HLS5: 'The Valkyrie'

[ithildin]

Highlander Season Five

The Valkyrie
Air Date: Feb. 1997

In 1944, Ingrid Henning had the chance to kill Adolf Hitler and failed. She's been atoning for that failure ever since by killing dictators, tyrants, racists, and fascists who might have the potential to become as dangerous. MacLeod has a chance to stop her before she kills more mortals, but by stopping her, does MacLeod commit the same evil for which he's judged her guilty?
~ recap via TV.com

Next week: Comes a Horseman

Comments

[shadadukal]

A very interesting episode with great Methos scenes. I love the sunglasses. :D And the laugh. *melts*

As the Interpol inspector (that is what the guy was, right?) says, I can understand what Ingrid's doing.
I love what Methos says to Duncan at the end so that Duncan then asks 'who judges me?'.
There are a lot of these things that MacLeod does in the series that make me cringe, immortals he killed that he had no solid reason to IMO and appearing to be a bit trigger-happy (or should that be swing-happy or something like that? :P). In the case of Ingrid, I have difficulties taking a stance either way.

[pat-t.livejournal.com]

I was waiting for someone else to comment *g*.

I adored the Inspector. He was one of the best one-shot characters on the show.

I have to disagree about Duncan though. If anything, he worried and brooded too much about trying to be fair and do the right thing. He was trying so hard not to go after Ingrid even though every thing he knew said he couldn't let it go. It wasn't until she started killing innocent people that he went after her. Even then he gave her a chance to not fight.

It was Methos who I thought acted oddly in this episode. And he actually irritated me just a bit. First he's egging Duncan on to kill her and purposely pushing all his buttons. Why? It made me wonder if Methos knew her personally. ALthough he tells Duncan outside the police station that he got his information from the Watcher records.

I do like that he pretended to be Duncan's lawyer though. And notice that he didn't even change out of his jeans and sweatshirt. Also love that little swagger he gives as he's following Duncan after getting him out of jail.

I actually liked Ingrid. I thought she was a great character even though she did get a bit lost in her goals.

What did I like the most in the episode though?

Those tight jeans!!

[holde-maid.livejournal.com]

I think Methos just egged on Duncan to do what he knew he'd do eventually. Besides, who knew if she wouldn't one day decide after him for - for all we know he might well once have been a small-time dictator. :-P

And yes, the inspector was one of the most well-written and most well-acted roles in the series.

[shadadukal]

Is there something wrong with being the first to comment? :P

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Nope :) It's because Pat is almost always the first to comment [g] I think she was trying to give someone else a shot at first place this time [g]

[macgeorge1.livejournal.com]

Lengthy episode, commentary and outtake descriptions at:
http://www.wordsmiths.net/MacGeorge/episodes/Season5/Valkyrie.htm

My comments: Shades of gray, indeed. This was a beautifully written, extraordinarily well acted and well directed episode, almost a mini-movie in the breadth and depth of its theme, story and characterizations. Breslaw was an absolute wonder of a character, rich and complex and fascinating. Ingrid was well done, and Methos was at his absolute enigmatic, wisecracking best.

There were many great scenes, in addition to the pure storytelling power of the flashbacks. The scene in the bar between Joe and Methos and Duncan was chock-full of intensity (despite the odd and inappropriate presence of some anonymous waiter in the background), as Methos not-so-subtly pushes Duncan to solve his problem with Ingrid by killing her. The impetus behind Methos’ attitude of non-involvement is played out vividly when he expresses the view that no individual can actually effect change in the grand sweep of history. His unwillingness to risk himself to right what Duncan (or others) might perceive as a “wrong” makes sense if you figure that even if you kill Bad Guy A, there will always be another one to take his/her place just so long as the “zeitgeist” is ripe for bad guys. Perhaps that was how he explained his own past to himself – that the times were different, that if he hadn’t been Death on a Horse, someone else would have filled that role, so why not go with the flow?

That’s just speculation, of course, but in addition to all the nuances we learn about Methos, we get Duncan’s guilt and struggle with taking one life to save another terrifically played out. And in the end there are no easy answers, no facile explanations, and that, to me, is the best of Highlander.

[holde-maid.livejournal.com]

Couldn't have said it better. :-)

[pat-t.livejournal.com]

No one says it better. Really, MacG's commentaries are quite remarkable. If you haven't read them, I encourage you to go to her website and take a look.