Highlander season 5 : The Messenger

This is another one where the thoughts are all up there in the text, so I feel less need to discuss it.

Richie looking for a way out. Richie arc, interesting.

Disco Quickening... one of the ones that works least well ever, methinks.

Methos, the real one... :-)

Methos, the not so much real one :-/

The whole point of Highlander, a bit like with Angel, is that there are some things worth fighting for. Risking death, yeah, but worse than that, having to kill. Fighting because you are afraid to die is not so much the good reason. That kind of fighting, stay on holy ground, be safe. But fighting because you are afraid for *other people* to die, that's a whole different thing.

That was the conversation they needed to have with Richie.
The first fight he got into with another Immortal wasn't because of the Game, or the Rules, or any of that other shit. It was because some people got out of a car in front of him, carrying guns, trying to kill some guy. Richie didn't know who was involved, what was going on, any of that. But he saw people about to do bad things, and he stopped them. And somebody died. *That* is the kind of fight he needed to be reminded of. The kind where you fight, or someone else dies.
But because this is a story, they did show not tell of it. Richie tries to stop the Game, but Mac isn't fighting because of the Game, he's fighting because the other guy is a total bastard. And because the other guy lives, he kills the Messenger. And Richie, presumably, gets it. There are worse things than dying.

So I like this episode a lot.

I also like the *incredibly* snarky conversation Methos has with Methos. I mean, you can just hear him trotting out the most annoying things he ever got asked. And the twist in his voice, the I know something you don't know... Its just classic. Pure class.

And Richie finds out Adam's real name. Presumably real. Everyone treats it as real. But the presence of fake-Methos has to raise the question again, how on earth can they know?

Well, I put the next disc in, so I'm only one episode away from Comes a Horseman and Revelation 6:8.
We know because he might be the oldest, but there are others who are right up there. And he's older than them.
Real Methos.

But not at all who we expect him to be.


I love that about the character Methos. All this time on Earth, and what is he? Just a guy. Just people. *Love* that.


Very philosophical episode, with Richie and Methos and lots of character stuff going on. Conversations about good and evil where no one is, to my mind, ever quite right. Methos being manipulative and snarky. All good.

The First Evil in the Highlander 'verse?

Highlander season 5 as an arc - there's faith, belief, delusion, illusion, hallucination, trading on Names, and in a bit there's the 'would you jump off a cliff because your friend did' thing. And just now, Richie nearly getting killed because he believes the wrong guy. There's also the usual why kill, why not kill bit. The give peace a chance chant.

So, does it specifically lead up to Archangel?
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Too much magic just distorted everything. Great big mess.

But I haven't seen them, so I'm not entirely sure of how any of it works. And I feel vaguely guilty criticising what I won't watch.

But the reason I've not seen them is the same reason I'm never watching Endgame - stupidity like that doesn't get to get in my head, or make nightmares there, thankyou. No need to watch people die badly. Everyone who I tend to agree with says its all badness, all the summaries I've read... when I first got to fandom and found them, I honestly thought they were bad parody fanfic. It just sounds all kinds of bad. And some parts are so bad I just don't remember them unless I look stuff up. They won't stick to the other Highlander knowledge in my head.

But then I get thoughts, and they wander off being all complicated on next to no data. :-/

Highlander season 5: Valkyrie

Once again the characters stand around and discuss morality so I don't feel the need to.
I do feel the need to read my email while the episode gets on with it.

It always irritates me when Mac gets too close to the Big Event kind of history. I mean the Scots history makes some sense, but this British Intelligence thing goes too far with this episode. That close to history, wheres the gaps for Mac to be in?


Methos remains fun. Dark and annoying, but fun.
Methos for Mac is "Whatever you need"
which looped me back to Spike

Mac is being contrary to his own previous positions, so the ultra snarky Methos commentary is so very earned. But, like Joe says, she was his friend. "Old friends are the worst. They own more of your soul." (I think thats the quote). Horsemen incoming?

Joe was in focus for the argue with Mac and Methos, but Methos wasn't, even when he was speaking. Hmmm.


And the story cops out of answering its own setup. I mean they dont decide the 'kill potential Hitlers' question because they have her go kill a cop.
Mac never has to change his mind, she just crossed a different line.
Seems like a writer cheat.

Assassin lady starts out in sexy lingerie to distract the men, which works. Then disguise as an old lady, which doesn't. There's something there about TV portrayals of female power right there.
Also her 'weakness' in not wanting to kill got turned into an 'evil' in killing too much. Is hard not to read that as gender related, because Mac's treatment of her is so very very about gender.

There's another thought about accents. Would the episode read the same if she had a US accent? If the cop did? No. But thinking on the differences is interesting.


He cuts her head off not her hand. He cut Xavier's hand. Why different?

The Quickening is one of the more interesting ones. The shiny lightning in the eyes of dictators and Mac. But its also unsubtle.


I don't especially like this episode. Bit of a sledgehammer one.

(no subject)

I currently have a choice between going on to watch two episodes that may well be the best Highlander ever

or

doing sociology reading.


right now, the sociology is winning.
woah.

class has become interesting! yaaaays!

er, because the next unit is Media so its swung back to relevant to my core interests, instead of Family which just stomped all over my issues, or the introductory methodology thing which... might have made more sense if I hadn't missed lessons but I kind of doubted it.

ANYways, reading. nifty.