# How is Highlander: The Series? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 4, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399 "2010-11-04T01:53:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/21 "2010-11-04T20:26:21Z")
Point of interest-the most recent _Highlander_ movie had both Duncan and Connor in it, and totally negated the original movie by having Duncan beheading Connor(at Connor’s insistence!) so that he could become powerful enough to defeat the big baddie. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/22 "2010-11-04T20:37:20Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Point of interest-the most recent _Highlander_ movie had both Duncan and Connor in it, and totally negated the original movie by having Duncan beheading Connor(at Connor’s insistence!) so that he could become powerful enough to defeat the big baddie. There are no movies beyond the first one. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/23 "2010-11-04T20:54:25Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > There are no movies beyond the first one. [My Name]Golly, that _never_ stops being clever![/My Name] ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/24 "2010-11-04T20:57:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Point of interest-the most recent _Highlander_ movie had both Duncan and Connor in it, and totally negated the original movie by having Duncan beheading Connor(at Connor’s insistence!) so that he could become powerful enough to defeat the big baddie. That’s the aforementioned Endgame, FTR. It’s kind of a proof of my rule above to skip any episode that focusses on the Watchers other than Joe or Adam (if you treat it as an episode of the TV series), really. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/25 "2010-11-04T21:18:34Z")
Seen most if not all of them. I said when it started that the _Highlander_ didn’t really bear looking at too closely, & I do think that by the end they wanted out of the “immortals killing each other off every week” premise. But I love those characters. And yeah, Adrian Paul may actually surpass Van Damage for me as a man-crush. He’s so good in this. I don’t really recommend skipping episodes on a huge level. There are arcs & things. But when a plot hinges on two immortals accidentally stumbling on each other & fighting to the death, just because–this happened to Richie once–it seems a bit much. Unlike the movie, where there’s THE Highlander, THE Kurgan, THE Egyptian; there are immortals all over the earth like mushrooms in the series. It definitely develops its own mythology, & is perhaps better off not referencing the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/26 "2010-11-04T21:37:29Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I don’t really recommend skipping episodes on a huge level. There are arcs & things. Yes, but if you follow the skipping rules, you’ll skip entire bad arcs (‘Evil Watchers’ and ‘Ahriman’), mediocre arcs will remain coherent, but lose some of the more ludicrous parts (‘Four Horsemen’), and good arcs will be interrupted by bad one-offs less often. (Can’t think of any examples of the last, but good arcs wouldn’t be interrupted by the skipping, in any case.) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/27 "2010-11-04T22:01:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Point of interest-the most recent _Highlander_ movie had both Duncan and Connor in it, and totally negated the original movie by having Duncan beheading Connor(at Connor’s insistence!) so that he could become powerful enough to defeat the big baddie. > [@Tengu](#): > > That’s the aforementioned Endgame, FTR. Yes, Duncan beheads Connor in _Endgame_, but the most recent Highlander movie is actually the direct-to-television movie _The Source_, and it was craptacular. Avoid at all cost. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/28 "2010-11-04T22:36:11Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Yes, but if you follow the skipping rules, you’ll skip entire bad arcs (‘Evil Watchers’ and ‘Ahriman’), mediocre arcs will remain coherent, but lose some of the more ludicrous parts (‘Four Horsemen’), and good arcs will be interrupted by bad one-offs less often. (Can’t think of any examples of the last, but good arcs wouldn’t be interrupted by the skipping, in any case.) But if someone skips the Four Horsemen arc, they’ll miss out on Kronos, the greatest villain. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/29 "2010-11-04T22:45:06Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > But if someone skips the Four Horsemen arc, they’ll miss out on Kronos, the greatest villain. Hey, no need to skip the Horsemen arc as a whole - just the weaker episodes at the start of the arc. Note I didn’t list it in with the Evil Watchers and Arhiman, but rather as an arc that can actually be improved by strategically skipping a few episodes. (It’s been too long, so I can’t remember why…I think that psychic chick tied in, somehow.) It was a watchable arc, and the Horsemen were pretty awesome (I actually liked Caspian better than Kronos, personally…don’t remember Silas too well). ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/30 "2010-11-05T00:34:35Z")
“I killed Silas! I liked Silas!” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/31 "2010-11-05T01:52:12Z")
I think I’m getting a Roku for Christmas. I’ll probably start streaming it then. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/32 "2010-11-05T02:15:07Z")
Pure unadulterated schlock. Enjoyable once through, but not twice. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/33 "2010-11-05T10:16:11Z")
I always thought it would be fun (and someone has probably done this already since the show has been on DVD for years) to take the chronology of Duncan’s travels and see if it’s even possible for him to be in all these different places at once. Like he’s in St. Petersburg in 1887 and then in Mexico in 1888 and in Paris in 1889 and… Because there was a flashback scene in every damn episode and I thought wow this guy sure gets around. I seem to recall lots of women in short leather skirts on the show so bonus for that. I do believe I’ll have to check this show out again. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/34 "2010-11-05T12:10:51Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Yeah, I didn’t hate it. I can’t say it was \*good \*TV, but I had some fun with it. I don’t know it nearly as well as some of the other reviewers here, so I’ll just say it can be a mildly fun way to waste an hour or two. That’s about right. You sit there with an amused smirk on your face because it’s guilty-pleasure kind of fun. Not quite “bad”, but consistently fun. You were almost always guaranteed a fresh take on some kind of sword fight. If I’d been 12 when the series ran i’d have been over-the-moon in love with the show. > [@DWMarch](#): > > I always thought it would be fun (and someone has probably done this already since the show has been on DVD for years) to take the chronology of Duncan’s travels and see if it’s even possible for him to be in all these different places at once. Back in the late 1990s someone had a Highlander fan page. Possibly called The Watcher Chronicles, and they did just that. They listed all the immortals who ever appeared on the show, and IIRC, had a timeline for where they were in the world. Duncan’s history chart was there for sure, and I think Connor’s as well. Edit: I don’t believe there were any conflicts, but I never thought about travel time from Old World to New World. You’re right, some journeys would take so long that it’s practically implausible for him to be in Europe then in Mexico within the time frame depicted. ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/35 "2010-11-05T14:34:49Z")
never mind, it was covered above by Tangent. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/36 "2010-11-05T15:38:03Z")
Gosh, dudes, what part of “no spoilers, please” didn’t you understand? If I were Mahaloth, I’d be a bit ticked. Anyway, I loved the series, even at its worst it was better than H2, and a very good effort at continuing and broadening the themes of the movies. I disagree with about half of Tengu’s recommendations and agree with the rest. How can you skip any of the four horseman plot? Best arc in the whole series, IMHO. and anything with the Watchers is cool. Seasons 1 and 6 are hit or miss… but there are some gems even in them. I actually liked Endgame (H4) quite a bit, but you’ll need to see the whole series first to appreciate it at all. It doesn’t negate the first movie, the series did early on when Joe mentioned Connor killing The Kurgan. As far as I remember, the idea was that the series was in a similar but slightly different continuity, where THE Gathering of the movie was just A Gathering, or at least the start of a decades-long Gathering that lasts through the series. So the only part of the 1st movie that didn’t happen was Connor’s explanation of The Prize at the end. He killed The Kurgan, got a huge quickening, but it wasn’t The Prize. I still need to watch the Raven. I missed it when it 1st aired, and the DVDs have sat on my shelf for a while. The Source (H5) is a big steaming pile of donkey crap. Worse than anything else in the entire franchise, INCLUDING H2. (At least Sean Connery was cool and amusing in that one and there were some neat effects). Seriously, The Source is that bad. May be the worst sequel of all time. Worse than Indiana Jones 4, Worse than Alien 3, Worse than Star Trek 5 and Insurrection with their suckage combined, Worse than Matrix 3, Worse than Godfather 3. Tangent is correct: Avoid at all cost. It’s not even MST3K-worthy. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/37 "2010-11-05T21:28:53Z")
Sorry. :slinks off to holy ground, then–: :hangs head in shame: ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/38 "2010-11-05T22:43:11Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > [SNIP]the most recent Highlander movie is actually the direct-to-television movie _The Source_, and it was craptacular. Avoid at all cost. Oh man, The Source was awful. At least Highlander 2 had some production values, Source looked like it was made by the same people that made all those craptacular multimedia CD-ROM games that were en vogue in the 1990’s. And the story, I think I’ve blocked out most of it, but it was really bad, I remember that much. Set in some dystopian future but for some reason the very much human Joe Dawson is still around and the same age? And there’s an immortal that looks like he stepped out of a REALLY bad Mortal Kombat ripoff? What? ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/39 "2010-11-05T23:49:16Z")
Most episodes follow a standard formula and are okay. Some though don’t follow the formula and are great. The aforementioned ten year old forever Immortal. Ron Perlman (City Of Lost Children, Alien Resurrection, Hellboy) shows up as an Immortal who carries no sword and preaches that Immortals can live together in peace. The episode with that B movie guy (Has the line “You killed my brother!” in Enemy Mine), features an Immortal who has really grown and changed over the years. Pretty much any episode that goes for comedy instead of action- One features a gambling Immortal who lost a casino to Amanda. Whenever he senses another Immortal, he sneezes. BTW I liked Endgame. It answered many questions I had. BTW Again There was a Highlander comic series. I haven’t read it but it looked okay. There was also a Highlander collectible card game. BTW One More Time Avoid Highlander- The Animated Series. This could have been great. Immortals moving faster than is possible for human actors, doing impossible stunts, really fantastic Quickening scenes. But instead of making a Highlander cartoon for adults, they made one for kids. It’s a weird dystopian future with dinosaurs. Young McCleod--------- sorry I can’t go on. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP! ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399/40 "2010-11-06T02:22:23Z")
Really, however nutty it is, I did love the show. There are bits that still stick in my head. The “Dust in the Wind” scene. “I don’t lie with virgins, and I don’t kill children.” “I don’t want a gravestone.” (Methos to his friend.) “You get to pick who you are.” (Duncan to Richie.) Anything with Rachel MacLeod. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-highlander-the-series/559399.md?page=3)