Besides Adrian Paul as Duncan MacCleod, we also get to meet his girlfriend, the beautiful Tessa Noel (Alexandra Vandernoot). She too is a really strong and passionate character, actress Alexandra Vandernoot really also impressed me from the pilot episode on, not only with her beauty, but I also thought she was a strong actress. Stan Kirch plays Richie, he becomes a close family member, more like a son to Duncan and Tessa, he is about 18 years old, and in the pilot you can already deduce that there is more to Richie than meets the eye. Unfortunately Stan Kirch died in 2020 by suicide, such a shame, only 51 years old!

Going back to the first season, with my last rewatch, I do have to say, it certainly is not the strongest of the six seasons. I mean, for most of the first season, Highlander often is a procedural with some beheadings now and again but not even every episode, sometimes Duncan does not even deal with another immortal. I dare say that if Highlander was released 10 or 20 years later, I imagine it probably would have been cancelled after its first season. That does not mean it is all bad, but it rarely becomes really special this season. Of course with the knowledge of what is coming in the next seasons, with the Watchers and all, as a fan, you don’t mind the weaker first season. Season one of course also needs to build up the Highlander universe for the small screen, getting to learn the characters, the setting, the rules of the game and what not. But still, season one for the most part is okay, but as a fan you much rather want to be more excited with strong stories and this only happens a few times this season, at least, this is how I see it. And it is not that this is an incident, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and to some degree Babylon 5 also had to find its footing in its first season.

Episodes:

Still, it was fun to see Christopher Lambert reprise his role in the pilot episode “The Gathering” as Connor MacCleod. Lambert has a strong presence and because of him, the pilot episode definitely is one of the stronger episodes this season. The batch of episodes after the pilot mostly are okay, enjoyable but, as I said, a bit standard. Episode 10 “Revenge is Sweet” is a tad better than what we’ve seen so far, Vanity, from the girl band Vanity 6, plays the main guest-role. Unfortunately, Vanity no longer is with us, she died some 10 years ago. Vanity is Rebecca Lord, looking for revenge! It solved a question I head, when the episode starts he was fighting in 1989, while it was established in the pilot that he was out of the game for 12 years or so. But this was explained that sometimes there was no other choice, he had to do it. Episode 11, “See No Evil” is also a bit better, Duncan relives the past as he attempts to get to the bottom of a series of killings identical to those committed by an Immortal centuries ago. I thought this was one of the better episodes this season. Even got a lump in the throat here and there.

The best episode since the pilot definitely is episode 13 “Band of Brothers” where we meet Darius (Werner Stocker) for the first time. He is a 2,000-year-old friend of MacLeod's, asks him to protect a protege being stalked by a ruthless Immortal. This ruthless immortal, Grayson, also used to be a dear friend of Darius. When Darius chopped of the head of a holy man, Darius no longer wanted and needed to fight. He pulled his men back on the eve of victory, Grayson never forgave him. Because Duncan is also a friend of Darius, Grayson is after him too, to hurt Darius. Grayson is a 1000 years older than Duncan. Not only Duncan, but also Tessa and Richie are not so confident he can beat him. Best episode yet, by a distance! Finally, high stakes, first time we see Darius, gripping episode, unnerving to Duncan, Tessa and Richie.

“For Evil’s Sake” is also a strong episode, where an immortal named Kuyler, disguised as a mime kills for his own pleasure, not just immortals. Duncan recognizes the MO from his past. Meanwhile we also see how Duncan and Tessa have met each other 12 years ago in Paris. While escaping the police he is able to jump onto a sightseeing boat where Tessa was a tour guide. Yes, it is a fairly standard story, the police investigators sound a bit dodgy in English but I really liked Peter Howitt as Kuyler and I also liked the bit of how Duncan and Tessa met.

“For Tomorrow We Die” is also strong, guest-starring Roland Gift, lead singer of the Fine Young Cannibals, where he is an Immortal named Xavier St. Cloud. He is a thief and a murderer. it is obvious Gift has fun playing this character. Richie is dating an older, married woman. She is married rich but Richie thinks he has a chance.

In “The Best Below” an average episode but the episode shows is that Duncan MacLeod is an integer man. Not once but two times he brings Ursa, whose mind was not working on all thrusters 😊, to holy ground, so he is safe, not once he thinks that perhaps he can profit from him like most likely other Immortals would have done. In “Saving Grace” we meet an old flame of Duncan, Grace, she needs his help. This episode shows what a strong woman Tessa really is! She could become jealous but she becomes the opposite. Does make you wonder how Grace handled herself all these years minus the century she was in a relationship with Carlo Seandaro, because she not acted like an immortal, not able to defend herself. In episode 18 “The Lady and the Tiger” we meet another old flame of Duncan, she is a lot older than him: Amanda Darieux (Elizabeth Gracen). With previous episode Tessa didn’t feel threatened when she meets former lover Grace, but when she meets Amanda she definitely does.

After episode 18 there again are a few mediocre episodes, but the season finale “The Hunters” finally shows what the TV show Highlander can become! It felt to me that this season the creators and the writers did not exactly know where to go with this character but with this episode this all changes. We meet these people called the Watchers, they have been monitoring the immortals for many centuries and now a group of them has enough of this, finds these immortals abominations. Duncan receives a visit from an old friend, the immortal Hugh Fitzcairn (Roger Daltrey). Fitzcairn informs him that several immortals have gone missing recently, and that he thinks something isn't right. When Darius is killed in his church they know that it isn't the work of another immortal, because of holy ground, so they vow to avenge Darius by finding who is responsible. As I said, this is episode is where it all starts, with introducing the Watchers who have been keeping an eye on immortals for centuries. Darius (Werner Stocker) dies in this episode but the actor himself became ill very suddenly, he had a brain tumor and was unable to reprise his role in the season 1 finale. He died on May 27^th, 1993. It was always the plan that Darius would die in the season one finale and that we would see him back in flashbacks. Werner Stocker immediately became a fan favorite with the fans. Because of Werner Stocker’s illness which led to his death, episode Hunters needed extensive rewrites, the scenes you see with him, are from earlier episodes.

Concerns:

Perhaps not with my first watch, but there are some things that make you wonder when you are watching an episode of Highlander. For instance, where the hell does he keep his sword? I mean, he does not always wear the long coat but even then it is questionable. The other main thing is the body count, what happens with the bodies? For some reason Duncan and other immortals aren’t afraid of being tracked down by the police or any 3 letter agency. I think there would be a massive police manhunt with all these beheadings all over the world. Do the watchers perhaps clean this up afterwards? On the other hand, most immortals do not even know of the existence of the Watchers, so, as an immortal shouldn’t that be a concern, all these beheadings, especially in late 20^th century? I know it is make believe, still, especially these beheadings, I would have liked that the creators actually had given an answer to this in the show. I don’t think this has ever been done, or I don’t remember it.

Final Word:

The season finale promises a way out of these procedural episodes and this brings the Highlander TV show to a whole new level. These Watchers definitely are a gamechanger! In the coming seasons we get to meet some very interesting new characters because of this storyline, to name a few: Methos (Peter Wingfield), a very old immortal who joined the Watchers to hide inside this organization, and Watcher of Duncan MacLeod, Joe Dawson (Jim Byrnes). With season two Highlander becomes that much more interesting. So if you start to watch this for the first time, hang on to it, don’t dump it too fast because it really becomes a very interesting and exciting TV show.

I've added the word document with the episode ratings with descriptions and comments for the ones who are interested in this. Just be aware, it is a draft document, sometimes also can be confusing because of grammar errors and some sloppiness.