In the Highlander Worldwide group, we’re rewatching the series, one episode a week. I thought it would be fun to try to review each episode as I rewatch it with the group. Please be aware there are spoilers not just for this episode but the whole series.
No immortal. I’m definitely less fond of the episodes without an immortal in the picture. Duncan went a little darker in this one, which I’m not sure I liked. But Richie standing up for Tessa and Duncan being the moral Boy Scout he is definitely made up for it to me. But I actually like the scenes without Duncan in them more than most of the ones he is in. All that killing seems a bit unnecessary to me.
Bad Day in Building A
First line in the episode:
Tessa: “I can’t believe this. Look at it! I have more than a hundred tickets here.”
Last lines in the episode:
Woman on walkie-talkie: “Medical examiner is on his way up. Did you say six bodies, unit two?”
Woman on walkie-talkie: “Roger that.”
Favorite quote:
Stanley: “I must be lookin’ pretty bad. You’re awful nice to me.”
Things I love:
- The way Tessa says “Nooooo!” when Duncan shows her she has a new parking ticket.
- Duncan coincidentally getting out of the elevator right in the middle of all of the mess and springing into action immediately
- Duncan telling the little girl a story about immortals. Awww.
- Tessa taking advantage of the guards being gone and calling the police
- “You get to that gun before I get to my… this… you kill me, take her, fly away.”
- That smile the little girl and Duncan exchange when her father says “I don’t know who you are, but I owe you.”
Things I dislike or don’t get:
- Where the HECK do you have to park in Seacouver to rack up that many parking tickets, especially parked right outside your own home? If you get a ticket there, wouldn’t you at least move your car before you go?
- Duncan joking about legal matters and Richie’s past. I know it was important to establish Richie’s familiarity with the building, and I get that he can kid around with them, but it seemed unkind the way he said it.
- Why Duncan had to kill the conspirators instead of just restraining them
- Why Richie plows through the middle of the reporters group instead of just going around
- I’m not a huge fan of Randi. The scene with her pacing around killing time before the camera guy comes back is not my cup of tea
- Why is Slade not more freaked out to see Duncan alive?
- Why does Duncan go so dark? Are we supposed to believe that’s some of the worst he’s ever seen? Why is he so shaken up at the end that he has to walk it off? I mean, sure, killing people takes a moral toll, but this certainly wasn’t the first time he was in such circumstances. What’s going through his head? I don’t know, because the writers don’t really tell us. That’s frustrating to me. They learned their lesson in later seasons, always having Duncan talk it out with Amanda or Richie or Joe or Methos at the end when something big happens. But here… why does he go off the deep end and just kill everybody? It’s convenient, sure, because then there are fewer people to claim he was killed and came back to life. And they’re definitely bad guys. But, still… I don’t understand Duncan here and that’s a huge mistake to have the audience not really understand your main character only 6 episodes in.
Things that make me squee:
- Duncan lying with his head in Tessa’s lap and Tessa looking after him. What can I say? I’m a hurt/comfort addict. She knows he’s going to be okay but she and Richie are still concerned about him. Awww.
- Richie being so damn super-protective of everyone like Stanley and Tessa (especially Tessa). He tries to get them out the second he hears what sounds like gunshots. Then, repeatedly, he tries to stand up for her and protect her, and I love it every time. And the way he tells the janitor to not lead them to his daughter is fantastic. I especially love the guys having to hold Richie back when Slade takes Tessa. I can’t get enough of Richie protecting people here. It’s a much better Richie than we got in the last episode.
- The way Tessa goes over the side of the juror box. My god, she is graceful.
- The name “Bryan Slade” makes me think of Velvet Goldmine now, and that makes me very happy indeed.
My Fanvid:
Ten images:
Hey, guys? I know it seems ironic for me to be the one who wants to follow the rules, but maybe parking illegally at the courthouse where we’ve gone to pay tickets for parking illegally is also pretty ironic:
Sleepy Duncan gets a parking ticket:
Tessa and Richie look after unconscious Duncan… and a nice shot of Richie’s rear end:
This would be a lot easier without the power struggle among the good guys:
“Sometimes you just get lucky:”
This isn’t going to end well for Duncan, I can tell that even on this old TV screen:
I know people are being murdered, but “I have to go to the bathroom:”
Richie stands up for Tessa, literally:
Hey, didn’t I kill you a couple scenes ago? What’s up with that? Oh, I’ll just forget that that’s weird and have this honorable “duel” with you instead:
Duncan looking pensive:
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