Miscellaneous Comments:    January 19, 1999 I LIKE THIS SHOW.
    And I'm glad I do.
    I wanted to like it.
    I didn't want Highlander to end. Not when it did. Not so soon. And not with such a crappy final season. I wanted to see more of those people, more of that universe. And now I can. Through the eyes of Amanda.
    Cool!
    Amanda is fun. And I like what the writers are doing to her in H:TR. When I first read (Summer of '98) about this "maturing" of the character, I wasn't sure what to make of it. And I wasn't sure I would like it. After all, Amanda as a total "do-gooder" wouldn't be as much fun as the character I've followed for all these years.
    I need not have worried.
    The change is subtle.
    And taking place over a number of episodes.
    Friday's episode provided the biggest jolt yet for our heroine, and the series will be better for it.
    The other thing I wanted to like was her on-screen partner: Paul Johansson.
    Since it was obvious from all the articles I read last summer, that much of the show was going to be devoted to him, I really felt I had to like him to like the series, even if it did have Amanda.
    Following news of his casting, my first chance to see the guy was the Dharma & Greg where he played Dharma's perfect ex-boyfriend. The episode was terrific. So was he, and I felt reassured. (By the way, that episode contains my favourite line from Dharma & Greg. Greg is complaining about the fact that everybody - his own parents included - has taken a big shine to the ex-boyfriend. He is jealous of all the attention the guy is getting, (Dharma has even loaned him some of Greg's clothes). Greg finally confronts his wife and recites a list of hearfelt complaints. He concludes with a flourish: "And most of all, I hate the way he looks in my pants!!"
    A line Dharma totally mis-interprets, allowing Jenna Elfman to display one of her priceless "shocked" expressions.
    Hilarous.)
    Anyway.
    Paul Johansson.
    Yes. I like him. A lot. Sometimes you're watching him, in scenes alone, and thinking: this could be a cop show about some cop called Nick Wolfe and I'd still be interested.
    Which says a lot.
    Amanda and Nick, as a team, are a winning combination.
    The stories, particularly #6 ("Birthright" guest starring Philip Akin, from Highlander & War Of The Worlds) and #8, have exactly the same dark edge and tough choices that Highlander had.
    And visually, the show is as slick and impressive and the parent series could be, when it wanted to.
    In short: it works and I'm a fan.
    And it's a show I feel good about. It feels like it's gonna survive, like it's gonna be good, and I think it's going to entertain me for years to come.
    Type of Series:Action/Adventure
    Similar Shows:Highlander. Moonlighting.
    Strengths:The cast, the concept.
    Weaknesses:The concept could also soon get to be a weakness. The episode consisted to two seperate strands (one for Nick, and one for Amanda) which intertwined mid-way through the episode. This could get old real fast. The episode itself was excellent, but I felt that they were straining things by creating a strand to involve Nick. Fact is, as things stand right now, Nick and Amanda don't spend any time together unless events bring them together. And that's not going to sustain a series very long. Nick and Amanda need to soften towards one another, or the writers need to change the status quo so that they have no choice but to be together. That way, plots involving one of them will easily, and naturally involve the other one, and we won't need to have plot-strands converging before the second commercial break.
    Impressive Characters:Amanda. She was a very impressive character on Highlander, so much so that the idea of anybody else starring in a spin-off was ludicrous.
    Impressive Actors:Elizabeth Gracen. I first saw her in The Death Of The Incredible Hulk where she totally blew me away. I made my mind up to watch out for her. And then she started to show up on Highlander. More and more each season. When she appeared, she stole the show. Gracen is a First Class Star. Highlander, in some ways, grew to be an ensemble show as time went on and while nobody ever stole Adrian Paul's thunder, Gracen often came close to being the best thing about the show. She's a very talented actress, wonderfully charming, and incredibly sexy.
    Impressive Episodes: I suppose #'s 6 and 8 are the ones that have impressed me so far.
    Impressive Moments: In #6 I loved the scene between Nick and Amanda after they had found the body and the police sirens were getting closer.
    Her instincts took her to the back door, ready to flee.
    His had him standing put, in a suitably macho stance, ready to face the cops and explain himself.
    She stopped and they looked at one another. Sadness in both their eyes. Maybe she wanted to stay, maybe she wanted to have that kind of strength. Or maybe she wished he wasn't so naive and differnt to her. But she looked sad.
    As did he. Presumably he wanted her to stay. And recognised that she couldn't.
    It was a wonderful moment.
    Silent and powerful.
    And, for me at least, did an awful lot to define the characters.
    Later on, at episode's climax, Amanda needs Nick's help to perform a burglary (and get back some deeds for their rightful owners). She starts into (what she intends to be) a long speech about how sometimes you have to break the law to do the right thing.
    And Nick shuts her up. By saying: "I know."
    And he helps her.
    And again, it defined the characters.
    He will be rigid and law-abiding. And he will want her to change. But he won't be stupid. Like a TV-character might be.
    Impressive Writers: Karen Harris. David Abramowitz. Bill Panzer. The gang from Highlander have, over the first eight episodes, done a very impressive job of giving Amanda a conscience. I thought this transformation was supposed to be completed over episodes one and two, but - to my delight - the episode with the soldier immortal was yet another big shock for Amanda (when she discovered that she was inadvertently responsible for 120 deaths).
    Less-Than-Impressive Characters:Lucy, Amanda's housekeeper, is a dreadful character. Reminiscent of that silly French neighbour MacCloud had for a while on Highlander. Hopefully Lucy will be killed off, or written out, or something. The character served a purpose in the opener, since Amanda would have been alone otherwise, with nobody to share her thoughts with, and thus no way to communicate her inner motivations to the audience. Fine. Now that Nick and Amanda are close, however, the Lucy character serves no function. Besides... She is irritating.
    Less-Than-Impressive Actors:
    Less-Than-Impressive Episodes: I've enjoyed all the episodes I've seen. So far I've only missed one. All have been good, ranging from A- to A+.
    Less-Than-Impressive Moments: The stuff between Amanda and Lucy is mostly quite tedious.
    Less-Than-Impressive Writers:
    Continuity:Hardly any. The opening episodes, by their nature, needed continuity, but the show seems to be settling into totally self-contained tales. Much as Highlander offered for six seasons. Nothing wrong with that.
    Episode Guide:
    Reviews: Here's a nice site with long reviews for each of the episodes: Raven Reviews.
    Other Info:TV Zone#107 has an overview of the series, with comments from Ira Bernstein, of Rysher, and Elizabeth Gracen. Cult Times#38 has an interview with Paul Johansson. Cult Times#39 has an interview with Elizabeth Gracen. X Posé Special #6 interviews Johannson. And Dreamwatch #45 gave a preview of the series while reviewing the final season of Highlander.