Watchers:

The Watchers are a group of people who apparently have been watching the Immortals for centuries. Chronicles have been kept about the whereabouts of the Immortals, who’ve they’ve beheaded and so on. Darius, the priest, Mac’s friend, had gotten a hold of these chronicles. Darius was killed by Watchers, but this is a group that has split of from the original organization, under the leadership of James Horton, he and several others, had changed their views about Immortals, now seeing them as abominations. James Horton and his followers killed Immortals because they didn’t want to be ruled by an Immortal, the last remaining one that is. So, the Watchers, who still believe in what they have been doing for centuries, still follow Immortals, while James Horton’s men also follow them but with another agenda of course. MacLeod is one of very few Immortals who knows about the Watchers at this time. Amanda knows of them, because Mac told her and Xavier St. Cloud knows about them and he went even further by working together with James Horton and his men, both using each other. So only a handful of Immortals know that they have been watched over the years by Watchers.

Characters:

As I said, we gained a few very interesting characters but we also lose a vital one! Joe Dawson (Jim Byrnes), is member of the Watchers organization, he is also a assigned to watch and follow Duncan Mcleod. It is not so that he is MacLeod’s only Watcher, there are several. Joe Dawson is also related to James Horton, Horton is married to Joe’s sister. Charlie DeSalvo (Philip Akin) is a man who runs a Dojo in the United States. MacLeod comes there to train and because the Dojo is no longer viable, Charlie has only one option and that is to sell it, Ducan buys it from him. Back in Paris, Maurice (Michel Modo) has a boat lying right next to MacLeod’s barge, and he becomes the friendly, but often too curious neighbor who meddles into MacLeod’s life. I already mentioned James Horton (Peter Hudson), he is not a series regular but a recurring one. Xavier St. Cloud (Roland Gift) also returns for one of the best episodes this season which also deals with Horton and his men, in “Unholy Alliance”, a two parter. Amanda Darieux (Elizabeth Gracen) is back for two episodes this season. These episodes usually give a little extra spice to the show.

Guest Stars:

JH Wyman guest starred in “Studies in Light”, yes, he became a writer, director, Fringe fans may recognize his name. the former porn star Tracy Lords in “Darkness”. Michael Shanks (Stargate SG1) appears the episode “The Zone”, Don S. Davis, also from Stargate SG1, is a villain in “The Return of Amanda”. In “The Fighter”, one of the weaker episodes, we see Bruce Weitz (Hill Street Blues), Tom McBeath (Stargate SG1), Nicolas Lea (The X-Files), Jonathan Banks (Better Call Saul) in “Under Color of Authority” as Immortal Mako and lastly Dustin Nguyen (21 Jump Street) in episode “Revenge of the Sword”. Of course, there are many more, but these actors, to me, were the ones I was most familiar with.

Tessa:

I don’t think Tessa’s fate in season two is a secret to any Highlander fan. When I first watched this back in the 90’s it gutted me, I really didn’t expect that to happen and well, Tessa was a character I rather not wanted to loose. 30 years later I still got a lump in my throat when I watched the particular episode, “The Darkness”, it is the best episodes of season two because of what happens to her and the implications this has on Duncan and Richie. Tessa is such a strong character, passionate, I really loved her. But now I do understand why this happened, as an Immortal, Duncan MacLead was tied down too much because of his relationship with Tessa. I think that is the reason why it was decided to kill-off Tessa. Richie reminds MacLeod at some point in season two, that he could have prevented her death had he not stayed behind in that house where the Tessa was kidnapped. In the season two finale Alexandra Vandernoot returns as Tessa, but lets say, not entirely! I really enjoyed it extra because I really missed her as Tessa.

Episodes:

On the whole, season two is a strong one, Richie and Duncan stay close friends, although at one point Duncan wants him to leave when he (Richie) kills an immortal who was dear to Duncan. We also see many flashbacks, we get to see more about Duncan’s past life, we see how he and Amanda meet, we get to see some more friendly Immortals from his past. Some of them end up death, some of them he has to behead himself. What did bother me a bit, after Tessa had died, very shortly after, he already jumps into the sack with other women, after 12-13 years relationship with Tessa, you would expect he was able to hold out a while longer. Where I only had 3 episodes an 8/10 or higher in season one, in season two this is risen dramatically to 10 episodes! 11 episodes I graded a 7 to a 7.5/10 and the weakest of the season in my opinion was “Bless the Child”, this story could have been told in any other standard TV show. Among the best episodes I consider episodes “The Watchers”, “An Eye for an Eye”, “Under Color of Authority”, the two-parter “Unholy Alliance”, where the Watchers and Xavier St. Cloud return. Furthermore also “Legacy”, “Prodigal Son” and the season finale “Counterfeit” two parter, where Duncan sees a Tessa lookalike. As said, the best episode this season for me definitely was “The Darkness”, for obvious reasons I think. I was gutted and this is also the first day Richie becomes an Immortal, something that was already hinted at in the series pilot episode “The Gathering”. Sure, Dust in the Wind from Kansas sure also helps!

Final Word:

After season one was finished, I must admit, I was a bit disappointed! Yes, the season finale was great, but the season itself was fairly mediocre accept for a few other highlights of course, as for instance the pilot episode and the Amanda episode. And yes, I’ve watched this at least 7 to 10 times already so it is not something new. But I also think that as you grow older, your viewpoint changes, sometimes things become better to you and sometimes it is the other way around. That does not mean Highlander is no longer a favorite of mine, but the first season simply is not the best season. Season two on the other hand was quite exciting and I cannot wait until Methos is being introduced in season three. It will take 15 episodes or something, but he definitely brings something extra to the show. Peter Wingfield is just a phenomenal actor and he played this role just as phenomenal.

Very hard to find decent quality pics, sorry for that.