0:19 Here we are, born to be kings, we're the Princes of the Universe! Yeah!
0:42-0:59 I am Immortal, I have inside me blood of kings. I have no rival, no man can be my equal! Take me to the future of you all!
1:00 Keith: Hey everybody! Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Highlander Rewatched Podcast! So, since this is our first episode, I figured I would just kind of talk a little bit about what this podcast is going to be. And the whole kind of scope of it.
1:17 The plan is we're going to watch every single episode of Highlander: The Series, from start to finish. There are six seasons. I think that's about 118 episodes or so. And yeah, we're just going to watch them, talk about them, whatever kind of comes to mind. And we'll get into some behind-the-scenes stuff, some trivia. Whatever!
1:35 And then we might, as we go forward, you know, maybe in between each series, or season, maybe we'll watch one of the movies and talk about that, and then there's the whole Highlander expanded universe.
1:46 Which is really fun, too. There's an anime, there's an animated series, too, there's a card game, there's all sorts of extra stuff to talk about.
1:56 We'd love to hear from everybody out there, so you're going to kind of shape what this podcast is as well, so you can write in to us. Make sure you like us on Twitter, follow us on er, excuse me. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, all that sort of stuff. Yeah, we're excited to see where this all goes.
2:13 So, introducing one of our Re-Watchers! Kyle, want to introduce yourself?
2:17 I'm Kyle. I got into Highlander, not when it originally aired, but later when it was on FX or Spike or whatever man-channel that was. And the thing that grabbed me about it is [that] the concept behind it is awesome even when the episodes are clunky, and it's got Queen and swords. So, really it's a good combination.
2:38 Keith: Cool!
Eamon: I'm Eamon. I got into Highlander... actually, my grandmother used to watch it, and I would watch it with her after school. **Keith: Ah!** I can't remember how old I was, pretty young, but it was cool. I mean, you know, you got guys in trench coats and swords, chopping each other's heads off and stuff, so that's a pretty solid concept alone, without even that they're Immortal and everything like that, so.
3:05 Keith: Awesome!
Kyle: Was your grandmother watching it for Adrian Paul?
3:08 Eamon: I think she was. I think she was. He does have a pretty... Fabio-quality to him, almost? There's definitely a romance novel quality to a lot of these episodes. Like, he's the pony-tailed guy in the open shirts and all that stuff, but--
3:23 Keith: Yeah, awesome. I got into Highlander, I think it was in fourth grade, and my mom... I don't know if it was my mom who started watching it first, but I remember it came on Saturday afternoons, on... here in the Philly area, where we're recording this, it was on UPN. I don't know where it aired--
**Eamon: Yeah!**
--in other parts of the country, but I remember watching it then, and being super into it.
3:45 I started collecting a bunch of Highlander merchandise. When I was younger I had long hair, and so, when Adr--Adrian Paul was [the hero, I thought] "Hey, he has long hair, too! That's cool! 3:56**Eamon: Oh yes!** I can wear a ponytail!" I bought--they had official Highlander hair berets 4:03**Eamon: That's amazing!* in the catalogue, that had Celtic symbols, and they were the ones from the show! And so I would wear them if I ever got dressed up and had to wear a suit--I put on my Highlander beret--But anyway, I love Highlander. I think the concept is super-awesome. I think--
4:18 Kyle: The beret? (laughing)
4:19 Keith: I don't know, what're they called?
Kyle: Like a hair-tie? Keith: Like a hair-tie!
**Eamon: A beret...**
4:22 Keith: Did I say my name? My name's Keith. I'm sorry.
4:26 But yeah, it's awesome. I think Highlander: The Series is the strongest representation of the concept...?
4:34 Kyle: Yeah, hands-down.
4:25 Eamon: Did you guys know... I didn't know it was a movie. I found out it was a movie years later.
4:38 Keith: I didn't know until maybe a little later. I think I heard it was a movie, and I feel like I might have even seen the second movie before I saw... the first one.
4:49 Kyle: Good God!
4:50 Keith: Yeah. Good God indeed! *amused* Yeah and we'll get into that down the road. But yeah, I think Highlander's great, I love--it's got a cool moral core. I think once the show--the show takes a while to find its place and also,
5:02 just to give some thoughts on what this podcast is going to be, we're probably going to rag on some of Highlander a little bit. 5:07**Kyle: Yes!** But as much as I love Highlander, there're all sorts of faults in the series, the movies, but at its core, I think it's the fucking best.
5:16 Eamon: It's from a place of love.
5:17 Keith: Yeah. Absolutely.
5:19 Kyle: But there's some hilarious shit!
5:21 Keith: Oh, absolutely! The show is totally finding its way, especially this first season, and so if you're joining us having never SEEN Highlander before, I still recommend seeing the first season. I wouldn't say skip it. But hang in there. This show gets markedly better.
5:36 I think especially in the second season, it really steps up its game. And I want to say, the third season might be my favorite. It's been a while since I've seen them.
5:45 Eamon: I'm getting excited to rewatch this, because... this is basically me watching it for the first time. It's been so long.
5:53 Keith: Okay, cool. So, did you see it any time since you've originally seen it or -
Eamon: No.
5:57 Keith: Awesome. Okay, cool. Yeah, I've seen it a couple of times since... I feel like, I don't know, I had it on DVD, that sort of thing, and I think I rewatched them. That was probably the last time I rewatched them all was when they all came out on DVD, which of course now is... almost...
**10 years, 10**
6:13 It's ten years ago? So it's been a while since I've actually seen them fresh. So anyway! Let's jump in! This episode's probably going to be a little bit longer than most of our other episodes, because we've got a lot to talk about in the first episode.
6:24 So this is Episode Number 1, Production Number, if you're following along, it's 92102-1. The only reason I say that is because depending on where you're watching this: If it's the DVDs; Hulu; Youtube I think has some episodes; the episodes are numbered a little differently. We're going off of the way it is on iTunes and the DVD sets. 6:47 and these should, I believe, correspond to the air dates? If you want, write in to tell us if these are NOT the correct air dates, but yeah, that's the order we're going to go in.
6:56 And this episode is called "The Gathering". It's the pilot episode. It was first aired on Saturday, October 3rd, 1992. It was directed by Thomas J. Wright, and so I have some fun facts, I think, about some of the people involved in this production. Thomas J. Wright, he's done tons of TV.
7:15 Lots of episodes of NCIS. He's done 36 episodes of that. **Oh Wow** Yeah, Castle, the X-Files, this guy's an industry pro! **Yeah!** Although, aside from all [of] his TV stuff, which I would say is pretty great, I mean, that's all quality network stuff, he is also the director of a little movie called "No Holds Barred"--
**NO WAY!** **Whaaaat?**
Yes! And if you haven't seen this movie, I don't know if it's still on Netflix for free, you can find it online. It stars Hulk Hogan, and **Kurt Fuller* - Kurt Fuller, and Tiny Lester. It's this crazy wrestling movie. That's a fantastic bad movie to watch. And he's the director of it! And this pilot was written by Dan Gordon. I think the pilot does a pretty good job. He's, again, another industry... kind of veteran, but he is... some of the highlights of his career, to kind of bookend them:
In 1993 he wrote the film "Surf Ninjas"--
6:10 **Oh, God!**
--with Rob Schneider- **Kyle: Is that also Hulk Hogan?**
Keith: Is Hulk Hogan also in Surf Ninjas? **Eamon: He's in a sequel. He's in like Thunder Mountain or whatever.** *Kyle? cackle* **No, no, that's 3 Ninjas!**
That's 3 Ninjas.[3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (1998)]
**Eamon: Surf Ninjas features Sega Game Gear very prominently. That's like a central plot element.** *much laughter*
Keith: But also in the other end of the spectrum, in 1999 he wrote the movie "The Hurricane", with Denzel Washington, whi-
**Kyle: WHAT?!**
-ch was up for Academy Awards and is a really solid movie.
**Eamon: Surf Ninjas to The Hurricane...**
Keith: -To The Hurricane. So, it's written by him. In this episode there are guest stars; we have Christopher Lambert, or Christophe Lambert, as Connor MacLeod, reprising his role from the movie, and Richard Moll from Night Court! Yeah, he was the bailiff, and is okay.
**Eamon: Richard Moll's great! He's also the voice of Two-Face on Batman, the Animated Series.**
Keith: He is! He has a crazy-big resume, too!
**Eamon: Yes. Phenomenal, phenomenal work.**
Keith: So, just to give you a quick description of the episode, we're going off of, I think, the IMDb episode descriptions.
9:14 "Duncan MacLeod is an immortal who has been out of the game for many years. Duncan and his girlfriend Tessa are targeted by Slan Quince, an evil immortal. Duncan is convinced by his friend and fellow immortal Connor MacLeod that he must return to the game to protect Tessa, and to keep from losing his head."
9:32 So, um let's start, I guess at the beginning of this episode. And we should maybe talk about the opening credits?
9:39 Kyle: Yeah, I think that's a good place to start. Because boy, is that intro dense. He dives right in there, reading VERY quickly, this opening sequence with all these terms of art in them, like "The Quickening", "The Gathering," all these things are mentioned, and I think if you... what would you think that meant, if you had never seen Highlander?
10:03 Keith: If I knew nothing--it doesn't give you too much info, really. About what's going on. I mean, I guess it tells you there's something.
10:12 Eamon: Also, while he's talking there're all these different words. There's the really long amble of the text of what he's saying, and then there's also words flying across the screen, 'Immortal', 'Quickening', 'Gathering' so it's just... as much information that can be dumped on you as possible, in thirty seconds, and when he's announcing it, it's like somebody was holding a gun to his head *laughter* "You have to get all this information out in thirty seconds, or I'm gonna kill you! And you ain't coming back, buddy! You're not really immor--" I don't know, it was...
10:45 Keith: Is it just me or does it seem like, when he reads it, there's only one Quickening, ever? There's 'The Time of the Gathering' where there will be one Quickening and it's over. That's what it sounds like he's saying.
10:57 Eamon: Yeah, it does. It is... yeah.
10:59 Kyle: It's the time of the Gathering, when this Quickening will happen. Done!
11:02 Eamon: I don't think this episode... As good as it is, *sigh* I don't think it does a good job of really setting you up with the whole Immortal thing, unless you're already sort of familiar with it. I don't know what you guys think.
10:14 Keith: Yeah, it puts a lot of the pieces there, but it doesn't explain them as well as... I guess maybe the rest of the series does. **Eamon: Yeah.** I think you've got those pieces as you go through the series more and more and it builds the world. But then it kicks in with the Queen song, after the spoken introduction, which is Princes of the Universe. **Ea: Great Song!** The song is awesome! It's so good! Yeah, and there's kind of a montage, very early 90s. The kind of typography, **Ea: Oh, sure.** it's all purple and green, it looks--text is flying around...
10:44 Eamon: It looks like a Levi's Jeans commercial. (cackles) And I think a lot of them are wearing jeans in the intro--
11:50 Ke: Oh yeah! Jeans are a big part of this show.
11:54 Eamon: The graphic design sense is very 90s, very... you put in a tape of something you taped when you were a kid, on VCR. It's that kind of style. All the commer--It looks like a commercial or something.
12:07 Keith: Yeah, it does. Something else that I thought was weird that I wrote down is that the Highlander font is not the same. If you're familiar with the series, Highlander the Series has its own logo, it's a fairly stylized, angular font, and it's cool. That doesn't exist yet, and it's just... rocks..?
12:27 Eamon: Yeah, it's just a weird, glowing rock-font.
12:30 Keith: Yeah, I don't know why they chose that, especially because Highlander: The Movie had a pretty stylized logo, I'm surprised they didn't use that. I don't know what they were trying to--Maybe they were trying to make it different?
12:39 Eamon: Probably.
12:41 Keith: And as far as making it different goes, a little behind-the-scenes stuff early on: So, originally this pilot was supposed to be a two-hour made-for-TV movie that led into the series. But there were two things that prevented that from happening. The budget got cut, **Mmhmm** surprise surprise, and then Christophe Lambert didn't really want to do it...
12:56 Eamon: Yeah, I want to talk about this, yes.
12:58 Keith: Yeah, he didn't want to do it, and then he finally kind of agreed in the 11th hour, "Okay, I'll do it," and he was only available for three days of shooting, and so they... it wasn't exactly what they planned on, initially, and also early ideas for this series were it was going to be a prequel. **Ahhhh!** And that Connor MacLeod was going to be the main character. And it was just going to be recast with a new actor, and Adrian Paul, I guess, convinced them to be... No, this should be a standalone character. So they decided to make him Duncan MacLeod.
13:31 Eamon: The decision not to do that introduces all these questions, though, right? Because not to spoil the movie, but... Connor WINS is the plot of the movie.
13:41 Ea: Right. Ky: Right. Ea: So, you're immediately left wondering where in time does this happen? Are we introducing a character that we know in the future is dead-- 13:51 Ky: Totally, right. Ea: --because Connor wins
13:53 Keith: Yeah the movie does paint itself into a corner, and I think the movie works on its own. I don't think they ever thought they'd be successful enough to make a sequel, really. So yeah, it kind of ends with the Game ending. And there's no room for a sequel. Ah, but then here's this--there's this series!
14:10 Also, another weird little bit of trivia is; the person originally considered mainly for this role was Alastair Duncan. [He] was going to be Connor MacLeod. I'm curious--I haven't found any sort of confirmation of this, but is that where they get the name Duncan MacLeod from? Was it that the actor who was going to play Connor MacLeod, his name was Duncan?
14:28 Eamon: I would not be surprised.
14:30 Keith: I would not be surprised, either. If they just kept, kind of like that name was floating around in their heads, and they said "Oh, yeah, okay!"
14:33 Eamon: Was Lambert... was he popular at this point? He seemed so reticent. He's like "Yeah, there should be a Highlander TV show. I will have nothing to do with it."
14:41 Keith: Yeah, he only wanted to do movies. I don't know, I mean
14:45 Ea: He was in a--
14:46 Kyle (laughing): I can't imagine the world was clamoring for this man.
14:50 Eamon: Well he's in a lot of action movies around this time period. I don't know if they were big.
14:54 Kyle: Mortal Kombat. **Yeah, Mortal Kombat.****That's true!**15:00Uh, Yeah! G'head.
Ea: I was going to say, should we get into this episode, or...
15:03 Keith: Yeah, let's dive right in! So the episode opens... *gasp***Ye-eh!** The episode opens with just... fucking. It is just... that's how it starts, is Duncan is in bed with his girlfriend, Tess, and they're just going to bones on -(much tittering like children)
15:18 Ea: They're giggling... but they're rocking back and forth, like... what they're doing is not like how anybody has ever had sex. **Yeah.** They're just like... it looks like he's just lifting her up and putting her down, in a weird rocking-horse type way? And they're giggling, and it's just the weirdest thing I've ever seen. I don't know how to describe it.
15:38 Keith: It is weird!
15:41 Ea: And it's all just intercut with Stan Kirsch--Richie--**Richie!**, trying to sneak into this antique shop--**Keith: Antique store! Right, um.**--and meanwhile it's just 'Oh, did they forget they're doing it? Let's cut back to them doing it.'
15:52 Keith: Yeah, it's any excuse, especially in the Highlander franchise, to show side-boob, or what-ever.
15:59 Ea: There's a lot of nudity in this scene. Not 'almost nudity', I mean there is nudity later in the episode, actual nudity, but--**Ke: Yeah, it's-16:05 there's not a lot of skin** Is this on TV? **Yeah!** How did they get away with it?
16:05 Ke: I don't know! I was curious... I know this show's also co-produced with a French production company which is why, as we find out later, half the episodes are filmed in France, and half were filmed here. I'm curious if the French cut is any different, and if there's even MORE hard-core sex! I can totally see that.
16:25 Ea: Yeah!
16:28 Ke: So Duncan gets a tingling. He gets a sense there's another Immortal around.
16:33 Kyle: He says 'I feel something.' **Keith laughs a lot**
16:36 Ke: 'I would hope so!' is what she says, Tessa, right? **Much giggling*
16:41 Eamon: I was watching this alone with just a dog next to me. I went and audibly groaned-- **Keith: Hahah!** and woke up the dog. It looked at me like, 'What are you doing?'
16:55 (faint sound of papers rustling) Ea: Meanwhile, while Richie is breaking into the-- so Richie is a thief, **Mmhm?** and he's breaking into an antique store, and he's constantly mugging, and making little comments, and making little jokes, and shining a flashlight around.
17:09 Keith: (slightly appalled note) He walks into the--when he gets into the antique store, he goes 'Everything must go' and he puts the little flashlight in his mouth like it's a ciGAR! *laughter*
17:19 Ea: He's doing his Groucho Marx impression.
17:22 Keith: So Duncan gets this sense and--you find out later that they get this feeling, this buzz, when they sense another Immortal's around. So Duncan thinks it's Richie, and he comes out with his sword out and he's wearing just his Levis, no shirt, and he's ready to murder Richie. But Richie's 'I don't know what you want, [but] your insurance will cover it! I'm out!' Turns out that Duncan wasn't sensing Richie, but he's sensing someone ELSE who comes crashing through the skylight!
17:53 Keith: Yeah, so... I've got questions about how this sense works. Because I guess it's just a proximity alarm? When an Immortal's nearby, it goes off. But it doesn't tell you how many, or why. Because shortly thereafter Connor shows up, and we don't know that he knows there's more than one... from jump.
18:14 Keith: So, there could be a hundred Immortals, and it's going to seemingly feel the same to him. I think that's what we're supposed to assume at this point.
18:23 Eamon: Yeah. It's never really spelled out, you know? The distance in which this sense kicks in or doesn't kick in is wildly inconsistent.
18:33: Keith: Oh yeah! Sometimes they're really far away. And other times they're... in the next room!
18:38: Eamon: Yeah. Walking around the corner and "Oh, there's an Immortal!" And other times it's... he's on the roof of the building! (Keith laughs) And was Slan just waiting there for them to come downstairs?
18:48 Keith: He **** is to make an entrance!
18:50 Eamon: That's true. He is very theatrical.
18:52: Keith: So, speaking of theatrical, this guy comes down, and this is played by... **Eamon: Richard Moll.** Richard Moll, and he's wearing a BDSM mask... *Kyle: It's a Mankind Mask.** Okay, yeah!
19:04 Eamon: Yeah, it's metal and-
19:06 Keith: And he's a super over-the-top villain. I guess trying to capture Clancy Brown's performance in the original Highlander, really theatrical, like he's kind of metal... and he immediately starts making comments about Tessa.
19:21 "I'm gonna come back for your woman, Highlander!" Because all the villains in Highlander: The Movie, the series, they are very rapey. They are all about--at least early on, they are coming for MacLeod's woman. It's very weird.
19:38 Eamon: Let me have--you have Connor MacLeod [who] makes an appearance, also, out of nowhere--
19:42 Keith: Yeah, for anyone who hasn't seen the movie; Connor is the star of the original Highlander movies.
19:53 Eamon?: Also, just the amount of information Slan has about MacLeod is kind of like raising an eyebrow. He's calling him Highlander. He's immediately... he came here looking FOR HIM. He knows--**Keith: Right.** I was expecting some kind of groundwork, like they had met before, but as we find out, no.
20:11 Keith: Yeah, I can't find any sort of reason why Slan wants to kill MacLeod, other than the fact that that's the Game, and you just have to kill each other, and he's selected Duncan as his next--
20:21 Eamon: Well and why is Connor on to Slan?
20:24 Keith: Yeah, Connor seems to be hunting Slan. "He's mine!"
20:27 Eamon: Well just he's evil, and if he wins the Game, then Connor says it'll be bad for all humanity.
20:34 Keith: Yeah, they do establish another rule, here. So, when Connor shows up and introduces himself as Connor MacLeod, he utters the line--what is it... "I'm Connor MacLeod. Same clan, different vintage," which is GREAT! Because they're kind of related, from the same clan. But then they point out, since there're two MacLeods and only one Slan, that there's no two-on-one. That's a rule--**20:58 Kyle: Yeah.**--in this Game. That's interesting.
21:00 Kyle: So, two things. One: They both feel the need to mention their clan-names? **Mmhm.** In the middle of this thing? (incredulous) Why?! Like, Conn--Duncan hasn't been part of this clan for four-hundred years.
21:14 Eamon: Right! He was exiled as soon as... I mean, unless something happens later--
21:20 Kyle: Right. He still introduces himself to people--he's also just not in Scotland anymore! He introduces it like it's supposed to mean something to the people he's saying it to. And it's probably something like "I'm from the Clan MacLeod," and they're "Huh."
21:35 Eamon: We're going to have to track this. In this episode it makes it seem like it's a thing all Immortals do, because when Slan jumps into the room, he says (gruff) "I'm Slan Quince!" and it's like that's an Immortal thing. You have to introduce yourself.
Keith: Yeah, it's very theatrical.
21:54 Kyle: In this concept that it's a kind of a duel, that's why there can't be these two-on-ones. It almost makes sense that there're these rules on how you engage people? I could see that--I don't know that they flesh it out, but that could be a thing that makes sense. No, you have to have these weird magic fights, and you have to introduce yourself, and then you have to have this honorable one-on-one throwdown. But... there are no two-on-ones. But apparently there's no rule that after your friend fights somebody and wounds them, 22:29 and undoubtedly makes it much harder for them, for you to just jump in and fight them two seconds later.**That's true.** You're not fighting them at the same time, but it seems equally unfair! (laughter)
22:40 Keith: True! So, Connor shows up, and Slan decides he's just going to bale on the situation. So he leaves--first, Richie [says] "I don't know whatever D&D thing you're doing here, but I'm out." He climbs out the window. **Eamon: Yup!** THEN-then Slan [says] "I'll be back for you, MacLeod!" HE climbs out the window.**He jumps out the window.** Yeah, he jumps out the window. And then Connor's "I'm gonna go get him!" and he j--everyone--no one uses the door, everyone's out the window!
23:08 Eamon: Yep three windows are broken at minimum in under nine minutes in the beginning of this episode.
23:16 Keith: So, at some point, Richie gets picked up by the police and taken into custody because I guess he has jewelry from the antique store in his pocket, and Duncan shows up at the police station to identify him, but he doesn't want to make--er--doesn't want to press charges. 23:29 So, I was wondering while we were watching this, what is he doing there? Why did he even show up, if he's not pressing charges. So he goes into the interrogation room 'cuz he wants to talk to Richie, and he's gonna let him off the hook as long as he doesn't tell anybody what he saw? **Right.** Not that anybody's believing him anyway, but he's "You didn't see anyone with swords, or anything like that."
23:47 Kyle?: That's a good point. Is he going just because he's worried that people will reveal his secret? That he's an Immortal?
23:53 Keith: I guess so.
23:54 Kyle: I think that's what we were supposed to think. Not that he's an Immortal, 'cuz Richie doesn't know that at this point, just that he's engaged in whatever this shadow-
23:59 Keith: This weird thing is--
24:00 Kyle: This sword fight-club is.
24:07 Eamon: I guess he just doesn't want the cops digging into his personal **Right!** Immortal affairs.
24:11 Keith: So he meets Detective Powell there, who becomes a re-occurring character, in the first season, at least. And he talks about Richie, "He needs to serve some time in Juvie, because next year he's going to prison, and they're going to pass him around for dessert!" And I was again, it's again kind of rapey! Really rapey!
24:31 Eamon: Kind of rapey. Also, we're expected to believe that Richie is seventeen years old. *giggles in background* Which is... he does NOT look seventeen.
24:39 Kyle: Not even close.
24:40 Eamon: He doesn't even ACT seventeen, either, and **Keith: No!** he's portrayed to be a kid, and they call him "the boy" forty-thousand times in this whole episode *laughter* Who are they talking about? Oh, Richie. *more laughter*
24:55 Keith: So Richie gets let go, and Duncan's responsible for that. Then our next scene, we're back in Duncan's antique store. More nudity. Tessa's in the shower, there's butts and boobs,
25:04 Eamon: Yeah, she's in the shower, there's nipple! *sounds mildly shocked*
25:08 Keith: Oh yeah. This is network television.
25:10 Kyle: I couldn't believe that, when I saw it. **Keith: Right!** And I was like good rating? I don't know.
25:17 Keith: If anyone out there knows if this was the real version when it was aired, or if this is the DVD version.
25:22 Kyle: I'm going to go ahead and say no. Because remember how much people flipped out when they said "shit" on NYPD Blue? This would not have—I don't think this flew.
25:33 Eamon: Well they had all those sexy TV shows in the nineties, like Silk Stalkings, and stuff like that. Or it was... it was a cop show, but it was also kind of sexy. Or something. **Yeah.** I don't know if this falls into that category... or something. **25:44 Keith: Maybe.** Or what, I don't know.
25:46 Keith: The show definitely bridges a lot of cool genres, which I think is one appeal to the show. Men, women, different ages, liked this show. It's part romance novel, part action-adventure, it's a little historical, it's fantasy... I think it does a pretty good job of toeing the line of all those different genres... 26:07 Also, one thing in the next scene I notice that runs through the next couple episodes is Adrian Paul as Duncan is wearing hair extensions?! Did anyone notice that? **26:15 Kyle: I didn't notice that.** Very clearly he has **Kyle: His pony-tail?** His pony tail is not real. **Huh!** Which makes me think it's—So that means that was written into the character. Before this started, they [decided] "He needs to have a pony tail." And, I mean I was young when this show came out in 1992, so I wasn't watching this when it first came on. 26:34 But were pony tails that cool? Because they almost seemed like they NEVER were, and I HAD one. *much laughter*
26:41 But they were like "Duncan needs a pony tail."
26:43 Eamon: I think they were cool at some point. **26:45 Keith: I guess so.**
26:49 Kyle: Well I think that feeds into the romance novel portion of it. That's clearly what they're tapping into. Because also, he's allergic to shirts *amused* in this pilot! *laughter* **Oh yeah!** Immortals can't wear one for an extended period of time or they'll break out, or something, I don't know!
27:00 Keith: Yeah, Adrian Paul is very different than Connor MacLeod from the movies. Connor is very—he looks like he's from a noir movie, kind of...
27:06 Kyle?: Yeah, he's really schluffy. **Schluffy, exactly!** He's wearing white tennis sneakers pullover sweaters and jeans, and *much snickering* **Constantly!** And he's raspy, and a little bit...
27:17 Keith: He's [got] a five o'clock shadow.
27:19 Kyle: Kind of rascally, and a little bit threatening.
27:22 Keith: Yeah. Where Duncan is the opposite. He's broad shoulders, he's—I remember my mom always called him a beefcake. And he is! He's tall, dark, handsome, muscles, yeah. **Yeah.** A very different sort of character. But I think [it] works. 27:38 So, him and Tess have this whole discussion, they start to kind of get—they start unpacking, kind of what it is to be Immortal, and we can kind of listen to a little bit of their conversation about what it all means. And I think this is kind of the core of the Highlander franchise? This kind of idea?
27:57 Tessa: From now on, every year you'll look at me, and see someone who looks older, and older than you, while you stay the same. And it'll just be a matter of time... until you want-- D: No I won't! –T: someone else. D: NO! T: Or maybe I will.
28:14 Keith: That's great. I love that little exchange. Also, Queen is playing in the background. "Who wants to live forever," which is one of the more memorable songs from—
28:21 Kyle: They loop that song. That's a pretty long scene, that whole scene, and that song is playing in the background for seven minutes. *giggles* 28:31 Kyle: Also, they fuck eight times in this episode.
28:34 Keith: Yeah, they are constantly pawing at each other like **Yep!** they're all over the place.
28:41 Kyle: I guess we learn somehow, and I think at some point it's revealed that he's with Tess for twelve years? **28:46 Keith: Yeah, I think so.** Is what they said, and how has this not come up before? Because he says he's out of the Game, but it's been twelve years since someone else knocked on his door? Because she doesn't even know that there IS a Game, or that Immortals kill each other. **Right.** She just thinks he's an old magic man.
29:07 Keith: Yeah, I think in the early episodes they don't... it's not like the Immortal-of-the-week sort of thing like it becomes a little later. I think they try to make it like this is a rare occurrence, there's not that many... I think that as the series goes they find their groove and "Oh, we'll have more Immortals and it'll be more fun." 29:22 So, Slan at this point is still stalking Duncan, and Connor is outside of the, is kind of stalking Slan, I guess, in response. **Yeah.** There's one scene where Slan is outside in his car, sees Connor notice him, blows him kisses in the mirror, **Yup!** Gives a "surf's up" sign out the window—29:42 Eamon?: And says "Ciao, baby" 29:43 – and says "Ciao, baby!" **Yeah!** *giggles* It's awesome!
29:45 Kyle: Also, Slan is stalking somebody. They know he's stalking them. His--He's driving this huge vintage car. He's dressed like a biker-metal dude, in a big coat, he has metal gloves. You're the most conspicuous person, EVER. And you're stalking these people who have no idea you're around.
30:09 Keith: At this point he's stalking Tess who--isn't she wearing a Turok the Dinosaur Hunter vest?
Eamon: She's wearing some weird Michael Jackson slash Turok Civil War coat-thing. I don't know what it is. Also, Slan has a—a soccer ball on his keychain? **oh yeah!** Did you see that? That was funny, to me.
30:30 Keith: As the pilot, this episode kind of jumps around a little bit, so the next scene is Duncan and Connor just kind of sparring in a dirt warehouse? It's a warehouse just full of dirt.
30:42 Eamon: This whole thing is weird. Connor shows up, and they talk to Duncan, and then it cuts to them sparring, but they're wearing different clothes? **Yeah, and then...** Which, this was in... this was definitely an editing kind of thing, because there are two scenes where they fight in this warehouse, **20:58 Right! They just cut back!** In between they change, but then they cut back to that and they're in the same clothes again. **Right.** All that footage came from one day, when clearly all that was supposed to have happened.
31:09 Kyle?: That confused me and I thought it was weird.
31:11 Keith: It is weird. But they spar, and it's fun, because Connor's wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, Duncan is wearing like a... pirate shirt or something?
31:20 Eamon?: He looks like Jerry Seinfeld! He has the puffy shirt on, and he's fighting, and there's no dirt on him, I mean I like their relationship; they kind of have a fun --
31:29 Keith: They do!
31:31 Eamon: --friendly, they're always smiling at each other, and making jokes *Keith laughs*
31:37 Kyle: But then they're also just randomly dicks to each other? **yup** Inexplicably. I don't quite know what's going on, but every once in a while, their conversation gets kind of stilted and hostile-sounding. **Yeah, definitely.**
31:48 Kyle: They have a conversation later. *beat* As Connor says. *laughter*I did my best Connor impression.
31:54 Keith: So, Duncan explains at some point [to] Tess the rules of the Game, which at this point "There can be only one" is the prime rule. That of all these Immortals, there can only be one left. And she's "Well what do they get?" They get the Prize, and she [asks] "What is it?" and Duncan says "The last Immortal will rule the planet forever." **Mmhm.** And... I feel like that's a little nebulous, too, in the series. They drop what the Prize really is, I think it's an unknown Prize, at some point, which I think is a little more fun. No one knows why they're fighting, they just have to do it.
32:26 Eamon: It casts a weird negative light on all of them, if they're fighting for control of the planet? **Yeah.** That seems malevolent or weird. **Kyle: --by nature.** 32:37 Keith: They're all going to be dictators-- Either a good dictator or an evil dictator. **Kyle: I don't want Connor to be my president!
32:42 Eamon: The guy can't--The guy's been an Immortal for how long? And he still can't even lie well, that he's an Immortal. *laughter* He says to Tessa, "Oh, we're... from the same... neighborhood..." Just, "Dude, work on this!" *laughter*
33:02 Keith: So actually, we did one of the hallmarks of the series is a flashback, one of many.
33:07 Kyle: Which is what makes this show, to an extent. **Keith: I love the flashbacks!** It opens so many options, storytelling-wise, and I think often that's the line between great episodes, and other episodes. It's how well they use the infinite past to their advantage when shooting the episode.
33:28 Keith: There's all sorts of character development they can have. So they flash back to 1872, they're with the Lakota Indians, and there's been a massacre and Duncan--again, one of the quintessential themes of the Highlander franchise is the love and loss thing. He lives forever, but all the people he cares about die. He gives a pretty heart-breaking speech to Connor, who I guess is visiting him at this Indian **camp!** Kyle: --who is kind of dressed like a pilgrim; it's like his outfit--33:57 Keith: Connor looks even more like shit. He looks awful. Connor in the present time, he's wearing sweatshirts, white tennis shoes, and a frumpy jacket. In this other one, he might as well be just wearing mud! His hair's all fucked up, **Eamon?: He's wearing a big hat--** He's just covered in dirt! He looks like what's his name from Peanuts! **Oh, Pigpen!** Pigpen! 34:23 He's Pigpen! *much giggling*
34:26 Keith: So, why don't we take a listen to this amazing little monologue in the flashback.
34:33 Duncan:*choked out words* She knew the names of all the grasses, **Oh boy.****laughter** the wildflowers, the songs that told where her people came from. **Keith: Duncan is holding his dead love in his arms.** How they lived, what they believed in! **Eamon: And Connor's kind of **consoling** comforting him, sort of. 34:59 Mostly just looking at him.** C: I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
35:04 And that's it. I guess we get an idea of--Duncan's lost loves before. **Eamon: He was dating Pocahontas. **Yeah! 35:10 It took me a while, in the leadup to this flashback, to figure out that he was supposed to be with Native Americans. Just in terms of what they were showing, "What IS this?"
35:20 Keith?: Yeah it kind of just jumps right into it. Kyle: It was confusing. Yeah. His garb, I guess, just seeing it again, looks more Native American to me, but not being primed for it... **Ky: Yeah.* It was like "Wait! Where is he and why?!"
35:35 Keith: Yeah, I've actually spoken to some people that have not... aren't familiar with the Highlander series, and have just caught an episode here or there, and some people are like "Does he time-travel or something? Is that what the show's about? **Yeah.** Because if you're not really sure what's going on, you might think he's time-traveling? I don't know. I don't get that impression, but I guess I'm familiar with it.
35:53 Eamon: Yeah, I think if you're already familiar with it, it's not confusing. But I feel like there's a lot of room for people to kind of not really know what's going on here quite yet.
36:04 Kyle: Yeah, and it's kind of hard to take yourself out of six seasons and five movies worth of knowledge of this stuff, but... yeesh. Uh, what are we--what is his accent in that, by the way?
36:20: Keith: It's kind of Scottish still, right?
36:22 Kyle: --ISH still, is he overcome with emotions, or is that a conscious choice, that "I'm with natives, I speak different, now!"
36:29 Keith: Maybe! I give Adrian Paul some credit. He does kind of switch his accent up as they do flashbacks.**sure!** I think he's still trying to find his footing in this season, "Where my character's supposed to be, developmentally," because he also even plays the character, which I think is fun, when he's younger, when he's only a hundred years old, he's like a juvenile. He's more of a party animal. He's really brash. And then up until present day, where he's kind of a stoic hard-ass, I think. 36:57 Also in the first season I think he's much more than he is, he's a little more fun in some of the other seasons. I think they try to--they paint him too rigid. But anyway, Duncan comes home after fighting with Connor, I guess, sparring, and he thinks Tessa's in her studio, working. Tessa's a sculptor. **Right.** And it turns out it's not her, 37:19 it's SLAN, and he's got her tied up!
37:23 Kyle: And he's preparing to rearrange her face with some kind of saw!
37:26 Keith: Yeah, he's got a saw and he's just gonna cut her up!
37:29 Kyle: Which is very dark! *staggered laugh*
37:31 Keith: Yeah, it's VERY dark, and Richard Moll plays it great, I think, it's again super-theatrical, and we should listen to a little clip of him kind of chewing up the scenery! *Oh boy.***laughter**
37:43 Slan: You know what some wags call me? Slan the Cat, because I like to play with my victims first.
37:51 Keith/Kyle: What?! Kyle: Some wangs or some wanks? Keith/Eamon: I think it's WAGS. Eamon: Like W-A-G.(((wag - a witty amusing person who makes jokes))) I don't know what--Keith: I tried to look it up, I don't know what that--
38:01 Eamon: I just have "wags??" here, and I'm "What's a wag?"
38:04 Keith: Yeah.
38:06 Kyle: I like this unknown "wag" word more than "some wangs"! **Eamon: Some wangs call me Slan the Cat.**
38:12 Keith: So, Duncan and him have it out again. I guess Slan has the disadvantage, so he flees once again.
38:18 Kyle: *indignant* No he does not! *laughter* I was very puzzled by this, right? Because, so, I'm just saying, he has the saw and is going to cut up her face, and you know Duncan, the clever fox that he is, CUTS the cord on the saw! First off, it's clearly still spinning very fast, *laughter* He can still cut her up! And then, he has a massive two-handed sword, which he then also is able to threaten her with! And does! So it's--your advantage has not changed AT ALL! And the thing he does, right before fleeing, is throw Duncan to the ground! So you still have a hostage, and your enemy is on the ground, yeah you're right. It's a great time to run. What did he come here for? Or is he just there to play?
39:05 Keith: I think he playing with his--because he's the Cat!
39:07 Eamon: Yeah. He's playing. **Meow!** *laughter*
39:11 Keith: So, when he does flee, I don't know if anyone caught this, he says "Ta-ta for now, kid!" *snorts* TTFN, which is the same thing Tigger says in Winnie the Pooh! **Wow!**
39:25 I don't understand his lingo!
39:29 Eamon: Slan's just a wacky guy, y'know?
39:31 Keith: I guess he's SO wacky.*Kyle laughs*
39:33 Eamon: Also, he's vain. He likes to look at himself, and--
39:35 Keith: Yeah, we find that out later. He's looking at himself in a mirror, and we find out that's why he has this mask, is that he doesn't want to mess up, I think he says his most valuable asset?! *Yeah.* Which I--WHAT? He's played by Richard Moll, who looks like--no offense, Richard, like a caveman! He's a giant seven foot dude. He's super-b--he's square-jawed, **39:56 Eamon: He's like an Easter Island head.** Yeah! **He's just, you know.** But it's like, I guess they had that idea, and then maybe for a different character? And then cast Richard as it but didn't change it? I can understand if the villain was maybe a womanizing, good-looking guy that was--this is--
40:11 Eamon: Maybe he's just delusional? Maybe they're going for a delusion?
40:17 Keith: Maybe. But also this brings up another weird question. **Kyle: Lots of questions!** Um, because as Immortals, they can't die, and they heal, but he has to protect his FACE, because they can get scars...? I guess....
40:30 Kyle: Yeah, so I can understand wanting to wear some kind of armor on, I don't know, ALL of your body, since you're sword-fighting--*lots of laughter* **Keith: That's a great point.**
40:42 Kyle:--but that being said, they've been sword-fighting for four-hundred years. If he actually needs to protect his face for beauty-related reasons, does that mean all their hands and arms should just be covered in scars because you're having hundreds of years worth of sword fights? **41:02 Eamon: That's a great point.**
41:03 Keith: I guess so. And I think this is maybe something that's left over from the movie. **Kyle: Right!** The movie mythology. The series I think has its kind of own mythology, apart from the movies. Serious, it's in the movies. Yeah, I guess the main--the villain--Clancy Brown, in the original, he gets his neck cut, and holds it together with safety pins? Which is awesome, because he's this punk-rocker-- **Oh yes!** --sort of dude, and it's this cool visual, but it's oh, I guess you can... maybe it's [that] your head can get damaged? I don't know. It's never really explained in the movie.
41:36 It doesn't even really need to be, because it's just kind of a fun, visual thing. **Sure.** But I think maybe that's left over from the movie.
41:43 Kyle: So you need a Mankind mask to protect yourself!
41:45 Keith: I guess so! So anyway, then we get another flashback. Duncan, it turns out, is building a cabin. It turns out it's on Holy Ground. We find out another rule of the Game. Which is Immortals can't hurt each other on Holy Ground, or Sacred Ground. So he builds this cabin on an old Indian burial ground or something, he gets permission from the tribe's elders, or whatever, to do it.
42:09 Eamon: Here's what I don't get about that. Are they physically incapable of doing it, or are they just no allowed to?
42:20 Keith: Well, that's the question about ALL these rules, right? Who's going to enforce, if Connor and Duncan jumped Slan and took him down in the first scene? It doesn't seem like there's Immortal police who's going to come in and solve this, so--
42:35 Kyle: I always got the impression they physically couldn't. Like something is driving them to fight each other, the same way something is driving them to not hurt each other--
42:42 Eamon: Because some of the characters obviously have no code of honor, or ethics, so are you telling me Slan wouldn't kill someone on Holy Ground if he had an opportunity?
42:51 Keith: That's a good point!
42:53 Eamon: He breaks every other rule. I feel like he just... they can't, for some reason, or, I don't know. I don't know.
43:01 Keith: That makes sense.
43:03 Kyle: That's fair if Duncan and Connor's jam has always been finding and killing people they describe as evil. It's got to be, somehow, cosmically enforced. **Yeah.****Sure.**
43:15 Keith: Speaking of other, weird questions, we shouldn't go down this rabbit hole too much. *laughter* And again, the "no fighting on Holy Ground" works great as a plot device. It's somewhere they can talk. It's that sort of thing. People can be out of the Game. It works for what the show needs it to do. But I guess the big question is: What decides what's Holy Ground? Like if they were in the Parthe--some sort of Greek temple, **right!** Does that count as Ho--at what point in time counts as Holy Ground? Can they go to the Church of Scientology and not fight? **Oooh!** Can they go to any sort of multiple-belief system, like what counts and when?
43:54 Eamon: I think they all count.
43:58 Keith: They seem like they would, yeah.
43:56 Kyle: Yeah. Because he's building it on Native American Holy Ground. So some hierarchical organized religion isn't required. **Right!** Though we see churches obviously count. So I'm going to say yes, Scientology, probably..?
44:13 Keith: Yeah! Probably.
43:14 Kyle: Yeah but then it's, not to get too into this, *soft giggles* If they're on Holy Ground, does it just automatically work? Or do they have to KNOW it's Holy Ground? **Oh, yeah!** What if they wander in somewhere, and it IS Holy Ground, but they don't know? Can they fight?
44:31 Kyle: Yeah, because there were just some runes, or inscriptions in some trees in the background, where he's building the cabin. That's easy to miss **sure!** Slan just might not be paying attention, when he's looking for your head. 44:41 Keith: Yeah, uh... So, back to the present. Connor and Duncan are sparring AGAIN. They've just re-edited this footage to kind of pad the episode a little bit, and Richie is spying on them. He's intrigued by this whole thing.
44:54 Kyle: He's a;fjsda;f and watching them training, and he does this nod, where he's going **Oh yeah!** He's a total creep about it, too! He looks like he's getting a mildly erotic thrill! **Eamon?: Oh definitely, definitely. He's like "Yes, please!"
44:11 Keith: While they're out, it turns out that Slan calls Tess, threatens to rape her, again, **Yup.** and challenges Duncan to a duel to the death. "Meet me at the bridge, we're going to fucking have it out." **Eamon: And is he just calling on the phone?** He just calls her on the phone! **Yeah.** So, just real casual. So, when Duncan gets home, him and Connor find out about this, they have a really great bro-talk!
45:34 I should have pulled the clip, but they're just--
45:36 Eamon: And the fight, it's like a bro-talk slash argument.
45:39 Keith: Yeah, they're talking about ladies. "You have all the best women, and most of the fun." **45:45 Kyle: It's the other way around!** Whatever.
45:47 "All the fun and most of the good women!" *together*
45:48 Keith: "Lately!" *laughter* That's really--it's funny and weird all at the same time.
45:53 Eamon?: It almost seems like it's improvised, or something?
45:58 **Something about the--****It's awkward, KYLE: Something about the pacing of the conversation... is wrong. *laughter* It feels like there's an extra beat between every response, where like if you didn't see them in the same shot, you would almost think that the conversation was filmed in two separate rooms, and they cut it together. **Yeah.** It's very strange.
46:16 Eamon: I do like them playing off of each other. **Yeah!** I think Lambert is really good in this episode. Especially working with the material he's being given, he's--
46:30 Keith: Yeah, he's totally fun. They have, he's the mentor, Duncan's the student that doesn't know any better, yeah it works really well!
46:37 Kyle: I don't know. His performance in this I just find very puzzling, often? And maybe it's this rascally character, because so many of his lines just end with him smiling and going "Hahah!"
46:51 Keith: The Christophe Lambert laugh-- **Kyle: Yeah!** --is amazing! "Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh!" This weird, weird creepy man-laugh. *laughter*
47:00 Kyle: I don't know what that is, but get used to hearing it, because he uses it all the time! And then just... something about him just feels alien to me. He seems like... his performance to me feels like he came from another planet, and he *wild laughter* *snix* --he thinks this is how humans act. *laughter* I don't know, I guess I'm alone on this one, but--
47:31 Eamon voice-under: There's definitely something strange.
47:30 Keith: He is a striking--I don't necessarily think he's the greatest actor ever, but he has an odd screen presence that--
47:38 Eamon: Yeah, I think that might be what I'm attracted to.
47:40 Keith: --is charismatic in some way.
47:43 Eamon: Like he's playing more of a character, where I feel like... they do a good job, but I feel like Tess and Duncan are a little... I don't know. I don't know what it is. Can't put my finger on it.
47:55 Kyle: Well he's definitely working hard. Lambert's definitely putting in some effort-- **sure!** and that definitely shows, so hats off!
48:04 Eamon: It's also interesting that the three of the maybe five... there are basically five characters in this episode. Three of them either have an accent, or English isn't their first language, *laughter* So it's pretty interesting.
48:19 Keith: Yeah, and if you're not familiar with the Highlander franchise, Christophe Lambert is French, playing a Scotsman. **yup!**
48:30 Kyle: Which produces a very strange accent.
48:31 Keith: A very strange accent!
48:33 Eamon: Do you think he's trying to do a Scottish accent?
48:35 Keith: I don't know. I don't know what he's doing.
48:36 Kyle: I don't think so... **That's a good answer.** I don't think he thinks his character should have a Scottish accent anymore. **Sure.****Yeah.** I think he's... I think he's using the fact that he already has an accent to his advantage, to build kind of a weird Frankenstein accent. Because he's from "lots of places" **"Lots of different places!"** *snickers*
49:58 Keith: So, Connor ends up punching out Duncan--
49:02 Kyle: With a weird left hook that instantly knocks Duncan out! **Eamon: Yeah! For hours!** If this is all it takes, he should definitely not go fight Slan. Definitely.
49:11 Keith: So, he gets knocked out because Connor wants to fight Slan. We still don't really know the reason for any of this drama [but] he doesn't want Duncan to find him, he's going to go and do it. So he hops in his car to go meet Slan on the bridge. Richie has been spying on this whole thing, he hops in the trunk of the car, **Yup!** and Connor does not notice. Richie is on the outside of the car. Connor gets in, then Richie hops in the trunk, closes the lid, **Yup!** Connor has no idea what's happening--
49:37 Eamon: So was the trunk just... open?
49:39 Keith: I don't know! *laughter*
49:43 Kyle: We've already established that Richie has some thief-skills. **Sure, sure, sure.** He could have rigged it so he could pop it open; I don't know. **That's true.** Burglars out there can let us know. **Eamon;afjs;afdjd;skfjsa**
49:50 Keith: So, they arrive on the bridge, and I guess then we have the big showdown with Slan and Connor. And they start kicking each other's a--or Connor's kicking Slan's ass, he ends up slicing--he stabs him through his mask, in the eyehole?
50:06 Eamon: Yeah, that's confusing. But he gets his face--
50:08 Keith: He gets his face, so it looks like Slan's going to lose, and then Slan has a projectile-thing built in the bottom of his sword, so he shoots--
50:19 Eamon: It's like a dart, or something.
50:20 Kyle: It's like a ballistic-knife, somehow!
50:22 Keith: And he SHOOTS Connor! **Eamon: It's pretty cool.** It IS pretty cool. **Yeah.**
50:25 Kyle: It's neat, *laughter* it opened a lot of questions for me, though. Which is... okay, this flies. He's allowed to have this dart-gun in his sword. Can't he just have a gun-gun, then? *laughter* Because it--once you've opened a certain door, there, **Sure.** when this weapon is allowed.
50:49 Keith: Yeah, what weapons are allowed?
50:50 Kyle: Because guns are also more convenient and will cause a lot less questions. It's like "Oh, why do you have a Claymore?" *laughter*
50:58 Eamon: Yeah. Well, I guess that's the whole trench coat thing too. They all wear trench coats to hide their swords. Which I literally just put together. *much laughter* It's like, I don't know, trench coats are cool! The Matrix blahblahblah. But, yeah.
50:10 Kyle: Getting there before The Matrix. You need a trench coat to hide all your swords!
50:16 Keith: So, Connor gets stabbed and instead of getting beheaded, he throws himself over the bridge **Yup!"** and there's an amazing just dummy, *laughter* this floppy dummy, just crashes into the water. But luckily, Duncan shows up, and he's **Kyle: Right on time!** right on time, and now he's going to take Slan on. As you said, Kyle, it's kind of a little unfair, **Yeah!** because Slan just got--
51:38 Kyle?: He was injured. He was in a pretty tough fight. **Ke: Yeah!** That's why he's been swinging around a two-handed sword for a couple of minutes, he's got to be kind of tired! That can't be easy!
51:49: Keith: So yeah, they end up going at it, and Richie is also poised on the side of the bridge. **Watching.** He's watching this whole thing play out.
51:57 Kyle: And before we get too far away: what'd you guys think of the fighting, just in general in this? We talked briefly about the warehouse fight. This is the... and then this, are the two main sources of action in the episode.
52:09 Keith: The warehouse fight is better, I think, than the bridge fights, or any of the fights with Richard Moll.
52:17 Eamon: I don't think Richard Moll really... I mean, he has to wield around this probably really heavy, big sword. Richard Moll I don't know... if he was trained too much?
52:27 Keith: Yeah, I don't know how much they rehearsed all this stuff. **Yeah.** They speed up some of the footage, for at least his fights with Duncan, which just looks a little clunky, **Yeah.** The sword fighting in the show gets really good at some point, depending on who the guest stars are, if they're pretty physical, there's some really great sword-fighting.
53:42 Eamon: Connor and Duncan are good. **Yeah!** I think they're pretty good.
53:46 Kyle: That's a good scene. Just in terms of what you were saying about their relationship, I actually think it comes through MOST in this mostly physical scene. **Sure.** The way they're interacting is great, when they pick him up off the dirt pile, and you know, all that stuff. I think it's solid.
53:02 Keith: Yeah, it's totally fun. Also, as far as the sword-play goes, I want to say that the Sword Master on the show was Bob Anderson... I think that's his name. And he's the stunt coordinator or Swords Master on the Star Wars films. The original ones. **Oh wow!** And he was, I think, Darth Vader's stunt double, or stand-in, for the sword fights. **That's amazing.** I want to say years ago I read some quote or heard some quote from him that he said Adrian Paul was the best swordsman he had ever worked with. Having no training, to learn all of this stuff....
53:32 Kyle: He's good at doing all the MOVES. A lot of the guys have to do sword-moves. And sometimes--**Keith: "Sword-moves!"** they'll do a slash, or something, or they'll spin the blade. He does it probably the best. A lot of them-- **Yeah, he makes it look cool!** --their moves don't really work too well. **Yeah.** But he's good.
53:52: Keith: Yeah! So, they have it out, Duncan injures Slan, and then cuts his head off. And I wanted to pause here, just for a second. So this is the way, in the Highlander f--this is how Immortals die. They get their--they have to be beheaded to die. This is a show on Saturday afternoons that I watched as a CHILD that features beheadings **Yup!*laughter*** on a WEEKLY basis! It even mentions it in the opening title, **Its central plot-point, yeah!** "With the fall of a sword, the beheading of a person!" That's how this works. Does this show fly on TV, today? When we can also turn on CNN and watch ISIS behead somebody? For real?
54:38 Kyle: Yeah. Totally. This would completely fly. Yeah.
54:42 asdkjf;lkfj;lkdjfsa; Keith: It's really **--grounds that it's shocking.** It IS, watching it again they don't--it's not gory or anything, **No.** Usually they try to obfuscate the body behind something so you just see the body fall. **Well I think this--** But they are cutting people's heads off, all the time!
54:02 Eamon: Blood doesn't come out--the white energy comes out of their "neck-hole" *laughter* we're going to call it, but--
55:06 Kyle: That doesn't happen when YOU get injured? *laughs*
55:09 Eamon: No! Well sometimes, blood afsdafj;sfd;alkj
55:12 Keith: This is another hallmark of this series is that this is what's called the Quickening. After the Immortal's beheaded, the winning Immortal gains that person's power. It's never really clear what that power is. Power, knowledge--
55:27 Eamon: Yeah, do they get memories?
55:29 Keith: I don't know. They don't really get into it too much. At some point they get into it a little more, but it's never really specific, and I guess that's kind of okay. But it is--
22:36 Eamon: Do you get Slan's PIN number if you get lj;lj;lkj;lkj
55:41 Keith: There's just lightning everywhere, it is very sexual. *Kyle laughs* I don't know how else to describe it. There's lots of groaning, **MmhmM** shaking; I don't know how else to describe what is going on other than a weird cartoon orgasm. **Eamon: It's a climax.**
56:03 Eamon: Also, everything explodes when the Quickening happens. I didn't notice--they show Slan's car explode. Does Duncan's car explode--or Connor's car? Does Connor's car explode?
56:14 Keith: I didn't notice.
56:15 Kyle: *amused* That would be really inconvenient.
56:19 Eamon: Yeah. If you win, does your car get to not explode? Is that part of it? **Yeah!***laughter*
56:24 Kyle: So do they mention the word Quickening anywhere but in the opening credits in this episode?
56:28 Keith: Never. Ever ever ever. I don't think they ever say you get the Quickening.
56:32 Kyle: Because that just again makes the opening credits introduction to this very--
56:34 Keith: Like: "What is all this terminology?" **Ky: Yeah.****Ea: Yeah.**
56:38. So, after Duncan gets all this power, he wins the fight, the body's just there on the bridge. He notices Richie's spying on him and gives him a look, and then he just throws himself off the bridge. *laughter* I again don't know why. Richie saw him, so it's not like he's hiding from Richie. I guess you could just drive away, unless he's thinking "I'll follow the path Connor went. I'll float downstream to find him."
56:59 Eamon: I guess maybe that's the most direct route.
57:02 Keith: I guess! So again, floppy dummy just hitting the water. It's awesome. He ends up meeting up with Connor. I guess he rescues Connor on the side of the shore, whatever, and Connor [says] "You have to take care of the boy," and Duncan [says] "Yeah, I'll look after him." Anyway, so then they go to meet back up with Tess, who I guess at this point has decided she wants to leave Duncan? Because it's dangerous or--**Well Duncan--** Or Duncan wants to leave HER?
57:27 Eamon: Duncan wants to leave her, and Connor goes back to Tess for some reason, maybe because he wants them to be happy. I don't really know why Connor goes back...? **Ke: Oh yeah!**
57:37 Kyle: He was supposed to tell her that Duncan was leaving. *Oh, right.** That he was alive but he's leaving.
57:44 Keith: He's done, yeah. But instead he tells her where he thinks he is, which is back at the old cabin that he built on Holy Ground. **Right, in the flashback, yeah.** So Connor brings Tess there, and I guess it's a happy ending.
57:55 Eamon: Yeah, it's happy. He leaves so that they can bump uglies for the fourteenth time on this episode and he goes to the canoe. So, are they stranded on that island, because he's taking the canoe?
58:05 Keith: *laughs* He's taking the canoe! Well, I guess Duncan got there somehow. **Eamon: Duncan has to get there somehow.** So I guess there is a way out. And that's the episode.
58:16 Keith: So what do we, as a pilot, would you watch this series after--if you just saw the pilot, would you be like "I'm going to keep going." 58:24 Eamon: I feel like that's a hard question to answer. If you weren't already a Highlander fan, I don't know if you would want to keep watching this or not. I thought it was pretty good.
58:38 Kyle: I think I would have given this... this would have been on a short leash. I'd watch another one, but I don't think I'd be hooked, after this. I'd be "Well, okay." But it's cool, one thing that's in it is that Duncan and the concept do jump out as cool. They're ill-defined, but I'm kind of into the protagonist, even though he definitely hasn't quite found exactly his footing and his voice yet. But he's cool. The katanas are cool. *laughter***Oh yeah!** I'll give this a little bit longer and see what happens. **Ea: Yeah. Sure.**
59:13 Keith: Yeah. I feel like--I think the pilot does a pretty good job of putting the set pieces there. They try to explain what the Game is, or Immortals, it gets a lot of stuff that pilots need to do out of the way. And pilots are always kind of clunky, **Yeah.** because they need to do pilot stuff. I think I would give this show a chance. **Like this one?** Like this one, yeah. It does have that cool factor. I think I would be in it just--I want to know more about guys that have sword fights NOW. **Yeah!** Like present-day people with swords is cool! **It is.** So yeah, I think this episode is okay. In the scope of the whole series, it's not one of the best. But of course this show really gets a lot better, I think, as it grows.
1:00:00 Kyle: I think we're going to be saying that a lot about the first season! Like "This is okay, but--" 100:03 Keith: Yeah, stick with us, we all--everyone at this table LOVES Highlander, I think, but it's not without its faults, and this first season is a little at a loss for finding its footing, and what it needs to say and do. So, yeah. Thanks I guess for listening to this episode! **Yeah!** This was fun, I don't know. **Kyle: Yeah, absolutely! I hope you had fun!** Yeah, See ya!
100:29 Keith: Make sure you guys follow us on Twitter. Highlander Rewatched. Our handle is @TheRewatchers on Twitter. Facebook, just look us up and like us. Highlander Rewatched. Make sure you rate us on iTunes, that really helps with our rating. Tell your friends about us, if they're into Highlander or if you want to get a friend into Highlander. This is a great way to watch the show with them. And if you want to contribute and be part of the discussion, we're probably going to read a lot of fanmail, reader mail, that sort of thing. Either write to us on Facebook, leave us comments. You can e-mail us at highlanderrewatched@gmail.com. Eamon, do you want to plug some art?
1:01:08 Eamon: Oh, sure! If you want to look me up, I'm on Twitter @EamonBDoc and on Instagram as eamonbdoc.
1:01:14 Kyle: And what do you do, Eamon?
1:01:15 Eamon: Oh, I'm a cartoonist, comic book artist, and all-around fun guy.
1:01:20 Keith: So do you think there's going to be some Highlander art in the near future?
1:01:23 Eamon: Yeah, look for that. I'll have some stuff in the works.
1:01:27 Keith: Awesome! Alright, yeah! And we'll see everybody next week for another exciting chronicle in the Highlander: The Series saga! Thanks!