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Highlander: The Beast Below

Richie: "I forgot my ball of twine."

Omigod, what a terrible episode. If you're going to rip off Phantom of the Opera, don't cross it with the Hunchback of Notre Dame and throw in Frankenstein for good measure. I'm sure they were actually tempted to have Ursa hanging from a bell rope shouting, "Sanctuary!" Stay focused on your chosen classic, people. Don't confuse the audience about what you're ripping off.

To make it worse, our village idiot immortal had the bad taste to become obsessed with an opportunistic, homicidal diva. Yes, it was her voice, I understood that, but why didn't they have him fall for the much sweeter Jenny? At least they didn't bring in Of Mice and Men; Duncan didn't have to kill Ursa in the end. Ursa got to return to holy ground, safe and sound, and he only committed one murder. For a problem immortal, that's not too bad.

As usual, there was at least a tiny bit of goodness. The gorgeous location and the actual Parisian catacombs (they were obviously the real ones) were impressive in and of themselves. And the duel on the roof was attention-getting. Note that Adrian Paul did a lot of that himself. They actually had their series star running around on a steep and scary roof with a sword. Were they nuts?


Flashbacks:

— 1634 France. Even the flashback was wretched. Duncan, with very long hair and Scots accent, ran into a scene that was literally irate villagers with pitchforks. And later, Duncan actually tracked Ursa through the catacombs carrying a torch.

— I must note that Adrian Paul does a very good Scots accent. He's not just a pretty face. Okay, not just a really gorgeous face.

Bits and pieces:

— Jenny the aspiring singer seemed like another unsuccessful attempt at a girlfriend for Richie.

— There was a newer and better looking French cop.

This is my second least favorite Highlander episode, because it's just terrible. One out of four stars,

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

2 comments:

  1. Words I never ever expected to see put together in this sequence: "Adrian Paul does a very good Scots accent."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lol. I guess that makes me (1) naive, and more importantly, (2) not Scottish. :)

    ReplyDelete

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