The greatest episode of "Xena: Warrior Princess" - the last act contains both the best sword fight and the most emotional point in the series.
"Eve" touches back to earlier in the series to "Gabrielle's Hope"/"Maternal Instincts" where a mother refuses to believe their child is evil until a personal loss is suffered at the hands of the child.
Xena must finally see that there's no hope for the redemption of her daughter and hunt begins as Livia leads an army of loyal Roman soldiers to lay waste to the followers of Eli in retaliation for her defeat at Xena's hands in "Livia".
Lawless, O'Connor, Smith, Wilkinson and Lee are all at their peaks, giving some of their best performances in the series, and also of their careers.
The dialogue of this episode is both witty and powerful, with exchanges back and forth that make you unable to decide if you should laugh at the character's wit or cringe at their cruelty (Ares in particular). Bravo to O'Neill and Strayton, the best writing duo on the series! Directed by Mark Beesly one of the truly gifted directors of "Xena" (who isn't afraid of making a bloody episode), he is both a director of visual brilliance in how he tells a story, as well as a superb actor's director. He never fails to get the maximum punch from every actor in every scene.
"Eve" gives you everything "Xena" has to offer and is a true example of what made the series so great.
"Eve" touches back to earlier in the series to "Gabrielle's Hope"/"Maternal Instincts" where a mother refuses to believe their child is evil until a personal loss is suffered at the hands of the child.
Xena must finally see that there's no hope for the redemption of her daughter and hunt begins as Livia leads an army of loyal Roman soldiers to lay waste to the followers of Eli in retaliation for her defeat at Xena's hands in "Livia".
Lawless, O'Connor, Smith, Wilkinson and Lee are all at their peaks, giving some of their best performances in the series, and also of their careers.
The dialogue of this episode is both witty and powerful, with exchanges back and forth that make you unable to decide if you should laugh at the character's wit or cringe at their cruelty (Ares in particular). Bravo to O'Neill and Strayton, the best writing duo on the series! Directed by Mark Beesly one of the truly gifted directors of "Xena" (who isn't afraid of making a bloody episode), he is both a director of visual brilliance in how he tells a story, as well as a superb actor's director. He never fails to get the maximum punch from every actor in every scene.
"Eve" gives you everything "Xena" has to offer and is a true example of what made the series so great.
