highlander tv question

[wangsizhong]

i was watching a newer episode of the highlander but maccleod (sp?) wasn't on it. there was a new immortal. i have seen the maccleod acter on other shows recently. i figured him leaving would have ended the show, but i guess not. how did they write maccleod and richie out of the story?

Wang Si Zhong

[Radhnoti]

Highlander is out of production. I have all 6 seasons on tape. :rolleyes: :D
There was a "Raven" show, with Amanda (McLeod's major love interest) for a season. And near the end of the series Adrian Paul directed quite a few, and had himself either completely written out or with brief appearances. These were one shot type episodes with the immortal usually having some distant connection to McLeod.
With just a little more detail I could probably tell you where that particular episode lays in the overall "mythology".
Highlander was easily my favorite show, ever. :(

[wangsizhong]

okay, it was this british immortal who didn't like joe interfering (thought the watchers should stay out of it) but when a guy took a shot at joe from an SUV, he took the bullet for him, then drove him away in a different SUV.
it not being mcleod, i didnt watch much more than that.

today's episode was mcleod fighting an indian guy who thought he was vashti. sparred with bo staffs at the dojo before leaving together. later mcleod had to take him out at a laser light show (leave it to the highlander to find creative backgrounds to fight in, like a video game almost)

Wang Si Zhong

[Radhnoti]

The British immortal you're talkin' about is probably Methos, introduced near the end of the third season in an episode titled "Methos" (appropriately, eh?). He's a regular in the series...a VERY cool character. He's the oldest known living immortal, a total survivor who's mainly out for himself but has befriended McLeod. He was around when the Watchers were first founded and joined to keep track of where other immortals were living, so he could live elsewhere. ;)
Richie...well, if you haven't seen an episode explaining where he is yet, I'll not ruin it for you. Unless you REALLY, REALLY want me to.... :)
Take care.

[wangsizhong]

yeah, that was the methos episode. that explains some things
now for richie, why not. unless someone else objects, i say bring it on. i only catch the show occasionally and flip around when i do watch it. my guess is that mcleod took him out to take his power, then used the power to take out some super powerful guy. at least thats how i would have written him out.

i keep seeing the one with that guy who loves trains and has mental disabilities. i remember thinking the raven series was a little edgier than the regular series. is that true? haven't seen raven episodes in a long while.

Wang Si Zhong

[Radhnoti]

Ok. First, I'll spout off about what I sort of disliked in the series. I hated it when they dragged in MORE magical/supernatural elements to the show. It works well, in my opinion, when you only have to suspend disbelief about a few well established supernatural things that occur in every episode. For some reason the writers would incorporate OTHER supernatural phenomenon from time to time, including; ghosts, mind-control via hypnotic voice, witch/wicca powers of illusion, angels and (very relevant for Richie) demons.
WARNING: SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE END OF SEASON FIVE AND/OR THE START OF SEASON SIX!
The last few episodes of the fifth season and the opener of the sixth had McLeod as "The chosen one" who had to fight Zoaster(sp?) an ancient demon that can destroy the world. The demon had assumed Richie's form to taunt and semi-duel McLeod. Richie showed up (as he tends to) to help, walked around a corner and BAM! Mac nailed him. Mid-swing McLeod knew it was Rich, but he couldn't stop. It was the season finale and it had Mac leaving the world behind (also his sword). The sixth season REALLY seemed to become a vehicle for Adrian Paul's personal beliefs and nonviolent philosophies which he (as I understand it) credits his martial training for developing. Season opener reviews the demon showing up and Richie dying and Mac leaving, then shows a temple in (I think) Tibet with the words, "One year later" shown across the bottom. Mac is doing what appears to me to be some sort of internal-style form/kata. He ends knealing at an altar, and with flashes of his time with Rich he cuts his hair off. He says something along the lines of, "Now I'm ready Zoaster, I'm coming for you." And the sixth season kicks off. Mac talks about his year-long spiritual preparation in passing to Joe, and he refuses to reclaim his sword. (Really...what good would it do with a demon who has nearly limitless power anyway, but oh well.) Turns out that the only way to defeat this demon is for McLeod to conquer his own violent nature and feelings, it's strength flows from chaos, strife and hate. The showdown has McLeod refusing to fight and acknowledging the evil in himself, which sends the demon packing.
It was mid-season before McLeod reclaimed his sword, he fought some opponents empty handed and at least one with a stick. :)

Raven...I didn't really like that show. Amanda worked well as a contrast to McLeod's honorable nature. As a lead she had to be semi-honorable/noble which wasn't what her character was about at all. I only caught one or two shows and disliked them.

I've seen Adrian Paul on one show since Highlander (think it's called "Tracker"?), he's a peaceful alien with fighting abilities and a few powers. Looks ok...but Highlander was kind of special to me. The show helped insprire me to study martial arts.

[Silumkid]

I used to follow this show for a while, but fell out of it. So I guess I'm not a "true" fan, but I seem to recall there was a website that had a "Highlander timeline". I remember it saying that Duncan ends up being killed and this is supposed to occur before any of the time periods in the movies. But, didn't Duncan make an appearnance in one of the films? I only bothered with the first 2 Highlander movies and I thought 2 was so bad I couldn't force myself to see the others. :o

[Radhnoti]

I think that timeline was trying to interconnect the movies and the TV shows a while back.
***WARNING, SPOILER FOR HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME!!***
In the last film Duncan kills Connor...who was supposed to have won the blasted thing by the end of the first film. (Who knew it was going to be an international phenomenon eh?) The TV show got around the whole "Connor won it" question by saying that he became a sort of elder immortal with greater power when he killed the Kurgan. In one episode Joe the watcher even says something like, "Your kinsman Connor really did the world a favor when he killed the Kurgan." Now, I'm assuming that they just want everyone to forget the last two minutes of the film when Connor is talking about what "The Prize" is like.
Highlander 2 and up until Endgame...I just pretend that they never happened. SO...if you want to understand how the remaining Highlanders play out, just forget about the last few minutes of the first film and all the films following, until Endgame. :rolleyes: ;)
Two really was horrible, the directors and producers say it's because they ran out of time and their insurance company panicked. The insurance company came in and TOOK the movie from them, just sort of wrapped it up as best they could, and put it in the theaters. Not a big fan of the third film either...they just did their best to remake the original film with a few more special effects. (Again, just my opinion.)
I'm a fan, mostly, of the first film and the TV show...which is not to say that they haven't contradicted themselves on occasion, but overall it was a great show that often had something important to say or show.