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4-4: Chivalry, Timeless, The Blitz

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  • 4-4: Chivalry, Timeless, The Blitz

    Discuss these Season 4 episodes:

    Chivalry
    Timeless
    The Blitz
    __________________________________________________

    "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 three good episodes, but maybe not the best. "Timeless" grates me because, under most usual circumstances, Duncan would be offing Culbraith at the end of the episode. But it wouldn't backwards double stanrdard writing if that was the case! Anyway, "The Blitz" is better, with "Chivalry" a close second, but strictly because of Methos' appearance alone. "The Blitz" at least brings the whole Anna storyline into a satisfying conclusion. At least, it did for me.

    Comment


    • #3
      Chivalry is a very, very rewatchable episode. If only for the Duncan/ Methos sword'fight'. & the cherry on top of that scene being Ritchie walking in and going 'I trust this isn't real?' (Methos: God forbid.) That's from memory, years later. (I do have it on tape still. I would have to hook up my VCR, though. It's sitting there, right below the TV, but I would have to get behind the tube and fuss with cables.)

      Comment


      • #4
        I love all three of these episodes. But...people are still using VCRs? For anyone who didn't purchase DVDs when they first came out...the episodes are available on Amazon Video. Or at least they were a year or two ago, when I purchased them. (Some of my Season 1 DVDs were unplayable, because those early packagers had them crammed together too closely. When I bought Season 1 on Amazon Video, I decided to buy all the other seasons too, even though those DVDs are great.)

        Comment


        • Perfect Warrior
          Perfect Warrior commented
          Editing a comment
          I recorded them off of the TV a decade ago. The tapes are still good, so I'm too much of a cheapskate to buy the DVDs.

      • #5
        Episodes courtesy of Cinedigm.



        Episode 76: "Chivalry"

        Dull, silly episode with a few good Methos scenes and a great ending. The whole thing feels like a bad romance novel.
        __________________________________________________

        "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 77: "Timeless"

          Fairly good episode. Both stories are okay, but Methos's is better. The main story deals with an immortal trying to activate a talented pre-immie's immortality so that her music will continue throughout the ages. Anyone who has seen season 5's The Modern Prometheus will know that this could turn out poorly.
          __________________________________________________

          "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


            Episode 78: "The Blitz"

            I couldn't help but think how badly the present day story would have been botched if it had been done in an early season. As is, the direction, cinematography, production value, and especially the set design give the Seacouver scenes an unparalleled verisimilitude. Amazingly enough, the script is also far above average for this series. Lisa Howard puts her previous performances to shame (not that that's saying much) and goes so far as to steal the show! I couldn't believe just how great she was! Crazy as it sounds, I suddenly don't want to see Anne go. The whole pregnancy subplot made her character work so much better. The flashbacks were less satisfying, despite the solid writing. Most of the time, the settings were completely convincing, but the blitz scene stuck out as hopelessly phony in an otherwise wholly-credible episode. The main thing that keeps this episode from being one of the greats is the horrid actress in the flashbacks. She is given dynamite dialogue, and she spits it out like an amateur.
            __________________________________________________

            "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


            • #8
              I am rewatching Chivalry right now. What comes up is that Duncan should not have let Kristin go. There was no question that he knew what she was, what she had done, what she would do again. The otherwise excellent writing was not up to convincing me that he would not take her head. They just wanted to give a Q to Methos, which is fine also, but at the expense of Duncan demonstrating sense?

              Comment


              • #9
                Also, I think perhaps there's a backstory wherein Methos lost a friend to Kristin long ago.

                Comment


                • #10
                  Now watching Timeless. Oh, it's so adorable, funny, sweet, and heart breaking. Just wonderful. But yes, Methos and Alexa's story is the stronger part.

                  Comment


                  • #11
                    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?


                    4x10:Chivalry
                    You know that bittersweet (in hindsight) but amusing scene between Duncan and Richie about racing starships and Immortal mid-life crises and Duncan not trusting Richie to hang a door?Gone. I don’t even have to consider the other changes for this one.


                    Winner: DVD/European cut!


                    4x11:Timeless
                    The domestic cut of this episode loses: most of Claudia and Joe’s jam session; Duncan and Walter arguing in the elevator about trying to kill Claudia; a few of Beaufort’s lines in the England flashback (“You are a terrible Kate” and a quote from Hamlet); the end of the scene with Duncan, Methos and Claudia in the loft’s kitchen, which normally I’d be all for, but I dunno, it just has kind of a weird vibe to me;Claudia questioning whether Duncan sponsored her because or HER or just because she was going to be Immortal; Claudia practicing at the recital hall before getting frustrated, then packing to leave before Duncan gives her the sword; the beginning of the Methos and Alexa scene with the amusing line about her hiding her husband, boyfriend, lover, and the Seven Dwarfs; and lastly, the first few lines between Duncan and Claudia at the Buddhist retreat. This one is not as obvious as the other two listed here, but on the whole, I think I prefer the longer version...

                    Winner: DVD/European cut!


                    4x12: The Blitz
                    Others may like this episode, but it is my least favorite of the whole series. Anne is an idiot for putting her unborn child at such risk -- all three of them could have died down there, instead of just Mike --and the London stairwell flashbacks are boring (and depressing). Now that I've fully revealed my bias... Diane’s monologue about her aunt in Colorado is the most interesting of the cuts made to the domestic version, and that’s really not saying much, so...

                    Winner: Domestic cut!


                    Updated tally:
                    Domestic = 25
                    DVD/European = 27

                    Comment


                    • #12
                      Loved both Chivalry and Timeless. The sparring between Methos and Mac in Chivalry is one of my fave scenes. And his utter disgust at having to be the one to end Kristin is fabulous - some one had to. The Methos and Alexa story resonated through most of the season, very strong writing there, someone on staff was definitely of a romantic bent.
                      I'm with Zzickle tho in that Anne showed her true idiocy in The Blitz. The flashback half was fine, but Anne was a moron who put others at risk and wound up getting one guy killed. So glad she was gone after this, and good riddance.

                      Comment


                      • #13
                        Originally posted by Ceridwen View Post
                        Loved both Chivalry and Timeless. The sparring between Methos and Mac in Chivalry is one of my fave scenes. And his utter disgust at having to be the one to end Kristin is fabulous - some one had to. The Methos and Alexa story resonated through most of the season, very strong writing there, someone on staff was definitely of a romantic bent.
                        I'm with Zzickle tho in that Anne showed her true idiocy in The Blitz. The flashback half was fine, but Anne was a moron who put others at risk and wound up getting one guy killed. So glad she was gone after this, and good riddance.
                        I get that, but also feel that was artificial. That half of the problem was that they needed a reason for Duncan to be there for the birth of Anne's child. The people writing that episode were probably not thinking of how stupid this was. Just like when they were finally rid of Tessa and could start having Duncan sleep with various women in the present rather than only in flashbacks. A means to an end, and if you have to be ham-handed about it, then you will.

                        Comment


                        • Zzickle
                          Zzickle commented
                          Editing a comment
                          I totally agree. It was both stupid on the character's part and forced from a plot perspective.

                      • #14
                        Kristin was a stunner and if Duncan let her go then what a fool he was! seriously though he knew she was an evil woman that would have got him his head chopped off somewhere down the line!
                        JB

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