First of all, I must confess that I have a memory like a sieve, and I am quite sure this commentary doesn’t give due credit to all the other people who were working on SS7 back at the beginning. I wasn’t the only person who worked on this two-parter, so I want to thank Aurora, Tango, and everyone else, and apologise for not remembering exactly who did what. This commentary is partly about my original goals for the draft, and partly my reaction to rereading the eps after several years. I do want to give a special shout-out for the amazing translations into Spanish and Russian, though – it’s very exciting and flattering to read my work in other languages. Thanks to Resna and Natty!
When I wrote the BLOODLUST episodes, I had several specific intentions for the story, of which the most important was developing Eve’s character substantially. I’m not sure that the eps quite succeeded the way I hoped they would, but I attribute that to my overenthusiasm and inexperience as a writer. It’s always a little cringe-worthy to look back on your own work after so much time has passed, but I think these two eps ultimately show that the Shipper Seasons were still a work in progress. There are some rough spots, but we built on the foundation of these early eps and made the characters and plots a lot stronger as the seasons went on. I can’t take credit for most of that, though I will say that I found working on this project hugely inspiring. The eps are far from perfect, but I am proud of them and of their place in the overall SS project.
My biggest frustration with XWP was that they missed the opportunity to make Eve a compelling character. I loved Livia, didn’t love the “bolt-of-lightning” redemption but gave them a pass, and loved the idea of Eve. I had high hopes that during S6, she would be an complex, nuanced character, since there were so many possibilities for stories for her: the ongoing effects of the Twilight; the rich history of Julio-Claudian Rome and the growing influence of Christianity/Eli; her attempts to make up for her past as Livia; the relationships with Xena, Gabrielle and Ares… so many ideas! And then TPTB never followed through with them to my satisfaction (with the exception of PATH OF VENGEANCE). I know some of the other Shipper Seasons writers shared my frustrations with S6, though most of them weren’t quite such fans of Eve as I was. Still, she was a key part of the resolution we created to the Twilight storyline, and BLOODLUST set the stage for the events in HARBINGER OF TWILIGHT and A VERY NARROW BRIDGE.
Augustus and his wife Livia were real people, and while she didn’t murder him, I think this plot wouldn’t have been out-of-place during the Roman Empire. The historical Augustus had a ruthless streak that we didn’t really see in the show (for example, he exiled and disowned his daughter Julia when she was accused of committing adultery and causing a scandal in the family – an extreme reaction even for the Romans) and I tried to bring that out in the ep. Livia had been his “bad cop” against the Elijians and any other enemies, and had enabled Augustus to maintain an iron grip on the Empire while still appearing benign. But after her conversion to Eve, Augustus suddenly had to take on that responsibility for himself, and I think the stress of Livia’s betrayal and abandonment would have made him much harsher. Eve, who of course knows the Emperor well, would have been aware of this character trait. Her decision to poison him comes from her growing disgust with the Empire and her guilt over her part in it, not to mention Michael’s encouragement. FYI, I recommend Anthony Everitt’s Augustus for a wonderful biography of him. Rome and I, Claudius offer fabulous dramatisations of this period of Roman history, too.
The Eve/Xena scenes also read awkwardly; some of that is because of my writing, I admit, but the uneasy dialogue between them was intentional. I like the thought of Xena as an overprotective mother, which we see in the show on multiple occasions. I think of this storyline as Eve’s THE DEBT, and Xena is trying to play the role Gabrielle played to her – but is conflicted because of the inherent brutality that she and Eve share. I think it comes from Xena’s insecurity about their very similar characters, and Eve’s reflection of some of Xena’s own dark side. The best example of this is in Part 1, when Eve tells Xena that Augustus is right (tactically, not ethically) to kill anyone who dissents under his rule – that will keep him in command of the Empire. Xena is horrified that Eve can say that, and doesn’t want to admit that she recognises what an effective plan it is.
Xena’s denial of, and discomfort with, Eve’s bad deeds get channelled into an excessive protectiveness of her daughter, so you’ll notice that she’s constantly asking Eve if she wants to talk about anything, or if she’s okay, and even complaining about the food they serve Eve in the prison. I don’t think Xena would shed many tears over the demise of another Roman despot, somehow, but she hates that part of herself more than she’ll admit to. The problem is, she doesn’t like Michael and his plans to rule the world either. This is not directly addressed in BLOODLUST, but I do think some of these conflicts come out here and in later eps.
Those are the four most important themes of BLOODLUST: Eve’s character development, the connection to our overall Twilight/Resurrection plot, the historical background, and the Eve/Xena relationship. There are numerous smaller things of note too, such as Ares’ role, and Xena’s growing assumption that he’ll act on her side when she needs him to (compare this to PATH OF VENGEANCE and her anger with him), as well as very early hints of the Eve/Virgil pairing. BLOODLUST basically sets the stage for Eve’s part in the resurrection of the gods, and the portrayal of Michael as the bad guy. The eps definitely reflect my weaknesses as a writer (I was fourteen at the time), and there are many things, small and large, that I would change, but I’m pleased with them overall.
In terms of my writing, I’m most disappointed with Eve’s childhood scenes. I didn’t think them through enough, or flesh them out, and they read very abruptly to me now. I still like my ideas for the ep, but I just didn’t quite succeed at bringing them to life. The original characters are pretty one-dimensional, and the whole plot is too rushed. If I rewrote the ep, I would start here. I love that Aurora, Ryan and LK brought Orphelia back in WHAT SEPARATES US (S9), she’s a lot more interesting there! Btw, I’ll cop to one mistake that makes me squirm every time Orphelia is in an ep: I actually intended to spell it as Ophelia, but inexplicably decided to add the r, and now that’s the poor woman’s name forever! That little mistake/lack of proofreading bugs me no end. Oh well!
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