'Counterfeit'

[ithildin]

Highlander Season Two

Counterfeit One & Two, Air Date: May 1994

Pete Wilder just saved Richie from an attack by some guys wearing Watcher tattoos. Or did he? Nothing is what it seems, and MacLeod becomes increasingly wary of Pete, despite Richie's protests that the guy is his friend. When MacLeod's mistrust gets the possibly innocent Pete killed, Mac becomes increasingly unsure of himself. Unknown to MacLeod, his old enemy Horton is pulling all the strings. Horton is secretly training escaped killer Lisa Halle to go after MacLeod while he's troubled and vulnerable.

Duncan must deal with a woman who is a dead ringer for the deceased Tessa, but must wonder if she's part of some scheme to kill him once and for all. ~ recap via tv.com

And that was Season Two! Thanks so much to everyone who participated -- it was a lot of fun. There's still time to vote in the season three poll, so make your wishes known.

Comments

[pat-t.livejournal.com]

I love this ep. There is so much going on - the return of Alex V. and James Horton is back at his nastiest. Duncan is unbalanced and suddenly unsure of himself. Although his instincts about Pete seem to be right on target.

Trivia: Adrian's brother is in the first scene and the baby we see in the show is Adrian's nephew. Also, I enjoy watching this on the movie version because Adrian is doing the commentary. It's a hoot. And did I mention that Lisa was Mrs. Adrian Paul?

[macgeorge1.livejournal.com]

Counterfeit I: Whew! A lot of stuff happens in this episode, as we see the further development of the relationship between Duncan and Richie when they are deliberately manipulated to take opposing positions. The important aspects of all this are that Duncan and Richie are good friends at the beginning, far more of a big brother/little brother relationship than the father/son that we saw before. Richie still comes to Mac for help whenever there's any hint of trouble, but whenever Mac starts to treat Richie like a kid (which he really only did once when he told him to stay in the car), Richie calls him on it, and Mac relents.

For an episode with a *lot* of short, intense scenes, it hangs together pretty well dramatically and unlike the last episode (Prodigal Son), the small scenes each create an atmosphere and tell a part of the tale that goes beyond just the dialogue being spoken. Horton is the master puppeteer here, and as each aspect of the drama he has choreographed is played out, the nature of his madness and his obsession becomes more clear.

I felt the increasing tension between Duncan and Richie was extremely well done. Richie wanted to trust and believe Pete, but also wanted to trust and believe Duncan. Duncan was acting on instincts and knowledge and experience gained over 400 years, plus a justifiably suspicious nature about serendipitous coincidences.

The flashback was terrific. The atmosphere felt very real, and the younger, more foolish and naive Duncan was true to his character at the time, as it was in his nature to trust and to like people, rather than to be suspicious of them. Warring against that trusting nature now is a hard-learned caution as well as instincts about people's character he has developed over several centuries. All that was very believable.

The killing of Pete was a masterstroke by Horton. Duncan is left doubting his own instincts, questioning his own conclusions, and at the same time a huge wedge of distrust has been driven into his barely-reconstituted relationship with Richie, leaving him isolated in his uncertainty.

Counterfeit II: With the introduction of Methos' character, and all the upheaval in Duncan's life that occurred after Tessa died, it is easy to forget just how much Tessa meant to Duncan. She was truly the great love of his life, and the model for what he considered an ideal woman and an ideal relationship. She was independent, spirited, beautiful, willful and intelligent. She was also someone he could care and provide for, allowing her the freedom to be an artist and be fulfilled in ways she could probably never have achieved if she had lived in a more conventional relationship or had to worry about supporting herself. He felt loved and accepted and was able to love completely and feel fulfilled in his caring for her, since that seems to be a fundamental part of his personality. He feels happiest when he is providing for others, and she allowed him to do that, but never allowed him to dominate her.

We also see a very insecure Duncan in this episode, confused by the possibility that he had utterly misjudged the situation with "Pete", and confounded by the strength of his emotional reaction to Lisa Millon. We watch as he works through that, and it is the primary interest of this episode. That he *had* been successfully manipulated irked him, and we see him at the end, having killed Horton at last, his face rather hard and closed, regretting Lisa's death, but determined not to expose himself emotionally like that again (at least that's my read of it). This is the last episode of Season Two, and it was a powerful one.