Highlander
Highlander is the fantasy world that's currently sustaining me through my busy work period, thanks to a rewatch killabeez is running.
I've never actually watched the whole show in order before and there seem to be a few episodes I've never seen at all, which I'm a bit embarrassed to publicly admit. I'm enjoying it so much. There are certainly some not-very-good episodes - so many that when I tried to do a complete in-order rewatch a few summers ago, I gave up - but the gems are fantastic and Duncan is wonderful to look at and listen to almost all the time.
Watching the show the way it was intended has totally changed my view of Richie. I was introduced to the show with season 3-5 episodes as a potential Duncan/Methos fan, and at the time Richie struck me mostly as a character who unfortunately took screen time away from Methos (particularly in "Methos", which is one of the most jarring episodes you could hope to find, with the juxtaposition of the riveting Methos scenes and the lengthy, boring Richie motorcycle racing scenes).
Now I really like him and I'm dreading what's to come. It's going to be a lot worse this time around. He's so game, even when he's completely out of his depth, and genuinely kind (OK, maybe not in "The End of Innocence" when he's so hurt by Duncan almost killing him that he throws himself into playing The Game and ends a 900-year friendship/relationship between a very intriguing odd couple). His dialogue is often fun, starting with the pilot: "Cut off my head? You don't think that's a little extreme for petty theft?" His most annoying habit is his reluctance to believe the truth when he's being conned, but that's not such a bad flaw.
I keep wondering how the Watchers are financed. Who pays all those salaries and bought those big fancy headquarters? Was there an extremely wealthy benefactor centuries ago who set up a trust fund?
Early-show Duncan strikes me as someone with very strong mental health. He says things like "We are what we are" and "Whatever happens, happens" and says he's calm about a certain situation "Because there's nothing I can do about it." He focuses on the positives like the many things he gets to see and do over a long life, not the negatives like losing mortal loved ones, never being able to have children, frequently fighting for his life, and even having to kill people who were his friends in the past. Richie seems to both naturally share Duncan's positive attitude and absorb his teachings.
Tessa had so many traumatic experiences at the hand of various Immortals that it almost struck me as a net positive thing that she was killed. How long could she have gone on like that? I think a person should probably walk away after the second abduction.
Did Tessa have no long-term friends or family who would have noticed that Duncan wasn't aging?
I'm loving being reacquainted with minor characters who haven't crossed my mind in years. My favourite of all is perhaps Damon Case in "The Immortal Cimoli", a strange choice perhaps since he's pretty much a religious fanatic who does nothing but pray and kill other Immortals, but I love his solemnity and his singularity of purpose, sustained through ten centuries!
Joe is another one whose story has much more impact when you watch in order (though his and Duncan's first meeting is great to watch knowing how important they come to be to each other later on). Joe comes close to begging Duncan on several occasions not to cut off their friendship, and he cares so much about it that he left the Watchers and had his tattoo removed on the faint hope that Duncan might speak to him again!
I'm not quite as forgiving of Amanda's foibles as Duncan is, but I've noticed that my "What fresh hell is this?" attitude whenever I get an email from a particularly uninformed and demanding client with that name has been reprogrammed. Now when those emails appear I instead think fondly, "Oh, Amanda!"
I've never actually watched the whole show in order before and there seem to be a few episodes I've never seen at all, which I'm a bit embarrassed to publicly admit. I'm enjoying it so much. There are certainly some not-very-good episodes - so many that when I tried to do a complete in-order rewatch a few summers ago, I gave up - but the gems are fantastic and Duncan is wonderful to look at and listen to almost all the time.
Watching the show the way it was intended has totally changed my view of Richie. I was introduced to the show with season 3-5 episodes as a potential Duncan/Methos fan, and at the time Richie struck me mostly as a character who unfortunately took screen time away from Methos (particularly in "Methos", which is one of the most jarring episodes you could hope to find, with the juxtaposition of the riveting Methos scenes and the lengthy, boring Richie motorcycle racing scenes).
Now I really like him and I'm dreading what's to come. It's going to be a lot worse this time around. He's so game, even when he's completely out of his depth, and genuinely kind (OK, maybe not in "The End of Innocence" when he's so hurt by Duncan almost killing him that he throws himself into playing The Game and ends a 900-year friendship/relationship between a very intriguing odd couple). His dialogue is often fun, starting with the pilot: "Cut off my head? You don't think that's a little extreme for petty theft?" His most annoying habit is his reluctance to believe the truth when he's being conned, but that's not such a bad flaw.
I keep wondering how the Watchers are financed. Who pays all those salaries and bought those big fancy headquarters? Was there an extremely wealthy benefactor centuries ago who set up a trust fund?
Early-show Duncan strikes me as someone with very strong mental health. He says things like "We are what we are" and "Whatever happens, happens" and says he's calm about a certain situation "Because there's nothing I can do about it." He focuses on the positives like the many things he gets to see and do over a long life, not the negatives like losing mortal loved ones, never being able to have children, frequently fighting for his life, and even having to kill people who were his friends in the past. Richie seems to both naturally share Duncan's positive attitude and absorb his teachings.
Tessa had so many traumatic experiences at the hand of various Immortals that it almost struck me as a net positive thing that she was killed. How long could she have gone on like that? I think a person should probably walk away after the second abduction.
Did Tessa have no long-term friends or family who would have noticed that Duncan wasn't aging?
I'm loving being reacquainted with minor characters who haven't crossed my mind in years. My favourite of all is perhaps Damon Case in "The Immortal Cimoli", a strange choice perhaps since he's pretty much a religious fanatic who does nothing but pray and kill other Immortals, but I love his solemnity and his singularity of purpose, sustained through ten centuries!
Joe is another one whose story has much more impact when you watch in order (though his and Duncan's first meeting is great to watch knowing how important they come to be to each other later on). Joe comes close to begging Duncan on several occasions not to cut off their friendship, and he cares so much about it that he left the Watchers and had his tattoo removed on the faint hope that Duncan might speak to him again!
I'm not quite as forgiving of Amanda's foibles as Duncan is, but I've noticed that my "What fresh hell is this?" attitude whenever I get an email from a particularly uninformed and demanding client with that name has been reprogrammed. Now when those emails appear I instead think fondly, "Oh, Amanda!"