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Highlander: Homeland

Rachel: "Let me guess. You're here to find your highland roots."
Duncan: "I didn't know I'd lost them."

Yes, the Scottish scenery and mournful music were first class, and strongly reminiscent of the original Highlander movie. Yes, we got a major backstory on Duncan. But I've never been wild about this episode.

What worked? Well, it was interesting to see Duncan as an outsider in his own hometown, because it must be like that for immortals all the time. The duel, with the circle of fire and the axe and the preternatural overhanging moon, was almost mythical-like. (And again with the magic. I don't like magic on Highlander.) I liked that Duncan paid a hundred thousand francs for Deborah's bracelet just so he could return it to her grave, and that he finally avenged his father's death after nearly four hundred years. How quixotic of him. Typical Duncan.

But the love story never worked for me. Maybe it was because it felt a little like Romeo and Juliet interpreted by Monty Python. Maybe it was Deborah Campbell's frightening uber-red hair, which kept distracting me from the story. (Looks like they had Feria four hundred years ago, but no conditioner.)

At least, now we know why a gorgeous, charming man like Duncan was still single when he died for the first time. And it was big with the sweeping vistas. Sometimes looking good is enough.

Flashbacks:

— 1618 Glenfinnan, Scotland. Duncan fought and killed his cousin Robert over Deborah Campbell, the girl they both planned to marry.

— 1624 Glenfinnan, Scotland. Newly immortal Duncan met another immortal, Kanwolf the Viking, for the first time and didn't know what he was.

Bits and pieces:

— We have glorious new credits, with an extended saga sell by Jim Byrnes.

— Anne Lindsey is out of the cast, gone as well as quickly forgotten. It's just Duncan, Richie and Joe. But I'm longing for Methos.

— This episode was directed by Adrian Paul and filmed in Scotland. I thought he did pretty well, all things considered. He's a good director.

— Duncan's very first buzz in the flashback and the subsequent buzz in the church had a choral accompaniment. We've been getting more of those lately.

— The cops took Duncan's Japanese sword for testing. What would they find on it? Wouldn't there be traces of lots of immortal DNA? Do immortals even have DNA? I'm probably being too practical. This is a fantasy show, after all.

— I was never sure if Duncan's "cousin" Rachel MacLeod was supposed to be a love interest. She certainly warmed up to him and he appeared to like her in return.

— Note from much later: Debra Campbell was played by Laurie Holden, who later made quite a splash on The Walking Dead. That frightening hair was most definitely a frightening wig.

— Kanwolf was the twenty-second evil immortal with a K/C name. And we're only in season four.

Beautiful and different episode, even if I didn't like it all that much. Two out of four stars,

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

2 comments:

  1. I spent most of the episode liking that Rachel was a McCloud, knowing that it meant that she wouldn't be a love interest. Then the closer we got to the end of the episode, the more I started worrying that they were going to make her one. Thank goodness that final kiss was on the cheek.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I recently finished seeing the whole series. This is absolutely the best episode of them all.

    ReplyDelete

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