1:12 Eyewitness – Tessa sees what looks like a murder on a bridge visible from the window at a gallery, and tries to get the police to pay attention (hey look, it’s that same police detective EVERY TIME — the Seacouver PD must be really small). So naturally she takes it upon herself to be Nancy Drew.
…and this turns out to be another story of “unlikely Immortal” crossed with “random danger situations,” as this murderer whom Tessa just happened to see also just happens to be an Immortal — not one that Duncan has encountered before (thus no flashback), but one that he SHOULD have encountered, given that [SPOILER: he just happens to be the frickin’ CHIEF OF POLICE].
This kind of episode shows the limitations of the initial premise of the series — you’re either gonna have an Immortal Of The Week, or you’re going to have random scenarios plugged into the franchise. Fortunately, in the very next episode, we’re going to expand the scope of the storytelling…
Guest Immortals: 1
Flashbacks: 0
Quickenings: 1
1:13 Band of Brothers – A lot of things going on here:
Tessa is offered the short-term curatorship of a traveling art exhibition — in Paris.
Also from Paris, Duncan’s old teacher Darius (Werner Stocker), an Immortal who has renounced violence and lived as a priest (mostly on holy ground) for 1500 years, asks for Duncan’s help. Darius has several mortal proteges who are well-known international peace activists, and one coming to Seacouver for some speeches is the target of Grayson, an Immortal as old as Darius who wants to destroy everything Darius has built. (Grayson is played by James Horan, whom I recognize from a couple of ST:TNG guest roles, and the icky-uncomfortable horror movie Dying God (2008).)
And by the end of the episode, Duncan, Tessa and Richie have moved to Paris. The real one, not a pseudo-European Vancouver location masquerading.
The Paris connection is a big one. The original Highlander feature was a blockbuster in France, and so much of the investor backing for the TV series came from France that it’s practically a French co-production. So part of the deal was that half of every season was shot in Paris, giving the production access to much better locations for flashbacks, as well as a much more plausible presence of Immortals (since it really makes no sense that THAT many Immortals just wander through Seacouver all the time). And there’s just a sense of history in the surroundings, appropriate for a series about beings who live for centuries, that just can’t come from Vancouver shooting locations.
The only drawback is that habitual viewers got to play the game of “What excuse is going to get Duncan to Paris THIS year?”
This episode also introduces the idea that absorbing another Immortal’s quickening can actually change you. Darius had been a conquering military leader until he beheaded the “holy man” in the gates of Paris, the oldest known living Immortal at the time… and suddenly he renounced violence (and pissed off Grayson, his second in command). So if an evil Immortal can be turned good by a good Immortal’s quickening… can a good Immortal be turned bad the same way? It’ll be a couple of seasons before we follow up on that idea.
Guest Immortals: 2
Flashbacks: 2
Quickenings: 1