Thursday, May 15, 2014

Highlander: The Series 2x03 - Turnabout


Quick Highlander episode review. This is kind of a sad episode, but nothing compared to the next one.



Here's the first-ever shot of the place Duncan is going to call home, on and off, for most of the series. Not for a couple more episodes, though.

Here's Charlie DeSalvo, martial arts master and ex-SEAL. Duncan wants to join his martial arts club, but Charlie is kind of snooty.

NOTE: This actor was also in War of the Worlds (the TV series), though I think he only shared one episode with Adrian Paul since he met his demise in Paul's debut episode.

Duncan and Richie can join the school... but only if Duncan bests Charlie in MORTAL KOMBAAAAAT!

DUN DUN DUN DUN DUNUN! DUN DUN DUN DUN DUNUN!

MORTAL KOMBAAAAAAT!!!

Joe Dawson walks in, distracting Duncan long enough for Charlie to hit him with a Rock Bottom.

Duncan still pulls off a win, and our heroes are now members of the school. Why was Charlie such a dick to Duncan? ...unless he makes every new student defeat him before they can join the school. Doesn't seem like a very good business model.

Joe asks Duncan to help solve a string of murders that an immortal named Quentin Barnes is behind. Duncan, who still doesn't remotely like Dawson, says something he should have said through all of Season 1: "I'm not a cop!"

Next thing we know, Duncan encounters his old friend Michael Moore. I remember this actor from 24 Season 5. So, will this guy end up turning on Duncan or getting killed by the villain? Place your bets!

Moore knows this Quentin Barnes guy. Apparently Barnes was electrocuted for all the murders he committed, but since he's immortal, he just popped right out of the ground.

"I knew Barnes wouldn't stay buried for long" says Moore, in a bit of foreshadowing.

As we get a flashback scene, all I can think of is the blooper of this scene. Adrian Paul had a rubber penis sticking out of his pants so that it looked like his zipper was stuck. He said "I need to see the doctor, I have a problem" and the nurse was like "...I see that".

If you haven't seen the bloopers, do yourself a favor and check them out. I'll put the reel up at the end of this post.

"Rubber penis? Oh yeahhhh. Niccce."

Our heroes go to a funeral for a nurse. In the past, Quentin Barnes killed a lot of acquaintances of Michael Moore, seemingly in an effort to stalk him. Duncan and Moore tried to track down the nefarious killer, but they never could.

Next thing we know, a shadowy Barnes murders the priest who oversaw his recent electrocution.

Tessa and Moore go for a walk. This guy is the very definition of "mild mannered nice guy", and it's amazing that he has managed to survive for 150 years. Especially with a serial killer targeting him in the past.

But more importantly than all of that... what's up with Tessa's frazzled hair? Did she get... electrocuted?

......My God. She's Quentin Barnes.

Oh? She isn't? Okay. Meanwhile, Duncan and Joe do a small amount of sleuthing and very quickly figure out that Michael Moore and Quentin Barnes are somehow the same person. He has split personalities, and might not even be aware of this. For all Moore knows, someone keeps killing his friends around him and disappearing.

Meanwhile, Moore has some kind of panic attack when he finds writing on a mirror left by Barnes.

...then he blacks out, turning into Barnes. Is this like a Dark Quickening situation? Except it only "took" halfway for whatever reason. More likely, he was just mentally ill from the get-go.

Richie punches him in the face several times to no effect, then Barnes just knocks him the fuck out. Well, he went from nerdy to super-badass in the course of 30 seconds...

"Michael is dead, Tessa. I killed him."

Being Tessa is pretty much the most dangerous job in television.

Duncan returns just in time. He knows that he'll probably have to kill yet another friend.

They take the battle outside, where Barnes rants at Duncan.

Duncan wins the fight, but he's hampered by his -completely not wanting to fight at all-. Barnes reverts to Moore long enough to say he doesn't know what is going on and can't remember any of it. Duncan wants to get him some help, but instead Moore begs Duncan to finish him before he hurts anyone else.

Duncan says "forgive me, my friend" and that's it.

There's a quickening, and... this episode is a bit upsetting.

Backstory. With his history of abuse, the guy was doomed, and it's a sad story.

Duncan is angry, and needs some time alone to do his martial arts.

 "Rest in peace, Michael."

All things considered, this is actually a very well-done episode. It's sad, though, and yet the episode after it would dwarf it in that department. But I'll talk about that some other time.

And now, even though it's a completely inappropriate moment for it, here's the Highlander Blooper Reel as promised. Enjoy, because it's awesome:





1 comment:

  1. If Joe is Moore's watcher, how many immortals does Joe have to keep track of?

    ReplyDelete