Highlander: The Colonel

Amanda: "Did the other guy have a bigger sword or something?"
Duncan: "Don't worry about it. It's just an old war wound acting up."

Immortal grudges are a real bitch.

I liked this one. I particularly liked Duncan's reaction to being locked in that cell with a seventy-year sentence, most of which would take place alone in the dark with tiny cans of liver. He didn't panic, he didn't cry; he just matter-of-factly and almost cheerfully started working on an escape plan. Duncan would have gotten out on his own, eventually. But it was nice that Joe didn't let that happen.

Joe and Duncan are still friends, they care about each other, and what's the point of staying apart? As Amanda said, life is too short. Something that was driven home for Amanda when she was single-white-femaled by her new little mortal friend who was kidnapped in Amanda's place.

Mortals are too fragile, granted, but Duncan nearly died in this episode, too. Immortals may have the opportunity to stay young and hang around for awhile, but they live turbulent, uncertain lives and die violent deaths. And sometimes they spend seventy years in a mental institution developing a perverse appreciation for really large spiders.


— 1918 France. Duncan met Colonel Simon Killian on a battlefield in World War I. Duncan was an ambulance driver, and Killian was so hungry for battle that he kept sacrificing men needlessly after the war was actually over.

— 1918 London. Killian was sentenced to the firing squad for the needless deaths of three hundred soldiers, and as they were dragging him off raving, Duncan got him placed in a hospital for the criminally insane. This was actually similar to what he did to Kincaid in the previous episode.

Bits and pieces:

— Loved the entire opening sequence where Duncan was kidnapped and his kidnappers found him extremely difficult to subdue. Then Duncan deliberately dislocated his shoulder to get out of the straitjacket. Then he got burned in the car fire, too, before diving into the bay. Not a good night for Duncan.

— Also loved how Duncan showed up at the dojo with his burned sweater hanging off him.

— Again, I'm not into clothes, but Amanda looked fabulous in that black dress with the drawstrings or whatever at the bosom. And the black jacket and grey slacks.

— During the start of the quickening, Duncan stood at attention and presented his sword. At the end, he saluted. That was different. He was absorbing Killian's power. Was Killian doing that? How quickenings work has never really been addressed.

— Simon Killian was the twenty-seventh evil immortal with a K/C name. We're getting close to thirty. I always knew there were a lot of evil immortals with K-sounding names, but I've never counted them before I began these reviews. Wow.


Joe: "For thousands of years, the Watchers have lived by one single set of rules. We observe, we record, and we stay the hell out."
Amanda: "Would you give me a break? That is such a guy thing."

Melissa: "Why don't we break into Penneys, or something?"
Amanda: "Because Penneys doesn't have lasers or shatter-proof glass or computerized locks, and what's the fun in that?"

Melissa: "So what did you do before you were a..."
Amanda: "Thief?"
Melissa: "Yeah."
Amanda: "Mostly, I was hungry."
A little insight into Amanda. I think that the producers and writers knew at this point how well she worked as a character, and wanted to make her less, well, criminal.

Killian: "Peace is nothing but a pause between wars." Now he gets to rest in peace. If there's justice in the universe, he'll hate it.

Amanda: "What can I say? There's something about a woman with her hand on a man's wallet that just turns me on."

Melissa: "What do you think?"
Duncan: "I think one of you's enough."

Amanda: "Will you do something for me? Go see Joe. Duncan, life is too short. For him."

Good one. Three out of four stars,


1 comment:

Unknown said...

I always thought that out of all the Immortals that came for Duncan, Killian had the best reason. Duncan got him imprisoned for 70 years. Why not let him be executed and then wait for him to revive and formally challenge him?