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Highlander: Rite of Passage

Michelle: "You and me, together forever."
Duncan: "That's not how it works."

Bratty new immortal Michelle did the impossible. She made Richie look mature.

This episode explored some interesting aspects of immortality from the newbie point of view. Duncan obviously befriended Craig seven years ago because the moment he met Craig's adopted daughter Michelle, Duncan knew she was going to be one of them. But they never explained how. I assume that potential immortals give off some kind of one-way mini-buzz? Michelle told Axel that she could feel him, that it was like they were "plugged in." The buzz changes and doesn't feel like nausea after two immortals are together for awhile, but Michelle's comment intimated that there is always something going on there.

Even though this was a pretty good episode, the coincidence factor was extreme. Duncan was visiting Craig and Nancy the day Michelle died in a car crash. Could he feel it coming? Duncan opened the morgue drawer the moment before Michelle opened her eyes. And Michelle got recruited by an evil immortal in, like, five minutes.

Michelle gets to be eighteen and beautiful forever, and she nearly threw it away because she was a petulant brat. But she did finally do some growing up. She chose learning to fight over letting someone fight for her. She realized what good parents she had lost. (That scene where she overheard Craig unloading his grief on Duncan was good.) And she finally listened to Duncan in the end.

Amanda stopped by briefly in the last scene and took Michelle on. That sort of surprised me. You don't see Amanda as a teacher and sponsor of other immortals. Is she going to teach Michelle to steal, too?

Flashbacks:

— 1896 Boston. The flashback was interesting, too. Axel was using the hapless Sharon as an immortal shill, drawing in immortal victims. What happens to immortal females who can't fight?

— Although we never saw them together, Duncan was dating the beautiful young woman who was singing the suggestive song about honeysuckle and bees.

Bits and pieces:

— Duncan got to talk a bit with new cast member, Dr. Anne Lindsey. She's not too bad (although I cringed when she yelled, "Stat!"). But where's the chemistry? Duncan has more chemistry with bratty Michelle than he does with Anne.

— When Michelle threw herself at Duncan, she told him she wasn't a virgin. And (I know, I'm sick) I thought, what if she had been? Would she keep regenerating after every sexual encounter? Would her sex life be one long sequence of lost virginities? Perfect for those born again Christian virgins, I suppose. (Note from later: This situation was explored in the series True Blood.)

— How come Michelle came out of the morgue drawer looking a lot better than she looked when she died? It was almost like Interview with the Vampire.

Quotes:

Duncan: "You're going to have plenty of time for everything. There's so much for you to do, for you to see. You can go to school, you can go to Tibet..."
Michelle: "I can get in sword fights..."

Michelle: "So, have you two ever..."
Duncan: "That's none of your business."
Michelle: "How was he?"
Amanda: "We'll talk."
I'd love to hear that conversation.

Three out of four stars,

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

1 comment:

  1. My theory is that the quickening doesn't increase strength or knowledge, but *luck* (compare Teela Brown). This explains all the coincidences.

    ReplyDelete

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