Miscellaneous Comments:    January 13^th, 1999 & January 29^th, 1999.

    Highlander is "a thinking-man's action show."

    At least that's what the producers thought when they were making it (according to recent issues of TV Zone).

    And I kinda like the term. Makes the show sound cool. Which is appropriate, because Highlander is one of the coolest shows ever. The concept is cool, so is the central character, and so is the leading man. If the other "action-shows" out there are Renegade and Walker, Texas Ranger then 'yes, indeed' Highlander is a thinking-man's action show.

    But, what's it about?

    With this concept in place, the writers proceeded to create a fascinating sequence of stories where, in most cases, a moral question of some type was raised.

    Duncan soon emerged as a fascinating character. The sort that others would turn to, in a crisis. The sort who would do whatever was necessary to see good triumph over evil. The sort who brooded a lot, and did nothing without thinking carefully. Yet, his world was clearly defined into black and white, and he stuck to that.

    And earned the admiration of the other characters.

    And fans.

    Type of Series: Action-Adventure. Fantasy.

    Similar Shows: Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. Forever Knight. Raven. (All of these shows feature lone heroes who are unique in some way, who brood a lot, have a lot of flashbacks every week, and are highly capable in the martial arts.)

    Of course, there's another show out there, called Highlander: The Raven, which shares even more similarities than those listed above!

    Strengths: Top notch scripts. An excellent leading man. A large supporting cast, who are used on a rotating basis.

    Weaknesses: Lack of continuity. Especially when the regular characters fall out for some reason, and then (inexplicably) are back to being friends the following week. Duncan and Joe had a lot of major differences, which were kinda swept aside the next time one of them needed the other (or, more correctly, the next time the writers wanted to use Joe).

    Impressive Characters: Amanda.

    And Duncan himself.

    Amanda was cool from the get-go, and she got better, and more charming, with each appearance.

    But the most impressive character of all was Duncan MacCloud himself.

    He was so moral, and so upstanding. Because of his youth, and his expectations of becoming clan-leader, he seemed to have this profound sense of responsibility and duty that weighted heavily upon his shoulders.

    Impressive Actors: Everybody really, but Adrian Paul especially. Paul is a superb leading man, and perfect for this role.

    Impressive Episodes: Virtually any episode from Seasons Two to Five is impressive. This was a series that truly got better and better with age.

    Particularly noteworthy are "The Darkness" from Season Two, the episode which killed off Duncan's lover, Tessa, and "The Innocent" from Season Four, which introduced (and killed off) a mentally retarded immortal, befriended by Mac and Richie. Both these instalments pull no punches. None at all. The characters who die meet swift brutal ends. And it's very affecting to watch.

    More than those, though, and probably more than any other episode, I would probably favour "Under Color Of Authority" from Season Two. In this case, the (typically) strong script is helped along by the presence of guest star Jonathan Banks (Wiseguy) and by the fact that this episode damages the friendship between Richie and Duncan. Mac disagrees with Richie's (controversial) actions in the story and, as a result, ends their pupil-mentor relationship. From here on in, Richie is on his own.

    These ever changing relationships - between all the characters - are part of the reason I warmed to the show so much.

    You could say that the entire Highlander series is about the people around us, the bonds we form and break and the lives we lead. In many ways, we are the immortals. Now, while we don’t actually carry swords around with us wherever we go (leastwise, I don't) we do have exactly the same sort of choices facing us as we grow older. Most of the conflict in the show came not from psychotic immortals out to get Duncan, but from friends and past acquatinaces who (for one reason or another) found themselves disagreeing with Mac about something.

    And that's what happens to us.

    People change. Friendships survive. But sometimes you have cause to wonder what on earth somebody close to you thinks they are doing. You yourself can see no reason. And, sometimes, you'll have strong words with them.

    It's natural. It's what we all do, what we all go through, but Highlander is probably the first show to use this as an integral part of it's mythos. In Duncan and Richie you had three distinct phases: they went from a casual buddy-buddy thing to a much more intense pupil-master thing and finally to a state of equality. Where there was a certain edge between them. A certain edge, as well as a lot of mutual respect and genuine affertion.

    The Mac-Joe relationship was rife with conflict and difficulties, and strikes me as the sort of way things might be with a co-worker.

    As for romance, we got to see Duncan star in three completely different love stories.

    First there was the story of Tessa. This was story-book romance. The type of love we are all looking for. There were no secrets. Total openess, total trust.

    After Tessa, Duncan became involved with Anne, a relationship much more in tune with real-life. In this case, there were secrets on both sides and a lot of holding back.

    And finally, Duncan was lucky enough to have won the heart of fellow immortal Amanda. And while neither of them seemed likely to every get serious about it, and settle into it, they are there for one another. And always will be. This, too, rings true.

    So, in many ways, Highlander was the story of an everyman we could all relate to.

    A sword-wielding everyman, yes, but an everyman nonetheless.

    Impressive Writers:

    Less-Than-Impressive Characters: Towards the end of Season Two, Mac acquired an annoying neighbour in Paris. A silly, supposedly "comic" individual. Yuck!

    Less-Than-Impressive Actors:

    Less-Than-Impressive Episodes: The Season Five finale that killed Richie, and the opening episodes of Season Six are crap. A dreadful experiment, that totally fails to pay-off. Hideous.

    Indeed, much of Season Six is pretty bad. Hap-hazard stuff. Not at all like the show that had occupied that time-slot before. And the series finale, while okay-enough in it's own right, is a disappointingly weak way to end such a strong show.

    Aside from Season Six, there are a few weak episodes in Season One.

    But, between the start of Season Two and the penultimate episode of Season Five, there are almost no less-than-impressive episodes. Some are by-the-book, yes, but a by-the-book Highlander is superior stuff.

    One it hit it's stride, Highlander was not a hit-and-miss affair. It was very consistent.

    Less-Than-Impressive Writers:

    Continuity: Highlander had a weird kind of continuity. Whenever Mac and, say, Joe fell out over some moral issue, they would part company and the ending of that particular episode would be grim. Yet, next time they two met up, they would be back (basically) to acting the way the did before. I'm not sure why the producers chose that particular way of doing things, but I know that I found it very frustrating.

    Especially when the show exhibited continuity in other ways: the moves to and from France; the aftermath of Tessa's death; the Lisa Howard episodes; Methos' lover; and the fifth season where Amanda/Richie would stick around for a while.

    My favourite piece of continuity, though, has to be the first half of Season Four, where Mac and Richie are always shown working on a house in the coutry. Before leaving (for Paris) Mac calls his ex-lover, who had gotten pregnant by another man the previous season, and gives her the keys to the house.

    I loved that.

    Both from a story telling, and romantic, point of view. As a nice bit of TV story telling, it was superb. Nice low-key build-up to a moving moment. As a romantic gesture to an old (but beloved) lover, it was second to none.

    Episode Guide:

    Reviews:

    Other Info: Those wonderful people over at TV Zone have been devoting a lot of space to Highlander in the past year. #104 covered Season One, while #105 looked at the second year. The third season was covered in #106. They then took a break to publish an article on Highlander: The Raven and the fourth season came up for scrutiny in issue #108. Finally, so far, in their over-view of the various seasons, the fifth was dealt with in #110.

GRADE: A

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