Season Four was notable mostly for the darker themes taking over the show. While there were some comedic episodes, the ramifications of Gabrielle's death at the end of season three as well as more episodes dealing with Xena's past catching up to her, seemed to be the rule of the thumb. Character growth was addressed in numerous ways, rather than just having the cast go through the same old motions in order to appease fans that wanted more of the same old thing. That said, here's a breakdown of the season's shows:

Season Four Episodes:

Episode 1:Adventures In The Sin Trade I: (September 28, 1998):
Xena, seeking the dead spirit of Gabrielle in order to make her peace with her, travels to Hades, only to find Gabrielle wasn't there. Learning that Hades can't take her friend due to her status as an Amazon, Xena travels to the final resting place of Amazons, many of which vividly remember their grueling deaths at the hands of the warrior princess.

Episode 2: Adventures In The Sin Trade II: (October 5, 1998):
Hopelessly outmatched by an evil Shaman, Xena plunged to new lows in order to secure a victory, a pyrhic victory at that, but in doing so, sets in motion a chain of events that lead to her own eventual death. This episode (along with part 1) had a featurette by a professor in California speaking about the religious and social issues brought up by the story. It also had a series of interviews that pointed out a lot of issues that might have otherwise gone unnoticed, with the writer's comments most interesting.

Episode 3: A Family Affair: (October 12, 1998):
Xena continues her quest to find Gabrielle by searching the area around the volcano. Soon after, in the local village, she runs into her partner but soon realizes that it isn't Gabrielle at all. The darker ramifications of who it must be set in and before long, Xena must fight a nearly invincible monster without the means to defeat it, until an old friend stops by. This episode had a series of lengthy interviews.

Episode 4: In Sickness And In Hell: (October 19, 1998):
Xena and Gabrielle end up with ailments that cause them a whole lot of uncomfortable moments. In a comedy episode that has a lot of the series silliest moments (including more bathroom jokes than you can shake your fist at), Joxer must prevent the destruction of a small village from a rampaging horde with little help from the gals. This episode had a series of interviews as well as a commentary by Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor.

Episode 5: A Good Day: (October 26, 1998):
Caesar and Pompey return as civil war breaks out among the Roman Empire. As Xena plots to use the armies against one another, the two crafty leaders plot to use Xena. In the end, Gabrielle is left in charge of Xena's forces with the awesome responsibility of deploying them, something she is woefully unprepared to deal with emotionally. This episode had some interesting interviews as well as a series of alternate cuts compared side by side to the original episode.

Episode 6: A Tale Of Two Muses: (November 2, 1998):
Autolycus is used to save the day in this takeoff of the mainstream movie, Footloose. It had a series of interviews where the cast and crew admitted where the themes came from and in fact they were done very well with all the comedic moments and insider jokes you'd expect.

Episode 7: Locked Up And Tied Down: (November 9, 1998):
Xena stands trial for the death of innocents when she was a warlord sweeping across the country. Xena's recent escapade had taught her to honestly deal with her previous mistakes and when she's convicted, is sent to a penal colony that none survive. The episode had a series of interviews as well as some director's alternate takes on the extras disc.

Episode 8: Crusader: (November 16, 1998):
An old foe of Xena's, Najara, has also changed her ways but Xena doubts the veracity of the her change to do good. Upon closer inspection, Xena finds her to be just as deadly as before, just more willing to dress up her homicidal tendencies in socially acceptable ways. This episode had a bunch of interviews with the cast and crew too.

Episode 9: Past Imperfect: (January 4, 1999):
Furthering the theme of Xena's past revisited, the gals come across a town about to be destroyed by an army, much like she had done in her past. Secrets about Solan and Borias come to light and Xena continues the soul searching she had begun earlier in the season.

Episode 10: Keys To The Kingdom: (January 11, 1999):
If episode six was based on Footloose, this one was based on Raising Arizona, Xena style. Joined by the hilarious Bruce Campbell once more, the cast attempt to set things right in a kingdom ruled by a couple of evil rulers. The episode was of mixed quality but Campbell's unique brand of charm always makes even the worse show bearable.

Episode 11: Daughter Of Pomira: (January 18, 1999):
In an effort to save a girl being raised by a hordish tribe, Xena attempts to rescue the gal without causing an uprising and return her to her rightful family. In a sense, the episode mimicked the mainstream movie, The Searchers, although without the comedy of the previous adaptations the series had addressed.

Episode 12: If The Shoe Fits…: (January 25, 1999):
While some critics had dismissed the series as out of steam by this point, due in part to the number of parodies the series made, this episode showed a thoughtful, and often hilarious, adaptation of both Cinderella and Rashomon mixed together. Aphrodite (the beautiful Alexandra Tydings) was one of the guest stars this time and I liked her almost as much as Bruce Campbell.

Episode 13: Paradise Found: (February 1, 1999):
Xena and Gabrielle find themselves in a mystical world after trying to stay dry during a storm. Each reverts to their basic personality when confronted by a couple of characters. As Xena becomes increasingly driven to her older, more violent, self, she notices clues that help her solve the riddle before her. This episode had Rob Talpert and Chris Manheim give a commentary track as well as provide some insight during the extensive interviews.

Episode 14: Devi: (February 8, 1999):
In a continuation of some of the Eastern themes from the series, a crowd of people mobs Xena and Gabrielle when Gabrielle suddenly seems able to heal the sick. Knowing something is wrong, Xena investigates to find her friend is being possessed by a demon that simply doesn't want to leave her new host. Xena has other plans though and the chaos ensues when the two battle it out in the public square. This episode was nominated for an Emmy award.

Episode 15: Between The Lines: (February 15, 1999):
Alti was back with a vengeance as she planned to get back at the dynamic duo that continued to travel across India. The question was whether or not Xena would be able to fight her as effectively now that they were no longer in the land of the dead, something that was pointed out in the interviews this episode had to offer.

Episode 16: The Way: (February 22, 1999):
Xena and Gabrielle continued journeying through India when some extremists attacked them. In a fight that enlisted both demons and gods, Xena had to be true to her nature (that of a warrior) in order to combat her opponent, while Gabrielle had to renounce her newly acquired ways (since she is a pacifist by heart, learning to fight by hanging out with Xena). This episode had some great interviews that dealt with the subject matter and I found out why I never saw it in syndication; apparently, it was banned because some whiny freaks didn't like the way it treated their religious beliefs. I believe that this was the uncut version of the episode.

Episode 17: The Play's The Thing: (March 15, 1999):
In yet another parody of a popular movie, this time The Producers, Xena takes a backseat to Gabrielle, who produces a play. Things don't work out and Xena's unique strengths are needed to set things right are Gabrielle is left holding the bag by some unscrupulous crooks.

Episode 18: The Convert: (April 19, 1999):
Najara was back with a vengeance and now out of prison. Xena still doubts her conversion and for good reason. As events unfold, Xena's suspicions prove to both help and hinder the course of her investigation. In another thread, Joxer finally scores his first kill but, like Gabrielle before him, finds it somewhat less satisfying than he imagined. The interviews were more interesting to me than the episode itself although it bore repeated viewings.

Episode 19: Takes One To Know One: (April 26, 1999):
Autolycus is back to help Xena with and Gabrielle with a murder investigation. If she can't solve the murder by sunrise, the goddess Discord will require someone (guess who) to pay the price.

Episode 20: Endgame: (May 3, 1999):
Caesar and Pompey are back as are the Amazons. Each play a role in the Roman civil war and Gabrielle ends up leading the Amazons after a bit of contentious infighting. The events here set in motion the course that ultimately takes Caesar out of the picture but that wasn't openly discussed. I liked the interviews here as much as any others on the set of discs.

Episode 21: Ides Of March: (May 10, 1999):
Callisto returns and Caesar's ascension to the throne is her main goal. This was obviously going to be the season finale but something happened (I won't spoil it for you here). In any case, this was one of my very favorite Xena episodes for good reason and it helped to have a commentary track as well as interviews that were very interesting.

Episode 22: Déjà vu All Over Again: (May 17, 1999):
This episode had a modern day flavor with the cast in various updated roles (this was done on the Hercules show a few times as well). In an effort to prove reincarnation, the cast endured some bizarre happenstances as the 1999 Los Angeles setting was interplayed with the ancient setting of the storyline. This was the directing debut of Renee O'Connor and wasn't a bad effort, although substantially weaker than the last episode. Renee provided an interesting retrospective in a commentary track as well as the interviews.

Season Four continued the character growth the series was noted for, although it allowed some back sliding to move various plots. I think it was superior on several levels in terms of development to Hercules and the writing was only one reason why this was so. In continuing to provide positive news, the picture was superior to Xena Season 3, Xena Season 2, and Xena Season 1 since Anchor Bay decided to put only three episodes on each disc. If you even sort of liked the series, this season's boxed set was the best on extras too, making it easily one to give a Highly Recommended rating to (and even approached the coveted Collector's status).

Picture: The picture was presented in full frame, 1.33:1 ratio as originally aired on television. I am very pleased to say that while there were occasional moments of grain and minor compression artifacts (most of the ones I noticed were on the third and fifth discs), the picture looked vastly superior to Xena Season 2 and Xena Season 1. It's good to know that the studio listened to the fans this time, providing the 22 episodes on eight DVD's (and the CD-Rom disc for some other extras). The fleshtones were solid and the other visual flaws minimal; a trend I hope will be emulated in other sets.

Sound: The sound was remixed into a 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack and it sounded much richer than the original presentation on syndicated television. The separation between the channels wasn't much beyond the front end (with the vocals appropriately coming out of the center channel) but there was more clarity with this set than previous releases as well. In all, I was very happy with the picture and audio, improving as it did on even the better season three.

Extras: The extras were especially plentiful this time, much to my delight. Most episodes had interviews and they were universally better this time (also longer) with either the actors (primarily Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor, Ted Raimi, Hudson Leick and Alexandra Tydings, or those involved behind the cameras, such as Robert Talpert, Steven Sears, RJ Stewart, Jane Holland, Rick Jacobson, and Liz Freeman, to name a few. There were fewer commentaries this time but the lengthier interviews more than made up for that because it seemed as though everyone was given a bit of history of the episode they were commenting on, unlike many of the earlier season episodes. One thing of importance to note is that the interviews and commentaries were all better than in previous season sets, perhaps the performers had more time to prepare something for them.

On the last two discs, there was a blooper reel and a series of alternate footage and deleted scenes for Between The Lines, A Good Day, and Adventures In The Sin Trade. I liked the side-by-side comparisons each had, making comparisons easier and more fulfilling. Of note was also a few featurettes, including Bringing The Monsters To Life at K.N.B. EFX Group where the various creatures used for the show were made; a lengthy Cabin Fever short starring Bruce Campbell and Ted Raimi (AKA: "Money T" in his worst Vanilla Ice wannabe imitation) where each make a host of silly but enjoyable comments; and an exploration of Adventures In The Sin Trade by a college professor versed in comparative religions.

There was also a CD-Rom with director and actor biographies, series trivia, a large photogallery, and a very detailed version (searchable too) of the Xena Chronicles that outlines the episodes in detail as well as the characters in the season four episodes. You could also order a free collector coin if you paid $4.95 for shipping (why they didn't include it was a mystery to me). The box itself was a hard plastic case that unfolded and had a number of pictures from the series, but this time they used the double disc format to save space (each fold out page held two discs that partially overlapped).

Final Thoughts: Okay, the show lacked the historical accuracy some people might've liked but overall, it was a cute bit of fluff. It's tough to deny the appeal of the show to men (for the eye candy and violence) and women (for the strong female roles) as much as the younger crowd who probably enjoyed the fighting and fantasy aspects the show provided. The tongue in cheek humor was somewhat less obvious than in earlier seasons but generally superior writing and directing as the show matured balanced this out. There was always a host of double entendres but most of the truly silly humor was limited to the comedic episodes, allowing the hardcore fans to discard them as desired. In general, Xena appeals to a large audience and this boxed set was the best of the batch (so far).

Check out the earlier seasons: Xena Season 3, Xena Season 2 and Xena Season 1.