Highlander Rewatched Podcast for Season 3 Episode 1: The Samurai Pt 1
Listen to: Highlander Rewatched: The Samurai
Duncan: When you found me on the beach, I was not breathing. You thought I was dead.
Hideo: I made a mistake.
Duncan: No, you did not. I had been in the water for days. *silence* I am immortal. You have... know the difference between a dead man and a live one. *moment* On my honor, I am not lying to you!
Hideo: *after long silence* You are truly...
Duncan: Aye.
Hideo: Are many gaijin immortal?
Duncan: No. But some of your people are.
Hideo: Amazing.
Duncan: So what’s your answer?
Hideo: I say no!
Duncan: Why?! You love life, you love your children!
Hideo: *gravely* You cannot save honor... with a lie.
1:25 Keith: It’s a Scottish body! *Kyle laughs louder than Eamon* Welcome to Highlander Rewatched, the podcast where each and every week we talk about another facet of the Highlander universe! I’m one of your Rewatchers. I’m Keith!
This is Kyle.
This is Eamon.
Keith: And welcome to our inaugural episode of the THIRD season of Highlander: The Series!
Eamon: That’s right.
Kyle: For the record, you do NOT have a Scottish body.
Keith: That is... that is true.
Eamon: You do have a Scottish buddy!
Keith: Who’s that?
Eamon: Uh, Duncan MacLeod!
Keith: Duncan Macleod, he’s all our.,,
Eamon: He’s all of our Scottish buddy!
Kyle: For a second I thought you meant YOU!
Keith: Yeah, I was like, are YOU Scottish?
Eamon: I am part Scottish, I found out.
2:00 Keith: Uh, so, welcome to the third season of Highlander Rewatched! We just finished up a four-part series talking about Highlander 2: The Quickening...
Kyle: I was damned proud of how concise we made that. Only four episodes about that thing.
Eamon: Yeah. Yeah.
Keith: Yeah! It could have gone on forever!
Kyle: It could have gone on for seven! Like our first movie--
Eamon: Some people were disappointed. *Kyle laughs* And some people--well, some people were disappointed because we didn’t go for seven episodes, and some people were disappointed because we did four! *Keith laughs* Mainly Vince. *They laugh*
Keith: Thanks, Vince!
Kyle: Thanks Vince!
Keith: But we’re f--yeah! For Vince, we’re here, at The Samurai! You’ve been clamoring for this for like, three months! *Eamon: Yeah!* Because it’s actually been a while since we’ve talked about the series, cuz we wrapped up--
Kyle: It’s been SO long!
Keith: --our Series Two podcasts at the end of November, and then we did uh, a bunch of podcasts from the ill-fated Lashcon Convention. Those were fun.
Kyle: Ill-fated is a very polite way to put it.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Uh, but there’s a lot of fun stuff we got to do there--*Eamon: Sure!*--and talked to the Sword Masters, and amazing fans, all that sort of good stuff.
Kyle: There was some good podcasting adjacent to a dumpster fire. 3:00 *****
Keith: And then we did Highlander Two, which took, obviously, a month to do. So now we’re back into the thick of things with Highlander Season Three, one of my... it might be my personal favorite season.
Kyle: Yeah. I mean also, just HOLY shit this season gets good.
Keith: Oh Yeah. This is what we’ve been waiting for.
Kyle: This is like a major benchmark in this series.
Keith: Yeah. Uh but, before we get into this, there’s a couple other things that we want to talk about. Uh, there’s a new Highlander Convention coming up this year, in October! And of course Highlander Rewatched will be uh, one of the places you can find out more information about it. Uh, so we’re gonna be releasing information as it becomes available to us. Uh, but just stay tuned to our Facebook page and the Highlander WorldWide Facebook page, for all the convention details, which is gonna be in L.A. this year. And I think there’s gonna be a lot of really great guests, and events, and it’s gonna be a three-day long convention, full of stuff to do! So it’s gonna be really cool!
Eamon: Nice!
Keith: We’re excited about it.
Eamon: La La Land!
Keith: That’s right! The winner of th-up, sorry!
Eamon: Uh-oh!
3:58 Kyle: ***** Y-hi!
Keith: And also, Eamon, do you wanna talk about another brand new Highlander thing that came out recently?
Eamon: Yeah! So um, I put this on the Facebook page, but a new Highlander comic book is out. It’s gonna be a four issue limited series, I believe. It’s called Highlander: The American Dream.
Kyle: What is that name about?
Eamon: I don’t know.
Kyle: Also, I just wanna note that the cover has a mountain of skulls on it--*Eamon: Yep!*--so is this like a real indictment of capitalism? *Eamon: haha...* Is that what this book’s about?
Eamon: Well let me talk about this cover for one second. This is by--
4:26 Keith: One of *****illion covers for this book!
Eamon: Yeah. This cover’s by Francesco Francavilla, who’s actually a really good comic book artist; I like him a lot. But this is a... a re-used cover. And this was for a mondo-like Steelbook special edition DVD of the movie. So I guess IDW just like, bought this image... or was given this image? A little disappointing, though, that they didn’t really get a new *clears throat, no implications, just clearing through* piece of artwork done for the cover. I think they have one new cover. Umm..
Keith: Yeah, there’s--I’m not sure which artwork is for... which cover... *Eamon: Yeah.* They released a couple covers, I feel like--*Eamon: Yeah.* I’ve seen on the Internet, there’s like a bunch of these floating out there. I’m not sure which one’s for which--
Eamon: Yeah, I don’t know which is the real one. Um, but this is an IDW comic. It’s written by Brian Ruckley, with art by Andrea Mutti, and colors by Vladimir Popov. Um, so this is out, you can buy it now, on comic stands um... Go out and pick it up and give it a read and... You know, we’re gonna be talking about it, in the future.
Keith: Yeah. We don’t wanna talk about it this episode. We’re gonna dedicate a full episode to all four issues. So rather than talk about them all separately, uh, once the series of four is complete, tune into us and we’re gonna have a special bonus episode about our thoughts on the four issues!
Eamon: Yeah! And I just wanna say real quick about that, um... Like, for these types of comics, if you have a local comic book store and they’re not carrying it, you can actually ask them to order it for you. Most comic shops will do this. That’s kind of how comics are sold. Most of them are sold because you go up to the, you know, the cashier and request them to special order something for you. So don’t be scared, go up there and order it and uh--
Kyle: *cackling* Don’t be scared by that nerd behind the counter wearing a Black Lantern shirt!
Eamon: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, exactly! Like it’s uh, it’s relatively common, if you don’t see this on the stands, um, and there’s a pretty good website you can find. I think it’s called www.comicshoplocator.com, If you don’t know where your local comic book store is. And this is also available digitally.
Keith: Yeah, I was just gonna ask, yeah is it digital?
Eamon: Yeah, uh... if you go to comixology.com, you can get it pretty easily. So uh, yeah. Good stuff.
6:25 Keith: Cool! So we’ve got one item in the mailbag... actually, we have a bunch of items in the mailbag!
Kyle: We have a LOT in the in the mailbag! It’s like Christmas!
Keith: Um, but we’re gonna be tackling that in a special bonus episode, which is coming out later in the week where we uh, answer a bunch of reader-mail about Highlander 2. So we’re saving that since we have so much! But we have a little Christmas present here from one of our fans! Anyway, if you guys wanna open up this little package we got here? And this is from Misty C, from Yakima, Washington!
Eamon: Oooh!
Kyle: Oh my!
Keith: What d’we got there, Kyle?
Eamon: OOOH!
Kyle: We have a VERY old school-looking well-worn Highlander Catalogue! Super exciting!
Keith: Awesome, we cannot wait--
Eamon: This is sweet!
Keith: Yeah, we can't wait to talk about this, awe, it's got some really good stuff in it. So, we've been reading from, what, the 1999 and 2000 catalog as well as the pamphlet that we-er, like a brochure-thing--*Eamon: Yeah!*-- it's like a poster! So anyway, this is a catalog we did not have in our collection, and Misty was nice enough to contact us, and she was like "Do you guys want this?" and it's like of course! So thank you so much and thanks for listening to the podcast, and if anyone out there has any cool, like, Highlander memorabilia or catalogs or kind of just weird thing like this, let us know and either send it to us, or take pictures and, y'know, contribute 'cuz we're looking forward to making this part of our show! So thank you very much, Misty!
Eamon: Yeah! Thank you!
Kyle: Yeah! This is super-cool! Woohoo!
Keith: It's in the mail bag!
Eamon: *sings* Maaaail baaag!
Keith: Alright. Are we ready to talk about Episode One, Season Three...?
Eamon: Yeah!
7:50 Keith: So! This is The Samurai! It aired September 6th, 1994! It's on a Tuesday! As usual, I love to look up what days these episodes aired. *Eamon: Wow!* It's on a Tuesday this time.
Eamon: Has it been consistent, like, what days these things are coming out?
Keith: Uh... listen to our NEXT episode to find out! *Eamon and Kyle laugh*
Eamon: "No", I'm guessing is the answer to that.
Keith: You'll have to fff--you'll have to wait and see!
Eamon: I'll have to wait and see. That's right.
Keith: It could be the same!
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: It would be amazing if it WAS the same. *Eamon laughs* Building that suspense--
Eamon: Surprise! *Keith laughs* Stay tuned, Listener! The answers gonna get us some repeat listens!
Kyle: The answer is yes. "Listener!"
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: ONE listener will stay tuned FOR that reason.
8:23 So, the director for this episode was Dennis Berry! Uh, of course we've seen him recently, do Counterfeit Part II? *Eamon: Yeah!* Um, Prodigal Son, Pharaoh's Daughter--
Eamon: The Vampire.
Keith: Oh! The Vampire! The VamPYR!
Eamon: Vampyr...
Kyle: Mostly good episodes!
Keith: Mostly good episodes. Yeah!
Kyle: Pharaoh's Daughter rrrrhhnn. But. *Eamon laughs*
Keith: H-he-he he tends to deliver. On these episodes.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: They're always... well directed.
Kyle: There's some high-quality selections in there.
Keith: The writer of this was Naomi Jensen! Uh, she is... the woman that wrote, uh, Gentle Ben 2, The Gentling... *Eamon and Kyle chuckle* Remember her?
Eamon: Gentler Ben.
Keith and Kyle: "Gentler Ben!"
8:54 Keith: Uh, but she also wrote Studies in Light, and...
Eamon: Run For Your Life.
Keith: Run For Your Life!
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Which were two very good episodes!
Kyle: Yeah!
Keith: Yeah. And this is, I believe--
Kyle: *a voice* Eh, she's a woman, you know what I mean, Richie? *Laughter*
Keith: Uh, I think--
Eamon: Hot dogs!
Keith: I think this is the last episode she wrote. I think.
Eamon: Awe!
Kyle: Awe, shit.
Keith: Which is a bummer. Before she did Gentler Ben.
Eamon: Goin' out on a high note!
Keith: Yeah!
Eamon: Yeah.
9:16 Keith: Absolutely. This episode guest starts Tamlin Tomita! As Midori Koto. Uh, and she's in the new Teen Wolf. Uh, she's been in Law & Order, and tons of other stuff. But I think she might be most well known for, and it was her very first thing, was she is the female lead in Karate Kid II.
Eamon: Oh, really?
Kyle: Oh!
Keith: Yeah!
Eamon: Wow!
Kyle: That's the one with the drum, right? The secret move in that one is punching someone--
Keith: Just punching them over and over
Kyle: -- over again in the face.
Keith: Yeah!
Kyle: Kind of like a drum. *laughter*
Eamon: Wow!
Kyle: I love special moves in anything; that is the laziest special move I've ever seen. 9:48 *****d'you like that--
Keith: I li--I like--I like Karate Kid 2 a lot, actually.
Kyle: I still like that movie. It's just like--
Eamon: Is that the one like, where they're IN Japan? *Kyle and Keith: Yes!* And there's like a storm or something?
Keith: Yeah.
Eamon: I watched that on... in a bar, with no sound. *wheezelaugh*
Kyle: What?!
Eamon: That's how I saw that movie.
Keith: Wow!
Kyle: You see a lot of movies in bars!
Eamon: I drink a lot! *laughing*
Keith: Was that also the first time you saw like, Highlander *with Kyle* Endgame?! *without Kyle* Or something like that?
Eamon: Yes!
Keith: That was a bit--
Eamon: I saw Highlander Endgame for the first time in the *****Kyber Pass Club in Philadelphia, with no sound on.
Keith: I remember you were texting me--
Eamon: Yeah!
Keith: --while you were watching it.
Eamon: I looked up and I saw Christopher Lambert AND Adrian Paul on the screen at the same time, and I was like, "Oh my GOD!" *laughter* As I was drinking expensive beers.
Kyle: Yeah. *****Kyber's good, man.
Eamon: It's great! I love it! The Kyber Pass Club, in Philadelphia!
Kyle: Why are we giving these ads away? *low chuckles*
Eamon: I don't know!
10:35 Keith: Uh, this episode also stars Steven McAddy as Michael Kent! Uh, he's in tons and tons and tons of stuff.
Eamon: He's in so much shit!
Keith: He was in Watchmen, 300, uh... He was the voice of Shade in--The Shade--in uh... *with Eamon*--Justice League.
Kyle: Yeah!
Keith: But he's been in tons of TV. Beauty and the Beast, the old 1989 one?
Eamon: *sings* Beauty and the beast...
Keith: That's right.
Eamon: He was uh... Elaine's psychiatrist boyfriend--
Keith: Oh that's right!
Eamon: --on Seinfeld. And I was like, where do I know this guy from?! And that's where I chiefly remember him from.
Keith: He's good!
Eamon: Yeah, he's really good.
Keith: Yeah, he's good. Um--
Eamon: Very ominous.
Keith: And then of course Robert Ito stars in this episode. And he's back! 'Cuz we've already seen him as Johnny Leong *Kyle: Yeah.*--in Revenge of the Sword. Uh, so this is another one of those classic incidences where they decide to cast one of the stars of an episode as the st--a completely different character--*Eamon: Yeah.*--in another episode! *Eamon: Yeah.* Although this is a... a much better role.
Eamon: Oh, definintely.
Kyle: Oh, yeah.
Keith: Yeah.
Eamon: He... he's really well-suited for this role. *Keith: Yeah.* And... I didn't quite buy him as Johnny Leung in... The Revenge of the Sword episode.
Keith: Yeah.
Kyle: Because he was a shitty character. *laughter*
Keith: Yeah. In like a kind of forgettable episode.
Eamon: I just want to say about this guy: Every cartoon I watched as a kid, this guy did a voice on. This was... like, he was on Animaniacs, Batman the Animated Series, Darkwing Duck, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Tailspin, uh, Ed Grimly *****, Chuck Norris Karate Commandos, The Real Ghostbusters, Gargoyles, SWAT Cats--*Kyle: Shit!*--Superman, Avatar: The Last Airbender... which was more recent. But like, every cartoon I watched--*Keith: Yeah!*--HE did a voice in! *Keith: Wow!* Which is kind of nuts! And I'm also a big nerd who watches a lot of cartoons. But...
Keith: *laughing* Uh, very good. And then finally Hiro Kanagawa as Akira. The uh, the lover, in this. Uh, he was on Heroes, Caprica, and... I remember him as the principal of Smallville!
Eamon: Woa!
Kyle: Oh!
Keith: Like in the high school, he was the principal.
Kyle: How 'bout that!
Keith: So he was in like a bunch of episodes of that.
Eamon: And you guys were ON an episode of Smallville.
Kyle: We were in the Special Features of...
Keith: *laughing* On a bonus disc!
Eamon: Oh. Okay.
Kyle: And anything where they talked to us was cut out.
Eamon: Ah.
Kyle: It's just like a still of us in a diner. And Keith looks very intimidated by a hamburger! *Keith and Eamon laugh* He's like looking at it like it's gonna bite him! *laughs*
Eamon: Is that why they cut it?
Keith: Yeah, that's it. *more chuckling* I think our stories were too raw, man!
Kyle: Yeah!
12:43 Keith: Anyway, it's time for one of our favorite segments!
Eamon: Oooh!
Keith: The IMDb episode description!
Kyle: Yes yes yes!
Keith: Alright guys, this episode is about... "A cheating wife flees her husband when he kills her lover! She turns to Duncan for help. She shows him an old spyscope. Duncan recalls when he last saw the spyscope--"
Kyle: *laughing* "Spyscope!"
Keith: "--and how he got his katana. Duncan soon discovers... her husband is immortal." *laughter*
Eamon: What? That's--
Keith: Ew!
Kyle: I love the use of the phrase--repeated use of the phrase--*Keith: Spyglass* "spyscope". *Keith: Spyscope!* Though spyglass would make sense. SpySCOPE?
Keith: *delicate pitch to voice* "Duncan recalls the last time he saw the spyscope..." What?! *chuckles*
Eamon: That's a weird... like, also, I like that they describe her as a "cheating wife". *someone laughs* I mean, that IS what she does--*Kyle: Accurate!*--but it just sounds like...
Keith: Yeah, it sounds really bleh--
Eamon: Negative?
Keith: Yeah.
Kyle: I mean it's not good...
Eamon: No. Cheating wife!
Keith: Yeah! *laughing*
13:35 Keith: Alright guys, let's hop in to this episode! We should start with the opening credits! Philip Aiken is BACK!
Kyle and Eamon: Yeah!
Keith: No more m--no more Maurice!
Kyle: I was so--I got so pumped when the theme came on--
Keith: I know!
Kyle: I w--like, it had been a minute and I was like, YESSSS! Here we are!
Eamon: Born to be kings?
Kyle: I'm not sure about that. *laughter* Uh...
Keith: So this episode opens, uh, with like a sh--like I guess we're in like Tokyo or something, in some Japanese--
Kyle: In modern Japan, somewhere.
Keith: Yeah. Modern Japan.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: And it zooms in on like a hotel room. And two people are--
Kyle: I assumed this was their UGLY home. It's like really... their apartment is like--
Keith: Oh, I guess it's an apartment!
Kyle: --nice in like, a really shitty 90s way, with like pink carpet--*Eamon: Yeah.* I was like, if this place cost a lot of money, and is very *****.
Keith: Lots of like, vertical blinds 'n stuff like?
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: And they have like, a black leather bed awkwardly in the middle of the room, it's weird!
Eamon: It's tacky! Is what it is.
Keith: Yes. Yeah.
Eamon: Tacky. All--
Kyle: It's so you know the villain lives there.
Eamon: Yeah. Also there's like, vaguely offensive music in the background, like... like...
Keith: Like all the Koto Drums?
Eamon: Yeah it's like, not... it was like weird like, kind of... "This music is to let you know you're in Tokyo" type music!
Keith: Right! *Eamon laughs* These two people I guess have just got done...
Kyle: They were just making coffee.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Yeah. They were just making coffee together in bed.
Eamon: *sings* Making coffee!
Keith: Uh, and so it's our... heroine, Midori, and her lover Akira.
Eamon: Mmhm. Yep.
Keith: I dunno. He's fawning all over her; she I guess, seems to be feeling guilty. She does not want his... compliments.
Eamon: Yeah. "You never let me compliment you!" *Keith: Yeah!* "Maybe I don't deserve compliments."
Kyle: She's got a raspy voice!
Eamon: Yeah! That's what she said--that was a clip we played.
Kyle: It's from drinking all that Midori.
Keith: So...
Kyle: Isn't that like a melon liquor?
Keith: Yes!
Eamon: Mmhm.
Keith: It's like green.
Kyle: Gross.
Keith: Uh, Kent--Michael Kent calls on the phone. It's her husband. And he's like "Oh, I was headed to the airport, I left my briefcla--briefclase?--briefcase in the closet, so I'm coming back for it." So... I guess she tells Akira like, get your shit together, you gotta get out of here.
Kyle: Cheeseit!
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: So he goes to leave, and I guess then she checks the closet and realizes the briefcase isn't there.
Eamon: That's right!
Keith: And then she gets suspicious, because she's liKeith: Uh-oh! He's like, up to... some... no-good!
*****15:43 Kyle: *Akbar voice* "It's a trap!"
Keith: Right. It's a trap.
Kyle: It is a trap.
Keith: So two goons grab Akira in the hallway.
Kyle: Yeah, these two white guys grab him, and like drag him down to the parking garage. And we get another look at this guy, Kent. He's like kind of a... he's got an intimidating face!
Eamon: Oh yeah!
Keith: Yeah, yeah!
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: He's got a real kind of like craggy face. My notes refer to him repeatedly as Casanova Frankenstein, cuz I couldn't remember his real name. *laughing with Eamon*
Eamon: I just refer to him in my notes as "hubby".
Kyle: Hubby! Yeah!
Keith: Hubby! *Eamon laughs* Uh, so he pulls out a sword--*Eamon: Yeah.*--and it turns out he has a Muramasa blade, as well. *Eamon: Mmhm.* As we'll find out cuz Duncan, it turns out, has the same sort of sword. Which I think is important-- *Eamon: Yeah!*--but doesn't really get explored.
Eamon: From the 16th Century...!
Keith: Right! And so he talks about how this--they would test the blades--
Kyle: It's kind of badass! He gives like a ba--very scary description of this thing.
Eamon: It's awesome! Yeah.
Kyle: Do you wanna play it?
Keith: Yeah, let's play this clip, cuz it's pretty rad.
16:33 Michael Kent: This... is an authentic Samurai katana. (Eamon: Japanese sword!) Made by the great master Muramasa in the 16th Century. Thirty-thousand repetitions of pounding and folding to make this blade. You know, they used to test the blade by lining up condemned men, to see how many it would cut through in one... stroke. This one did five. It's recorded, under here. Truly... a labor of love.
(Kyle: Something bad's about to happen to Akira.)
Akira: I was going to talk to you!
(Keith: And his wife Midori has come downstairs to see this.)
Michael: Talk to me. You should have talked to me before you started screwing my wife.
(Eamon: Oooh.)
(Kyle: My wife!)
(Eamon: He's gearing up for the swing, and he's outta here!)
Akira screams.
17:26 Eamon: Pretty cool!
Keith: Yeah. *laughs*
Eamon: He's a good bad guy.
Keith: Yeah!
Kyle: Yeah. That was super-intimidating--*Keith: Yeah.*--and like, his voice is great, he's got an intimidating presence; he's very tall.
Keith: Yeah. Big guy. Uh, so Midori's in shock, and I guess she runs back up to the apartment and... Michael ends up back up there as well, to confront her about this whole thing. Uh, so she's like "I knew there wasn't a briefcase," and like, so he calls her out, like "I killed your lover." And then he gets like, fucking gross! And he's like, "Make love to me NOW!"
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: He's like, "You can never leave me! Never! Make love to me." *weak laugh*
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: I just have like a bunch of sad faces after that. It's like, oh this guy's very rapey.
Keith: Midori ts... decides to stab Kent in the back, while--
Eamon: Yeah. She has like a sword hidden, or a knife hidden, uh...
Keith: Yeah. Uh, I think the music in this scene is like, really great like, it's really like... all these, like, kind of cranking sounds, and... uh... I dunno. I think the music in this whole episode actually is... pretty top-notch.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: It's really cool the... the Koto drums that are playing and, it's got a lot of energy to it. It's good stuff!
Eamon: Yeah I like... the drums a lot remind me of the um, Akira soundtrack, the anime movie--*Keith: Fitting.*--because that has a lot of those drums in--in that as well.
Keith: Yeah. All right. So now we cut, and we're back into the gym.
Eamon: The gym!
Keith: Which, I'm super-pumped to see Charlie.
Eamon: The Dojo.
Kyle: It does feel like Charlie just burst into somebody's apartment and everyone was like, "Oh, Charlie!" *laughter* But my notes are just like, "Awe! It's so good to see Charlie again!"
Keith: I know.
Kyle: Like, I don't know what it is, I love this guy. Like--
Keith: Him and Mac, crush it! Every time they're on screen together.
Kyle: Yep! Their chemistry is so much better than th--like the average chemistry between... Richie and Mac, that like--*Eamon: Yeah.*--I don't know. They just like... they work... ff--Clay Aikin just like... Clay Aikin.
Keith: Clay Aikin?! Philip Aken!
Kyle: Philip Aken!
Eamon: Clay Aiken. *amused*
Kyle: J-HAHAH! I find... just, like... his presence onscreen is just like, kind of really warm. I dunno. He's great.
Keith: Yeah! And a lot of the times on this show we talked about the like, the bromance between Charlie, and Mac, and so... I think we gotta play this clip, because... I don't know if anyone noticed this line...
Eamon: Oh God. Yeah.
19:31 Charlie: MacLeod? You son of a bitch! [DM laughs.] Take five, Jenny. [goes to DM] Welcome back. Good to see you.
DM - Good to be back, Charlie.
Charlie - Yeah, well, you're looking pretty good. (Eamon: Oooh!)
DM - Yeah, you, too. I thought the doctor said to take it easy.
Charlie - Well, he also said, uh, all the parts work.
19:54 Eamon, Kyle laugh. Kyle: He gets so...!
Keith: That is so screwed up!
Eamon: *amused* That's really flirty. Like--
Keith: And they are like, looking each other up and down! And they're like s--
Eamon: They are gonna go upstairs and fuck, right now! *all chuckling* *****20:06 And just also's like "You son of a bitch!" *laughter*
Kyle: Oh.
Eamon: Predator!
Keith: So, Mac has been gone in Paris, for like six months, this is the first time they've seen each other in a long time, and so Charlie is like, "You've got a visitor, like, waiting for you in your office." And so I was like, "Hold on... one second! Like, how did this all work out?" And it's Midori who's come to visit him. *Eamon: Yeah.* So, at this point in the scene, the logic of it is one: this woman shows up, and obviously has talked to Charlie. And she said she's there to see Mac. So two: Charlie must have said something like, "Oh, well he's in Paris, and he's not around." And then she was like, "You know what? I think I'm just gonna wait in his office and wait for him." *Eamon laughs* Like, why is she... WHY is she still there?!
Kyle: Well maybe Mac... maybe Charlie knew he was coming back...
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Ohhhh!
Kyle: It's like, this is the first time they've SEEN each other, but he knew he'd be back today. Or like, would be dropping by.
Eamon: That makes sense.
Keith: MAYbe...?
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: No, that makes sense. Cuz otherwise it makes zero goddamn sense. *laughter*
Keith: Right!
Eamon: I'll just wait in his office!
Keith: That's the way I was reading it!
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: Yeah!
Keith: She's just gonna chill out.
Kyle: Path of least resistance!
Eamon: Yeah. Well, she has nothing else to do.
Kyle: Humans sometimes communicate their plans to each other before they appear randomly.
Eamon: No they don't.
Kyle: Sometimes. Every once in a while. Actually, this entire recording session, was like spontaneously put together. *Eamon: Yeah!* We all just happened to show up at this place at this time, and there just so happened to be recording equipment set up, so like fuck it! We also just so happened to see these episodes of Highlander, so let's go!
Eamon: That's right!
Keith: There we go! Alright!
Eamon: By chance!
Keith: Hah! So, Mac and Midori go upstairs, and they're talking in his loft. Mac's making some tea instead of some coffee, which is good. So he's... making tea to impress, obviously, cuz if he made coffee, she'd bounce.
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Yeah! It's like, you're not good at this! Or he's very good at it. *chuckles*
Eamon: Oh I just wanted to say, the first time he sees Midori, he has like a weird flashback to a woman in a kimono--
Keith: Oh that's right!
Eamon: --for like, just a second.
Keith: Yeah. Mac is wondering why she is there, and she hands him a telescope.
Eamon: Mmhm! Or a spy-glens, or whatever.
Keith: Or a spy--
Kyle: A spyscope!
Eamon: Spyglass.
Keith: A spyscope!
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: Spyglass is what i--is a real thing! That is a word for this. Spyscope is...
Eamon: Spyscope is an item you can get in Syphon Filter!
Kyle: *laughs* Really?
Eamon: Nah I don't know. *they laugh*
Kyle: I used to play those games. I love those!
Eamon: They're good!
22:15 Keith: So, Mac says this spyscope *amused* represents a promise made to the Koto family over two-hundred years ago, that the Kotos could always come to the MacLeods when they needed help. So we get a flashback...
Eamon: Japan, 1778?
Keith: Yeah! We get a title card! Which is nice.
Eamon: Yeah! Which seems to be a trend in this season?
Keith: Yeah! Which is very good.
Eamon: Yeah. But uh, Mac is washed up on the beach, along with some boat bits.
22:37 Kyle: **** gotta get those boat bits boat bits!
Keith: Some boat bits!
Kyle: I'd like boat bits on my salad.
Eamon: Yeah. Mmm!
22:43 Keith: Robert Ito... Koto...
Eamon: Yeah. Hideo Koto.
Keith: ...comes over, and he finds Mac, and it looks like he's dead. *Eamon: Yeah.* He, like, rolls him over. And then a bunch of like... samurais or... these goons show up--
Kyle: Yeah. They're like Samurai or just 22:54 *****warriors.
Eamon: Yeah they're like, samurai, or something.
Keith: They start fighting Robert Ito--
Eamon: For some reason.
Keith: *laughing* For some reason! *Eamon: Yeah!* I don't know what's going on! Uh, but then uh, I guess Mac is revived, presumably because he got turned over--*Eamon: Yeah.*--uh, by Robert Ito. So he's not drowned anymore.
Eamon: I guess, yeah!
Keith: And then uh, he kind of helps Robert Ito. Uh, the choreography--
Kyle: Though Robert Ito does most of the work! *Eamon: Yeah!* They almost like, play up, at this point, how kind of like clumsy Duncan is...*Keith: Yes!* Like, he's like tripping in the water... like, his like, footwork is all lousy--*Keith: Yeah.*--But like, you know, he still holds his own. But they, they're definitely teasing that he's got a lot to learn.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: This is like the big turning point for Mac in general in the whole series, I'd say--
Kyle: Like the arc of his character.
Keith: Cuz he's a pretty stoic character... in the present day. Uh, especially like in Season One we saw him as like--*Kyle: Outlandishly--* *Eamon: Yeah!*--un-un-uncomfortably stoic. Uh, but this is kind of him becoming, kind of, grown up, so--
Kyle: This was transition from Barbarian Duncan--*Keith: Right.*--which he's referred to as barbarian multiple times in this, which I find very satisfying. But uh--
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Right! *laughing*
Kyle: Like the transition from Barbarian Duncan to Modern Duncan.
23:57 Keith: Yeah. Hideo chops Mac's sword in half, at some point.
Eamon: Mmhm!
Kyle: Which is awesome!
Kyle: Which is awesome, and it's I guess to show how great his sword is and how crummy Mac's sword is.
Eamon: Yeah. We should also mention Hidea's sword is Duncan's sword.
Keith: Yes. This is the dragon-head katana.
Eamon: Interesting!
Keith: Mmmmm!
24:15 🎶 Princes of the Universe! 🎶
Kyle: Hey Keith! Have you heard about the amazing promotion that we're running?
Keith: Uh, you mean the one about starting Season Three?
Kyle: Yeah! That one!
Keith: What's the promotion?
Kyle: As a special gift for our--starting our Season Three, you can get THIRTY percent off... on our sweet, sweet Highlander magnets!
Keith: That's a number that's starts with three! Like the season!
Kyle: Hey... oh, what a thematic pairing! If you haven't seen them yet: Keith, what kind of amazing magnets can you get from us?
Keith: We have an awesome five-piece magnet collectibles set, done by resident artist, Eamon, featuring five of the characters from the Highlander television show! We've got Duncan MacLeod, Amanda, Joe, Methos of course--who we're meeting in Season Three, woo!--and a very special Highlands Warrior Duncan uh, which is really cool.
Kyle: They're all rad! By checking out these magnets, you're not only supporting this podcast, you're supporting local artwork and your favorite Rewatchers! So... you know, keep this fandom alive; support these magnets; and get thirty percent off while you're at it!
Keith: Yeah! Thirty percent! And this is a limited time offer. This deal is only running for two weeks! So, make sure to head over to our Facebook page... and again, this deal is only available on our Facebook page... Thirty percent off, for these two weeks! Uh, so click on the "Shop Now" button, and pick up your magnet set today, and display your fandom in style!
🎶 Princes of the Universe! 🎶
25:38 Keith: So! Then we cut back to the present. Midori's like, "Oh, that promise was made by your ancestor like, two hundred years ago," and Mac is like, "Time doesn't, like, weaken a vow," or whatever. Unless you're a...
Eamon: A murderer?
Keith: *laughing* A murderer, in uh... what'sis... Drakov in Warmonger, cuz then fuck you!
Eamon: Oh, yeah.
Kyle: Then time does weaken it.
Eamon: That is a great point that I didn't think about.
Kyle: Yeah!
Keith: Right!
Kyle: I was thinking about that a lot, especially because she's like... she comes right out and tells... him what she did, like... *Eamon: Yeah.* "Oh, like... I am a killer." *laughs*
Keith: Yup!
Eamon: Right. Interesting. Hmm...
Kyle: And Mac's like, "Okay. That's fine."
Eamon: "Yeah, it's okay. Whatever."
Kyle: That's right. It's okay.
26:15 Keith: Going downstairs, I guess Mac tells Charlie that he's gotta hop off to Japan to help Midori out with this whole situation... uh, there's a weird bit of ADR dialogue, cuz Mac is like, "Oh, I'm heading off to the Land of the Rising Su--" Did you notice this? Like, *Eamon makes a noise* for some reason they had to re-record this dialogue. And I was trying to think what could it have been, and... my only guess is it's "the land of rice and..." something else, and they thought that was not appropriate. *Eamon hoots in disbelief*
Kyle: WHAT?!
Keith: I can't figure out what the other thing would be. I can't figure out why it's ADRed. Unless there was just some weird problem with the audio.
Eamon: Yeah, maybe.
Kyle: It's probably that. *Keith: Yeah.* Cuz why would they say that?
Keith: It's so stra--! I had to watch it like, four times, and I was like, why is this ADRed? Like it seems out of place. But--
Eamon: That's weird.
Keith: *laughing* Yeah! I also just want to mention, there's a lot of like, touching with Mac and Charlie, during this, like when they're like, he's like, "Can you watch after the Dojo?" And they're like--they're constantly touching each other. I'm just like, they... if they were married, I'd be like, "Sure. That's wh--that's what this is." *Kyle laughs*
Eamon: Maybe they were! Maybe they were.
27:08 Keith: So! Eamon, what happens next?
Eamon: Uh, Midori's going to her hotel room, I guess, to get her shit. And then, who appears?! But dead husband! Michael-whatever-his-name-is!
Kyle: Kemp?
Keith: Kent!
Kyle: Kent. Not Kemp.
Eamon: Michael Kent. *Kyle laughs*
Kyle: Yeah! He is alive! And we find out now that he is immortal! Mac gets the Buzz, and it's like "Uh-oh!"
Keith: Right.
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Of course she's like, suitably freaked out. *Eamon: Yeah.* Cuz she's quite confident that she killed him.
Keith: I was a little confused at first. Did anyone think this was IN Japan?
Eamon: I did!
Keith: I did, too.
Kyle: It took me a second to--it wasn't until like, much later, he comes back and sees Charlie, and Charlie's "I thought you were going to Japan!"
Keith: Right.
Eamon: Yeah. Yeah.
Keith: Like I thought she was headed back up to that apartment that she normally stayed at, or whatever, yeah.
Eamon: Yeah, that's what I thought it was, too. *Kyle: Yeah.* I was--I was pretty confused. Um...
Keith: Apparently--I was looking at the script. There's like a bit of cut dialogue that was supposed to be here that would've clarified it. I guess when Mac is waiting in the lobby, he's on a payphone--*Eamon: Aah!*--and he's ordering the tickets to Japan. *Eamon: Mmm!* So that woulda let us know where we are. But yeah, I just assumed we were in Japan at this point.
Eamon: Yup! Kent sees them together and he does kind of like a... Batman-disappear-thing--*Keith: Right!*--which is kind of cool.
Kyle: Cuz he throws a smoke pellet!
28:13 Keith: Yup! *****
Eamon: After Commissioner Gordon asks him a question!
Kyle: Yeah! *Batman voice* "Harvey Dent! Can... he be trusted?" *Eamon chuckles*
28:23 Keith: So, uh... I guess, back at Mac's place, Midori ca--she's like, "I know I killed him!" and she--he makes up some sort of... excuse. Like, "Well you probably just missed a vital or--"
Eamon: Missed a vital organ. Yeah.
Keith: --organ or something, but Mac of course knows what's up.
Eamon: There's some... Japanese saying for that that I didn't write down.
Kyle: Did anyone look this up? Oni--
Keith: Oni-tata!
Eamon: Oni-tata!
Keith: Which means "Big demon"!
Eamon: Mmm!
Kyle: What?
Keith: That's what I--that's what my research found!
Eamon: "Big... demon."
Kyle: I wrote "Oni-datta."
Eamon: Oni-datta.
Keith: I wrote Oni Tata!
Kyle: I got nothin'.
Keith: One means big demon, the onther means big omelet! *Eamon laughs* That's not true at all.
Kyle: Your ancestors would have said "Huge omelet, bro!"
28:57 Keith: So, uh... then we cut to Kent's yacht! Uh, which I guess is in Seacouver? And we find out later that he, like, keeps a boat there.
Eamon: Yeah. Okay.
Keith: Like, that's... that's the thing.
Eamon: He wants to find everything out about MacLeod! *Keith: Right! This is wh--* How much he's worth! Dodedodedee!
Keith: What he had for breakfast! *Eamon: Yeah!* Who he had breakfast with! He should call up what's-her-name from the European Tribune--
Kyle: Oh, yeah! *Eamon laughs*
29:18 *****Kyle's words buried under Keith's may be some of same words.
Keith: Cuz she knows who everyone's had breakfast with, and what they're eating 'n all that stuff!
Eamon: Just reminded me of The Sea Witch, like!
Keith: Yeah it does!
Kyle: *Russian accent* It's called *with Eamon* the Sea Witch.
Keith: This is one of the first uh--or I mean, I guess there's been some others, but uh... one of the first Immortals that we've met that doesn't know who Mac is. At all.
Eamon: Yeah! That's a good question.
Keith: I mean, most of them are like, "Oh, the Highlander!" *Eamon: Yes.* But this guy's like, "I don't know what his deal is. Find out what the skinny is."
Eamon and Kyle: Yeah.
Kyle: This is like, just a chance encounter.
Keith: Yeah. Yeah they've got no beef, ahead of time.
Eamon: Kobe Beef.
29:45 Keith: Uh, so we get some clarification from Midori on her situation with Kent back in Mac's loft. Uh, she explains that I guess, her family was like, losing money or the business was... *Eamon: Mmhm.* Oh and I guess they were also gonna buil--they wanted to tear down the family shrine...
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Right. They were gonna lose the land and the shrine would be... taken down, but Kent ste--is obviously very wealthy. He stepped in to like, lend them a whole lot of money, that they weren't gonna be able to pay back, so she married into his family.
Keith: Right. Yeah. And so Mac is like, "Money has nothing to do with honor." Interesting. We'll talk more about this... down the road.
Kyle: And she's like, "Doesn't it?" Like, "They were gonna desss--" She's like, "Doesn't it? They were gonna like, destroy my family's legacy, if we didn't have the money."
Keith: Right.
Eamon: Yeah.
30:25 Keith: So we get another flashback! This is an odd transition, by the way! *chuckles as speaks* Like, there's a cutout of her body that it like, zooms in on--
Kyle: Zooms in on? Yeah, it's odd.
Keith: They've never done a transition quite like this--*Eamon: Yeah.* So I don't like, hate it or anything, but--*Eamon: It's strange.*--it's now--it's interesting. It's not par for the course, I guess.
Eamon: But Mac is sparring with Hideo... in some... I guess it's ka-ra-te... I don't know.
Keith: Yeah.
Kyle: I don't know. But it's... like, it's so delightful seeing the table turned! Like, I just kept thinking about, like, the Richie montage--*Keith: Yeah!*--in Eye For An Eye, where he's getting like, the crap kicked out of him by Mac! "Get down! C'mon!" *Eamon: Yeah!* And just like, Mac getting just, like, housed! *Eamon: Yup!* And he's like, he thought he was gonna teach him something by showing him the noble art of boxing! *chuckling*
Keith: Right! Yeah! That's really funny! Also like a side note about like, the flashbacks in general. Like, all the flashbacks I think are really great. But, like... I feel like, most of the episodes we've seen in the past that are... the Seacouver episodes? They tend to flash back to like, Seacouver. Like, they're always like, American... flashbacks. Or wherever Seacouver is. Um, I think this gives like a great scope to this episode. That like the flashbacks--even though it's filmed at some--on some beach in Vancouver, like it--it does--I'm like, I buy that this is Japan. So it gives this big like global expanse to this episode, and even like, they just throw in some like, shitty stock-footage of Tokyo in the beginning, like... This episode does feel bigger, I think, than--
Kyle: Definitely.
Keith: --uh, which is really nice. I think. *Eamon: Yeah.* Success.
Kyle: This is like... this is quality.
Keith: Yeah. So, good training sequence, um--
Kyle: Yeah. Mac just gets like, housed, and is not holding his own.
Keith: And a woman is kind of--watching from afar, that catches Mac's eye. *Eamon: Mmhm.* And her name is...
Eamon: It's Maia.
Keith: Maia! That's right!
Eamon: Is that... really a Japanese name?
Keith: It's spelled M-A-I-A.
Eamon: Like, I know "Mai" is a Japanese name. *Keith: Hmm.* I don't know if "Maia" is. I meant to look that up and then I forgot to.
Keith: It might be!
Eamon: Yeah. I dunno.
32:07 Keith: *laughs* So, then we get some more training and, uh, Hideo is showing Mac how to like, swing his sword properly?
Kyle: Yeah, to properly use the katana. I love that he's like, *Mac's accent* "Is this swordplay or poetry?" *laughing*
Eamon and Keith: Yeah. Both.
Keith: Yeah! This is good stuff!
Eamon: It's also revealed that Mac can never leave Hideo's, um, home base here.
Keith: Right. Because I guess the, uh, the Emperor--or not emperor, the lord of the land--
Eamon: Shogun!
Keith: This is the Shogun. Has, like, forbidden all barbarians! *Kyle: Yes.* So if he leaves, he will be caught and killed.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Bad news!
Eamon: Yeah. Hahah.
Kyle: Well it was like historically closed--*Eamon: Mmhmm.*--until like, American ships came 'n were like, "Hey!"
Eamon: Is that Commodore Perry?
Kyle: Yeah. It's like, "Hey! We will blow up your country if you don't start trading with us!"
Eamon: Right! Yep! Hm.
Kyle: Okay. Like, whoops!
Keith: Yeah.
Eamon: The set here is particularly beautiful. Like, they're on like, water and there's this weird bridge...*Keith: Yeah!* It's really good.
Keith: Yeah. It's a good location.
Eamon: As Hideo's talking to Mac, at the very end he just kind of like, adjusts his sword and his like, sword belt... there's an actual name for it that I don't know, but, I thought that was funny. He like, straightens it!
Kyle: That's funny!
Keith: So, I guess Hideo needs to, like, run some errands or shit. And, so he just leaves... he's like, hey, my daughter will take care of you. So! 33:23 We've not mentioned at this point yet that Maia is played by the same actress that plays Midori. How do we feel about that?
Eamon: *moment* Eh... I don't care, that much. It's a little weird, but--
Keith: I actually liked it.
Kyle: I liked it too! It actually explains the weird cut, like, flash he gets--*Eamon: Yeah.*--the first time he sees her. It's like, he's having a memory that's triggered by her... kind of uncanny resemblance to this ancestor that...*Keith: Right.*... she's seen. I think it kind of like helps... kind of like, tie the whole thing together, and explains some of Mac's, like, emotional connection to the whole thing.
Keith: Yeah. I'm into it. I think it works well to just kind of... it's a nice thread through the whole thing. They also pull something, if I remember correctly, like this in Highlander 3. I feel like the...*Eamon: Ohhh.*... love interest in that also plays his love interest...*Eamon: Yeah.*... in a prior life. Which I kind of--I also kind of like that, cuz it's like, it's not about her looking the same, but it's about you getting the same kind of emotional... response from his previous love and his current love. It helps you connect to both a little bit better? *Kyle then Eamon: Mmhm.* Anyway! That's what's going on here! So Mac is in a bath!
34:21 Eamon: And he's singing! And women barge in.
Kyle: This is--this is great!
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: Also like, they're teach--they have to teach him how to bathe..!
Keith: Right!
Kyle: And it's like just, comedy ensues!
*Eamon: Yeah!*
Keith: Yeah, it's--no, this is a great scene! I guess the, the uh, Japanese custom would be you would bathe outside of the bath. Like you would scrub yourself down, and then get in the bath to soak, so you're not soaking in like, dirty water. *laughs* *Eamon laughs*
Kyle: Makes sense to me! This is where your cl--your quote from the beginning of this episode comes from!
Keith: Oh, it is? *laughing*
Kyle: Hahah she's like, he's like, "Well this is--" She's like, "This is not how the Japanese bathe!" and he's like, "Well this is a Scottish body!" *Keith and Eamon laugh* Um, and there's also some great line about how he--he does so know how to bathe! He bathes once a month!
Eamon: Yeah! Hahah!
Kyle: It's great!
Eamon: I like how outraged he is. *laughter* It's really funny.
35:05 Keith: So, then, after this uh, Mac gets dressed in a robe, which he really is digging. He's like, "I could get used to this!" And she... I guess is feeding him like lunch or whatever, and it's a meal of sushi! Uh, which Mac has never had. So again, comedy ensues as the barbarian tries to use chopsticks, which is really funny... uh, he eats raw octopus--*Eamon: Mmhm!*--which is NOT raw octopus at all, it's cooked! Uh, raw octopus is rough, man, that is chewy! Uh...
Eamon: Chewbacca...
Kyle: *MacLeod accent* "It looks like raw octopus!" And he eats it! *whisper* "It IS raw octopus."
Keith: He makes a good face! No, this is like good stuff! When Adrian Pau--I... the fact that Adrian Paul was not funnier--and it's not because of him, it's because of the script, like... *Eamon: Yeah.* That Season One, he was so stoic, like, Adrian Paul is legitimately like, I think he's got pretty good comedic timing, most of the time. Like... he's good, physically, he's... like... he makes goofy faces..! *laughing*
Eamon: Yeah!
Keith: The mark of any good actor! Makes goofy faces!
Eamon: Yeah. Goofy faces! Yeah!
Kyle: Yeah! Expert actor! Lots of goofs! *chuckles*
Keith: Yeah! But no, I think he's good in both of these scenes, like--
Eamon: Yeah, he's great!
Keith: He's great at playing like, this "fish out of water" character.
Eamon: Yeah. Hopefully we can see more of this--*Keith: Mmm.*--in his present-day persona.
36:07 Keith: So, Mac is gonna go kind of investigate what's going on. Uh, so he asks Charlie, he's like... he goes to Charlie and he's like, "Charlie, can I ask you like, a big favor? Can you, like, watch Midori?" And I was liKeith: A big favor? Like... Charlie has taken bullets for you. He's been watching the Dojo for six months. It's like--*Eamon makes affirming laugh noise*
Kyle: This is a small favor!
Keith: This is no big deal at all!
Kyle: This is--this is peanuts--*Keith: Right!*--compared to the-the price you've extracted from Charlie!
Eamon: Yeah. Yeah.
Keith: Charlie's been beaten, like, practically to death in The Zone, like for Mac, like, and all this crazy *with Kyle* stuff! Like, "Oh, I gotta ask you this huge favor..." *Eamon laughs.* "Can you just watch this woman?"
Kyle: Which of course, it results in another beating for Charlie! *laughing* As we'll find out! *Eamon: Yeah! Yeah.* So maybe Mac was right to be like, "Hey." *Eamon: Yup!* "I'm gonna ask you a par for the course favor, where you get the shit beaten out of you."
36:50 Keith: So back onnn Kent's boat, we get an amazing scene of ADR with one of Kent's goons...
Eamon: This is... this guy's voice... *laughter* *Kyle with Eamon* Oh, yeah.
Keith: Uh, and this voice..! Who is this voice? Obviously they're not credited, at ALL. *Eamon: Yeah.* Like, we've heard this guy's ADR before, and I can't figure out what other character this is...
Eamon: Is this the cop-guy? D-Darius?!
Keith: That's who I thought it might be, yeah.
Kyle: This is yeah, D-Darius!
Eamon: Darius!
Kyle: Let's get back in the car now. *laughter*
Eamon: Very strange ADR doubling.
Keith: Yeah. Uh, but this scene--also, just as a comment to the whole episode like... I dunno if it's just cuz it's the very first episode in the season, so they had maybe some extra time... I feel like the editing in this episode is like, spot on. *Eamon: Yeah.* Like, if the pacing is really nice, like, they--there's actually like, a fair..., I would say a fair amount more edits in this episode than there are most of the time. It just feels really good. And then we get this bizarre zoom in to like a... a water tank? Like an oil-thing?
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Yeah! What is this?
Keith: With some sound effects? My only guess is... do you think there was another flashback planned...?
Kyle: And that was the dissolve into it?
Keith: And that was the dissolve, like to the ocean, or something. *Eamon: Yeah. Maybe!* Because it's very strange. It zooms in on this thing, and then just zooms out! And I was like, this is a David Lynch movie! 37:58 *laughter* Like we're just... we're just ***** a random objects!
Kyle: We're just zooming in on things!
Eamon: Wh--I like, liked this, and also... like, I thought this was like really thematic and kind of cool, but then I'm also like... but if we're like, actually taking apart what this is, it's like... somebody like... looking at a-a--like, prop that they bought from like, Office Depot. *Keith laughs* It's like, something that's going back and forth, and it just has like... blue... water in it...
Keith: Blue goo, yeah.
Kyle: Blue goo and it like, yeah, gotta get that blue goo!
Eamon: But I kind of liked it. It was like, kind of ominous, they play like--*Keith: Yeah!*--ocean noise. It could be just like, somebody watching that bird that like, dips down into like--*Keith laughs*
Kyle: Little mercury birds?
Eamon: --the water? Yeah.
Keith: No, I agree! The ocean sounds, it does feel very ominous. *Eamon: Yeah.* It gives some great mood to the scene, but it's utterly strange, yeah!
Eamon: And then when MacLeod walks into the room, like... it takes its time a little bit, and he like comes in from the shadows--*Keith: Yeah!*--and it's like... this episode in general is just a little bit more, like... I don't want to--thematic? Or something? *Keith: Yeah! It is!* In its editing? It works, but it's kind of silly at the same time.
Keith: It's funny you bring that up! In my notes, at this point, I just have--At this point I am realizing this is absolutely the best Highlander episode we've seen, right? I think!
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Yes.
Eamon: I think so.
Keith: It's been years since I've seen this episode, and it's always been a top. But it's like wow, like! *Eamon: Yeah.* Halfway through the episode it's clear that this is, like--
Kyle: Just th--just the overall quality and mood is so much higher. *Keith then Eamon: Yeah.* Like, it just feels like such a... almost an order of magnitude, a more polished piece--*Keith: Mmhm!*--compared to some of the episodes that have come before it, and... unfortunately also compared to some that will come after.
Eamon: Yeah, come... yeah. Yeah.
Kyle: Y'know. Just like, it really shows the... the level of refinement that this show can hit.
Keith: Right. So--
Eamon: It's funny you say that--Keith, I just wanna say, like... I watch this at home, and I have roommates who occasionally, they have to watch a Highlander episode with me, and they've seen some of the worst episodes of this show, *Keith laughs* and they're like, "Why do you spend time doing this?" like, *Keith laughs more* after like, watching The Zone. That was one of the ones they had to watch. My one roommate watched this episode with me, and he was like... "This is like, the BEST episode of this show I've ever seen." *Keith: Yeah?* Like, unsolicited comment. So, I, I think that just speaks--*Keith: Definitely.*--to how good this is.
Keith: Yeah.
Kyle: Yeah. And I will also say: The shit Highlander episodes are like half the fun!
Eamon: Yeah! Definitely.
Keith: Oh yeah we have a blast talking about them!
Eamon: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Kyle: Yeah, like, they're... a part of what makes this thing special!
Eamon: Sure!
Keith: Well when people ask us, like, ask... at least me, personally, like, "Why do you like Highlander?" Like, THIS is an episode like, I'm never like... "Oh I like it cuz it's like, cheesy nineties stuff..." I mean like, I guess I can kind of say that now, like, "that holds a special place in my heart." *Eamon: Sure.* But, it's like, this is the real reason--*Kyle: Yeah.*--I think Highlander stands the test of time and should, and like, people should like this show; because of stuff like this! Its good stuff!
Kyle: Mmhm!
Eamon: Yea-yeah!
40:40 Keith: So, we actually get a pretty interesting conversation about honor, in this scene, because... Mac explains that he... made a promise to the Kotos, to protect them.
Eamon: Michael's saying like, "Well I'm her husband." Like--
Keith: Right. And MY honor has actually been... damaged...*Eamon: Yeah.* because of this scenario. *Kyle: Yes.* Like, she was cheating on me.
Kyle: She cheated on me, and then she tried to kill me. *Keith: Yeah.* And like, granted I killed him, but like, for HIM that's also about HIS honor.
Keith: Yeah.
Eamon: Uhm!
Keith: So this is good stuff! It's getting a LITTLE complicated here.
Kyle: And it's... it's also just good cuz there's like... it is just... I think this is why they focused, just thinking about like, thematically, and symbolically, why they focus on that little ocean office max thing. Cuz it's like a... an oil and water--*Keith: Oh yeah!*--thing, it's like a... an imperfect mixing, and it's like... these charac--it's followed immediately by this interaction, where there's... there is no reconciling these two. *Keith: Right.* And that's--and the--the way the conversation ends is amazing. *Eamon: Yeah.* Mac's just like, look. If you're gonna go after her, I'm going to kill you. *Keith: Yeah.* And that is it, like... We're done here. *Keith: Yeah.* Your--your move. *Keith: Yeah!* And it's... it's awesome!
Eamon: Yeah. That's a good insight about the... the office max toy. I like that! *Keith laughs*
Kyle: It's like... I don't know. I was really trying to think of why--cuz I wrote that down too, it's like "What is this thing?"
Eamon: I think you're--I think you're right. I think that might be what it is.
Kyle: I think that's like the... the little symbol they tried working into it. I do also agree though, I think there was supposed to be a flashback there. *laughter* Uh, um... but anyway. This conversation's like, great. And I think this taps into something... that is a common criticism that we raise..? That this episode does better, but I think could be even better still? Which is just to say "This guy's not THAT evil." He's definitely evil--*Eamon: Right.*--they make him evil--*Keith: Yeah...* But he is... in the way he deals with Mac, he is less evil than a lot of the people we see--*Keith: Yeah.*--him interact with. And this conversation's like very rational. *Keith: Mmhm.* They have different interests. And I wish un--frankly, I wish this guy was LESS evil--*Keith: Yeah!*--than they presented him being. Like, make this be purely a dispute about, like, honor... and just like a difference of opinion, and like, difference of priority that leads them into conflict. But like they... they do extra things to make him sleazier and like scummier--*Keith: Yeah...*--so you feel about him getting... you know.
Keith: Well I think they--I think they're... they have to he... it's this weird balance they have to--cuz, you're right. That is a common criticism we bring up about this show, is that like, they don't let the bad guys be like, gray enough. Like they're always like, super-evil. Cuz he obviously is like, up to no good. Well, he's like a misogynist, he's like--he's gross. *Kyle: Yeah!* He also has goons, for some reason--*Eamon: Yeah.*--it's like that can't be--
Kyle: Good guys don't have goons!
Keith: --there's no goons!
Eamon: *amused* Right. "Good guys don't have goons."
Keith: They have CREWS!
Eamon: I like that.
Kyle: *laughing* Yeah! They crew up!
Keith: Yeah, they crew up! They don't goon-up!
Eamon: That'd be a good T-Shirt! *laughter* *together* "Good guys don't have goons!"
43:16 Keith: But I think, wrapped up in this, is they also have this problem with infidelity, in the episode. So if they make him an okay guy... Like, I feel like we--we give a little sympathy to Midori for... cheating on him, because... Akira seems like a nice guy, he's complimenting her, like whereas like... Kent does not compliment her at all.
Kyle: No, he possesses her.
Keith: Right. Yeah. He possesses her--*Eamon: Yeah.*--where Akira, he seems to lover her, and he's affectionate towards her... and so it's liKeith: Oh, we understand. Like, her husband is garbage, so she has found this man that does legitimately love her. So, for me it's like, I kind of sympathize more with her, and I don't cast her infidelity as villainous in any way? Uh... "The cheating wife!" Like that--that term in the I--
Kyle: It's like the shit they always do in rom-coms.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Right!
Kyle: Like, they always inevitably break up with the person they're NOT in quotes: not supposed to be with. So they have to make that person like an inconsolable asshole, so that like, you can celebrate the breakup, as opposed to, like, mourning the fact that... *Keith: Yeah...* you know somebody's gonna be really hurt by it.
Keith: So I think that's a little bit in play here, is that he's bad, so we're okay with her cheating on him.
Eamon: Well... Like, they kind of HAVE to make him a murderer, in this instance, I think because if Mac kills him... then Mac's just a monster. Like... killing her husband, just for being, like, a misogynist... *Keith: *laughing* Right!* isn't okay. But if like--
Kyle: Being a misogynist is bad, but like, it's not a murder-worthy offense. *laughing*
Eamon: Right. But like, this guy being a murderer, makes it kind of okay... for Mac to chop this guy's head off--*Keith: Yeah.*--but... they do kind of have to amp it up. If he was abusive, that's a different story. That might kind of put it back into maybe it's not-so-bad, that--*Keith: Yeah.*--well I don't know.
Keith: It's tricky.
Eamon: Yeah. Also when it's--
Kyle: We should come back to this at the end! Cuz I have more thoughts. *Keith: Oh yeah.* *Eamon: Yeah.* Cuz like... this is a great episode... I'm convinced it could be... 20% better.
Eamon: MmmMm!
Kyle: Yeah.
45:06 Keith: We're in!
Kyle: Like, I'm carving that position out now, based on some of the things we've said--
Keith: There's definitely good stuff to talk about--
Kyle: We'll cy--we will cycle back!
Eamon: Before we leave the yacht, I wanted to say two things.
Keith: Yes?
Eamon: Before he makes the goons leave, he says "Wait. Don't go that way, go out the back way." And I'm like, they're on a boat! *Keith and Kyle laugh*
Kyle: They should just dive into the water!
Eamon: *laughing* Yeah, that's what I was thinking! Do they have to like, swim away?
Kyle: *laughing* Get into a dinghy!
Eamon: And the other thing is, he says that the gym--the dojo--is on the EAST side of Seacouver. So I'm like oh! There's an east side... of Seacouver?
Keith: I guess so!
Eamon: And then uh, when he says they have a dojo, Michael Kent's just like, *sinister voice* "A dojo? Excellent!" *Keith and Kyle laugh* And I'm like... why is that excellent? Like... *Kurgan voice?* "Ah yes, a dojo. Mmmm."
Keith: Maybe he wants to possess the dojo!
Eamon: I guess!
45:55 Keith: *****gonna kill*****to possess the dojo.
Eamon: I thought that was weird!
Kyle: And that how he gets all of his real estate.
Eamon: And that's how talented this actor is. Cuz he just says that... POORLY written line, and it's like, Oooh, I'm getting the chills! *laughter for a bit*
Kyle: Yeah! Y'know, I didn't stop like... I think it's just because of his deliber--delivery? *Eamon: Yeah!* I did not actually stop to think about like, how silly that is in a vacuum, but he like, sells it somehow.
Eamon: Yeah! He's amazing! He's great.
Kyle: Yeah! Nothing but kudos for the performances in this episode.
Eamon: Yeah. Yeah. Outstanding.
Click to viewDuncan: When you found me on the beach, I was not breathing. You thought I was dead.
Hideo: I made a mistake.
Duncan: No, you did not. I had been in the water for days. *silence* I am immortal. You have... know the difference between a dead man and a live one. *moment* On my honor, I am not lying to you!
Hideo: *after long silence* You are truly...
Duncan: Aye.
Hideo: Are many gaijin immortal?
Duncan: No. But some of your people are.
Hideo: Amazing.
Duncan: So what’s your answer?
Hideo: I say no!
Duncan: Why?! You love life, you love your children!
Hideo: *gravely* You cannot save honor... with a lie.
1:25 Keith: It’s a Scottish body! *Kyle laughs louder than Eamon* Welcome to Highlander Rewatched, the podcast where each and every week we talk about another facet of the Highlander universe! I’m one of your Rewatchers. I’m Keith!
This is Kyle.
This is Eamon.
Keith: And welcome to our inaugural episode of the THIRD season of Highlander: The Series!
Eamon: That’s right.
Kyle: For the record, you do NOT have a Scottish body.
Keith: That is... that is true.
Eamon: You do have a Scottish buddy!
Keith: Who’s that?
Eamon: Uh, Duncan MacLeod!
Keith: Duncan Macleod, he’s all our.,,
Eamon: He’s all of our Scottish buddy!
Kyle: For a second I thought you meant YOU!
Keith: Yeah, I was like, are YOU Scottish?
Eamon: I am part Scottish, I found out.
2:00 Keith: Uh, so, welcome to the third season of Highlander Rewatched! We just finished up a four-part series talking about Highlander 2: The Quickening...
Kyle: I was damned proud of how concise we made that. Only four episodes about that thing.
Eamon: Yeah. Yeah.
Keith: Yeah! It could have gone on forever!
Kyle: It could have gone on for seven! Like our first movie--
Eamon: Some people were disappointed. *Kyle laughs* And some people--well, some people were disappointed because we didn’t go for seven episodes, and some people were disappointed because we did four! *Keith laughs* Mainly Vince. *They laugh*
Keith: Thanks, Vince!
Kyle: Thanks Vince!
Keith: But we’re f--yeah! For Vince, we’re here, at The Samurai! You’ve been clamoring for this for like, three months! *Eamon: Yeah!* Because it’s actually been a while since we’ve talked about the series, cuz we wrapped up--
Kyle: It’s been SO long!
Keith: --our Series Two podcasts at the end of November, and then we did uh, a bunch of podcasts from the ill-fated Lashcon Convention. Those were fun.
Kyle: Ill-fated is a very polite way to put it.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Uh, but there’s a lot of fun stuff we got to do there--*Eamon: Sure!*--and talked to the Sword Masters, and amazing fans, all that sort of good stuff.
Kyle: There was some good podcasting adjacent to a dumpster fire. 3:00 *****
Keith: And then we did Highlander Two, which took, obviously, a month to do. So now we’re back into the thick of things with Highlander Season Three, one of my... it might be my personal favorite season.
Kyle: Yeah. I mean also, just HOLY shit this season gets good.
Keith: Oh Yeah. This is what we’ve been waiting for.
Kyle: This is like a major benchmark in this series.
Keith: Yeah. Uh but, before we get into this, there’s a couple other things that we want to talk about. Uh, there’s a new Highlander Convention coming up this year, in October! And of course Highlander Rewatched will be uh, one of the places you can find out more information about it. Uh, so we’re gonna be releasing information as it becomes available to us. Uh, but just stay tuned to our Facebook page and the Highlander WorldWide Facebook page, for all the convention details, which is gonna be in L.A. this year. And I think there’s gonna be a lot of really great guests, and events, and it’s gonna be a three-day long convention, full of stuff to do! So it’s gonna be really cool!
Eamon: Nice!
Keith: We’re excited about it.
Eamon: La La Land!
Keith: That’s right! The winner of th-up, sorry!
Eamon: Uh-oh!
3:58 Kyle: ***** Y-hi!
Keith: And also, Eamon, do you wanna talk about another brand new Highlander thing that came out recently?
Eamon: Yeah! So um, I put this on the Facebook page, but a new Highlander comic book is out. It’s gonna be a four issue limited series, I believe. It’s called Highlander: The American Dream.
Kyle: What is that name about?
Eamon: I don’t know.
Kyle: Also, I just wanna note that the cover has a mountain of skulls on it--*Eamon: Yep!*--so is this like a real indictment of capitalism? *Eamon: haha...* Is that what this book’s about?
Eamon: Well let me talk about this cover for one second. This is by--
4:26 Keith: One of *****illion covers for this book!
Eamon: Yeah. This cover’s by Francesco Francavilla, who’s actually a really good comic book artist; I like him a lot. But this is a... a re-used cover. And this was for a mondo-like Steelbook special edition DVD of the movie. So I guess IDW just like, bought this image... or was given this image? A little disappointing, though, that they didn’t really get a new *clears throat, no implications, just clearing through* piece of artwork done for the cover. I think they have one new cover. Umm..
Keith: Yeah, there’s--I’m not sure which artwork is for... which cover... *Eamon: Yeah.* They released a couple covers, I feel like--*Eamon: Yeah.* I’ve seen on the Internet, there’s like a bunch of these floating out there. I’m not sure which one’s for which--
Eamon: Yeah, I don’t know which is the real one. Um, but this is an IDW comic. It’s written by Brian Ruckley, with art by Andrea Mutti, and colors by Vladimir Popov. Um, so this is out, you can buy it now, on comic stands um... Go out and pick it up and give it a read and... You know, we’re gonna be talking about it, in the future.
Keith: Yeah. We don’t wanna talk about it this episode. We’re gonna dedicate a full episode to all four issues. So rather than talk about them all separately, uh, once the series of four is complete, tune into us and we’re gonna have a special bonus episode about our thoughts on the four issues!
Eamon: Yeah! And I just wanna say real quick about that, um... Like, for these types of comics, if you have a local comic book store and they’re not carrying it, you can actually ask them to order it for you. Most comic shops will do this. That’s kind of how comics are sold. Most of them are sold because you go up to the, you know, the cashier and request them to special order something for you. So don’t be scared, go up there and order it and uh--
Kyle: *cackling* Don’t be scared by that nerd behind the counter wearing a Black Lantern shirt!
Eamon: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, exactly! Like it’s uh, it’s relatively common, if you don’t see this on the stands, um, and there’s a pretty good website you can find. I think it’s called www.comicshoplocator.com, If you don’t know where your local comic book store is. And this is also available digitally.
Keith: Yeah, I was just gonna ask, yeah is it digital?
Eamon: Yeah, uh... if you go to comixology.com, you can get it pretty easily. So uh, yeah. Good stuff.
6:25 Keith: Cool! So we’ve got one item in the mailbag... actually, we have a bunch of items in the mailbag!
Kyle: We have a LOT in the in the mailbag! It’s like Christmas!
Keith: Um, but we’re gonna be tackling that in a special bonus episode, which is coming out later in the week where we uh, answer a bunch of reader-mail about Highlander 2. So we’re saving that since we have so much! But we have a little Christmas present here from one of our fans! Anyway, if you guys wanna open up this little package we got here? And this is from Misty C, from Yakima, Washington!
Eamon: Oooh!
Kyle: Oh my!
Keith: What d’we got there, Kyle?
Eamon: OOOH!
Kyle: We have a VERY old school-looking well-worn Highlander Catalogue! Super exciting!
Keith: Awesome, we cannot wait--
Eamon: This is sweet!
Keith: Yeah, we can't wait to talk about this, awe, it's got some really good stuff in it. So, we've been reading from, what, the 1999 and 2000 catalog as well as the pamphlet that we-er, like a brochure-thing--*Eamon: Yeah!*-- it's like a poster! So anyway, this is a catalog we did not have in our collection, and Misty was nice enough to contact us, and she was like "Do you guys want this?" and it's like of course! So thank you so much and thanks for listening to the podcast, and if anyone out there has any cool, like, Highlander memorabilia or catalogs or kind of just weird thing like this, let us know and either send it to us, or take pictures and, y'know, contribute 'cuz we're looking forward to making this part of our show! So thank you very much, Misty!
Eamon: Yeah! Thank you!
Kyle: Yeah! This is super-cool! Woohoo!
Keith: It's in the mail bag!
Eamon: *sings* Maaaail baaag!
Keith: Alright. Are we ready to talk about Episode One, Season Three...?
Eamon: Yeah!
7:50 Keith: So! This is The Samurai! It aired September 6th, 1994! It's on a Tuesday! As usual, I love to look up what days these episodes aired. *Eamon: Wow!* It's on a Tuesday this time.
Eamon: Has it been consistent, like, what days these things are coming out?
Keith: Uh... listen to our NEXT episode to find out! *Eamon and Kyle laugh*
Eamon: "No", I'm guessing is the answer to that.
Keith: You'll have to fff--you'll have to wait and see!
Eamon: I'll have to wait and see. That's right.
Keith: It could be the same!
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: It would be amazing if it WAS the same. *Eamon laughs* Building that suspense--
Eamon: Surprise! *Keith laughs* Stay tuned, Listener! The answers gonna get us some repeat listens!
Kyle: The answer is yes. "Listener!"
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: ONE listener will stay tuned FOR that reason.
8:23 So, the director for this episode was Dennis Berry! Uh, of course we've seen him recently, do Counterfeit Part II? *Eamon: Yeah!* Um, Prodigal Son, Pharaoh's Daughter--
Eamon: The Vampire.
Keith: Oh! The Vampire! The VamPYR!
Eamon: Vampyr...
Kyle: Mostly good episodes!
Keith: Mostly good episodes. Yeah!
Kyle: Pharaoh's Daughter rrrrhhnn. But. *Eamon laughs*
Keith: H-he-he he tends to deliver. On these episodes.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: They're always... well directed.
Kyle: There's some high-quality selections in there.
Keith: The writer of this was Naomi Jensen! Uh, she is... the woman that wrote, uh, Gentle Ben 2, The Gentling... *Eamon and Kyle chuckle* Remember her?
Eamon: Gentler Ben.
Keith and Kyle: "Gentler Ben!"
8:54 Keith: Uh, but she also wrote Studies in Light, and...
Eamon: Run For Your Life.
Keith: Run For Your Life!
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Which were two very good episodes!
Kyle: Yeah!
Keith: Yeah. And this is, I believe--
Kyle: *a voice* Eh, she's a woman, you know what I mean, Richie? *Laughter*
Keith: Uh, I think--
Eamon: Hot dogs!
Keith: I think this is the last episode she wrote. I think.
Eamon: Awe!
Kyle: Awe, shit.
Keith: Which is a bummer. Before she did Gentler Ben.
Eamon: Goin' out on a high note!
Keith: Yeah!
Eamon: Yeah.
9:16 Keith: Absolutely. This episode guest starts Tamlin Tomita! As Midori Koto. Uh, and she's in the new Teen Wolf. Uh, she's been in Law & Order, and tons of other stuff. But I think she might be most well known for, and it was her very first thing, was she is the female lead in Karate Kid II.
Eamon: Oh, really?
Kyle: Oh!
Keith: Yeah!
Eamon: Wow!
Kyle: That's the one with the drum, right? The secret move in that one is punching someone--
Keith: Just punching them over and over
Kyle: -- over again in the face.
Keith: Yeah!
Kyle: Kind of like a drum. *laughter*
Eamon: Wow!
Kyle: I love special moves in anything; that is the laziest special move I've ever seen. 9:48 *****d'you like that--
Keith: I li--I like--I like Karate Kid 2 a lot, actually.
Kyle: I still like that movie. It's just like--
Eamon: Is that the one like, where they're IN Japan? *Kyle and Keith: Yes!* And there's like a storm or something?
Keith: Yeah.
Eamon: I watched that on... in a bar, with no sound. *wheezelaugh*
Kyle: What?!
Eamon: That's how I saw that movie.
Keith: Wow!
Kyle: You see a lot of movies in bars!
Eamon: I drink a lot! *laughing*
Keith: Was that also the first time you saw like, Highlander *with Kyle* Endgame?! *without Kyle* Or something like that?
Eamon: Yes!
Keith: That was a bit--
Eamon: I saw Highlander Endgame for the first time in the *****Kyber Pass Club in Philadelphia, with no sound on.
Keith: I remember you were texting me--
Eamon: Yeah!
Keith: --while you were watching it.
Eamon: I looked up and I saw Christopher Lambert AND Adrian Paul on the screen at the same time, and I was like, "Oh my GOD!" *laughter* As I was drinking expensive beers.
Kyle: Yeah. *****Kyber's good, man.
Eamon: It's great! I love it! The Kyber Pass Club, in Philadelphia!
Kyle: Why are we giving these ads away? *low chuckles*
Eamon: I don't know!
10:35 Keith: Uh, this episode also stars Steven McAddy as Michael Kent! Uh, he's in tons and tons and tons of stuff.
Eamon: He's in so much shit!
Keith: He was in Watchmen, 300, uh... He was the voice of Shade in--The Shade--in uh... *with Eamon*--Justice League.
Kyle: Yeah!
Keith: But he's been in tons of TV. Beauty and the Beast, the old 1989 one?
Eamon: *sings* Beauty and the beast...
Keith: That's right.
Eamon: He was uh... Elaine's psychiatrist boyfriend--
Keith: Oh that's right!
Eamon: --on Seinfeld. And I was like, where do I know this guy from?! And that's where I chiefly remember him from.
Keith: He's good!
Eamon: Yeah, he's really good.
Keith: Yeah, he's good. Um--
Eamon: Very ominous.
Keith: And then of course Robert Ito stars in this episode. And he's back! 'Cuz we've already seen him as Johnny Leong *Kyle: Yeah.*--in Revenge of the Sword. Uh, so this is another one of those classic incidences where they decide to cast one of the stars of an episode as the st--a completely different character--*Eamon: Yeah.*--in another episode! *Eamon: Yeah.* Although this is a... a much better role.
Eamon: Oh, definintely.
Kyle: Oh, yeah.
Keith: Yeah.
Eamon: He... he's really well-suited for this role. *Keith: Yeah.* And... I didn't quite buy him as Johnny Leung in... The Revenge of the Sword episode.
Keith: Yeah.
Kyle: Because he was a shitty character. *laughter*
Keith: Yeah. In like a kind of forgettable episode.
Eamon: I just want to say about this guy: Every cartoon I watched as a kid, this guy did a voice on. This was... like, he was on Animaniacs, Batman the Animated Series, Darkwing Duck, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Tailspin, uh, Ed Grimly *****, Chuck Norris Karate Commandos, The Real Ghostbusters, Gargoyles, SWAT Cats--*Kyle: Shit!*--Superman, Avatar: The Last Airbender... which was more recent. But like, every cartoon I watched--*Keith: Yeah!*--HE did a voice in! *Keith: Wow!* Which is kind of nuts! And I'm also a big nerd who watches a lot of cartoons. But...
Keith: *laughing* Uh, very good. And then finally Hiro Kanagawa as Akira. The uh, the lover, in this. Uh, he was on Heroes, Caprica, and... I remember him as the principal of Smallville!
Eamon: Woa!
Kyle: Oh!
Keith: Like in the high school, he was the principal.
Kyle: How 'bout that!
Keith: So he was in like a bunch of episodes of that.
Eamon: And you guys were ON an episode of Smallville.
Kyle: We were in the Special Features of...
Keith: *laughing* On a bonus disc!
Eamon: Oh. Okay.
Kyle: And anything where they talked to us was cut out.
Eamon: Ah.
Kyle: It's just like a still of us in a diner. And Keith looks very intimidated by a hamburger! *Keith and Eamon laugh* He's like looking at it like it's gonna bite him! *laughs*
Eamon: Is that why they cut it?
Keith: Yeah, that's it. *more chuckling* I think our stories were too raw, man!
Kyle: Yeah!
12:43 Keith: Anyway, it's time for one of our favorite segments!
Eamon: Oooh!
Keith: The IMDb episode description!
Kyle: Yes yes yes!
Keith: Alright guys, this episode is about... "A cheating wife flees her husband when he kills her lover! She turns to Duncan for help. She shows him an old spyscope. Duncan recalls when he last saw the spyscope--"
Kyle: *laughing* "Spyscope!"
Keith: "--and how he got his katana. Duncan soon discovers... her husband is immortal." *laughter*
Eamon: What? That's--
Keith: Ew!
Kyle: I love the use of the phrase--repeated use of the phrase--*Keith: Spyglass* "spyscope". *Keith: Spyscope!* Though spyglass would make sense. SpySCOPE?
Keith: *delicate pitch to voice* "Duncan recalls the last time he saw the spyscope..." What?! *chuckles*
Eamon: That's a weird... like, also, I like that they describe her as a "cheating wife". *someone laughs* I mean, that IS what she does--*Kyle: Accurate!*--but it just sounds like...
Keith: Yeah, it sounds really bleh--
Eamon: Negative?
Keith: Yeah.
Kyle: I mean it's not good...
Eamon: No. Cheating wife!
Keith: Yeah! *laughing*
13:35 Keith: Alright guys, let's hop in to this episode! We should start with the opening credits! Philip Aiken is BACK!
Kyle and Eamon: Yeah!
Keith: No more m--no more Maurice!
Kyle: I was so--I got so pumped when the theme came on--
Keith: I know!
Kyle: I w--like, it had been a minute and I was like, YESSSS! Here we are!
Eamon: Born to be kings?
Kyle: I'm not sure about that. *laughter* Uh...
Keith: So this episode opens, uh, with like a sh--like I guess we're in like Tokyo or something, in some Japanese--
Kyle: In modern Japan, somewhere.
Keith: Yeah. Modern Japan.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: And it zooms in on like a hotel room. And two people are--
Kyle: I assumed this was their UGLY home. It's like really... their apartment is like--
Keith: Oh, I guess it's an apartment!
Kyle: --nice in like, a really shitty 90s way, with like pink carpet--*Eamon: Yeah.* I was like, if this place cost a lot of money, and is very *****.
Keith: Lots of like, vertical blinds 'n stuff like?
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: And they have like, a black leather bed awkwardly in the middle of the room, it's weird!
Eamon: It's tacky! Is what it is.
Keith: Yes. Yeah.
Eamon: Tacky. All--
Kyle: It's so you know the villain lives there.
Eamon: Yeah. Also there's like, vaguely offensive music in the background, like... like...
Keith: Like all the Koto Drums?
Eamon: Yeah it's like, not... it was like weird like, kind of... "This music is to let you know you're in Tokyo" type music!
Keith: Right! *Eamon laughs* These two people I guess have just got done...
Kyle: They were just making coffee.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Yeah. They were just making coffee together in bed.
Eamon: *sings* Making coffee!
Keith: Uh, and so it's our... heroine, Midori, and her lover Akira.
Eamon: Mmhm. Yep.
Keith: I dunno. He's fawning all over her; she I guess, seems to be feeling guilty. She does not want his... compliments.
Eamon: Yeah. "You never let me compliment you!" *Keith: Yeah!* "Maybe I don't deserve compliments."
Kyle: She's got a raspy voice!
Eamon: Yeah! That's what she said--that was a clip we played.
Kyle: It's from drinking all that Midori.
Keith: So...
Kyle: Isn't that like a melon liquor?
Keith: Yes!
Eamon: Mmhm.
Keith: It's like green.
Kyle: Gross.
Keith: Uh, Kent--Michael Kent calls on the phone. It's her husband. And he's like "Oh, I was headed to the airport, I left my briefcla--briefclase?--briefcase in the closet, so I'm coming back for it." So... I guess she tells Akira like, get your shit together, you gotta get out of here.
Kyle: Cheeseit!
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: So he goes to leave, and I guess then she checks the closet and realizes the briefcase isn't there.
Eamon: That's right!
Keith: And then she gets suspicious, because she's liKeith: Uh-oh! He's like, up to... some... no-good!
*****15:43 Kyle: *Akbar voice* "It's a trap!"
Keith: Right. It's a trap.
Kyle: It is a trap.
Keith: So two goons grab Akira in the hallway.
Kyle: Yeah, these two white guys grab him, and like drag him down to the parking garage. And we get another look at this guy, Kent. He's like kind of a... he's got an intimidating face!
Eamon: Oh yeah!
Keith: Yeah, yeah!
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: He's got a real kind of like craggy face. My notes refer to him repeatedly as Casanova Frankenstein, cuz I couldn't remember his real name. *laughing with Eamon*
Eamon: I just refer to him in my notes as "hubby".
Kyle: Hubby! Yeah!
Keith: Hubby! *Eamon laughs* Uh, so he pulls out a sword--*Eamon: Yeah.*--and it turns out he has a Muramasa blade, as well. *Eamon: Mmhm.* As we'll find out cuz Duncan, it turns out, has the same sort of sword. Which I think is important-- *Eamon: Yeah!*--but doesn't really get explored.
Eamon: From the 16th Century...!
Keith: Right! And so he talks about how this--they would test the blades--
Kyle: It's kind of badass! He gives like a ba--very scary description of this thing.
Eamon: It's awesome! Yeah.
Kyle: Do you wanna play it?
Keith: Yeah, let's play this clip, cuz it's pretty rad.
16:33 Michael Kent: This... is an authentic Samurai katana. (Eamon: Japanese sword!) Made by the great master Muramasa in the 16th Century. Thirty-thousand repetitions of pounding and folding to make this blade. You know, they used to test the blade by lining up condemned men, to see how many it would cut through in one... stroke. This one did five. It's recorded, under here. Truly... a labor of love.
(Kyle: Something bad's about to happen to Akira.)
Akira: I was going to talk to you!
(Keith: And his wife Midori has come downstairs to see this.)
Michael: Talk to me. You should have talked to me before you started screwing my wife.
(Eamon: Oooh.)
(Kyle: My wife!)
(Eamon: He's gearing up for the swing, and he's outta here!)
Akira screams.
17:26 Eamon: Pretty cool!
Keith: Yeah. *laughs*
Eamon: He's a good bad guy.
Keith: Yeah!
Kyle: Yeah. That was super-intimidating--*Keith: Yeah.*--and like, his voice is great, he's got an intimidating presence; he's very tall.
Keith: Yeah. Big guy. Uh, so Midori's in shock, and I guess she runs back up to the apartment and... Michael ends up back up there as well, to confront her about this whole thing. Uh, so she's like "I knew there wasn't a briefcase," and like, so he calls her out, like "I killed your lover." And then he gets like, fucking gross! And he's like, "Make love to me NOW!"
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: He's like, "You can never leave me! Never! Make love to me." *weak laugh*
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: I just have like a bunch of sad faces after that. It's like, oh this guy's very rapey.
Keith: Midori ts... decides to stab Kent in the back, while--
Eamon: Yeah. She has like a sword hidden, or a knife hidden, uh...
Keith: Yeah. Uh, I think the music in this scene is like, really great like, it's really like... all these, like, kind of cranking sounds, and... uh... I dunno. I think the music in this whole episode actually is... pretty top-notch.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: It's really cool the... the Koto drums that are playing and, it's got a lot of energy to it. It's good stuff!
Eamon: Yeah I like... the drums a lot remind me of the um, Akira soundtrack, the anime movie--*Keith: Fitting.*--because that has a lot of those drums in--in that as well.
Keith: Yeah. All right. So now we cut, and we're back into the gym.
Eamon: The gym!
Keith: Which, I'm super-pumped to see Charlie.
Eamon: The Dojo.
Kyle: It does feel like Charlie just burst into somebody's apartment and everyone was like, "Oh, Charlie!" *laughter* But my notes are just like, "Awe! It's so good to see Charlie again!"
Keith: I know.
Kyle: Like, I don't know what it is, I love this guy. Like--
Keith: Him and Mac, crush it! Every time they're on screen together.
Kyle: Yep! Their chemistry is so much better than th--like the average chemistry between... Richie and Mac, that like--*Eamon: Yeah.*--I don't know. They just like... they work... ff--Clay Aikin just like... Clay Aikin.
Keith: Clay Aikin?! Philip Aken!
Kyle: Philip Aken!
Eamon: Clay Aiken. *amused*
Kyle: J-HAHAH! I find... just, like... his presence onscreen is just like, kind of really warm. I dunno. He's great.
Keith: Yeah! And a lot of the times on this show we talked about the like, the bromance between Charlie, and Mac, and so... I think we gotta play this clip, because... I don't know if anyone noticed this line...
Eamon: Oh God. Yeah.
19:31 Charlie: MacLeod? You son of a bitch! [DM laughs.] Take five, Jenny. [goes to DM] Welcome back. Good to see you.
DM - Good to be back, Charlie.
Charlie - Yeah, well, you're looking pretty good. (Eamon: Oooh!)
DM - Yeah, you, too. I thought the doctor said to take it easy.
Charlie - Well, he also said, uh, all the parts work.
19:54 Eamon, Kyle laugh. Kyle: He gets so...!
Keith: That is so screwed up!
Eamon: *amused* That's really flirty. Like--
Keith: And they are like, looking each other up and down! And they're like s--
Eamon: They are gonna go upstairs and fuck, right now! *all chuckling* *****20:06 And just also's like "You son of a bitch!" *laughter*
Kyle: Oh.
Eamon: Predator!
Keith: So, Mac has been gone in Paris, for like six months, this is the first time they've seen each other in a long time, and so Charlie is like, "You've got a visitor, like, waiting for you in your office." And so I was like, "Hold on... one second! Like, how did this all work out?" And it's Midori who's come to visit him. *Eamon: Yeah.* So, at this point in the scene, the logic of it is one: this woman shows up, and obviously has talked to Charlie. And she said she's there to see Mac. So two: Charlie must have said something like, "Oh, well he's in Paris, and he's not around." And then she was like, "You know what? I think I'm just gonna wait in his office and wait for him." *Eamon laughs* Like, why is she... WHY is she still there?!
Kyle: Well maybe Mac... maybe Charlie knew he was coming back...
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Ohhhh!
Kyle: It's like, this is the first time they've SEEN each other, but he knew he'd be back today. Or like, would be dropping by.
Eamon: That makes sense.
Keith: MAYbe...?
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: No, that makes sense. Cuz otherwise it makes zero goddamn sense. *laughter*
Keith: Right!
Eamon: I'll just wait in his office!
Keith: That's the way I was reading it!
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: Yeah!
Keith: She's just gonna chill out.
Kyle: Path of least resistance!
Eamon: Yeah. Well, she has nothing else to do.
Kyle: Humans sometimes communicate their plans to each other before they appear randomly.
Eamon: No they don't.
Kyle: Sometimes. Every once in a while. Actually, this entire recording session, was like spontaneously put together. *Eamon: Yeah!* We all just happened to show up at this place at this time, and there just so happened to be recording equipment set up, so like fuck it! We also just so happened to see these episodes of Highlander, so let's go!
Eamon: That's right!
Keith: There we go! Alright!
Eamon: By chance!
Keith: Hah! So, Mac and Midori go upstairs, and they're talking in his loft. Mac's making some tea instead of some coffee, which is good. So he's... making tea to impress, obviously, cuz if he made coffee, she'd bounce.
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Yeah! It's like, you're not good at this! Or he's very good at it. *chuckles*
Eamon: Oh I just wanted to say, the first time he sees Midori, he has like a weird flashback to a woman in a kimono--
Keith: Oh that's right!
Eamon: --for like, just a second.
Keith: Yeah. Mac is wondering why she is there, and she hands him a telescope.
Eamon: Mmhm! Or a spy-glens, or whatever.
Keith: Or a spy--
Kyle: A spyscope!
Eamon: Spyglass.
Keith: A spyscope!
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: Spyglass is what i--is a real thing! That is a word for this. Spyscope is...
Eamon: Spyscope is an item you can get in Syphon Filter!
Kyle: *laughs* Really?
Eamon: Nah I don't know. *they laugh*
Kyle: I used to play those games. I love those!
Eamon: They're good!
22:15 Keith: So, Mac says this spyscope *amused* represents a promise made to the Koto family over two-hundred years ago, that the Kotos could always come to the MacLeods when they needed help. So we get a flashback...
Eamon: Japan, 1778?
Keith: Yeah! We get a title card! Which is nice.
Eamon: Yeah! Which seems to be a trend in this season?
Keith: Yeah! Which is very good.
Eamon: Yeah. But uh, Mac is washed up on the beach, along with some boat bits.
22:37 Kyle: **** gotta get those boat bits boat bits!
Keith: Some boat bits!
Kyle: I'd like boat bits on my salad.
Eamon: Yeah. Mmm!
22:43 Keith: Robert Ito... Koto...
Eamon: Yeah. Hideo Koto.
Keith: ...comes over, and he finds Mac, and it looks like he's dead. *Eamon: Yeah.* He, like, rolls him over. And then a bunch of like... samurais or... these goons show up--
Kyle: Yeah. They're like Samurai or just 22:54 *****warriors.
Eamon: Yeah they're like, samurai, or something.
Keith: They start fighting Robert Ito--
Eamon: For some reason.
Keith: *laughing* For some reason! *Eamon: Yeah!* I don't know what's going on! Uh, but then uh, I guess Mac is revived, presumably because he got turned over--*Eamon: Yeah.*--uh, by Robert Ito. So he's not drowned anymore.
Eamon: I guess, yeah!
Keith: And then uh, he kind of helps Robert Ito. Uh, the choreography--
Kyle: Though Robert Ito does most of the work! *Eamon: Yeah!* They almost like, play up, at this point, how kind of like clumsy Duncan is...*Keith: Yes!* Like, he's like tripping in the water... like, his like, footwork is all lousy--*Keith: Yeah.*--But like, you know, he still holds his own. But they, they're definitely teasing that he's got a lot to learn.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: This is like the big turning point for Mac in general in the whole series, I'd say--
Kyle: Like the arc of his character.
Keith: Cuz he's a pretty stoic character... in the present day. Uh, especially like in Season One we saw him as like--*Kyle: Outlandishly--* *Eamon: Yeah!*--un-un-uncomfortably stoic. Uh, but this is kind of him becoming, kind of, grown up, so--
Kyle: This was transition from Barbarian Duncan--*Keith: Right.*--which he's referred to as barbarian multiple times in this, which I find very satisfying. But uh--
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Right! *laughing*
Kyle: Like the transition from Barbarian Duncan to Modern Duncan.
23:57 Keith: Yeah. Hideo chops Mac's sword in half, at some point.
Eamon: Mmhm!
Kyle: Which is awesome!
Kyle: Which is awesome, and it's I guess to show how great his sword is and how crummy Mac's sword is.
Eamon: Yeah. We should also mention Hidea's sword is Duncan's sword.
Keith: Yes. This is the dragon-head katana.
Eamon: Interesting!
Keith: Mmmmm!
24:15 🎶 Princes of the Universe! 🎶
Kyle: Hey Keith! Have you heard about the amazing promotion that we're running?
Keith: Uh, you mean the one about starting Season Three?
Kyle: Yeah! That one!
Keith: What's the promotion?
Kyle: As a special gift for our--starting our Season Three, you can get THIRTY percent off... on our sweet, sweet Highlander magnets!
Keith: That's a number that's starts with three! Like the season!
Kyle: Hey... oh, what a thematic pairing! If you haven't seen them yet: Keith, what kind of amazing magnets can you get from us?
Keith: We have an awesome five-piece magnet collectibles set, done by resident artist, Eamon, featuring five of the characters from the Highlander television show! We've got Duncan MacLeod, Amanda, Joe, Methos of course--who we're meeting in Season Three, woo!--and a very special Highlands Warrior Duncan uh, which is really cool.
Kyle: They're all rad! By checking out these magnets, you're not only supporting this podcast, you're supporting local artwork and your favorite Rewatchers! So... you know, keep this fandom alive; support these magnets; and get thirty percent off while you're at it!
Keith: Yeah! Thirty percent! And this is a limited time offer. This deal is only running for two weeks! So, make sure to head over to our Facebook page... and again, this deal is only available on our Facebook page... Thirty percent off, for these two weeks! Uh, so click on the "Shop Now" button, and pick up your magnet set today, and display your fandom in style!
🎶 Princes of the Universe! 🎶
25:38 Keith: So! Then we cut back to the present. Midori's like, "Oh, that promise was made by your ancestor like, two hundred years ago," and Mac is like, "Time doesn't, like, weaken a vow," or whatever. Unless you're a...
Eamon: A murderer?
Keith: *laughing* A murderer, in uh... what'sis... Drakov in Warmonger, cuz then fuck you!
Eamon: Oh, yeah.
Kyle: Then time does weaken it.
Eamon: That is a great point that I didn't think about.
Kyle: Yeah!
Keith: Right!
Kyle: I was thinking about that a lot, especially because she's like... she comes right out and tells... him what she did, like... *Eamon: Yeah.* "Oh, like... I am a killer." *laughs*
Keith: Yup!
Eamon: Right. Interesting. Hmm...
Kyle: And Mac's like, "Okay. That's fine."
Eamon: "Yeah, it's okay. Whatever."
Kyle: That's right. It's okay.
26:15 Keith: Going downstairs, I guess Mac tells Charlie that he's gotta hop off to Japan to help Midori out with this whole situation... uh, there's a weird bit of ADR dialogue, cuz Mac is like, "Oh, I'm heading off to the Land of the Rising Su--" Did you notice this? Like, *Eamon makes a noise* for some reason they had to re-record this dialogue. And I was trying to think what could it have been, and... my only guess is it's "the land of rice and..." something else, and they thought that was not appropriate. *Eamon hoots in disbelief*
Kyle: WHAT?!
Keith: I can't figure out what the other thing would be. I can't figure out why it's ADRed. Unless there was just some weird problem with the audio.
Eamon: Yeah, maybe.
Kyle: It's probably that. *Keith: Yeah.* Cuz why would they say that?
Keith: It's so stra--! I had to watch it like, four times, and I was like, why is this ADRed? Like it seems out of place. But--
Eamon: That's weird.
Keith: *laughing* Yeah! I also just want to mention, there's a lot of like, touching with Mac and Charlie, during this, like when they're like, he's like, "Can you watch after the Dojo?" And they're like--they're constantly touching each other. I'm just like, they... if they were married, I'd be like, "Sure. That's wh--that's what this is." *Kyle laughs*
Eamon: Maybe they were! Maybe they were.
27:08 Keith: So! Eamon, what happens next?
Eamon: Uh, Midori's going to her hotel room, I guess, to get her shit. And then, who appears?! But dead husband! Michael-whatever-his-name-is!
Kyle: Kemp?
Keith: Kent!
Kyle: Kent. Not Kemp.
Eamon: Michael Kent. *Kyle laughs*
Kyle: Yeah! He is alive! And we find out now that he is immortal! Mac gets the Buzz, and it's like "Uh-oh!"
Keith: Right.
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Of course she's like, suitably freaked out. *Eamon: Yeah.* Cuz she's quite confident that she killed him.
Keith: I was a little confused at first. Did anyone think this was IN Japan?
Eamon: I did!
Keith: I did, too.
Kyle: It took me a second to--it wasn't until like, much later, he comes back and sees Charlie, and Charlie's "I thought you were going to Japan!"
Keith: Right.
Eamon: Yeah. Yeah.
Keith: Like I thought she was headed back up to that apartment that she normally stayed at, or whatever, yeah.
Eamon: Yeah, that's what I thought it was, too. *Kyle: Yeah.* I was--I was pretty confused. Um...
Keith: Apparently--I was looking at the script. There's like a bit of cut dialogue that was supposed to be here that would've clarified it. I guess when Mac is waiting in the lobby, he's on a payphone--*Eamon: Aah!*--and he's ordering the tickets to Japan. *Eamon: Mmm!* So that woulda let us know where we are. But yeah, I just assumed we were in Japan at this point.
Eamon: Yup! Kent sees them together and he does kind of like a... Batman-disappear-thing--*Keith: Right!*--which is kind of cool.
Kyle: Cuz he throws a smoke pellet!
28:13 Keith: Yup! *****
Eamon: After Commissioner Gordon asks him a question!
Kyle: Yeah! *Batman voice* "Harvey Dent! Can... he be trusted?" *Eamon chuckles*
28:23 Keith: So, uh... I guess, back at Mac's place, Midori ca--she's like, "I know I killed him!" and she--he makes up some sort of... excuse. Like, "Well you probably just missed a vital or--"
Eamon: Missed a vital organ. Yeah.
Keith: --organ or something, but Mac of course knows what's up.
Eamon: There's some... Japanese saying for that that I didn't write down.
Kyle: Did anyone look this up? Oni--
Keith: Oni-tata!
Eamon: Oni-tata!
Keith: Which means "Big demon"!
Eamon: Mmm!
Kyle: What?
Keith: That's what I--that's what my research found!
Eamon: "Big... demon."
Kyle: I wrote "Oni-datta."
Eamon: Oni-datta.
Keith: I wrote Oni Tata!
Kyle: I got nothin'.
Keith: One means big demon, the onther means big omelet! *Eamon laughs* That's not true at all.
Kyle: Your ancestors would have said "Huge omelet, bro!"
28:57 Keith: So, uh... then we cut to Kent's yacht! Uh, which I guess is in Seacouver? And we find out later that he, like, keeps a boat there.
Eamon: Yeah. Okay.
Keith: Like, that's... that's the thing.
Eamon: He wants to find everything out about MacLeod! *Keith: Right! This is wh--* How much he's worth! Dodedodedee!
Keith: What he had for breakfast! *Eamon: Yeah!* Who he had breakfast with! He should call up what's-her-name from the European Tribune--
Kyle: Oh, yeah! *Eamon laughs*
29:18 *****Kyle's words buried under Keith's may be some of same words.
Keith: Cuz she knows who everyone's had breakfast with, and what they're eating 'n all that stuff!
Eamon: Just reminded me of The Sea Witch, like!
Keith: Yeah it does!
Kyle: *Russian accent* It's called *with Eamon* the Sea Witch.
Keith: This is one of the first uh--or I mean, I guess there's been some others, but uh... one of the first Immortals that we've met that doesn't know who Mac is. At all.
Eamon: Yeah! That's a good question.
Keith: I mean, most of them are like, "Oh, the Highlander!" *Eamon: Yes.* But this guy's like, "I don't know what his deal is. Find out what the skinny is."
Eamon and Kyle: Yeah.
Kyle: This is like, just a chance encounter.
Keith: Yeah. Yeah they've got no beef, ahead of time.
Eamon: Kobe Beef.
29:45 Keith: Uh, so we get some clarification from Midori on her situation with Kent back in Mac's loft. Uh, she explains that I guess, her family was like, losing money or the business was... *Eamon: Mmhm.* Oh and I guess they were also gonna buil--they wanted to tear down the family shrine...
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Right. They were gonna lose the land and the shrine would be... taken down, but Kent ste--is obviously very wealthy. He stepped in to like, lend them a whole lot of money, that they weren't gonna be able to pay back, so she married into his family.
Keith: Right. Yeah. And so Mac is like, "Money has nothing to do with honor." Interesting. We'll talk more about this... down the road.
Kyle: And she's like, "Doesn't it?" Like, "They were gonna desss--" She's like, "Doesn't it? They were gonna like, destroy my family's legacy, if we didn't have the money."
Keith: Right.
Eamon: Yeah.
30:25 Keith: So we get another flashback! This is an odd transition, by the way! *chuckles as speaks* Like, there's a cutout of her body that it like, zooms in on--
Kyle: Zooms in on? Yeah, it's odd.
Keith: They've never done a transition quite like this--*Eamon: Yeah.* So I don't like, hate it or anything, but--*Eamon: It's strange.*--it's now--it's interesting. It's not par for the course, I guess.
Eamon: But Mac is sparring with Hideo... in some... I guess it's ka-ra-te... I don't know.
Keith: Yeah.
Kyle: I don't know. But it's... like, it's so delightful seeing the table turned! Like, I just kept thinking about, like, the Richie montage--*Keith: Yeah!*--in Eye For An Eye, where he's getting like, the crap kicked out of him by Mac! "Get down! C'mon!" *Eamon: Yeah!* And just like, Mac getting just, like, housed! *Eamon: Yup!* And he's like, he thought he was gonna teach him something by showing him the noble art of boxing! *chuckling*
Keith: Right! Yeah! That's really funny! Also like a side note about like, the flashbacks in general. Like, all the flashbacks I think are really great. But, like... I feel like, most of the episodes we've seen in the past that are... the Seacouver episodes? They tend to flash back to like, Seacouver. Like, they're always like, American... flashbacks. Or wherever Seacouver is. Um, I think this gives like a great scope to this episode. That like the flashbacks--even though it's filmed at some--on some beach in Vancouver, like it--it does--I'm like, I buy that this is Japan. So it gives this big like global expanse to this episode, and even like, they just throw in some like, shitty stock-footage of Tokyo in the beginning, like... This episode does feel bigger, I think, than--
Kyle: Definitely.
Keith: --uh, which is really nice. I think. *Eamon: Yeah.* Success.
Kyle: This is like... this is quality.
Keith: Yeah. So, good training sequence, um--
Kyle: Yeah. Mac just gets like, housed, and is not holding his own.
Keith: And a woman is kind of--watching from afar, that catches Mac's eye. *Eamon: Mmhm.* And her name is...
Eamon: It's Maia.
Keith: Maia! That's right!
Eamon: Is that... really a Japanese name?
Keith: It's spelled M-A-I-A.
Eamon: Like, I know "Mai" is a Japanese name. *Keith: Hmm.* I don't know if "Maia" is. I meant to look that up and then I forgot to.
Keith: It might be!
Eamon: Yeah. I dunno.
32:07 Keith: *laughs* So, then we get some more training and, uh, Hideo is showing Mac how to like, swing his sword properly?
Kyle: Yeah, to properly use the katana. I love that he's like, *Mac's accent* "Is this swordplay or poetry?" *laughing*
Eamon and Keith: Yeah. Both.
Keith: Yeah! This is good stuff!
Eamon: It's also revealed that Mac can never leave Hideo's, um, home base here.
Keith: Right. Because I guess the, uh, the Emperor--or not emperor, the lord of the land--
Eamon: Shogun!
Keith: This is the Shogun. Has, like, forbidden all barbarians! *Kyle: Yes.* So if he leaves, he will be caught and killed.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Bad news!
Eamon: Yeah. Hahah.
Kyle: Well it was like historically closed--*Eamon: Mmhmm.*--until like, American ships came 'n were like, "Hey!"
Eamon: Is that Commodore Perry?
Kyle: Yeah. It's like, "Hey! We will blow up your country if you don't start trading with us!"
Eamon: Right! Yep! Hm.
Kyle: Okay. Like, whoops!
Keith: Yeah.
Eamon: The set here is particularly beautiful. Like, they're on like, water and there's this weird bridge...*Keith: Yeah!* It's really good.
Keith: Yeah. It's a good location.
Eamon: As Hideo's talking to Mac, at the very end he just kind of like, adjusts his sword and his like, sword belt... there's an actual name for it that I don't know, but, I thought that was funny. He like, straightens it!
Kyle: That's funny!
Keith: So, I guess Hideo needs to, like, run some errands or shit. And, so he just leaves... he's like, hey, my daughter will take care of you. So! 33:23 We've not mentioned at this point yet that Maia is played by the same actress that plays Midori. How do we feel about that?
Eamon: *moment* Eh... I don't care, that much. It's a little weird, but--
Keith: I actually liked it.
Kyle: I liked it too! It actually explains the weird cut, like, flash he gets--*Eamon: Yeah.*--the first time he sees her. It's like, he's having a memory that's triggered by her... kind of uncanny resemblance to this ancestor that...*Keith: Right.*... she's seen. I think it kind of like helps... kind of like, tie the whole thing together, and explains some of Mac's, like, emotional connection to the whole thing.
Keith: Yeah. I'm into it. I think it works well to just kind of... it's a nice thread through the whole thing. They also pull something, if I remember correctly, like this in Highlander 3. I feel like the...*Eamon: Ohhh.*... love interest in that also plays his love interest...*Eamon: Yeah.*... in a prior life. Which I kind of--I also kind of like that, cuz it's like, it's not about her looking the same, but it's about you getting the same kind of emotional... response from his previous love and his current love. It helps you connect to both a little bit better? *Kyle then Eamon: Mmhm.* Anyway! That's what's going on here! So Mac is in a bath!
34:21 Eamon: And he's singing! And women barge in.
Kyle: This is--this is great!
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: Also like, they're teach--they have to teach him how to bathe..!
Keith: Right!
Kyle: And it's like just, comedy ensues!
*Eamon: Yeah!*
Keith: Yeah, it's--no, this is a great scene! I guess the, the uh, Japanese custom would be you would bathe outside of the bath. Like you would scrub yourself down, and then get in the bath to soak, so you're not soaking in like, dirty water. *laughs* *Eamon laughs*
Kyle: Makes sense to me! This is where your cl--your quote from the beginning of this episode comes from!
Keith: Oh, it is? *laughing*
Kyle: Hahah she's like, he's like, "Well this is--" She's like, "This is not how the Japanese bathe!" and he's like, "Well this is a Scottish body!" *Keith and Eamon laugh* Um, and there's also some great line about how he--he does so know how to bathe! He bathes once a month!
Eamon: Yeah! Hahah!
Kyle: It's great!
Eamon: I like how outraged he is. *laughter* It's really funny.
35:05 Keith: So, then, after this uh, Mac gets dressed in a robe, which he really is digging. He's like, "I could get used to this!" And she... I guess is feeding him like lunch or whatever, and it's a meal of sushi! Uh, which Mac has never had. So again, comedy ensues as the barbarian tries to use chopsticks, which is really funny... uh, he eats raw octopus--*Eamon: Mmhm!*--which is NOT raw octopus at all, it's cooked! Uh, raw octopus is rough, man, that is chewy! Uh...
Eamon: Chewbacca...
Kyle: *MacLeod accent* "It looks like raw octopus!" And he eats it! *whisper* "It IS raw octopus."
Keith: He makes a good face! No, this is like good stuff! When Adrian Pau--I... the fact that Adrian Paul was not funnier--and it's not because of him, it's because of the script, like... *Eamon: Yeah.* That Season One, he was so stoic, like, Adrian Paul is legitimately like, I think he's got pretty good comedic timing, most of the time. Like... he's good, physically, he's... like... he makes goofy faces..! *laughing*
Eamon: Yeah!
Keith: The mark of any good actor! Makes goofy faces!
Eamon: Yeah. Goofy faces! Yeah!
Kyle: Yeah! Expert actor! Lots of goofs! *chuckles*
Keith: Yeah! But no, I think he's good in both of these scenes, like--
Eamon: Yeah, he's great!
Keith: He's great at playing like, this "fish out of water" character.
Eamon: Yeah. Hopefully we can see more of this--*Keith: Mmm.*--in his present-day persona.
36:07 Keith: So, Mac is gonna go kind of investigate what's going on. Uh, so he asks Charlie, he's like... he goes to Charlie and he's like, "Charlie, can I ask you like, a big favor? Can you, like, watch Midori?" And I was liKeith: A big favor? Like... Charlie has taken bullets for you. He's been watching the Dojo for six months. It's like--*Eamon makes affirming laugh noise*
Kyle: This is a small favor!
Keith: This is no big deal at all!
Kyle: This is--this is peanuts--*Keith: Right!*--compared to the-the price you've extracted from Charlie!
Eamon: Yeah. Yeah.
Keith: Charlie's been beaten, like, practically to death in The Zone, like for Mac, like, and all this crazy *with Kyle* stuff! Like, "Oh, I gotta ask you this huge favor..." *Eamon laughs.* "Can you just watch this woman?"
Kyle: Which of course, it results in another beating for Charlie! *laughing* As we'll find out! *Eamon: Yeah! Yeah.* So maybe Mac was right to be like, "Hey." *Eamon: Yup!* "I'm gonna ask you a par for the course favor, where you get the shit beaten out of you."
36:50 Keith: So back onnn Kent's boat, we get an amazing scene of ADR with one of Kent's goons...
Eamon: This is... this guy's voice... *laughter* *Kyle with Eamon* Oh, yeah.
Keith: Uh, and this voice..! Who is this voice? Obviously they're not credited, at ALL. *Eamon: Yeah.* Like, we've heard this guy's ADR before, and I can't figure out what other character this is...
Eamon: Is this the cop-guy? D-Darius?!
Keith: That's who I thought it might be, yeah.
Kyle: This is yeah, D-Darius!
Eamon: Darius!
Kyle: Let's get back in the car now. *laughter*
Eamon: Very strange ADR doubling.
Keith: Yeah. Uh, but this scene--also, just as a comment to the whole episode like... I dunno if it's just cuz it's the very first episode in the season, so they had maybe some extra time... I feel like the editing in this episode is like, spot on. *Eamon: Yeah.* Like, if the pacing is really nice, like, they--there's actually like, a fair..., I would say a fair amount more edits in this episode than there are most of the time. It just feels really good. And then we get this bizarre zoom in to like a... a water tank? Like an oil-thing?
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Yeah! What is this?
Keith: With some sound effects? My only guess is... do you think there was another flashback planned...?
Kyle: And that was the dissolve into it?
Keith: And that was the dissolve, like to the ocean, or something. *Eamon: Yeah. Maybe!* Because it's very strange. It zooms in on this thing, and then just zooms out! And I was like, this is a David Lynch movie! 37:58 *laughter* Like we're just... we're just ***** a random objects!
Kyle: We're just zooming in on things!
Eamon: Wh--I like, liked this, and also... like, I thought this was like really thematic and kind of cool, but then I'm also like... but if we're like, actually taking apart what this is, it's like... somebody like... looking at a-a--like, prop that they bought from like, Office Depot. *Keith laughs* It's like, something that's going back and forth, and it just has like... blue... water in it...
Keith: Blue goo, yeah.
Kyle: Blue goo and it like, yeah, gotta get that blue goo!
Eamon: But I kind of liked it. It was like, kind of ominous, they play like--*Keith: Yeah!*--ocean noise. It could be just like, somebody watching that bird that like, dips down into like--*Keith laughs*
Kyle: Little mercury birds?
Eamon: --the water? Yeah.
Keith: No, I agree! The ocean sounds, it does feel very ominous. *Eamon: Yeah.* It gives some great mood to the scene, but it's utterly strange, yeah!
Eamon: And then when MacLeod walks into the room, like... it takes its time a little bit, and he like comes in from the shadows--*Keith: Yeah!*--and it's like... this episode in general is just a little bit more, like... I don't want to--thematic? Or something? *Keith: Yeah! It is!* In its editing? It works, but it's kind of silly at the same time.
Keith: It's funny you bring that up! In my notes, at this point, I just have--At this point I am realizing this is absolutely the best Highlander episode we've seen, right? I think!
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Yes.
Eamon: I think so.
Keith: It's been years since I've seen this episode, and it's always been a top. But it's like wow, like! *Eamon: Yeah.* Halfway through the episode it's clear that this is, like--
Kyle: Just th--just the overall quality and mood is so much higher. *Keith then Eamon: Yeah.* Like, it just feels like such a... almost an order of magnitude, a more polished piece--*Keith: Mmhm!*--compared to some of the episodes that have come before it, and... unfortunately also compared to some that will come after.
Eamon: Yeah, come... yeah. Yeah.
Kyle: Y'know. Just like, it really shows the... the level of refinement that this show can hit.
Keith: Right. So--
Eamon: It's funny you say that--Keith, I just wanna say, like... I watch this at home, and I have roommates who occasionally, they have to watch a Highlander episode with me, and they've seen some of the worst episodes of this show, *Keith laughs* and they're like, "Why do you spend time doing this?" like, *Keith laughs more* after like, watching The Zone. That was one of the ones they had to watch. My one roommate watched this episode with me, and he was like... "This is like, the BEST episode of this show I've ever seen." *Keith: Yeah?* Like, unsolicited comment. So, I, I think that just speaks--*Keith: Definitely.*--to how good this is.
Keith: Yeah.
Kyle: Yeah. And I will also say: The shit Highlander episodes are like half the fun!
Eamon: Yeah! Definitely.
Keith: Oh yeah we have a blast talking about them!
Eamon: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Kyle: Yeah, like, they're... a part of what makes this thing special!
Eamon: Sure!
Keith: Well when people ask us, like, ask... at least me, personally, like, "Why do you like Highlander?" Like, THIS is an episode like, I'm never like... "Oh I like it cuz it's like, cheesy nineties stuff..." I mean like, I guess I can kind of say that now, like, "that holds a special place in my heart." *Eamon: Sure.* But, it's like, this is the real reason--*Kyle: Yeah.*--I think Highlander stands the test of time and should, and like, people should like this show; because of stuff like this! Its good stuff!
Kyle: Mmhm!
Eamon: Yea-yeah!
40:40 Keith: So, we actually get a pretty interesting conversation about honor, in this scene, because... Mac explains that he... made a promise to the Kotos, to protect them.
Eamon: Michael's saying like, "Well I'm her husband." Like--
Keith: Right. And MY honor has actually been... damaged...*Eamon: Yeah.* because of this scenario. *Kyle: Yes.* Like, she was cheating on me.
Kyle: She cheated on me, and then she tried to kill me. *Keith: Yeah.* And like, granted I killed him, but like, for HIM that's also about HIS honor.
Keith: Yeah.
Eamon: Uhm!
Keith: So this is good stuff! It's getting a LITTLE complicated here.
Kyle: And it's... it's also just good cuz there's like... it is just... I think this is why they focused, just thinking about like, thematically, and symbolically, why they focus on that little ocean office max thing. Cuz it's like a... an oil and water--*Keith: Oh yeah!*--thing, it's like a... an imperfect mixing, and it's like... these charac--it's followed immediately by this interaction, where there's... there is no reconciling these two. *Keith: Right.* And that's--and the--the way the conversation ends is amazing. *Eamon: Yeah.* Mac's just like, look. If you're gonna go after her, I'm going to kill you. *Keith: Yeah.* And that is it, like... We're done here. *Keith: Yeah.* Your--your move. *Keith: Yeah!* And it's... it's awesome!
Eamon: Yeah. That's a good insight about the... the office max toy. I like that! *Keith laughs*
Kyle: It's like... I don't know. I was really trying to think of why--cuz I wrote that down too, it's like "What is this thing?"
Eamon: I think you're--I think you're right. I think that might be what it is.
Kyle: I think that's like the... the little symbol they tried working into it. I do also agree though, I think there was supposed to be a flashback there. *laughter* Uh, um... but anyway. This conversation's like, great. And I think this taps into something... that is a common criticism that we raise..? That this episode does better, but I think could be even better still? Which is just to say "This guy's not THAT evil." He's definitely evil--*Eamon: Right.*--they make him evil--*Keith: Yeah...* But he is... in the way he deals with Mac, he is less evil than a lot of the people we see--*Keith: Yeah.*--him interact with. And this conversation's like very rational. *Keith: Mmhm.* They have different interests. And I wish un--frankly, I wish this guy was LESS evil--*Keith: Yeah!*--than they presented him being. Like, make this be purely a dispute about, like, honor... and just like a difference of opinion, and like, difference of priority that leads them into conflict. But like they... they do extra things to make him sleazier and like scummier--*Keith: Yeah...*--so you feel about him getting... you know.
Keith: Well I think they--I think they're... they have to he... it's this weird balance they have to--cuz, you're right. That is a common criticism we bring up about this show, is that like, they don't let the bad guys be like, gray enough. Like they're always like, super-evil. Cuz he obviously is like, up to no good. Well, he's like a misogynist, he's like--he's gross. *Kyle: Yeah!* He also has goons, for some reason--*Eamon: Yeah.*--it's like that can't be--
Kyle: Good guys don't have goons!
Keith: --there's no goons!
Eamon: *amused* Right. "Good guys don't have goons."
Keith: They have CREWS!
Eamon: I like that.
Kyle: *laughing* Yeah! They crew up!
Keith: Yeah, they crew up! They don't goon-up!
Eamon: That'd be a good T-Shirt! *laughter* *together* "Good guys don't have goons!"
43:16 Keith: But I think, wrapped up in this, is they also have this problem with infidelity, in the episode. So if they make him an okay guy... Like, I feel like we--we give a little sympathy to Midori for... cheating on him, because... Akira seems like a nice guy, he's complimenting her, like whereas like... Kent does not compliment her at all.
Kyle: No, he possesses her.
Keith: Right. Yeah. He possesses her--*Eamon: Yeah.*--where Akira, he seems to lover her, and he's affectionate towards her... and so it's liKeith: Oh, we understand. Like, her husband is garbage, so she has found this man that does legitimately love her. So, for me it's like, I kind of sympathize more with her, and I don't cast her infidelity as villainous in any way? Uh... "The cheating wife!" Like that--that term in the I--
Kyle: It's like the shit they always do in rom-coms.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Right!
Kyle: Like, they always inevitably break up with the person they're NOT in quotes: not supposed to be with. So they have to make that person like an inconsolable asshole, so that like, you can celebrate the breakup, as opposed to, like, mourning the fact that... *Keith: Yeah...* you know somebody's gonna be really hurt by it.
Keith: So I think that's a little bit in play here, is that he's bad, so we're okay with her cheating on him.
Eamon: Well... Like, they kind of HAVE to make him a murderer, in this instance, I think because if Mac kills him... then Mac's just a monster. Like... killing her husband, just for being, like, a misogynist... *Keith: *laughing* Right!* isn't okay. But if like--
Kyle: Being a misogynist is bad, but like, it's not a murder-worthy offense. *laughing*
Eamon: Right. But like, this guy being a murderer, makes it kind of okay... for Mac to chop this guy's head off--*Keith: Yeah.*--but... they do kind of have to amp it up. If he was abusive, that's a different story. That might kind of put it back into maybe it's not-so-bad, that--*Keith: Yeah.*--well I don't know.
Keith: It's tricky.
Eamon: Yeah. Also when it's--
Kyle: We should come back to this at the end! Cuz I have more thoughts. *Keith: Oh yeah.* *Eamon: Yeah.* Cuz like... this is a great episode... I'm convinced it could be... 20% better.
Eamon: MmmMm!
Kyle: Yeah.
45:06 Keith: We're in!
Kyle: Like, I'm carving that position out now, based on some of the things we've said--
Keith: There's definitely good stuff to talk about--
Kyle: We'll cy--we will cycle back!
Eamon: Before we leave the yacht, I wanted to say two things.
Keith: Yes?
Eamon: Before he makes the goons leave, he says "Wait. Don't go that way, go out the back way." And I'm like, they're on a boat! *Keith and Kyle laugh*
Kyle: They should just dive into the water!
Eamon: *laughing* Yeah, that's what I was thinking! Do they have to like, swim away?
Kyle: *laughing* Get into a dinghy!
Eamon: And the other thing is, he says that the gym--the dojo--is on the EAST side of Seacouver. So I'm like oh! There's an east side... of Seacouver?
Keith: I guess so!
Eamon: And then uh, when he says they have a dojo, Michael Kent's just like, *sinister voice* "A dojo? Excellent!" *Keith and Kyle laugh* And I'm like... why is that excellent? Like... *Kurgan voice?* "Ah yes, a dojo. Mmmm."
Keith: Maybe he wants to possess the dojo!
Eamon: I guess!
45:55 Keith: *****gonna kill*****to possess the dojo.
Eamon: I thought that was weird!
Kyle: And that how he gets all of his real estate.
Eamon: And that's how talented this actor is. Cuz he just says that... POORLY written line, and it's like, Oooh, I'm getting the chills! *laughter for a bit*
Kyle: Yeah! Y'know, I didn't stop like... I think it's just because of his deliber--delivery? *Eamon: Yeah!* I did not actually stop to think about like, how silly that is in a vacuum, but he like, sells it somehow.
Eamon: Yeah! He's amazing! He's great.
Kyle: Yeah! Nothing but kudos for the performances in this episode.
Eamon: Yeah. Yeah. Outstanding.