HIGHLA-L Digest - 21 Feb 2004 to 23 Feb 2004 (#2004-39)
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Mon, 23 Feb 2004 22:00:01 -0500
There are 2 messages totalling 382 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Season Two dvds: Legacy (2)
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Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 09:46:55 -0500
From: kageorge <kageorge@erols.com>
Subject: Season Two dvds: Legacy
COMMENTARY: BP allows as how the episode was originally scheduled to be "The
Chalice of St. Antoine" (subsequently changed in title to "The Cross of St.
Antoine"), but because of jurisdictional disputes between the French and
Canadian producers, that episode had to be postponed. They had already
booked Elizabeth Gracen for an episode to be filmed during that period, so
it had to be a story about Amanda. So, it became a story about how Amanda
and Duncan met, and a story about Amanda's mentor, played by Nadia Cameron,
a Canadian actress living in London.
The gentleman who played Luthor was a "brilliant actor who had a very, very
heavy Jamaican accent, and when they edited the show, his lines could not be
understood, so they had to re-voice him with a Canadian actor with a
Jamaican accent."
The show was directed by a good friend of Dennis Barry, Paulo Barzman. Paulo
found himself behind schedule in shooting, so in the final swordfight and Q,
he started shooting during the day, Barzman kept shooting into the night in
order to save costs, figuring they would sort it out later in
post-production. The editors evidently found a place where the sky could get
darker and night come on, and BP thought it worked.
Seeing how MacLeod and Amanda met, you saw her character from the very
beginning, and her character has remained the same for hundreds of years.
She was thief when we first met her, and she's a thief today.
For the first time, Bill says, "magic" comes to Highlander. Very
controversial. About half of the audience didn't like the idea of magic in
HL, the other half loved it. But controversy is good (for ratings), Bill
says, "Watch for the crystals. They'll be back."
OUTTAKE: They show a clip of Amanda sneaking out of bed at the barge, with
Duncan asleep. You hear the voice of Gillian Horvath saying, "All you need
to know about this clip is - watch the sheet." AP does a little dance under
the sheet in a strategic location with (what I assume is) his finger, EG
breaks up and tries to hit him with her shoe as he rolls away.
NOTE: Lately, I feel I have gotten too literal in my description of these
episodes, but usually I watch them once, then write the episode description
and commentary as I watch it again. I had every intention of trying to get
back to more commentary and less description, but ended up blathering on
once again because this episode has all kinds of interesting tidbits
throughout that only make sense in context. So what I guess I'm saying is if
this post seems particularly long - live with it. <g>
EPISODE: A beautiful red-haired woman is walking with a handsome, but
clearly older (white haired, bearded) man ("John"), and he tells her she
deserves a younger man. They are lovingly arguing the point when a
trench-coated man with a sword appears. It is her ex-student, Luther, and he
threatens to kill the man unless she puts down her sword. She does so
willingly, and when Luther takes Rebecca's head, we see a necklace fall into
the grass.
[SIDEBAR: While I like many things about this episode, this plot device
bothered me. It made John seem like an arrogant nitwit ("I'm going to stay
here and protect my millennia-old, sword-wielding wife even though she told
me to leave."), and that isn't someone it seems to me Rebecca would have
been in love with. When Luther is holding John and threatening him with a
sword at his neck, John says, "Rebecca, please." That can be interpreted as
either, "Please Save Me," or "Please Don't Give Your Life for Me." But he
never speaks again, only closing his eyes in some strong emotion (Relief?
Dismay? Grief? All of the above?) when she puts her sword down and says,
"Goodbye, John." My interpretation is that John didn't want to die, and
willingly let an ancient Immortal offer her life up for his. Phooey on him.
He is intended (I think) to be a sympathetic character, but he sure as hell
lost my sympathy. YM (and interpretation of the events) MV]
Luther, it seems, lives in a steamy cavern, and likes to flagellate his
lovely, buff body and inflict pain on his minions ("so you know you're
alive"). Charming guy. He's had the husband followed, and is interested in
when and where the funeral will take place.
Back at the barge, Amanda shows up. Duncan greets her with a look of amused
suspicion, questioning her distrustfully about why she's there as she tries
to cuddle up to him. When she gets huffy and starts to leave, he stops her,
saying that was too easy, and she looks unhappy and says, "Ask me to stay?"
He studies her for a second, his face softens and he says, "Stay." He holds
her and she tells him Rebecca is dead. He asks who did it, and she says she
doesn't know.
[SIDEBAR: This scene is illuminating with respect to the Duncan/Amanda
relationship. He distrusts her, but when he observes signs that she is
really distressed, he puts that distrust aside in favor of comfort. He cares
more about her than he does about his own possible gullibility in being
"taken" by another of Amanda's schemes. I think Duncan feels he knows Amanda
well enough to be able to tell her "real distress" face from her
"play-acting distress" face, and if he's wrong, he'd rather be taken for a
sap than refuse to comfort her when she needed it.]
FLASHBACK: to 850 A.D. Amanda is in rags, her hair long and stringy. She is
wandering plague-infested streets as carts are rattling by carrying the
dead. She breaks into a house where everyone has died and steals bread. She
is caught as a thief and struck down, her body tossed in with the others
dead of the plague to be burned. Rebecca shows up, a beautiful,
sword-wielding lady on a magnificent horse, and saves her, taking her back
to her chateau/castle. Amanda is ignorant, starving and distrustful, with an
arrogant attitude. Rebecca is patient and kind, teaching her about
Immortality.
PRESENT DAY: Amanda and Duncan are in the cemetery, talking about what it is
like to die - really die. Duncan says he doesn't think about it anymore:
"Whatever happens, happens." [SIDEBAR: This is, as far as I can recall, the
only time we hear Duncan talk about his attitude about his own death, or
what might lie beyond true death, for Immortals. He says it with an ease
that conveys that he did think about it a lot at one time, but that he had
come to terms with whatever fear of death he might have once had. It got me
to thinking that Immortals who have fought a lot and died a number of times,
always reviving, would almost have to find some definitive way to think
about it or it would drive them nuts. Either they truly thought that death
was the end of existence, period, and they would avoid it at all costs
(possibly a Methosian view?); or, they would think of it as one more step in
existence, with a universe of possibilities beyond that they could not know,
and therefore wouldn't worry about.]
They join John at Rebecca's graveside, and their conversation reveals that
Duncan had known Rebecca and that she had spoken of Duncan.
FLASHBACK to 1635 A.D.: Duncan is wandering through a marketplace, gawking
like the ignorant country boy he is at various products on display (a
"lovable lout" as described by a dear friend), when he feels another
Immortal. He seeks the Immortal(s) out (even back then he was a dangerously
curious boy), and encounters Amanda and Rebecca, elaborately and gorgeously
attired in men's necavalier attire, complete with feathered hats and brocade
capes. Duncan appears to be bemused and intrigued at the notion of "lady
immortals", dressed as men, no less. There is an arrogance about him that
clearly conveys it would never occur to him that a woman might be a serious
opponent in a swordfight. When Amanda asks him if he's afraid to fight them,
he insists he's not, but then says, almost indignantly, "But you're women!"
and then adds in slight disdain, "And you're English!"
The women relent in their teasing, agreeing not to take his head. "After
all," Amanda purrs, running her hands up and down Duncan's chest. "It would
be a pity to spoil such a manly creature. There is only one thing to do with
a head like this." Then she kisses him rather possessively as Rebecca looks
on with a smiling sigh of oft-tried patience.
When the women leave, Rebecca admonishes Amanda, saying he might have taken
her head. "Not that one," Amanda insists. "He's a green boy. (!) Besides, I
found something more interesting than a sword."
Turns out while she was keeping Duncan occupied with her lips, she had
lifted his coin purse, and when Rebecca says she thought she had taught
Amanda to be honest as well as clever, Amanda says she learned clever, but
had trouble remembering the "honest" part. As they talk about her thieving,
they turn the corner to find Duncan waiting for them, and he smugly
announces that they should have a drink together. As Amanda tries to move
away, he stops her and introduces himself with a knowing smile, then takes
his coin purse back. He puts an arm around each woman, walking them down the
street, announcing he will pay for the drinks. [SIDEBAR: It seems Duncan was
never a dummy where Amanda was concerned, and was always aggressive and
confident with the ladies, and enjoyed the challenge of an independent,
contentious woman.]
(Skipping some of the detail) In the present day, Amanda's crystal gets
stolen and they go to see John. He mentions Luther's name, and Amanda
clearly had already known that it was Luther who had killed her. That pisses
Duncan off, and he asks John about Rebecca's other students. There is one
other student still living in Paris (Valjean). Duncan insists that Amanda's
belief that Rebecca's crystals, when joined, would "increase an Immortal's
power ten-fold" is a fairy tail. They go to find Valjean and track the
crystal the guy was wearing to the housekeeper's son's antique store. While
at the store, they feel an Immortal. Duncan tells Amanda to stay, and goes
on the hunt. Amanda (duh!) doesn't stay, and while both of them are gone,
Luther's two minions enter the store and take the crystal. Duncan and Amanda
see them leave, and chase after them. Duncan gets the crystal, and later
that night at the barge, a critical scene between Amanda and Duncan ensues:
Duncan locks the crystal away in a small chest and Amanda makes it clear she
"wants" Luther. Duncan insists that they both know who is better with a
sword, but Amanda says that it has nothing to do with that, it's about her
and Rebecca. They argue, but Amanda is stubbornly adamant that she is the
one to take on Luther. Duncan asks her if she didn't want him to interfere,
why did she come to him? [Good question!] "What do you expect me to do?" he
asks in obvious frustration. "Pat you on the head and send you out to die?"
"I know I might die, MacLeod," Amanda responds. "I just wanted to be with
you."
"Let me do this, I have a better chance," Duncan urges desperately.
"But not a better reason," Amanda replies. After a more quiet exchange, she
asks, "Do you really want to do something for me?" and then ensues a love
scene. [She only wants him for his body! I'm shocked. Shocked, I say. <g>
But this is a clear indication that there are things Amanda is prepared to
die for, people she cares about enough, causes that have enough emotional
resonance to her, that her own life seems less important. Our amoral,
thieving Amanda has a heart.]
Amanda wakes up the next morning to find Maurice in the barge, bringing her
breakfast in bed. Duncan has left, obviously to find Luther.
Mac goes to Luther's misty, cave-like hideout, and it's clear Luther had
been expecting Amanda, not Duncan. Luther is convinced that whoever has all
the crystals becomes invincible and when he learns Duncan doesn't have the
crystal with him, he disappears. Duncan arrives back at the barge, and
reports that he saw Luther. Amanda is angry when he insists that he was
trying to save her life. She doesn't want to be saved, she wants revenge.
FLASHBACK: Rebecca and Amanda are sparring on the battlements of Rebecca's
castle/chateau, and Amanda is feeling smug about her skills. Rebecca says
Amanda's lessons are over, and it is time she was on her own. Amanda is
distraught at the thought of leaving, saying they had been like sisters, but
Rebecca insists. In parting, Rebecca gives her a piece of crystal (there are
several others left), saying: "This is older than Immortals; older than time
itself. There are things in the world older and greater than us." She
importunes Amanda to keep it always, "and remember.s20 "
Back at the barge, Amanda is weeping in remembrance. Duncan gently wipes
away her tear, still trying to convince her to let him fight Luther, saying,
"You'll die." But Amanda reflects Duncan's earlier fatalism about everyone
dying, so he locks the crystal away again and says they'll talk about it
tomorrow. As they embrace we see a speculative look on Amanda's face. The
next morning, she creeps out at the crack of dawn (a rooster crowing in the
middle of Paris? Must be from Maurice's barge.). She steals the keys from
Duncan's pants pocket and opens the casket, taking the pouch with the
crystal in it as Duncan secretly watches, pretending to sleep.
[SIDEBAR: We have now seen Duncan match wits with a devious Amanda at least
twice just in this episode, once only minutes after they first met. My sense
is that Duncan loves the challenge Amanda represents, and gets a kick out of
outsmarting her, knowing there's always a serious possibility she could turn
the tables on him at any moment, as she did in Germany when she left him
'holding the bag' for a theft of jewels from some Baron she had seduced.]
Amanda finds Luther's two minions near the barge and confronts them. They
try to kidnap her, but she draws a sword on them to force them to call
Luther on their cellphone, arranging the meeting with Luther, saying, "And I
need you to do something else for me."
Next we see the minions sneaking onto the barge, obviously there to keep
MacLeod from following Amanda. But after a tussle in which Duncan takes both
of them out, coercing one of them to tell him that Luther and Amanda were
meeting at "someplace she picked", then checking to make sure one of them
can swim after he throws him in the river. (Whatta guy!)
Amanda is back at the ruins of Rebecca's castle/chateau, where Luther took
Rebecca's head. Luther is amused at Amanda's challenge, and he is clearly
the better fighter and in short order he has her on the ground. As he is
about to take her head, Duncan appears with the chrystal, having evidently
watched their fight, as he was sitting comfortably on a ruined stone wall.
[SIDEBAR: I think he was hoping that Amanda just might be able to take
Luther and wanted to give her that chance before he stepped in.]
Luther knocks Amanda out, and Luther and Duncan fight, both of them
discarding their coats, and definitely seeming to enjoy the battle, which is
harsh and brutal. They climb a hay bale, Duncan manages to disarm Luther and
send him to his knees.
"You'll never find the crystals!" cries Luther as Duncan is about to take
his head.
"I never wanted them," Duncan replies, and off goes Luther's head.
The clouds roll in, the sky darkens, and Duncan is thrown from the high
stack of bales to the ground. The Q seems particularly painful as fire rages
behind him, then goes out at the end of the Q.
Afterwards, Amanda is stalking away furiously as Duncan tries to keep up,
importuning her to be reasonable, that she was losing the fight. But Amanda
accuses him of sticking his nose in where he hadn't been asked, and he could
at least say he was sorry. An amusing conversation ensues between the two
irritated Immortals, with Amanda saying she couldn't trust him, and Duncan
reminding her that she had stolen the pouch from his chest, then set Luther'
s goons on him.
Finally, Duncan literally throws up his hands and sighs, and says, "Stop,"
and asks her to come to him. She hesitates and he rolls his eyes and says,
"Just do it." She hesitantly comes up and he gives her the crystal, saying
it will be something to remember Rebecca by.
"I just remembered something," Amanda says.
"What's that?" Duncan asks distrustfully.
"Why I like you so much," she purrs and puts her arms around him as he grins
and kisses her. As they continue to walk down the path, their tiff over,
Amanda gets a gleam in her eye and suggests they go take a peek at Luther's
place to find the rest of the crystals. Duncan rolls his eyes, repeating,
"No, no, no!" and the episode ends with Amanda trotting after him, trying to
convince him the crystals might be real and he either doesn't believe her or
doesn't care.
MY THOUGHTS: I've inserted a lot of comments into this one, but I have some
summary items. This is a very good episode, in which we really get to see
and know Amanda a lot better, get introduced to the great character of
Rebecca, and watch Duncan and Amanda interact, revealing the funny,
loving-but-edgy relationship they have had for so long.
Rebecca was luminously beautiful and had a powerful personality. Her great
age and wisdom was palpable, and I think that only someone so innately
intuitive and quietly domineering could have handled Amanda and turned her
from a completely amoral opportunist to someone who obviously enjoyed
thievery, but at least attempted not to do direct harm when she took her
pretty baubles. Her attraction to Duncan was immediate, and (IMO) purely
physical, but he charmed her with his perception and intelligence (which
seemed apparent even upon their first meeting), despite his lack of
sophistication. Over the years, he became her lodestone, someone she could
always rely on and trust, enough like Rebecca as far as his values went, to
feel safe and comfortable with, but also someone she felt she at least had a
fighting chance at manipulation to her own ends. And he was also a great
lay, I figure, and another pretty bauble to display, as well as someone who
would willingly chase away any bad guys she felt she couldn't easily handle.
Duncan, IMO, knew Amanda for what she was from the beginning, and found her
gorgeous, sexy, amusing and charming, if annoyingly amoral when it came to
possession of property. She made him laugh, and that is something he values.
She and Rebecca must have been a revelation for him, showing him that women
didn't always need or want his protection. It was a lesson he now knows
intellectually, and tries to act accordingly, but to this day has never
learned it in his heart.
The question arises whether Rebecca knew Methos. It seems possible, to me,
given their ages, and it was pointed out to me on another list that there is
this intriguing entry in Rebecca's chronicles on the Watcher dvd:
It was mid morning and Lady Rebecca still abed, entertaining the handsome
and mysterious gentleman who had arrived on the heels of Amanda's departure
from St. Anne's, when Amanda burst through the abbey gates, calling for her
teacher. Milady slipped on a robe and, covering her head against the rain,
went to her, much to the consternation of the gentleman, whose name I never
had occasion to learn but who I once chanced to hear cry out, in the heat of
man's passion I have no doubt, "Xanthia," which I know to be one of Lady
Rebecca's names in the ancient Chronicles. Lady Rebecca seemed most eager to
keep Amanda from the house, meeting her in the rain in her night things to
urge her to go off and fight her pursuer. When Amanda returned, glowing in
her first victory, only then did Lady Rebecca welcome her in with open arms,
her mysterious lover gone away as quickly as he had come. [signed] Melucine.
Now we have to ask, did Amanda know Methos? She certainly seems to, based on
the fact that she easily calls him Methos and in "Methuselah Stone" refers
to his actions as: "Scheming, devious - it's just like him."
How would she know that if she hadn't been acquainted with him for more than
just the period since MacLeod might have introduced them? The evidence is
not conclusive, but certainly the possibility exists.
MacGeorge
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Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 13:39:40 -0500
From: Wendy Tillis <immortals_incorporated@cox.net>
Subject: Re: Season Two dvds: Legacy
MacGeorge
>[SIDEBAR: While I like many things about this episode, this plot device
>bothered me. It made John seem like an arrogant nitwit ("I'm going to stay
>here and protect my millennia-old, sword-wielding wife even though she told
>me to leave."), and that isn't someone it seems to me Rebecca would have
>been in love with. When Luther is holding John and threatening him with a
>sword at his neck, John says, "Rebecca, please." That can be interpreted as
>either, "Please Save Me," or "Please Don't Give Your Life for Me." But he
>never speaks again, only closing his eyes in some strong emotion (Relief?
>Dismay? Grief? All of the above?) when she puts her sword down and says,
>"Goodbye, John." My interpretation is that John didn't want to die, and
>willingly let an ancient Immortal offer her life up for his. Phooey on him.
>He is intended (I think) to be a sympathetic character, but he sure as hell
>lost my sympathy. YM (and interpretation of the events) MV]
I've often wondered what we are we suppose to think about John.I suppose it was to much to hope that the episode commentary would shed some light on his character. I'd like to think that he thought that Rebecca would find some way out for both of them. OTOH, he may just have been stupid. Since he obviously knew what Rebecca was, why didn't he trust her when she said "go"? Alone, she had at least a 50-50 chance of surviving. Was this the first time he had actually seen Rebecca challenged? Did his need to be the big, strong, male protector kick in - for all the good it did? Or was he just too chicken-shit to do anything that might get himself killed?
OTOH, Rebecca didn't acquit herself too well here either. Now, I realize that the plot demanded that she die in order to bring Amanda into the picture, but ..did she have to die so stupidly? 3000 years old and she just kneels for the blow? She could have attacked Luther and taken a chance that she could rescue John before Luther could kill him. She could have lied and pretended to submit only to duck and roll and grab her sword and fight. She could have "fainted" and used the moment of surprise to engage Luther. If Luther was so dishonorable that he would use a mortal as a shield and a hostage, why would Rebecca assume that he would keep his promise not to kill John after she was dead?
On another point, why was Duncan so sure that he would get to the fight scene before Luther killed Amanda? Amanda didn't put up much of a fight..another 20 seconds and she would have been dead. Sure, Duncan could have then killed Luther, but that wouldn't have brought Amanda back. Or what if Luther had beheaded Amanda instead of knocking her out- what if he assumed he could recover from the Quickening fast enough to defend himself? It was an awfully big assumption on Duncan's part that Luther would not finish the fight just because Amanda didn't have the crystal on her. In the heat of battle, Luther could have killed her and *then* realized he was at Duncan's mercy.
Wendy(Wouldn't it have been nice to see Amanda actually win the fight and kill Luther?)
Immortals Inc.
immortals_incorporated@cox.net
"Weasels for Eternity"
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End of HIGHLA-L Digest - 21 Feb 2004 to 23 Feb 2004 (#2004-39)
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