Thread by @VespertilioGem

We're starting early with #Kissmatewatches today. We'll be tackling Hercules again, episodes 7, 8, and 9 of season one.
No time like the present, so let's get started!

#Kissmatewatches Herc Episode Seven: Pride Comes Before a Brawl
This episode is mostly about Iolaus proving to himself that he's a good and useful man, even without Herc. There's some men that are pretending to be satyrs (badly), and we meet Nemesis.

#Kissmatewatches It's nice to see a character I love show his abilities. I like these kinds of episodes!
Although, they wrapped it in some toxic masculinity, so that's a downer.
"If you help him now, Herc, Iolaus will hate you." But wouldn't you rather have your friend alive?

#Kissmatewatches Herc Episode Eight: The March to Freedom
Herc saves Lucy Liu from slavers and helps reunite her with her boyfriend.
It's also SUPER AWFUL in so many triggering ways.

#Kissmatewatches [CW: racism] The two non-white characters (Chinese and New Zealand) both know martial arts. One flies through the trees like a wire-fu movie. They were enslaved in the first scene. It's a lot of little things that add up.

#Kissmatewatches [CW: rape] This entire episode treats rape and sexual harassment as banal or comedic. An older woman aggressively demands Herc perform sex work. As Lucy is being auctioned, men are calling her body an investment. The slaver constantly threatens her with rape.

#Kissmatewatches [CW: rape] In the end, Herc refuses to kill the slaver, because killing is wrong. Instead, he sells the slaver as a sex slave to the older woman mentioned before. The man cries out to be saved as the woman drags him into her chambers. This is worse than killing!!

#Kissmatewatches Lucy Liu does her role amazing, even if it's not the greatest. Her character is written in an ambiguous way. We had to talk back and forth on her choices almost every scene. It's not Lucy's fault. I blame the writers.

#Kissmatewatches This episode is also worth a skip. Nothing of great value happens. Lucy can be seen in many other, better roles. And you get to avoid all the terrible writing and sexism!
I hate this episode the most... so far.

#Kissmatewatches Herc Episode 9: The Warrior Princess
(Still evil) Xena seduces Iolaus so she can kill Hercules. She uses sex, words, and promises of love to manipulate Iolaus into fighting Herc. The only thing she didn't plan for was Iolaus inability to kill his friend.

#Kissmatewatches Xena wants to kill Herc because she wants to rule history with fear and blood. She has faith in her plan because she's never met a man that wasn't willing to kill his best friend. I can see why she turns good later. Better benefits.

#Kissmatewatches Also, it gives us an idea of why Xena likes Gabi later. Gabi is so selfless (most of the time) that it must be so refreshing compared to the selfish cutthroats Xena used to surround herself with.

#Kissmatewatches The trope of a woman trying to break up two men is pretty dated and feels like a weak threat to two life-long friends. There was a point I thought Iolaus was playing into Xena's hands on purpose to thwart her plan. But nope, just that hungry for female affection.

#Kissmatewatches The toxic masculinity, I'm realizing, is going to be recurring. Iolaus is always being compared to Herc as a lesser man, at least by himself. I can understand feelings of inferiority, but this fits a teenage audience better. Even then, the toxicity is too strong.

#Kissmatewatches Iolaus is a grown man, seemingly in his 30s. If you knew Herc for forever, one would think that being stuck to Herc would be too much to handle. These issues should've been handled already, whether by leaving Herc or finding his own pride.

#Kissmatewatches Didn't we just do this episode? Didn't Iolaus already trust in himself by now, thanks to Nemesis? Or is he never going to fully get over the Herc comparison? Or did the episodes just get scrambled in print? Guess we'll only find out in future installments!

#Kissmatewatches I'm calling it a night for now, but next time will be Xena! Good night all, and stay safe!

/end of thread