This episode is one of HL: TS’s most memorable, and it is excellently presented. If you read the comments below by David Abramowitz, you will note that this episode was re-written in a last minute frenzy due to Mr. Stocker’s sudden and tragic death. He was a talented young man with great potential and his memorable portrayal of Darius forever changed the series, bringing a lasting poignancy to Highlander fans.
So, the Highlander universe bids a wistful good-bye to an old friend (Darius). But, it happily greets a new character—the irrepressible leprechaun, Hugh Fitzcairn. Roger Daltrey sizzles in his role as Mac’s old buddy.
In addition, we meet James Horton, who will be one of MacLeod’s most enduring, evil, and pitiless nemeses. Also, an excellent portrayal by Peter Hudson.
Season One ends with many unanswered questions about a new MORTAL threat to Immortals. Immortals do not understand its nature, and because they cannot sense it, they cannot prepare themselves to confront it.
New Characters:
HUGH FITZCAIRN — fun-loving, skirt-chasing, mischievous old friend of MacLeod’s. They have gotten into many scrapes together over the centuries.
JAMES HORTON — A renegade leader of a secret society. He believes all Immortals are a threat to man’s supremacy. They are abominations of nature that must be stalked, hunted and erased from the earth.
The Barge
Entangled in bedclothes—
Pursuing l’amour,
First, the Buzz interferes,
Then a knock on the door.
Duncan gropes for his sword,
As a voice outside belts...
“Can’t you have an apartment,
Like everyone else?”
“Fitzcairn? Is that you?”
In truth, it is he,
“I hope that the sword—
Isn’t for me!”
“Keep on staring, it will be!”
(Tess is déshabillé).
“Dear lady, your beauty—
Took my breath, quite away.”
“Thank you, kind sir.”
“Yes I’m kind....and I’m brave.”
“That’s Fitz”, Duncan smiles—
Indicating the knave.
He and Fitz sit on deck—
Sampling Darius’ good brew.
“Three of us have gone missing,
That’s why I’ve come to you.”
“The last one was Thackery,
No clue, not a shred.”
Mac recalls Darius dreamed—
That Thackery was dead.
Duncan phones his old friend,
No response.... This is scary!
Alarmed, they both race—
To St. Joseph’s sanctuary.
Darius’ Church—St. Joseph’s
Others reached it beforehand,
Darius heard them, alerted.
Sometime later, they left,
Now the church seems deserted.
Fitz and Duncan pull up,
Mac: “I don’t feel him near.”
“He’s not here,” Fitz replies.
Mac: “He’s ALWAYS here.”
Fitz goes ‘round the back,
Duncan through the front door,
Violent signs of a struggle,
Scattered chairs on the floor,
Then the sight too horrific!
Desecration most dreaded!
Over there, sprawls his friend—
On Holy Ground, beheaded!
“D-A-R-I-U-S!!!!” shrieks Duncan,
Every sinew in pain!
After two thousand years...
Friend and mentor is slain!
He and Fitz bond as partners,
They have no time for prayers,
His death must be hidden,
‘Til they’ve dealt with his slayers.
The Barge, Later
Richie Ryan pops in—
Full of usual good cheer.
Why such gloomy faces?
Mac murmurs in his ear,
“Oh, I’m sorry,” moans Rich,
“Can I be of some use?
I never thought one...
Of the good guys would lose.”
The Street
Mac and Fitz are en route—
To Fitzcairn’s hotel—
To check notes from Thackery,
See what they foretell,
“It must have been mortals.”
“But why a beheading?”
“Do they KNOW about us?”
“Now THAT thought’s upsetting!”
Fitzcairn’s Hotel
MacLeod mounts the staircase,
There’s a man on the landing,
Mac continues up past him,
Fitz remains below, standing,
When the stranger jumps Duncan—
Three others attack,
Fitz and Mac kick some butt—
And the bad guys fall back.
The Street
They escape in a van,
But Mac gets one alone.
After chasing him down—
Leaving Fitz on his own,
Mac catches the thug,
Gets him next to a tree,
Bangs his head on the trunk,
“Now you talk to me!”
The thug lifts his knife,
Mac: “Tell me who sent you!”
He’s pierced his own heart!
Then Mac sees the tattoo.
He has seen it before.
When? His memory clears...
Once, after a swordfight—
Mac and Fitz.... Musketeers!
Flashback—Florence, Italy, 1639
MacLeod and Fitzcairn,
Bodyguards to the Duke,
Their contract fulfilled—
Until one last rebuke.
Some rebels accost them,
They want the Duke dead.
The ensuing mêlée—
Kills a witness instead.
Back to the Street, Present Day
On that corpse, a medallion—
With a unique motif.
Exactly the pattern—
On the wrist of this thief.
Mac’s concerned about Fitz.
What fate did he meet?
In the street lies the answer,
Fitz’s pipe, at his feet.
The Barge
Mac: “I can’t find that symbol!”
Tess: “Mac, I’m scared!”
“You SHOULD be!” he shouts.
His temper has flared.
When Tess cuts her hand—
Mac changes his tune,
He is gentle and caring,
As he dresses her wound.
He’s aware that his anger—
Stems from his confusion.
What did they seek?
What provoked their intrusion?
Tessa reminds him....
“Darius was smart—
He would make sure you knew.”
Duncan murmurs, “Sweetheart.”
He hugs Richie tightly,
“I’ll leave you in charge,
Watch Tessa for me,
See she’s safe on the barge.”
Rich has a question,
“How can they know—
When they’ve found an Immortal?”
Mac’s anxieties grow.
Darius’ Rectory
Mac lets his mind ponder...
Thoughts of Darius, new and old,
How they met, his advice,
Games of chess, tea from mold.
There’s a chink in the wall—
Marked with cloth, colored blue,
Tartan of Clan MacLeod,
Mac’s voice catches, “He knew.”
The Street
James Horton is lurking,
Watching Tessa, cold-eyed.
He jumps out of nowhere—
To push her aside.
Feigning concern, he—
Removes for inspection—
The Band-Aid Mac put there,
“Watch out for infection.”
The Barge
“He was checking to see,
If you were Immortal,
Lock this place up,
Don’t open the portal.”
Mac asks. “Where is Richie?”
“On an errand, I assigned him...
At a local antique store.”
Mac: “I’ve got to find him.”
Outside the Local Store
Mac checks out the store,
But Richie just left.
Mac spots a tail—
By a man not too deft,
Mac goes face-to face,
Asks him, “What do you want?”
He’s ignored in five languages,
No response to his taunt.
Nearby Courtyard
They emerge now from hiding,
Attack mode, full-blown.
There’s at least five to one,
But MacLeod holds his own,
His eyes sprayed with Mace—
Put him down, but not out,
Then the roar of a ‘cycle—
Puts them to rout.
Richie takes off his helmet,
Helps a dazed Mac away.
“Why did you come back?”
Is all Mac can say.
“Well, there was this cute blonde...”
(Rich is true to his credo.)
Mac is grateful, for once—
For Richie’s libido.
Renegade Watcher Headquarters
And where is Fitzcairn?
That beloved reprobate?
Mac’s rascally friend—
Met an unpleasant fate.
He is hanging suspended,
Manacled at the wrists,
Between two large pillars,
Yet, he still has his wits.
“Is this Dungeons and Dragons?”
He tries to be charming.
When his humor falls flat—
Now that’s truly alarming!
From Horton’s agenda—
These men won’t depart.
One raises a crossbow—
Shooting Fitz through the heart!
The Barge
What Darius concealed—
For MacLeod to discover—
Was a partly scorched book,
Very old, with the cover—
Embossed with the symbol,
So mysterious, foreboding,
“This must be the key.”
Mac begins his decoding.
A journal...observations,
In a language Germanic,
Far older than Mac,
“Primitive Teutonic.”
Beings who live forever,
How they fought and survived,
A historian’s journal—
Of Immortals, archived.
Back at Watcher Headquarters
Fitz has come back to life,
“Where’s the 5th Chronicle?
We know Darius had it.”
Horton’s sneer is demonical.
“Let’s see how Immortals—
Can tolerate pain.
How much can you stand—
Before going insane?”
Night, Deck of the Barge
Tess beseeches MacLeod—
To let himself mourn
“Death is part of my life,”
“Not HIS death,” she’s forlorn.
“He was on Holy Ground!
He should never have died!”
Then Mac spots a car—
Parked off, to one side.
Mac sends Richie out,
To provide a distraction,
Mac strikes from behind,
Then we see some action,
“Why’d you kill Darius!”
The man spits at his charge—
So Mac knocks him out,
Orders Rich.... “Move the barge!”
When this flunky revives—
He stares hard at the place.
Where once sat the barge—
There’s a big empty space.
He gets in his car,
With his spirits quite sunken,
Drives straight to Horton,
Right behind him, is Duncan.
Renegade Watcher Headquarters
Horton’s giving a pep talk—
To his partners in trickery,
“People may not be cheering,
But we won a great victory!
We will stamp out this evil—
Malignant abomination.
We WILL NOT succumb—
To Immortal domination!”
And their plans for dear Fitz?
See the nice guillotine?
An Immortal’s worst nightmare!
A beheading machine!
“There won’t be a Quickening!
All I am will be lost!
You ungrateful encephalopods!
Oh, think of the cost!”
Fitz senses a Buzz!
Maybe Duncan is near,
He can stall just a bit,
Give him time to appear.
“A last puff on my pipe?”
“That will not be allowed.”
But his prayers have been answered.
“What kept you, MacLeod?”
Though out-numbered, out-weaponed—
Mac is ever determined,
With experience and skill—
He can handle these vermin.
Horton’s stun gun erupts—
Searing Mac’s leg with fire,
As he sobs, weak with pain—
His sword cuts the wire.
Horton retreats,
“I’m unarmed!” (What a coward)
“Others will come—
To see evil overpowered”
Mac: “We have our OWN fight,
We will dominate no one,
You sense evil in ME?
And you call yourselves HUMAN?”
Fitzcairn’s head remains—
In the guillotine seated.
“This thing makes me nervous!”
Duncan’s energy’s depleted.
But he summons the strength—
To turn that last screw,
Fitz remarks... “Mac, the women
Of the world will thank you!”
Evening, the Deck of the Barge
United in sorrow,
Bidding Darius goodbye,
Mac, Fitz, Rich, and Tessa,
Not one eye is dry.
Duncan’s voice—barely heard—
As he empties the urn,
The ashes float seaward,
May his soul rest eterne.
Peace, Emit
© 2001-2003
Under the Kilt from Highlander: The Official Site:
David Abramowitz, Creative Consultant
“This was one of the saddest episodes. This was the episode when we learned that Werner Stocker was extremely ill. Originally, Roger Daltrey was only supposed to be in this for two or three days. I got a call at three o'clock in the morning, saying that we lost Werner, we were shooting in a day and a half, and there was fear if we were going to have to shut down. I went into work, wrote for 25 straight hours without anything, without a break, and got out a script and the show went on and it turned out pretty well.”
Don Paonessa, Creative Consultant, Post Production
“This was the first one that Roger Daltrey did.”
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