HIGHLA-L Digest - 30 Apr 2004 to 2 May 2004 (#2004-83)
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There are 3 messages totalling 542 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Season Three dvds: Methos (2)
2. Bi-Monthly Reminder
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 1 May 2004 22:20:43 -0400
From: kageorge <kageorge@erols.com>
Subject: Season Three dvds: Methos
COMMENTARY: Peter Wingfield starts out the commentary by observing that one
of the things where he got "lucky with Methos", was that he was 5,000 years
old, and that there is no way of playing that, so he opted for playing it
very low key, and when Methos just "said stuff" he tried to suggest that, in
so doing, there was just a whole load of things he *wasn't* saying, that
there was so much history that the details were trivial and not that big a
deal.
David Abramowitz said they had no idea what they had with Methos until Peter
showed up and "played the intense scenes with incredible intensity, played
the human scenes with incredible humanity, and played the funny scenes like
a comedian." Since writers like to write for good actors, they really wanted
to keep writing for Peter, and keep the Methos character around.
David A. observes that Peter was always so pleased with the character, and
the character kept surprising them because the actor could play everything
they wrote for him, which made the writing an enormous pleasure.
Peter says that, initially we see Methos as a very unobtrusive, ordinary
kind of guy, which is how he has survived all those years. Kalas finds him
and they fight, but Methos manages to get away. Even so, he is convinced
Kalas is going to take his head and he decides that he will sacrifice
himself to MacLeod. In retrospect, Peter comments that it was a strange
thing for Methos to do. Did he really mean it or was it a very high risk
gamble? When he was first playing it, Peter absolutely assumed that Methos
meant it, that he was willing to sacrifice his life, that he'd been around
for thousands of years, that he's seen and done everything, but he's been
invisible, and maybe he's just bored and tired and ready to go, that it made
sense under those circumstances. After a few years of playing the character,
however, Peter isn't so sure. Nothing else the character did was as
straightforward as that. As a Watcher, Methos would know MacLeod very well,
and that MacLeod wasn't going to kill him. "So... I don't know," Peter says
with a smile, and observes that it was that kind of thing that made him such
a great character. "I never trusted him. I never knew what he meant. I never
knew how serious he was about anything."
Peter talks about his first connection with Highlander, that when he was
sent a few pages of script to audition with he had no idea what it was
about, that it seemed like complete nonsense. "Got the job, went out there,
filmed that stuff under a bridge in Paris with all the smoke. This guy,
Adrian Paul, didn't know who he was. Meant nothing to me.... It was all kind
of bizarre."
"I now look back at it, and it's changed my life so profoundly." He lives
thousands of miles away, has a child who will "grow up with an accent
completely unrelated to my own." His acting craft has been totally altered
by his experience on Highlander, with the places he had to go with that
character. "It's this strange little show about immortality. And here I am
five years after we shot the final episode still talking about it. It's a
show that will not die."
OUTTAKES: The scene of Duncan and Methos walking along the river, having
their first conversation, was substantially altered and then over-dubbed in
the studio. We see the scene as it was originally shot. The rolled up piece
of paper Methos is carrying is his script. The dialogue isn't really that
different from the final version, except that Methos talks more about
keeping a journal "almost since writing began", and that's what has helped
him make sense of Immortality. Duncan asks him, since Methos knew Duncan was
coming, what made him so sure Duncan wasn't going to kill him? "Because I'm
a good judge of character," Methos replies. "And because you've become
something of a legend yourself."
An outtake of Don Saltzer's death scene ends in Adrian playing disgustingly
with what is supposed to be Saltzer's severed tongue. Yuck!
Because the episodes were filmed half in Vancouver and half in Paris, the
scenes incorporating Joe's bar had to be filmed before they left for Paris,
and before the rest of the script had been written for the episode. That
meant that, once the script was finalized, the previously shot dialogue no
longer worked and changes had to be made in looping. We see Jim Byrnes doing
the original phone conversation telling MacLeod about someone spotting Kalas
at a club called "The Red Balloon", while Adrian does the other half of the
dialogue off-screen. After the scene ends, Adrian sneaks up behind Joe to
surprise him, and the two have a colorful exchange (Jim calls Adrian a
dickhead), and both break up laughing.
VIDEO COMMENTARY: Stan Kirsch tells us that, for him, Season Three was about
finding a way to keep Richie in the story and enable him to grow without
taking away from the whole Immortal "There Can Be Only One" reality. Most of
his filming was at the racetrack outside of town, and therefore removed from
the rest of the episode shoots. Stan really liked working with Dennis Berry,
who took time to get to know and take an interest in Richie's character.
"And now," Peter Wingfield says, watching Duncan MacLeod approach Methos'
apartment door, "after one of the greatest set-ups in filmic history,
heeeere comes Methos." Man or myth, Methos, does he exist, this great fount
of knowledge and wisdom - "They think it's gonna be Sean Connery," he quips.
"Some old guy, white hair, long beard." But right from the outset, he was
not what was expected, and not being what was expected became part of who
Methos was. Peter observes that he thinks that someone who had survived that
long probably wouldn't be the greatest fighter. He'd be competent, but the
way to survive is to blend in, disappear, to not fight.
He said Dennis Berry tried to explain to him what the Immortal "Buzz" was,
and Peter had no idea what he was talking about, that the whole episode was
spent doing what he was told without "getting" what the heck was going on.
The scene under the bridge was the first scene he shot on Highlander. It was
freezing cold, and they kept blowing smoke in, and even though he replies to
Duncan's question of "Why?" with "Because There Can Be Only One!", Peter
didn't know what that meant at the time. He tells us that Gillian Horvath
told him that when she saw the dailies, she called David Abramowitz and
advised him to take a look before he finished writing Finale, where the
Methos character was scheduled to get killed as part of the whole Kalas arc.
Even though Methos got very little screen time, the character was potent
with possibility, and there was some very sound writing. "And that's where
it all began," he ends it with a smile.
THE EPISODE: This is the third of a triptych of stories involving the evil
Immortal Kalas, with whom MacLeod had a long, bloody history. Most recently
Kalas had killed the saintly Brother Paul, plus several mortals as he tried
to destroy Anne Lindsay's career, and MacLeod's dear friend Fitzcairn. Now
we see Kalas cogitating on how he needs more power to defeat MacLeod,
settling on Methos, the legendary oldest Immortal as his preferred next
target.
We are in Paris, at Kalas' nightclub, the Nosferatu, and Kalas is being
followed by his assigned Watcher, who foolishly allows himself to be
spotted, and pays the ultimate price in torture and death. But before he
dies, he tells Kalas about the Watchers, and about who might have
information about Methos.
With Dawson's help, MacLeod tracks Kalas to the nightclub, and as he listens
to the young blues singer there, we get a flashback to Paris in the 1920's,
and learn that Kalas, then a rising opera star, was resentful of MacLeod's
part in getting Kalas thrown out of Brother Paul's monastery back in the
1600's, and tries to kill a young friend of MacLeod's in revenge. He and
MacLeod fight, and Kalas almost wins, except that Duncan grabs a shard of
broken glass and slices Kalas' throat - a wound which never really heals,
and which permanently destroys Kalas' prized singing voice, and gives him
all the more reason to hate MacLeod.
Back in the present, Kalas ends up at a bookstore, Shakespeare and Company,
where he tortures and kills Don Saltzer, who was in charge of finding
Methos. MacLeod, finds Saltzer dying, but he lives just long enough to imply
to Mac that Kalas was hunting for Methos. The chief expert on the elusive
Methos among the Watchers, Joe tells MacLeod, is Saltzer's protege, young
Adam Pierson, who is obviously Kalas' next target. Off Duncan trots to find
and protect Pierson.
And then (in what is a brilliantly staged scene) we meet "Adam Pierson" as
Duncan walks into Pierson's apartment, feels Immortal presence, looks around
at objects both ancient and modern, spots an innocuous looking young man
sitting on the floor listening to rock music, and the man looks up. He
manages to look both innocent and wise, young and ancient, innocuous and
dangerously deep, and Duncan instantly knows that this Immortal is far, far
more than he seems. "Methos?" he asks in wonder and surprise, making a
giant, intuitive leap of logic.
Sure enough, Duncan has met the oldest of their kind, someone who he thought
was only a myth. Methos, we learn, hides among the Watchers, hasn't fought
in about 200 years, and makes no claim to great wisdom, just a talent for
survival. Duncan volunteers to "stay close" to fend off Kalas, but Methos
blithely tells him that Duncan can't fight his battles for him.
(Oh, and there's a *really* boring subplot about Richie insinuating himself
onto a motorcycle racing team. It goes on and on, with lots of pointless
macho posturing and noisy machines racing around and around, going nowhere.)
While Duncan and Methos are out getting acquainted, Kalas has found "Adam
Pierson's" apartment, looked at the ancient books written in hieroglyphs,
and reached the same conclusion about Pierson's true identity. When Methos
returns, Kalas attacks. Methos' response is clumsy and he barely manages to
escape as they both end up going off a bridge into the Seine.
Next, it is night, and we see Duncan walking along under a bridge near his
barge, reading Satre's appropriately titled "Being and Nothingness", when
Methos appears, looking like a drowned rat, and unexpectedly attacks. Duncan
asks why, but Methos answers, "Because there can be only One!"
In seconds, Duncan has his katana at Methos' throat, but then slams down,
forcing Methos' blade from his hand, refusing to take his head. Methos asks
him if Duncan thinks is easy to die, after 5,000 years, but if MacLeod doesn
't take his head, then Kalas will. "I cannot beat him. I have tried. He will
take my head and then he will have the strength to take yours."
"So after 5,000 years, your only solution is that I kill you?" Mac asks
incredulously.
"He can beat me. He might beat you! He can't beat both of us." He tells Mac
it isn't a matter of who is the best fighter, it is a matter of passion and
hate. "I don't have the fire," he says. "You do." Then he takes MacLeod's
hand and moves the katana to his own neck. "Live, Highlander. Grow stronger.
Fight another day."
(Cut to more motorcycles going 'round and 'round. Yaaawn)
Duncan goes back to Methos' apartment. Kalas has been waiting, expecting
Methos. When he asks MacLeod where Methos is, he says, "It doesn't matter
anymore, does it?"
"You were after him, all along... I'll get Methos, when I get you!" Kalas
snarls, and they fight, moving out of the apartment, to the same bridge
where Methos and Kalas had fought earlier. MacLeod taunts Kalas, chipping
away at his confidence as Kalas believes MacLeod now has the strength of
Methos' Quickening.
But along come the police, stopping the fight. MacLeod slips away and the
police take Kalas into custody for the murder of Donald Saltzer, with "Adam
Pierson" pointing a confused Kalas (who thought Methos was dead) out as the
accuser and witness.
Mac asks Methos why he stopped the fight, and he answers that he didn't know
if MacLeod could beat him, and that it was a chance he couldn't take.
"Remember, Highlander. Live, grow stronger. Fight another day." Mac watches
him leave, then looks after the police cars taking Kalas away, obviously
frustrated at not being able to finish the fight.
In the tag, over the phone to Joe, who's still back in Seacouver, Mac tells
him who Adam Pierson really is. "It was his little joke on you," he answers.
"Adam, the first man?"
Joe is irritated at himself for not figuring it out and says he'll be on the
next plane to Paris, but Mac tells him not to bother, that Methos is gone.
The camera pans back and Mac is in Methos' empty apartment. The only thing
he finds left is the book by Sartre he had been reading the night Methos
offered him his head.
MY COMMENTS: This episode has as its singular attribute, the introduction of
Methos, who projects instant, vibrant electricity on screen, and the
fascination MacLeod feels for who and what he is, is palpable, as are the
unseen depths in Methos' character. There are so many wonderful enigmas left
in the wake of that event that we can't help but be desperate to see more of
Methos, know more about him, learn a little about his vast past. Why did he
let Duncan find him? Was it an act of trust based on what Methos knew of
MacLeod from the Chronicles? Was there some other agenda going on? And what
was with his offering of his head to Mac? I agree with Mac on this one: "So
after 5,000 years, your only solution is that I kill you?" I don't really
believe that (and you've got to wonder if Mac really believed it, either).
Another interpretation is the old classic "show the alpha male your belly,
and he won't hurt you" strategy. If he has Duncan MacLeod looking our for
him (even though he *says* Duncan can't fight his battles for him), having
such a protective Immortal friend can't hurt.
What we see in this episode also belies the fannish notion I've frequently
encountered that "Methos is really one of the best swordsmen in the world,
and just 'pretends' otherwise around MacLeod." There is no one to pretend
for as he flails away at Kalas. He looks neither graceful nor powerful, and
almost loses his head. Methos isn't kidding when he tells Mac that he's
rusty, and Peter Wingfield even tells us that he thinks that Methos'
survival skills weren't about being the best fighter. Methos is a man of
extraordinary wit and an expert on reading and anticipating human reactions
and behavior, especially in moments of crisis when his life is on the line.
We also learn that Methos is perfectly comfortable with deceit when it
serves his purposes, as he smoothly lies to the police about being a witness
to Saltzer's murder. And since it is obvious that interrupting the fight
would piss MacLeod off, we also learn that Methos does what he thinks is
best without regard to how others might feel about it. It also implies that
Methos gives short shrift to the Rule about not interfering in an Immortal
battle - giving rise to speculation about what other Rules Methos violates
when it suits him.
All this in the first episode where he is introduced, and during which he
has relatively few lines. Whew.
Oh, and does anyone give a rat's fuzzy behind about the motorcycle race, who
won, who lost, or why?
Not me.
MacGeorge
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 2 May 2004 00:00:55 -0500
From: Debra Douglass <ddoug@catrio.org>
Subject: Bi-Monthly Reminder
Sun May 2 00:00:55 CDT 2004
(updated 8/1/00) HIGHLA-L Bi-Monthly Reminders
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------------------------------
Date: Sun, 2 May 2004 19:12:10 EDT
From: Nancy C <NancySSCH@aol.com>
Subject: Re: Season Three dvds: Methos
you're so right about methos and his enigmatic fascination and layers of
duplicity as a character....yes, he must have meant it as a ruse...to offer
macleod his head, all you can do is blame it on the intended arc for his poor
fighting skills against kalas though.....if they were gonna dump him, they wanted to
make it believeable....and so they did some clean up later and made him a
better fighter, of course when xavier st.cloud showed up and blasted all the
rules to hell it didnt matter any more how good with a blade you were and methos
also presaged that, but we dont find out until later....he was the most
interesting and complex character in highlander and i never understood why they
didnt give him his own show as the spinoff instead of amanda....and you're right
again about poor richie and his race. maybe if richie learned to be more
indirect he'd have lasted longer too, who knows...
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End of HIGHLA-L Digest - 30 Apr 2004 to 2 May 2004 (#2004-83)
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