So I bought the complete series in a box and started my marathon.

Generally speaking, this season has more bad episodes than good ones. A lot of loners, some very bad (The Titans), some useless (Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards), it was too early for an episode with flashbacks, some very good but I like it when I learn more about the characters.

From the beginning though the bases are there : Xena is a complicated, multi-layered character, Gabrielle is the innocent one who's going to learn from Xena and Xena will learn from her, we'll be the witnesses of their evolution. Their friendship and Xena's redemption are the bases of the story.

What got me hooked? The kick-ass warrior of course! Her dark past, her changing, her guilt, how she suffers from what people think of her and find hard to believe she has changed. That's why I loved The Reckoning. Plus it's the first appearance of Ares, and as I'm not completely new to the show and just "a little bit" of a shipper (), I was looking forward to see his first time!

I like all the episodes that build the "mythology" of Xena and from which we learn about her past: past fights, past lovers, past friends and past enemies.

I think I'm a total Xenacentric :

But I also like to see the evolution of Gabrielle. She had to change because, at the beginning, she's really a pain in the neck : And I love how Xena deals with that sometimes, not answering to her or just looking upset. Lucy Lawless has priceless face expressions, it's so funny in certain situations. But she's a great actress anyway

We have hints from the beginning of what kind of warrior Gabrielle will become. With Dreamworker first, when she "fights" for the first time with a stick; this episode is very interesting in the importance Xena gives to the non first killing. She wants Gabrielle to stay the same as she is, an "innocent", but at the same time, she has to become if not a warrior, at least a fighter, for herself and for Xena. And we don't wait to long before seeing Gabrielle in action, thanks to the Amazons in Hooves and Harlots.

Concerning other characters, the introduction (at last !) of Callisto was great. I didn't remember that Callisto first injured Xena (The Greater Good) before they really met (Callisto). I did remember the ladder fight though. This storyline is very exciting even if you don't know Callisto is going to be back. I knew it, but this episode was great enough in itself.

I find Joxer less annoying in the original version than in the French one (his French voice is unbearable and he seems even dumbier). He's not my favourite character, but his introduction is well done and he has interaction with the main characters from the beginning, it's nice.

On another subject, I like how myths and ancient history are used and revisited (Bacchus !). It's fun to think Xena "created" Hippocrates, that Gabrielle gave lessons to Homer etc. Yes, it's not credible, yes these people didn't live at the same time, yes historically speaking it's wrong, but who cares ?

All in all, this 1^st season is not bad for a first season except for the finale. Maybe I got used to all the cliffhanger phenomena but I was quite disappointed with this finale. The story's good, but the tension is released too soon and honestly, at the time of Xena, I'm not sure this ep would have motivated me to watch s2. I guess I would have, but for other reasons than the finale, and the main reason would have been : Xena herself

I'm sure I have plenty more to say, but I just wanted to give my general impression on this 1^st season, not write an essay, some here are better than me to do so

Now I'm on s2, but I'll be on holidays from next Tuesday and during 3 weeks, and even if Xena is my new obsession, I really need to go on holidays and stay away from my DVD player, my internet and everything :