May and June were not good months if you were a female superhero. The two baddest chicks in
superhero land are 0 for 2 at the moment. Buffy and Xena had one bad day and bought a one
way ticket to Heaven and the Elysian Fields. Will they be resurrected and brought back to
the world of flesh and blood?. That is entirely up to you, dear reader. Matter of fact,
we are running a contest, prizes and all, at Newsguy for the best fan resurrection of our
two butt kicking warriors, but we’ll get to that in a little while. First, some brief
reviews and a bit of plot line so you can craft your yarn. Our heroes don’t have to stay
dead if we, the fans, take a little initiative. I’m confident we can keep them alive for
a long time to come.
Buffy: The season finale of Buffy was the impeccable ending to a perfect season of
television viewing. It doesn’t get better than this. Remember the number 5 and
Buffy. It will be a critical number to tell the store clerk when the DVD’s finally hit the
shelves in say oh… ten years from now when Monica Lewinsky is promoting her new face lift
cream. I’m optimistic, aren’t I?
A bit of plot… Wanted: Glorificus, the Hellgod, seeks Supernatural Sister of the Vampire
Slayer to use as a Key to break down dimensional walls, create chaos on Earth, and end our
puny little lives as we know it. While this description may be apt and good fun, this
season has been one roller coaster ride of emotion and growth for Buffy and the Scooby
Gang. Joss Whedon and the writing staff crafted 22 episodes that saw many of the
characters face their most unspeakable fear this season: Buffy loses everyone close to
her… her boyfriend Riley, her mom, possibly her sister if she fails. Spike rediscovers
his humanity and ability to love only to have the object of his affections taken from him
all too soon. Dawn lives her awkward teenage years only to have it reconfirmed that she’s
the freak every teenager fears they’ll be. And her freakishness has something to do with
the world ending with a terrible thud.
Buffy’s decision to die brought with it a dignity and sense of relief. The peaceful smile
on Buffy’s dead face revealed a heroine who was thrilled to finally sacrifice herself,
instead of a loved one, to the fickle tragedy that is life. While we grieve Buffy’s loss,
we understand her sacrifice. She would save us all if she could.
Joss and his team cleverly hinted at this ending all year long. References to “having one
bad day” and wanting the peace of having it all end were planted early in the season.
Many thematic hints were peppered throughout the episodes this year like a big game of
“Clue” and the satisfying finale completed the picture. Bravo for number “5.”
I was left with mixed feelings about Xena’s death. While I can appreciate the strong
choice of having your heroine sacrifice herself for the ultimate redemption, something
fell apart here. And I don’t believe it was the beheading, although many fans many may
disagree with me. I personally found the “chakram severing the spine” scene in “Ides of
March” far more grotesque and graphic. And I still have a hard time watching Xena getting
sliced in the throat with her own chakram in “Between the Lines.”
Ironically, so much of the story worked well until the final decision of Xena to stay dead
despite successfully freeing 40,000 souls from a demon. These were the souls of people
Xena accidentally killed by a fire she started when she was depressed over the loss of
Akemi, her former partner.
I think there was lack of preparation for the reason for her death in earlier scenes. And
her excuse for staying dead was… well, lame. The souls were freed, and Xena was thanked.
Supposedly, a nice happy sunset should be awaiting our heroines. Then Xena drops the bomb
and tells Gabrielle she must stay dead to remain the avenger of these souls. This makes
no sense. Freed souls usually go to some very nice place and have no need for an avenger.
Was this an afterthought by the writers? It would’ve made more sense if Xena’s full
life force was needed to finally break them free from the demon, and this means she would
need to stay dead. Plain and simple, but using vengeance as a worthy reason to stay dead
denigrates her memory more than any beheading. It especially makes no sense in a story
that earlier shows the compounding of pain caused by Akemi’s vengeance.
So beyond the lame excuse, where was the missed opportunity, which if seized, might’ve
made Xena’s death a beautiful sacrifice? The scene on the castle balcony was the lost
opportunity. After Xena implores Gabrielle to hear the sounds of nature and she hears the
advancing army, Gabrielle leaves and Xena speaks with an incidental character (the ghost
killer) in the show about the biggest decision she’ll ever make in the entire series.
This may be the slap in the face the fans are feeling, not the beheading per se.
How much more powerful would this scene be if Xena stared off into the distance, suddenly
turned and came face to face with Akemi’s ghost? How much more powerful would this
decision be if Xena is reunited with the one person she felt passionately about, a person
who misled her into one of her greatest tragedies, a person who died on her without
closure?
When we finally meet Akemi, Xena has already made her fateful decision, perhaps unaware of
the ultimate consequences of needing to stay dead. This makes it appear as if Xena was
misled again and her death has no meaning because her free will was taken from her.
Instead, their meeting is too anticlimactic, pedestrian and casual for the build up that
preceded it, ‘Oh, hi Akemi.’ ‘I knew you’d come. Had a dream about you.’ ‘Cool, so you
need my help?’ The emotions were so light that I was expecting a “wassup.”
Akemi should’ve been on that balcony with Xena, not the ghost killer. The scene could’ve
had more gravity if Xena’s misgivings, unresolved grief and wariness had some play on
Akemi. We could’ve seen what was emotionally at stake in this death and redemption. This
was the moment. Seeing a stoic, slightly angry, and teary eyed Xena one more time could’ve
blown this whole thing wide open. Imagine this Xena (which Lucy Lawless plays so well)
staring at a slightly flustered Akemi.
Akemi: I wasn’t sure you’d come.
Xena: Not much of choice. The blood of those souls is on my hands.
Akemi: No, on our hands.
Akemi: You and a bard…?
Xena smiles for the first time.
Xena: I want you to meet her.
Akemi: I’d like that. She knows?
Xena: She’s here with me.
Akemi: And she accepts it? It would be so simple to walk away.
Xena: Gabrielle and I never walk away. But I get the feeling there’s something you’re not
telling me? Akemi??
Akemi: Yodoshi can only be killed by…?
Xena: … Someone who has entered the ghost land…
Akemi: Xena, no secrets this time. You need to know what I know.
Akemi: Privately. We don’t have time. I freed myself from Yodoshi’s grasp, but only for a
moment. 30 seconds to live” scene.>
Perhaps a scene of this ilk could’ve clarified things for the audience. When Xena broke
the news to Gabrielle at the end, the audiences’ mind could rush back to this scene, and
it would’ve made more sense. They would know the point Xena where was presented with her
fate, even if it was done “privately.” And they would know some of Xena’s unresolved
emotions, sense of duty and the real reason for the “if I had 30 seconds to live” scene
and everything that followed.
Well, enough of my babble. The resurrections of Buffy and Xena are in your hands. We
invite you to join our contest at Newsguy. Feel free to submit a 200-250 word essay on
how you’d bring back either Buffy or Xena. Contest submissions should be
sent
by email. Submissions will be accepted between 6/29/01 to 7/13/01, and all
submissions must be sent from a valid email address. Late submissions or submissions sent
from a bogus email address, will not be accepted. All submissions become the property of
the Feature Writer program and may be republished/reprinted by Newsguy. The winners
receive their choices of a Newsguy mug or t-shirt.
Good luck and let’s bring ‘em back.
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"Dead Superheroines Rising"
