How did you feel the first time you watched idea of March
Posted by midnightspellbinder@reddit | xena | View on Reddit | 25 comments
I remember when I first watched this episode I was completely mind blown! I was 12 and hadn't watched Xena in awhile so I had missed a lot of season 4. I managed to catch a random episode of Xena and was happy to see the show still going strong and didn't know it was playing on this specific tv channel. So as I watched falling In Love with the show All over again I literally started to have a damn heart attack when Xena's Chakram broke her spine! Than seeing both her and Gabrielle on the cross had me in a puddle of tears! I couldn't understand what was going on and truly thought it was the end of the series đ
TangledUpPuppeteer@reddit
I was in my glory. Although I hate the Caesar look, I love Karl urban. I adore Callisto. And badass gabby was back!
Even if it was the end of the series, it went out with a freaking bang!
IseQween@reddit
Yes, many of us feared it was the end, despite DEJA VU coming after, and to this day would've been satisfied if IOM had indeed been the finale. S4 is my favorite, with both X&G having discovered a lot about themselves and their "true" paths. We had the gutsy vision plot keeping us in suspense, both Caesar and Callisto playing roles in the outcome, the introduction of strong female influences (Alti, Cyane, Najara), Xena brought to her knees by her own "creation" and chakram, the Gabinator defending her champion, the prison scene confessionals -- everything seeming to both come full circle and culminate beautifully. As much as I'm still moved by the two of them side by side facing the sunset in Japa, nothing tops for me how they fought for each other and went out together in IOM.
TangledUpPuppeteer@reddit
And you just beautifully summarized what makes Xena great.
I love the fact that gabby would kinda get beat up quite a bit and need Xena to defend her. Until the very moment she is the most nonviolent and Xena gets hurt. Then, all bets are off.
And Callisto cocking her head to the side and saying âinterestingâ as Gabrielle is single handedly taking out the entire Roman army⌠perfection. In one minute, Xena kicked and punched four soldiers. In the next minute and a half, Gabrielle killed 8 to defend her friend. Itâs absolutely brilliant.
IseQween@reddit
You know, Callisto's "interesting" underscored how often Gabs was previously underestimated. It was like a turning point for the Gabs we see thereafter, often taking the lead during Xena's pregnancy, when summoned by the Amazons, seriously considered by Ares, and reluctantly taking the baton from the WP in AFIN.
TangledUpPuppeteer@reddit
Exactly. She underestimated herself as much as everyone else underestimated her. The moment there was no doubt â just âget upâ she let go of all her restraint and was absolutely amazing. Better than Xena in some ways. Xena had been armed, had a psycho side, was a warlord, and was dressed to fight even when she wasnât. Gabs wasnât any of those things in the moment. She was unarmed, psycho-side free, a Pacifist and was dressed as one. It wasnât until the fourth guy that someone even laid a finger on her, and knocked her down. She didnât even give him a chance to regain his balance before she was up and on him. She just went feral.
And yet⌠she was in more control than Xena was when she was that violent. She just wanted her friend to get up.
I love that scene so much. I always thought it was one of the most powerful scenes in the entire show.
IseQween@reddit
I could see in her eyes the transformation from stunned to action. "What do you mean you can't get up? You always get up, remember? Will it! Believe it! Fight for it! OMG, she really can't. It's all on me to save her. Anybody wants to touch her gotta go through me, if I don't go through them first."
TangledUpPuppeteer@reddit
Exactly!
In that moment, they gave Gabrielle the perfect Xena scene, and Gabrielle was like âyo, director, hold my beerâ đ¤Ł
IseQween@reddit
I had to copy this image from my email program, as I don't know how to do these emoji thingies on my laptop. I hope it's not as huge as it looks.
Latte-Catte@reddit
That's 10x funnier đ. Love that, now I'm laughing with you!
IseQween@reddit
Excellent. Just don't spill Gabs' beer.
TangledUpPuppeteer@reddit
I love the fact that itâs 20x bigger than it should be. Donât apologize!
thecannoli2@reddit
The Gabinator! I love it! This is one of my absolute favorite episodes for so many reasons. Not the least of which was Gabinator absolutely wrecking the Romans. Best 80 seconds of tv. But watching that chakram break and Xena collapse? I was 12 when it aired and I remember my jaw being on the floor. Amazing writing and acting all around. That whole ep is a roller coaster
cestlavie_69@reddit
Like a lot of fans, I wasnât crazy about Gabrielleâs pacifism. It was frustrating. When she went berserk to protect Xena in IOM, I was so happy that fighting Gabs was back. I thought the foreshadowing of their deaths was well-done, but I never imagined for a second that they would actually die. When they did, I kept waiting for the big reveal that it was all a ruse. When Ghost Gabs and Xena drifted out of their bodies, and up to âheaven,â I was quite annoyed that the Christian-influenced storyline continued (I was already annoyed at Eli). I canât remember if I thought the show was over. Mostly I was disappointed that the creators chose to explore monotheism with Christian influences throughout the season. But the episode IOM was excellent for many reasons.
Narrow_Currency_1877@reddit
1st time: what a Rollercoaster, omg!!
2000th time seeing it: what a Rollercoaster, omg!
midnightspellbinder@reddit (OP)
Yoooo same đ
CyaneSpirit@reddit
I cried my eyes out.
midnightspellbinder@reddit (OP)
Same here!
Amiasdaas@reddit
On ky first watch, I missed quite a few episodes, including the time loop one and one where Alti shows Gabrielle visions of their deaths on the cross. So when I first watched I thought the show had ended and ghost Xena and Gaby will now live happily in Heaven cause world is too cruel đ Legitimately surprised and happy I caught the Fallen Angel episode rerun two weeks later and they came back to life.
Lakinther@reddit
Personally i got very tired of the constant â they are going to die â visions over the entire season, so i was glad i finally got done with it.
PirateJen78@reddit
I missed a lot of season 4 because I couldn't stand pacifist Gabby and I worked when the show aired, but I caught the finale. I remember thinking that I hoped they ended it with that finale because I was pissed. Killing Xena AGAIN? It was kind of getting old by then.
I never really got back into the show like I was before, but I did eventually watch all of the episodes. I don't care for much of season 5 or basically all of season 6, so it sort of was like an ending for me.
ddmorgan1223@reddit
I was like 8. My brother was there with me explaining what was happening. We would watch it when it was aired so I thought it was done. I was a mess. I think we stayed home the next day because I was just a wreck.
Looking back, I wanna know what my brother was smoking because I'd never let my 8yo watch Xena like that, but he's also the baby so idk for sure.
Agent8699@reddit
It was a huge gut punch!
Xena wasnât airing locally at the time, so I had to buy VHS copies of episodes made by fans who filmed the episodes in the US, shipped them overseas and then some awesome fan converted them to local format.
Iâd heard rumblings about IOM, but was trying very hard to avoid spoilers - not that difficult given the limited Internet connectivity at the time.Â
Still watching that blurry episode was an incredible experience. Even better when I finally got it on DVD (again from overseas) years later and could appreciate it in better quality.Â
carz4us@reddit
I love this story of the international fan connection, totally there for each other
LilitoTime@reddit
I was really young. I didnât have the concept of seasons or had even seen the entire show still, so when it aired I thought that was it. I walked around the apartment and just took a breath. Probably my first time self soothing like that.
matt-89@reddit
My experience is so different. Here in Australia they aired Ides of March and Fallen Angel back to back although it aired in an early timeslot and was heavily edited. So basically Gabrielle killing all the Romans was cut. So the dramatic bits made no sense.
It wasn't until years later I saw it on the DVD set in full.
I did know all about it ahead of time with spoilers.