HIGHLA-L Digest - 6 Sep 2004 to 9 Sep 2004 (#2004-173)
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Thu, 9 Sep 2004 22:00:06 -0400
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Topics of the day:
1. Season Five dvd Commentary: Manhunt
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Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2004 23:39:25 -0400
From: kageorge <kageorge@erols.com>
Subject: Season Five dvd Commentary: Manhunt
html version w/screen captures, at:
http://www.wordsmiths.net/MacGeorge/episodes/Season5/Manhunt.htm
COMMENTARY: Peter Ellis, the episode director, mentions that the two
guest stars, Eric McCormick and Bruce Young, were a joy to work with.
When you have actors of that caliber, you can demand more and they will
rise to the occasion. He says they had a little extra time and did a lot
of storyboarding for the flashbacks and that it was a fun episode to do.
David Tynan says this episode was interesting because it explored an
ongoing theme of what happened to an Immortal who had established a
life, then had to leave it all behind because he was an Immortal. They
wanted to use Bruce Young as an Immortal who had achieved a lot against
terrible odds, then lost everything. David T. says that as a Canadian,
baseball wasn’t his native game and David Abramowitz had to provide some
of the baseball lingo to fill in his knowledge gaps.
Gillian says they were in season five and they knew that the show wasn’t
going to run forever. The character of Matthew McCormick was Gillian’s
idea of who might make a great hero for the next Highlander series – the
FBI “serial killer guy.” He would have access to interesting stories
week-to-week as a result of his job. They wrote the part specifically
for Eric McCormick, and Gillian likes to think he might have been as
successful as a Highlander hero as he has been in “Will and Grace.”
Peter E. says the period look was enhanced by the sepia tone effect. In
episodic television you have to sell an idea quickly, and Don Panessa
came up with the idea of sepia tones.
Rex Raglan, production designer, says he thought finding the “old south”
environments would be difficult around Vancouver. They narrowed it down
to wanting a river and a field, and found a couple of acres full of
uncut grass. There were anachronistic elements nearby that worked
against the idea of the old south, so they put in a few wagons and the
extras and it worked well. For the river scene, they found a river view
with nothing incongruent with what they wanted – so the first criteria
was that there was nothing that said it *wasn’t* the deep south. Some of
their best ideas come as the director, designer and sometimes the
producer are driving around and looking at the possibilities, and what
comes out is frequently more creative and elaborate than any one of them
might have originally envisioned.
OUTTAKES: They show the attempt to film the stunt of the Immortal who
challenges Carl, falling off the roof. It looks really bad, and they
didn’t use it.
Then they show the filming of the fight between Duncan and Carl in the
dojo. Holy Moly! Watching two very physical actors, who are obviously
very comfortable both with each other and with doing action scenes, go
through this intense, difficult, violent choreography over and over
again, each time (literally) throwing themselves into it both
emotionally and physically, is a genuine treat. I always thought that
fight scene was excellent, and now I know why. It is very different when
it is two well-trained, highly motivated actors doing it with real
emotional intensity, rather than Adrian and a bunch of stunt guys, with
Adrian doing all the real dramatic work by himself.
We see a couple of takes showing scenes between Duncan and Matthew
McCormick, and it’s amusing that Eric instantly drops the southern
accent at the end of scenes.
THE EPISODE: (Audio Commentary by Peter Ellis) The episode prologue
opens at a baseball park, with Carl Robinson on the phone with his
agent, demanding that his agent get him $15 million. Excited kids gather
‘round and he signs autographs, warmly interacting with his fans. A
trashy looking white guy, evidently a staff member of the ball club,
comes up to give him some advice about his pitching, when Carl feels
another Immortal. Carl meets the Immortal on the roof, and they fight.
Carl wins, but unfortunately, the dead Immortal falls off the roof and
is seen by everyone.
We next see Duncan (dressed in a three-piece suit that is *really* sharp
looking) going into the dojo carrying a portfolio briefcase, reading the
newspaper about how Carl is being hunted for the gruesome “murder”, when
a smart-mouthed kid brings a message to Duncan to tell him where Carl is.
As the kids dashes away and Duncan chases after, he runs into a woman
coming in who announces that the place is a dump, the owner must be a
dork and she is just the person to show him how to fix it up. “So where
do I find this Neaderthal?” she asks. He tells her she’s looking at him,
at that they’re closed.
Duncan finds Carl in some derelict buildings. (Carl: “Nice suit.”
Duncan: “Nice neighborhood.”) [Peter Ellis comments that the set was an
old abandoned power station and was next to the “old south” building
they used, and that scene was filmed later the same day as this one.]
Carl bemoans his fate, saying that only the week before he had been
asked by the governor if he wanted to go into politics. (Flashback to
“Run for Your Life” when MacLeod and Carl first met. Peter Ellis notes
that Dennis Berry shot it: “Good stuff. Classic.” And Carl shows Duncan
how well he can pitch.) Back in the present, Duncan tells Carl that it
is time for him to move on, to disappear, but Carl says he can’t get to
his money, that the police will track him, and when Duncan offers to put
Carl up at his place, Carl says he doesn’t want to drag him into it.
“I’m already in it,” Duncan answers, and he and Carl shake hands. [Ellis
comments that Bruce was a really good actor, and that Adrian’s
performances got noticeably better when he was working with other good
actors.]
At the “crime scene” in the baseball park, a handsome, scruffy looking
FBI agent with a southern drawl arrives, saying he’s their “serial
killer guy” come to help them with the investigation. He puts some
evidence in his trunk, where a sword can also be seen.
In the meantime, Duncan is driving Carl to his place as Carl is still
grousing about how some “hot shot kid” came along and threw his “whole
life into the crapper.” Duncan reminds him that he still has his life,
and that even if he has to start over from the bottom, that opportunity
is more than most people get. As they approach the dojo, they spot
police there, and Duncan starts turns around, but both Duncan and Carl
feel the approach of the FBI detective. Carl yells at Duncan to get out
of there. [Peter Ellis calls every Immortal a “Highlander”, which is a
little peculiar. He must not have realized he was doing it.]
Carl tells Duncan about his history with the FBI agent, Matthew
McCormick. In a flashback, Carl talks about his days as a slave in the
old south, when he was a mortal. The plantation owner’s daughter accused
him of getting her pregnant, and the owner shoots Carl in the back,
killing him. Carl revives, but he was on the run and eventually got
caught. Carl and his captors run into McCormick, who offers to buy Carl,
paying twice what he would be worth. McCormick scares the shit out of
Carl when he pulls a sword, but he uses it to cut Carl free (seeming to
me to take a perverse pleasure in letting Carl think he was going to
kill him, instead).
In the present, Duncan takes Carl to meet Joe Dawson, and Carl and Joe
hit it off, but Duncan leaves to go talk to McCormick. Carl warns Duncan
to be careful, that McCormick is good with a sword. “Then maybe he can
teach me something,” Duncan replies blithely.
Duncan walks into a darkened dojo, finding McCormick sitting at his desk
in the office, playing with a slinky. The two Immortals are wary of each
other, slightly hostile, and McCormick says he’s check Duncan out and as
far as he can tell, they are not going to have a problem. [Ellis,
laughing: “This slinky completes sums this character up!”] Duncan
objects to McCormick hunting Carl, that McCormick knows what Carl is and
that the fight was self-defense, and that Carl wasn’t a murderer. “Oh,
we have a verdict from Judge MacLeod!” says McCormick. “Or are you the
whole jury.” Duncan is not amused. McCormick insists that Carl is a bad
guy, and always has been, and tells Duncan what happened between Carl
and McCormick in the previous century.
Flashback: A shack by a river, where McCormick is teaching Carl how to
survive as an Immortal. Carl is genuinely grateful to McCormick, who has
done his best to teach him self-respect, as well, and that not every
white man uses a whip. (Carl: “You’ve been more than my teacher. You’ve
been a friend.”) McCormick advises Carl to head north, but Carl says he
still has some unfinished business, which turns out to be settling the
score with the plantation owner who shot him. Turns out that owner is
McCormick’s father-in-law, and McCormick insists that Carl leave the
owner alone, but Carl defiantly walks away.
Carl goes to the plantation and confronts the owner, who is astonished
that Carl is alive. Carl grabs the riding crop out of the man’s hand,
and beats him with it, as Carl had been beaten. The owner draws a gun,
but Carl wrestles with him, the gun goes off and the owner is killed.
The owner’s son witnesses the killing, goes after Carl, and Carl shoots
him.
At Joe’s bar, Duncan insists on knowing whether Carl killed the two men,
and Carl is unashamed about the deaths. Duncan insists that once Carl
became an Immortal, he stopped being a slave. “You’re one of us, now!”
But Carl insists that Duncan can’t understand what it felt like, and he
can just go to hell.
Back at the baseball stadium, we see the staff guy/coach (Tray) who
originally advised Carl about his pitching. Tray is thinking about how
much the team needs Carl, and we get the strong impression that Tray is
a person of very low self-esteem.
Carl is seen walking along an alley, and is found by the police. There
is a chase scene, but Carl is caught. Duncan confronts McCormick at the
police station, angrily insisting that what happened was not murder, but
McCormick is after Carl for what happened a century before, and doesn’t
really care about Carl’s fight on the rooftop. Duncan makes the argument
that Carl can’t go to prison because before long they will find out
about his Immortality, but McCormick snidely says that wasn’t something
to worry about since, “I don’t think Carl is going to make it to trial.”
However, in a complete turnaround, Tray goes to the police, confessing
to the murder in Carl’s stead.
At the dojo, Carl is rejoicing at his release, but Duncan is irritated
that Carl would let Tray take the rap for something he didn’t do, that
it wasn’t right. “Right? What’s that got to do with anything! This whole
Immortality crap is a joke. Every time I was set to get somewhere, be
somebody – Bam! Something comes along to knock me on my ass!” In the
face of Duncan’s insistence that Tray not be imprisoned for something he
didn’t do, Carl dismisses the notion, saying Tray is a nobody, less than
nothing.
“Like Carl the slave was?” Duncan asks, he then snidely reminds Carl of
the wealth he has accumulated, and that his slave days are long over.
The argument finally evolves into one of the most intense bare-knuckle,
no-holds-barred fight scenes in all of Highlander. Finally, Duncan
throws Carl through the window into the office, and bloody-faced and
gasping, climbs through the window after him, and steps on Carl’s chest,
grabbing his arm and twisting it until Carl gives his word that he will
go to Tray and try to convince him to recant his confession.
Duncan and Carl are still mad at each other, but they manage to get in
to see Tray (after Carl is asked for his autograph by one of the
policeman, much to Duncan’s irritation). Tray refuses to change his
story, but Carl (a little reluctantly) tells Tray he can’t throw his
life away. But Tray says he’s “a zero”, that he’d always hated guys like
Carl, but then he met Carl, and he stopped hating him, that he wanted
Carl to win – to help him win, and that it was the first good thing he
had ever wanted. The world would be worse off without Carl Robinson,
Tray says, but not without Tray Franks. Carl is touched, and when they
go back to the ballpark, Carl is frustrated, arguing with Duncan and
arguing with himself about the life he would have to give up if Tray
recanted his confession and Carl was accused again of murder.
It could all be moot however, because McCormick shows up, sword in hand.
Duncan tries to stop the fight, arguing that the world is different,
that Carl had changed. “Did you imagine redemption came that easily?”
McCormick drawls. Duncan insists that Carl’s death isn’t about honor,
but about his pride (sound familiar?). Carl only says that McCormick
should do what he feels he has to do, but he should not let Tray take
the rap for the murder. They prepare to fight, and Duncan desperately
asks Matthew to listen to what Carl is saying, asking if this is a man
he wants to kill. McCormick still seems determine, but it looks like his
resolve is weakening, so that when Duncan yells, “You can forgive him!”
McCormick at last pauses.
There is an immediate segue to the police station, where Carl’s sword is
proven to have been the murder weapon and McCormick is browbeating
Duncan into telling him where Carl is hiding. Duncan takes them to the
deserted building he originally found Carl in, and police surround the
building. Duncan asks for the opportunity to talk Carl into
surrendering, and goes inside. “You ready for this?” he asks Carl when
they meet.
Duncan comes out of the building, telling McCormick that Carl refuses to
surrender. Carl steps out with his shotgun and McCormick yells at him to
drop the weapon. In a dramatic confrontation, Carl points the shotgun at
the police and they open fire, riddling him with bullets. In the silence
afterwards, McCormick and Duncan share a look.
Segue to the morgue, where Matthew and Duncan are sneaking Carl out,
exchanging quips as Carl complains about the chill (Duncan: “Yeah, well
it’s the morgue. At least you’re still fresh.”) and about the clothes
they brought him (Carl: “Hey, who picked out these clothes anyway, your
mother?”) (Duncan growling to Matthew: “You should have killed him.” )
Finally, we see Tray, alone at the ballpark. Duncan comes up, and Tray
berates him, saying it was Duncan’s fault that Carl was dead. Carl steps
up, thanking Tray for what he did, and that he shouldn’t ask questions,
he should just accept it. Tray looks nervous and surprised, but tells
Carl he shouldn’t be there, that it’s dangerous. Carl tells Tray he did
a good thing, that he won’t forget it, and that Tray shouldn’t forget it
either.
MY COMMENTS: I liked this episode because of the people in it, not
really because of the story it told. We have three men who are all easy
on the eyes, and whose performances were all worth watching. It was
really Bruce Young’s show, and he drew some very nice dramatic
differences between the man he had been as a mortal, and the man he was
now. Unfortunately, I thought the part of Matthew McCormick was a little
“soft” in terms of characterization. I felt like I didn’t really get to
know much about him, or really understand why he would carry a grudge
for over a century because someone who had been an abused slave killed
his father-in-law and brother-in-law (both of whom seemed like real
nasty characters who weren’t a great loss to the gene pool). Because of
that, I never felt that the conflict between Carl and McCormick was as
well set up as it needed to be to create the intensity that the story
needed. I felt real sympathy for Carl’s feelings, and very little
understanding of McCormick’s. [Plot point: Was the woman McCormick
married to the same daughter who accused Carl of being the father of her
child? That makes little sense, and that whole part of the plot unravels
for me.]
The actor who played Tray had some really nice moments, and Carl’s
gradual acceptance that the “right” thing to do was to start his life
over, rather than let someone else deal with the adverse consequences of
his Immortality, was well played.
As must be obvious by now, I really enjoyed that confrontation between
Duncan and Carl in the dojo, with Duncan going chest-to-chest with a
much bigger man, neither one fearing the other, each not giving an inch.
And that suit is, bar none, the finest looking set of (modern) clothes
Duncan wears in the series, in my humble opinion. That portfolio he was
carrying also opens up some interesting questions as to what he was
doing, which is fun to speculate about.
I’d give this episode a B+ for having some really fine actors do some
good work, but the story itself was weak.
MacGeorge
All episode commentaries at:
http://www.wordsmiths.net/MacGeorge/episodes/indexframeset.htm
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End of HIGHLA-L Digest - 6 Sep 2004 to 9 Sep 2004 (#2004-173)
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