Our experiences as children shape what we become—but in different ways. Some may use an unpleasant childhood as an excuse to strike back at society. Others may find positive outlets for their anger, channeling it constructively to make sure no one else suffers as they did.
Recently a female police officer in NYC devoted her skills over many months to ridding a block of drug dealers. It was a block very near to where she grew up. Her motive was her remembrance of this same gang harassing her every day as she went to school in her parochial school uniform.
This episode deals with a young man coming to terms with his past membership in a criminal organization. There is no Immortal conflict here; it is a story of human pain, a search for redemption and how those we meet may affect our lives forever.
MacLeod has donated his dojo for use as a movie set.
The title of the movie is—“Revenge of the Sword.”
New Characters:
JIMMY SANG — Mortal, former student of Charlie’s, now a budding martial arts movie star.
JOHNNY LEONG — Mortal, current boss of the local Tongs, a sort of Chinese Mafia.
FATHER LAU — Mortal Buddhist monk, confidant of Jimmy and MacLeod’s.
LISA — Mortal, producer of Jimmy’s movie.
GIUSEPPE — Mortal, Italian immigrant fruit-seller, friend of MacLeod’s around the turn of the century.
The Dojo
The crashing of thunder,
A flicker of lightening—
Pervades the dark dojo—
With an atmosphere frightening.
Two men hide in ambush,
Dressed in Ninja disguise,
Charlie enters, unaware—
He’s no match for these guys
They demand money, NOW!
“I don’t pay protection!”
“Then you’ll pay for a funeral,
If that’s your selection.”
A knife, deftly hurled,
Lodges deep in his chest.
Charlie dies, as he falls—
The Tongs’ latest conquest.
“Everyone pays!”
They look up to see—
A Bruce Lee type avenger,
Confidant as can be.
He is deadly and quick,
Overpowers them with glee,
Then he kneels by his friend,
Lifts his head, wails... “CHAR-LIE!!!!”
“Cut!” It’s a movie!
The star’s Johnny Sang,
A student of Charlie’s,
Used to be in a gang.
Charlie’s proud of his pupil,
“He’ll become a celebrity!”
Sang: “I already am!”
Mac: “You taught him humility?”
“He’s still acting in character,”
Charlie replies.
Mac darts him a look,
Says it all with his eyes.
Lisa thanks Mac profusely—
For his loan of the dojo,
Since her budget was tight,
Mac gave it, “pro bono.”
“Where’s my ginseng tea?”
Johnny screams at the crew,
While Terry, a stuntman—
Still lies where he flew.
Lisa: “Terry! Scene’s over!”
She thinks he is slacking,
Mac says, “This man’s dead!”
When he finds a pulse lacking.
Dojo, Next Day
Johnny is watching—
Mac whip Charlie’s butt,
“You think you’re so hot?”
Mac responds, “Adequate.”
“That’s what I think, too.”
Mac: “Some of your stuff’s first rate.”
“You know someone better?”
“For a movie star—you’re great.”
Jimmy leaps at the insult,
Pulls a sword off the wall,
His flashy maneuvers—
Don’t impress Mac at all.
Jimmy places the sword—
At Mac’s neck as a bluff,
Mac: “Isn’t one death—
In your movie, enough?”
Charlie tells Mac and Jimmy,
“The autopsy’s done.
Terry was poisoned,
But he wasn’t the one—
That they wanted to kill.
Ginseng tea was the culprit.
The tea came for Jimmy,
It was Terry who gulped it.”
Mac’s warning to Jimmy—
“I’d keep a low profile.”
Charlie says, “Good advice,
Lay low for a while.”
“I am making a PICTURE!”
Jimmy’s starting to cuss.
“Charlie when did you—
Become such a wuss!”
The Loft
A knock at his door.
Impatient and loud—
Disturbs freshly-showered—
Bare-chested MacLeod.
Shouts Lisa, “How dare you,
Tell Jimmy; “Don’t film yet!”
“No shooting, no picture,
Stay the hell off my set!”
Charlie asks Mac a favor,
“Jimmy’s nature seems breezy,
But he’s had a bad time,
Life hasn’t been easy.
His father disowned him,
When he was sixteen,
Turned his life upside down,
Understand what that means?”
Flashback, Scotland, 1622
“Father, it’s me!
It is Duncan, your son!”
But the clan chief disowns him,
Thinking him a demon.
“Father, don’t go!
Tell me where I come from!”
Belonging to no one.
He’s alone with no home.
Back to Present day
Mac can’t turn his back,
He’ll accompany Charlie—
To the park...and watch Jimmy—
Showing young kids karate.
Lisa goes there, as well,
She admits Jimmy’s vain,
But although he’s a target—
He will still entertain.
The Golden Dove Funeral Home
The two Tongs are trembling—
Before Johnny Leong.
His plan to kill Jimmy—
Went terribly wrong,
The stuntman was poisoned,
Jimmy Sang is still living,
Johnny Leong’s not the type—
Who delights in forgiving.
“Buddha teaches that those—
Who don’t learn from mistakes,
Must be firmly corrected—
Whatever the stakes.
These two get the message,
They will kill Jimmy Sang,
This time with bullets,
Not with ginseng.
The Park
They drive by the playground—
Where Jimmy’s performing.
Mac sees them in time—
To give adequate warning,
He hurls himself on—
The hood of their car,
Hangs on as they swerve,
But does not get far.
He is thrown from the hood,
Flung over the street,
Does a double back flip,
Coolly lands on his feet!
Not a hair’s out of place,
But the Tongs, not done yet—
Have invaded the dojo—
And demolished the set.
Flashback, New York City, 1905
Guiseppe, Mac’s friend—
Runs a vegetable stand.
He will NOT pay extortion—
To the dreaded, “Black Hand.”
A rock broke his window,
With a note—“Pay or DIE!”
But he won’t knuckle under,
He will stand and defy!
No, he won’t involve Mac,
Yes, he’ll tell the police.
But gun-toting thugs—
Kill him with expertise.
His death is a warning—
To the whole neighborhood.
Pay up the blood money—
Or be silenced for good!
The Dojo, Present Day
On the trashed movie set—
The Tong’s left their symbol.
“This film’s about Tongs.”
(Lisa’s brain is so nimble).
Lisa wants to shut down,
Jimmy howls, “Hey—it’s my way!
This production continues—
Or you take the highway!”
The movie describes—
How the Tongs terrorize,
But Tongs thrive in secret,
They do not advertise.
Jimmy’s story exposes—
Their corrupt exploitation
Mac must find the leader—
Of their organization.
Buddhist Temple
Wise Grandfather Lau,
Beloved Buddhist monk,
An old friend of Duncan’s,
Remembers the punk—
That was Jimmy, when young.
Mac: “Who heads the Tong?”
“Duncan, be very careful,
His name’s Johnny Leong.”
The Golden Dove Funeral Home
The Tongs greet MacLeod—
With a gun to his spine,
“Mr. Leong wants to see you.”
“Oh, that would be fine.”
Mac allows them to shove—
And manhandle him roughly,
Johnny Leong, drunk on power—
Speaks to him gruffly.
“The man in this casket—
Is in no shape to view.
He dared go against me,
This man could be you.
I can be generous—
To whom I am fond.
What is your name?”
Mac replies, “Bond... James Bond.”
Mac plays with a vase.
“That is Ming Dynasty!
A priceless antique!”
Mac: “It looks fake to me!
It isn’t inscribed—
With the emperor’s chop,”
In the ensuing banter—
Mac emerges on top.
“You’ve a good sense of humor,
I like you,” says Leong.
“If you’d be my friend,
You wouldn’t go wrong.
Friends have no secrets,
Where’s Jimmy Sang?”
“Don’t know,” says MacLeod,
Leong keeps at his harangue.
“Do you like to gamble?”
Leong wants Mac to sweat,
Puts a gun to Mac’s knee,
But Mac hasn’t flinched yet.
Leong loads one round in—
The chamber, and then—
Spins it, shoots.... Nothing!
Then spins it again.
Mac counters Leong—
With a deal of his own.
“Stop your extortion,
And I’ll leave you alone!”
“One has patience with children,
And dogs that are small.”
Mac: “And with men of no honor.”
Mac now plays hardball.
In his four hundred years—
There is much Mac has learned.
With incredible speed—
The tables are turned,
Now the gun’s at Leong’s head,
His goons shake, amazed!
Mac inquires, “You feel lucky?”
Then shoots the fake vase!
The Loft
“Jimmy’s fled!” Charlie’s fearful—
Of the young man’s insistence—
On exposing the Tongs,
Now he needs Mac’s assistance.
“It’s a very big city,
Jimmy left here real steamed,
We have to locate him—
Before he gets creamed!”
The Park
Mac knows where he’ll go,
To Grandfather Lau,
With him and the children—
Mac finds Jimmy, now.
“Tell me, what happened—
When you worked with the Tong,
What ties do you have—
To Johnny Leong?”
The shooter is back,
(He cannot hit a cow)
His gun, aimed at Jimmy—
Shoots Grandfather Lau!
Mac runs to his friend,
But the old monk is dead,
Now where’s Jimmy gone?
Once again, he had fled.
The Golden Dove Funeral Home
Straight to his old boss—
To sever his ties—
And renounce what he was,
He glares deep in Leong’s eyes,
Leong: “I gave you my family!
Put food on your plate!”
“No! You gave me a gun—
And trained me to hate!”
“You taught me to bleed—
Our old folks like a leech!”
Jimmy pulls a short sword,
Now he’ll back up his speech.
But Leong’s nasty stooges—
Were summoned unseen,
They disarm Jimmy Sang,
Leong’s smirk is obscene.
Leong speaks of tradition,
“Like blood...it binds us,
Makes us what we are,
It always reminds us.”
As he slits Jimmy’s palm—
“Tradition ordains—
That the death of a traitor—
Be prolonged, full of pain.”
Jimmy’s locked in a coffin.
His last destination—
Will be to an oven—
Earmarked for cremation.
“You’ll die slow by inches!”
Leong’s triumph’s complete,
As the furnace door opens—
Jimmy feels the fire’s heat.
The casket rolls forward,
These are dire circumstances!
But into the fray—
MacLeod now advances.
He takes on the Tongs—
Battling time, steely-eyed.
As the box nears the flames,
Jimmy struggles inside.
With his martial arts skills—
Jimmy bursts through the wood.
Just in time, as MacLeod—
Subdues the last hood.
Jimmy snatches Leong’s gun,
He will kill Johnny Leong!
Mac pleads, though exhausted,
“Jimmy...NO! This is wrong!”
“This is murder! Is that—
What you’ll leave to those kids?
Let Leong go to trial—
Put the Tongs on the skids!”
Jimmy strikes Leong’s face—
With all of his might,
But he lowers the gun,
‘Cause the Highlander’s right.
Later, Grandfather Lau’s Garden
Jimmy nurtures the plants—
Working in the rich soil,
“He loved this place so,”
As he bends to his toil.
“He still does,” says MacLeod,
Seeing Jimmy’s contrite,
Unsure of his path,
Which direction is right?
To clear Jimmy’s doubt—
Mac attempts to advise,
“How can one tell—
The fool from the wise?
From their mistakes,
The foolish learn naught,
The wise use mistakes,
And by them are taught.”
Peace, Emit
© 2001-2003
Under the Kilt from Highlander: The Official Site:
Ken Gord, Producer
“A bread and butter show. I think this was the first of our six-day shows. Normally, the show was shot in seven days, but because of budget we had to do a bunch of them in six days, which on a television schedule with lots of action is really, really difficult. Clay Borris, the director, got a bad hand of cards. Because he is such a fast shooter, he got all the six-day shows, so it's a bit of double-whammy because sometimes it looks like a six-day show, so the director gets penalized for doing his job and doing it well.”
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