Bravo The Xenatizer, very well said and my sentiments also.

Good point, T, but I meant more her... hmm... how shall I say... 'political' safety as a TV character. Gab's a pretty nice & safe heroine - a counterweight to the original rebel Xena who raised the hackles of most conservative TV critics right from the start, (and there I don't mean early Bad-Xena, but the one from 'SotP' to 'A Good Day'). But they've shut up with the years - always a sure sign that their object of displeasure has lost its 'dangerous' edge.
And at the same rate Xena's most dangerous/independent/pagan/matriarchal/whatever aspects got severed, some of the bits falling off were defused and clamped onto Gabs. Trouble is, this time they don't really fit the character - squashed unevenly between 'cool & kick-ass' traits no trendy female TV character can do without nowadays, and her original character.
That's why I'm not strictly a Gab-basher on one hand, but neither all that inspired by her.
The more superficial as well as fundamental differences between Gabs & Xena vanished in later seasons, the more I lost interest in Gabby as either a constant challenge or a tempering counterweight to Xena.
All that is NO reflection on Renée's work, btw. In fact, I see her work as the only redeeming aspect, the real 'glue' merging parts impossible to merge by a lesser actress. Often, Renée's Gabrielle is a much more convincing creature than the one in the scripts. -g-

waffling
The Xenatizer

xenatizer makes a good point.... let it be known that i only dispise GABRIELLE..... ROC on the other hand, i respected.... i think she did a wonderful job with the crap of a character she had to deliver--and it is ROC that made watching GABS manageable.

mons

Oh, definitely!
Sure, Xena could still rely a bit on my undiminuished fan vibes for Lucy, and also did the character neither change over night or as a whole in one go, so there were occasional relapses, of course - strengthened by sheer wishful thinking up to a point. (a bonus Gabs didn't have with me, so, I'm surely less than fair in that case)
But that also means that most of the changes during Xena's domestication hurt much more. I had a damn hard time to finally let go of 'my' Xena. But once her last tooth was pulled, I gave a last resigning sigh and switched to my 'just a bit of fun' mode and watched on til the end.

You see, I see the setup of the original characters as a stroke of sheer genius. They were sparking off each other like no other coupling before. They made 'sense'. Both. No matter which one I felt closer to. The cynic and the dreamer. Both courageous to a fault and yet flawed in VERY different, but also VERY understandable ways.
Dark Experience vs Hope, confidence and a certain naivety, yet clinging to each other, because they felt they couldn't go on without their 'other half'. A walking parabel on 4 legs, wonderfully open to developement and just about every kind of challenge.
An author's dream, one should think.
Alas, they were eventually gobbled up by diplomacy. It seldom pays to dissect magic AFTER it has been created and 'tune' it on the drawing board to make it fit EVERY demand. That's politics and not storytelling.
Ah well...

sentimental
The Xenatizer

[ August 22, 2002, 05:09 PM: Message edited by: The Xenatizer ]

Faded Gabs lover myself...

Xena is someone I admire & would like to meet..
I think Xena & I have this in common:

Most people see what is & accept it, grudgingly sometimes,but they dont Question big issues too much..

I see what Isnt,but could be & ask why not..??

Most people have no clue as too what I really am talking about usually.

Sad that .. because we are only a couple of revolutionary ideas away from having a spectacular world with a good life for nearly all.

Instead it will all be pissed away by the closed minded know-it-alls.Who have never had a selfless thought in their lives.
(Bitter?? who me ??)

Now on too Gabs..
She was originally someone Id like to marry but as few writers appreciated her & Often she was used as a plot device...(way too Often)

Our Fair Gabrielle was slowly down graded from a Wowwer to a Bow-Wow..

Oh Rue the Day!!(whatever that means)

That awful Dahak storyline & pregnancy.
Hope...*ugh*
the selfish stupidity of finding her way... the Short haircut..*really UGH!*

HAY! They murdered Xena with a Cheap Shot at the end..
but, theyve been killin Gabby since maybe the 3rd season....

[ August 22, 2002, 10:10 PM: Message edited by: BrucyBraless ]