HLS4: Chivalry

[ithildyn]

Highlander Season Four

Chivalry, Air Date: December 1995

Nearly 350 years ago, MacLeod was the devoted lover of Kristin Gilles, a beautiful Immortal who taught him to be a gentleman. When he found another love, Kristin refused to let him go, killing his new lover. Now Kristin is sharing her bed with another new Immortal full of potential --

Comments

[macgeorge1]

Well, I'm back from my extended trip west, so I thought I'd respond to this so folks wouldn't think I'd utterly fallen off the face of the earth.

My entire original commentary, with episode descriptions and a lot of discussion is at:
http://www.wordsmiths.net/MacGeorge/episodes/Season4/Chivalry.htm

(Please to be noting that, should one happen to move one's cursor over the screen capture at the beginning, one might notice that the little hand appears. It's not just there so simulate feeling-up Duncan's rather fine posterior.)

My summary comments are: Obviously, this is a terrific episode, as we get so much more exposure to Methos (and to Duncan, for that matter ) than we got in the “Methos” and “Finale” episodes. We don’t really learn a whole lot more detail than we knew before, but we do get a peek under some of the layers of his complex personality, and it is fascinating. Ann Turkel was a powerful presence on screen, and Kristin’s domination of Young!Duncan and Young!Richie was quite believable. Lots of television episodes, when they leave unanswered questions about motivation and character, are frustrating and feel incomplete. That is not the case with this one, even though more questions are raised by Methos’ actions and words than are answered. What they managed to do was leave us satisfied with the story, but eager to learn more and see more of Methos.

I thought Duncan’s inability to kill Kristin had little to do with chivalry. I think it was that Kristin had been his teacher, and teachers held a special place of honor in his mind. And he *had* allowed himself to be kept by her only to fall in love with someone else despite all she had done for him. He felt a sense of debt, of obligation and of guilt for his own less-than-honorable treatment of her. It was about chivalry only in the sense that Duncan couldn’t ignore that lapse in his own behavior, which played directly into Kristin’s own fears and insecurities.

This episode combined all the elements I like best about Highlander. Great visuals (yes, in every sense of the word ), exciting action, snappy dialogue (yes, Methos does get all the great lines), and the exploration of a complex issue that uncovers the cracks and flaws and humanity in what otherwise might be considered heroic characters.

[ithildyn]

This episode combined all the elements I like best about Highlander. Great visuals (yes, in every sense of the word ), exciting action, snappy dialogue (yes, Methos does get all the great lines), and the exploration of a complex issue that uncovers the cracks and flaws and humanity in what otherwise might be considered heroic characters.

Me too :)

Welcome home, BTW. Hope you had a good birthday!

[robi_travels]

Have to agree with all the comments above. This is a great episode because of the return of Methos. Not to mention the nose painting (God I love how is eyes crinkle - does anyone know if that was scripted?)

It is also an intriguing episode. What does a 5,000 year old man really care about? What motivates him? Certainly nothing to date justified him traveling across the US from Paris to tell Duncan Kristen was in town. He could have called. Why be concerned at all? So many whys?

Roberta

[ithildyn]

Because Duncan was an immortal he could trust being friends with. I think Methos was ready for immortal friendship again. When he's been with the Horsemen, yeah, they were bad dudes, but they were also family, and he knew they watch his back. I think Methos missed that sense of companionship.