HIGHLA-L Digest - 3 Jan 2005 to 13 Jan 2005 (#2005-2)
Automatic digest processor (LISTSERV@lists.psu.edu)
Thu, 13 Jan 2005 22:00:14 -0500
There are 2 messages totalling 366 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Season Five dvds: The Modern Prometheus
2. Season Five dvds: TPM Chronicle Entries
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 18:17:12 -0500
From: kageorge <kageorge@erols.com>
Subject: Season Five dvds: The Modern Prometheus
Episode commentary w/screen captures available at:
http://www.wordsmiths.net/MacGeorge/episodes/Season5/TPM.htm
Episode writer James Thorpe says the idea for TMP came out of sheer
desperation. He rooted around for several days trying to come up with an
idea for the third episode of the season, but finally gave up and turned
on the TV. What he ended up watching was the original “Frankenstein”
movie, where the monster was being brought to life by electricity.
Thorpe had the idea that Mary Shelley’s witnessing a Quickening was the
inspiration for her writing the “Frankenstein” novel.
JT says Byron was a pretty wild guy in his day, that he would “do guys,
he’d do girls, he’d do sheep,” and that he thought AP did a great job
directing the episode because he really “got” the material and brought a
spectacular visual look to the episode – a little gothic, and little
rock and roll. Thorpe also says that Peter W is an easy actor to write
for, that he understands the material and his character and you can give
his character levels of expression that not all actors are capable of
finding, and Peter found a “beautiful patina of pathos” for Methos that
really worked for the episode. Thorpe asks what you can justify great
art being worth. It is worth taking a human life? When he wrote the
debauched, rock-star Byron of the present, he extrapolated from the
earlier scenes because he had been pushing those margins all that time,
and would therefore be pushing it further and further to and over the
edge because that was the only thing left for him.
AP wanted the Quickening that Mary Shelley witnesses to look like the
electricity was animating the body, ultimately levitating it off the
ground. He also says he wanted to show the reality of Lord Byron and
what it would have been like if he had been an Immortal, and that a lot
of Byron’s poetry was meaningful to the episode, and was incorporated
into it.
AP considered the present day look to be that of a rock and roll video,
and that the present day Byron was washed out, skinny, empty, whereas in
the past he still looked full of life, and that he shot the flashback
scenes as though they were filming a play, or a fairytale. He says that
he feels Byron was lost, and he was grabbing on anywhere he saw talent
because he got no joy from his own gifts anymore. AP says MacLeod had no
choice other than to fight Byron because Byron was going to go on
killing, and that Methos has to understand that. The poetry they recite
during the final fight was from a bullfight, and that was the image he
tried to incorporate into it. The Quickening was very much like a rock
video, and the last scene he wanted to be very simple, to just fade away
because there was nothing more to say.
AP really enjoyed filming the carriage race like an old time car chase.
He was pleased with the look of it and the light (which they almost lost
because the shooting went late). AP says that in the flashbacks, Byron
was “pushing the envelope” of tasting life. Taking Mary Shelley in the
bedroom was really about sexual tension between Methos and Byron. The
question was how far each character would go in taking advantage of
someone who is helpless. Byron would go as far as possible, but Methos
wouldn’t, which is where you see that Methos does have a conscience.
Composer Roger Bellon wanted to tie the past and the present together
musically, so he chose Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, with an overplay of
a rock guitar and heavy rhythm. For the carriage race, he used a
different movement of the same sonata.
PW says there were some nice, decadent, quite risqué moments in the
episode. It was a lot about taste and texture and experiencing things
deeply and “being kinda crazy about stuff.” In the bedroom scene, there
was an element of Methos taking care of Mary Shelley, but when Byron
comes in, Methos is tempted and “hanging on by a thread” because he
really is intrigued by the idea of a threesome, but there comes a point
where it just doesn’t feel right. PW says he got the sense that the
connection Methos felt in the past was brought into the present, that
he’s attached to Byron, and defends him. “He has a love of him.”
OUTTAKES: Gillian says that Michelle Moto was originally in the first
scene, but the aired version cut all his lines. We see the original
version, where they talk about Mike’s playing a lot more, and Maurice
says that Mike has “passion”, which is both a gift and a curse.
They also show a few lines cut from Duncan and Methos’ “walk and talk”,
where Methos says he knew Duncan and Byron wouldn’t hit it off. “Matter
and anti-matter. Put them in the same place… kaboom.” Those lines help
explain Methos’ comment in the final scene.
THE EPISODE: The prelude is the scene of a wild rock concert, with the
crowd screaming “Byron! Byron!” The star is escorted through an adoring,
pushing crowd, and one guy gets Byron’s attention who had sent him a
song recording that Byron had thought was good. Byron invites the guy
(Jerry) into the limo and takes him to a warehouse, up into the rafters,
urging him to ignore his fears of the height. “This is to be mortal, and
to seek the things beyond mortality!” Byron urges. The guy really only
wants to talk about the music, but Byron tells him that they will work
on the music after they jump. “All you need to do is soar like an
eagle,” and that, “if you’re not living, you’re dying!” They are both
drunk, and when Byron jumps, so does Jerry. Byron is immortal, and gets
up. “That was a very good try!” Byron advises Jerry, who is,
unfortunately, dead. Byron laughs, picks up his cane and leaves.
Duncan, Joe and Methos are at Maurice’s nightclub listening to a very
talented young guitar player, Mike Pantolini, when a new Immortal
arrives. Methos grins, pleased and surprised to see his former student,
now rock star, Byron. Byron calls Methos “Doc”, and when Methos
introduces him to Duncan, there is an instant, palpable tension between
Byron and MacLeod. Byron is impressed with Mike’s guitar playing, and
Mike is thrilled to meet the famous Byron.
In a flashback to Switzerland in 1816, “Doc” Adams is carousing with the
famous and adored poet Lord Byron, who lives a life of ease and pleasure
with his mistress and his guests, Percy Shelley and his wife Mary
(although the Watcher chronicles say she is his mistress and soon-to-be
wife). Another Immortal, Hans Kirschner (played by F. Braun McAsh), is
after Byron for cuckolding him and there is an exciting carriage chase
sequence, where Kirschner ends up overturned by the side of the road.
All the guests are caught up in Byron’s intensity as they share drugs
and sex and poetry. At the urging of Percy Shelley, Mary drinks laudanum
“to stimulate your imagination, my dear.” It makes her sick and she
passes out. Methos carries her to a bedroom, where she has nightmares
and visions of her dead daughter. Methos comforts her as she tells him
she wonders who is more unhappy, “those who die or those who live.”
Byron joins them on the bed, lasciviously touching an unconscious Mary,
suggesting that he and Methos take her together, to “push the bounds of
our passion to heaven itself.” Byron reaches for a reluctant “Doc”,
telling him that all that matters is “the three of us here in this
room.” He takes Methos’ hand and presses it against Mary’s breast,
urging him to feel her, to “taste what life has to offer us.” Methos
strokes Mary’s flesh, obviously strongly tempted, but ultimately pulls
away, and drags Byron away with him.
At the nightclub, Joe offers Mike an opportunity to open the act with
them the next day, but Byron steps in, interrupting and inviting Mike to
jam with him, telling him it’s “now or never, Mikey.” Mike goes with
Byron as Duncan expresses his opinion that Byron is an “arrogant son of
a bitch”, and Methos replies that “a lot of geniuses are,” but that
Byron could make Mike’s career with one phone call.
Unfortunately, Byron runs the same scam on Mike that he ran on Jerry, as
two drunk hangers-on urge them to jump from a high scaffolding. Mike
slips and almost falls. Byron catches him, telling him, “Now you’re
alive! Now we play!” Back in Byron’s hotel suite, Mike plays brilliantly
while Byron and the girls drink, take drugs and have sex. Byron invites
him to come to his studio to record and offers Mike drugs. When Mike
declines the drugs, Byron suddenly turns cold and rescinds the
invitation to record. Mike hesitates, the girls urge him to stay, Byron
offers him the drugs again, and reluctantly, Mike takes them.
The next day, Mike shows up late for a practice session with the band.
Duncan and Methos look on as Mike messes up badly and it becomes obvious
that Mike is strung out. Mike leaves in a huff and Duncan is furious,
but Methos just comments that “to make great music, you have to
experience life,” and that “sometimes the man is not as strong as the
music.” Duncan and Methos go to see Byron, who offers them cocaine,
talking about how he needs the drugs, how boring Immortality is, “and
when you look in the mirror, all you see is the abomination that you are.”
In a flashback to more Byronic debauchery (including a goat in the
foyer), Mary Shelley expresses her sense of inadequacy in such daunting
literary company. Byron and Methos feel another Immortal approach and
they go outside to meet Kirschner. Methos urges Byron not to fight, that
he’s not ready for it, then begs Kirschner to let Byron go. “Think who
you would kill! Would you be Lord Byron’s murderer?”
Mary gets there in time to observe Kirschner stabbing Byron, then Byron
stabbing Kirschner and taking his head. Byron falls and dies before the
Quickening begins, which sends stabs of electricity through Byron’s
body, ultimately lifting him in the air. When Byron stirs, Mary is
shocked that he had died, and now lives. “How can he live while my flesh
and blood turns to dust?” she demands, but Methos tells her that Byron
is not “governed by the rules of mortal flesh,” and that he is like
Byron – Immortal - and asks her to tell no one. “Poor tormented
creature,” she observes as Byron struggles to his feet. “The sad hero of
a never ending story, resurrected by lightening to eternal life, and
eternal loneliness.”
In the present, Byron spouts a quote from “Frankenstein”, saying they
are all monsters, but at least the drugs give them the illusion of life.
Duncan angrily warns Byron to leave Mike alone. Methos just shares an
opaque look with Byron and follows Duncan out, trying to explain that
Byron is a genius who feels empty. But Duncan says he knows what it’s
like to feel empty, and that’s no excuse for Byron’s behavior. Methos
asks, “How do you think like that, write like that, and not be a little
larger than life?” insisting that Byron is a great artist who has given
the world great poetry.
“But at what price?” MacLeod asks grimly.
Then we see Byron standing on top of a building, holding onto a
lightning rod, daring it to hit him as Mike looks on. Byron derides Mike
for running from life and challenges Mike to meet life head-on to grab
life and “squeeze it until it screams for mercy!” Mike says he’s ready
but Byron dismisses him, saying if he wants to play in the big time, he
has to be a “big boy,” and tells him to go home.
Mike finds Joe and Duncan outside Maurice’s club, angry that Duncan had
interfered, saying he wasn’t going to be stuck playing in little clubs
the rest of his life, like Joe. Duncan tries to tell him that Byron
doesn’t care about him, and Joe still wants him to play with them that
night, but Mike just pulls away, insisting that Byron is his only shot
at what he really wants to do.
Back at Byron’s hotel, Byron is in a drunken, drug-fueled rage when Mike
shows up, declaring his independence from anyone’s influences. Byron
says they should celebrate and offers him a plethora of drugs, telling
him to, “Name your poison.” When Mike hesitates, Byron chooses for him,
pulling out a hypodermic with a hard smile, saying in warning, “Now
Mike, you’re not going to let me down again.”
At the club, Joe tells Duncan that Mike never showed up to play,
berating himself that that Mike wouldn’t have been in this spot if it
hadn’t been for Joe. Duncan is upset both at Mike and because Joe is
beating himself up, and he marches off to find Mike. He arrives at
Byron’s hotel room to find it empty except for Mike who is dead from a
drug overdose. He furiously smashes a bottle of red wine against Byron’s
portrait of Frankenstein, and goes to find Byron at his concert venue.
Methos, however, is already there, telling Byron to leave town, that
MacLeod was on his way. Byron dismissively says he’s got a show to do.
“It used to be more than a show,” Methos says. “There was a time when
you were reaching for the heavens!”
“There is no heaven! It’s just an illusion for fools and innocents. I
have no hope, no dreams, no poetry left. All I feel is this raging
hunger, and all I hear is the voice screaming my failure. You know what
I’ve become.” Then he tells “Doc” that “you’re the guy in the audience
and I’m the guy on the flying trapeze. Who do you think is having more
fun?” Byron leaves to go play his concert, and Methos intercepts Duncan
backstage, saying that Byron didn’t force Mike to do anything.
Duncan says that’s a “load of crap” that Mike was dead because of Byron,
but Methos insists that, “Mike was dead because of Mike.” Duncan argues
that Byron might not have pulled the trigger but he might as well have
put a gun in Mike’s hand because Mike idolized Byron. “To live like me
you have to be like me? Come on, Methos! Mike wasn’t Immortal!”
“Which is not Byron’s fault!” Methos replies, which just makes Duncan
give him an ‘I don’t believe you just said that’ look. Methos pleads
with him, insisting that Byron could still create great music, great poetry.
“And what about Mike?” Duncan asks. “What music could he have made?”
Grimly, Methos finally steps aside.
Byron seems pleased to see Duncan and they go to a big storage area,
where Duncan quickly disarms Byron from his second blade, saying it made
them even. “No,” says Byron, pulling a pistol and shooting Duncan in the
foot. “Now we’re even.” Byron yells poetry as they fight, and we see the
crowd screaming for him in the concert as Duncan limps from his wounded
foot, but ultimately Duncan traps Byron’s sword arm, finishing the poem
for Byron, then takes his head. The Quickening lifts Duncan off the
floor (even before the lightning begins) and we get a montage of Byron’s
life and the screaming audience, accompanied by a rock song.
As Joe plays a few blues riffs in Maurice’s empty bar, Methos gets
himself a bottle and sits, waiting. Duncan arrives and gets his own
glass. “Matter and anti-matter,” Methos sighs sadly. “Byron knew that,
too. His life had become one long tragedy.”
“We all know how those end,” Duncan replies as he pours himself a drink.
Byron’s voice is heard, saying, “My task is done. My song has ceased. My
theme has died into an echo. It is fit.”
MY COMMENTS: The first time I watched this episode, I wasn’t at all sure
I liked it. I didn’t like Byron, I didn’t care for Duncan’s rigid
moralistic attitude, I didn’t like Methos for defending Byron’s uncaring
attitude and destructive actions, and I didn’t much care for Mike.
However, the more times I have watched this episode, the more I have
come to admire it and over time, it has come to represent a lot of what
was best about Highlander, not only in its visual richness, but in the
complexity of its ideas, themes and characters. No clear villains here,
no obvious heroes, but a serious consideration of the value of
greatness, of art, of life itself. How many fantasy/adventure episodic
television series would dare tackle such a subject with such unflinching
courage?
Byron was beautifully played with a manic energy that pulled you in and
it was fascinating to observe Methos’ attraction to him, to the energy
both of his talent and of his desperate need to constantly push the
boundaries of human experience. The sexual tension between Methos and
Byron was a surprising and daring element, and just to observe the
pattern of Methos’ history of attaching himself to larger-than-life
people was a major piece added to the puzzle of Methos’ character.
We also see Methos’ attraction to Mary Shelley, who is eerily similar to
Alexa – soft-spoken, somewhat shy and ethereal, but with a hidden core
of strength. That seems at odds, to me, with the vital, almost explosive
nature of the male companions Methos seeks out, and I find that fascinating.
Was Duncan right to put an end to Byron’s life of debauchery and his
pattern of knowingly leading mortals to their deaths? Based on his code
of Immortal conduct, he would say he was. After all, he warned Byron .
Duncan would also say that Byron’s talent doesn’t make his life
inherently more valuable than a mortal’s, whereas Methos would, and that
is at the heart of the conflict in the episode. The world was a lesser
place for Byron’s death, but then, it was a lesser place for Mike’s death.
Was Mike’s death Byron’s doing, or his own? Byron literally put the
hypodermic in Mike’s hand with the threat that if he didn’t take it,
Byron would throw him out. Of course, Mike also wouldn’t know how much
of a dose might kill him. Mike could have said no, but a) he didn’t
think he would die; and b) he was manipulated into thinking that the
price for saying no was the ire and rejection of someone who had the
power to make or break his music career. We also know that Byron has a
pattern of deliberately leading talented musicians to their death.
There is no neat conclusion here, no winner. Byron had been on a path of
self-destruction for a long time, and actually seemed pleased to end it
in such a poetically apt fashion. In many ways this episode isn’t easy
to watch, but it is well worth the effort.
MacGeorge
All episode commentaries are available at:
http://www.wordsmiths.net/MacGeorge/episodes/indexframeset.htm
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 18:17:26 -0500
From: kageorge <kageorge@erols.com>
Subject: Season Five dvds: TPM Chronicle Entries
Notable Chronicle Entries:
To: J_Dawson@field.us.watcher.org
From: A_Zoll@research.weu.watcher.org
On 04/20/97 Joe Dawson wrote:
>>Tough to believe, but I swear it’s true – Methos and Ben Adams,
>>one and the same. And when you think about it…
You’re right hard to believe, maybe harder than Adam Pierson being
Methos. I mean, I knew Adam, we played poker together. He’s nothing like
Dr. Adams is portrayed in the Chronicles. The doctor was a coward whose
own talents could only shine in the orbit of a charismatic partner. He
had a fondness for shy and helpless women. He abused laudanum and
alcohol and he had a cutting and sardonic sense of humor. He was devious
and… okay, Joe, I’m seeing your point. <G>. Is it safe to assume
BenjaminAdams cheated at cards, too? First the Remus Chronicle and now
this one – I’m looking at Watcher of the Year here if I can pull them
all together into the Methos Chronicle. Assuming I don’t have a nervous
breakdown first!
Dr. Amy
1816, Villa Diodati, Switzerland, Chronicle of George Gordon Noel Byron:
Lord Byron and his Teacher, the Doctor, grown tired of the laudanum and
debauchery, embarked instead on creating tales of horror and the
fantastic with their guests, the poet Shelley and his mistress Mary
Godwin. Miss Claremont was present as well, although it was no secret
Byron took as much pleasure in Miss Godwin, the Doctor, or the goats he
kept as pets, as in the woman he called his lover. Before the stories
could begin, Kershner, an Immortal, came to challenge his lordship for
seducing his wife. It was Byron’s first challenge and the Doctor was
quite concerned for his well-being, but Byron took the challenge with
great pleasure. Kershner was defeated and as the lightening and eerie
mists of the Quickening joined the raging storm, I realized Miss Godwin
was there, witnessing all in the company of the Doctor. In the following
days, Miss Godwin and the Doctor spent much time together out of sight
of Shelley.
------------------------------
End of HIGHLA-L Digest - 3 Jan 2005 to 13 Jan 2005 (#2005-2)
************************************************************