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4-3: The Colonel, Reluctant Heroes, The Wrath of Kali

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  • 4-3: The Colonel, Reluctant Heroes, The Wrath of Kali

    Discuss these Season 4 episodes:

    The Colonel
    Reluctant Heroes
    The Wrath of Kali
    __________________________________________________

    "Really? We are trapped in a room with a machine that can cut off my head. Now that's a longshot."
    --Connor MacLeod in Peter Bellwood's original Highlander II script

  • #2
    All of them nicely shot episodes, with good performances all-around. However, the first two are rather mundane storylines. Kali, however, is a firm favorite of mine, mostly because of Kabir Bendi, best known as Sandokan and from the James Bond film, Octopussy. Its a delightful episode that is, unfortunately, betrayed by its forced ending that enables a fight and a Quickening. Nevertheless, its entertaining and lots of fun.

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    • #3
      I've always liked "The Colonel." Especially the battle scenes, with..."It's a Long Way to Tipperary"? And I get a kick out of the way Mac is hanging in there, when Killian has him locked in that cell, at least seeming supremely confident that he'll be able to get himself out! And then he has to accept help from Joe...

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      • #4
        Episode links courtesy of Cinedigm.



        Episode 73: "The Colonel"

        A really interesting idea, a really lame episode. The potential in the villain's backstory is ruined by shameless overacting and a lack of genuine menace. The episode looks pretty, especially the flashback, but it's rather boring. Amanda's subplot felt very "Richie story" to me, especially with the contrived new friend. The only thing that worked was the reunion of Joe and Mac under Amanda's influence--this subplot almost made the episode worth watching, but it could have used far more development.
        __________________________________________________

        "Really? We are trapped in a room with a machine that can cut off my head. Now that's a longshot."
        --Connor MacLeod in Peter Bellwood's original Highlander II script

        Comment


        • #5


          Episode 74: "Reluctant Heroes"

          Well, there are worse ways to kill an hour. The episode has a rather fun and smarmy villain, the other guest stars are good, and Richie gets to be more rational than Duncan.
          __________________________________________________

          "Really? We are trapped in a room with a machine that can cut off my head. Now that's a longshot."
          --Connor MacLeod in Peter Bellwood's original Highlander II script

          Comment


          • #6


            Episode 75: "The Wrath of Kali"

            This is another one of those few-and-far-between, "Why couldn't the whole series be this awesome?" episodes. Great acting, great direction/cinematography, great concept, great script, great villain, great Quickening...just brilliant.
            __________________________________________________

            "Really? We are trapped in a room with a machine that can cut off my head. Now that's a longshot."
            --Connor MacLeod in Peter Bellwood's original Highlander II script

            Comment


            • #7
              Another thought about "The Colonel": As I recall, we've been told that the writers initially meant to have the abducted young woman (the "Amanda wannabe") killed. They changed the plan because fans were complaining the series was getting too dark! I'm surprised that any TV series would pay that much attention to feedback they were getting from viewers...not sure whether it was a good or bad thing. Where this episode was concerned, the writers thought that with Amanda's foolish encouragement of the young woman's admiration and emulation of her not having caused a death, there wasn't a good enough reason for Amanda's leaving town (and, of course, leaving Mac).

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              • #8
                Just finished going over the official domestic cut of these three episodes, kindly provided by the wonderful Gillian Horvath. I have converted them from their VHS tapes to mpg (m4v) format if anyone is interested in them. Also, the official 'Eurominutes' are now marked out on my transcript pages. [www.zzickle.com/tv/transcripts.html]

                And now for the showdown: DVD/European cut vs Domestic cut - who wins?


                4x07:The Colonel
                Another episode with a lot of tiny cuts in the domestic version. Ones of note include: some of Amanda’s and Joe’s conversation in the Teaser about how Joe & Duncan are both hurt by their broken friendship (1), Duncan apologizing to Amanda for not meeting her at Joe’s (9), and Henson telling Joe she’s heard rumors about him and MacLeod (14). Everything else is completely unimportant to the plot:pointless conversations between Killian’s henchman, extra footage of Duncan struggling to get out of the straightjacket, and a bunch of stuff not even worth describing here. I would declare the domestic cut as winner if it weren’t for those three noted cuts, but none of them are strong enough (compared to the remaining 3 minutes of unimportant trimmings) to choose the DVD/Euopean version either, so...

                Winner: Tie!


                4x08:Reluctant Heroes
                This one is beyond easy to call. Every single one of the 8 cuts made to the domestic version should be kept. In the domestic version, Kinman finds Richie much too quickly in the parking garage, we miss seeing Dennis and Kinman’s salutes at the start of their duel, we don’t learn that Duncan leaves himself an out in his oath to the queen, or get confirmation that Brooks doesn’t know Kinman is Immortal (or at least, that she doesn’t know why he carries a sword around)...

                Winner: DVD/European cut!


                4x09: The Wrath of Kali
                Only 5 cuts in the domestic version of this episode. 1) Richie and Duncan talking about the donors who have come to see the university’s collection, and Richie’s amusing reaction to meeting Shandra for the first time; 2) Richie showing off his form and giving us some nice eye candy in the dojo, then a few moments later 3) sensing Kamir’s buzz (which is completely missing from the domestic version); 4) Kamir teaching Richie about India and his beliefs, and Richie disparaging his own American roots; and 5) Duncan and Vashti’s discussion about life and reincarnation, which admittedly is later re-used as voice-overs during Vashti’s funeral pyre. This is another episode where I feel like all of the cut scenes provide something vital to the story, so...

                Winner: DVD/European cut!


                Updated tally:
                Domestic = 24
                DVD/European = 25

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