Xena: Warrior Princess…the Season Six Spaghetti Order
One day a while back, I came across an online post that offered a new idea for watching the Marvel movies – what that author called the “Spaghetti Order.” Why Spaghetti Order, you ask? Because the guy really loves spaghetti, and I guess that makes as much sense as anything. Other people have recommended watching the movies in the order in which they were released or watching them in chronological order, but this fellow thought about it differently. He sequenced the movies in a way that better supported the overall storytelling, with each movie and closing credits scene leading into the next as the series built up to the climax of Endgame…in his opinion, of course. I watched the movies through in that order and had to admit that it made for a great experience, seeming more like one large, planned arc rather than individual stories pieced together by different directors and writers.
So how does this relate to Xena: Warrior Princess? Well, few things are more controversial among Xena fans than the ending of the series, the two-part episode (6x21 and 6x22) “A Friend in Need.” While some think it’s an amazing ending, others hate it with a passion. I’ve heard from people who watched it once and have vowed to never see it again, and I even know of fans who, having heard what happens, have never watched the episodes and never plan to. While I understand the emotional trauma that the episodes can generate, I also think it’s a shame, because while I am not a fan of the episodes in their entirety, there are aspects of the finale that I find incredibly beautiful and powerful, things I would hope every Xenite could appreciate. I started wondering if there were some way to present the final season that could make it more palatable to fans who find the last episode so upsetting.
For years, many fans have used the alternative order that shifts episode 6x18 (“When Fates Collide”) into the final spot, providing a coda of sorts that allows anyone to imagine their own version of what happens next with Xena and Gabrielle. This has been my preference as well, and I think it’s a brilliant ending from a dramatic perspective. But I started wondering if more could be done. “A Friend in Need” has such power partly because it is the official ending, and moving it one spot backward in the order does allow for a new conclusion, but it’s still an emotional wallop being so near the end. I began to play around with the idea of it being more like a midseason cliffhanger…“How will they get out of this one?” Anything that could make it a bit less weighty and easier for fans to watch. That’s when I remembered this concept of the “Spaghetti Order,” and I thought about the other issues that can come up when discussing Season 6…the issues with stories based around vengeance, the regression of Xena and Gabrielle’s partnership at times, Xena’s need (or not) for redemption, Gabrielle’s shifting attitude toward violence, etc. Personally, I’ve also always felt that too many of my favorite episodes were placed in the first half of the season, throwing the second half out of balance (not helping to alleviate the disappointment of the eventual ending).
