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Highlander: Avatar

Sophie: "I don't understand."
Horton: "You soon will, Sophie. It's the morgue. Off you go."

It's a year later, and the tiresome Ariman story isn't over. I suppose they couldn't just introduce the demon plot and not finish it. But I really wish they had.

This was a slow, pensive sort of episode, although I don't think it was meant to be. Duncan, without his hair, sword, flashbacks, or furniture in his barge, seemed adrift. The plot moved like molasses and the actors seemed uncomfortable with their lines, especially the crap about the demon Ariman. And way too much of this episode was Peter Horton trying to subvert Sophie Baines, a character we didn't even know and most certainly didn't care about. In fact, we got more Horton in this episode than all of his scenes in the rest of the series put together, and that's not a good thing.

Poor, pointless, dead Sophie. Why not just animate her dead body? What was she using to walk around in? Shouldn't Horton/Ariman have at least told her and her vicious little brother that they needed to actually behead Duncan for it to do any good? Bad. Whatever.

We got two new cast members: Elizabeth Gracen (Amanda) and Peter Wingfield (Methos). Way, way overdue; should have happened two years ago. Better late than never, I suppose. But why were neither of them in this episode? Anything would have helped.

Flashbacks:

— No traditional Highlander flashbacks in this one. Just montage-y clips of Richie and Duncan's relationship with Joe. And one shot of Tessa.

Bits and pieces:

— Stan Kirsch, of course, is no longer in the cast. According to his tombstone, Richie Ryan was only 22 when he died.

— At least we got Jim Byrnes playing the guitar. Always a good thing.

— This episode took place entirely in Paris. Except for the year Duncan spent in a Malaysian monastery. No return to Seacouver this season.


— I think it's pretty funny that the first time we see Rachel Shelley, future cast member of The L Word, her friend is telling her she needs a husband.

— Instead of seeping red fog, we got bleeding roses and blue soccer balls turning red. The suspenseful demonic score was mercifully free of Latin chanting, but still tedious.

— Call me shallow, but I really miss the hair.

Quotes:

Horton/Ariman: "I love the new hair."

Joe: "I'll meditate when I retire."

Horton/Ariman: (on the radio) "You're listening to H - E - double L, the voice of the millennium. Now here's an oldie but a goodie for my old friend Duncan MacLeod." How wonderfully subtle. Geez.

Duncan: "An avatar. A human with god-like qualities sent to face evil."
Joe: "Like immortals."

One star and lots of frustration,

Billie
---
Billie Doux knows that there can be only one. And that's Methos.

6 comments:

  1. With this season Highlander in many ways came full circle. Which is a shame because it meant it was rubbish again. It’s the Samson effect, Duncan cuts his flowing locks and the show loses all its strength.

    Adding Wingfield and Gracen to the credits and then not featuring them in the show felt like an insult to the fans. Its not as bad as the Buffy producers adding Amber Benson to the credits only to kill off Tara that same episode but still, I feel cheated. I wanted Methos and Amanda back.

    On the bright side, as Billie pointed out, this entire season is shot in Paris. So at least they’ll be lots of lush Parisian scenery to ogle at.

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  2. I do seem to recall that there are at least two good episodes in season six, although it's a season I haven't seen often and my memory may be faulty. And I'm looking forward to the immortal babe audition episodes, mostly because I'm curious to see if they're as bad as I remember.

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  3. Well, there's the Methos and Joe episode and then the two part series finale, which (finally!!) has both Methos and Amanda--and the added bonus of Fitz. Those were all good (although flawed) episodes in my book. If only the whole season had had more of those characters. Or hey, I would've taken the Methos and Joe adventures throughout the season, rather than the Ahriman crap or the endless parade of backdoor pilot episodes to a female Immortal spinoff. Sigh. At least there was one other comedy episode with Duncan and Fitz, but it wasn't as good. Still worth seeing though. But overall, season 6 was such a disappointment over seasons 4 and 5, which were far and away the best Highlander seasons.

    I'm not bitter at all. ;-)

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  4. There are only two episodes this season I really like. The one where Duncan helps Fitz solve his own murder and The Methos and Joe Show (the spin-off that never was). The two-part finale was also good but not as great as I hoped it would be.

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  5. It feels like a totally different show. No flashbacks, no swordplay, no long hair on Duncan, and no other immortals. Paris even looks different. It's sunnier and brighter than at any other time in the series so far. Other than Methos and Amanda being in the opening credits (yay!) I don't think that there was a single thing I liked about this episode.

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  6. So, I guess this thing just waited a year for Duncan to be ready? Instead of doing what it's here to do?
    And Duncan wouldn't have known it would just hang out until he was ready. He took a hell of a risk meditating for a year.

    ReplyDelete

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