HIGHLA-L Digest - 14 Nov 2004 to 19 Nov 2004 (#2004-207)
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Fri, 19 Nov 2004 22:00:04 -0500
There is one message totalling 106 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Season Five DVDs: CAH Rough Cut
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Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 14:09:21 -0500
From: kageorge <kageorge@erols.com>
Subject: Season Five DVDs: CAH Rough Cut
As I was trying (not as successfully as I would like) to get my life
together long enough to do another episode commentary, I realized that
the last disk in the set has the first rough cuts of both CAH and Rev
6:8, with Gillian Horvath and Donna Lettow chatting obsessively as a
commentary. Most of the chatting is for their own amusement, and not m
uch is added to the body of knowledge about these episodes, but I
watched CAH and made a few notes, as follows:
Instead of the "Wheel of History" opening scene, we see monks deliver
and throw food down a well, as one of them protests the waste of food
that has been thrown down there for centuries. (G&D tell us it is
supposed to be roughly the 7th Century A.D.) A high weak voice calls for
help to the one who remains behind. He breaks the iron gate and Kronos
emerges with long, wild hair, dressed in badly done rags (with only a
couple days growth of beard, oddly enough (Gillian: “What, ya been
shavin’ with? A peach pit?”). Kronos kills the monk and revels in his
freedom, and thus we were originally supposed to be introduced to the
baddest of Highlander bad guys. Gillian says it was the editors who
decided to drop the entire Greek subplot (for which we should all be
grateful) because the episode went seven minutes over the allotted time.
Then we get the scene outside the “Wheel of Time” studio, followed by
the flashback to the old west, where there’s a little extra face-off
dialogue in the confrontation just before the shoot out. (G&D tell us
that Val Pelka was thrilled to do the old west scene because he was a
big fan of classic westerns, and later, of course, did a whole lot of
those scenes in Queen of Swords.)
G&D discuss the choice of Cassandra to play the “new Immortal subjugated
by Methos” role, eliminating various possibilities by knowing that it
had to be a friend of Duncan, and someone very old, and female so it
would trigger Duncan’s protective instincts. The other possibility was
Cierdwyn. They talk about a “what if” it had been Darius (Donna: “That
puts a whole new spin on the enslavement part.”) But learning that a
close friend has a dark past you didn’t know about has to come from
another close friend, or the information would be discounted, says Gillilan.
In admiring the nice shot of the four Horsemen riding over the dunes,
G&D comments that it was done by the actors, not stuntmen, and they did
pretty well considering that three out of four of them didn’t know how
to ride, despite saying they did on their resumes.
Once we get to the scene where Methos wakes up in the power plant, in
the conversation about Methos not being used to pain there is a extra
bit where Kronos actually inflicts some (pain) by pushing on Methos’
chest where he had been stabbed in order to demonstrate his point. G&D
note that it was the fake Methos that had been responsible for Kronos’
believing that he was still alive, prompting him to come looking for him.
Interestingly, G&D imply that they (as the writers) intended that Methos
came to the dojo to manipulate Duncan into facing Kronos and whacking
him (not to tell him he was leaving, as most have assumed). Methos is
momentarily thrown by Duncan asking him about Kronos before he gets a
chance to spin his story. Then, of course, Cassandra shows up. At that
point, they use the flashback. One difference between this version and
the aired version is that Methos implies that, rather than just killing
her village, their brains had been eaten by Caspian. It was cut because
it was considered too barbaric a reference. For the same reason, they
also cut the conclusion to the scene where Methos graphically stabs
Cassandra then casually drops her. Then they go back to the dojo scene.
In the scene between Kronos and Methos where Kronos tantalizingly
describes the “freedom” and “power” of what they did, Donna comments,
egging Kronos on: “Wave that bottle of beer in the alcoholic’s face.”
Then comes the Jimmy scene. Gillian says “the boys” got so into the
scene and “into the zone,” that they never did it the same way twice. It
was great from a dramatic standpoint, but horrifying from an editing
standpoint. When Methos says he killed ten thousand, Donna adds, “Yeah.
A year, maybe,” (meaning he probably killed ten thousand a year, and
that the number was just hyperbole). Gillian says that in Methos’
description of what he did, that she thinks he is describing an enemy he
hates, but can’t kill because it would be suicide.
In the scene between Joe and Duncan where Joe talks about trying to
understand what Methos did, Donna comments that this is the same Joe
Dawson who thought John Cage should die because 30 years before he
killed a few kids. Gillian replies that it is typical Joe who is driven
by what is in his heart, and “doesn’t let the facts interfere with the
way he feels about things.” If someone is his friend, he will
rationalize what they do, but that he also knows that having one side of
the story, is only half the tale.
When Kronos mistakes Cassandra’s “buzz” from Methos’, Gillian says that
is proof positive that you can’t tell one buzz from another. Later, when
Cassandra feels someone and runs smack (literally) into Methos, they
comment that it is proof that you also can’t tell how close another
immortal is by any variation in the “buzz.”
MY COMMENTS: While it is interesting to know what the writers intended,
I don't think it is necessarily dispositive of any particular issue
since any performance is a collaboration not only between the writers,
producers, actors, etc., but also with the audience, who is free to
interpret the events in a way that is meaningful to them.
MacGeorge
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End of HIGHLA-L Digest - 14 Nov 2004 to 19 Nov 2004 (#2004-207)
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