Xena: Warrior Princess had its big controversy of the season when Studios USA
and MCA pulled the episode "The Way" from international syndication earlier
this year. The episode was pulled after complaints were received from a
Hindu organization complaining about how the Lord Krishna was portrayed in
the episode. The studios reversed their decision recently and are now
restoring it to syndication starting the last week of August. This occurs
after an extensive letter writing campaign, initiated on the Internet by such
sites as the Australian Xena Information
Page, which yielded thousands of
signatures. Some minor editing will occur to satisfy a certain portion of
the Hindu community when it starts airing again.
The controversy blew out of control when Hindu representatives passionately
argued that Krishna would in no way help a reformed Warrior Princess and her
"too close for our comfort" gal pal.
I’ll be the first to admit that I know diddley about Hinduism or the Lord
Krishna, so I sat down with my popcorn and rereviewed the unedited original
episode this week. All in all, this gal was left with a strong impression
that Krishna is a way cool spiritual deity and that the study of Hinduism is
a worthy pursuit for anyone seeking their true spiritual path in life.
Endless debates have waged on the Internet over Hinduism and Xena by religious scholars and fans. I think the debate is healthy, but may have
left fans, who hadn’t seen the episode before it was pulled, with some
confusion about Xena’s fourth season.
My hat is off to Executive Producer Rob Tapert and story guru R.J. Stewart
for seeing into the future by twenty two episodes. These two guys had a
grand story arc in mind when they teased us in the season opener with Xena’s
vision of her and Gabrielle’s death. They knew the season would be about
questioning whether the two friends were on the right path and whether they
could do anything to prevent their violent deaths on the cross.
While some episodes may have been the heart, the karma, the sweat, the fear,
and the doubt of season four, "the Way" was certainly its soul. In this
episode, Gabrielle says, "all rivers run to the sea." Well, this season all
thematic rivers run to that damned crucifixion vision. And you can’t have a
season without a soul which "The Way" admirably provides.
The soul can help you stomach those painful little sidetrips Gabrielle takes:
throwing her beloved staff into the river and creating a nonviolent smoke/makeup compact to blow fairy dust into the eyes of her attackers. Of
course, I’m sure Rob Tapert was laughing his butt off at these antics knowing
the grand pay off we’d receive with the season closer, "The Ides of March,"
the highest fan rated episode of Xena ever according to the Rate-a-Xena
Internet site.
So getting into the story, yes, Gabrielle decides that her way is the Way of
Love or nonviolence. But of course, the episode smartly foreshadows Gabrielle’s true way, the Way of Friendship, when she grabs her staff to
defend Xena at the first provocation. Xena and Gabrielle fight
Indrajit, King of the demons, who is after their friend Eli, a peaceful Christ-like guy
who preaches the way of love. Viewers are treated to a tasty twelve arm
sword battle between Indrajit and Xena. They "grow" a few extra arms in the
climactic battle which had my adrenaline pumping. Talk about a tough day at
the office for a Warrior Princess!
We also are gifted with some wonderful special effects such as a flying
carpet battle with Indrajit and the attack of Indrajit’s demons who morph
from some crunchy black beetles. The elements I enjoy about the series
where there in spades this time: haunting Indian music by Emmy nominated
Joe Do Luca, the warm orange glow of the production design during the spiritual scenes, and the beautiful makeup which transformed the actors into
magnificent gods or demons.
And of course, Xena does have her spiritual meeting with Krishna. She
confesses, "I’m just an angry, ass kicking warrior." Krishna helps her
realize that she’s following the way of the warrior, "You should not be
hesitant to fight in a just cause. It’s better to die following your own way
than to live following someone else’s." Three points for the Krish man!
And I mean that as reverently as possible.
We are left at the end of the episode hoping Gabrielle gets a clue about her
true way. While we may foam at the mouth when she throws her fighting staff
into the river, we know we can stand it because we’ve all been there in one
way or the other.
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"Are
You Gonna Go My Way?"
