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Highlander: Pharaoh's Daughter

Duncan: "Two thousand years is a long time to hold a grudge."

This was one of those episodes that was so ridiculous that I found it impossible to suspend belief.

So, let's see. A dead immortal will stay dead interminably under certain conditions, i.e., no oxygen. But no one opened the sarcophagus in two thousand years? Marcus was able to keep it closed all that time? But that was nothing. The thing that absolutely drove me nuts was that Nefertiri woke up speaking perfect English. I mean, come on. She was freaking dead for two thousand years. If they had put in an early scene with Duncan and Nefertiri struggling to communicate in ancient and medieval Latin or something, it wouldn't have been so insanely far fetched.

This episode did have its comical aspects, like Nefertiri trying to blow the electric lamp out, or balancing on wedges. (Couldn't Duncan have bought her a pair of sneakers?) There was a lot of semi-nudity. Mostly hers, unfortunately. And Adrian Paul and Nia Peeples really heated up the barge. They made a gorgeous couple; she was nearly as pretty as he was. If you think of this one as just a sex romp gone wrong, it helps make it bearable.

Flashbacks:

— 30 B.C. Alexandria, Egypt. Our earliest flashback, so far. Lots of melodrama and some sex, since Marcus Constantine and Nefertiri were once lovers. Breaking up was obviously hard to do.


— The outfits were pretty extreme. Especially Nefertiri's teeny tiny Roman flashback bikini.

Bits and pieces:

— She wasn't even Pharoah's daughter. She was Cleopatra's handmaiden.

— Nia Peeples was yet another singer guest star.

— The final duel took place in a strange lavender-hued room full of white sculpture. I'll give the director (it was Dennis Berry again) points for setting up really interesting locations, especially for the duels.

— Marcus Constantine was an historian and a teacher, living out the adage that those who forget history are bound to repeat it. He knew Darius. One could see them as friends; they were the same type of immortal.

— The bad Watchers were back again, and out for Nefertiri.

— Duncan finally killed a woman. And she was even someone he just slept with.

Quotes:

Nefertiri: "Does Rome still rule the world?"
Duncan: "No. No, they don't."

Nefertiri: "Women never use sex to their advantage anymore?"

Maurice: "Do you think you would ever be interested in an older man?"
Nefertiri: "I would not know. I have never met one."

It wasn't a complete waste of time, but it was still ridiculous. One star? Two?

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

8 comments:

  1. The thing about this episode that really irked me was Nefriteri woke up speaking the Queen's English. It would have been so much better if she first spoke Egyptian, then switching to Greek or Latin when Duncan didn't understand her.

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  2. I got the impression she was being shipped because she had just been dug up in Egypt and was being brought to the museum to open, likely via Marcus's influence.
    That no one opened it for 2000 years because it was entombed for 2000 years.

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  3. Peebles also deserved to be back. I think she did a really good job. It was a mistake to make her psychotic. Rarely have I ever believed such a small person could be as believably ferocious with a sword as she was in the flashback fighting Romans.

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  4. Fan theory says she's not actually speaking English, she's actually speaking Latin or Hellenistic Greek, both languages that Duncan knows. The audience is hearing it in English because all foreign dialogue is in English, regardless of the place or time. If you watch closely, she has just long conversations with just Duncan or Marcus.By the time she's exchanging (very brief) dialogue with other characters, some time has passed and she probably either picked up some French or the other characters know some Greek.

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  5. This was the episode where Duncan’s sword changed. It was up till this episode a dragon head handle carved and casted by a prop worker, Sal D’Aquilia. In this episode it changed to a similar but easily recognized as different sword made by production sword company Marto out of Spain.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous, I absolutely never notice this stuff. Thanks.

      Delete
  6. Does anyone know the name of actress who plays Cleopatra ?

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous, sorry, can't help you. She's not listed in "full cast and crew" on IMDb.

      Delete

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