Thursday, November 14, 2019

Highlander: The Series 3x13 - Blind Faith

Today on Highlander! A quick and surprisingly cerebral episode that doesn't fit any of the usual episode molds.





We start with this very Older Robert Redford looking guy running things at a church that helps the homeless. This is Kirin, our immortal guest of the week. He's already interesting because you don't see older immortals very often. It seems that he's had a few "miracles" where he came back from the dead and it was enough to build a substantial following. It's a wonder more immortals don't exploit the "miracle" aspect of their existence for fun and profit.

He immediately gets run over by a hit-and-run driver who is never referenced again, so it was probably just a random drunkard. I bet it was...

...noted lush Drunkan, seen here on the way to get his license. It was a dark day for mankind!

Kirin ends up in the operating room of Anne, who tries to save him and can't. He sustained brutal wounds from the hit-and-run. DAMN YOU, DRUNKAN!

Here's MATTHEW, Kirin's most faithful follower. For some reason he's clutching Kirin's coat. Long story short, this guy had a rough upbringing with an abusive dad, killed the dad, and did five years in prison before finding salvation helping at Kirin's church. MATTHEW acts a lot like Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, awkward and nervous at all times due to his very apparent difficulties.

Anne informs him that Kirin didn't make it. MATTHEW has no idea what she's talking about, and exclaims that "Kirin cannot die"

On cue, Kirin stumbles out of the operating room. It's a miracle! How does this not happen all over the Highlander world all the time? You'd think doctors would be noticing a pattern by now. Realistically, everybody should know about immortals in this world.

Anne is shocked, because she just pronounced this guy dead. "Does male privilege now extend to cheating death?" she wonders aloud.

Duncan assures her that it isn't male privilege. Matter of fact, he has no idea how someone could come back from the dead. But it happened and there must be an explanation. Anne can't come up with one. Duncan asks what the guy's name was. After finding out that it's Kirin, he calls Richie to go on a field trip.

Richie takes time out of his busy schedule of looking cool as hell to see what all of the ruckus is about. Our hero actually explains my question from a few minutes ago by saying that immortals die at hospitals all the time, and what they're supposed to do is wait a little while before leaving quietly. Standing up and making a scene out of their revival is against code.


Kirin himself is at the church, praying with his followers and talking about miracles. He seems super-harmless, yet...

...Duncan insists that it's all an act. "How bad is this guy?" asks Richie, to which Duncan says "Bad enough to kill."

And now we're gonna find out why: Flashback time!

The battle against Franco is in full swing in 1937, with Duncan and Kirin working on the side of the rebels to sabotage Franco's forces.

Explosions go off in the distance as Duncan points out that the fascist side is using German weapons, so they're getting some help. The rebels had France backing them, which almost makes the Spanish Civil War the first stage of WW2.

Kirin says that the Germans are helping Franco because it's an opportunity to test some of their new weapons. That's a pretty astute point. Duncan says he's worried that there are going to be more wars in the near future and that this is just the beginning.

This extremely familiar-looking young guy is having Duncan write a letter to his girlfriend, since he can't write. He's going to mail it home from the war once they have time. Can't say for sure if he's supposed to be French or British.

The kid says it's easy for a rich kid to be a socialist, another interesting line from the episode. Duncan just sorta nods and keeps writing down stuff. Is he adding anything to that letter to the girlfriend? DID HE SLIP HIS OWN NUMBER IN THERE? Duncan sliding into the DMs!

Shouldn't jest because this part is pretty dark. They've gotta go plant bombs and take out a bridge. The kid talks about how when he gets back to his country he's going to learn how to write well, then write all about this and maybe even pen a book. At this point I started thinking maybe the insinuation was that this guy is George Orwell. There are similarities, but it isn't him.

Franco's troops attack! And promptly get blown up as the bridge gets taken out.

Unfortunately the win for the rebels is short-lived, as it turns out Kirin sold them out to the fascist forces. He says that the only winners in war are the people who profit from it, yet another interesting line in this episode. He didn't sell out, HE BOUGHT IN.

Duncan pleads with him to not execute the prisoners. Duncan is sorta a prisoner too, but Kirin knows he'll be fine and basically tells him to stop worrying so much about these other people. 

Back in the present, Kirin tells Duncan that he's different now. Duncan doesn't believe it. MATTHEW is all "Is this guy giving you trouble?" 

Duncan: "Leave."  

Back in 1937, Duncan is telling his young friend that if he doesn't resist and just follows instructions, they'll let him go.

Unfortunately, Duncan knows the truth of the matter... 

...they're all about to get the firing squad. 

After causing a ruckus and knocking out a couple of guards, Duncan escapes with his young friend in tow. He caught a bullet while they were escaping and Duncan had to carry him the rest of the way, but he did it.

...unfortunately, the kid doesn't wake up. 

In the present, Anne questions Duncan on the fact that Kirin, like him, doesn't have a medical record. Duncan indicates that it's something she should just leave alone. I feel like women need to get to S-Rank 10 with Duncan before he'll let them know about the whole immortal thing, and Anne is like S-Rank 8. He's been with her a while though, off and on. How long can he keep up the charade?

Another flashback, as Duncan is helping Cambodian kids escape from the Khmer Rouge that are rampaging across Cambodia. 

As explosions go off in the distance, they're saved by the arrival of a U.S. helicopter in the distance. 

The helicopter, however, contains Kirin of all people, here to transport large amounts of heroin back to the U.S. and make millions of dollars. Duncan asks him to take the children with him instead of the heroin, and Kirin is all "lol"

At least they don't shoot the kids. They do something worse, leaving them here to get caught by the Khmer Rouge. 

The helicopter takes off, and that's it for these kids. 

They also knocked Duncan out, ensuring that he wouldn't be awake to help when the enemy arrived soon after. 

In the present, Duncan meets with Kirin off of holy ground and tells him that he is going to pay for what he did, one way or another. Kirin again insists that he's changed now, and Duncan is hesitant enough to leave...for the moment. 

Outside, Duncan runs into this Sassy Male Reporter who has been harassing Kirin. He knows Kirin isn't what he says he is, and thinks Duncan knows the truth. Duncan tells him to bugger off. I miss the Sassy Female Reporter of earlier seasons. 

Now Anne meets with Kirin and he talks about miracles and how he's not going to question his good luck. Duncan never comes up in the conversation because neither Anne nor Kirin are aware that the other knows him.

MATTHEW meanwhile is upset about that Sassy Male Reporter snooping around. 

Speaking of which, here he is snooping around in Duncan's dojo, looking for info. What a pest. 

MATTHEW comes in and shoots the guy, and that's it for the Sassy Male Reporter. RIP. Duncan returns to find the body and is immediately convinced that Kirin had him killed there, specifically to "send a message" to Duncan. 

He goes back to see Kirin and demands that they fight RIGHT NOW, because Kirin is out of chances.

 Kirin insists that he didn't send MATTHEW to do anything, that the kid is troubled and acting on his own. Then he tells Duncan HIS side of the Cambodia story. Turns out he actually flew back over later in the day because he kept thinking about what happened.

He got there to see a field of blood-soaked little kid clothes fluttering in the wind. Actually seeing the consequences of his actions up-close immediately broke him. 

He still has to live with what he did and it endlessly torments him. So now he does everything he can to make amends for all the suffering he caused in the past. 

Duncan still needs vengeance, and demands that Kirin stand up and fight him. Kirin refuses, and says Duncan should just finish him now.

 Duncan swings at the ground in frustration, and Kirin forgives him for being so angry.

With that, Kirin walks off, and Duncan sits there alone with his feelings. That could be the end of the episode, but we've still got...

...MATTHEW to deal with. He shows up at Duncan's place waving a gun around. It seems he eavesdropped on the Duncan/Kirin conversation earlier and wants to know what the hell they were talking about. Kirin lied to him!

Duncan is just tired at this point and asks the guy to give him the gun and leave. 

Kirin shows up and they jointly try to talk MATTHEW out of making any further mistakes.

He starts to go off about how he's never been able to trust anybody, not his abusive father, not Kirin, nobody. 

When the guy brings up his abusive father, Duncan visually twinges a bit. His own father threw him out of the village and treated him like garbage, which might have something to do with it. Or maybe he's just realizing that the guy might be too far-gone to help. 

Kirin tries to calmly take the gun, and gets shot for his efforts. He doesn't get back up, so now MATTHEW thinks he's murdered two people. 

The police are already here since Kirin called them in advance, and they've got the place surrounded. Great, claustrophobic shot here.

Duncan tries his best to talk to the police and diffuse the whole situation so that this guy doesn't have to die. There's only so much he can do though.

MATTHEW raises his gun, knowing he'll get shot, and...

 ...that's exactly what happens. This whole thing felt like something out of one of Miami Vice's more depressing episodes.

Duncan meets with Kirin one final time to wish him luck wherever he goes next. Kirin tries to shake Duncan's hand...

...and Duncan very reluctantly accepts. It's difficult for Duncan's judgmental side to forgive, but he did. Doesn't mean he forgot any of it though.

Kirin went on to...probably do more good things. Yeesh, what a shitty person though.


2 comments:

  1. Yeah, there's no way immortality could be kept a secret in this world.

    I think this was an interesting one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Crazy Richard Lynch, lol! Great character actor. RIH...

    ReplyDelete