Xena: The Warrior Princess super-fans, take heart: the always noble, ever-traveling contender played with steely assurance by Lucy Lawless and her devoted sidekick, Renee O’Connor’s Gabrielle, have at last rejoined after 20 years in limbo. Wait, has that fated, at last retired NBC reboot of the syndicated turn-of-the-century fantasy series return to life? Tragically, for the Xena-heads who had expected a resolution to the since a long time ago underplayed relationship between the two characters, the answer is “no.” (And that goes for the Internet fanfic journalists, as well.)
However, what’s going on may be similarly as exciting for the Xena legions, and for fans of My Life is Murder, as well, the fun-loving mystery-drama that stars Lawless as private investigator Alexa Crowe: O’Connor will guest star in an episode of the New Zealand-produced series’ second season, which premieres this month on Acorn TV in the US. Furthermore, the long-lasting companions couldn’t be more excited to cooperate once more.
“We’d been trying to get Renee to Australia in the first season and for some reason it didn’t work out,” Lawless told Entertainment Weekly, mentioning that country’s strict COVID protocols. “Against impossible odds, we managed to bring Ren into the country to do this and the fans are just gonna love it. It’s a huge gift to them.”
In the guest shot, set to air late in season two, O’Connor will play the mysterious wife of a self-help guru whose murder Lawless’ Crowe is exploring. (All things considered, O’Connor and Lawless call the character a cult leader in their EW interview.) Scintillating!
While Xena broke obstructions for its time just by highlighting a strong female protagonist, fans were continually probing beneath what the syndicated TV climate around then could pull off, and trusting the relationship between Xena and Gabrielle would become more overt. Also, as far as it matters for them, Lawless and O’Connor are proud of what their show set up.
“Great! That’s cool,” Lawless told ET when asked about the characters becoming queer icons. “I honestly think that, maybe Xena and Gabrielle might have laid some groundwork,” O’Conner continued. “But, boy, this generation has surpassed what they need in a television show, don’t you think?”
In the US, season two of My Life Is Murder will premiere on Acorn TV on August 30, 2021.
