Highlander 5x16 - Forgive Us Our Trespasses

 

It's Monday night, you know what that means. This episode initially aired May 5th, 1997. Considering it takes place in Winter, it was airing pretty late into the year - they really found a way to make the shorter-than-normal Season 5 last. This episode is a complex story about war, the ethics of it, forgiveness for it, and so on. It's nuanced enough to not have "good guys" or "bad guys" and present two sides as both being right in their own minds...so the normal human state.

One of the best episodes in S5, this is an episode that basically emits pure atmosphere. It feels a lot like a "final episode" of a show, and could have been the final episode of this show easily enough. Maybe the show would be better off if it was. This episode has a ton in common with the actual final episode of the series; both have Duncan questioning whether he's done more harm than good. Or at least, too much harm.

The Season 5 DVD set has a great shot of Methos from this very episode. It's a good episode if you like "staring into the distance" poses.

Far as I know, this series has never gotten any sort of blu-ray release, outside of like...Season 1 but only in Germany, or something like that. Weirdly enough, I'm fine with that. The DVD sets are actually nice, creative, and add something to the show. I still remember how exciting it was to get one of these for the first time (Season 4, in 2008 or so).

The episode starts with an extended scene in a dance club, where all kinds of attractive folk are dancing. Amanda is one of them, runs into another immortal, and immediately starts flirting. It's a little confusing, but since her and Duncan have a fairly open relationship, she can roll around with whoever she wants. It seems like when they're in the same neighborhood they're pretty exclusive though.

The other immortal is Steven Keane, and he's new in town. He actually just bought this club with his vast immortal wealth. Amanda tells him that the club used to be a convent a long time ago. Long story short, he's not just here to make business investments. He's here because he has unfinished business with Duncan Macleod.

After inviting him to go back to her place, Amanda ambushes Steven in the parking lot.

"Was it something I said?" he inquires in a very British voice.

She has little choice at that point but to give up that she knows Macleod, after which Steven has her call him and summon him to a nearby church.

Duncan shows up at the church and it's obvious he knows something's wrong. Amanda is apologetic for dropping another problem at his doorstep.

He's all "It is I, Steven Keane! Your nemesis!" in so many words.

Duncan is very "...who?" at this rando. Well, Keane doesn't have the rep of a Haresh Clay or anything.

Steven, an Englishman, has been nursing a grudge against Duncan for 250 years for the atrocities he committed during the English/Scottish War. Yeah, this is going to be a very serious episode.

We get flashbacks to Keane and an English noble, the Earl of Rosemont, talking about the war. From the English perspective, there's been so much Scottish rebellion that the English keep having to use more force to put them down.

Duncan listens to Keane's tale of how difficult this conflict was for the English, bringing back all kinds of painful memories. He asks if Duncan remembers how many men he slaughtered. Pretty sure he does, yes.

More flashbacks of the war. From the Scottish perspective, the English used crushing force and were intent on eradicating the Scots from existence. Victory seemed possible, so Duncan fought to the bitter end.

We get some really nice scenery here, and I think part of this flashback is a hodgepodge of other episodes.

For instance I'm pretty sure this shot is from the late S4 episode about Bonnie-Prince Charlie.

This is the moment when he found Cochrane's body after Culloden (Cochrane being the other immortal who wanted to fight to the bitter end).

Elsewhere, Duncan finds random squads of English redcoats just murdering Scottish peasants for no reason, and actually employs a gun regularly in this timeframe. Gun-wielding Duncan is "no longer gives a shit" Duncan.

More flashbacks showing the destruction left by the English raids. Duncan has to explain to this old woman that Bonnie-Prince Charlie has fled and the war is lost.

She tells Duncan that a bunch of their countrymen were burned alive here on the orders of the Earl of Rosemont. This presumably happened before the war ended but it's difficult to tell what occurred when. It isn't like there was a media outlet broadcasting that a cease fire had been announced or anything, and chances are a lot of folks were still launching attacks. The impression I get is that some of the Scots in this town launched some sort of attack after the war ended and the English retaliated against it. The Earl seemed regretful about it, wishing the Scots would stop fighting, in the earlier scene.

Keane and his friend, who it seems is the Earl of Rosemont, are out for a walk when they run into...

...Duncan, who has the Earl's son with him. That annoying kid was running around with a kite all throughout the earlier flashback scene with Keane, so here's hoping Duncan throws him in a lake or something.

Keane is all "No worries sir! His quarrel is with me! Greetings, fellow immortal! Shall we have an honorable duel sir??"

Duncan then draws his gun and SHOOTS KEANE. He shot him right out of his boots!

He then makes like he's going to pistol whip the boy right in front of the Earl. Do it. DO IT.

...no, since the Earl offers to fight him, instead he just tells the kid to run off and tell all the English that Duncan Macleod is coming to kill every last one of them.

So basically Duncan is the Ghost of Kiev at this point...except actually real and not a media propaganda invention.

Duncan battles the Earl...and by battles I mean he just slaughters the guy.

Probably scalped him too. The Basterds demand one hundred gnatsi scalps!

After Duncan tells the whole story about how the Earl had, you know, BURNED TOWNSPEOPLE and whatnot... Keane just no-sells it all with "Is that all you have to say?"

I mean...damn dude. It doesn't make Duncan's actions right either, going around slaughtering English, but it was war, and it was far more complex than just "I felt like murdering that day". An argument could be made that the war was over by the time of Duncan's rampage that claimed the Earl, yes. However, English were still out killing Scots, so it seems like the war wasn't over for everyone.

Here's a disc chronicle giving more of Keane's viewpoint on this whole thing.

Keane demands that Duncan meet him at 6 AM. To add insult to injury, he's making him wake up at high school hours.

Keane also tells him not to run away. Duncan isn't gonna run away. This is different from most of his battles, though. Keane has a point, and Duncan isn't sure if he's the good guy in this one. This is a reversal from the normal Highlander episode, in that here it's another Paladin type immortal passing judgment and sentence on Duncan for his past mistakes. The difference is that Duncan changed a lot since then; this is very different from all the bad immortals who are still carrying on the same patterns of dangerous behavior that they were in the past.

Amanda is horrified at seeing Duncan looking so unsure of himself. She's never seen a Duncan who might actually lose before. If he doesn't think he deserves to win, his fighting might well reflect that, and his opponent is no joke.

Later...Duncan has nightmares about the 1700s and the war. It's notable that after he wakes up from his nightmare, he talks in an audible Scottish accent for a second.

Amanda thinks they should go on vacation to Tahiti and spend a few weeks having sex. She's got an old copy of the kama sutra.

Duncan can't, he has to deal with this, and starts going on about how he watched women and children slaughtered, villages razed to the ground, and his only way to deal with it was to murder as many English as possible. "Keane is right about me, I am a murderer!"

Man, what a buzzkill. Amanda should have worn a shorter-cut nightgown for this conversation.

"It was WAR, Duncan!"

She goes on to tell Duncan that he makes people better, that he makes the world a better place. If he's going to let somebody kill him in a fight because of one time when he made mistakes hundreds of years ago, then he's on his own.

Methos is awakened from sleep by an immortal buzz. He leaps out of bed, grabs a sword, and spins to take a defensive posture against this nearby wall all in one smooth motion. It's one of my favorite shots of Methos in the entire series, especially with lightning flashing in the background.

It's Amanda, and she thinks Duncan is going to die if he fights Keane in his current state.

Methos: "It's 3 AM, mind if I put a shirt on"

This is also where we the audience find out that Methos is, in fact, ripped and shredded.

Methos goes back to bed. What does Amanda want him to do? Talk to Duncan and tell him he's not a bad guy? That won't work, Duncan doesn't actually listen to anybody.

This scene is one of the more famous ones from S5, because it took them a zillion takes to get through it without making each other laugh.

Amanda: "If he goes up against Keane thinking he deserves to lose, he'll lose. He'll die, Methos."

Methos: "Then we'll get our own show!"

Here's the shot where they finally landed it without anyone cracking up. Methos managed to be serious...Amanda kinda didn't, and you can see her looking away because she's starting to have trouble holding it together. Luckily they were able to stay on Methos for this last beat.

Yeah, that scene is more famous from the HLTS blooper reels than it is from this episode.

The next day, Duncan arrives at the Luxembourg Gardens for the fight. This place is an incredible backdrop for a Highlander battle, and one of the several places that make this episode so memorable.

He expects Keane, but instead he gets Methos! ...Methos must be running on basically no sleep. Amanda woke him up at 3 AM and now here they are at about 5:50.

Methos: "I'm here out of scholarly interest. I came here to watch the perfect immortal die."

Duncan: "I'm not!"

Methos: "Not what, not perfect or not going to die?"

Methos makes a really good point that the men Duncan slaughtered were murderers and that it was just a cycle of violence where no one involved was innocent.

"Keane is just like you, he wants to divide the world into good and bad. Well it's not that simple."

Methos gives up on talking to him, as he predictably didn't listen, and resorts to shooting him in the back. Hilarious!

You know, I think if they just got out of the way and let Duncan fight Keane, I doubt he'd actually throw the fight or die. He'd fight for real, probably win, probably subdue Keane and spare him, and probably talk things out from there and ask him to let the past be the past.

"You are such a pain in the ass."

That's twice in one episode that an immortal has just straight-up shot another immortal. How are any good guys even still walking? You'd think the bad guys would just employ guns regularly. Honorable duels would be out the window. And spoiler alert, in the very next episode an immortal shoots another immortal in the foot to get an advantage.

Keane shows up for the duel, and...Duncan isn't here, Methos is. Keane must be wondering why all these pro-Duncan people are coming out of the woodwork.

"Duncan Macleod sure has a lot of friends" he bellows.

"Good men often do" says Methos, before trying to talk Keane out of this. Keane is in NO mood to talk. Strange that he's so wound-up about Duncan now after 200 years have gone by. Maybe there's something more to this.

Keane gets a duel, though not the one he wanted. This is actually a great moment that gives us a glimpse into the alternate timeline where we got a Methos spinoff and he had to fight the bad guys himself.

It's actually quite the pitched fight, with both guys more or less evenly matched. Methos may be a lot older, but he also avoids fights, while Keane has clearly been in a ton of them over his 500 years. He's a paladin / headhunter, like the Macleods.

Methos loses his footing on the slippery rocks below and falls down, nearly getting decapitated, but he managed to block the killing hit while simultaneously stabbing Keane with a secret offhand dagger.

That's the closest Methos has ever been to dying in the entire Highlander continuity. He had to cheat to win the fight, but also he lost his footing before that and probably wouldn't have needed to cheat if he hadn't slipped. So the results of the fight are completely inconclusive.

Keane: "You bastard!"

Methos: "Sticks and stones."

Methos is stopped from striking the killing hit by Duncan, who I guess woke up from whatever bush he got dumped in a few minutes ago.

Duncan tells Methos that if he kills Keane, he fights him next. Methos realizes he's serious and gives up on this whole debacle.

When Keane wakes up, Duncan is waiting for him. Keane is ready to fight, while Duncan demands that he hear him out.

Duncan gives his side of the story, telling Keane that his friend ordered the slaughter of many people.

Keane...doesn't care what his friend did, only what Duncan did to him and so many others.

Duncan won't let Keane pick up his sword. He really doesn't want to fight this guy. He doesn't understand why Keane won't at least try to see things from his side.

Then we find out why: Keane was good friends with Sean Burns. Very good friends. Sean was the one who talked Keane out of pursuing Duncan.

For thirty years Keane pursued Duncan after meeting him the first time. Sean tells him that he could have used that thirty years in all kinds of other ways, like helping the family of his friend who was killed.

Sean: "The war is over. Let the war be over for both of you too."

So Keane listened, and was willing to forgive Duncan and let it be. So he went about his business for almost two centuries. That explains why he didn't show up much sooner. Then, last year...Duncan killed Sean during the Dark Quickening.

Keane: "You murdered a good man. What's your reasoning for this one? You were drunk? Drugged? Temporarily insane?"

Well, that's it, Keane's throwing down.

Duncan tells Keane he couldn't understand, he wasn't there. Just tell him about the Dark Quickening! WTF are you waiting for?

"I don't judge your reasons, Macleod? I JUDGE YOUR ACTS!"

Being judged isn't so fun, eh Duncan?

Their fight gets interrupted by the arrival of Inspector Le Hottie, with her shiny red hair and her sexy French accent. She received, how do you zey... an anonymous teep.

Amanda framed him for stealing some jewels, that she planted on the barge.

Duncan is INFURIATED.

Keane is camped out in the living room of the barge now. How'd he get Duncan's address? And this thing really needs to get locks installed.

Methos walks in. These guys are tired of running into each other. Keane pushes him around and leaves. That scene gives the impression that, having fought him, Methos really doesn't want to fight him again. Maybe he was on the losing edge even before he slipped.

Duncan tells Inspector Le Hottie the location of Amanda's jewel stash, with a bunch more stolen jewels, in exchange for setting him free.

Can we see more of this inspector? What else has she been in? She should have been in consideration for a Spinoff Immortal in S6, she could convincingly pull off a Female Highlander with that red hair.

Amanda tells Methos that the authorites raided her apartment and took her jewel stash, and now she has to go by a different name and whatnot. She has 900 years of experience evading authorities so she'll survive.

Duncan goes to church and talks to Darius, saying how tired he is of all the killing. He sounds very much like a guy who is ready to check out of The Game for a while and just avoid other immortals entirely.**

Duncan also says here that Keane is a good man and doesn't deserve to die. This is, in a lot of ways, an episode about what would happen if Duncan met Duncan.

Amanda meets with Keane for one last appeal to reason. She asks him some very good questions.

Amanda: "Isn't this how Macleod was acting when he went after your friends? That his idea of justice was more important than the people he was hurting by it? What are you gonna think of yourself in the future when someone is coming after you for killing a good man? I really hope he listens when your friends stand up for you."

Keane: "When that time comes, I hope I have someone like you to speak for me."

JUST TELL HIM ABOUT THE DARK QUICKENING

Keane gives Duncan and Amanda five minutes to say their goodbyes. Amanda is still terrified that Duncan is going to lose, while Duncan seems pretty confident that everything is fine. Still think his whole plan all along has just been to defeat the guy and then make him talk it out.

This battle takes place in a cold, rainy train yard. I can almost smell the exhaust fumes and the winter chill. Would have liked to see the final battle take place back at the Luxembourg Gardens, but we did at least get one battle there, and this new setting is interesting in its own way.

Maybe the Gardens were the idealized version of Keane's Revenge, his original chosen fight grounds where he'd avenge his friends and save the day by slaying the menace that is Duncan.

Now, this dirty, rusty trainyard is the non-idealized reality of what the culmination of Keane's journey looks like. Fighting it out in the dirt, for nothing, the last two men standing in a war that ended 200 years ago.

This is it, Duncan versus a guy who is at least as good as Methos. If this were Season 1 Duncan I'd say Keane would have the upper hand and would probably thrash him from pillar to post. However, right now Keane is facing Duncan at the highest relative power level he ever gets in this entire series. At this point in time he's basically indestructible and there's nobody left that poses any threat to him outside of Highlander Endgame. So...good luck, Steven.

The battle is joined!

This is a good one, with both guys going all out, fast and furious style. The fight never really goes into a higher gear, though. Neither guy takes their coats off, and it feels like this fight could have definitely gone longer and had more to it because Keane was putting Duncan through his paces.

Just as the fight is really getting started, Duncan manages to hurl Keane into a nearby electric fence, knocking the fence over and sending Keane tumbling off the rooftop.

Duncan hops down and corners a now-defenseless Keane, who no doubt assumes that the monster in front of him is about to slay him.

Instead...Duncan spares him, of course. He's a good man and they need more like him.

"The war is over, for both of us. Walk away."

Keane thinks about what he's been told and nods. It's a "I've been trying real hard... to be the shepherd" moment.

After being thrashed and thrown off a rooftop, Keane limps away without a word. He wouldn't have spared Duncan, so I think this told him that Duncan isn't the monster he expected. Then we get one of my favorite shots in this series, a shot that should have ended the episode:

This episode is a great one for staring off into distances. And could have been the series finale, though I'm glad it wasn't because we got a really good series finale later.

Duncan explains to his friends that he never intended to lose the fight. It was just something that these two guys needed to hash out. Whichever of them won would be "proven right" by fate, as it were. And if at all possible he'd spare Keane. He isn't worried about Keane going after him again, now that he's shown Keane what a bad idea it is. Keane's tough, but clearly outclassed.

Time for these two to get frisky yet again. They have bonkers chemistry, way more than he ever had with Tessa. These two weren't dating in real life (that we know of) and you could have fooled me.

Methos: "Aight I'mma get going"

Methos: "BYE"

Keane went back to managing his new club, and everyone lived happily ever after. I'm very much over "there can be only one" at this point in the Highlander mythos. It was fun in the first movie, but it's long-since expired for me. That phrase basically means that everyone we know and like from this series has to die at some point. With new immortals being born every so often, I'd like to think that they all (well, all the good ones) lived for a long time and got along fine, with no pressing need to kill each other outside of interpersonal conflicts.

Like I said, this episode is like if Duncan met another Duncan and got judged by him. It's surprising that more immortals don't go after Duncan for slaying a friend or mentor of theirs who'd gone bad. He's killed so many folks that surely there are at least a few who think he was in the wrong about it. You know, though, a LOT of trouble might have been avoided in this episode if they'd just told Keane about the Dark Quickening. Maybe. He was pretty hellbent on fighting no matter what.

** - In this episode, Duncan sounds like someone ready to move on from this show, and it really does feel like a show that's about to end. Which is unfortunate because they could have easily done two more really strong seasons after this one. There was a lot of meat left on the bone. Instead we got half of one season after this and only half of that even had the main character featured.

Super good episode here. I really like the next one too, and it will conclude the best seven-episode run the show ever went on. The show has peaked, without a doubt, somewhere in the last five episodes. (Probably not Ransom of Richard Redstone, but yeah)

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