This episode introduced the diabolical Kalas, one of the best villains they ever had on this series. I mean, really. Killing Anne's patients and framing her for it? Planting drugs in Joe's bar and tipping off the cops? Beheading a praying monk? That's about as evil as it gets.
In the flashbacks, Kalas had a beautiful singing voice. In the present, his voice was raspy and hoarse, and there was a huge scar on his neck. (Clearly, Kalas and Duncan have some History that they haven't shown us yet.) There was a precedent for the scar not healing; the Kurgan in the first Highlander movie had a huge scar on his neck that he decorated with safety pins.
Along with Kalas's devious shenanigans, Anne also saw Duncan die. Irrevocably. No way to pass it off as a mistake. It's over between them (Really? Finally? Over?) and Duncan is going to leave town because he doesn't want to bring Anne into his immortal lifestyle and possibly cause her death, like he did with Tessa. Except Tessa was killed by a mugger; Duncan's lifestyle didn't kill her. Well, okay, his lifestyle did almost kill her several times. But technically...
Flashbacks:-
— 1658 Europe. Duncan retreated to the Monastery of St. Christopher, a refuge for immortals, and discovered the evil immortal brother Kalas picking off other immortals on their way out. Where in Europe? They must be keeping its location a secret because immortals still go there.
— While at the monastery, Duncan learned to read English. He said he learned to read some Latin and Italian awhile back. (With Fitz, of course.)
— Duncan found monastic life too limiting, and missed the company of women. He's too much of a warrior to be a monk, anyway; he picked up on what Kalas was doing pretty quickly.
— I haven't mentioned it much, but Adrian Paul's Scottish accent in the flashbacks is really wonderful. He has a gift for accents, and in fact, the quasi-American accent he uses in present day sequences isn't his own.
Bits and pieces:
— Richie went off to race bikes, and he won. He got a cup and everything.
— When Kalas beheaded Brother Paul, Paul's rosary actually exploded during the quickening. Obvious symbolism there.
— David Robb, who played Kalas, really did a good job with this part. It's not easy to play a character that is so sneeringly over the top evil, and do it so well. He was good with a sword, too.
— The character of Kalas may have been named after opera singer Maria Callas. And he is, of course, the nineteenth evil immortal with a K/C name.
Quotes:
Anne: "You just don't strike me as the celibate type."
Duncan: "You'd be surprised."
Duncan: "He has a tricky way with words, Mister Shakespeare. There's much truth to it."
Paul: "William Shakespeare. He signed it himself, right here."
Duncan: "Aye, and ruined a perfectly good copy."
Which reminded me of that joke about the copy of the Gutenberg Bible that was ruined because someone named Martin Luther had scribbled all over it.
This was a major episode, and the first of a lengthy arc. I've always found first part episodes difficult to rate. But hey, it was at least a three, and a strong three at that,
Billie
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Billie Doux knows that there can be only one.
Kalas was my absolute favorite Highlander villain. He like the Joker of Highlander. He’s The Villain because he’s completely evil - no trace of goodness - yet he is a fascinating character. We need a Kalas origin story.
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