HIGHLA-L Digest - 20 Feb 2004 to 21 Feb 2004 (#2004-38)
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Sat, 21 Feb 2004 22:00:05 -0500
There are 2 messages totalling 246 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Season Two dvds: Pharaoh's Daughter (2)
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Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2004 11:09:19 -0500
From: kageorge <kageorge@erols.com>
Subject: Season Two dvds: Pharaoh's Daughter
COMMENTARY: Bill P. mentions that Dennis Barry, this episode's director, is
famous for sweeping camera moves and for his love of the female body, so
this episode has more exposure of the female body than any other, and that
Nia Peoples' body double would tell you that when she got out of that
sarcophagus, it was very, very cold. When Nia's character is having her love
scenes with Duncan and with Constantine, Bill says, "This is pretty good
stuuuuff, and we tried to use as much of it as we possibly could."
David A. really liked the way Nia Peoples "came off the screen," and says
that while the dailies of the Adrian/Nia love scenes were being reviewed,
people would walk by the room, stop, look in, then come in and sit to watch
for a half hour because they were "so incredibly beautiful and so incredibly
sexy together."
Bill P. talks about one of an Immortal's greatest fears would be to be
buried alive, and not found for thousands of years, and they thought for an
Immortal to choose that fate out of great loyalty was "kinda cool." He said
the sets were all kind of small, but it was amazing what the set designers
could do with a few props and some gauze. Constantine and Nefertiri were the
oldest Immortals they had had since Darius, and Constantine was their first
attempt to replace a Darius, and have a character MacLeod could talk to who
was older and more experienced than he was. That didn't work out (as a
continuing story thread), but "That's why we got Peter Wingfield to play
Methos." As an aside, Bill mentions that Catherine Zeta-Jones had also tried
out for the part of Nefertiri. "What a difference a decade makes," he says
slyly.
The sword fight was pretty bold because "what Nia lacked in experience, she
made up for in ferocity." No one ever came at Duncan with such
aggressiveness, and "everybody was just hoping that Adrian could take care
of himself." Bill paused, smiled, cocked his head, and added, "which he
could."
Finally, I'm just going to transcribe what Bill P. said at the end of the
commentary, since I found it quite amusing, given the amount of discussion
in the fandom on the issue in question: "I think it's very kind that none of
you have wondered why we allowed a 2,000 year old person to get out of a
sarcophagus where they'd been imprisoned for that long speaking perfect
English. Thanks for your understanding."
EXTRAS: We are shown the full scene where Duncan introduces Nefertiri to the
modern world, showing her a clock and a lamp, which she tries to blow out, a
hand-held vacuum cleaner, then Maurice calls on the speaker phone to invite
himself to dinner so he can make coq au vin. The scene ends with Duncan
saying she's going to need some new clothes, and her asking Duncan for a
sword (which explains where she has gotten one in the final scene.)
SIDE NOTE: I was checking the Chronicles on the dvd to make sure I had
Nefertiri's name spelled correctly, and discovered there was an entry for
Nefertiri's encounter with Constantine back in 30BC. It was written by
Constantine's Watcher (Septimus Aurelianus, Centurion).
THE EPISODE: A transport van is hijacked, the driver knocked out. Then we
see Duncan going to his car carrying a briefcase. He feels the presence of
an Immortal as the van drives by, and he follows. (SIDENOTE: "Why would he
do that?" you ask. I have no idea. Someone needs to come up with an
rationalization for that one.) He subdues the bad guys after they have
pulled a large crate out of the van. He decides the Immortal he feels must
be in the crate and opens it, discovering an Egyptian sarcophogus inside.
(SIDENOTE: How did he know they were bad guys? They had guns and all, but
they could have been just two guys unloading a truck since he hadn't
witnessed the hijacking.) He opens the sarcophogus, takes some of the
wrappings off to find a lovely woman inside, perfectly preserved,
beautifully made up, completely naked (except for the wrappings which
magically fall away) and not a trace of dust on her. (SIDENOTE: Jeez, after
2,000 years, no less. I wake up after 7 hours of sleep and look like a
*real* mummy.)
Her first words are "Does Rome still rule the world?" (SIDENOTE: I know, I
know, she speaks perfect English and we all know that is just too dumb for
words, but this is an extreme example of suspension of disbelief. What I
found kind of interesting is the expression on Duncan's face, which is
fascination and awe at what he has found.) As Duncan wraps a nekkid
Nefertiri in his coat, we see a shadowy figure watching them. Duncan hits a
fire alarm button to attract the attention of the police and then escorts
Nefertiri to his car. (There are a number of amusing reactions on both D's
and N's parts to her ignorance of the modern age throughout this episode, so
I won't get particularly descriptive about those, and stick with the basics
of the action.)
We next see the museum curator and his assistant with the police at the
warehouse. The curator, a distinguished, handsome man who looks to be in his
mid forties, insists over the objections of his assistant that the
sarcophogus was empty and that there will be no claim filed.
Duncan takes N to the barge ("That was *terrifying*," she says as she gets
out of the car.) N is disoriented, but also still caught up in her grief and
anger over the death of Cleopatra, for whom she had willingly been entombed.
She asks Duncan to teach her about today's world. They go shopping,
commenting on various modern things as they go, and dealing with her
peculiar attitudes towards people serving her. (SIDENOTE: Duncan's reaction
to her wobbling on heels is particularly amusing. He is giggling (yes,
really giggling) so hard he ends up unintentionally locking the car. I get
the feeling that was *not* a scripted moment and may have been more Adrian
Paul than Duncan MacLeod.)
We next see the museum curator and his assistant talking about a rare piece
that had been among the items in the stolen van. It becomes clear that the
director thinks his assistant may have had something to do with the
"attempted" robbery, and we see a Watcher symbol on the assistant's wrist.
D and N are walking along near the Tuilliaries, and she sees the Egyptian
obelisk mounted there, and N tells Duncan she needs to understand how her
world changed from what it was to what it is. D takes her to a museum,
explaining the history of the world since Rome conquered Egypt. (SIDENOTE:
Upon N admiring a painting, Duncan tells her "That's the RenAIssance," with
the emphasis on the second syllable. Is that the standard UK pronounciation?
I had always heard it as the RENaissance.)
They enter the Egyptian "salle" and N asks D if Cleopatra is remembered and
expresses the wish that she were "with her in Paradise." We see a flashback
where Nefertiri dismisses the priests attending Cleophatra's dead body, and
then declares her love for her queen and takes poison so she can "rest with
you until all this is nothing but a faded memory."
Back in the present day, D and N feel another Immortal approach, and they
turn and see the museum director with a woman (who we later learn is his new
wife). N says the man has come for her and bolts, the man tries to follow,
but D stops him. N wanders the streets, kicking a man in the nuts when he
tries to rob her of her ancient necklace, then turning and viciously kicking
him again while he's down for good measure. Duncan eventually finds her back
at the Egyptian obelisk.
She tells him that the Immortal they ran into was her enemy, Marcus
Constantine, a Roman general. When N moves close, seductively, Duncan pulls
away, telling her she doesn't need to use sex to get him to help her, that
this isn't ancient Egypt and he's not Cesear or Marc Antony. She says, "I'm
not asking you to die for me." He responds, "Not yet." Duncan leaves Maurice
with N while he goes to visit the museum director to find out what is going
on.
Constantine turns out to be a teacher and a scholar, as well as a curator, a
peaceable man who had loved Nefertiri very much, long ago, when they were
lovers before Cleopatra died, and only wants her to be happy. But Nefertiri
is still living in the past (which to her was just yesterday), and cannot
let go of her hatred for Constantine who she sees as having destroyed her
world in the name of Roman rule, even after Duncan manages to get them to be
civil to each other long enough to have dinner at Constantine's home.
Unfortunately, she uses the opportunity to stab Constantine's wife to death
in revenge.
(There is a minor subplot involving Constantine's assistant - one of Horton'
s disciples - who was responsible for stealing N's sarcophagus, and knocks
Maurice out and tries to kill her. Big mistake, since she kills him
instead.)
Duncan goes to C at the cemetery, visiting his wife's grave. He apologizes,
saying he should have seen it, should have known. But C says it was his
fault, that he should never have brought Nefertiri to Paris, that he had
thought because he had changed, she could, too. C says to try to avenge his
wife's death wouldn't change anything, and that he was really responsible
it. As they walk away, they feel Nefertiri approach. She is all in white
gauze (except for the trench coat), and pulls a sword, challenging
Constantine, but he refuses the challenge. She strikes at him anyway, but
Duncan stops her with his own sword. She accuses Duncan of betrayal, and
they fight. They end up in a mausoleum (?) full of white ethereal statutes
and a cage of white doves. As he protects himself from her fierce attacks,
Duncan says what she calls loyalty and love are nothing more than anger and
fear. N declares that she has no fear, and then demonstrates it by attacking
D again with a vengeance as he just defends. She gets in a few solid
strikes, screaming something (incoherently since I can't understand what she
says), but Duncan traps her up against a wall.
"You cannot win, Duncan," she tells him. "You cannot kill someone you've
taken into your bed and loved."
He doesn't answer for a long moment as they look into each other's eyes.
"Can you?" he asks softly, then steps away, lowering his sword.
She can. She stabs him deep in the belly and he goes to his knees. As she
pulls back and swings for his head, he ducks, then strikes, and takes her
head. During the Q we see Constantine watching, and the flashback scenes are
replayed in his eyes. After the Q, Duncan is on his knees, weeping.
Tag Scene: Duncan and Constantine stand on the prow of the barge, looking
out as Duncan says he wish he could have done something so he didn't have to
kill her.
"You could have died," C remarks wryly, and tells him Darius would have told
him not to blame himself, that she made it war, and that Duncan fought with
a warrior's instincts, that life always chooses life.
MY OBSERVATIONS: This is another one of those episodes that I hadn't cared
for previously. I'm still not all that fond of it because when a story is
full of huge plotholes (I like that as a word. I think I'll keep it <g>.) I
keep getting yanked out of the emotional context, and I get this bad case of
"angstus interruptus". That being said, there are several things I think are
noteworthy about the story, especially as regards an understanding of or
illumination of Duncan's character and/or actions in other episodes.
First, we have a clear example of Duncan's reverence for age, and
fascination with people and times other than his own. The awe with which he
looks at what he has found in the sarcophagus is complemented by his easy
acceptance of and admiration for Constantine (and so his immediate
recognition of and fascination with Methos should come as no surprise). His
pain over killing Nefertiri wasn't just about killing someone he found
beautiful and whom he had taken to his bed, it was about what she was and
what she represented.
Second, we see *another* example of the nasty, horrible Watchers doing
nasty, horrible things. Why would *anyone* wonder why Duncan sometimes has a
hard time trusting Joe?
Third, rarely have we seen Duncan as furious as he was with Nefertiri after
she had killed Angela, an innocent mortal - what for Duncan is the ultimate
sin for an Immortal to commit. Why didn't he challenge her \pard fs20 over
it? I think he felt responsible and guilty as well as angry. His own guilt
stayed his hand, plus the fact that N was someone out of her own time who
had little understanding of modern mores and values, plus the fact that he
had taken her under his protection, plus the fact of who she was.
And on the completely purulent side, we also got to see a lovely sex scene.
The best part for me was when Duncan kissed her as he grasped her long hair
in his fist. We have TenderLover!Duncan and MasterfulLover!Duncan in the
same scene. What more could a girl want? I also liked it when N gazed at
Duncan while he was asleep, gently running her fingers over his back. Nice
when it's not always the woman who gets ogled.
MacG
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Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2004 16:18:45 -0500
From: Dotiran@aol.com
Subject: Re: Season Two dvds: Pharaoh's Daughter
In a message dated 2/21/2004 11:09:19 AM Eastern Standard Time, kageorge@erols.com writes:
> (SIDENOTE: Duncan's reaction
> to her wobbling on heels is particularly amusing. He is
> giggling (yes,
> really giggling)
I remember Gillian Horvath talking about that scene at one of the cons she was at. She said it was a classic example of and "Adrian" moment where Adrian got out of character for a few minutes and the giggle you hear is so totally Adrian and so totally *not* Duncan the serious. I just love it.
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End of HIGHLA-L Digest - 20 Feb 2004 to 21 Feb 2004 (#2004-38)
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