So now we have Watchers. And there are Good Watchers and Bad Watchers.
James Horton was a Very Bad Watcher. The job had clearly gotten to him, and he believed all immortals should be eliminated. He had even formed Watcher Death Squads to do it, which may be overreacting just a tad. Although maybe he observed a number of immortals slowly turning into serial killers, as some of them tend to do, and couldn't stand it any more. Is Horton dead? Come on, tell me another one.
New character Joe Dawson is a Good Watcher, and according to his brother-in-law Horton, a hopeless romantic. Joe told Duncan that the Watchers are motivated only by the desire to preserve the historical truth about immortals, which they do with bunches of very cool detailed files. That they would never interfere in the lives of immortals. And obviously, Watchers have their favorites; they probably have office pools on who is going to win the Prize. The saintly Darius was one of their big hopes, which was understandable. And Joe might even be betting on Duncan. Joe liked Duncan enough to break the rules and tell him the truth, as well as save his life.
The Watchers add a cool and interesting human dimension to the story. Plus Watchers watching immortals is a lot more fun (for me, anyway) than Duncan MacLeod, immortal detective. There is something weird and creepy about mortals beheading immortals. It's one thing when immortals do it to each other, but when mortals do it, it feels sick somehow.
Duncan was still upset about losing Darius, and he was ready to take it out on someone's hide. He did a lot of serious hand-to-hand in this one, and he did it well. I liked him telling his opponent to please not get up again, because it showed that Duncan took no pleasure in hurting the guy. I also liked the chutzpah Duncan showed in crashing Lynn Horton's graduation party and confronting Horton to his face.
Flashbacks:
— There were no new flashbacks. But there were plenty of clips from previous episodes, including the abysmal "Mountain Men."
Bits and pieces:
— The casting gods smiled on Highlander when they cast Jim Byrnes as Joe Dawson. He's an exceptional actor. Plus I've always thought that his being older as well as disabled provided an interesting dramatic contrast to Duncan's vitality and eternal youth. Just by being there, Joe reminded us that not everyone is ageless and invulnerable. He's us.
— We now have much better opening credits narrated by Jim Byrnes, and the cast now includes Duncan, Tessa, Richie, and Joe Dawson. No Randi.
— It was only a week after the action in the first season finale, and we have transitioned from Paris back to Seacouver. Tessa seemed bummed about leaving Paris. Go back to Paris, Tessa.
— Okay, Tessa and Richie were actually fun together in this one. Tessa can be a fun character now and then. But still, please go back to Paris, Tessa.
— We got the pretty cars back, too. No more tiny French economy cars, at least for now.
— In this season's hair report, Duncan's was noticeably shorter. That was because it was Adrian's. No more extensions. Except in flashbacks.
This one moved a bit slower than the first part, even with all the hand-to-hand combat and changing continents and all. But it did introduce cool stuff: the two contrasting factions of Watchers, and Joe Dawson.
Two stars,
Billie
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Billie Doux knows that there can be only one.
I love Jim Byrnes. He made every episode better.
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