omgwtfhighlander
Jul. 31st, 2010 01:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
doyleI have been watching an unholy amount of television lately, including all of Being Erica and Better Off Ted, the first episode of the new Sherlock, and a varied jaunt round the police procedural (CSI is ridiculous and runs on magic, The Mentalist and Castle are both really really fun, the first season of Law & Order is weirdly compelling and Columbo > everyone ever) - and yet, I can't pull together any sort of commentary on these things because I have just watched an episode of Highlander and now I'm in a stupefied state of "...what the hell was that?!" This is probably my own fault for starting near the end of season 3, having never seen an episode, but I wanted to see this Methos guy - I was astonished last year at ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
connotations to learn he's not actually the lead character, fannish osmosis having steered me wrong - and it sounds like a simple enough premise, right? Right?!
...okay, for the most part it was a simple enough plot. Immortals run around trying to kill each other because this allows them to absorb their victim's superpowers; the lead, despite his accent, is allegedly a Highlander (hence the title) and has a magnificently 90s haircut; there is a bad guy who used to be a monk; there are Watchers; there are historical flashbacks; this is all fine, like Angel with more amusing hair. And I see why Duncan/Methos is such an immense old school ship. However, there was also an entirely random subplot about some guy called Richie joining a motorbike team (was it bikes or cars? I just watched this and yet the plot is already fading from my mind.) Halfway through I paused to check an episode guide just to be sure a different show hadn't been spliced into my copy by mistake, but no. This is what I get for not watching from the beginning - no doubt this was the climax of a carefully crafted some-guy-called-Richie-dreams-of-racing-stardom subplot that I didn't appreciate at all. That said, the theme tune was quite epic and if there's one thing I love, it's a 90s show, so it's only being stuck at my parents' with their painfully small broadband usage limit that's stopping me from acquiring some more episodes right now.
connotations to learn he's not actually the lead character, fannish osmosis having steered me wrong - and it sounds like a simple enough premise, right? Right?!...okay, for the most part it was a simple enough plot. Immortals run around trying to kill each other because this allows them to absorb their victim's superpowers; the lead, despite his accent, is allegedly a Highlander (hence the title) and has a magnificently 90s haircut; there is a bad guy who used to be a monk; there are Watchers; there are historical flashbacks; this is all fine, like Angel with more amusing hair. And I see why Duncan/Methos is such an immense old school ship. However, there was also an entirely random subplot about some guy called Richie joining a motorbike team (was it bikes or cars? I just watched this and yet the plot is already fading from my mind.) Halfway through I paused to check an episode guide just to be sure a different show hadn't been spliced into my copy by mistake, but no. This is what I get for not watching from the beginning - no doubt this was the climax of a carefully crafted some-guy-called-Richie-dreams-of-racing-stardom subplot that I didn't appreciate at all. That said, the theme tune was quite epic and if there's one thing I love, it's a 90s show, so it's only being stuck at my parents' with their painfully small broadband usage limit that's stopping me from acquiring some more episodes right now.
no subject
on 2010-07-31 03:19 pm (UTC)The watchers started showing up after the first season, but were a shadowy recurring nemesis. It's only later on that they started taking on the form of a conspiracy.
Methos goes from being a recurring character to a permanent/semi-permanent cast member in the later seasons. By this point, the steady girlfriend from earlier in the show's run isn't around, clearing the way for the slash ;-)
As far as experiencing fannish history through an outdated show, Highlander's not so bad - it's not so good either ;-)
no subject
on 2010-08-01 12:31 am (UTC)He's actually a very young Immortal (pretty much the age he looks still) and the motorcycle subplot was mainly intended to demonstrate to him that Immortality Kinda Sucks because you can never allow yourself to become famous for ANYTHING or you'll have to deal with the fall out when someone recognizes you after you're supposed to be dead. :-(
All things considered, I think he took it rather well. ;-)
no subject
on 2010-08-01 01:26 am (UTC)(once made Clan Denial t-shirts for UK conventions.)
Having Richie and Methos and Duncan and Amanda gives such a breadth to the stories they're telling, the new modern Immortal and the oldest and the warrior and the thief. Without Richie there's a lot less room for explanations without people telling each other what they already know.