Highlander: The Messenger

Richie: "I'm talking about a chance to change our lives forever, to live without being afraid."
Duncan: "What, without a head?"

This one was fun. And it was the second episode in a row with a quasi-religious theme. At least the immortal in question was a lot more like Jesus than Larca was. Except we never did learn what the fake Methos was up to. Was he sincere or deluded? The immortal equivalent of a mental patient who thought he was Napoleon? Or was he a poor swordsman who was cleverly reducing the immortal population by guile?

Was Richie just an emotional yo-yo, or did the writers make him change with the plots? A few episodes ago, he killed another immortal just to watch him die. Here, he was ready to die for peace. Maybe it was just that Richie never thought anything through. Richie did learn that Adam Pierson was Methos during this episode, and he wasn't impressed. I think I'd be impressed.

It was in character for Methos not to care that someone was impersonating him and possibly drawing off assassination attempts... except he apparently did care enough to go and confront the guy, to question him about his motives. You'd think this would be one person that Methos would hit with the truth of who he was. But no. Methos is too cautious. We also learned that, when faced with an insoluable dilemma, Methos tends to do nothing. That actually makes sense, since he can just outlive the problem.

Flashbacks:

-- 1864 Georgia. Andersonville was a horror. I don't know a lot about the Civil War, and even I've heard of it. Jeffrey was a noble soul; he wouldn't run and leave Duncan, and it earned him a horrible death. Poignant. It got to me, especially when he begged Duncan to kill him.

-- Flashback to season one, where Duncan met Darius at Waterloo.

Bits and pieces:

-- As usual, we got tantalizing, unverified tidbits. Was Methos really friends with Socrates? Did he know Cleopatra? Or does he just like to name-drop? Who could call him on it?

-- Richie got the quickening this time, and it had haunted faces from Andersonville. Stan Kirsch gave it his best, but I don't think he ever got the hang of making a quickening look good. Adrian Paul had it down to a science.

-- William Everett Culbraith was the 40th evil immortal with a K/C name. I was sort of hoping that my favorite evil immortal, Kronos, would be number 40. Ah, well.

Quotes:

Duncan: "Thought you were out wandering the world."
Methos: "Ah, Tibet. Yak butter plays hell with the digestion."

Duncan: "Turning the other cheek only gets you slapped harder."
Methos: "But it's got such a nice ring to it."

Joe: "He's young, all right? Young people make mistakes."
Methos: "Yeah. Look at disco."

Duncan: "I've got to get going. Got someone to find." (leaves)
Joe: "I'm going to go check on this other Methos. Maybe I'll turn something up." (leaves)
Methos: "Maybe I'll go buy some socks."

Three out of four stars,

Billie

All of my Highlander reviews are archived here.