Highlander Rewatched Podcast for Season 3 Episode 1: The Samurai Pt 2
46:23 Keith: So, Mac arrives back at the dojo, to Charlie getting pummeled, and he just like, sic--sits back and watches this fight!
Kyle: This is really funny! And Charlie is like legitimately kickin' butt! I mean--
Keith and Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: Not like Mac-level butt-kicking, but you now, Charlie's a badass!
Keith: So, I--I was thinking, uh, as I do, trying to insert some... bit of irony into every fucking frame of this thing... Uh, like, in a TV show, this scene is really funny. Like, Mac's a smartass; he lets Charlie get beat up. If this was real life, and you watched a friend, like--even though he was winning!--like, I'd be like "You FUCKIN' asshole!" *Eamon: Yeah!* Like, "You let me--dude! I could have been killed, like!"
Eamon: Yep. Wawaaah.
Kyle: That's really funny! Yeah that's a great point, like.
Eamon: Yeah. Also Charlie is, like, just recovered from being *with Kyle* SHOT *no Kyle* in the--in the HEART! Like... like he almost died, and now he's getting, like the shit kicked out of him. And Mac's just like, ba, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-BA-bwa-bwa-bwa *together* sing the Blues!
47:19 Keith: So they go upstairs to check on Midori, uh, and she's GONE. *Eamon: Oooh!* And at first, Charlie thinks like there must have been another goon that like, snuck in behind him... not true. She left on her own accord. *Eamon: Hmmm!*
Kyle: Yeah. Also, I want to point out something that Charlie indicates after getting the butt--his butt kicked. It's like, "Man, you're gone for six months, I didn't get a HANGNAIL." *Eamon: Yeah!* Like, "You come back and I'm getting like PUMMELED by these goons!" And it's like hey, you know what? This is a--this is a corrosive friendship for you, Charlie!
Eamon: Oh yeah! It's--
Kyle: It's not good for your health!
Eamon: It's life-threatening! Like... *chuckling*
47:52 Keith: Uh... So uh, I guess Charlie picks up the... spy-scope... *chuckling* *affirming sounds from the others* And he's like, "Oh, what's this?" and Mac is like--
Kyle: He looks through it like a little kid, and we get like a great transition!
Keith: Yeah! So, transition's uh... through the spy-scope--
Kyle: Calling it a *with Keith* spy-scope--
Keith: --is insane!
Kyle: I mean, it's like False-Tessa! We gotta keep u--we gotta use the language of these IMDb descriptions!
Eamon: Yeah!
Keith: Uh, so we're back in Japan. And Mac gives this spy-scope to Hideo. And I guess he explains it's a Western invention and he shows him kind of how to use it, and just at this moment, there happen to be some, like, riders in the distance that--
Eamon: Yep!
Keith: --Hideo spots. Ah, I guess he goes out to greet them, and leaves Mac behind.
Kyle: After they have like a, cultural communication moment where Mac is so impressed with the sword, and it's so great, and like what craftsmanship and then, you know, he sees the spyglass he's like, "Oh, I had no idea that, you know, you barbarian Westerners could make something..."
Keith: Yes!
Kyle: "... you know, so precise." And they have a nice little cultural exchange.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: I was I-I-I did kind of wonder historically in this scene, w-were... telescopes 'n things like that introduced to Japan, at this point?
Eamon: Yeah. I wondered about that, too.
Keith: I don't know. Cuz I feel like, this is not too... this--what year is this supposed to be? 1798 or something like that?
Eamon: Seven--it's, like, 1778.
Keith: Okay. I mean that's, that's pretty late in history, I think like, this is an old invention.
Eamon: I don't--
Keith: So I kind of wondered if it had made its way over there.
Kyle: Yeah, not--probably not as old as you're thinking, though. *Keith: Yeah...* This is like Galileo... kind of stuff. This is not like, 1 B.C. technology.
Eamon and Keith: Right.
Eamon: I don't know my Japanese history. Like, I used to, kind of. I used to actually read about Samurai stuff and I just can't remember it anymore, but... I mean I know Japan did kind of... open its borders to...*Keith: Yeah!* the world relatively late... um...
Kyle: No, it wasn't until--that wasn't until, um, the 19th Century. *Eamon: Yeah.* Cuz they were forced to do so by...
Eamon: Right.
Keith: Yeah, cuz they were isolationists for... quite a while.
Kyle: Yeah. And, in this period it was like, very much so. You, you shut down. It's a self-contained island, effectively.
Eamon: I'm sure one of our Facebook followers knows. It might be an interesting piece of information to have.
Keith and Kyle: Yeah.
49:51 Keith: So then uh, Mac goes and has a tea ceremony with Maia. Uh, and this is a pretty good scene! Uh, I guess Mac is asking like, why do you hate me so much? Because like, she is constantly just like, throwing shade at Mac. *Eamon: Yeah.* "Oh, can I drink the tea now?" "Do whatever you want!" like, fuck off. Like, she doesn't give a shit. Like, she's just there to like, babysit Mac. *Eamon: Mmhm.* Cuz he's a barbarian! And so he explains that Hideo is his friend. And she's like, "Well what... what is a friend to you?" And Mac is like, "A friend is, like, a valuable thing like you would give your life for a friend." Maia's like, "Well then my father is the greatest friend, because he is giving his life for YOU." Bum-bum-BUM! *Eamon: Yeah.* So then this, this kind of plot unravels; that I guess, by taking in Mac, he has given himself a death sentence, because he has sheltered a barbarian, and so the Lord is not happy with that.
Eamon: Yeah. I mean, is it because he sheltered a barbarian, or because... when the Shogun's like, warriors galloped--galloped up to him, for no reason he pulled out his sword and like fought two of them and killed them...
Keith: That--that's my question, too! Is what was that initial attack about?
Kyle: No. I thought that's--I think that was unrelated.
Eamon: Unrelated?
Kyle: That's com--I think that's completely unrelated. I don't think those are like, the Shogun's guy? Cuz also they're not in the same colors.
Eamon: Oh, right.
Kyle: The people who rode up had like, this red banner--*Keith: Oh, okay.* --that it look--It looked different than the other people--
Keith: So they were just bad dudes.
Kyle: Yeah, maybe they--
Keith: Some bad hombres rode up--
Kyle: Yeah, some bad hombres rode up. *Eamon laughs* Um, cuz you know, during this--I mean, like individual, like, warlords in different territories would fight all the time, and like...*Eamon: Sure. * You know. It's, I think, unrelated struggle. *Eamon: Mmhm.*
51:19 Keith: So, Mac rushes to Hideo's side, who's now in like, I guess, he's trimming a Bonsai tree in this kind of, rice paper room.
Eamon: The Shogun has allowed Hideo to... take his own life instead of being executed.
Keith: Right. Cuz that would be honorable. Uh, so... this is the clip played at the top of the episode, but Mac has a pretty smart idea. Actually, I don't think this section was included in the clip we played. But Mac has the idea that he's gonna like spill the beans about being Immortal. And he's like, no, you should kill me in front of them, to like prove your loyalty and that, like, you know, whatever this scheme is, maybe I FORCED you to hold me here; or something like that. And then you'll be free to go, and I will actually live! Uh, so he explains what Immortality is. I think it's a pretty smart move! *laughs*
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Yeah! It's like a clever plan! But of course, the entire point that's being reinforced about this whole thing it's like... No, like, I've dishonored myself by doing this thing. I can't fix it by like, breaking the rules. I can't fix that dishonor by lying about it.
Keith: Right.
Kyle: Um... And that's... you know, interesting. It's kind of like the central... theme of this entire thing. Like that is like the... ultimate lesson that Mac learns out of this whole thing.
Keith: Yeah, honor is clearly a personal thing, not a publi--like, no matter what you do. If you lie, it doesn't matter because... you know. Y-your... you have to be honor--you hold your code of honor to yourself, not to others.
Eamon: Right.
52:36 Keith: Uh, also, interesting point here: Mac, when he's explaining the immortality thing, he was like "Oh, I was in the water... for days--"
Eamon: For days. Yeah.
Keith: "--when you found me." So then I was like, what does a body look like when it's in the water for days. DON'T Google it, everyone! *Kyle laughs*
Eamon: Oh God. Really?! Eugh!
Keith: Yeah! *Kyle: Yeah.* Sponge.
Eamon: Ugh!
Kyle: Perks of immortality!
Keith: Yeah!
Eamon: Yeah...
Keith: So I guess uh, he comes out okay. Or would he have been some bloated, gross... *Eamon laughs*
Kyle: Apparently not!
Keith: --transparent-looking sponge, man. Disgusting. *Kyle makes gagging noise*
53:05 Eamon: And this is when they kind of make their pact.
Keith: Yes. Mac promises he will always take care of his children or protect them if they need it.
Kyle: And he also agrees that he will help his friend commit, you know, like ritual suicide to--
Keith: Right.
Kyle: --to satisfy this punishment.
Keith: Right. So he'll be his second, and so then it's a... a very moody scene. *Eamon: Mmhm.* It's like there's lightning outside, it's very dark, and... Hideo, I guess, stabs himself in the gut, and then I guess to... alleviate his pain... I guess that's, like, the tradition is that then Mac can just kill him, outright. To alleviate any suffering.
Eamon: Yeah. Yeah. After they do like, the killing stroke, somebody else chops their head off... *Keith: Right.* to finish it, I guess.
Kyle: The Seppuku?
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: So Mac ends up considering this an honor, in the end. And also, something I thought that was very interesting about this, is the move he does is literally the move Hideo taught him. Like, this is the same stance; this like downward--*Eamon: Oh!*--strike. So it's actually kind of, like, an interesting kind of cyclical thing in the story is that Hideo teaches Mac what will end up being his like killing stroke. *Eamon: Yeah.* Which is good.
Kyle: That makes sense. Yeah.
Eamon: That's pretty cool. And also, part of the deal is Mac gets the sword when he's done. *Keith: Yes.* Yeah...
Kyle: So we... there's a, like, a lot of great world-building, here. Like, this fleshes out this character so much, and... really crystallizes a lot of like the--the mo--the Mac-motivations and all that stuff.
Eamon: The Mac-inations, if you will.
Kyle: OhhhhhhHHHHHHH! *Eamon chuckles* Yummy.
54:23 🎶 Princes of the Universe! 🎶
Keith: Hey, Rewatchers! March is a very special month because... it is the Trypodcasts month?
Eamon: Yeah! *laughter*
Kyle: Yeah! So, for people who haven't heard of it, Trypod is s special promotion that a lot of podcasts are doing, spearheaded by the--the good content creators over at NPR, who are really trying to raise awareness of podcasts and get people invested into this really cool really dynamic medium that, HEY, your Rewatchers participate in!
Eamon: That's right!
Keith: Absolutely! So, some people still don't... GET podcasts, and why they're so special to listen or even how to listen. Uh, but YOU out there can change that, just with a click! Uh, right now, think of somebody you care about. Maybe it's a friend; your mom; or maybe it's somebody that's on like, a Facebook group... maybe a Highlander Facebook group...
Eamon: Yeah!
Keith: ... uh, that you're part of, that you think uh, they'd really love podcasting! Uh, so now, all you need to do is hit that share-button, uh, down at the bottom of your screen. Share a Facebook page, maybe share a podcast that you're listening to right now! Maybe you're listening to this podcast ! Just go on your old--your old phone there, click the share button, and send it to a friend! Uh... it could be on a Facebook post, it could be in a text message! In an e-mail! There's lots of ways to share stuff! *chuckling*
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: And if they don't know how to access podcasts, and... you know, gain entry into this cool world of content, show them how! Give them a quick blow-by-blow on how to... get great podcasts!
Keith: Yeah! Cuz there's a ton of great podcasts out there. Not just Highlander-centric ones! *Kyle: Yeah!* There's a lot of good stuff! *Eamon: Yeah!*
Kyle: And they're free! This is... ya know, the... one of the greatest free sources of entertainment you can find anywhere.
Keith: And so uh, share your love of whatever podcast you're listening to, uh, this week, on Twitter, Facebook, and just uh, add the hashtag Trypod! Which is t-r-y-pod!
Eamon: And thank you guys for spreading the word about podcasts that you love!
Keith: And another great way to spread the word is by leaving a five-star review on iTunes. Uh, believe it or not we're not just looking to get like great reviews and feel good about ourselves, uh--
Kyle: Though we DO--we do--
Keith: We love it.
Kyle: We are fueled by your praise. *Keith and Eamon: Yeah.* Without it... without it, I'm not sure how I'd get up in the morning! *Keith: Right!* I'm SO dependent!
Keith: Uh, but every review we get, uh, whether you actually type a review or just, you know, click on four stars, five stars... you know, whatever you wanna click. Five stars.
Eamon: *amused* We prefer five stars! *laughter*
Keith: Uh, every time you do that, it helps our podcast reach other people. *Eamon: Mmhm.* Uh, because of the kind of algorithms that puts our podcast in people's feed and uh, ends up being recommended. So--
Kyle: It literally takes two seconds. Just go into your phone, click on our podcast, hit that review button...
Keith: Bam. You're done.
Kyle: It'll be amazing.
Keith: It's awesome. And then you spread that Highlander love all over the world!
Eamon: That's right!
Kyle: Yeah! So Keith, other than our podcast, are there any fun podcasts that you've been listening to?
Keith: Oh! Who do I listen to? Let's see... every week I can't go without uh, CBB! That's Comedy Bang Bang on the Earwolf network! Which's a very fun comedy improv podcast if you're into that sort of thing.
Kyle: Yeah with Scott Aukerman and amazing guests like Paul F. Tompkins 'n Jason Mantzoukas, the hits keep on truckin'!
Keith: Absolutely.
Eamon: That's right!
Kyle: How 'bout you, Eamon?
Eamon: I... don't miss any week without listening to Never Not Funny, the Jimmy Pardo podcast. And he is kind of like a pioneer of podcasting in general. So that's--
Keith: Yeah. He started recording in his kitchen.
Eamon: Yeah! Yeah. Kyle, how 'bout you?
Kyle: Alright. I'm gonna go in a different direction cuz *****57:24 just gonna name a comedy podcast, but let's do a hard-stop and say I've been listening a lot to the uh, Freakonomics podcast. I try listening to that every week. It's not all just fun and games. You can get hard-core non-fiction content--*Keith: Yeah!*--such as Freakonomics, which is all about behavioral economics and... you know, interesting projects that involve, you know, psychology; economics; and the cross-section between policy and thought. It's really interesting! I highly recommend it!
Eamon: If you're listening to us just because you like Highlander... like, maybe you like Highlander; you found our podcast. You probably have other interests! There are literally podcasts about everything! *Keith: Right.* Like, you can find a podcast about something that interests you. So I--
Keith: Yeah! Do you like knitting? There's a podcast about knitting!
Eamon: There is! Yeah! There are! Yeah, so--
Keith: There's probably a BUNCH of podcasts about knitting. There's pottery podcasts, there's music podcasts on EVERY genre!
Kyle: Yeah, so...
Eamon: Yeah. So, just do a search 'n you'll--you're gonna find something good, I guarantee it!
Keith: Yeah, so...
Kyle: You're gonna like the way you look--
Eamon: *gruff voice* You're gonna like the way you look! I guarantee it!
Keith: Uh, thanks again--
Eamon: Also there's a Men's Warehouse podcast to listen to! *laughter* Every week!
Kyle: It's actually just an ad on repeat!
Eamon: Yup! That's right!
Keith: Um, uh, so thanks again for spreading the word about podcasts and Highlander Rewatched!
Kyle: #trypod! #Rewatched!
58:32 Eamon: *****laughter*
58:34 🎶 Princes of the Universe! 🎶
Keith: Uh, so! Back in the present, I guess uh... Midori has shown up on the boat, and she's coming back to Kent.
Eamon: Yeah. Did you write down what the boat's called?
Keith: NO! What is it called?
Eamon: I don't--I didn't write it down. *Kyle and Keith: OHHhh!!* It has like--
Kyle: Don't tease us like that!
Eamon: It has like a logo on the door. *amused* It's like, this is obviously just somebody's boat that they like rented.
Keith: It's probably like, *wheezing* Vancouver, like, Booze Cruise Line. *Eamon: (chuckles) Yeah!*
Kyle: The S.S. Pussy Magnet!
Eamon: *makes raspberry noise* Yeah, that's what it was! *Kyle: Yeah! 's alright.* S. S. Pussy Magnet! What's that a reference to?
Kyle: Um, nothing!
Keith: That's how Kent rolls when he's in Seacouver!
Eamon: Oh okay. I thought you were referencing something!
59:14 Keith: So then Mac and Charlie end up on the boat--
Eamon: Yeah, for some--whatever reason. Yeah.
Keith: Like, later, like this is a little bit of filler. It's like, they end up, because they're like, "Oh I think she came back here."
Eamon: Can they just get on the dock and walk onto anybody's boat they want? Is that how like--
Keith: Yeah right! *laughing* I guess it's not gated at all. There's no guard... open dock!
Eamon: Just whatever! Yeah! *Keith laughs*
59:29 Keith: So anyway. Then we cut to Japan. Because Mac, I guess, says like, "I know where they went after this." Like, "They must have returned home."
Eamon: Yeah. So, Midori's n--at the Koto Shrine grounds. *Keith: Right.* Praying at what I--I guess is Hideo's grave, or memorial, or... something.
Keith: Right.
Kyle: Yeah.
Keith: And I... I think we should play this clip and talk about a lot of what this scene is about. Okay?
Kyle: Sure.
Eamon: Eeyeah.
59:52 Midori: I chose this destiny. I have to live with it. What happens to me isn't important. *she faces the shrine* A great man rests here. Hideo Koto. It's because of him that the Koto name has remained great.
Duncan: Not because of his money.
Midori: It's funny that a gaijin would teach ME about honor.
Duncan: This is a mistake, Midori. Why perpetuate it?
Midori: Honor. It isn't about making the right choice, it's about... taking the consequences. And if I stay, I can regain that honor.
1:00:31 Eamon: Hmmm.
Keith: Good stuff.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: So... This episode I... I... One thing I love about this episode is how kind of focused it is on the theme, which is honor. There are, like, five characters that talk about honor. So, Mac obviously, he's gotta honor his promise to Koto. Then there's Hidori (HEH) uh, he's gotta honor the wishes of his lord. Like, when he decides that it's... like he WANTS to kill himself... because that is the honorable thing to do, and it's what his lord wishes, so he's got a code of honor. Then Kent obviously is... he feels dishonored by being, like, a cuckolded husband *laughing and Eamon laughs* Uh, then there's Maia--
Kyle: Cuckold MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod! *Eamon and Keith laugh long*
Keith: Uh, uh... and then of course uh, then there is Maia, uh, who's also feeling dishonored by... the presence of a barbarian in their life. And then finally Midori, uh, feels like she has to like, honor her family name. So all these characters have like, honor... at the center of their motivations in this whole episode. *Eamon: Mmhm.* A+. *Eamon: Yeah.* BUZZZZZ! Kent's here!
Eamon: His intro is insane! *laughter, agreeing sounds* There's a sound it, like, zooms over to him and he's just standing there, staring at them.
Kyle: On this bridge! *amused*
Eamon: And then he walks away. It's really funny. He has his own Samurai sword, which I guess we know already. *Kyle agrees*
Keith: Right. And so, they're both fighting with... I--I wonder why they made them have the same sword? I feel like that could've--this could've easily been a two-parter, too. Uh...
Eamon: Oh, yes! Yeah.
Keith: And I think maybe getting some more backstory on HIM maybe? I dunno. It's super-solid as a one-parter, but I kind of wonder what--if there's any significance that he essentially has the same sword as Mac.
Eamon: Yeah. They don't really touch on that. I kind of wish they did, but...
Keith: Yeah. Cuz it also could have been interesting to see like, you know, I don't think we get to see HIS code of honor play out too well. Like, he mentions like, "I have to uphold MY honor, because... she killed me and cheated on me." *Eamon: Yeah.* Uh, like if, if like, both of them were--cuz we know Mac is driven by honor, constantly through this series. *Eamon: Mmhm.* It would have been nice to see if like, him be the mirror of Mac, and be driven by a different set of honor and, so that when they fight it's like, really these two codes of honor coming head-to-head. But... maybe that was, at some point, lost on the cutting-room floor. Or in the script.
Eamon: Is this Kent's house now? With the Koto Shrine?
Keith: It's a good question. I don't know. Certainly his money stopped it from being destroyed. I don't kno wif that means he... he owns it, or they own it together, or what the deal is.
Eamon: *thoughtfully* Yeah...
Keith: To me, I'm like, super onboard this episode, almost until this point. And this is where I think things get a little murky, uh, on Mac's end. 1:03:05 So, Midori does NOT want Mac to fight Kent. And she's like, "Don't. Leave it alone." And then she's like, "I release you from your vow." And Mac is like, "This is not--this vow was not made to YOU, and you can NOT release me from it." And I'm like THIS... these double standards... are out of control. Like, this--
Kyle: That's... This is so weird.
Keith: Yeah. And it's liKeith: so Hideo can make a vow that binds ALL his offspring to Mac, to be protected by him, whether they want it or not! And she clearly does not want it right now.
Kyle: Well yeah. Th--the whole thing just becomes confusing, cuz why did she come in the first place?
Keith: Well I guess she just changed her mind.
Kyle: Well I guess she was originally coming to him, because she needed help cuz she thought she had killed her husband.
Eamon with Keith: Riiiight! *Eamon: Yeah.*
Kyle: But the ingredient that changes is that he's alive, so she decides to go back to him.
Keith: Right.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Cuz I guess maybe she, I guess, thought that her reaction was wrong. That she should not have... hurt him for this... thing.
Eamon: Well, she like--
Keith: Or she just is... is... she's scared.
Kyle and Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Is that also part of this, like--
Kyle: Well she probably thought that like, the police were gonna come for her.
Keith: Yeah.
Kyle: And that's why she came. So okay, that answered my own question. Yeah.
Keith: Well I think she's scared of Kent. Like that's why she goes back to him, is she's just terrified of what he'll do, so... it's better for me just to like, be submissive and go back, then run...
Eamon: It's more like she HAS to go back, because of all this honor-stuff. Yeah.
Keith: Yeah, I guess. Cuz she lays out decent reasons. *Eamon: Yeah.* I mean, at least reasons for herself, that she--this is how she's justifying it. So yeah. So these crazy double-standards that... Hideo can make this promise that binds all his offspring to Mac, but then his offspring cannot, like, disavow that? Like t--they can't release that promise? It's like...*Eamon: Yeah.* Why? Like, you're allowed to bind people in one direction, but it can't go the other way?
Kyle: And also, like, the deal was that they could always come to him for protection. She doesn't WANT his protection. She's like, "You are not protecting me by doing this thing." *Keith: Right.* "DON'T do it."
Keith: And then--
Kyle: It's a--it's... that--it's VERY weird.
Keith: Yeah. And then at some point, I feel like Mac even like, explains--so he's like, "This is about--" It's like... why are you explaining... like man-splaining honor to her? Like...
Kyle and Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Like, like this kind of reeked of that. Anyway, I think this is the weakest part of the episode just cuz... it just... it gets so murky, and I--I--I don't think Mac looks... too good in this situation. So I wish... *Kyle: No...* Kent did something or--or she thought it would be okay to go back, and then he does something again, and was like, "You know what? I'm wrong." And... I don't know.
Kyle: Or she just doesn't choose to go back to him... *Keith: Yeah.* You know, maybe she's just having a moment, like maybe this is--she doesn't choose to go back. This conversation happens in a moment of, like, doubt, where she's like, thinking aloud. Like, "Maybe I should go back. Maybe it's dishonorable not to. Blah-blah-blah," and like, maybe he... you know, says like, "No, like, I'm committed to helping you, like... you're doing the right thing." And then the conflict happens. Not like "Don't fucking do it!" "Shut up I'm going to do it anyway!" *Keith: Yeah!*
Eamon: Yeah. Or, or just making, like, Kent come at Mac or something, so he has to fight. I don't know.
Kyle: Yeah! *Keith: Yeah!* Or maybe... or maybe KENT won't let it go at this point. He's like--*Keith: Right!*--you, y.. Like, Mac... you made your decision, like, you decided to challenge me. Like--*Keith: Yeah.*--you don't get to change your mind, now.
Eamon: Like are they--
Kyle: That MY code of honor says that, like, your challenge to me has been accepted, so--
Eamon: Yeah. Are they doing this on purpose? Like, Mac is never like, absolutely in the right, in any of these. I mean, sometimes he is but--*Keith: *laughing* Right!*--usually there's like a weird question... or kind of like a... inconsistency or, like, something. *Keith: Yeah.* I'm wondering if that's on purpose or not.
Keith: Maybe!
Kyle: I don't know. I think there were other ways to introduce that, though, than THIS. *Eamon: Yeah.* Like, than the way this is presented here. Cuz I feel like the challenge should come from, liKeith: Moral questions are murky, and it's hard in any situation to what the... like, 100% right thing to do is? Like, the--the-the quandary should be the source of the uncertainty, not, like, Mac kind of being an asshole to some woman. Like--*laughing*
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: --that should not be the source of like, our discomfort.
Eamon: *thoughtfully* Mmm.
Keith: Well, I think that there's an interesting question posed here too, about like, what is the difference between like, honor and morality? Cuz they're, they're different, and... at least the way the discussions in this show have kind of presented honor--especially in this episode, but we've seen it in Warmonger with that promise, and he was like, "This is about your vanity." Uh... What was... what was his name, the dying... guy?
Eamon: Oh, right! I forgot his name. But yeah.
Keith: Your morality, I feel like, is something that has to do with other people. It's like, this is how I interact with you and a community. Like, decisions I make impact of a--a group larger than me. Whereas this honor-thing, is a deeply--it is solely a personal decision. Like, ONLY one person has this code of honor: YOU. And you have to... That's why you can't cover it up with a lie, is because you're the only one who has to live with your code of honor. And so, Mac basing this decision on honor is--I find, like... everyone has different views on this thing! Like, she doesn't want him to do this; he does. The choice he makes is not the MORAL choice. He makes the HONORABLE choice. Which in some ways is selfish. *Eamon: Yeah.* Just because he--his code of honor does not line up with hers. Kyle: Yeah. That is an interesting tension. I agree in... with like, 80% of what you said about like, honor being personal, but it's also a communal thing. Like you're also dishonored in the eyes of your peers; in the eyes of the community... *Keith: Yes...* Like there is--
Keith: Well we do have shared principles, I think, that we--we consider honorable.
Kyle: Riiight. But then there IS still fundamentally an internalization--*Keith: Right.*--component that is like the... the bedrock of the whole thing.
Eamon: The other thing is, like, they're both on Holy Ground.
Kyle: But they move.
Keith: Oh okay.
Eamon: They move, but like--
Kyle: They-they leave the shrine.
Keith: Okay.
Eamon: If Mac could have like, not done this, and stayed there, so they couldn't fight... like, he makes the decision to like, go off Holy Ground and like, settle this with this guy, against EVERYONE'S wishes, like!
Keith: *laughing* Right! *Kyle laughs too*
Eamon: Like it's definitely weird, it's just liKeith: This is something I, Mac, am going to do because I want to.
Kyle: Yeah. No one's asking you to do this.
Eamon: Yeah. At this point.
Kyle: And like, and it... it doesn't seem like Kent would have forced this issue...
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Yeah.
Kyle: Like if... Mac just said like, Okay, I'm going back home... it seems like Kent would have said "See ya! Don't let the door hit you on the way out!"
Eamon: Right. Yeah.
Keith: Yeah, this is the good stuff about Highlander. Like, even though it IS murky territory it gives us like, gives you lots of stuff to think about as a viewer, or talk about like, with your friends and family when you watch it, so. It's good stuff.
Kyle: Yeah. Well I think we've all signed on very much to the David Abramowitz quote like the, the peak... the pinnacle of Highlander is like a Talmudic discussion with ass-kicking.
Keith: This-this episode has everything.
Kyle and Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: This definitely--this ticks all the boxes of a... like, truly great Highlander episode. And that's... that's good stuff.
Keith: Yeah! We got a fun sword fight; we got cool flashbacks; we have like a really good moral question, and it explores it, like, fantastically!
Kyle: Yeah!
Keith: And it has Charlie!
Kyle: Sh-has Char--yeah!
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: *laughing* It has great performances, super-good bromance, *Keith: Yeah!* Um...
Eamon: No Maurice, though. That's a... that's a...
Kyle: Oui oui!
Eamon: ... column in the... con column? *laughter* WHAT did I just say?
1:09:41 Kyle: That's a *****column within another column.
Eamon: That comment was a con!
Keith: Let's... let's talk about... let's talk about this fight!
Kyle: Yes! Let's!
1:09.48 Keith: So, it should be noted that this is again the first fight--or the first episode choreographed by F Braun McAsh. Uh, go back and listen to our Crossing Swords interview with him and Anthony De Longis! It's pretty cool! Uh, but this is the first episode he did, and I think it's very apparent--his choreography style--especially you could really notice a lot of it on the beach, uh, in the very first fight, like. The fight just seems more kinetic. It--it feels grounded, a little more? Uh, uh, where I feel like Bob Anderson's style is... very theatrical. *Eamon: Yeah.* And F Braun comes from that school as well, but F Braun also, I feel like, no-not--I don't wanna speak for him, but also comes from a very practical sense of studying real-world weaponry, and how does this stuff function in reality.
Kyle: Yeah. Not just on a stage.
Keith: Not just on a stage. *Eamon: Yeah.* And so... Yeah, the fight just feels really kinetic and it's... it's good stuff. Um...
Eamon: Yeah. It is.
1:10:35 Keith: So th--one of the craziest moves Duncan does is he catches a blade--
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: Yeah! Well that's at the end. That's like the... the final bit of this fight. But... what do we... how do we feel about this fight in general, as it's going? Cuz like, they start on the beach; they work their way into the water... there's this very weird slow-mo...
Eamon: Yeah, the slow-mo is weird.
Keith: Oh yeah. the slow-mo was weird.
Kyle: ... which I did not love and was confused as to why it was part of it. It definitely didn't enhance my... experience of this fight.
Eamon: I feel like... they were just doing it to give it some extra juice or something. I dunno. *Keith: Yeah.* Yeah.
Kyle: Not-not just to stretch it to 43 minutes.
Eamon: Yeah, yeah.
Keith: Right!
Eamon: Or that! *laughter*
Kyle: I dunno, we need that extra minute and a half for the European cut! *Eamon: Yeah!* Let's add this slow-mo in! *Eamon: Yeah.* Yeah, so that was--that was odd. So then the make it up--back up onto the beach and they're fighting on the rocks, and it's like, some real fast sword-play, and Mac's sword get like, slammed down into the rocks--*Keith: Right.*--and he gets disarmed. Which is kind of awesome, and things are looking--
Keith: It gets stuck in the rock!
Kyle: Yeah! Things are looking ROUGH for Mac here, but then Keith! What happened?
1:11:36 Keith: So then Mac catches the blade in mid-air! And we should listen to the man himself, F Braun McAsh, talk about this.
Eamon: Oooh!
BRAUN: When I was first hired on Highlander, I was on a show-to-show contract, so... obviously you have to uh, be able to slot into... a family that already exists, and if Adrian couldn't work with you for any reason at all, obviously, you wouldn't be able to hang around. In Samurai, I wanted to have Adrian at some kind of... oh, I wouldn't say disability but ooh... obvious that he could die, within the next second. So, I had been experimenting with a move that I had SEEN, in my study of the Japanese sword. And it's... the ability to catch in between the palms. Now, obviously you're not actually SEIZING the blade, because that would pretty much put paid to your hands. What you're doing is you're clapping... the inside heel of the hand against the spine of the blade, uh which is above the cutting edge. And... I tried it a couple of times, just holding the sword and having a friend of mine increase pressure towards me to see if a) can you actually HOLD it, and then I had my friend--slowly building up speed--actually thrusting the sword at me, and me trying to actually catch the sword. And when I convinced myself that it was physically possible to do this, I then put it into the choreography where... MacLeod gets his swordblade caught in between two rocks; knows he can't get it out in time; simply catches his opponent's blade, and then goes into a hand technique on his opponent's arms that allows him to strip the sword away from him, reverse it, and then run him through. So it was uh... it was kind of a nifty way of ending the fight rather than, than the ways that had been used uh, i-in previous episodes.
1:13:16 Kyle: That's awesome! And you see again like that dedication to practicality there... *Keith: Yeah.* That, like, before you put it in he's like: Let's see if this is, like, fucking conceivable. *Keith: Right.* Cuz that was the first question I had. I was like, CAN you do this--*Keith: Yeah.*--or is your hand just going to get... shredded? *Keith: YEAH!*
Eamon: Yeah. That was like, really fascinating to hear. Duncan doesn't actually do that, if you look at the footage...?
Keith: *laughing* Yeah it doesn't quite ***** look the same way.
Kyle: Yeah he just kind of claps his hand on it.
Eamon: Yeah, but that's awesome.
Keith: But it seems like it IS possible.
Kyle: Also, I'd forgotten until we just re-watched that clip... And again, a good reminder of how like, fast and kind of furious this fight was. When his sword goes down onto the rock, there's a lightning burst sort of effect! *Keith: Oh really?* It's just like, Pkwowhwhup! when his sword hits!
Eamon: When he like, flips the sword around, it's awesome.
Keith: Yeah, it is cool.
Kyle: Yeah! This is rad!
Keith: It's good! So how does this episode end?
Eamon: With water jizzing all over Duncan MacLeod's body! *wheezelaugh*
*Keith laughs* Kyle: What in...?
Eamon: For the Quickening. *Kyle: Yeah.* Like, when the Quickening happens, like water shoots up in the air, and sprinkles on his shirt and then you can see like, every muscle... and like, it's... it's gratuitous. *giggling in background*
Kyle: Yeah. A lot of daytime Quickenings.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Yeah. Lots of them. Yeah.
Eamon: Oh, yeah yeah yeah.
Kyle: A lot of them.
Keith: Uh, so that's pretty much the episode!
Kyle: They then like, light a candle on the... the grave to... to send it out.
Eamon: There's something I wanted to mention. When Mac pulls his sword out, Midori is like, "HEY! Wait a minute! That's my family's sword!" HOW do you know what it looks like?!
Keith: *laughing* Right! I thought the same thing!
Eamon: There's no photography!
Keith: I guess maybe there was--someone did a drawing of it?
Eamon: Is there a drawing?
Kyle: Why not?
Eamon: That's insane! Yeah--
Kyle: It IS weird, but...
Keith: I did think the same thing.
Eamon: --that you would remember that drawing so like... maybe she di-would. I don't know. I thought that was weird.
Keith: Yep! Good point.
Kyle: I did get the impression that the sword is, like, of particular... importance.
Eamon: Sure.
Keith: It's like legendary status.
Kyle and Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: So, maybe there's some writing about it, or, whatever. Or it's just... described throughout the family.
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Not sure. But yeah. This fight seems amazing. The episode's really good. And yet... I think it could be better.
1:15:11 Keith: So Kyle! You mentioned a 20% increase in quality of this episode! So, how would you prescribe that happens?
Kyle: Alright. So, first order of business: It struck me as this fight was going on, I was like: Is this The Last fucking Samurai? Are they Tom Cruise? The Samurai is one of these two white guys, like? Was the--really, it's supposed to be *together with Eamon* Hideo, *Keith: Yeah!* *alone* is supposed to be it, but it's got this very like, Tom Cruisey-like feel. *Keith: Right.* Was point 1. So I think the first thing I would do, is... Kent should be Asian. *laughing* *Keith: Okay* *Eamon: Yeah.* He should actually be Japanese. *Keith: Mmhm.* To, like, avoid that like, odd... bit.
1:15:46 Kyle: Second point. They should know each other. In the past. This is how I would've done this to like, amp up the tension on the honor portion of it, and also to give a motivation to Kent doing some of the things he does throughout this episode. Those riders approach? One of them... is Kent. He's coming to deliver a message from the Shogun. And... he has the conversation with Hideo. Afterwards, he then talks to this other Immortal, and it's like, "Look. He found ME. Oth--Anyone else would've been dead. This is special, like, are we gonna have beef? Don't do it." And he says, "No. Because of like, honor and justice, like. This is the Lord's order. It MUST be carried out, withOUT exception." And that's the tension. He's like, "No. The letter of the thing is this. Anything less is dishonorable. We're done here, like, and if you interfere, we're gonna have a problem. Otherwise, you know, you can go."
Kyle: So this happens. Hideo dies. That's that. They then see each other again. Over time, this like, dedication to, like, the bru--kind of like, a brutal, ruthless interpretation of what honor demands, doesn't mesh well in the 21st Century. So it's ths... even if they wanted to play with this whole like, cuckold scenario? It's like, his honor over the hundreds of years, has not changed. So he's like: I must kill him to clean the stain on my honor. *Keith: Right.* It's not malicious, it's just what must happen.
Keith: Very much like Mako! *Kyle: Y--* Has th--this sort of problem where his code of the law is--doesn't really jive too well with the subtleties of the 20th Century, or the modern era.
1:17:18 Kyle: Right! And then, he confesses to her, he's like: "I killed this guy. As far as I'm concerned that satisfies your dishonor to me. That's the situation." She freaks out because--obviously that kind of a crazy thing to do in the 21st Century. *Keith: (laughing) Right!* She still kills HIM, and then the same problem re-emerges. Like, he doesn't want to possess her again, but she has attempted to kill him, in a way that like, must be answered. *Keith: Right.* She has to be punished for this, because she tried to kill me and betrayed me. *Keith: Right.* And like... it's not necessarily that he's angry about it, but that's what must happen. *Keith: Right.* And then Mac steps in and is like, "No, like... I have to protect her. Like, she messed up, but like, I am pledged to do this thing." *Keith: Right.* And that's the collision course, and like everything else kind of stays intact, but his... his position is not inherently unreasonable though... incompatible with the 21st Century, and then they have to fight about it. *Keith: Yeah.* And then that solves the problem where you have to like, man-splain honor to Midori, cuz she IS still threatened--*Keith: Mmhm.* And granted, she tried to kill him, like... *Keith: *laughing* Yeah!* She's not being pursued, uh, unreasonably, necessarily, but like, there's more--like, there's ambiguity around her situation. And then, they just have to fight, for their sense of honor and, only one of them can make it.
1:18:31 Keith: Yeah. I, I like having the honor be at stake, for BOTH characters. As you said like, they're on a collision course. Like these two codes of honor will inevitably collide with each other.
Eamon: Rrrrright. And I think that's... I think would have... allayed a lot of our concerns about this episode, and would have just like, put a nice thematic bow on the whole thing. But it IS very good. *Eamon: Yeah.* And I like--And I like the actor who played the villain, too!
Eamon: Oh, he's great!
Kyle: He does a phenomenal job, so it's like--
Eamon and Keith: Yeah!
Kyle: --monkeying with it too much is maybe... courting disaster. Just--
Keith: I--I had a note, uh... Speaking of the--the villain, like... I feel like the villain is, in some ways kind of weak? I mean but the actor completely crushes it and... he also doesn't--the way this episode is structured, he doesn't need too much motivation. I agree with you, Kyle, that like tha--those things would make it better, but I think he really serves his purpose well, and the actor portrays him so well, like, he... he reminds me a lot of the Alexi character. Where it was like... kind of like--
Kyle: Oh yeah! We're just bull--The character's bullshit but the villain's amazing!
Keith: *amused* The character--yeah, but he's amazing--*Eamon: Yeah!*--just because he brought so much like, style to it? And this guy brings so much like, threatening... you know, this threatening nuance to it which is pretty good. So...
Kyle and Eamon: Yeah.
Eamon: Kyle's point also just made me think of... we know nothing about this guy, as an Immortal. *Keith: *laughs* No!* Like, we don't know how old he is. Like we don't know... what his story is at all. *Keith: No!* Uh, so that's... a great point, and yeah, why isn't he Japanese? That's a--that's a great point.
Kyle: I yeah--I don't--Yeah, I, like, that... maybe that just like bothered me more optically, seeing these two guys fight--fight--wi--these two white guys fighting with, like, priceless Samurai swords, on like the--*Eamon: Yeah.*--the--the beaches of Japan, and it's like--*Eamon: Yeah!*--where's Tom Cruise? Like--
Eamon: Yeah!
1:20:05 Kyle: Hahah! Well! Perhaps it's time for some Watcher Chronicles! *Eamon: Ooooh!* If we wanna learn a little bit more about Michael Kent! *Kyle: Oh yeah!* Coz we didn't get too much from the episode! Uh, so! Michael Kent was first born in 1866 in Topeka Kansas!
Kyle: *laughing* Topeka Kansas, perfect! *Eamon: Yeah!*
Keith: *laughs* His first death was in 1911. Uh, he was caught in a threshing machine! Uh--
Kyle: JESUS!
Keith: His first teacher was Orville Webber. Cultural affiliation is American. His occupation is a commodities broker. *Eamon: Oh!* Let's see, to read about him... so this is pro--
Kyle: He really reads as a commodities broker. *Keith and Eamon: Yeah!* Cuz most commodity brokers have goons, right?
Keith: Goons? Um--
Kyle: Hey! I need--
Keith: They're advisors, man! They're financial advisors. Slash goons.
Kyle: I wanna buy six tons of pork belly, Goon Number 1!
Keith: Well, *Eamon laughs* from his Watcher Chronicle, Kyle: "The irony that one can ride pork futures..." *laughing*
Eamon: WHAT? *all laugh* NO WAY!
Keith: I swear, I swear!
Eamon: Are you fucking kidding me?!
Keith: I swear.
Eamon: I can't believe that happened.
Kyle: *sings* ***** the best ***** around!
Keith: Uh, "--pork futures and soybean forecasts to the penthouse in the legendary Ginza District of Tokyo was never lost on Michael Kent. Even while, uh, Nippon-Kent Enterprises was the foremost company at both the Tokyo Exchange, and the Chicago Board of Trade, Kent in many ways still viewed himself as the poorly educated pig-farmer he was at the time of his first death. And that self-image haunted him. Everything he had done since that first death: education, fine clothes, trophy wives... was an attempt to flee that image. Kent was intense. Extremely serious to the point of humorless, driven to succeed at any price. He had little interest in taking heads, preferred to play the game of business, but true to his nature he made sure he had the best sword, and the best training money could buy. Not good enough, it turned out. *laughs*
Eamon: Hmm... isn't Superman from Kansas?
Keith: That's right.
Kyle: Yes.
Eamon: And his name is Clark Kent. *moment of stunned silence*
Keith: Oh, man...
Kyle: Shit.
*laughter begins*
Keith: Holy shit!
Eamon: So... Michael Kent is Superman's brother! *long laughter* Or grandpa, or whatever. *Keith and Kyle: Grandpa!* Distant cousin.
Keith: Yeah! That's good!
Kyle: Amazing!
Keith: Worlds collide.
Kyle: World's Finest collide. Did we learn any lessons from Mac today? *moment* I feel like we did. *Eamon: Ooh!*
Keith: It's time for...
1:22:15 🎶Fighting Immortals will give you a Mac-attack-ak-ak-ak-ak-ak, you oughta know by now... 🎶You oughta know by now... 🎶 Kyle: Mac-Attack! The lesson where--not every week, but every once in a while, we stop to reflect--
Eamon: Every now and then.
Kyle: --on the lessons we learned from Duncan MacLeod. Eamon, what did you learn from Duncan MacLeod this week?
Eamon: I learned that aaaaaa... eugh.
Kyle: We just talked like so much about the lessons we learned from this episode--
Eamon: I know.
Kyle: --and now we can't distill them!
Eamon: I learned that a promise is still a promise even though nobody wants you to go through with it. *Keith laughs*
Kyle: Yeah I was going to say. I learned that: Only a man can make an eternal vow. A woman can't release you from it.
Keith and Eamon: OHHHH!
Keith: Oh, boy.
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Sorry, Mac! That was too much!
Eamon: Yeah. It was rough. I'm like... now that we talk about it, I don't know... I don't know how to feel about the ending of this episode.
Kyle: I mean, I'm a little upset by it, frankly. Cuz...
Eamon: I mean, Kent is a murderer.
Keith: Yeah!
Eamon: So there's that.
Kyle: That is DEFINITIVELY not why Mac kills him.
Keith: I mean in--in--
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: In any other episode, the way this plays out... ends up going fine. Like, Midori is like, I still don't wanna be with him, and Mac does what needs to be done. And I think as viewers, we're all like: Okay. Like that guy was shit, Mac is protecting her. But like, the turn at the end where she's like, "Do not do this, it is NOT what I want, and that is not how I want to preserve my honor--"
Kyle: And you're only involved in this because she came to you.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: That's... that becomes a huge wrench in the works.
Eamon: Mac also taught us to let your friend get beat up if it's good for a joke!
Keith: Yes! And it was! It was good!
Kyle: It IS a great joke, though!
Keith: He was right! Why is this always--this will be comedic gold!
Kyle: Yeah.
Keith: Eat it, Charlie!
*laughter*
Kyle: Yeah. Awe, Charlie!
Eamon: *sings* Charlie!
Keith: So--
Kyle: I learned--Today I learned from Mac that all Charlie's parts work!
Keith: Ugh.
Eamon: Yeah! *laughs* *softly* Hey, all the parts work!
Keith: Hoh boy.
1:24:00 Duncan: *echo* We should do this more often!
Keith: Guys! I think it's uh, it's been a little while since we've played a game!
Eamon: Ooooh!
Kyle: Not true. It's been a weekend since we played a game!
Keith: Alright, we maybe played a game on the Highlander 2 podcast. It's hard to tell.
*Eamon makes agreeing noise, Kyle laughs*
Keith: It seems like it's been a while. But um--
Kyle: *sings* It's been a whiiiiile!
Keith: What it HAS been a while since we talked about is Highlander 1!
Kyle: Oh... yeah!
Eamon: What's this now?
Keith: Yeah! Highlander 1! So, uh, since we've just finished Highlander 2, I thought it might be fun to do a little game where we revisit Highlander 1. So we're gonna play a game of... it's a klin-klind of clute. We're gonna play--
Eamon: Kind of clue...
Keith: We're gonna play "It's a Kind of Clue" Highlander 1-style!
GAME SHOW MUSIC
1:24:38 Eamon: Ooooh!
Keith: I'm gonna give you both, uh, some cards...
Eamon: Oh God.
Keith: Right--
Kyle: You're so good at this one, Eamon!
Keith: --and--
Eamon: This is the one where I said the answer every time I gave a clue.
Keith and Kyle: Every single time!
Eamon: I'm sweating, right now, audience!
Keith: Um so, the only rules are you can give clues about the name, or place, or whatever the clue is on the card, or the... the item is on the card. Uh, you just can't say that thing itself, or a part of that word, itself!
Kyle: You got that rule, Eamon? *Eamon: Ugh.* You have that one? You can't say what's on the card.
Keith: I, and uh... What is the time limit? I think we did... sixty seconds?
Kyle: We did a minute last time, and we each had like seven.
Keith: A minute? Right. Alright guys. So!
Eamon: *groans* Very stressed.
Keith: Alright. So! When I start the clock you're gonna turn this over, and you're gonna be giving these clues to Eamon! *Kyle: Right.* Ready! Time starts, NOW!
1:25:23 Kyle: Uh, Second Unit Director! We interviewed him!
Eamon: Uh, uh, uh, Andy Armstrong!
Kyle: Yes! Uh, this was the struggle between the... United States and the Soviet Union that was going on at the time!
Eamon: Cold War!
Kyle: Uhhhh... This is the wrestling act, in the very beginning!
Eamon: Oh, shit! The--
Kyle: It's a... song by that Alabama band!
Eamon: Uh, the... the, the, the, the, the... nope. Nope, nope, uh... ooh... pass. *laughter*
Kyle: Uh... uh... oh! Uh--
Eamon: The Fabulous Freebirds?
Kyle: There it was!
Eamon: Fuck!
Kyle: Uh, Connor wears this footwear the entire time.
Eamon: Oh, Adidas... tennis shoes!
Kyle: Uh, what color are they?
Eamon: White! *laughter*
Kyle: Uh, I'm gonna give you that one. Uh... This is a... stone structure in the Highlands!
Eamon: Oh uh, Stonehenge?
Kyle: Uh...
Eamon: A... castle?
Kyle: Yeah! This is a Scottish instrument!
Eamon: Uh... bagpipes!
Kyle: *moment* Uh... this is the studio where it's filmed at the end.
Eamon: Silvercup!
Kyle: Yeah! Well done!
Eamon: NICE!
Kyle: Y'got 'em all.
Keith: Very good! You got seven! *Eamon: Nice!* And you got the Fabulous--and you got 'em all done in the uh... ahead of time! *Eamon: NICE!* And you got Fabulous Freebirds! Because, I gave you that one because you *with Kyle* got it wrong last time!
Eamon: Yeah! Yeah, yeah! And I almost got it wrong THIS time!
Keith: You almost did it again!
Eamon: Yeah. Very generous for giving me that point, because I passed on it. Mmm! Alright, Kyle! Get ready for me to give you all the answers! *chuckles*
Kyle: How'd you guys do at home, *teasing* listeners?
Keith: Yeah! Write us in and tell us your score! We'll read them aloud! *soft* We won't.
Kyle: Yeah. It'll just be a series of numbers. *Keith: Yup!* *Eamon: We won't.* Five. Six. This guy's an idiot: one. *laughter*
1:26:53 Keith: Alright! Eamon are you ready to give clues to Kyle, in...
Eamon: There can BE only one. Sorry.
Keith: What's the name of this game again?
Kyle: It's a Kind of Clue.
Keith: It's a Kind of Clue!
Eamon: It's a Kind of Clue...
Kyle: It's a sloppy play on "It's a kind of magic."
Keith: Very sloppy!
Eamon: *Christophe voice* "It's a kind of clue!" Heheheheh.
Kyle: Then why did everyone sign onto it if it's so sloppy?
Keith: Cuz we need something!
Eamon: Sloppy seconds in honor of this episode! *laughter*
Keith: Uh...
Kyle: GROSS!
Eamon: Yup!
1:27:13 *****Keith: R.I.Piper Akira. Alright Eamon, are you ready, to give these clues to Kyle?
Eamon: Yyyyyyes!
Keith: AND 3, 2, 1!
Eamon: Uh, he did the music for Highlander 1!
Kyle: Michael Kamen!
Eamon: Uh, this is a movie about a evil pig that Russel Mulcahy directed--
Kyle: Uh, Razorback!
Eamon: Uh... ooh! This is a member of Queen who wrote music for this movie? I don't remember which... uh...
Kyle: Oh...
Eamon: Uh, before--the month before June is... uh...
Kyle: May?
Eamon: Yup! Uh... and the first name is, uh... I'm just gonna give you that one. *Keith hoots* Uh, this is the coat that uh, Connor MacLeod wears--
Kyle: Trenchcoat?
Eamon: Yup! Uh, this is the name of the woman that comes in and uh, entertains the Kurgan, um...
Kyle: Candy!
Eamon: That's right! Uh, this is, uh... ball Z!
Kyle: Dragon?
Eamon: Yup!
Kyle: Yeah! Good clue!
Eamon: This is something that Connor's compatriots, and Connor wears, in--
Kyle: Kilts?
Eamon: Yup! And... that's it. You did it!
Keith: Very good!
*Game show music*
1:28:17 Kyle: What is his first name?
Eamon: Brian.
Keith: Brian May!
Kyle: It's Brian May...
Keith: The guitarist.
Kyle: That was a hard one.
Keith: I know. I was trying to switch it up a little. *Eamon: Yeah.* That was probably the trickiest one in the whole bunch.
Eamon: I don't know how I could have gotten you to say Brian. I don't know what clue...
Keith: I guess... Yeah!
Eamon: ... that could be, but...
Keith: The dog on Family Guy...
Eamon: Oh that's a good one! Yeah!
Keith: There we go.
Eamon: Da da da da da Family Guy!
Keith: Good job, guys!
Eamon: Yeaaah!
Kyle: Yeah! That was fun! That was a good one!
1:28:38 Keith: Fun times! So, uh, at the end of the day we always rate these episodes out of five! Kyle! How many... uh, out of five slices of raw octopus would you give... this episode?
Kyle: This gets four and a half slices of raw octopus from me.
Keith: Very good.
Kyle: I think it--I think it would have hit five, if not for that discussion at the end! *laughing* Frankly. *Eamon: Yes.* But it's very good overall.
Keith: Eamon. How many out of five... jealous cuckolded husbands would you give this?
Eamon: Hahah! I think I have to go with Kyle's four and a half cucks for this episode.
Keith: Half cucks! *laughing*
Kyle: Four and a half cucks. See? I'm a thought-leader! *laughter*
Keith: And then out of uh, five Scottish--*Scottish accent*--Scottish bodies! I would give this... I think I might go the full five...? I was really debating this.
Eamon: The full Monty!
Keith: The full five on this one.
Eamon: It's the best episode of this show we've seen. *Keith: Yeah.* I don't--I don't think there's any arguing that.
Keith: It also like, I--I worry, like, giving a full five? It's like... I don't know. Is any episode ever perfect? But... *Eamon: No.*... this gets as close as most of these episodes can get--*Eamon: Yeah.*--so I'm giving it a five. This is a must-see. *Kyle: Yeah.*
Eamon: Is there... better episodes than this to come?
Keith: There's some VERY good episodes.
Kyle: There are some VERY good ones coming up.
Keith: But as we said, this one ticks all those boxes--*Eamon: Yeah.*--really well. So, good stuff!
Kyle: Yeah. It's...
Keith: Uh, write us in this week, tell us what YOU think the... honorable thing to do--and what would the moral thing to do have been in this situation.
Kyle: Yeah. If they were different, let us know! *Eamon: Yeah.*
Keith: Yeah. Would these things have not been the same? It's good stuff! Davis Panzer has a really cool poster, uh, that's inspired by this episode. Uh, Davis Panzer put together a really nice poster of Duncan MacLeod. Uh, it's kind of like a side-story to this episode. Uh--*Eamon: Yeah!* Which is pretty cool!
Kyle: Yeah! It's him in his Japanese garb--*Keith: Mmhm!*--weilding a sword. It's a--it's a cool piece of art.
Eamon: Mmhm. Yeh-yeah!
Keith: Absolutely! So, next week join us for episode TWO of Season Three: In The Line Of Fire! I can't wait to talk about THIS one! It's gonna be a lot of fun!
Eamon: Oooh!
Kyle: Oh! I... love that episode, so... *Eamon: Yeah!* *Kyle laughs* sign up! It's gonna be great! *Eamon: Yeah-yeah!*
Keith: Absolutely! Uhh, so thanks for joining us! I've been one of your Rewatchers! I'm Keith!
This is Kyle!
This is Eamon.
Keith: Bye!
Eamon: Bye-bye.
Kyle: Salut!
1:30:51 Keith: Yeah, and then he starts finger-blas-- *****
Kyle: Oh God!
Eamon: Very rapey... and gross. And then I'm just like, I don't know, you want her--want her to take a shower first! ***** *grossed out noises from Keith and Kyle*
Kyle: Oh, no! *Keith: Oh God.* "You want her to take a shower first."
Keith: Gross!
Eamon: I don't want Akira's... remnants on me!
Keith: Oh. Oh boy.
Kyle: This is why the viewers tune in.
Eamon: That's right!
Kyle: This is really funny! And Charlie is like legitimately kickin' butt! I mean--
Keith and Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: Not like Mac-level butt-kicking, but you now, Charlie's a badass!
Keith: So, I--I was thinking, uh, as I do, trying to insert some... bit of irony into every fucking frame of this thing... Uh, like, in a TV show, this scene is really funny. Like, Mac's a smartass; he lets Charlie get beat up. If this was real life, and you watched a friend, like--even though he was winning!--like, I'd be like "You FUCKIN' asshole!" *Eamon: Yeah!* Like, "You let me--dude! I could have been killed, like!"
Eamon: Yep. Wawaaah.
Kyle: That's really funny! Yeah that's a great point, like.
Eamon: Yeah. Also Charlie is, like, just recovered from being *with Kyle* SHOT *no Kyle* in the--in the HEART! Like... like he almost died, and now he's getting, like the shit kicked out of him. And Mac's just like, ba, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-BA-bwa-bwa-bwa *together* sing the Blues!
47:19 Keith: So they go upstairs to check on Midori, uh, and she's GONE. *Eamon: Oooh!* And at first, Charlie thinks like there must have been another goon that like, snuck in behind him... not true. She left on her own accord. *Eamon: Hmmm!*
Kyle: Yeah. Also, I want to point out something that Charlie indicates after getting the butt--his butt kicked. It's like, "Man, you're gone for six months, I didn't get a HANGNAIL." *Eamon: Yeah!* Like, "You come back and I'm getting like PUMMELED by these goons!" And it's like hey, you know what? This is a--this is a corrosive friendship for you, Charlie!
Eamon: Oh yeah! It's--
Kyle: It's not good for your health!
Eamon: It's life-threatening! Like... *chuckling*
47:52 Keith: Uh... So uh, I guess Charlie picks up the... spy-scope... *chuckling* *affirming sounds from the others* And he's like, "Oh, what's this?" and Mac is like--
Kyle: He looks through it like a little kid, and we get like a great transition!
Keith: Yeah! So, transition's uh... through the spy-scope--
Kyle: Calling it a *with Keith* spy-scope--
Keith: --is insane!
Kyle: I mean, it's like False-Tessa! We gotta keep u--we gotta use the language of these IMDb descriptions!
Eamon: Yeah!
Keith: Uh, so we're back in Japan. And Mac gives this spy-scope to Hideo. And I guess he explains it's a Western invention and he shows him kind of how to use it, and just at this moment, there happen to be some, like, riders in the distance that--
Eamon: Yep!
Keith: --Hideo spots. Ah, I guess he goes out to greet them, and leaves Mac behind.
Kyle: After they have like a, cultural communication moment where Mac is so impressed with the sword, and it's so great, and like what craftsmanship and then, you know, he sees the spyglass he's like, "Oh, I had no idea that, you know, you barbarian Westerners could make something..."
Keith: Yes!
Kyle: "... you know, so precise." And they have a nice little cultural exchange.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: I was I-I-I did kind of wonder historically in this scene, w-were... telescopes 'n things like that introduced to Japan, at this point?
Eamon: Yeah. I wondered about that, too.
Keith: I don't know. Cuz I feel like, this is not too... this--what year is this supposed to be? 1798 or something like that?
Eamon: Seven--it's, like, 1778.
Keith: Okay. I mean that's, that's pretty late in history, I think like, this is an old invention.
Eamon: I don't--
Keith: So I kind of wondered if it had made its way over there.
Kyle: Yeah, not--probably not as old as you're thinking, though. *Keith: Yeah...* This is like Galileo... kind of stuff. This is not like, 1 B.C. technology.
Eamon and Keith: Right.
Eamon: I don't know my Japanese history. Like, I used to, kind of. I used to actually read about Samurai stuff and I just can't remember it anymore, but... I mean I know Japan did kind of... open its borders to...*Keith: Yeah!* the world relatively late... um...
Kyle: No, it wasn't until--that wasn't until, um, the 19th Century. *Eamon: Yeah.* Cuz they were forced to do so by...
Eamon: Right.
Keith: Yeah, cuz they were isolationists for... quite a while.
Kyle: Yeah. And, in this period it was like, very much so. You, you shut down. It's a self-contained island, effectively.
Eamon: I'm sure one of our Facebook followers knows. It might be an interesting piece of information to have.
Keith and Kyle: Yeah.
49:51 Keith: So then uh, Mac goes and has a tea ceremony with Maia. Uh, and this is a pretty good scene! Uh, I guess Mac is asking like, why do you hate me so much? Because like, she is constantly just like, throwing shade at Mac. *Eamon: Yeah.* "Oh, can I drink the tea now?" "Do whatever you want!" like, fuck off. Like, she doesn't give a shit. Like, she's just there to like, babysit Mac. *Eamon: Mmhm.* Cuz he's a barbarian! And so he explains that Hideo is his friend. And she's like, "Well what... what is a friend to you?" And Mac is like, "A friend is, like, a valuable thing like you would give your life for a friend." Maia's like, "Well then my father is the greatest friend, because he is giving his life for YOU." Bum-bum-BUM! *Eamon: Yeah.* So then this, this kind of plot unravels; that I guess, by taking in Mac, he has given himself a death sentence, because he has sheltered a barbarian, and so the Lord is not happy with that.
Eamon: Yeah. I mean, is it because he sheltered a barbarian, or because... when the Shogun's like, warriors galloped--galloped up to him, for no reason he pulled out his sword and like fought two of them and killed them...
Keith: That--that's my question, too! Is what was that initial attack about?
Kyle: No. I thought that's--I think that was unrelated.
Eamon: Unrelated?
Kyle: That's com--I think that's completely unrelated. I don't think those are like, the Shogun's guy? Cuz also they're not in the same colors.
Eamon: Oh, right.
Kyle: The people who rode up had like, this red banner--*Keith: Oh, okay.* --that it look--It looked different than the other people--
Keith: So they were just bad dudes.
Kyle: Yeah, maybe they--
Keith: Some bad hombres rode up--
Kyle: Yeah, some bad hombres rode up. *Eamon laughs* Um, cuz you know, during this--I mean, like individual, like, warlords in different territories would fight all the time, and like...*Eamon: Sure. * You know. It's, I think, unrelated struggle. *Eamon: Mmhm.*
51:19 Keith: So, Mac rushes to Hideo's side, who's now in like, I guess, he's trimming a Bonsai tree in this kind of, rice paper room.
Eamon: The Shogun has allowed Hideo to... take his own life instead of being executed.
Keith: Right. Cuz that would be honorable. Uh, so... this is the clip played at the top of the episode, but Mac has a pretty smart idea. Actually, I don't think this section was included in the clip we played. But Mac has the idea that he's gonna like spill the beans about being Immortal. And he's like, no, you should kill me in front of them, to like prove your loyalty and that, like, you know, whatever this scheme is, maybe I FORCED you to hold me here; or something like that. And then you'll be free to go, and I will actually live! Uh, so he explains what Immortality is. I think it's a pretty smart move! *laughs*
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Yeah! It's like a clever plan! But of course, the entire point that's being reinforced about this whole thing it's like... No, like, I've dishonored myself by doing this thing. I can't fix it by like, breaking the rules. I can't fix that dishonor by lying about it.
Keith: Right.
Kyle: Um... And that's... you know, interesting. It's kind of like the central... theme of this entire thing. Like that is like the... ultimate lesson that Mac learns out of this whole thing.
Keith: Yeah, honor is clearly a personal thing, not a publi--like, no matter what you do. If you lie, it doesn't matter because... you know. Y-your... you have to be honor--you hold your code of honor to yourself, not to others.
Eamon: Right.
52:36 Keith: Uh, also, interesting point here: Mac, when he's explaining the immortality thing, he was like "Oh, I was in the water... for days--"
Eamon: For days. Yeah.
Keith: "--when you found me." So then I was like, what does a body look like when it's in the water for days. DON'T Google it, everyone! *Kyle laughs*
Eamon: Oh God. Really?! Eugh!
Keith: Yeah! *Kyle: Yeah.* Sponge.
Eamon: Ugh!
Kyle: Perks of immortality!
Keith: Yeah!
Eamon: Yeah...
Keith: So I guess uh, he comes out okay. Or would he have been some bloated, gross... *Eamon laughs*
Kyle: Apparently not!
Keith: --transparent-looking sponge, man. Disgusting. *Kyle makes gagging noise*
53:05 Eamon: And this is when they kind of make their pact.
Keith: Yes. Mac promises he will always take care of his children or protect them if they need it.
Kyle: And he also agrees that he will help his friend commit, you know, like ritual suicide to--
Keith: Right.
Kyle: --to satisfy this punishment.
Keith: Right. So he'll be his second, and so then it's a... a very moody scene. *Eamon: Mmhm.* It's like there's lightning outside, it's very dark, and... Hideo, I guess, stabs himself in the gut, and then I guess to... alleviate his pain... I guess that's, like, the tradition is that then Mac can just kill him, outright. To alleviate any suffering.
Eamon: Yeah. Yeah. After they do like, the killing stroke, somebody else chops their head off... *Keith: Right.* to finish it, I guess.
Kyle: The Seppuku?
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: So Mac ends up considering this an honor, in the end. And also, something I thought that was very interesting about this, is the move he does is literally the move Hideo taught him. Like, this is the same stance; this like downward--*Eamon: Oh!*--strike. So it's actually kind of, like, an interesting kind of cyclical thing in the story is that Hideo teaches Mac what will end up being his like killing stroke. *Eamon: Yeah.* Which is good.
Kyle: That makes sense. Yeah.
Eamon: That's pretty cool. And also, part of the deal is Mac gets the sword when he's done. *Keith: Yes.* Yeah...
Kyle: So we... there's a, like, a lot of great world-building, here. Like, this fleshes out this character so much, and... really crystallizes a lot of like the--the mo--the Mac-motivations and all that stuff.
Eamon: The Mac-inations, if you will.
Kyle: OhhhhhhHHHHHHH! *Eamon chuckles* Yummy.
54:23 🎶 Princes of the Universe! 🎶
Keith: Hey, Rewatchers! March is a very special month because... it is the Trypodcasts month?
Eamon: Yeah! *laughter*
Kyle: Yeah! So, for people who haven't heard of it, Trypod is s special promotion that a lot of podcasts are doing, spearheaded by the--the good content creators over at NPR, who are really trying to raise awareness of podcasts and get people invested into this really cool really dynamic medium that, HEY, your Rewatchers participate in!
Eamon: That's right!
Keith: Absolutely! So, some people still don't... GET podcasts, and why they're so special to listen or even how to listen. Uh, but YOU out there can change that, just with a click! Uh, right now, think of somebody you care about. Maybe it's a friend; your mom; or maybe it's somebody that's on like, a Facebook group... maybe a Highlander Facebook group...
Eamon: Yeah!
Keith: ... uh, that you're part of, that you think uh, they'd really love podcasting! Uh, so now, all you need to do is hit that share-button, uh, down at the bottom of your screen. Share a Facebook page, maybe share a podcast that you're listening to right now! Maybe you're listening to this podcast ! Just go on your old--your old phone there, click the share button, and send it to a friend! Uh... it could be on a Facebook post, it could be in a text message! In an e-mail! There's lots of ways to share stuff! *chuckling*
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: And if they don't know how to access podcasts, and... you know, gain entry into this cool world of content, show them how! Give them a quick blow-by-blow on how to... get great podcasts!
Keith: Yeah! Cuz there's a ton of great podcasts out there. Not just Highlander-centric ones! *Kyle: Yeah!* There's a lot of good stuff! *Eamon: Yeah!*
Kyle: And they're free! This is... ya know, the... one of the greatest free sources of entertainment you can find anywhere.
Keith: And so uh, share your love of whatever podcast you're listening to, uh, this week, on Twitter, Facebook, and just uh, add the hashtag Trypod! Which is t-r-y-pod!
Eamon: And thank you guys for spreading the word about podcasts that you love!
Keith: And another great way to spread the word is by leaving a five-star review on iTunes. Uh, believe it or not we're not just looking to get like great reviews and feel good about ourselves, uh--
Kyle: Though we DO--we do--
Keith: We love it.
Kyle: We are fueled by your praise. *Keith and Eamon: Yeah.* Without it... without it, I'm not sure how I'd get up in the morning! *Keith: Right!* I'm SO dependent!
Keith: Uh, but every review we get, uh, whether you actually type a review or just, you know, click on four stars, five stars... you know, whatever you wanna click. Five stars.
Eamon: *amused* We prefer five stars! *laughter*
Keith: Uh, every time you do that, it helps our podcast reach other people. *Eamon: Mmhm.* Uh, because of the kind of algorithms that puts our podcast in people's feed and uh, ends up being recommended. So--
Kyle: It literally takes two seconds. Just go into your phone, click on our podcast, hit that review button...
Keith: Bam. You're done.
Kyle: It'll be amazing.
Keith: It's awesome. And then you spread that Highlander love all over the world!
Eamon: That's right!
Kyle: Yeah! So Keith, other than our podcast, are there any fun podcasts that you've been listening to?
Keith: Oh! Who do I listen to? Let's see... every week I can't go without uh, CBB! That's Comedy Bang Bang on the Earwolf network! Which's a very fun comedy improv podcast if you're into that sort of thing.
Kyle: Yeah with Scott Aukerman and amazing guests like Paul F. Tompkins 'n Jason Mantzoukas, the hits keep on truckin'!
Keith: Absolutely.
Eamon: That's right!
Kyle: How 'bout you, Eamon?
Eamon: I... don't miss any week without listening to Never Not Funny, the Jimmy Pardo podcast. And he is kind of like a pioneer of podcasting in general. So that's--
Keith: Yeah. He started recording in his kitchen.
Eamon: Yeah! Yeah. Kyle, how 'bout you?
Kyle: Alright. I'm gonna go in a different direction cuz *****57:24 just gonna name a comedy podcast, but let's do a hard-stop and say I've been listening a lot to the uh, Freakonomics podcast. I try listening to that every week. It's not all just fun and games. You can get hard-core non-fiction content--*Keith: Yeah!*--such as Freakonomics, which is all about behavioral economics and... you know, interesting projects that involve, you know, psychology; economics; and the cross-section between policy and thought. It's really interesting! I highly recommend it!
Eamon: If you're listening to us just because you like Highlander... like, maybe you like Highlander; you found our podcast. You probably have other interests! There are literally podcasts about everything! *Keith: Right.* Like, you can find a podcast about something that interests you. So I--
Keith: Yeah! Do you like knitting? There's a podcast about knitting!
Eamon: There is! Yeah! There are! Yeah, so--
Keith: There's probably a BUNCH of podcasts about knitting. There's pottery podcasts, there's music podcasts on EVERY genre!
Kyle: Yeah, so...
Eamon: Yeah. So, just do a search 'n you'll--you're gonna find something good, I guarantee it!
Keith: Yeah, so...
Kyle: You're gonna like the way you look--
Eamon: *gruff voice* You're gonna like the way you look! I guarantee it!
Keith: Uh, thanks again--
Eamon: Also there's a Men's Warehouse podcast to listen to! *laughter* Every week!
Kyle: It's actually just an ad on repeat!
Eamon: Yup! That's right!
Keith: Um, uh, so thanks again for spreading the word about podcasts and Highlander Rewatched!
Kyle: #trypod! #Rewatched!
58:32 Eamon: *****laughter*
58:34 🎶 Princes of the Universe! 🎶
Keith: Uh, so! Back in the present, I guess uh... Midori has shown up on the boat, and she's coming back to Kent.
Eamon: Yeah. Did you write down what the boat's called?
Keith: NO! What is it called?
Eamon: I don't--I didn't write it down. *Kyle and Keith: OHHhh!!* It has like--
Kyle: Don't tease us like that!
Eamon: It has like a logo on the door. *amused* It's like, this is obviously just somebody's boat that they like rented.
Keith: It's probably like, *wheezing* Vancouver, like, Booze Cruise Line. *Eamon: (chuckles) Yeah!*
Kyle: The S.S. Pussy Magnet!
Eamon: *makes raspberry noise* Yeah, that's what it was! *Kyle: Yeah! 's alright.* S. S. Pussy Magnet! What's that a reference to?
Kyle: Um, nothing!
Keith: That's how Kent rolls when he's in Seacouver!
Eamon: Oh okay. I thought you were referencing something!
59:14 Keith: So then Mac and Charlie end up on the boat--
Eamon: Yeah, for some--whatever reason. Yeah.
Keith: Like, later, like this is a little bit of filler. It's like, they end up, because they're like, "Oh I think she came back here."
Eamon: Can they just get on the dock and walk onto anybody's boat they want? Is that how like--
Keith: Yeah right! *laughing* I guess it's not gated at all. There's no guard... open dock!
Eamon: Just whatever! Yeah! *Keith laughs*
59:29 Keith: So anyway. Then we cut to Japan. Because Mac, I guess, says like, "I know where they went after this." Like, "They must have returned home."
Eamon: Yeah. So, Midori's n--at the Koto Shrine grounds. *Keith: Right.* Praying at what I--I guess is Hideo's grave, or memorial, or... something.
Keith: Right.
Kyle: Yeah.
Keith: And I... I think we should play this clip and talk about a lot of what this scene is about. Okay?
Kyle: Sure.
Eamon: Eeyeah.
59:52 Midori: I chose this destiny. I have to live with it. What happens to me isn't important. *she faces the shrine* A great man rests here. Hideo Koto. It's because of him that the Koto name has remained great.
Duncan: Not because of his money.
Midori: It's funny that a gaijin would teach ME about honor.
Duncan: This is a mistake, Midori. Why perpetuate it?
Midori: Honor. It isn't about making the right choice, it's about... taking the consequences. And if I stay, I can regain that honor.
1:00:31 Eamon: Hmmm.
Keith: Good stuff.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: So... This episode I... I... One thing I love about this episode is how kind of focused it is on the theme, which is honor. There are, like, five characters that talk about honor. So, Mac obviously, he's gotta honor his promise to Koto. Then there's Hidori (HEH) uh, he's gotta honor the wishes of his lord. Like, when he decides that it's... like he WANTS to kill himself... because that is the honorable thing to do, and it's what his lord wishes, so he's got a code of honor. Then Kent obviously is... he feels dishonored by being, like, a cuckolded husband *laughing and Eamon laughs* Uh, then there's Maia--
Kyle: Cuckold MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod! *Eamon and Keith laugh long*
Keith: Uh, uh... and then of course uh, then there is Maia, uh, who's also feeling dishonored by... the presence of a barbarian in their life. And then finally Midori, uh, feels like she has to like, honor her family name. So all these characters have like, honor... at the center of their motivations in this whole episode. *Eamon: Mmhm.* A+. *Eamon: Yeah.* BUZZZZZ! Kent's here!
Eamon: His intro is insane! *laughter, agreeing sounds* There's a sound it, like, zooms over to him and he's just standing there, staring at them.
Kyle: On this bridge! *amused*
Eamon: And then he walks away. It's really funny. He has his own Samurai sword, which I guess we know already. *Kyle agrees*
Keith: Right. And so, they're both fighting with... I--I wonder why they made them have the same sword? I feel like that could've--this could've easily been a two-parter, too. Uh...
Eamon: Oh, yes! Yeah.
Keith: And I think maybe getting some more backstory on HIM maybe? I dunno. It's super-solid as a one-parter, but I kind of wonder what--if there's any significance that he essentially has the same sword as Mac.
Eamon: Yeah. They don't really touch on that. I kind of wish they did, but...
Keith: Yeah. Cuz it also could have been interesting to see like, you know, I don't think we get to see HIS code of honor play out too well. Like, he mentions like, "I have to uphold MY honor, because... she killed me and cheated on me." *Eamon: Yeah.* Uh, like if, if like, both of them were--cuz we know Mac is driven by honor, constantly through this series. *Eamon: Mmhm.* It would have been nice to see if like, him be the mirror of Mac, and be driven by a different set of honor and, so that when they fight it's like, really these two codes of honor coming head-to-head. But... maybe that was, at some point, lost on the cutting-room floor. Or in the script.
Eamon: Is this Kent's house now? With the Koto Shrine?
Keith: It's a good question. I don't know. Certainly his money stopped it from being destroyed. I don't kno wif that means he... he owns it, or they own it together, or what the deal is.
Eamon: *thoughtfully* Yeah...
Keith: To me, I'm like, super onboard this episode, almost until this point. And this is where I think things get a little murky, uh, on Mac's end. 1:03:05 So, Midori does NOT want Mac to fight Kent. And she's like, "Don't. Leave it alone." And then she's like, "I release you from your vow." And Mac is like, "This is not--this vow was not made to YOU, and you can NOT release me from it." And I'm like THIS... these double standards... are out of control. Like, this--
Kyle: That's... This is so weird.
Keith: Yeah. And it's liKeith: so Hideo can make a vow that binds ALL his offspring to Mac, to be protected by him, whether they want it or not! And she clearly does not want it right now.
Kyle: Well yeah. Th--the whole thing just becomes confusing, cuz why did she come in the first place?
Keith: Well I guess she just changed her mind.
Kyle: Well I guess she was originally coming to him, because she needed help cuz she thought she had killed her husband.
Eamon with Keith: Riiiight! *Eamon: Yeah.*
Kyle: But the ingredient that changes is that he's alive, so she decides to go back to him.
Keith: Right.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Cuz I guess maybe she, I guess, thought that her reaction was wrong. That she should not have... hurt him for this... thing.
Eamon: Well, she like--
Keith: Or she just is... is... she's scared.
Kyle and Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Is that also part of this, like--
Kyle: Well she probably thought that like, the police were gonna come for her.
Keith: Yeah.
Kyle: And that's why she came. So okay, that answered my own question. Yeah.
Keith: Well I think she's scared of Kent. Like that's why she goes back to him, is she's just terrified of what he'll do, so... it's better for me just to like, be submissive and go back, then run...
Eamon: It's more like she HAS to go back, because of all this honor-stuff. Yeah.
Keith: Yeah, I guess. Cuz she lays out decent reasons. *Eamon: Yeah.* I mean, at least reasons for herself, that she--this is how she's justifying it. So yeah. So these crazy double-standards that... Hideo can make this promise that binds all his offspring to Mac, but then his offspring cannot, like, disavow that? Like t--they can't release that promise? It's like...*Eamon: Yeah.* Why? Like, you're allowed to bind people in one direction, but it can't go the other way?
Kyle: And also, like, the deal was that they could always come to him for protection. She doesn't WANT his protection. She's like, "You are not protecting me by doing this thing." *Keith: Right.* "DON'T do it."
Keith: And then--
Kyle: It's a--it's... that--it's VERY weird.
Keith: Yeah. And then at some point, I feel like Mac even like, explains--so he's like, "This is about--" It's like... why are you explaining... like man-splaining honor to her? Like...
Kyle and Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Like, like this kind of reeked of that. Anyway, I think this is the weakest part of the episode just cuz... it just... it gets so murky, and I--I--I don't think Mac looks... too good in this situation. So I wish... *Kyle: No...* Kent did something or--or she thought it would be okay to go back, and then he does something again, and was like, "You know what? I'm wrong." And... I don't know.
Kyle: Or she just doesn't choose to go back to him... *Keith: Yeah.* You know, maybe she's just having a moment, like maybe this is--she doesn't choose to go back. This conversation happens in a moment of, like, doubt, where she's like, thinking aloud. Like, "Maybe I should go back. Maybe it's dishonorable not to. Blah-blah-blah," and like, maybe he... you know, says like, "No, like, I'm committed to helping you, like... you're doing the right thing." And then the conflict happens. Not like "Don't fucking do it!" "Shut up I'm going to do it anyway!" *Keith: Yeah!*
Eamon: Yeah. Or, or just making, like, Kent come at Mac or something, so he has to fight. I don't know.
Kyle: Yeah! *Keith: Yeah!* Or maybe... or maybe KENT won't let it go at this point. He's like--*Keith: Right!*--you, y.. Like, Mac... you made your decision, like, you decided to challenge me. Like--*Keith: Yeah.*--you don't get to change your mind, now.
Eamon: Like are they--
Kyle: That MY code of honor says that, like, your challenge to me has been accepted, so--
Eamon: Yeah. Are they doing this on purpose? Like, Mac is never like, absolutely in the right, in any of these. I mean, sometimes he is but--*Keith: *laughing* Right!*--usually there's like a weird question... or kind of like a... inconsistency or, like, something. *Keith: Yeah.* I'm wondering if that's on purpose or not.
Keith: Maybe!
Kyle: I don't know. I think there were other ways to introduce that, though, than THIS. *Eamon: Yeah.* Like, than the way this is presented here. Cuz I feel like the challenge should come from, liKeith: Moral questions are murky, and it's hard in any situation to what the... like, 100% right thing to do is? Like, the--the-the quandary should be the source of the uncertainty, not, like, Mac kind of being an asshole to some woman. Like--*laughing*
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: --that should not be the source of like, our discomfort.
Eamon: *thoughtfully* Mmm.
Keith: Well, I think that there's an interesting question posed here too, about like, what is the difference between like, honor and morality? Cuz they're, they're different, and... at least the way the discussions in this show have kind of presented honor--especially in this episode, but we've seen it in Warmonger with that promise, and he was like, "This is about your vanity." Uh... What was... what was his name, the dying... guy?
Eamon: Oh, right! I forgot his name. But yeah.
Keith: Your morality, I feel like, is something that has to do with other people. It's like, this is how I interact with you and a community. Like, decisions I make impact of a--a group larger than me. Whereas this honor-thing, is a deeply--it is solely a personal decision. Like, ONLY one person has this code of honor: YOU. And you have to... That's why you can't cover it up with a lie, is because you're the only one who has to live with your code of honor. And so, Mac basing this decision on honor is--I find, like... everyone has different views on this thing! Like, she doesn't want him to do this; he does. The choice he makes is not the MORAL choice. He makes the HONORABLE choice. Which in some ways is selfish. *Eamon: Yeah.* Just because he--his code of honor does not line up with hers. Kyle: Yeah. That is an interesting tension. I agree in... with like, 80% of what you said about like, honor being personal, but it's also a communal thing. Like you're also dishonored in the eyes of your peers; in the eyes of the community... *Keith: Yes...* Like there is--
Keith: Well we do have shared principles, I think, that we--we consider honorable.
Kyle: Riiight. But then there IS still fundamentally an internalization--*Keith: Right.*--component that is like the... the bedrock of the whole thing.
Eamon: The other thing is, like, they're both on Holy Ground.
Kyle: But they move.
Keith: Oh okay.
Eamon: They move, but like--
Kyle: They-they leave the shrine.
Keith: Okay.
Eamon: If Mac could have like, not done this, and stayed there, so they couldn't fight... like, he makes the decision to like, go off Holy Ground and like, settle this with this guy, against EVERYONE'S wishes, like!
Keith: *laughing* Right! *Kyle laughs too*
Eamon: Like it's definitely weird, it's just liKeith: This is something I, Mac, am going to do because I want to.
Kyle: Yeah. No one's asking you to do this.
Eamon: Yeah. At this point.
Kyle: And like, and it... it doesn't seem like Kent would have forced this issue...
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Yeah.
Kyle: Like if... Mac just said like, Okay, I'm going back home... it seems like Kent would have said "See ya! Don't let the door hit you on the way out!"
Eamon: Right. Yeah.
Keith: Yeah, this is the good stuff about Highlander. Like, even though it IS murky territory it gives us like, gives you lots of stuff to think about as a viewer, or talk about like, with your friends and family when you watch it, so. It's good stuff.
Kyle: Yeah. Well I think we've all signed on very much to the David Abramowitz quote like the, the peak... the pinnacle of Highlander is like a Talmudic discussion with ass-kicking.
Keith: This-this episode has everything.
Kyle and Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: This definitely--this ticks all the boxes of a... like, truly great Highlander episode. And that's... that's good stuff.
Keith: Yeah! We got a fun sword fight; we got cool flashbacks; we have like a really good moral question, and it explores it, like, fantastically!
Kyle: Yeah!
Keith: And it has Charlie!
Kyle: Sh-has Char--yeah!
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: *laughing* It has great performances, super-good bromance, *Keith: Yeah!* Um...
Eamon: No Maurice, though. That's a... that's a...
Kyle: Oui oui!
Eamon: ... column in the... con column? *laughter* WHAT did I just say?
1:09:41 Kyle: That's a *****column within another column.
Eamon: That comment was a con!
Keith: Let's... let's talk about... let's talk about this fight!
Kyle: Yes! Let's!
1:09.48 Keith: So, it should be noted that this is again the first fight--or the first episode choreographed by F Braun McAsh. Uh, go back and listen to our Crossing Swords interview with him and Anthony De Longis! It's pretty cool! Uh, but this is the first episode he did, and I think it's very apparent--his choreography style--especially you could really notice a lot of it on the beach, uh, in the very first fight, like. The fight just seems more kinetic. It--it feels grounded, a little more? Uh, uh, where I feel like Bob Anderson's style is... very theatrical. *Eamon: Yeah.* And F Braun comes from that school as well, but F Braun also, I feel like, no-not--I don't wanna speak for him, but also comes from a very practical sense of studying real-world weaponry, and how does this stuff function in reality.
Kyle: Yeah. Not just on a stage.
Keith: Not just on a stage. *Eamon: Yeah.* And so... Yeah, the fight just feels really kinetic and it's... it's good stuff. Um...
Eamon: Yeah. It is.
1:10:35 Keith: So th--one of the craziest moves Duncan does is he catches a blade--
Eamon: Yeah!
Kyle: Yeah! Well that's at the end. That's like the... the final bit of this fight. But... what do we... how do we feel about this fight in general, as it's going? Cuz like, they start on the beach; they work their way into the water... there's this very weird slow-mo...
Eamon: Yeah, the slow-mo is weird.
Keith: Oh yeah. the slow-mo was weird.
Kyle: ... which I did not love and was confused as to why it was part of it. It definitely didn't enhance my... experience of this fight.
Eamon: I feel like... they were just doing it to give it some extra juice or something. I dunno. *Keith: Yeah.* Yeah.
Kyle: Not-not just to stretch it to 43 minutes.
Eamon: Yeah, yeah.
Keith: Right!
Eamon: Or that! *laughter*
Kyle: I dunno, we need that extra minute and a half for the European cut! *Eamon: Yeah!* Let's add this slow-mo in! *Eamon: Yeah.* Yeah, so that was--that was odd. So then the make it up--back up onto the beach and they're fighting on the rocks, and it's like, some real fast sword-play, and Mac's sword get like, slammed down into the rocks--*Keith: Right.*--and he gets disarmed. Which is kind of awesome, and things are looking--
Keith: It gets stuck in the rock!
Kyle: Yeah! Things are looking ROUGH for Mac here, but then Keith! What happened?
1:11:36 Keith: So then Mac catches the blade in mid-air! And we should listen to the man himself, F Braun McAsh, talk about this.
Eamon: Oooh!
BRAUN: When I was first hired on Highlander, I was on a show-to-show contract, so... obviously you have to uh, be able to slot into... a family that already exists, and if Adrian couldn't work with you for any reason at all, obviously, you wouldn't be able to hang around. In Samurai, I wanted to have Adrian at some kind of... oh, I wouldn't say disability but ooh... obvious that he could die, within the next second. So, I had been experimenting with a move that I had SEEN, in my study of the Japanese sword. And it's... the ability to catch in between the palms. Now, obviously you're not actually SEIZING the blade, because that would pretty much put paid to your hands. What you're doing is you're clapping... the inside heel of the hand against the spine of the blade, uh which is above the cutting edge. And... I tried it a couple of times, just holding the sword and having a friend of mine increase pressure towards me to see if a) can you actually HOLD it, and then I had my friend--slowly building up speed--actually thrusting the sword at me, and me trying to actually catch the sword. And when I convinced myself that it was physically possible to do this, I then put it into the choreography where... MacLeod gets his swordblade caught in between two rocks; knows he can't get it out in time; simply catches his opponent's blade, and then goes into a hand technique on his opponent's arms that allows him to strip the sword away from him, reverse it, and then run him through. So it was uh... it was kind of a nifty way of ending the fight rather than, than the ways that had been used uh, i-in previous episodes.
1:13:16 Kyle: That's awesome! And you see again like that dedication to practicality there... *Keith: Yeah.* That, like, before you put it in he's like: Let's see if this is, like, fucking conceivable. *Keith: Right.* Cuz that was the first question I had. I was like, CAN you do this--*Keith: Yeah.*--or is your hand just going to get... shredded? *Keith: YEAH!*
Eamon: Yeah. That was like, really fascinating to hear. Duncan doesn't actually do that, if you look at the footage...?
Keith: *laughing* Yeah it doesn't quite ***** look the same way.
Kyle: Yeah he just kind of claps his hand on it.
Eamon: Yeah, but that's awesome.
Keith: But it seems like it IS possible.
Kyle: Also, I'd forgotten until we just re-watched that clip... And again, a good reminder of how like, fast and kind of furious this fight was. When his sword goes down onto the rock, there's a lightning burst sort of effect! *Keith: Oh really?* It's just like, Pkwowhwhup! when his sword hits!
Eamon: When he like, flips the sword around, it's awesome.
Keith: Yeah, it is cool.
Kyle: Yeah! This is rad!
Keith: It's good! So how does this episode end?
Eamon: With water jizzing all over Duncan MacLeod's body! *wheezelaugh*
*Keith laughs* Kyle: What in...?
Eamon: For the Quickening. *Kyle: Yeah.* Like, when the Quickening happens, like water shoots up in the air, and sprinkles on his shirt and then you can see like, every muscle... and like, it's... it's gratuitous. *giggling in background*
Kyle: Yeah. A lot of daytime Quickenings.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: Yeah. Lots of them. Yeah.
Eamon: Oh, yeah yeah yeah.
Kyle: A lot of them.
Keith: Uh, so that's pretty much the episode!
Kyle: They then like, light a candle on the... the grave to... to send it out.
Eamon: There's something I wanted to mention. When Mac pulls his sword out, Midori is like, "HEY! Wait a minute! That's my family's sword!" HOW do you know what it looks like?!
Keith: *laughing* Right! I thought the same thing!
Eamon: There's no photography!
Keith: I guess maybe there was--someone did a drawing of it?
Eamon: Is there a drawing?
Kyle: Why not?
Eamon: That's insane! Yeah--
Kyle: It IS weird, but...
Keith: I did think the same thing.
Eamon: --that you would remember that drawing so like... maybe she di-would. I don't know. I thought that was weird.
Keith: Yep! Good point.
Kyle: I did get the impression that the sword is, like, of particular... importance.
Eamon: Sure.
Keith: It's like legendary status.
Kyle and Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: So, maybe there's some writing about it, or, whatever. Or it's just... described throughout the family.
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Not sure. But yeah. This fight seems amazing. The episode's really good. And yet... I think it could be better.
1:15:11 Keith: So Kyle! You mentioned a 20% increase in quality of this episode! So, how would you prescribe that happens?
Kyle: Alright. So, first order of business: It struck me as this fight was going on, I was like: Is this The Last fucking Samurai? Are they Tom Cruise? The Samurai is one of these two white guys, like? Was the--really, it's supposed to be *together with Eamon* Hideo, *Keith: Yeah!* *alone* is supposed to be it, but it's got this very like, Tom Cruisey-like feel. *Keith: Right.* Was point 1. So I think the first thing I would do, is... Kent should be Asian. *laughing* *Keith: Okay* *Eamon: Yeah.* He should actually be Japanese. *Keith: Mmhm.* To, like, avoid that like, odd... bit.
1:15:46 Kyle: Second point. They should know each other. In the past. This is how I would've done this to like, amp up the tension on the honor portion of it, and also to give a motivation to Kent doing some of the things he does throughout this episode. Those riders approach? One of them... is Kent. He's coming to deliver a message from the Shogun. And... he has the conversation with Hideo. Afterwards, he then talks to this other Immortal, and it's like, "Look. He found ME. Oth--Anyone else would've been dead. This is special, like, are we gonna have beef? Don't do it." And he says, "No. Because of like, honor and justice, like. This is the Lord's order. It MUST be carried out, withOUT exception." And that's the tension. He's like, "No. The letter of the thing is this. Anything less is dishonorable. We're done here, like, and if you interfere, we're gonna have a problem. Otherwise, you know, you can go."
Kyle: So this happens. Hideo dies. That's that. They then see each other again. Over time, this like, dedication to, like, the bru--kind of like, a brutal, ruthless interpretation of what honor demands, doesn't mesh well in the 21st Century. So it's ths... even if they wanted to play with this whole like, cuckold scenario? It's like, his honor over the hundreds of years, has not changed. So he's like: I must kill him to clean the stain on my honor. *Keith: Right.* It's not malicious, it's just what must happen.
Keith: Very much like Mako! *Kyle: Y--* Has th--this sort of problem where his code of the law is--doesn't really jive too well with the subtleties of the 20th Century, or the modern era.
1:17:18 Kyle: Right! And then, he confesses to her, he's like: "I killed this guy. As far as I'm concerned that satisfies your dishonor to me. That's the situation." She freaks out because--obviously that kind of a crazy thing to do in the 21st Century. *Keith: (laughing) Right!* She still kills HIM, and then the same problem re-emerges. Like, he doesn't want to possess her again, but she has attempted to kill him, in a way that like, must be answered. *Keith: Right.* She has to be punished for this, because she tried to kill me and betrayed me. *Keith: Right.* And like... it's not necessarily that he's angry about it, but that's what must happen. *Keith: Right.* And then Mac steps in and is like, "No, like... I have to protect her. Like, she messed up, but like, I am pledged to do this thing." *Keith: Right.* And that's the collision course, and like everything else kind of stays intact, but his... his position is not inherently unreasonable though... incompatible with the 21st Century, and then they have to fight about it. *Keith: Yeah.* And then that solves the problem where you have to like, man-splain honor to Midori, cuz she IS still threatened--*Keith: Mmhm.* And granted, she tried to kill him, like... *Keith: *laughing* Yeah!* She's not being pursued, uh, unreasonably, necessarily, but like, there's more--like, there's ambiguity around her situation. And then, they just have to fight, for their sense of honor and, only one of them can make it.
1:18:31 Keith: Yeah. I, I like having the honor be at stake, for BOTH characters. As you said like, they're on a collision course. Like these two codes of honor will inevitably collide with each other.
Eamon: Rrrrright. And I think that's... I think would have... allayed a lot of our concerns about this episode, and would have just like, put a nice thematic bow on the whole thing. But it IS very good. *Eamon: Yeah.* And I like--And I like the actor who played the villain, too!
Eamon: Oh, he's great!
Kyle: He does a phenomenal job, so it's like--
Eamon and Keith: Yeah!
Kyle: --monkeying with it too much is maybe... courting disaster. Just--
Keith: I--I had a note, uh... Speaking of the--the villain, like... I feel like the villain is, in some ways kind of weak? I mean but the actor completely crushes it and... he also doesn't--the way this episode is structured, he doesn't need too much motivation. I agree with you, Kyle, that like tha--those things would make it better, but I think he really serves his purpose well, and the actor portrays him so well, like, he... he reminds me a lot of the Alexi character. Where it was like... kind of like--
Kyle: Oh yeah! We're just bull--The character's bullshit but the villain's amazing!
Keith: *amused* The character--yeah, but he's amazing--*Eamon: Yeah!*--just because he brought so much like, style to it? And this guy brings so much like, threatening... you know, this threatening nuance to it which is pretty good. So...
Kyle and Eamon: Yeah.
Eamon: Kyle's point also just made me think of... we know nothing about this guy, as an Immortal. *Keith: *laughs* No!* Like, we don't know how old he is. Like we don't know... what his story is at all. *Keith: No!* Uh, so that's... a great point, and yeah, why isn't he Japanese? That's a--that's a great point.
Kyle: I yeah--I don't--Yeah, I, like, that... maybe that just like bothered me more optically, seeing these two guys fight--fight--wi--these two white guys fighting with, like, priceless Samurai swords, on like the--*Eamon: Yeah.*--the--the beaches of Japan, and it's like--*Eamon: Yeah!*--where's Tom Cruise? Like--
Eamon: Yeah!
1:20:05 Kyle: Hahah! Well! Perhaps it's time for some Watcher Chronicles! *Eamon: Ooooh!* If we wanna learn a little bit more about Michael Kent! *Kyle: Oh yeah!* Coz we didn't get too much from the episode! Uh, so! Michael Kent was first born in 1866 in Topeka Kansas!
Kyle: *laughing* Topeka Kansas, perfect! *Eamon: Yeah!*
Keith: *laughs* His first death was in 1911. Uh, he was caught in a threshing machine! Uh--
Kyle: JESUS!
Keith: His first teacher was Orville Webber. Cultural affiliation is American. His occupation is a commodities broker. *Eamon: Oh!* Let's see, to read about him... so this is pro--
Kyle: He really reads as a commodities broker. *Keith and Eamon: Yeah!* Cuz most commodity brokers have goons, right?
Keith: Goons? Um--
Kyle: Hey! I need--
Keith: They're advisors, man! They're financial advisors. Slash goons.
Kyle: I wanna buy six tons of pork belly, Goon Number 1!
Keith: Well, *Eamon laughs* from his Watcher Chronicle, Kyle: "The irony that one can ride pork futures..." *laughing*
Eamon: WHAT? *all laugh* NO WAY!
Keith: I swear, I swear!
Eamon: Are you fucking kidding me?!
Keith: I swear.
Eamon: I can't believe that happened.
Kyle: *sings* ***** the best ***** around!
Keith: Uh, "--pork futures and soybean forecasts to the penthouse in the legendary Ginza District of Tokyo was never lost on Michael Kent. Even while, uh, Nippon-Kent Enterprises was the foremost company at both the Tokyo Exchange, and the Chicago Board of Trade, Kent in many ways still viewed himself as the poorly educated pig-farmer he was at the time of his first death. And that self-image haunted him. Everything he had done since that first death: education, fine clothes, trophy wives... was an attempt to flee that image. Kent was intense. Extremely serious to the point of humorless, driven to succeed at any price. He had little interest in taking heads, preferred to play the game of business, but true to his nature he made sure he had the best sword, and the best training money could buy. Not good enough, it turned out. *laughs*
Eamon: Hmm... isn't Superman from Kansas?
Keith: That's right.
Kyle: Yes.
Eamon: And his name is Clark Kent. *moment of stunned silence*
Keith: Oh, man...
Kyle: Shit.
*laughter begins*
Keith: Holy shit!
Eamon: So... Michael Kent is Superman's brother! *long laughter* Or grandpa, or whatever. *Keith and Kyle: Grandpa!* Distant cousin.
Keith: Yeah! That's good!
Kyle: Amazing!
Keith: Worlds collide.
Kyle: World's Finest collide. Did we learn any lessons from Mac today? *moment* I feel like we did. *Eamon: Ooh!*
Keith: It's time for...
1:22:15 🎶Fighting Immortals will give you a Mac-attack-ak-ak-ak-ak-ak, you oughta know by now... 🎶You oughta know by now... 🎶 Kyle: Mac-Attack! The lesson where--not every week, but every once in a while, we stop to reflect--
Eamon: Every now and then.
Kyle: --on the lessons we learned from Duncan MacLeod. Eamon, what did you learn from Duncan MacLeod this week?
Eamon: I learned that aaaaaa... eugh.
Kyle: We just talked like so much about the lessons we learned from this episode--
Eamon: I know.
Kyle: --and now we can't distill them!
Eamon: I learned that a promise is still a promise even though nobody wants you to go through with it. *Keith laughs*
Kyle: Yeah I was going to say. I learned that: Only a man can make an eternal vow. A woman can't release you from it.
Keith and Eamon: OHHHH!
Keith: Oh, boy.
Eamon: Yeah.
Kyle: Sorry, Mac! That was too much!
Eamon: Yeah. It was rough. I'm like... now that we talk about it, I don't know... I don't know how to feel about the ending of this episode.
Kyle: I mean, I'm a little upset by it, frankly. Cuz...
Eamon: I mean, Kent is a murderer.
Keith: Yeah!
Eamon: So there's that.
Kyle: That is DEFINITIVELY not why Mac kills him.
Keith: I mean in--in--
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: In any other episode, the way this plays out... ends up going fine. Like, Midori is like, I still don't wanna be with him, and Mac does what needs to be done. And I think as viewers, we're all like: Okay. Like that guy was shit, Mac is protecting her. But like, the turn at the end where she's like, "Do not do this, it is NOT what I want, and that is not how I want to preserve my honor--"
Kyle: And you're only involved in this because she came to you.
Eamon: Yeah.
Keith: That's... that becomes a huge wrench in the works.
Eamon: Mac also taught us to let your friend get beat up if it's good for a joke!
Keith: Yes! And it was! It was good!
Kyle: It IS a great joke, though!
Keith: He was right! Why is this always--this will be comedic gold!
Kyle: Yeah.
Keith: Eat it, Charlie!
*laughter*
Kyle: Yeah. Awe, Charlie!
Eamon: *sings* Charlie!
Keith: So--
Kyle: I learned--Today I learned from Mac that all Charlie's parts work!
Keith: Ugh.
Eamon: Yeah! *laughs* *softly* Hey, all the parts work!
Keith: Hoh boy.
1:24:00 Duncan: *echo* We should do this more often!
Keith: Guys! I think it's uh, it's been a little while since we've played a game!
Eamon: Ooooh!
Kyle: Not true. It's been a weekend since we played a game!
Keith: Alright, we maybe played a game on the Highlander 2 podcast. It's hard to tell.
*Eamon makes agreeing noise, Kyle laughs*
Keith: It seems like it's been a while. But um--
Kyle: *sings* It's been a whiiiiile!
Keith: What it HAS been a while since we talked about is Highlander 1!
Kyle: Oh... yeah!
Eamon: What's this now?
Keith: Yeah! Highlander 1! So, uh, since we've just finished Highlander 2, I thought it might be fun to do a little game where we revisit Highlander 1. So we're gonna play a game of... it's a klin-klind of clute. We're gonna play--
Eamon: Kind of clue...
Keith: We're gonna play "It's a Kind of Clue" Highlander 1-style!
GAME SHOW MUSIC
1:24:38 Eamon: Ooooh!
Keith: I'm gonna give you both, uh, some cards...
Eamon: Oh God.
Keith: Right--
Kyle: You're so good at this one, Eamon!
Keith: --and--
Eamon: This is the one where I said the answer every time I gave a clue.
Keith and Kyle: Every single time!
Eamon: I'm sweating, right now, audience!
Keith: Um so, the only rules are you can give clues about the name, or place, or whatever the clue is on the card, or the... the item is on the card. Uh, you just can't say that thing itself, or a part of that word, itself!
Kyle: You got that rule, Eamon? *Eamon: Ugh.* You have that one? You can't say what's on the card.
Keith: I, and uh... What is the time limit? I think we did... sixty seconds?
Kyle: We did a minute last time, and we each had like seven.
Keith: A minute? Right. Alright guys. So!
Eamon: *groans* Very stressed.
Keith: Alright. So! When I start the clock you're gonna turn this over, and you're gonna be giving these clues to Eamon! *Kyle: Right.* Ready! Time starts, NOW!
1:25:23 Kyle: Uh, Second Unit Director! We interviewed him!
Eamon: Uh, uh, uh, Andy Armstrong!
Kyle: Yes! Uh, this was the struggle between the... United States and the Soviet Union that was going on at the time!
Eamon: Cold War!
Kyle: Uhhhh... This is the wrestling act, in the very beginning!
Eamon: Oh, shit! The--
Kyle: It's a... song by that Alabama band!
Eamon: Uh, the... the, the, the, the, the... nope. Nope, nope, uh... ooh... pass. *laughter*
Kyle: Uh... uh... oh! Uh--
Eamon: The Fabulous Freebirds?
Kyle: There it was!
Eamon: Fuck!
Kyle: Uh, Connor wears this footwear the entire time.
Eamon: Oh, Adidas... tennis shoes!
Kyle: Uh, what color are they?
Eamon: White! *laughter*
Kyle: Uh, I'm gonna give you that one. Uh... This is a... stone structure in the Highlands!
Eamon: Oh uh, Stonehenge?
Kyle: Uh...
Eamon: A... castle?
Kyle: Yeah! This is a Scottish instrument!
Eamon: Uh... bagpipes!
Kyle: *moment* Uh... this is the studio where it's filmed at the end.
Eamon: Silvercup!
Kyle: Yeah! Well done!
Eamon: NICE!
Kyle: Y'got 'em all.
Keith: Very good! You got seven! *Eamon: Nice!* And you got the Fabulous--and you got 'em all done in the uh... ahead of time! *Eamon: NICE!* And you got Fabulous Freebirds! Because, I gave you that one because you *with Kyle* got it wrong last time!
Eamon: Yeah! Yeah, yeah! And I almost got it wrong THIS time!
Keith: You almost did it again!
Eamon: Yeah. Very generous for giving me that point, because I passed on it. Mmm! Alright, Kyle! Get ready for me to give you all the answers! *chuckles*
Kyle: How'd you guys do at home, *teasing* listeners?
Keith: Yeah! Write us in and tell us your score! We'll read them aloud! *soft* We won't.
Kyle: Yeah. It'll just be a series of numbers. *Keith: Yup!* *Eamon: We won't.* Five. Six. This guy's an idiot: one. *laughter*
1:26:53 Keith: Alright! Eamon are you ready to give clues to Kyle, in...
Eamon: There can BE only one. Sorry.
Keith: What's the name of this game again?
Kyle: It's a Kind of Clue.
Keith: It's a Kind of Clue!
Eamon: It's a Kind of Clue...
Kyle: It's a sloppy play on "It's a kind of magic."
Keith: Very sloppy!
Eamon: *Christophe voice* "It's a kind of clue!" Heheheheh.
Kyle: Then why did everyone sign onto it if it's so sloppy?
Keith: Cuz we need something!
Eamon: Sloppy seconds in honor of this episode! *laughter*
Keith: Uh...
Kyle: GROSS!
Eamon: Yup!
1:27:13 *****Keith: R.I.Piper Akira. Alright Eamon, are you ready, to give these clues to Kyle?
Eamon: Yyyyyyes!
Keith: AND 3, 2, 1!
Eamon: Uh, he did the music for Highlander 1!
Kyle: Michael Kamen!
Eamon: Uh, this is a movie about a evil pig that Russel Mulcahy directed--
Kyle: Uh, Razorback!
Eamon: Uh... ooh! This is a member of Queen who wrote music for this movie? I don't remember which... uh...
Kyle: Oh...
Eamon: Uh, before--the month before June is... uh...
Kyle: May?
Eamon: Yup! Uh... and the first name is, uh... I'm just gonna give you that one. *Keith hoots* Uh, this is the coat that uh, Connor MacLeod wears--
Kyle: Trenchcoat?
Eamon: Yup! Uh, this is the name of the woman that comes in and uh, entertains the Kurgan, um...
Kyle: Candy!
Eamon: That's right! Uh, this is, uh... ball Z!
Kyle: Dragon?
Eamon: Yup!
Kyle: Yeah! Good clue!
Eamon: This is something that Connor's compatriots, and Connor wears, in--
Kyle: Kilts?
Eamon: Yup! And... that's it. You did it!
Keith: Very good!
*Game show music*
1:28:17 Kyle: What is his first name?
Eamon: Brian.
Keith: Brian May!
Kyle: It's Brian May...
Keith: The guitarist.
Kyle: That was a hard one.
Keith: I know. I was trying to switch it up a little. *Eamon: Yeah.* That was probably the trickiest one in the whole bunch.
Eamon: I don't know how I could have gotten you to say Brian. I don't know what clue...
Keith: I guess... Yeah!
Eamon: ... that could be, but...
Keith: The dog on Family Guy...
Eamon: Oh that's a good one! Yeah!
Keith: There we go.
Eamon: Da da da da da Family Guy!
Keith: Good job, guys!
Eamon: Yeaaah!
Kyle: Yeah! That was fun! That was a good one!
1:28:38 Keith: Fun times! So, uh, at the end of the day we always rate these episodes out of five! Kyle! How many... uh, out of five slices of raw octopus would you give... this episode?
Kyle: This gets four and a half slices of raw octopus from me.
Keith: Very good.
Kyle: I think it--I think it would have hit five, if not for that discussion at the end! *laughing* Frankly. *Eamon: Yes.* But it's very good overall.
Keith: Eamon. How many out of five... jealous cuckolded husbands would you give this?
Eamon: Hahah! I think I have to go with Kyle's four and a half cucks for this episode.
Keith: Half cucks! *laughing*
Kyle: Four and a half cucks. See? I'm a thought-leader! *laughter*
Keith: And then out of uh, five Scottish--*Scottish accent*--Scottish bodies! I would give this... I think I might go the full five...? I was really debating this.
Eamon: The full Monty!
Keith: The full five on this one.
Eamon: It's the best episode of this show we've seen. *Keith: Yeah.* I don't--I don't think there's any arguing that.
Keith: It also like, I--I worry, like, giving a full five? It's like... I don't know. Is any episode ever perfect? But... *Eamon: No.*... this gets as close as most of these episodes can get--*Eamon: Yeah.*--so I'm giving it a five. This is a must-see. *Kyle: Yeah.*
Eamon: Is there... better episodes than this to come?
Keith: There's some VERY good episodes.
Kyle: There are some VERY good ones coming up.
Keith: But as we said, this one ticks all those boxes--*Eamon: Yeah.*--really well. So, good stuff!
Kyle: Yeah. It's...
Keith: Uh, write us in this week, tell us what YOU think the... honorable thing to do--and what would the moral thing to do have been in this situation.
Kyle: Yeah. If they were different, let us know! *Eamon: Yeah.*
Keith: Yeah. Would these things have not been the same? It's good stuff! Davis Panzer has a really cool poster, uh, that's inspired by this episode. Uh, Davis Panzer put together a really nice poster of Duncan MacLeod. Uh, it's kind of like a side-story to this episode. Uh--*Eamon: Yeah!* Which is pretty cool!
Kyle: Yeah! It's him in his Japanese garb--*Keith: Mmhm!*--weilding a sword. It's a--it's a cool piece of art.
Eamon: Mmhm. Yeh-yeah!
Keith: Absolutely! So, next week join us for episode TWO of Season Three: In The Line Of Fire! I can't wait to talk about THIS one! It's gonna be a lot of fun!
Eamon: Oooh!
Kyle: Oh! I... love that episode, so... *Eamon: Yeah!* *Kyle laughs* sign up! It's gonna be great! *Eamon: Yeah-yeah!*
Keith: Absolutely! Uhh, so thanks for joining us! I've been one of your Rewatchers! I'm Keith!
This is Kyle!
This is Eamon.
Keith: Bye!
Eamon: Bye-bye.
Kyle: Salut!
1:30:51 Keith: Yeah, and then he starts finger-blas-- *****
Kyle: Oh God!
Eamon: Very rapey... and gross. And then I'm just like, I don't know, you want her--want her to take a shower first! ***** *grossed out noises from Keith and Kyle*
Kyle: Oh, no! *Keith: Oh God.* "You want her to take a shower first."
Keith: Gross!
Eamon: I don't want Akira's... remnants on me!
Keith: Oh. Oh boy.
Kyle: This is why the viewers tune in.
Eamon: That's right!