Of all the plots and arcs in the Xena series, the 'Twilight of the Gods' is the most infamous. A good question to ask would be: why?
The hypocrisy of destroying the Gods so man is his own master, director of his own fate, lackey of no God by...er... turning all people to the worship of a God who, while praising love and peace and free will, requires absolute devotion, servitude and obedience from man as well as the death of His rivals?
Killing an entire race of beings - the Gods - in the name of 'Love' and 'Freedom from Tyranny' (Gods who, while being Jerk Asses a lot of the time, have relatively little impact on human life as a whole except for requiring the odd sacrifice or supplication...and priests)?
The discontinuity with former seasons where Gods were established as personifications of aspects of humanity, with the loss of godhood leaving that aspect uncontrolled/insane?
The 25 year Time Skip, which not only has long-term consequences and Unfortunate Implications which are often ignored, but screws over Callisto's soul again!
The ridiculous Deus Ex Machina way Xena got the power to kill Gods (because... Eve??) and the pathetic way the Gods were taken out holding the Idiot Ball?
The openly Christian subtext with the 'God of Love' hijacking the series, focusing on the superiority and goodness of God and the 'Way', and the falseness of other faiths - containing some very disturbing and hypocritical Broken Aesops?
Actually, no.
I mean, the things I listed were all bad, but I love this series and would gladly sit through said bad for the good... So what crossed the line?
Eve.
Well, that's not exactly right. Eve's actress. The character of Eve is weakly written (needing Deus Ex Machina to give character growth), but considering this is Callisto's reincarnation, her personality and essence should be the same, giving a huge canvas to work with. Instead, it was painful to watch Wilkinson's acting. She wasn't eye-gouging terrible exactly, but after the brilliant acting of Hudson Leick, I found myself unable to reconcile who Eve was in-universe with what I was seeing on-screen.
Disappointing, idea-starved and pretentious. Without strong acting to hold this sketchy arc together, it fell to pieces. Luckily it was self-contained...Wait.
Twilight of the Gods
Of all the plots and arcs in the Xena series, the 'Twilight of the Gods' is the most infamous. A good question to ask would be: why?
Actually, no.
I mean, the things I listed were all bad, but I love this series and would gladly sit through said bad for the good... So what crossed the line?
Eve.
Well, that's not exactly right. Eve's actress. The character of Eve is weakly written (needing Deus Ex Machina to give character growth), but considering this is Callisto's reincarnation, her personality and essence should be the same, giving a huge canvas to work with. Instead, it was painful to watch Wilkinson's acting. She wasn't eye-gouging terrible exactly, but after the brilliant acting of Hudson Leick, I found myself unable to reconcile who Eve was in-universe with what I was seeing on-screen.
Disappointing, idea-starved and pretentious. Without strong acting to hold this sketchy arc together, it fell to pieces. Luckily it was self-contained...Wait.