After five seasons of some of the best-made and most meticulously archived TV-on-DVD editions the format has ever seen, with this sixth incarnation of Xena: Warrior Princess, we finally say goodbye to our beloved protagonist - and oh, what a farewell it is.

By the sixth go-round, Xena: Warrior Princess had run out of much of the sassy steam that has chugged through its first seasons, but even if that's the case, there's still much to appreciate on this final incarnation of the show.

It all becomes perfectly encapsulated in the series finale. In two parts - that appear as one on a "director's cut" extra featured on this DVD box set (more on that below) - we follow Xena and Gabrielle on their most outrageous and mythic journey of all, fighting to save the souls of 40,000 who perished in the ancient town of Higuchi.

What's so refreshing - and ultimately nostalgically devastating - about "A Friend in Need (Parts 1 and 2)" - is that it addresses nearly everything that succeeded within the framework of this groundbreaking show. First of all, as any Xena fan will tell you, there's no "lesbian entendre" here - it's pure and unadulterated female love, without any kind of social parameter for romance or lifestyle. Xena (Lucy Lawless) and Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) display the kind of loyalty and devotion to one another - both on and off the battlefield - that leaves any kind of gentrified analysis completely moot.

And after they've kicked the ass required to free the spirits of those who fell before them, we get a wildly impressive finale, in which our two ladies sit and watch the sunset, discussing the mental and physical paths that lie before them. Sure, guys who used to jack off to Xena in college while their roommates were away will find similar enjoyment in the girl-on- girl embracing that occurs with unsurprising frequency in this last season (and the finale episode especially), but anyone who pays more than passing attention to Xena will realize that the show trumps any kind of jacker mentality in one swell swoop.

With the final scene of the final episode of Xena: Warrior Princess, creator Rob Tapert gives his horny male fan base the skin-tinged titillation they crave, but he doesn't just rest with it. In this show, it becomes apparent that in all this time, never for one moment was Xena: Warrior Princess a simple show with simple aims to have guys (and girls) ogle at Lucy Lawless fly around in a metallic bikini.

In reinterpreting standard mythology and creating a bit of its own on the way, Xena: Warrior Princess became probably the most wonderfully successful postmodern syndicated show of the last decade or so. It's beyond female liberation or girl power; Xena, in her universe, simply takes care of what needs to be taken care of. Screw gender roles. Screw societal norms. If there is some ass-kicking to be done, Xena's your girl.

Xena: Warrior Princess may not be the best TV show in the history of the world, but I'll be damned if it wasn't a Hell of a good time, a joyous, gleeful adventure that lives on, thanks to the advent of DVD and the devotion of its fans.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

In keeping with Xena's first five seasons on DVD, the video transfers here are impressive:

"All 22 episodes are presented in 4:3 full screen, and overall look gorgeous. The source prints are in nice shape without most of the grain that marred the first season, and to a lesser extent, season two. Colors are nicely saturated with much deeper blacks and better contrast. Detail is also pretty impressive for a late 90's television show, with textures fairly defined. And edginess is not a huge problem, although still present. But overall, Xena looks hot."

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

As was the case with earlier seasons, the audio mixes here are solid:

"Once again, Anchor Bay has created a great set of Dolby Digital 5.1 remixes worthy of the Xena name. Our little princess gets to really strut her metal-bikini stuff in wonderful, expansive six-channel glory. Separation is utilized almost too much - leave it to Bruce and Sam to have arrow sounds and sword unsheathing moving all over the place - but the rear channels deliver a great deal of additional effects and atmosphere. Frequency response can still be hit or miss, with dialogue reproduction uneven (outdoor scenes and onset production recording are particularly flat) but there is a decent amount of low-end activity thanks to the dedicated .1 LFE. An aggressive soundtrack reproduced here with surprising finesse, making for an all-around, sword-swingingly good mix."

There are no subtitles here, but we do have English closed captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Discs one and two house interviews for two episodes each - "Coming Home" (12:00) and "Heart of Darkness" (8:40) on disc one and "Who's Gurkhan?" (8:40) and "Legacy" (10:10) on disc two. Disc one offers an additional still gallery and DVD credits.

Disc three gives us interviews on "The Rheingold" (12:30) and "The Ring" (11:20). We also have both audio and video commentaries on "The Ring" with Joel Metzger (the video commentary runs 22:30). Disc four has interviews on "Old Ares Had a Farm (7:40) and "Dangerous Prey (9:40).

Disc four offers interviews on "You are There" and "Path of Vengeance" (both 11:10), while "To Helicon and Back" contains both audio and video commentaries from Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor, Michael Hurst, and Rob Tapert (the video commentary runs about 21 minutes). Disc five has interviews on "Last of the Centaurs" (6:00), while "When Fates Collide" house audio and video commentaries from Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor, and Rob Tapert (video commentary: 20 minutes) as well as some interviews of its own (11:40).

Disc seven gives us interviews on "Many Happy Returns" and "Soul Possession" (both 11:00), while disc eight gives us both audio and video commentaries on "A Friend in Need (Part II)" with Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor, and Rob Tapert (video commentary runs about 19 minutes).

On the eighth disc, we also get a featurette - Bringing Monsters to Life at K.N.B. EFX Group (Part 3) (22:00), the last in a trio of peeks at the effects house that bring many of the creepy- crawlies in Xena: Warrior Princess to life, as well as twenty minutes' worth of dailies from "To Helicon and Back." And then there's the director's cut of "A Friend in Need" that blends the two parts of the final episode together with a bit of extra footage (1:35:10).

There are no episodes on disc nine - it's all bonus features:

First up are three alternate cuts (read: slightly extended rough cuts) of scenes from "Dangerous Prey" (12:20), "To Helicon and Back" (25:30), and "Legacy" (24:30). Then we have some featurettes: Final Episode B-Roll (30:50) is part blooper reel, part behind-the-scenes documentary, and Xena Convention 2004 is a sixteen-minute look at the fans who stood by our beloved Warrior Princess all those years.

Then there's the 2-minute original series promo for Xena: Warrior Princess, as well as five minutes of original interviews from the first season of the show called In the Beginning. Last, but not least, there's a 5:45 blooper reel.

And then there's the matter of the CD-ROM disc included here. Just like in previous editions of Xena: Warrior Princess seasons, this disc gives us everything from cast bios and trivia to an excellent wealth of still galleries and a look at some of the myths, legends and chronicles of characters and entities dealt with on the show. Amazing.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There is a simple weblink on Disc One.

Final Thoughts