When "Xena" was spun off from "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" in 1995, the premiere episode was written by Stewart from a story by Tapert. It paired Lawless, as Xena, a former warlord trying to go straight, with O'Connor as Gabrielle, the former slave girl who tagged along with Xena in search of experience and adventure.
At first, Gabrielle was like Jimmy Olsen to Xena's Woman of Steel ‹ a pacifist, admiring sidekick who provided more comic relief than anything else. Over the years, though, the characters and their relationships deepened enormously.
Both had and lost children, and came to love one another. Both died, albeit briefly and temporarily. Gabrielle became nearly as tough a warrior as Xena, while Xena learned to become nearly as sensitive as Gabrielle. Under the guidance of producers Tapert (who eventually married Lawless) and Stewart, "Xena" created a fanciful universe large enough to include broad comedy and operatic drama, goofy supporting characters and even musical episodes.
For Saturday's finale, though, Tapert (who directed) and Stewart (who wrote the teleplay, with the two sharing story credit) play it straight, and go right to the show's center. Only Xena and Gabrielle, who began this TV trip together, are around to end it ‹ and they do so in Japan, with a story that's mystical, epic and, at the end, satisfyingly dramatic and surprising.
The plot includes flashbacks to a time when Xena was younger and ruthless, her warrior spirit touched by a young Japanese slave girl (Michelle Ang's Akemi, an obvious precursor and parallel to Gabrielle).
Xena's actions in that earlier era led, without her knowledge, to the enslavement of 40,000 souls by an evil Samurai spirit, Yodoshi (Adrian Brown). In the present, she learns of a way to free those souls and vanquish Yodoshi. She vows to do so ‹ even if it kills her.
This final story line allows for intimate acting, wild action choreography and even unusual costumes: Lawless, as Xena, gets to dress in geisha, Kabuki and gleaming-metal garb. O'Connor, in her most Xena-like behavior ever, plunges into battle adorned with a giant magical tattoo ‹ and not much else.
The three women figuring prominently in this two-hour finale ‹ Lawless, O'Connor and Ang ‹ perform their roles with a credibility and tenderness that both allows and encourages viewers to take it all seriously. In the end, "Xena" delivers a series finale with a sense of closure that's both emotionally and intellectually satisfying.
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