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Highlander: Star-Crossed

Fitz: "I just want you to be as happy as I am."
Duncan: "Nobody could be as happy as you are."

Although we met him briefly once before, this episode gave us much more of the wonderful Hugh Fitzcairn, played by rock star Roger Daltrey. And just as we fell totally in love with Fitz, Kalas ruined his life and then killed him. Drat.

Fitz has always been one of my favorite Highlander characters. He was oddly innocent and sweet, a lighthearted romantic who loved his immortal life. He wasn't just a casual friend; he was probably Duncan's oldest and closest immortal friend. Duncan loved Fitz for his eternal optimism. As funny as he was, Fitz was never just comic relief. He didn't let anyone fight his battles for him. He fought Kalas valiantly, and showed great courage when he died.

My favorite parts of this episode were the flashbacks to 1637, where Duncan met Fitz for the first time while they were in the service of opposing factions. They squabbled over the (nonexistent) virtue of the Prince's daughter, bonded over not being able to read, and then Duncan saved Fitz's head by killing him in a duel. Just wonderful, full of humor and growing camaraderie, a fitting start for a three hundred and fifty year friendship.

The end of this episode always makes me cry. Although I can take comfort in the fact that Fitz returns in flashback several times in future episodes. That was mildly spoilery. Sorry about that.

Flashbacks:-

— 1637 Verona, Italy. Duncan and Fitz met for the first time. Fabulous costumes and scenery. Didn't they both look wicked in those clothes?


— We still didn't actually see Duncan and Fitz learning to read.

Bits and pieces:

— We're back in Paris! Hurrah.

— Anne Lindsey (Lisa Howard) is still in the credits, discussed but not seen. Maurice was back, but not in the cast and only for about a minute... which was just about right. (Aren't I mean?)

— I thought the contrast between Duncan and Fitz in 1637 and Duncan and Fitz committing computer crime was fun. Although the computer crime bits were pretty unbelievable. Fitz was teaching at the Cordon Bleu. I think they'd actually check references, though.

— More motorcycle racing for Richie. (*yawn*)

— The car stunt in the opening scenes was memorable. That never happens.

Quotes:

Duncan: "That was no immortal running us off the road."
Fitz: "Well, you know the French. They hate Italian cars."

Duncan: "I don't have all day."
Scribe: "Or any appreciation for poetry."

Duncan: "I'm Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod."
Fitz: "Hugh Fitzcairn of the, ah... neither here nor there. Would you partake some ale, sir? All this wine gives me gas."
Duncan: "I know."

Duncan: "There'll be war over this and men will die because you couldn't keep your pecker in your pants!"

Fitz: "When do we run?"
Duncan: "We don't." (stabs him)
Fitz: (dying) "Some plan."
I loved the way Roger Daltrey delivered that last line. Maybe it was the look on his face.

Fitz: "Brilliant. Chef to Harry Truman."
Duncan: "Truman died forty years ago, Fitz."
Fitz: "Well, whatever."

Four out of four stars,

Billie
---
Billie Doux knows that there can be only one.

1 comment:

  1. Heard an interesting story about this episode. The producers decided that Kalas was to be the ultimate villain, so had to kill a close friend of Duncan.

    They went through his list of surviving friends, and Fitz popped up. They didn’t know if Daltrey liked the show, but decided to ask. Turns out he did and agreed to come back.

    During the filming of the show, the Paris crew kept calling LA to see if Kalas HAD to kill Fitz. For story purposes the answer was yes. Daltrey said maybe he could cut his hair and come back as a new character. He was told don’t worry, they have 400 years of flashbacks for Fitz.

    Now that they knew Daltrey wanted to come back, they made sure he had one episode a season. The difficulty was that Daltrey was and remains a very busy musician. Scheduling his appearances wasn’t easy, but the staff, to a man, said it was worth the effort.

    Producer Gillian Horvath said, if they didn’t bring Fitz back to kill him, he would have become one of those one episode characters. Killing him actually was what saved the character.

    ReplyDelete

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