1:4 An Innocent Man – Duncan and Tessa head out of the city to visit a reclusive Immortal friend of Duncan. Unfortunately, just before they get there, someone kills the Immortal, and the only witness is an unstable homeless vet played by the mighty mighty Vincent Schiavelli. Doubly unfortunately, the sheriff has already pegged the hobo as the obvious guilty party.
This one plays hell with the milieu. We’ve obviously supposed to be within a day’s drive of “Seacouver” (that’s the fan name for the unnamed North American city that Duncan calls home), and the country roads surrounded by evergreen trees confirm that, but Sheriff Crowley has the accent and demeanor of a deep South good ol’ boy who don’t take kindly to strangers ’round these here parts, and the whole small town is populated by guys in pickup trucks with cowboy hats and feedstore gimme caps and lots of flannel.
Credit where credit is due, though, to Schiavelli — I’ve never seen the man actually act before, but he blows the roof off flashing back to the traumatic day in ‘Nam that he first took an enemy life and got shot in the head.
Episode also notable for the introduction of Nosy Reporter Girl, a recurring character in seven episodes played by Amanda Wyss of Nightmare on Elm Street fame.
Guest Immortals: 2
Quickenings: 2
1:5 Free Fall – Celebrity guest star alert — Joan Jett! (Apparently one of the pitches that the producers used for overseas investment was, “The show’ll have rock stars in it!”) She’s apparently a freshly-minted Immortal (the first female Immortal we’ve seen), who leans on Richie and then Duncan for emotional support, but All Is Not How It Appears.
Frankly, this episode is dumb. (Pseudo-spoilers ahead for a show over 30 years old.) Felicia (Jett) is supposed to be pretending to be a young Immortal so she can get close to Duncan and take his head… but the Rube Goldbergian scheme she comes up with involves a bunch of happenstance, like Duncan conveniently not being home when she first visits the antique store so she can start buttering Richie up. (In this episode, the Immortals’ sense of each other has about a 20-foot range.) Then her plan is telegraphed as putting Tessa in danger so that Duncan will be recklessly angry, but when Tessa turns out to not be an instant pushover, Felicia instantly gives up that whole plan and instead makes an appointment to meet Duncan for a swordfight, so he’ll be all prepared and on his guard. And how does Duncan first cotton to her not being as naive as she seems? Because of a completely arbitrary unforced error on her part.
Oh, and their final fight is shot in Pixelcam and edited all jerky — they probably want you to think that it’s being like a music video, see, but it’s really just to cover the fact that Joan Jett handles a sword poorly.
I suppose this is a good time to noodle about the whole concept of female Immortals. I don’t think it’s surprising to anyone that I attribute the original Highlander’s cult success to being a very male fantasy, and that’s not even with all the Freudian baggage about men and their swords. The idea of loner men tragically set apart from the mainstream of humanity, unknown to all but the few like them who wander the world seeking each other out for combat, unable to have children… This is in iteration of the Campbellian “hero’s journey” absolutely perfect to hook awkward teenage males who like to wear trenchcoats. So in one sense, adding female Immortals to the mix breaks the original formula.
However, an ongoing series can’t thrive if it limits itself to what was in the original movie, especially one like Highlander which, despite all efforts, really didn’t leave any wiggle room for sequels. There needs to be an expanded ecosphere in which stories can take place — and if you think female Immortals is a big one, just wait until we get to the Watchers.
Guest Immortals: 2
Quickenings: 1