Highlander 5x08 - Little Tin God

 

This episode is an interesting one. What would happen if an immortal exploited their inability to die and used that to convince people to follow them as a Christ-like figure? Well, finally one has decided to give it a try.

I don't think the series ever actually tackles the question of whether Christ Himself was an immortal, because it would have probably angered some group or other and gotten the show bashed online by moral busybodies. Kinda like what happens all the time in the 2020's. However it seems logical to conclude that yes, in the Highlander canon, Christ was indeed most likely an unspoken immortal. Wonder what happened to him. Maybe he ended up becoming the holy man that Darius slew when he sacked that unknown city in the early 100's, the one who was so pure/good that it made Darius completely change as a person?

...Well, there's a reason the show doesn't talk about this. Onward to the episode.

A church choir is singing! It's a delightful scene full of happy people, and I think there's actually a possibility it won't end with something horrible happening.

Wait, no, this clearly-nefarious immortal is lurking in the pews. Not sure how this guy gets followers when he has such a Resting Bitch Face that anyone who sees him is probably going to wonder why he's so grumpy.

Note: If one blurs their eyes, he actually resembles Connor Macleod quite a bit. Especially with the way the camera slowly pans over to him in the church, and how much it mimics some of the pans in the Highlander movies.

He was there to spy on a pre-immortal, Derek (right, played by Roger Cross - who played Curtis on 24, so this is pretty cool for me as a big 24 guy). This guy is a promising gospel singer with a bright future.

Evil Not-Connor drives up after the services conclude and SHOOTS DEREK. At least he didn't shoot the pastor too, that guy is nice.

Said pastor is crushed at the death of his young friend. Derek might be immortal, but this guy doesn't know that, so this is a day that'll haunt him for a long time.

The bad guy (who I'm just going to call by his name from now on, Larca) is of course in the morgue waiting for Derek to wake up.

Larca is in full Jesus Regalia, and uses Derek's faith against him by pretending to be the human incarnation of God (who of course just revived and healed him).

He needs Derek to be one of his angels, and fight for him against Satan himself.

Who is Satan, you ask?

...why, Duncan Maclood! He's out for a jog when he gets ambushed by...multiple immortals?

Can Duncan get ONE WEEK without anybody messing with him?

Derek is among the group, and Duncan barely gets back to his car and gets his sword out of the trunk as the pack descends on him.

It's a full three-on-one, with one of them wielding an interesting almost machete-like sword. I think this is the only time in The Series where we see a pack of immortals attacking one at the same time (something Highlander Endgame would do, in an actually pretty similar scenario).

After fighting them off, Duncan runs for it and they give chase. Where are you hiding, Satan??

Once they split up, Duncan springs on Derek.

It's quickly clear that Derek: A) Doesn't really know how to fight and B) Doesn't know anything about immortals and C) Believes that he's an angel and Duncan is Satan.

Duncan is like "Satan? Really?" and knows something weird is going on here if he's being attacked by what are basically kids.

Also, the red doo-rag looks pretty good.

Larca shows up, and NOW it all makes sense, as Duncan has met this guy before. They're in a graveyard now so their battle is off for the moment. Something that Duncan and Larca have to explain to the pack of noobs, who were ready to throw down despite holy ground.

Too bad for Larca that the fight is over, as that ambush was probably the best shot Larca will ever have at actually slaying Duncan.

I knew this guy looked familiar, and there's a reason for that: The actor played the (mortal) bad guy from Bad Day In Building A, the Die Hard episode from Season 1. Part of me wants to pretend it's the same character and he became an immortal after that episode, back for revenge. However, it isn't the same character, because this guy's been immortal for a while:

Peru! 1830! Duncan is lost in the jungle with a guide who has gotten way, way off-course. Not sure if these two are close-knit or if he's just someone Duncan hired in town, they're never clear on that. Either way, they stumble into a tribe in an uncharted area, and get kidnapped.

They get put in bondage and herded to a nearby temple. Is this going to turn into The Green Inferno? Cause if so I'm out.

Duncan is unable to communicate with them, even in Spanish, as they haven't had contact with any European languages.

Have a feeling the tour guide guy (whose name is Paco) is probably F'd. Notice how one of the tribesmen is wearing Duncan's jacket. It's his now!

Larca appears, and despite being A White, he is revered as God by the tribe due to his immortality.

Surprisingly, he lets Duncan free and even invites him to a dinner banquet, where Duncan asks him if it's really ethical to let a tribe of people worship him.

"If they call me God, who am I to argue?" asks Larca, and it's a fair point I suppose. He DID lead them through some difficult times, like hiding from Cortez and other groups.

His girlfriend is someone who he, and I quote, watched her be born, and over the years has watched her blossom into this beautiful woman.

Duncan isn't retching because of what Larca said, he was actually poisoned by the wine. You see, Larca can't have him causing any trouble here. He isn't going to kill Duncan because Duncan was respectful and he knows Duncan won't tell anyone about the hidden tribe. However, that Paco guy? He's gotta go.

NO! YOU LEAVE PACO ALONE!

Larca can't allow Paco to possibly tell anyone about their hidden tribe. One blabber and before they know it, they could be beset-upon by colonists or another tribe.

Quite frankly, he's not wrong, and really can't let Paco go.

Duncan: "PACO! NOOOOO!"

And thus Duncan added Larca to his list of "must kill if I see them again" immortals. He is judge, jury, and executioner! Never mind that Larca didn't have much of a choice. Paco was definitely going to blabber to everyone in his path about this adventure.

Wait, who was Paco again?

In the present, Duncan tells the three disciples that Larca is no deity, and that the five of them are all just immortals, and it's a thing, there are lots more of them. Larca of course says not to believe The Devil's lies, and shoos them away.

But wait! We get more flashback, the story isn't over yet.

A week after Duncan's capture, the people of the village have come down with a horrible sickness that is killing them off. Turns out that Duncan (or more likely, PACO) brought in germs that they had no resistance to, and now they're throwing each other's corpses into fire pits and stuff.

The girlfriend - who now speaks perfect English when a week earlier she didn't understand anything Duncan was saying, so that's a continuity error (unless she's talking in their native language in-story and they're just speaking in English for our benefit) - implores Larca to use his powers to cure the people. Of course, Larca has no such power. The people are getting restless (and also very very ded)

Larca decides to kill Duncan (who is now very weak from a week of being tied-up) and thinks the resulting light-show will restore the people's faith in him. He also blames Duncan for bringing viruses into their village, upon which Duncan is quick to point out that they didn't WANT to come here and they were dragged. So really, all of this is Larca's fault anyway. Point to Duncan!

Duncan says that this'll accomplish nothing whatsoever and the people will still be dying. Larca goes to swing and is stopped by one of his own followers shooting him with a blow-dart, which allows Duncan to stumble away during the fracas. Turns out enough of the people had decided Larca wasn't actually God, and a big brawl erupted. Lord knows what happened to Larca.

Also, this has got to be one of Duncan's closest calls ever, maybe THE closest. He was seconds away from his head being a lawn ornament for this guy.

In the present, and back at the ranch, Duncan is appalled that those n00b immortals were ready to fight him on holy ground, and says God only knows what would have happened.

Joe says there's only one record of a quickening happening on holy ground. Two guys in a temple in Italy. A legend, more of a myth, really.

Duncan: "Yeah, and?"

"It was in Pompeii."

"79 AD. The volcano."

Elsewhere, Derek shows up at his church, and Reverend Bell is overjoyed to see him alive. But how??

Derek doesn't know, except that God brought him back to serve. ...except he isn't sure if he's on the right side, because this God hates, and wants him to commit violence.

Duncan shows up and tries to explain the situation to Derek. Reverend Bell doesn't know what to think about any of this, but he's willing to hear Duncan out.

I mean, how can you not trust THAT FACE?

Long story short, Derek doesn't want to listen to Satan's lies and runs away, but Reverend Bell is willing to listen, and Duncan pretty much has to tell him about the whole immortal thing.

Worth noting: Duncan's color scheme in this episode makes heavy use of red and black. Both in the running scene earlier, and the current outfit which he has on for the remainder. Red and black is a bit on-the-nose considering he's going against a "holy man" clad in white who keeps calling him "the devil".

Larca is questioning Derek's faith, now that he seems to have gone AWOL.

It's too bad that this isn't the same character from "Bad Day In Building A" because he's similar enough. A cold, efficient leader who collects followers and uses them to accomplish his goals.

Except this guy isn't actually that efficient, and he's made a bunch of mistakes already. Instead of trying to keep this whole God facade going, he should have ambushed Duncan somewhere with no escape, done it quickly before his minions began to question him, and then lopped Duncan while he was weakened from slaying one of the minions. Instead he just bungled the whole thing.

A lot of this episode is Duncan (with his Satan colors) trying to convince Derek that he isn't Satan. He needs to get Reverend Bell on board.

This is a rarity: Duncan deciding the simplest thing is to just go ahead and tell somebody what the truth is.

Bell believes them, and we get this cool scene of a bunch of bros just having beers. Now Bell is questioning everything he's ever been taught, though. Are the things he believes just based on immortals who swindled people into following them?

Duncan is actually quick to shut down this notion. Situations like Larca are exceedingly rare, and Bell shouldn't abandon his faith.

Next thing we know, Bell shows up at Larca's hideout, reciting the full "strike down upon thee with great vengeance" schtick from Pulp Fiction (which was out at this time) as he stalks Larca with a gun and sword. Ya know, it wouldn't be that hard for mortals to hunt immortals if they knew where to find them.

Either way, Bell is quite brave to march out here to confront the guy (and presumably fight him). Dealing with an otherworldly force like an immortal (that he didn't know existed two hours ago), his nerves must be shot.

Larca hides behind his minions, demanding that they show their devotion by stopping Bell.

Bell: "You may be safe from Duncan here, but you aren't safe from me!"

Larca being safe from Macleod as long as he stays in a church...isn't really doing much for Duncan's "I'm not Satan!" claims.

Reverend Bell: "You are not God! You are an abomination!"

This guy is pretty cool/memorable for a regular mortal.

The Latino Minion jumps in front of a bullet to protect Larca, proving his faith. After the White Minion fails to do anything, Derek steps in and stops Bell from shooting again. What a rollercoaster this is for Bell, he thinks he just shot an innocent kid.

With that, Larca and minions lead Bell out into the woods to deal with him once and for all. DON'T DO IT, DEREK!

But first, Larca must do one of his parlor tricks and revive Latino Minion.

I don't know if he just happened to get the timing right / luck out on the guy reviving here, or if rubbing the chest to wake them up actually works. Maybe when an immortal snaps awake, that isn't them coming back to life, it's them waking up from the sleep they're usually in after they come back to life.

However! White Minion must pay for his lack of faith (and also brave). Larca will make an example of him. DO SOMETHING, DEREK

Duncan drives up just in time to see...

...THE QUICKENING!

Now that that's out of the way, he needs to deal with Bell. But wait! Derek won't get out of the way.

...nevermind he got out of the way. How does he still think that this jerk is really some sort of holy being?

Duncan charges in with a GOLDBERG SPEAR!

Derek then turns face by spinning around and knocking out Latino Minion.

Wait a minute... an older character with powers, trying to lead three newbies with powers, talking to each other in the woods, and the newbies are black/white/latino... is this Madame Web?

Now that the fight is strictly one-on-one, a barely-recovered Larca has to fight his own battle. Man, he really screwed up this entire plan on pretty much every level.

Why come back to hunt down Duncan to begin with? Why not just leave well enough alone and form a tribe somewhere of n00b-immortals who believe he's a deity who brought them back to life? I mean, eventually they'd figure out that they can't die and aren't reliant on him for protection, but in the meantime he could be well-protected from other immortals, and probably have a harem of n00b-immortal women fawning over his every need. Instead, he goes after Duncan? THE Duncan? Is Larca a clown?

Larca reveals the reason: It turns out that after his tribe turned on him and realized he wasn't a deity, they killed him repeatedly, and then he ended up entombed for 150 years because they didn't know what else to do with him. That's right, locked in a tomb for 150 years. That's gotta be one of the worse fates in all the seasons of this show.

They clash! This is a good fight, one Duncan gets really into. It goes on for a bit and Larca is no pushover at all. That giant robe isn't doing him any favors though.

SHIIIING. That's it for Larca.

Two noteworthy things here: 1) They're REALLY close to Holy Ground, with the church yard mere feet away from them. Larca was retreating towards it. Duncan was tempting fate going after him and going for the kill. 2) While Larca put up a really good fight, he might not have actually been at full strength, since there wasn't much time between the Quickening he had and the fight. It seemed to be enough for him to catch his breath and go full-tilt, but barely.

This is one of those "day turns to night" Quickenings. How do they get away with these?

One cool thing about this one is the symbol that gets carved into the ground in flame. That's one of South American God Larca's symbols.

Latino Minion sprints out of the woods, sword drawn, going for the kill, and Duncan is COMPLETELY HELPLESS. This was actually a scary moment, and the second near-miss of the episode. Duncan manages to talk him into walking away, though.

Derek finally accepts everything Duncan told him, and asks for forgiveness.

As rain begins pouring down, Duncan notes that they're immortals, but not gods, and they never will be, not now, not ever.

Later, back at the ranch! Duncan gets a postcard from Carl Robinson, who has taken the role of Derek's mentor. That sounds like a potential future episode...that we won't get.

Joe asks Duncan if he thinks it's possible that even the greatest prophets and religions of history were based on lies told by immortals. Duncan says no, he doesn't think so. Why doesn't he think so? Faith.

Decent episode, with an interesting premise. Yet another one that felt like it would have been better off as a two-parter, or if any of the new characters were recurring. So many of these episodes feel like they're leaving potential on the table. The villain was one of the better ones in a bit, and this ep helped S5 rebound a little bit after a number of kinda-meh episodes. I really need to get to the highs of S5's second half, which is in my view the peak of the show outside of S3's second half.

Occupation: God

lol

"Mortals with delusions of Godhood are easy to deal with. You either put them in a nuthouse or the House of Representatives."

Preach

I like how these Watcher Chronicles read just the way the writer talks. Like I could hear Thomas Bell saying all of this, the same way I could hear Joe Dawson saying the previous one.

Well, Derek was cool enough, with his gospel singing abilities and need to believe in something. I doubt they were trying to set up a spinoff here, but you almost have one: Derek, with Carl as his mentor and Bell as his Watcher. It probably would have done at least as well as The Raven.

Larca's latest victim is kinda forgotten in all of this. He came, he saw, he...was tall.

Is Luke in a better place now? Who knows. Given how much Highlander practically screams "there's a higher power governing all of this" at all times, it's very possible.

But what of Latino Minion? Who mentors him? It makes a good point that he's a blank slate and how he ends up is pretty much contingent on what immortals he runs into next and what they teach him.

Duncan and friends just let him sprint off into the night. He'll probably end up being another of Richie's victims.

Tune in next Monday night for another Highlander ep as I finish the latest disc, the lost disc no less.

Other Highlander Posts