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Few television programs have released their finales alone for repeat consumption, and with good reason: Too often, the last show is more of a going-away party than a truly satisfying dénouement. The two-part finale of the action-adventure series Xena: Warrior Princess (originally aired in June 2001) ranks among the latter and will invite many replays for years to come. Co-creators Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert's Xena raised quite a ruckus in its six-year run, so it's only fitting that they went out with a bang. Xena (Lucy Lawless) was introduced on the Kevin Sorbo series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys as a warrior with a questionable history, a studded breastplate, and a hilarious, er, fierce yodel. The spin-off series began with her renouncing her dark side and venturing off to do good with her faithful sidekick, Gabrielle (Renée O'Connor) in tow. The stories were an evolving pastiche of mythic themes, rendered with ingenuity, camp, and a great sense of fun. In the finale, TV's first not-so-ambiguously Sapphic superheroine and Gabrielle travel to Japan to kick the butt of a demon from Xena's past. It was truly a quest. It was deeply perilous. And it was personal. Tapert (whom Lawless married several years into the series) directs this exciting conclusion, substituting the usual skewed humor with a surfeit of emotional resonance and -- for many -- a very surprising ending. Final episodes don't get any more satisfying than this. Stuart Gazzo

Product Details

• UPC: 025192267925
• Source: UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
• Region Code: 1
• Sound: Dolby Digital
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:40:00
• Sales Rank: 19,610

This set contains DVDs which may be available separately:

• Xena: Warrior Princess: Friend in Need, Part 1
• Xena: Warrior Princess: Friend in Need, Part 2

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