For years I thought Married with Fishsticks was one of the worst episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess, but having rewatched and reflected on it, I see something else.

What once looked like pointless nonsense now feels like one of the strangest, most subversive episodes of the series. In fact, I’ve come to read it as Gabrielle’s queer feminist nightmare; a hallucination where she’s forced into Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique.

When Gabrielle wakes up in this fishy suburban dreamworld, she’s saddled with a “husband” she doesn’t know or want. She’s expected to smile, cook, fit in, and keep up appearances for the neighbors. The whole thing is played with a laugh-track energy, but it’s suffocating in a way that feels intentional. This is Friedan’s “problem with no name”, the malaise of being told that housewifery and marriage are the pinnacle of fulfilment, even when they feel empty. Only here, it’s played…

For years, fans have debated the “final” episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. A Friend in Need gave us tragedy, sacrifice, and Xena’s death, but it left Gabrielle suspended in grief, her story unfinished. When Fates Collide, often dismissed as an alternate timeline, completes her journey in every sense that matters: emotionally, morally, and spiritually. It is, for me, the true series finale.

Gabrielle chooses Xena, not blindly, not out of circumstance. She chooses with clarity, agency, and courage. She defies destiny itself to affirm the bond that defines the series. This episode honours both characters and their growth while delivering the emotional closure the series had been building toward. It is the culmination of a story about love, courage, moral conviction, and when Gabrielle defies fate itself for her soulmate it is finally complete.

I was seventeen at the time When Fates Collide aired, but my connection to Xena: Warrior Princess began long…

My Xena rewatch reached Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire tonight, it's a campy battle of the bands with Disco Amazons, where did they get some of the ideas from?

But beneath all the sparkle, it’s pure Xena. Love, joy, and resilience shine through, and smack in the middle of it is Gabrielle. Watching her dance, sing, and spar with Xena with that easy chemistry? Pure magic. Watching it back in 2000, young me felt like she was getting permission: to love, be playful, and be herself.

The episode also shows Gabrielle’s strength. Enter Draco, her persistent stalker, who refuses to take “no” for an answer. Gabrielle asserts herself clearly and fearlessly ,she is not interested and escapes his trap on her own. Watching her do that as a teen gave me chills. She sets boundaries, takes control, and refuses to be intimidated. That courage is golden sequins-level epic.

Then there…

Hello fellow fans of Xena!

I just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself, give a little background and share my Xena journey.

For safety purposes, I'll be going by Joxenar, and it is great to meet all of you. Truly.

I'm going to be real honest, I didn't know Xena existed until certain things I watched put it on my radar, still I never looked further into it, so it became an out of sight out of mind show. It took meeting my battling bard to even give it the time of day. It took a few tries for me to make it past episode 3 in season 1, in fact it took me a total of about 2 years to watch the whole show. (I started in 2023.)

But I enjoyed every bit of it.

It was a ride for sure. During the whole Dahak arc and…