Highlander the series: I miss it

[Timewalker]

I didn't like Amanda so I had no real interest in the Raven. I never watched it even once.

There were a couple of interesting recurring characters, like Liam (an Immortal who became a priest to atone for accidentally killing a mortal woman during the Revolutionary War). And we got to know more about Rebecca, Amanda's mentor.

The only thing that really bugged me was how the series ended!

I liked Ritchie . . . he was definitely a gung-ho good guy

he had a tragic end though . . .

I found a whole slew of Highlander/ST crossover fanfics where Richie didn't die... and survived long enough to become a Starfleet officer!

It was a great show. You knew 2 things about every episode:
1 you were going to see some period costumes.
2 you were going to see a sword fight that ended in decapitation.

How can it get any better than that?

I still get the giggles about the episode where MacLeod was acting in a Shakespearean troupe and had to play one of the women's parts. The guy who'd had the part before MacLeod came back, started a fight, and MacLeod yelled at him, "You tore ma dress!"

I liked the first season with Duncan and Tessa being married. Mostly action series heroes are single men so having Macleod being married made the show a bit different. I thought this was a good choice on behalf of the producers.

Duncan and Tessa were never married. In fact, one of the saddest things about Tessa's death is that Duncan had just proposed to her. He got down on his knees in a public park and sang to her, "Will you marry me! Will you marry me!" Of course, Tessa agreed.

 

[Forbin]

I loved Tessa.
*sigh*

 

[Loupjo]

I liked the first season with Duncan and Tessa being married. Mostly action series heroes are single men so having Macleod being married made the show a bit different. I thought this was a good choice on behalf of the producers.

Duncan and Tessa were never married. In fact, one of the saddest things about Tessa's death is that Duncan had just proposed to her. He got down on his knees in a public park and sang to her, "Will you marry me! Will you marry me!" Of course, Tessa agreed.

Oops, missed that one. I really thought they were married. Strange the tricks memory can play Should really rewatch it.

 

[Tyson]

I never could get into the show, until I saw the episode with Joan Jett. I ended up getting hooked after that.

 

[backstept]

I've been watching it on Hulu recently and I'm half way through season 2

in the Unholy Alliance 2 parter I was a bit miffed that Mac didn't tell Charlie who he really was

it's been so long since I've seen the show that it's like the first time all over again . . . so I don't remember if Charlie ever finds out . . .

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Spoiler: The fate of Charlie

Charlie does find out - Mac tells him just after Charlie is fataly stabbed by the immortal Andrew Cord. Ironically, Charlie spends the whole episode trying to kill Cord via conventional means, and it's Macleod's stubborn refusal to tell him WHY he can't do it that gets Charlie killed.

Highlander is one of my favorite series of all time, and it's a shame that the franchise was ruined by its producer's obsession with setting the show in some ridiculous post-apocalyptic future. They did it in Highlander 2, wanted the sixth season of the show to be that way, and finally sealed the franchise with the abominable final film. The way the show concept works best was in the juxtaposition of the present day with the times and peoples of times past, generally through the eyes of characters who have seen both. The future has nothing to do with this show concept.

Aren't we supposed to have a rebooted film in development? Starring the dude from Rome and Journeyman? How's that coming along?

Mark

 

[KB24]

I bought my husband all the season sets awhile back, and he watched them all without me. I hadn't seen the show in awhile, and these sets have more footage and very extensive watcher files and behind the scenes. Definitely worth the sale price or used find I think. I'd like to get back into it, but with netflix, hulu, on demand, and cable I'm swamped!

 

[rhubarbodendron]

The complete series is also available on youtube. That's where I discovered it. The resolution of the clips is too low for converting them and watching them on a TV but they are ok for watching on the computer as flash movies.

After his days as one of the Four Horsemen, he was all about avoiding conflict as often as possible. In one of his earliest episodes in season three, he admitted to MacLeod that he hadn't taken a head since sometime in the 1700s [...]
I wouldn't be surprised if that break between the 1700s and the 1990s wasn't the only one Methos went on.

It would have made a lot of sense for him to go into hiding while people in Europe were busy chopping each other's heads off (French Revolution etc; invention of the Guillotine in 1792). I seem to remember he once mentioned that he spent part of that time in the Himalayan - too remote and peaceful an area at that time to get into a fight.
He was in Britain when Marry Shelley got the idea for Frankenstein (published in 1818) and then must have gone to the US since he treated Slaves there and mentioned that he was part of the 'Underground Railway' which was at its hight between 1850 and 1860. Slavery was (theoretically)abolished in 1865.

Both in Victorian Britain and in the Underground, getting involved in fights would have drawn a lot of attention at him, something he would never afford.

His history as a horseman was surely traumatic for Methos, but I doubt that it was the killing and fighting that got to him. After all, 10,000 victims in 1000 years makes only 0.83 per month. Not all that impressive, really.
I rather believe it was a lack of intellectual challenge plus the stress caused by Kronos and Caspian that finally made him leave and hide. With Kronos' ego it would propably have taken a couple of centuries till he gave up hunting for Methos.

If you look at his interactions with MacLeod and his friends, you will see that almost always Methos only got involved in a way that allowed him to keep a low profile. He was good at manipulating people and could reach his goals without fighting. His fight against Morgan Walker was propably the only exception, but that was a personal favour for one of the very few friends he dared to have.


On the whole, I think Methos was old and experienced enough to have realized that the best way to not lose your head is to not get involved in fights (si vis pacem, evita bellum). After all, even the best fighter can have a freak accident and die.