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6.13 Not to Be Duncan: "I'm Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod." Methos: "Never heard of you." Again, I really had trouble with this. A series finale is a difficult thing, yes, I know that. The problem was that they reached too high, went too far, and it turned into poorly written fantasy. I thought for awhile about what I would have enjoyed as a series finale, and it was much simpler. I would have enjoyed one final adventure with Duncan, Amanda, Methos and Joe, perhaps with flashbacks to include Fitz or Richie, even. Some discussion about the meaning of immortal life, maybe within the framework of Duncan leaving Paris to go on walkabout. Ah, well. It was sort of hard to postulate that Duncan made such a huge difference in so many lives when Tessa, Richie and Fitz were already dead. So Richie didn't die a thief. Amanda didn't become a black widow. Fitz lived an extra 280 years. Yes, fine, okay. But Tessa was just living a life without "passion." I still think she'd rather be alive and with her children than dead, don't you? And the whole thing with Methos evil because he never met Duncan just did not work for me. Methos and Duncan met for the first time *three years ago.* Three years of experiences trumped five thousand? His centuries as a doctor meant nothing? Come on. Lame. So let's see, now. Methos was in love with a watcher named Jillian who told Horton that Methos was an immortal. Horton killed her and turned on Methos, and Kronos showed up to save him. The surviving Horsemen, Kronos and Methos, recruited Richie and sent him to assassinate Joe. Who had managed somehow (how, exactly?) to kill Kaspian and Silas two years before the bad wig. It was so convoluted that it was actually amusing. I don't think they were going for amusing. At least we had two fairly cool duels. Duncan fought an evil Methos, and they were serious about it. And the duel with the forgettable O'Rourke, as Joe, Methos and Amanda were looking on, felt a bit like the duel with Kalas in "Finale." They gave us one final quickening, too, to (of all things) "Amazing Grace." "Amazing Grace?" Duncan did kill someone, didn't he? The best thing about this final episode, the only saving grace (so to speak), was that lovely "farewell to the character" montage at the end to Duncan. It showed his life as a mortal, his first death, his friends and lovers, and some of the best duels and finest moments in the series. It was lovely. I wish the rest of the finale had lived up to it. Flashbacks: -- 1995-1997. There were several alternate universe flashbacks to set up Richie and Methos as very bad boys. I liked that they brought Richie back. But then all they gave him was negative, depressing crap and an even worse death. What a drag. Stan Kirsch deserved better. Bits and pieces: -- Tessa's husband was clueless. What husband would invite his wife's former "friend" over for dinner, especially one that looked like Adrian Paul, and then leave her alone with him? I might have believed it if he'd shown up later with a lawyer and divorce papers. But no. -- That location where Tessa kept her sculptures looked very familiar. I'm certain it was used before during the series. -- Where did Joe get that decrepit wheelchair? It looked older than he was. Did he get it at an antique store? -- Unfortunately, I caught a glimpse of O'Rourke's head as his headless body was falling to the ground. Careless, careless. -- In six seasons, there were 47 bad immortals with names beginning with a K or a hard C. And my favorite of all of them, Kronos, was in this episode. Quotes: Fitz: "The Horsemen rode again. And they made the Russian Mafia look like the Vienna Boys Choir." Richie: "Methos is a great man." Joe: "He could have been. But now he's scum, kid." And how come Methos was telling people his real name in the alternate universe when he didn't do that for centuries? Fitz: "So this is the world without Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod. Amanda's dead. Joe's about to die. Tessa will drift into bitterness, facing a life without passion. Richie Ryan lived and died a thief. And me? Well. I missed out on almost three centuries of living. Now that's an awful lot of unhappy women." So that's it. I think I must have been writing Highlander reviews in my head all these years because it's been easy as well as a lot of fun. Two out of four stars, Billie View all comments or post a comment. |
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