Xena: Warrior Princess 6x04 "Who's Gurkhan?" Reaction
Added 2022-12-18 00:24:05 +0000 UTC
Comments
This scene tears me apart. There’s so much rage in her that she wanted to extinguish with vengeance but the need for it only fuels her fury… Of course Xena knows the signs all too well. And beating Gurkhan to an inch of his life was something she felt was necessary since she made the difficult decision of not slicing his throat initially. What’s remarkable is how Xena hands her the dagger, fully trusting her to make the right decision…. Just as Gabrielle has always done for her. And once again, we see that role-reversal transition and transference in them. You could make the case that Xena never became like Gabrielle as much as Gabrielle became like Xena. But Xena became something of which Gabrielle always was for her once upon a time… Her moral compass. It is particularly startlingly evident at the end of ‘Helicon’ when Xena’s yell of her name forces Gabrielle to stop what she was doing when she had that young warrior at his knees - defenseless and terrified - and standing over him like he was her prey. Yes, that is the true indication of their swap.. But this episode was tugging at the edges, leading up to that page of Gabrielle’s character development. She did become Xena. And maybe not in the way she originally wished to be.
Girl4Music
2023-11-27 13:52:54 +0000 UTCI just watched this episode yesterday and that scene really did stand out for me. Given I see through Xena's eyes every time I watch the show, I immediately noticed Xena's body language with the words that Sarah said. About thinking the only way to survive was to be more vicious than the competition. You can see how much she resonates and relates to that. And I think it just shows you how Xena was never truly evil. She just acted it because she thought she should. Because she was convinced that acting tough and cruel was the only way she could survive in a world of warriors. I think about the armies of men that she led and how she would have had to remain as ruthless as possible just to be taken seriously. Just to have control and authority. Because we know that lieutenant (I can't remember his name) of hers from the Xena Trilogy in 'Hercules: The Legendary Journeys' immediately saw her as weak when she did anything compassionate or even when she treated her own men with respect. And she knew she had to be hard because she knew 'The Gauntlet' was the price she'd have to pay if she wasn't. And the beating she takes in 'Who's Gurkhan' is very reminiscent of that brutality that she went through in that Xena Trilogy episode. I immediately understood when I saw those subtle expressions from her in this scene. Once again, all of it communicated in nuanced body language. No words. Only the greatest of actors can do that.
Girl4Music
2023-11-27 13:50:25 +0000 UTCWhen you run the show backwards, it becomes a Gabrielle origin story of how much being with Xena changed her emotionally. In the end, she really did become just like her, and inherit all her “many skills”. “Everyone would understand if Gabrielle was unable to kill him, but making a decision to not to kill him was a much stronger statement and a sign of her growth. She’s been in so many wars now, that to say she couldn’t kill someone wouldn’t be true. How could she not have the courage and dignity as a hero to stand up for her family? I’ve always tried to protect her truth in her journey as much as I can. The key to Gabrielle’s character is that she won’t kill in cold blood. To me, it’s the perfect debate of how Gabrielle has been affected by her environment of being with Xena to become the woman she is. Because she would not be in a situation like that if she were still living in Poteidaia.” - Renee O’Connor
Girl4Music
2023-11-27 11:21:45 +0000 UTCXena and Gabrielle: Gurkhan’s rape and torture harem. This was a brutal episode. It is probably the most violent and controversial episode of all, considering it’s supposed to be a family show. But I’ll be damned if it wasn’t also the most romantic. I don’t mean to romanticize any kind of abuse. It’s just when Xena puts her life and freedom on the line, and goes through a beating as severe as the one she did for Gabrielle, just to keep her alive, free, and from doing something that she may end up seriously regretting later. That’s such a beautiful, romantic thing, wouldn’t you say? Tragic romance is absolutely the most romantic and powerful kind of love I’ve ever known. It’s the amount of depth and intensity of pain, violence, cruelty and evil that both will go through in a heartbeat for each other just to make sure the other survives. I just find that an astounding declaration of love at the highest possible level. They’re such an inspiration to me in knowing and understanding what LOVE actually is. It is clear, from what I can interpret in this show and between these two characters, that love is not a feeling. Or rather, it is not just something that is felt. It’s the core of being of the Self in relation to another. A transparency between two people who absolutely lose themselves in one another. Nowhere have I seen this kind of love illustrated so strongly and powerfully than between Xena and Gabrielle. It’s incredibly inspiring and beautiful to watch. I am completely and utterly in love with their love. They truly are one soul in two bodies. “Looking back, I can watch these episodes and I just see the love in a whole new profound way that they have for each other. It’s undoubtedly obvious, you know, to me, that these two are obviously together and will be together forever — in any realm, in any reincarnation.” - Renee O’Connor
Girl4Music
2023-11-27 11:21:21 +0000 UTCI love this episode, and I'm super happy that you did, too. Season 6 is by far my favorite of this series, and episodes like this and the next two are part of why. Off to catch up with the next two, which only get even better.
Raven Dark
2023-01-01 08:00:13 +0000 UTCWell i think the idea of taking Gurkhan to the authorities would be even more of a stretch as i imagine he had considerable power where he was situated. I felt there had to be some more direct justice served to him and I'm happy with his fate. The "I kill you i become like you" scene is STILL an important moment i feel because whatever happens to Gurkhan outside of Gabrielle's hands, she still made the decision to let him live even when he was helpless before her. And I think it would have been very unrealistic if she had not expressed some conflict or rage even after the decision. Seemed natural for me that she would do that. And let's say that if Gurkhan was deliberately left to be executed, I would surmise that was more Xena's doing because she would have no problem doing that. I guess we will agree to disagree on Gabrielle's decision being undermined in this particular case.
Tony Tenser
2022-12-18 22:55:50 +0000 UTCOh, another moment of Hurst direction that I agree was superb was the intercutting between the decoys during the auction scene. That made an otherwise low stakes moment memorable! In the real world, yes. It is understandable to beat up the man who murdered your parents. But, this is a scripted story meant to service Gabrielle's character. What would have worked infinitely better was to have her beat him up badly, perhaps in a fight without him being unable to move, and all this would lead up to the moment she plans to kill him. Then she subsequently decides not to do it just like in the current version. In that order, her beating him would no longer undermine her ultimate decision not to sink that low and kill him. I feel like pinning Gurkhan's execution on his guards isn't in line with the Xena universe's code of morality. Throughout the series, Gabrielle has continually put the weight of deaths she was much much less directly responsible for on herself, so its not consistent with her character that she'd just leave Gurkhan in such a precarious position if her intent was not to kill him. Why would Xena and Gabrielle even leave such a dangerous and evil man free in his own fortress anyway? They would have taken him to the authorities. They snuck out with about a dozen women, carrying out one additional unconscious man would not have been a problem. I would even have been fine if Gabrielle decided to kill him by her own hand out of emotion then felt conflicted about it after. It would have been a nice mirror to When In Rome since this time, she's even closer to the violence, showing her journey to being a warrior. I would also have been fine if he tried to charge them after Gabrielle spares him and Xena had to kill him. Having his guards kill him by accident was literally the worst way they could have presented him getting some comeuppance. It is a total cop out because it gives them the, quite frankly cliched, "I won't kill you and become like you" moment then still has the villain die to satisfy the audience.
Judson
2022-12-18 12:20:11 +0000 UTCIt's not really Xena and Gabrielle's fault if Gurkhan's guards are too stupid to check who they are executing. Also I quite understand Gabrielle needing some catharsis by striking out at Gurkhan under the circumstances - I'd be the same if my parents were brutally murdered by him. The point was she chose not to directly kill him by her own hand. As I say its the stupidity of Gurkhan's guards that cause his demise. He needs better help! (If you want to discuss dubious morality, Xena's actions in Heart Of Darkness are much more troubling in my opinion). I also disagree that the plot of this story is "thin". There's actually quite a lot of character beats going on here that are quite deep. And I wouldn't be without those dance sequences - especially Gabrielle's! It for me is certainly the best episode so far this season. I feel all through this story Hurst's direction was superb.
Tony Tenser
2022-12-18 10:44:42 +0000 UTCI love Gabrielle and most of my top episodes are centred around her. In addition, Michael Hurst (who also plays Iolaus) is one of the best and most imaginative directors the show has. But I was just not feeling this episode. I did not like or agree with the central message of "Killing out of vengeance is wrong but it's cathartic to beat them while they are paralysed then send them to certain death anyway." The plot was also very thin, as evidenced by how much time they had to fill with the extended dancing scenes. Nonetheless, the direction did provide two very strong and enjoyable moments: the early scene in the rain as well as Gabrielle's dance sequence.
Judson
2022-12-18 06:13:08 +0000 UTCI'm finally back here catching up with all the Xena reactions you made in my absence and had to jump ahead temporarily to check out your reaction to this episode which is one of my favourites and for me the first truly great ep of Season 6. Great showcase for Gabrielle and Renee O'Connor's acting as she is faced with the dark choice of vengeance and her final cathartic encounter with Gurkhan and moment of realisation and her scene in the cell with Sarah are extremely powerful. Great direction from Michael (Iolaus) Hurst once again really adding a great quality too along with some wonderful costume, set design and cinematography. A truly stunning, beautiful but also gritty slice of television. It can't have escaped your notice, Liam, that this season the gritty and sensual elements have been greatly increased. Definitely in my series top 10. Oh and that pan up from 22:42 is the sexiest shot ever in the series! That dance by Gabrielle! Whew! There's some great behind the scenes featurettes on the making of this story on the Original Xena Fan Club DVDs.
Tony Tenser
2022-12-18 01:41:32 +0000 UTC
