HLS3: Finale I

[ithildin]

Highlander Season Three

Finale I, Air Date: May 1995

Amanda accidentally helps Kalas escape from prison by trying to do MacLeod a favor and kill Kalas for him. After an attempt on Maurice's life thwarted by MacLeod, Kalas kidnaps Amanda to use as bait against MacLeod, but Amanda manages to escape.

Meanwhile, Christine Salzer, the widow of a Watcher killed by Kalas (in "Methos") decides to get her revenge on Immortals and Watchers alike by exposing their secret to the media. Dawson and Methos team up to try and talk Christine out of it, but she's determined to take a computer disk with the identities of all known Immortals and Watchers on it to a newspaper publisher. Dawson, desperate, tries to kill her outside the newspaper building, but is stopped by MacLeod and Methos. Christine enters the building and the Immortals and the Watchers know their lives are about to change forever. ~ recap via tv.com

Next week: Finale II

And it's nearly time for season four. So please take a moment to vote for which episodes you'd like to see discussed in the next round.

Comments

[mamabeast.livejournal.com]

THE RED JEANS!!!!!!! the look when Methos walks in the Bardge these eps got me through one of hte roughest weekends of my life, watching them over andover

[macgeorge1.livejournal.com]

Some especially interesting commentary by writers Gillian Horvath and Donna Lettow, episode description and outtake descriptions are at:
http://www.wordsmiths.net/MacGeorge/episodes/Season3/Finale1.htm

My comments: This was a strong episode for many of the reasons Gillian and Donna talked about. Duncan, Methos, Amanda and Joe all explore their relationships in moments of high drama as well as gentle humor. The scene where Amanda tells Duncan about breaking Kalas out of prison is beautifully played by both of them (I love it when Duncan is trying so hard to be calm, then totally loses it because Amanda has obviously hit a hot button); the flashback shows a callow, boastful Duncan learning a hard and painful lesson; the interaction between Joe and Methos is a joy to watch; Amanda’s impetuosity combined with Duncan’s begrudging, sometimes resentful-but-still-affectionate tolerance of her is very entertaining; and the final cliff-hanging scene was both dramatic and poignant.

And Kalas, for all that he is a pretty one-dimensional villain, was played with sublime, oily arrogance and a real charisma in this episode, some of which was missing in his earlier appearances.

But possibly my favorite moment is one where we see one of those unique and compelling Methos “looks” – like the one when he first acknowledges who he is when Duncan calls him by his real name. It is when he comes onto the barge behind Joe, when Duncan isn’t sure who it is. It is a look full of knowing humor, one that acknowledges the presence of another Immortal he is unusually glad to see, since one gets the impression that Methos is not normally happy to see *any* other Immortal. It is a look where we see there there is so much going on behind the eyes, that it is possible to believe that this man has lived a long, long, eventful life.

Is this the end of life as the Immortals and Watchers currently know it? Will Kalas kill any more people Duncan cares about? Holy database, Batman, what are they going to do???

Great drama, excellent acting and fun storytelling.

[mischief5.livejournal.com]

I was going to make a comment on that unique and compelling Methos “look” but then I decided to at least try to be somewhat ladylike (bless my slashy little heart) and move on to other things. *giggle*

What I found most interesting -- other than the above -- was that no one bothered to explain or seemed surprised that Amanda knew Methos by his real name and that he knew her. Just, "Hi, Methos." "Hi, Amanda." And off we go. (Or was that in Part II?)

In any case, no explainations, no surprised "WTF's" by anyone, not even Mac. That certainly leads the viewer to believe they had some sort of shared history and that Amanda knew all along that "Methos" was no myth.

That being said, it gives Amanda's character an added depth in that she didn't tell even the "Boy Scout" about Methos being a real person, presumably to protect his identity from anyone and everyone. Score one for the thief with "no morals".