Highlander: Ten favorite episodes
Aug. 22nd, 2025 09:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annavereI decided to make another fannish list, this time without ranking. What it says on the tin! For this, I chose purely based on individual episodes which I look forward to on every watch. They are not necessarily the "best" but they each hold a special place in my heart. Cut for length.
Courage (season 3)
This list is in no particular order, but also, 'Courage' is my favorite. Absolutely stellar, and yes, a lot of that has to do with John Pyper-Ferguson but even when he's not onscreen, every scene is firing on all cylinders, and building perfectly on what came before, and all the actors rise to the challenge and no punches are pulled.
Timeless (season 4)
The Alexa love story gets me every single time, in its simplicity and tenderness. Claudia is a refreshing character and is well utilized to explore Immortality and artistry. The guy playing Walter is excellent with sword and declamation, leading to one of the best swordfights in the show (against very pretty scenery, to boot). And a lot of the line delivery makes me laugh. "Robert Browning?" "You want to rewrite Shakespeare?" The comedy doesn't undercut the pathos or vice versa. I just enjoy this one a lot.
Forgive Us Our Trespasses (season 5)
What's not to love? And entire episode which is just a bunch of ethical debates and agonies of conscious. The Culloden flashbacks are intense. Amanda is at her most loyal. Methos cheats at swordfighting. It's continuity and character rich. There's grace at the heart of this episode.
Comes a Horseman (season 5)
It's telling that even knowing the big revelations, and even knowing that the payoff to all this dramatic buildup is going to be negligible, this still hits like a ton of bricks every time. The atmosphere is intense with a glorious gothic, operatic flavor which Kronos as a villain more than lives up to. It changes the game, and both Adrian Paul and Peter Wingfield rise to the occasion wonderfully.
Blackmail (season 3)
This is a quirky choice but I can't help it. This is such a delightful episode that gets to the heart of why I love episodic shows. Absolutely nothing important happens. It's funny, with Duncan finding himself in a Strangers on a Train plot. It's got visual flair (the maze! the etched glass!) for no reason whatsoever, and the swordfights are great. Also, the eventual widow is my favorite potential love interest for Joe. The story has a lot of components in exactly the right amounts. Whenever I'm rewatching and see this title up next, I brighten.
Duende (season 5)
Look, I watch Highlander for many reasons, but the swordfights are a huge part of the appeal. There aren't that many shows which cater so wholeheartedly to my childhood love of the swashbuckler. This episode is the culmination of all their ambition. I never skip the cast interview explaining how they did the swordfight. The attendant storyline is chilling, a look at the unique hell that only an Immortal can rain down on an entire family and I enjoy the heightened atmosphere that goes along with it.
Studies in Light (season 2)
In a word, luminous. The Linda Plager storyline is simple, truthful and human. Adrian Paul does some of his best acting in the entire series here. The Gregor storyline is a perfect thematic compliment. Instead of feeling like an A and B plot the way most episodes with this structure do, it is perfectly unified. Past, present, light, dark, life, death. It's a beautiful piece.
Indiscretions (season 6)
I have no idea why it took so long for the writers to give Adrian Paul a deserved break by utilizing the energies of their considerably less burned out secondary cast. We were robbed of so many cool character combos. This one gives tons of snark and banter, great character work for Methos (who even quite recently was a dirty rat under his kindly demeanor) and lots of awesome action set pieces. It also has lots of worldbuilding potential thanks to Joe's daughter Amy. Good stuff.
The Lady and the Tiger (season 1)
What they did with Amanda was mostly pretty great, but there's this thing where they kept softening her character and dialing back her more ruthless traits to make her funny and I really LIKE this first glimpse of her. This is a survivor of a thousand years, not harmless comic relief. Her toxic relationship with Zach (who clearly brought out her worst tendencies the way Duncan brought out her best) is interesting to observe and Zach being played by Jason Isaacs is certainly a bonus. I enjoy the nuances of Amanda's betrayals in the Bavaria flashback and I like how Duncan and Tessa have to navigate a rare source of friction between them.
Methuselah's Gift (season 4)
It's got hijinks with and without a cat. It follows up on intriguing elements of the lore and on important continuity. Rebecca, Alexa, the Stone and the Watchers are balanced without any one thread feeling shortchanged. It uses Duncan, Methos and Amanda extremely well. It's both an enjoyable adventure and a powerful look at grief. It just works.
Looking over the list of episodes to see what jumped out at me, these were my honest answers. However, have an honorary mention:
Double Eagle (season 4)
Because there should be a comedy episode, and it's got a horse with a name and Richie being way out of his depths in an adorable way, and it makes me smile throughout. It doesn't stick in my mind remotely, but it's perfect in that sugar spun way.
Seasons 5 and 4 are clearly the winners here, but I'm glad that each season is represented.
My ten least favorite will be coming soon...
Courage (season 3)
This list is in no particular order, but also, 'Courage' is my favorite. Absolutely stellar, and yes, a lot of that has to do with John Pyper-Ferguson but even when he's not onscreen, every scene is firing on all cylinders, and building perfectly on what came before, and all the actors rise to the challenge and no punches are pulled.
Timeless (season 4)
The Alexa love story gets me every single time, in its simplicity and tenderness. Claudia is a refreshing character and is well utilized to explore Immortality and artistry. The guy playing Walter is excellent with sword and declamation, leading to one of the best swordfights in the show (against very pretty scenery, to boot). And a lot of the line delivery makes me laugh. "Robert Browning?" "You want to rewrite Shakespeare?" The comedy doesn't undercut the pathos or vice versa. I just enjoy this one a lot.
Forgive Us Our Trespasses (season 5)
What's not to love? And entire episode which is just a bunch of ethical debates and agonies of conscious. The Culloden flashbacks are intense. Amanda is at her most loyal. Methos cheats at swordfighting. It's continuity and character rich. There's grace at the heart of this episode.
Comes a Horseman (season 5)
It's telling that even knowing the big revelations, and even knowing that the payoff to all this dramatic buildup is going to be negligible, this still hits like a ton of bricks every time. The atmosphere is intense with a glorious gothic, operatic flavor which Kronos as a villain more than lives up to. It changes the game, and both Adrian Paul and Peter Wingfield rise to the occasion wonderfully.
Blackmail (season 3)
This is a quirky choice but I can't help it. This is such a delightful episode that gets to the heart of why I love episodic shows. Absolutely nothing important happens. It's funny, with Duncan finding himself in a Strangers on a Train plot. It's got visual flair (the maze! the etched glass!) for no reason whatsoever, and the swordfights are great. Also, the eventual widow is my favorite potential love interest for Joe. The story has a lot of components in exactly the right amounts. Whenever I'm rewatching and see this title up next, I brighten.
Duende (season 5)
Look, I watch Highlander for many reasons, but the swordfights are a huge part of the appeal. There aren't that many shows which cater so wholeheartedly to my childhood love of the swashbuckler. This episode is the culmination of all their ambition. I never skip the cast interview explaining how they did the swordfight. The attendant storyline is chilling, a look at the unique hell that only an Immortal can rain down on an entire family and I enjoy the heightened atmosphere that goes along with it.
Studies in Light (season 2)
In a word, luminous. The Linda Plager storyline is simple, truthful and human. Adrian Paul does some of his best acting in the entire series here. The Gregor storyline is a perfect thematic compliment. Instead of feeling like an A and B plot the way most episodes with this structure do, it is perfectly unified. Past, present, light, dark, life, death. It's a beautiful piece.
Indiscretions (season 6)
I have no idea why it took so long for the writers to give Adrian Paul a deserved break by utilizing the energies of their considerably less burned out secondary cast. We were robbed of so many cool character combos. This one gives tons of snark and banter, great character work for Methos (who even quite recently was a dirty rat under his kindly demeanor) and lots of awesome action set pieces. It also has lots of worldbuilding potential thanks to Joe's daughter Amy. Good stuff.
The Lady and the Tiger (season 1)
What they did with Amanda was mostly pretty great, but there's this thing where they kept softening her character and dialing back her more ruthless traits to make her funny and I really LIKE this first glimpse of her. This is a survivor of a thousand years, not harmless comic relief. Her toxic relationship with Zach (who clearly brought out her worst tendencies the way Duncan brought out her best) is interesting to observe and Zach being played by Jason Isaacs is certainly a bonus. I enjoy the nuances of Amanda's betrayals in the Bavaria flashback and I like how Duncan and Tessa have to navigate a rare source of friction between them.
Methuselah's Gift (season 4)
It's got hijinks with and without a cat. It follows up on intriguing elements of the lore and on important continuity. Rebecca, Alexa, the Stone and the Watchers are balanced without any one thread feeling shortchanged. It uses Duncan, Methos and Amanda extremely well. It's both an enjoyable adventure and a powerful look at grief. It just works.
Looking over the list of episodes to see what jumped out at me, these were my honest answers. However, have an honorary mention:
Double Eagle (season 4)
Because there should be a comedy episode, and it's got a horse with a name and Richie being way out of his depths in an adorable way, and it makes me smile throughout. It doesn't stick in my mind remotely, but it's perfect in that sugar spun way.
Seasons 5 and 4 are clearly the winners here, but I'm glad that each season is represented.
My ten least favorite will be coming soon...
no subject
Date: 2025-08-23 08:51 pm (UTC)I'm always excited when people are fond of Forgive Us Our Trespasses. A gifset of that episode is the whole reason I watched HL to begin with, so I'm especially fond of it even outside of a genuinely really solid and interesting plotline. I genuinely like Keane quite a bit, too. I just always enjoy that one a lot.
Also full agree on the mentions of Blackmail and Double Eagle. I get such a kick out of both of those, and the whole unwilling Strangers on a Train plot involvement is genuinely just so funny to me. Love the villains for Blackmail, and love Kit in Double Eagle. And poor Richie getting in so far over his head with Amanda. He's great in that one.
Great list.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-24 12:48 pm (UTC)I'm glad you agree about Amanda. It was a tricky thing to word, because I think the writers mostly handled her very well (especially compared to Anya on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who had a similar but far more discordant trajectory). Some of it can be headcanoned as her playing up a more harmless image for Duncan's approval, at least.
I scrolled back up to remind myself what I said about 'Forgive Us Our Trespasses' and ran smack into this: *facepalm* I'm a writer. I write good.
It's a great episode to hook you in, though. Hurray for that gifset!
no subject
Date: 2025-08-24 02:05 am (UTC)The rest are all solid choices, and I especially love your inclusion of Double Eagle, which I would probably have named as my own dark horse. I freaking love that episode to little bits.
I look forward to your least favorite list. <3
no subject
Date: 2025-08-24 01:18 pm (UTC)'Double Eagle' is a delight. The more I think about it, the more I like it. It deserved to make the grade... but also, I think any proper Top Ten list should have eleven entries. :)
no subject
Date: 2025-08-25 02:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-08-25 05:08 pm (UTC)