HLS4: 'Methuselah's Gift'

[ithildin]

Highlander Season Four

Methuselah's Gift, Air Date: April 1996

When masked thugs try to take Amanda's head in her sleep and steal the crystal given to her long ago by Rebecca, Amanda and MacLeod investigate. They discover the crystal may be part of the Methuselah Stone, a mystic talisman said to impart eternal life and invulnerability to the wearer and that the person willing to kill Amanda to get it may be -- Methos?

Next week: Through a Glass, Darkly

Comments

[amberleewriter.livejournal.com]

The thing I found most intriguing about this episode is that it flirts with the source of Immortality. Even the Immortals have no idea why they are the way they are. This story draws legend (which was introduced in a previous episode) and magic back to the fore and shows that Immortals are, in some ways, as clueless and superstitious as their mortal counterparts. The Methuselah Stone is a legend which even Methos lends a certain amount of credence -- enough to leave his dying lover and pursue in the hope of saving her life.

Methos isn't the only Immortal who believes in the possibility of the power of the stone. Luther believed. Amanda seems to believe. Rebecca may have believed. The Watcher who was doing his best to get the rest of the stone together certainly belived -- or at least felt there was little to loose in finding out. The question is, does the legend have any basis in truth and, if so, what does it mean about the possible source of Immortality? Ultimately, that question is not addressed but the issue underlies the entire premise of the episode and continues to rear its head in Highlander over and over again.

Overall, it was an interesting piece of writing which pulled threads from previous episodes together into an interesting stand-alone story. Methos continues to be developed as a character and to change from the somewhat mousey Adam Pierson into a powerful Immortal with complex motivations and even more mysterious ways. What does Methos believe in? He seems cynical and a realist but yet will pursue this strange mystical resolution for Alexa -- just as he pursued a mystical resolution to Duncan's Dark Quickening in "Deliverance." Is it a matter of him thinking there is something to sympathetic magic or has he lived so long that he knows some legends are real? (After all, we find out later that he is a legend himself.) The interaction between Methos and Amanda is also of interest. Amanda seems to have some previous knowledge or experience of Methos and to feel he is far more capable of duplicity and deviousness than Duncan gives him credit for. On the flip side, the meeting between Methos and Duncan in the park where Duncan wants to know if Methos was after Amanda -- and Methos' apparent disappointment and disgust with the fact that Duncan would even think such a thing of him -- was also telling. The complexities of the interrelationships, of who knows whom better, are quite intriguing.

Given later events, this is one of the episodes which rewatches with even deeper layers. Knowing what happens in "Comes a Horseman" and "Rev 6:8" lends far more weight to Amanda's suspicions, makes Methos' search for the stone and actions seem a bit more sinister, and makes Duncan seem somewhat naive in his trust of an Immortal he barely knows. Additionally, Adrian did a wonderful job pulling meaningful, strong performances from the players and (as usual) shot a very visually pretty episode. Solid work all the way around.

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

The thing I found most intriguing about this episode is that it flirts with the source of Immortality.

Something that the episode handled a 100 times better than the The Source.

[amberleewriter.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well, The Source never really addressed the source of immortality (just Immortal baby making) so I'd say an episode of Three's Company would have done a better job than that mess. *growl*

Yeah.

[amonitrate.livejournal.com]

nice analysis.

I like your point about Amanda - I've always felt they knew each other previous to the series - in "Finale" or whatever ep they first appear together, there's no mention of who he is - they seem to know each other. Of course, canon doesn't really address this; but combined with her knowing Methos far better than Duncan does (ie his deviousness) in this episode, I'm convinced.

And the scene between Duncan and Methos that you mention is very powerful, in that it says so much about their relationship in such a minimalist way. Because canonically, they haven't known one another very long at this point; but there has been a great deal between them - most recently the Dark Quickening. So yeah, I can see Methos reacting that way. But I can also see that a)Duncan didn't intend what Methos interpreted and b)ultimately he's worried for both his friends, but Methos only sees his worry for Amanda. Interpret that how you will:)

ps editing comments RULES.

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

I'd heard, back when the show was on the air, that Amanda knowing Methos' name was a continuity error that they didn't catch till it was too late. Later, they decided to go with it, and had actually written some backstory for the two knowing each other previously, but the scene was cut.

[amonitrate.livejournal.com]

awww. I wanna know.

Also, one man's continuity error is another man's fanfic fodder:)

[amberleewriter.livejournal.com]

The Watcher Info implies that Methos and Rebecca were lovers (and, therefore, he had met Amanda in the past). They ended up going with that as an underlying idea but we never got the flashback to prove it. I'd have loved to see them have a Methos and Rebecca episode (or an Amanda and Methos do a caper episode). What fun that would have been!

And yes, the moment in the park is the one I remember from this episode for exactly the reasons mentioned. So much is "said" without a word. It's one of the reasons I continue to enjoy HL episodes all these years later.