The Checklist: Xena: Warrior Princess (S1 Ep20) “Ties That Bind”
Television spin-offs have their advantages… a spin off series is starting with a character or characters that are already proven commodities.
Television spin-offs have their disadvantages too… a spin-off usually has big shoes to fill and many spin-offs have found out the hard way that a popular member of an ensemble cast can’t always make it as the central figure in a series.
Xena: Warrior Princess may hold some sort of fast tracked spin-off record… the character Xena (played by the lovely Lucy Lawless) first appeared in the ninth episode of the first season of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys in March of 1995… the first episode of Xena: Warrior Princess aired on September 4, 1995.
By its second season, Xena: Warrior Princess became the #1 show in syndication, beating out Hercules. Xena would continue to pull better ratings than Hercules for the remainder of the time both shows aired.
So what made Xena: Warrior Princess a successful spin-off? I decided if I really wanted to find out the answer to this question I needed to randomly select an episode from the first season of the show and put it to The Checklist test…
- Synopsis: Xena (Lucy Lawless) and her sidekick Gabrielle (Renee O’Connor) get help from an unexpected source while attempting to rescue some women who have been turned into slaves by a tyrant and his army.
#1. Does the show have a quality opening?
The best part of Xena: Warrior Princess‘ opening is the fact that Xena’s backstory is briefly explained not unlike The A-Team or Renegade. This is a great thing for first time viewers as it establishes what the show and the main character are all about. 1/1
#2. Were there any notable guest stars?
Any television series can benefit from a notable guest star and “Ties That Bind” has one in the form of Tom Atkins… yes, the man that destroyed Silver Shamrock Novelties and the man who broke some good news and bad news to a sorority house full of college girls.
Atkins’ character Atrius appears from seemingly out of nowhere just as Xena and Garbielle are about to rescue some enslaved women from a nearby village… Atrius tries to single handedly take out the army of guards watching the women, but it is obvious that Atrius is no longer the warrior he once was. Xena and Gabrielle get involved and when Atrius first lays on Xena, his eyes light up and reveals that he is Xena’s father!!
Xena does not believe that Atrius is her father at first, but as the episode rolls on her stance on Atrius changes. 2/2
#3. Did the show contain the three S’s?
When Xena: Warrior Princess premiered in the fall of 1995 it was the latest entry in the “Swords, Sandals and Sorcery” subgenre. But did “Ties That Bind” contain all three of these important S’s?
There were plenty of swords as Xena and Atrius did battle with an army led by the tyrant Kirilus.
Some of the enslaved women were in fact wearing sandals.
And Ares (Kevin Smith) checked the sorcery box as he would appear and disappear through out the episode, always stirring up Kirilus where Xena is concerned… some would even say that Xena was living in Ares’ head rent free. Ares would provide a huge twist to the episode after nearly getting Xena to return to the darkside. 3/3
#4. Does Xena kick ass?
Quality openings, notable guest stars and a show from the Swords, Sandals and Sorcery subgenre having all of those elements is certainly important, but a huge reason that Xena: Warrior Princess was on the air for six seasons was because of the star, Lucy Lawless.
Lucy’s Xena had the ability to take a man’s breath away with her beauty and by straight up knocking the wind out of him in battle. And if the Bulletproof Action stats have taught me anything over the years, it is that there is a demographic that is certainly fond of women who could physically dominate them.
After watching Xena in action in this episode, I have to say if Xena isn’t the toughest women in action entertainment history, she damn sure is in the conversation. 4/4
#5. Did Xena get to use her trademark weapon, the Chakram?
The Chakram is to Xena what the Turbo Boost button was to Michael Knight… you know there’s at least a good chance it will be used in every episode, but you still love to see it. 5/5
- Final Score: 5/5 (100%) A perfect score for the perfect spin-off, it is everything a spin-off could hope to be and more, overachieving almost from the word go.
