Highlander - Series Season 1 - Reviews

dunno - probably the same thing that was up w/ his whole outfit in "The Gathering"
 
Revenge is Sweet

Just thought I'd use my 3000 post to send you another review...
Revenge Is Sweet

There is a flashback at the beginning of the episode to New Year's Eve 1991 or 1992 (forgot which), where we see Duncan fighting w/ another immie, who falls over the balcony and into the water. On his way back to the party, Duncan hides his sword in a planter. Why? If he can normally carry it under that short coat, why can't he carry it under his tux jacket??

Tessa calls Duncan 'Mac' a lot in the first season (i think she stops in season 2).

Vanity's character -- Rebecca -- is rude and overbearing; and she does some weird hand-waving thing w/ her sword (it leads into a flashback sequence -- a stupid flashback). The flashback shows Duncan w/ a very bad accent facing off, sort of, w/ Walter. The only thing it shows us is that he's met the guy before. woohoo - why do we care? he didn't do anything to Duncan, so aside from the fact that he's 'headhunting' why is Duncan so set on killing him??

Oh, this is the episode w/ Tessa's weird, doughnut sculptures, and where Richie is a used car salesman -- at a dealership w/ one heck of a markup -- $10,000 for that convertible his friend buys? what is that? esp if it's used and knocks like it does - the thing is probably about 5 years old (anyone who knows more about cars and wants to fill in, please do) - so there's no way it would sell used for $10,000 -- so, either Richie's friend has plenty of money, or she's an idiot! and so is Richie for selling her the car. Remind me NOT to buy a car from Richie!

Question: What is w/ Vanity's hair? It's really 80's looking and weird.

Duncan's computer skills - or, should i say, lack of them - well, until he goes back to Paris - what is that about? In this ep he couldn't get the computer to work if given step-by-step instructions, yet 2 eps later he's a wiz? what is w/ that? (Big continuity problem here! argh!). Oh, and since he's using the computer anyway - why does he send Richie to the library? Could they not find something better for Richie to do in this ep? Duncan could have used the internet to find the same info Richie was digging up at the library. Writers need to find something better to do w/ Richie if he's gonna be on the show.

When Tessa's ugly sculpture is vandalized, she and Duncan fight over who is responsible - Rebecca or Reinhart (Walter).

Explain to me how Tessa can have a different outfit for each day, and poor ole Richie only has one suit? Speaking of clothing -- the poison dress - does Duncan have the best timing or what? He comes in just in time to save Tessa! Wow! wish it was really like that! And, Rebecca - she has some awful clothing - ick!

Oh - and Duncan knows the only doctor in the free world who still makes house calls. The last time i saw that was in Gone w/ The Wind. (okay, that's probably not true, but you get the idea.)

How does Duncan know that Reinhart has Richie just b/c Richie says 'Mr. MacLeod'?

More inexplicables: Rebecca's logic: There was a list of names in Reinhart's things; Duncan's name was on it; everyone else on the list was dead - killed w/ a sword; Duncan had the sword (which Rebecca stole, btw), so Duncan must have killed Reinhart.
hmm - let's think a minute, did the list have a label? 'ppl i'm gonna kill so they don't kill me first'?? or 'if any of these ppl are still alive after you think i'm dead, and has my sword, that's the one who killed me'?? um - no -- so how did she even know what the list was? maybe it was Reinhart's christmas card list or his list of ppl who owed him money - who knows - but just b/c everyone else on the list was dead and Duncan had the sword doesn't mean Duncan killed him (esp since he wasn't dead anyway). Next: Duncan had the sword - so what? Doesn't mean he killed Reinhart. There are a number of ways he could have gotten the sword: bought it, gift, found it, sold to him by a customer. So, her logic is skewed - just a bit.

Okay - this is also the other episode on the tape w/ the Gathering if you rent it at Blockbuster or something -- don't know why they picked this one to go w/ it - but they did.

This episode? Eh - not nearly as bad as Free Fall, but I didn't like this one much. This chic is out for revenge w/ NO information except that Duncan has the sword of her ex-fiance, whom she believes to be dead b/c he's a butthead. If he really loved her he would have come back and told her what happened - actually, he could have come back anyway - she didn't know he had fought w/ Duncan and wouldn't have known if he didn't tell her. But, he just wanted her to go after Duncan so he could kill Duncan instead. Moron. Whatever. Watch "The Gathering" again to get out of the bad ep funk.
 
now I only really watched the first couple of season's episodes one time...since it was Methos that made me really start watching the show...however I do remember that this episode made no sense whatsoever to me...it was a little strange and the clothes were really bad...and I thought Rebecca was extrodinarily stupid too..
 
yeah - well, given the chance - i wouldn't watch this one again -

i think i kinda liked it the first time, but when i sat down and REALLY watched it to do this review - i found so many plot holes it wasn't funny! I mean, we're talking holes big enough to fly a goa'uld mothership through here! argh!

don't know who wrote this ep, but they needed a lesson in 'connect the dots' -- continuity and Highlander!! oh - logic wouldn't have hurt either ---

i'll do the next review in a bit ---
 
See No Evil

See No Evil

Tessa and Duncan are going to see one of Tessa's old friends from the Sorbonne, about putting some of Tessa's art in the entryway of the new stadium. Duncan asks if he can get tickets on the 50-yrd-line, but the arena they're in, looks nothing like a big football stadium, it looks like the type of arena that would house a hockey or basketball team - there is NO way a football field would fit in there.

The Scalper Copy Cat: his kife has a wide blade w/ a bone handle, fixed blade knife, and he wears this weird motorcycle outfit from the '20's.

I don't understand the use of the still-looking, grainy shots when the scalper is moving in on Natalie - it looks weird.

Duncan gets beat up by the scalper, some big, bad, tough guy HE is! And, why does Duncan always step in to solve these cases for the police (apparently wherever Duncan lives, there must also reside the most ignorant police force on the planet), but then wants no other involvement? no recognition? He's odd.

Flashback: Marcus Korolus uses either a short sword, or a longer knife on his victims (that the copy cat does), also bone handled. He has a very ornate sword (long sword) w/ etchings on the blade. Oh - and Duncan has a severe panty-line going on here - well, brief-line (the man ain't wearing boxers). And the quickening - bad, AP's acting was bad, the whole thing was bad.

Randi McFarlane - why is this chic always all over Duncan? What is with her?? I know, she's a reporter, but she's really pushy.

Oh, and Duncan is the best cop on the planet apparently - he solves cases that the police SHOULD be able to solve w/ little or no problem --- the guys on L&O would have NO problems with some of the cases the "Seacouver" and "Paris" police have to work on.

By his next attack, the Scalper Copy Cat has a new knife - longer with a blood groove in the blade (this is so the knife doesn't get stuck when you stab someone). And, he rides and Indian motorcycle.

Trivia bit: The $100.00 bill that Duncan hands the guy at the motorcycle shop was printed in Minneapolis, MN (you can tell by the letter coded on the bill) -- US Mint doesn't use these letter id's anymore --- not as far as i can tell, anyway, not since they switched to the new design.

Richie had a major wipe-out! And Duncan gives him one of those 'Dad' talks about going after the guy on his own.

Why does everyone always ask Duncan if he's a cop or something?

Duncan comes up w/ the 'trap' and uses Randi as part of his plan.

Richie tries to sabatoge the Indian, and Tessa hits the Scalper Copy Cat w/ the car. She feels really bad about it too - after all, she deliberately hurt this guy - that 'mixed emotion' thing. She is human after all.

This episode, well, it's kinda weird, and aside from Duncan turning into the best investigator on the planet, it's not bad. The fact that the writers have Duncan solve all these cases and such is just really irritating after about the 2nd time.
 
hmmmm...I don't recall ever watching this episode...wonder if I have it on tape somewhere....
 
don't really know how to describe it --

just there's a guy copy-catting an old serial killer (old one was an immie, played by John Hertzler) -- and he only kills blonds -- b/c a blond woman in the original serial killer's past 'wronged' him -- and he wants to get back at her for it ---- guy's a nutball --
 
yeah - well, i thought that was a given --- serial killer = nutball

but - ya know -- just to emphasize the point ----
 
Eyewitness

Eyewitness


Okay - this episode doesn't really have much going for it. Tessa witnesses, well, sort of, a murder. The problem is she didn't witness the 'act' of the murder - just the before and after.

On with the ep --

Richie can't park worth a ****. and why is he driving Tessa's car anyway? Oh, and he just happens to have sticky notes on him, in case he doesn't have enough change for the parking meter. Sure.

Question regarding Tessa's wardrobe: does she EVER wear a skirt that is longer than the accompanying jacket?

We're told that Duncan is out of town, and Tessa's attending a show of her sculpture where she meets and speaks with a woman who admires her work, but it later the victim of the afore mentioned murder.

Richie hooks up with some chic - and all b/c he doesn't know squat about art.

The police don't believe Tessa (why am i NOT surprised), so Duncan agrees to help find the killer, Richie actually offers something of substance -- says to check the guestbook for the woman's name.

The immie who killed Anne Wheeler (the woman who talked to Tessa at the art show), comes to the antique shop and spars w/ Duncan - not exactly sure why - maybe he tracked Tessa and is gonna fight Duncan b/c he can't get to Tessa. I don't know.

Randi questions Tessa, and the two have a sparring of words b/c no one believes Tessa saw what she says she saw.

Cops are staying out of the investigation b/c the police chief is the one who killed Anne Wheeler - kinda interrupts the investigative process.

Immie goes after Tessa b/c she was the witness and Duncan takes about 3 bullets, then claims he was only nicked, tho there's a good amount of blood in the car.

Duncan, with his pocketwatch in hand, saves everyone from a bomb at the safehouse. Yeah, i'd feel really safe there.

Cops solve the murder of Anne Wheeler - they find out it's the police chief, Andrew Ballion (spelling on his name could be off).

Not a great episode, but not quite Free Fall either. How could this have been improved? Um- how about not having Duncan do all the work and solve all the crimes? How about actually letting the police do their job? I have a hard time believing that the police force could be that moronic that they couldn't solve at least one or two of these crimes. I understand that sometimes Duncan doesn't want them to solve it b/c he needs to kill the immie, but some of these things, the police COULD do! Give me a BREAK!!

 
oh my...Duncan agrees to go after a killer...there's a new plot line :rolleyes:

How come all these cops are so damn stupid in these shows...and someone comes in and says they have info on a murder and they just brush them off....this trend is massivly annoying
 
Originally posted by Diamond9697
oh my...Duncan agrees to go after a killer...there's a new plot line :rolleyes:

How come all these cops are so damn stupid in these shows...and someone comes in and says they have info on a murder and they just brush them off....this trend is massivly annoying


yeah - that was my question too --

--Why is it that only on 'cop' shows are the cops smart enough to solve their own cases?--

i'm sorry, but even MacGyver let the cops do their job -- tho he had some run-ins where the cops were stupid and wouldn't listen to him, but --- they were usually foreign cops who didn't like Americans anyway ----

Duncan cannot be the 'ultimate' investigator -- argh! he is NOT that smart just b/c he's 400+ yrs old --- arghargh!!
 
Band of Brothers

Band of Brothers

In this episode, we meet Darius for the first time - and a very impressive character he is, tho his part is rather small - hard to be prevalent when you are in Paris and the main storyline is in the States.

Grayson is killing Darius' proteges, and Darius sends Duncan a message to warn him that Grayson is coming. Grayson is 1400 years older than Duncan (making him about 1800 years old). And Duncan says Grayson is 'one of the few Ancient immortals left'. (What exactly this is supposed to mean, we'll never know, b/c Darius is one, the 4 Horsemen are considered such, and I believe there were others, Cassandra....)

Duncan goes to the cabin that we saw in the 1st ep to train for Grayson's arrival. He tells Richie of a legend: Darius killed a Holy Man at the gates of Paris - the oldest living immortal at the time (so, this guy could have been pretty old, and, if alive today, would be older than Methos), and he changed; turned his back on war -- he had been a great warrior until then ---

Richie says something to the effect of 'so, does that mean if a really good immie took the head of a really bad one, would the good immie turn bad?' -- which, i guess, could be a reference to a 'dark quickening' (Doesn't Joe say something like it's never happened?? around the time Duncan gets his DQ?)

Richie and Duncan have a talk about Victor Paulous and Darius, which leads to a flashback where we learn how Duncan met Darius and changed his ways - sort of.

Darius: apparently he has some medical knowledge - herbal medicine or something --

Duncan's sword in the flashback is a basket-hilt Claymore.

Back at the store/apartment --- (okay, is it just me, or is it really odd that both Connor and Duncan work in antique stores that they live above??) -- Duncan and Tessa have sex, which somehow leads to Duncan working out with his katana -- hey - you make the transition ---

Victor Poulous arrives via helicopter and Grayson was going to take him out here, but Duncan interferes, Randi sees him, then questions him later about it; he blows her off - again.

Duncan tells Tessa to go to Paris - and to take Richie with her - and accept the job she'd been offerred, so she'll be out of the way while he deals with Grayson.

What is w/ Randi's mittens?? big fluffy wooly mittens --

Flashback: a man come to rob Darius' church and stabs Darius, then faces-off against Duncan; Darius begs Duncan not to kill the men; then Duncan says he's leaving Darius and going to America -- pretty worthless flashback - except that it shows Duncan leaving his 'teacher' ---

Duncan: "With the Gathering near at hand, what makes you think any of us have a century left." (for a guy who's been around 400 years, he certainly has yet to grasp the proper grammar of the English language - can we say 'subject-verb agreement'?? -- 'any of us has' - singular subject-singular verb! argh!)

anyway - he says this to Grayson when Grayson offers to allow them to be the last two

Grayson -- he's evil, wants to be the last one (who doesn't?), kills innocent people to 'get to' others - in this case Darius - he's trying to draw him off Holy Ground; twisted mind, orchestrates plans to kill mortal students of Darius

Yet again, every perp in town is a martial arts expert, but Duncan's better - and kicks all their butts.

Grayson has some funky British car - how did he get that thing to the states anyway? - and a flamberge style rapier.

They fight at the sulfur mine (which looks a lot like the Cold Lazarus set from Stargate SG-1 - but i guess, acutally, the SG-1 site would look like this one, anyway) and Duncan does some weird over-the-shoulder sword trick to beat Grayson. And, you'd figure someone as old as Grayson would learn how to fight w/ his weaker hand, in case his stronger hand was injured.

Here we also have the very first transition to Paris -- and it's actually a transition - Duncan is going to meet Tessa and Richie who were sent there earlier in the ep. (Later seasons don't do this transition as well - Duncan just 'shows up' in Paris randomly)

okay - this episode isn't too bad - at least it doesn't fall under the 'Duncan's the only one who can solve this case' genre of Highlander eps. The flashbacks could have been better, and there could have been more Darius, but, eh - not too bad.

 
only thing I liked about this episode was Darius...we got some background on a character...I was shocked....

Oh and if Duncan wasn't the star of this show he'd have gotten his but kicked by better/older immortals like a million times or so..including Grayson.

And they didn't know about Cassandra and The Horseman at this point in the series so maybe we are to assume that they are lumped into the group of truely ancient immortals...besides...the watcher's most likely wouldn't know how old those guys were anyway...
 
oh - toooooo true -- if Dunkie wasn't the big cheese he'd have been gone long ago --- no way could he take out an 'ancient' immie on a whim ----


and -- i agree that the Horsemen and Cassandra were unknown characters at this point, but this just goes back to my whole thing about canon -- and this is DPP canon -- it's not like it's 'movie' canon that they feel free to ditch on a moment's notice --

and 'one of the few' could mean that out of the 2000 immies, only 100 of them are 'ancient' -- i guess, or maybe like 25 -- something like that
 
For Evil's Sake

For Evil's Sake


Le Rialto -- is the name of the restaurant where the 3rd man is shot -- Rialto is the name of the fancy bridge in Venice, Italy - the one everyone recognizes when they see pics -- just an FYI


I want to know how Duncan ended up befriending so many 'influential' people -- Barons, princesses, etc...


Flashback: introduces us to Duncan's past experience with the Absinthe drinking fool, Khlyer. why anyone would want to drink this stuff is beyond me.

This ep marks the 1st appearance of Inspector LeBrun (another noteworthy cop in the annals of the Highlander saga)

Richie has somehow located the ugliest piece of sculpture in the history of the world, aside from Tessa's ridiculous doughnut lookin things, and brought it as a gift to Tessa.

Flashback: Duncan meets Tessa - running from / fighting with Khyler. For some odd reason, Duncan has no sword, so he crashes through a glass door and jumps onto Tessa's conveniently passing tourboat. The two argue over the completion date of Notre Dame-- 1343 or 1345.
Why did Duncan the Great not have his sword? my best guess is - b/c it didn't fit the storyline for him to have it -- he wouldn't have had a way to meet Tessa -- man is this guy hard up for a chic.

Richie has a good line: "Right, the CIA and Intergalactic Space Patrol can't find him, but you, Duncan MacLeod, can." -- this pretty much sums up what we discussed before -- about Duncan being the ultimate cop -- hey - Richie - ya done good!

Khyler would almost be an attractive guy w/o all that stupid make-up on his face. He must have some serious self-esteem issues -

Duncan tracks Khyler via Absinthe - and ugly, green alcoholic beverage that causes insanity. You mean to tell me the cops couldn't have figured this out on their own? Do they not investigate? I'm sure Khyler had to have been sloppy at some point and left a glass behind or something.

Why does Khyler hang out w/ mannequins? We're talking some serious self-esteem issues here.

LeBrun needs to remain fully clothed at all times (ugly man) and not be so arrogant and 'cop' all the time -- Duncan came to help him and he was turned away -- maybe this is why Duncan solves all the cases himself.

Khyler must have been raised in a barn b/c he didn't shut the door very well. (he was leaving the store frome whence he purchased his alcohol). Anyway - he has 2760 mortal kills as an assassin - man this guy needs a hobby. And please answer this - how satisfying can it be to decapitate a mannequin??

Well, Duncan remembers to bring his sword along this time, and his disappears before LeBrun enters the warehouse; then he skirts around LeBrun's questions back at the barge -- that man can never give a straight answer to anything.



well - this episode could have used more plot and better characterization on the part of Khyler, and given Duncan more reason to hate him. Duncan seemed to just not like him only b/c he was an assassin -- hey, it's a job, just like anything else, just not as respectable as say - shovelling horse manure.

This episode really needed more 'meat' to it. And stop making Duncan the 'cop'. Let the police do their job for a change.
 
one thing I will say about this episode...it does kind of hint at the whole Duncan "boyscout" MacLeod thing that keeps coming up later in the series...cause like you pointed out...the only reason it really gave for him to hate Khlyer is the assasin thing...so he's judge, jury, executioner as usual later on...
 
yeah -- boyscout Duncan stepping up to the plate -

the PTB for this show should have paid more attn to what they were doing -- it's just weird that they're changing the main character for no reason --- more like 'Duncan's gotta face off against an immie this ep, and well, we really can't think up a good reason for him to not like this immie, so we'll make the immie a cold-blooded murderer' -- huh? that's not a good enough reason. and it's not like Khyler killed someone Duncan knew or liked or cared about (yeah, Khlyer killed that Prince or Duke or whatever, but Duncan more 'worked' for that guy than anything else) --- i don't get it -- probably never will --

and ya know the worst part? i never even paid attn to most of this stuff until i started writing these reviews -- i knew there were inconsistencies, just didn't realize how bad they were ----
 
For Tomorrow We Die

For Tomorrow We Die


Roland Gift - 1st of many musical guest stars (who don't sing, btw) to appear as an immie

the chic in the jewelry store is the same actress who played this woman, on the Family Channel Zorro, in France who met Don Diego when he took his vacation there

Poison gas is used to kill everyone, so the immie can rob the store --> what a nice guy, huh? He even kills his buddies - tells them the gas is gone and to take off their masks - well, they believed him ---

Xavier goes to Darius to confess, knowing Darius cannot tell anyone what Xavier said. LeBrun comes asking questions and Darius won't tell him anything b/c of his vows. Darius takes his job as a priest very seriously; he's very good at what he does.

Flashback: WWI (I think) -> Xavier gasses a group of soldiers; Duncan's in this group and Xavier is ready to take his head, but can't b/c others arrive. Basically - another of those pretty useless flashbacks that doesn't tell us any more than Duncan has seen this guy before. Why bother? There still isn't any reason for Duncan to want to kill Xavier (not at this point anyway -we do learn more about Xavier later).

Richie has a love interest --> Renee, an acquaintance of Tessa's, but this woman is married, and Richie doesn't care. Go figure. Does he ever listen to anyone?

Xavier comes to the barge, offers to help Tessa, offers to lend a sculpture to her museum exhibit.

And, let me just say that I am amazed at the number of people who believe that today's Duncan MacLeod must be the son of Duncan-from-the-past!

Le Picotan Restaurant - it's the same bldg as Le Rialto from the previous episode -- "For Evil's Sake" - they could at least change the coloration or something ---

Xavier always has a can of poison gas on him. Why? Is he always prepared for someone to want to kick his ass?

Tessa and Duncan discuss why Darius respects the rules of being a priest. Tessa doesn't understand why Darius won't tell.

Two cops now, have told Duncan that they will 'have his head' and both times, he responds w/ 'you'll have to wait in line' -- you'd think they'd catch on after a while -- or Duncan would come up w/ a better come-back line.

Darius says maybe it's time to leave his sanctuary --> but he's been a 'holy man' for so long, and on holy ground for so long, how 'practiced' can he be? if he leaves to fight, how well will he do??

Richie and Duncan have a 'guy talk', and Duncan tells Richie that Renee is married.

Xavier sets a bomb to go off during Tessa's party at the museum.

Duncan says he was in King Solomon's mines --> um, how? he could not have been around then, unless the mines were found 300 years ago -- I think someone goofed! King Solomon was BC - around the time the Horsemen were still terrorizing that area - there is NO way Duncan was around then. And, if he meant he's been there during the last 300-400 years - they should have been more specifc - and maybe shown him on an expedition finding the mines - that would have made sense - but not just a random comment -- what is this, Forrest Gump??

Duncan jumps out of a moving car to rush back to the museum to diffuse the bomb w/ no time left - c'mon, even MacGyver had one or two seconds. Does the bomb have to be on zero to be defused??

Xavier fights w/ a scimitar-like blade - it's long and curved, but not as wide as a scimitar.

Duncan cuts Xavier's hand off, this hand will not grow back - so, if you see an immie lose an extremity -- it won't grow back - it'll be gone forever.

Duncan returns to the party (or the barge, don't remember which) looking pretty ragged.

And that's pretty much it for this episode. Honestly, I don't understand the Richie storyline part of this ep. It looked more like just something to toss in to keep Richie onscreen. Why bother? It didn't add to the story, detracted, in fact, and had nothing to do with the rest of the story. I understand that having Richie get involved with a married woman might make for an interesting storyline, but would have been better suited to an episode 'post-Tessa' - where there could have been a parallel story with Duncan. Like I mentioned earlier, why even have Richie on the show if this is the best they can do? Almost as tho the writers don't know what to do with Richie, so they just make up something ridiculously stupid to 'fill' the space between Duncan's scenes. Use the kid, or get rid of him.

 
I actually liked Xavier as a villian...he was one of the better ones as far as I was concerned. And the Richie thing did get annoying. I like his character but I think that they tended to use him when they shouldn't. The only thing I can think of for this episode was so that Duncan could play the father role or something. oh and Roland Gift wasn't the first musical guest star...Joan Jett from "Free Fall" was.
 

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