Watching xena makes me depressed.

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Striking_Career1114@reddit

Yeah, I miss the good old days—the 90’s were amazing.

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Can you elaborate a little... Like is it not as good as you remember? Do you not like it anymore? I'm not used to nastalgia making people feel depressed, and your post wasn't what I expected from the headline.

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PaleontologistSad766@reddit

Late thirties here, OG fan, I watched the series premiere on TV and never missed an episode

Currently rewatching it with a friend who has never seen it and yes, the nostalgia is absolutely painful at times.

Xena made me believe in the possibility of female strength and a better world.

Look where we are. Fuck it stings.

But it's SO FUN seeing my friend experience it for the first time and explaining lore to her, keeps me from crying 🥹❤️

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Tasty-Boss5299@reddit (OP)

You absolutely nailed it. That is why I feel so sad. Today’s world just feels very grim.

But I am so glad you are sharing xena with other people! I did the same with my husband. It’s such a good tv show!

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meroboh@reddit

If it helps, a lot of what is happening now was actually already happening, its just happening to more demographics and that means we are talking about it. Some of it, like Epstein, we just didn’t know. I actually think we’re in an incredibly hopeful time. More and more is being revealed and that gives us the opportunity to root it out in ways we didn’t have before. The people are beginning to rise up. We’re not quite ready for revolution yet (No Kings is bought and paid for by the Epstein class as controlled opposition) but more and more people are stepping outside the fake binary every day and beginning to talk about a better future for ALL. The better future podcast gives me a lot of hope (I’m not affiliated with them at all). Xena would not have tolerated the world we were living in ten years ago and I think that says something about what we’re leaving behind and where we could go in the future 💛

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Designer_Stage_489@reddit

That's a really great perspective 👏

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meroboh@reddit

💛

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Ok-Jackfruit-6873@reddit

it's interesting you say that, I thought I was the only one comparing the idealism of back then with the current realities in the US and particularly our seeming collective inability to do anything about it. But the show's apparent solution - as if someone should go out there and beat up the agents of authoritarianism and start throwing a chakram around - also seem obviously misplaced and irrelevant.

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PaleontologistSad766@reddit

My husband and I MET because of the Yahoo.com Xena chatroom dude 😭🥹❤️

XWP is a big reason I survived my preteens and teen years, and connected me with my life partner. It means so much.

I hope you can find some ways to enjoy it despite the chaos currently.

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TheCuri0usWatcher@reddit

😭😭😭😭 STOP IT! I am smiling ear to ear reading this!! I have NEVER met a man who liked Xena (let alone watched it) other than my brother & a random guy in high school who transferred from New Zealand 💀💀

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NoPassenger8598@reddit

We need to be the warriors now... But yes, rewatching it now- I'm in season 6 already, grew up with them & it absolutely brings all of the emotions..

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Designer_Stage_489@reddit

In terms of where we are in the world right now watching Xena actually helps me. The whole premise of the show is the world back then desperately needed a hero and despite the daily carnage caused by warlords and gods Xena not only stood up to them but had a life filled with joy and love with Gabrielle. Yes, sometimes things feel overwhelming but I like to think we can all fit one of the lighthearted episodes of Xena into our lives no matter how bleak things seem

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Lost_Equipment_3289@reddit

Probably because it does need a remake because every time its damn near perfect there is an off episode or that crap finale.

But no one could do it like Lucy so I vote animated remake.

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NotToday1993@reddit

Not so much about my past, but am definitely depressed and anxious about my future 😅.

But I remember watching Xena as kid too. Fav show. I remember it was always on at 4pm after school. Forget which day new episodes aired back then. But I remember that it was 4pm 💖

I re-watched the series last summer as if I was watching it all over again and as if the past followed me into the present. Love the show !

I hope you feel better though ! Don't get too sad, we can still have and enjoy Alot of the same things from the past. And so we don't necessarily have to categorize those things as dead and gone, it still very much alive. I hope that makes sense, take care 🫶

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TheCuri0usWatcher@reddit

The nostalgia hurts...but what I think hurts the most is that we don't get to see too many female characters this well written anymore. Not to knock anyone's work, but there was just so much thought put into her character and a level of charisma & believability with Xena that you just don't see with a lot of characters. Even the super cheesy, outlandish moments or stunts....you always believed Xena was a forced to be reckoned with. Like she had you convinced she could kick anybody azz & make it look damn good while doing it 😭. You just don't see that type of acting and believability nowadays....or we'll developed characters and its so painful to watch sometimes to the point it almost posses you off 💀. There was magic with Xena & that formula probably won't ever be replicated again.

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Ok-Jackfruit-6873@reddit

plus I feel like after this show, more of the ass-kicking female tropes used tiny skinny minnie girls like in the Whedonverses which is so confusing to someone growing up and looking for role models. Like okay so we're supposed to kick major ass but also be 5'2 and 100 pounds??

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TheCuri0usWatcher@reddit

I can agree with this. I dont normally like to comment on bodies because everybody is different & someone always has a shape that fits something, but the women always looked strong and healthy. Like the amazons in the first wonder woman movie 😍. I loved that representation, and they weren't all teeny or statuesque sword wielding models.

Even if a corset was in the costume on Xena, they weren't snatched to unrealistic proportions. The women were allowed to be themselves & looked natural. & though it was probably hard on Lucy to film while pregnant, I'm glad they didn't exactly try to hide her changing body either or made her rush to get fit (that I know of...I could be wrong though).

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StyraxCarillon@reddit

When I first watched it (as it aired) I loved how strong and fearless she was. I'm rewatching it, and I'm amazed at how she not only kicks ass, she outsmarts everyone.

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TheCuri0usWatcher@reddit

Yep, beauty & brains. Even though she's a total badazz juggernaught when it comes to fighting/skills & could overpower nearly every situation, she doesn't always rely on brute strength.

Ilove that she's such a well rounded character & they basically let her shine in every category, except the one you think a woman would be naturally good at, which is cooking 🤣, especially since she's seen the world and experienced so many cultures. I think Xena admits cooking is the only thing she's bad at lol.

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Mysterious-Stand-944@reddit

My Life is Murder is Murder She Wrote-lite. It's a nice Sunday afternoon watch.

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Lmarg97@reddit

Oof, I’m 29 and watched it when I was 13. It was an “old” show even then, but I loved it and it was my lesbian awakening. I started to rewatch it again recently and yeah, it just hits you right in the feels. With everything going on in the world right now I think everything that once brought us comfort and reminds us of simpler times just hurts rn

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FirebirdWriter@reddit

It's my comfort show but that does not invalidate how you feel right now. It's okay to not be okay

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ObnoxiousConsistent@reddit

ahh i get you, the nostalgia is real. and the feeling that we can never get back to that simplicity, that we lost something along the way... (also is it just me or do you guys also think about the age of the characters vs your age and compare what you've done in life and feel depressed about that, or am i a lil mad for that haha?)

but i try to find more life affirming things in the show, and comfort. kind of trite but dont cry that it's over be glad that is happened type of thing. even though we cannot go back to that time, we can - via this or other nostalgic shows- immerse ourselves in that world for a second, and maybe recapture a bit of that same feeling!

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AssociationTiny5395@reddit

Aging is such an odd thing to experience. Most days it doesn't even matter. Then suddenly something will trigger a deep, nostalgic ache for simpler times

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MusicIsLife81@reddit

The only reason watching Xena makes me depressed is because the show is the only that kept me going during my teenage years growing up in a DV home and when Xena ended, and the way it ended, I felt like a part of me died as well, and I never really recovered from that. I know it is just a show, but when those characters literally are your only friends for 6 years they become a part of you. I cannot put into words how much the ending devastated me. I truely felt like I was mourning a sister or a best friend. It is still my all time favorite show 30 years later, but I have to avoid AFIN at all costs and sometimes even seeing clips from those episodes is too much. Is that stupid for a grown adult?

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alonzo_raquel_alonzo@reddit

Not stupid at all! I’ve not seen the final season and I refuse to. I’m aware of what happens but like you said they became more than just characters on a tv show and it would be too much to have those images in my head.

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MusicIsLife81@reddit

Thank you for that! Honestly the final season itself is really good and has some of my all time favorite episodes in it like Old Ares Had A Farm, You Are There, and Many Happy Returns (Where the series now stops for me when I re-watch it). So if you ever do watch season 6 which I hope you do someday, just stop with Many Happy Returns and then the ending will be a whole a different experience for you than it was for the rest of us. Or if nothing else, at least check out Old Ares Had A Farm and Many Happy Returns if you haven't because those two episodes are great, and if you love Xena and Gabrielle together as a couple, you definitely want to watch Many Happy Returns!

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luvxg1@reddit

I am in my 60s so into adulthood when it aired. The character and show is still with me, and I off and on watch. If you really love the show, there are podcasts that keep the energy up. And always the fan fiction filled in and really brought the characters to life beyond the nostalgia of the show.

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Tasty-Boss5299@reddit (OP)

Ohh. Could you recommend me a good xena podcast ?

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luvxg1@reddit

https://open.spotify.com/show/1MXAIfXbkApQWRaSYuWucC?si=10bH8coPTo-59rpyqFpj0g

The best fan podcast I've ever heard!

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Byanychance@reddit

Nostalgia can be an intense feeling. Even if its something technically positive, there's this sense of overwhelmingness we feel.

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rockandrollfun@reddit

Man, when starting to rewatch it last year for basically the first time since original run, I was having some flashbacks of my youth. I could see myself and smell the evening air in the back yard of the (kinda) country house I grew up in, twirling around a broomstick or something that could be a weapon in my imagination. I remember thinking I could train to fight, too, maybe… wish it had happened, I’d be really good by now haha.

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TicketTop4718@reddit

The 90s were a great time to grow up in, I get it man.

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LadyLycanVamp13@reddit

I get that way about Buffy. I grew up with those characters because it came out when I was 15 or 16. And now that Michelle Trachtenberg and yes, Nicholas are gone irl, it makes it sad.

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Ok_Shoe_7141@reddit

Yes lol some of them episodes hit really hard !

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Revolutionary-Fly538@reddit

I know exactly how you feel. It’s the nostalgia for a better time… I feel it too anytime I watch my childhood favs, Sabrina and Xena 🥲

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kittensbabette@reddit

Nostalgia does that to me too, Xena is now a comfort show for me and does the opposite but there was a time I felt the way you do.

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Xena2025@reddit

I feel similar. Xena takes me back to happier and easier times that I miss. But the end of the series also hurt my soul deeply. I have never watched the ending again since that first time - and I never will. It’s just too hard. But the series itself was amazing, and during a wonderful and worry-free time of my life. Watching Xena can sometimes feel like a comfy blanket, taking me back in time - and sometimes watching it makes me feel sad because I miss it so much. I will say this though: being in groups like this and seeing Xena posts on X is wonderful! Feels like home here. 💕😊

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Evilbuffy14@reddit

Oh. I get your feelings and they are totally valid. I haven't had them for Xena, but definitely other shows. Sometimes the pain and darkness is too much and I start thinking about things like mortality and what the heck is the whole point. Not sure if you go that deep or if it's just me. I either have to put it away for a while or do short bursts. Or sometimes, I won't watch it, just hold the DVD in my hands. Like, I have it, I can watch it whenever I want, but now is not the right time.

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StyraxCarillon@reddit

I watched it when it originally aired. I loved the character of Xena, but I quit watching at one point, because I felt the way they were treating Xena was downright sadistic. I think it was the episode where they cut off both her arms. The crucifixions were just torture porn after a while. I don't remember when I started watching it again, but I remember watching the series finale and being so unbelievably pissed off that they did that to the character I loved.

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Lore_Quest@reddit

I do but for other shows. It’s hard sometimes. What I do is put it down and pick something else for a while until my brain is okay with getting back to that previous comfort watch. I can look at it fondly in the meanwhile, but know that watching it right now is not my best choice at the time.

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Tasty-Boss5299@reddit (OP)

That’s good advice. I’m going to do that. Watch it with breaks!

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Lore_Quest@reddit

If you are looking for a Lucy Lawless fix, I would recommend Spartacus or My Life is Murder. Both are very fun shows and more recent so less nostalgia burn potential.

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Tasty-Boss5299@reddit (OP)

Yes I defiantly need more Lucy in my life. I’ve heard of Spartacus but never of my life is a murder. I’m going to check them both out! Thank you

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Lore_Quest@reddit

If you check out My Life is Murder, in a more recent series Gabrielle makes an appearance. Lucy is also in Ash vs. the Evil Dead with Autolycus.

If you’d like to see the dude who plays the angel Michael he’s in The Magicians and is deliciously evil. Karl Urban is just everywhere (and I’m so happy about it). And Dean O’Gorman was in Almighty Johnsons which was also fun to watch.

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