Highlander - up to 2x15 (Unholy Alliance)

[sholio]

I suppose eventually I'll get tired of nattering about the episodes as I watch them. But ... not yet!

Man. Duncan. Your LIFE. ;_; He's so isolated now, in almost every way. Tessa's dead, Darius is dead, Richie's gone (under not-very-pleasant circumstances), Charlie's out of his life for awhile if Duncan stays in Paris, Dawson betrayed his trust ... (Okay, I'm really grooving on MacLeod and Dawson's awkward back-and-forth dance towards friendship, but it does involve a step back for every step forward.)

All in all, I'm not enjoying this part of the series as much as what came before. But I'm not hating it; there have been some episodes I've really enjoyed (particularly the 2-parter I just watched), and most of them have at least a few neat moments. And I do like that they aren't keeping things the same -- Duncan's long, long life has been full of ups and downs, things won and lost, and inevitably most of his friendships and romances end ... badly. So this is one of the down parts, and now we're getting to see the resilience that it takes to pull himself through. But oh, Duncan. I miss the lightness and fun of his earlier interactions with Tessa and Richie and Darius.

hahahaha, such a very YOUNG Michael Shanks in "The Zone". :D I almost didn't recognize him -- it was the blue, blue eyes that did it. Well, and his voice. And then the bounty hunter episode with Jonathan Banks, a Wiseguy alumnus, playing a baddie. Too bad he didn't have a chance to interact with Dawson. Hee!

Heh, and the Xavier St. Cloud episodes did answer my question about whether Immortals can grow missing parts (they can't). I'm kinda sorry to lose St. Cloud; he was a fun opponent. But I'm glad (in a perverse kind of way) that Horton's still lurking out there, waiting to cause trouble.

And, man -- for a show that's pretty much built around swordfighting, it doesn't disappoint. :D And Duncan has some of the neatest moves. (The thing where he flips the sword up with his foot ... *flails*) I know zip-all about fencing, so for all I know nothing that he does is even remotely realistic, but I do enjoy watching him. I mean, watching the fencing. Yeah.


ETA: So I'm starting to feel like a stuck record, but no spoilers in comments, please? Not even hints? I'm really enjoying my almost-completely-unspoiled state and would like to keep it that way! I know I'm completely neurotic about it, but thank you very much for being understanding. :)

Comments

[scrollgirl]

Heh, and the Xavier St. Cloud episodes did answer my question about whether Immortals can grow missing parts (they can't).

You have an answer to your question! I still like to fanwank that Immortals can regrow their limbs eventually. It just takes a really, really long time, and of course they're so much more vulnerable to being killed until then.

I don't recommend you go looking for fic yet, but there's some really great Season 1 era fic (and AU fic where Duncan and Tessa adopt Richie much earlier) if you want to revisit their family dynamic. :)

[sholio]

Ha. I like your idea! And it would explain how they can make it to thousands of years old (through some very difficult times in history, too!) without missing any parts.

I'm glad to hear there's good season 1 fic! :) I will definitely be asking for recs when I'm farther along. Right now, I don't think I'm really interested in fic yet; I'm just mainlining canon as fast as I can!

[scrollgirl]

Yeah, I figure if even we mere mortals regenerate our skin and organs and all kinds of cells over one lifetime, then shouldn't Immortals eventually be able to regenerate limbs? I mean, they can regrow their hearts and livers and all that, why not arms and legs?

...I think I just grossed myself out a little bit.

Yes, mainline as fast as you can! Re your ETA... I know it is absolutely NOT my place, but a couple of times I've wanted to comment over on your LJ when someone edged too close to spoiling you. (Or have straight out spoiled you.)

[sholio]

Ha. I do appreciate the thought. :) But I'm okay with telling people when I think they've pushed the spoiler boundaries too far! I notice you've been ultra-careful about labeling HL spoilers at your journal, by the way, and I really appreciate that. :)

I think that trying to spend TOO much time figuring out how Immortals work (scientifically) is just going to give a person a headache. *g* At least the show has laid down the basic ground rules and is consistent about them. At this point, I guess the only thing I really wish they'd devote some more time to (and they might in the future, I'm not sure) is the psychological impact of taking in other people's knowledge. Ever since it was revealed that Darius had apparently become a whole different person from one of the Immortals he killed, I've really feared for Duncan each time that he has to kill someone who's vicious or brutal ... which is most of them! With more than four seasons to go -- and given that the show already brought it up once -- I suspect it may come up again, but it's something I've been thinking about; at the very least, the psychological damage of having that happen over and over and over again must not be good for a person, especially on top of losing a succession of lovers and friends! and now I really should stop rambling about it because, yeah, this is probably one of those things that you can't say anything about for spoiler reasons. ;p I like that the show makes me think about this stuff, though.

[scrollgirl]

I think that trying to spend TOO much time figuring out how Immortals work (scientifically) is just going to give a person a headache.

Probably! Back when I was in Buffy fandom, I was on a posting board that was less squee!!!1! and more "Here's my 5000 word treatise on Buffyverse metaphysics." It's a different kind of fannish-ness, I guess!

Though I never did try to reason out where the swords come from. I mean, it was clearly a TV gimmick, not an attempt at ~magic~.

I know zip-all about fencing, so for all I know nothing that he does is even remotely realistic

HL had incredibly talented swordmasters (technical term!) so I'm sure the swords and the fight scenes were as real as safety precautions allowed. Also, I think Adrian Paul has some martial arts training.

but I do enjoy watching him. I mean, watching the fencing. Yeah.

That's really all that matters!

[sholio]

Probably! Back when I was in Buffy fandom, I was on a posting board that was less squee!!!1! and more "Here's my 5000 word treatise on Buffyverse metaphysics." It's a different kind of fannish-ness, I guess!

Oh, no no, don't get me wrong, I *do* like speculating on that sort of thing! And I like reading other people's speculations and meta. It's just that there's also a part of me in the back of my head reminding me of the futility of trying to construct a plausible explanation of something that is probably about 90% driven by the Rule of Cool, or just sheer narrative convenience in a lot of cases. *g* On the LJ side, we were talking about the magical appearing/disappearing swords, which are definitely a "... you just gotta roll with it" kind of thing. *g*

But I really like that the show makes a stab (haha) at laying down ground rules and sticks to them, enough that you can speculate about how it all works without getting too deep into fanwank speculation. (As opposed to, say, trying to figure out how gate translation works, where it's ALL either fanwank or handwaving; the show gave us nothing to work with.)

Yeah, and I always thought of regrowing limbs as being a slightly different order of healing than regrowing organs -- normal humans can regrow at least some organs, or parts of organs ... but then when I think about some of the damage we've actually seen them heal ... yeah. Regrowing an arm can't be all that much harder than regrowing a heart.

And I'm glad to hear that the swordfighting is at least somewhat authentic! I've really been enjoying watching it, and I particularly love how Adrian Paul gives the impression of Duncan as a guy who is very subtly, organically attuned to his sword. Just the way he handles it -- the way he holds it, casually laying it along his arm or flipping it into other positions with the speed of thought ... again, I know nothing about swords or swordsmanship, but to me his movements look like the sort of casual comfort of someone who treats his sword as an extension of himself and is fully conscious of its whereabouts at all times.

[lovis]

is the psychological impact of taking in other people's knowledge

You might want to read Lanning's "Sacred Trust" one day :)

http://archiveofourown.org/works/14845?view_full_work=true

[auburn]

I am not commenting because I don't want to even inadvertently spoil you for anything, but it's fun reading your unspoiled reactions to the episodes I remember. Like Duncan's life, the show has its ups and downs... but there are some great characters still to be introduced from where you are now in the canon.

[sholio]

Hee, thank you for the not spoiling. :) I really do appreciate it! I expect it'll probably be easier for my flist to discuss it with me once I'm a couple of seasons farther along.

And somehow I'm not surprised that you like this show. It seems like your kind of thing.