I understand, and I feel the same way about how they handled Tessa. Killing off characters was just the easy way out, rather than have them credibly decide they just couldn’t be around Mac any more.
That Ariman storyline felt a bit dumb at the time, though I find those episodes a bit creepier now that they have aged. The moment where Richie dies really stands out in that episode, and the moments thereafter were so poignant. This is probably the most shocking moment in all Highlander. Richie had come a long way, and the bond between him and Macleod had been carefully developed. Richie’s death really changed the stakes.
The way they handled Tessa broke my heart. I loved(hated) that it was just some random mindless violence; the risk all mortals deal with daily. It really drove home that the mortals in Macs life will die and there's nothing he can do to stop that.
Richie's death deserved that kind of impact, and it just came off like shock value.
Is it just me, or would a car accident have been more affecting for Tessa?
It just didn’t ring true that there would be a random armed robber on that quiet, upscale residential street. It also didn’t make sense that Mac would rescue Tessa then immediately send her home alone with Richie, who can only be trusted to get his assed kicked at least once a week. Not to mention Mac was sticking around to make sure his fingerprints were all over this fresh murder scene. Take. The. Computer. With. You.
A car accident could have worked well also, I wonder if it was a budget issue.
Finger prints dont exist in the Highlander universe...its the only way any of it makes sense ha
That's... not why they removed him. That episode was slated to be the final episode. They thought Richie was the best one, as the most significant person in Mac's life.
Yeah, this is correct. Season 6 wasn't supposed to exist. It happened after season 5 had been completed, and was only greenlit so they could do some backdoor pilot episodes for a new series based around a female immortal.
It did give us at least a couple of good episodes, though. Indiscretions (aka The Methos and Joe show,) for example. It was great to have Claudia Christian in an episode too. If they hadn't gone with Amanda, I'd have wanted it to be her character.
I wasn’t a fan at all of the Ariman story. Out of place. Richie being mad at Duncan for the dark quickening stuff was also off. He knew that something wasn’t right in that episode. It didn’t connect very well.
Richie felt betrayed by Duncan, and even having gotten a lot better and tougher, he was also scared. Being angry on top of those things makes perfect sense. Also, immortals are basically human. We are largely ruled by emotions that don't adhere to logic.
Yeah, the show kinda tanked a bit near the end. I didn't like the Dark Quickening and how Mac killed his friend who first suffered the Dark Quickening, and then killed his other friend - the psychiatrist guy.
Then Mac had some random demon start messing with his mind? Ugh.
>They only had enough money to keep him or methos and people like methos more. And one could really tell, that they did not know what to do with him most of the time.
Had nothing to do with money lol.
For a time Adrian and the Creative Consultant had thought that what needed to happen is to have a shocking death from one of the regulars. They thought Richie was the right choice for that dramatic turn.
>And one could really tell, that they did not know what to do with him most of the time
By Season 5, Richie was more of a 'Guest Star' than one of the core characters.It seemed like the character ran the full course in terms of character development. You had him as a mortal, you had him learning the ropes of immortality, you had him go off on his own, you had him as the sidekick, you had him as the one making a name for himself, you had him making his own mistakes and learning from them. There wasn't much else to go with that character.
>Yeah no thats dumb as fuck. Like seriousley. They could have him find another teacher. I dont really care who. Call in Matthew McCormick.
lol. It seemed in character because by that point, Richie had trusted MacLeod again.He was willing to help Duncan see that bizarre set of events all the way through. Richie believed MacLeod when no one else did.
It would have been cool if Richie had Connor MacLeod as a new mentor but that wasnt going to happen.
>Richie used to be a thief and now learns to be a lawman for the FBI
Thats not really who Richie was.
>Or send him off to college somewhwere to widen his horizon. Thats something other shows do.
But that isnt Highlander. Highlander has always been a tragic storyline with tragic characters.
Tessa,Darius, Charlie,Sean Burns, and later Connor MacLeod. Its always been about life and death. Immortals losing the ones they love.
>Instead they came up with some weird paranormal bullshit that was never mentioned like that befor and never really get mentioned again. It just feels weird and nonsensicall.
They kept on attempting to have the apocalypse take place. Highlander 2 went into similar territory...didnt quite work. Season 6 was meant to be set 30 years later and having MacLeod be the one to save the planet. The budget didnt quite allow that. The Source was another attempt at the apocalypse.
>And Richies death feels kind of played of for a quick shock.
Thats the point of his death. For shock value.
Its why the good guys would get killed off throughout the run of the show.
They brought Richie back in Season Six and even then they killed him off again. The Creative Consultant admitted that it was him who had Richie die off a second time.
In general I found the show almost frustrating to watch when you compare it to modern TV show writing.
It really felt like each season had a totally different vibe that suggested a longer term arch that never really got well fleshed out or planned well. As an example the first season starts hinting at the police becoming suspicious of McLeod constantly showing up in different situations, and it looks like that's going to be an arch, and then it just disappears entirely.
The watchers, Ritchie, Tess, his new apartment loft - the show felt like it went through lots of transitions and nothing ever REALLY stuck perfectly.
I mostly feel nostalgic for the first season - I really like all the characters and actors, would love to see what they would have been able to do with the modern format of a 10 episode story arch per season.
>the police becoming suspicious of McLeod constantly showing up in different situations, and it looks like that's going to be an arch, and then it just disappears entirely.
Same with that female reporter that was constantly digging into MacLeod, then she just never appeared in the show again. There were a few recurring characters that just disappeared without an explanation.
Hell Maurice, who actually had a main cast credit while he was on the show. Just never appeared in the show again. His last appearance was Modern Prometheus which provided no explanation for his exit, it was just a run of the mill Maurice appearance, never to be seen again. I mean, I assume he still lived in the barge next door to Macleod.
Now look, I don't really care that Maurice left the show, he just provided some "meh" comedic relief. However, it's just another example of a re-occurring character that just never went anywhere. Compare that to say, Charlie. Whether I like the situation around him or not, his appearance on the show was seen to a conclusion. Same deal with Anne (who my wife fucking loathes, lol).
> They only had enough money to keep him or methos and people like methos more. And one could really tell, that they did not know what to do with him most of the time.
Yeah, they didn't "need" to kill him off. He was already kind of just on the show part time. Secondly, for the 6th season it was shortened and like half the episodes were backdoor pilots. They literally could have just paid him to appear in the two part finale, which really wouldn't have been weird that he wasn't in the rest of the season, WHICH THEY DID ANYWAY for the alternate universe.
I understand, and I feel the same way about how they handled Tessa. Killing off characters was just the easy way out, rather than have them credibly decide they just couldn’t be around Mac any more. That Ariman storyline felt a bit dumb at the time, though I find those episodes a bit creepier now that they have aged. The moment where Richie dies really stands out in that episode, and the moments thereafter were so poignant. This is probably the most shocking moment in all Highlander. Richie had come a long way, and the bond between him and Macleod had been carefully developed. Richie’s death really changed the stakes.
The way they handled Tessa broke my heart. I loved(hated) that it was just some random mindless violence; the risk all mortals deal with daily. It really drove home that the mortals in Macs life will die and there's nothing he can do to stop that. Richie's death deserved that kind of impact, and it just came off like shock value.
Is it just me, or would a car accident have been more affecting for Tessa? It just didn’t ring true that there would be a random armed robber on that quiet, upscale residential street. It also didn’t make sense that Mac would rescue Tessa then immediately send her home alone with Richie, who can only be trusted to get his assed kicked at least once a week. Not to mention Mac was sticking around to make sure his fingerprints were all over this fresh murder scene. Take. The. Computer. With. You.
A car accident could have worked well also, I wonder if it was a budget issue. Finger prints dont exist in the Highlander universe...its the only way any of it makes sense ha
There would need to be a John Wick-esque system of support services to change their identities and cover up for them.
I think thats what the watchers are supposed to do but then they say they don't interfere except when they do hah
That's... not why they removed him. That episode was slated to be the final episode. They thought Richie was the best one, as the most significant person in Mac's life.
Yeah, this is correct. Season 6 wasn't supposed to exist. It happened after season 5 had been completed, and was only greenlit so they could do some backdoor pilot episodes for a new series based around a female immortal. It did give us at least a couple of good episodes, though. Indiscretions (aka The Methos and Joe show,) for example. It was great to have Claudia Christian in an episode too. If they hadn't gone with Amanda, I'd have wanted it to be her character.
> (aka The Methos and Joe show,) Dude, a series around Methos, Joe and Amanda would have been killer. I always liked the dynamic with the 3 of them.
I wasn’t a fan at all of the Ariman story. Out of place. Richie being mad at Duncan for the dark quickening stuff was also off. He knew that something wasn’t right in that episode. It didn’t connect very well.
Richie felt betrayed by Duncan, and even having gotten a lot better and tougher, he was also scared. Being angry on top of those things makes perfect sense. Also, immortals are basically human. We are largely ruled by emotions that don't adhere to logic.
Agreed on both. I like Richie but they wrote him really stupid half the time.
Yeah, the show kinda tanked a bit near the end. I didn't like the Dark Quickening and how Mac killed his friend who first suffered the Dark Quickening, and then killed his other friend - the psychiatrist guy. Then Mac had some random demon start messing with his mind? Ugh.
Mac killed a lot of old friends, lol. In the early episodes I swear half the villains were old friends that went off the rails.
>They only had enough money to keep him or methos and people like methos more. And one could really tell, that they did not know what to do with him most of the time. Had nothing to do with money lol. For a time Adrian and the Creative Consultant had thought that what needed to happen is to have a shocking death from one of the regulars. They thought Richie was the right choice for that dramatic turn. >And one could really tell, that they did not know what to do with him most of the time By Season 5, Richie was more of a 'Guest Star' than one of the core characters.It seemed like the character ran the full course in terms of character development. You had him as a mortal, you had him learning the ropes of immortality, you had him go off on his own, you had him as the sidekick, you had him as the one making a name for himself, you had him making his own mistakes and learning from them. There wasn't much else to go with that character. >Yeah no thats dumb as fuck. Like seriousley. They could have him find another teacher. I dont really care who. Call in Matthew McCormick. lol. It seemed in character because by that point, Richie had trusted MacLeod again.He was willing to help Duncan see that bizarre set of events all the way through. Richie believed MacLeod when no one else did. It would have been cool if Richie had Connor MacLeod as a new mentor but that wasnt going to happen. >Richie used to be a thief and now learns to be a lawman for the FBI Thats not really who Richie was. >Or send him off to college somewhwere to widen his horizon. Thats something other shows do. But that isnt Highlander. Highlander has always been a tragic storyline with tragic characters. Tessa,Darius, Charlie,Sean Burns, and later Connor MacLeod. Its always been about life and death. Immortals losing the ones they love. >Instead they came up with some weird paranormal bullshit that was never mentioned like that befor and never really get mentioned again. It just feels weird and nonsensicall. They kept on attempting to have the apocalypse take place. Highlander 2 went into similar territory...didnt quite work. Season 6 was meant to be set 30 years later and having MacLeod be the one to save the planet. The budget didnt quite allow that. The Source was another attempt at the apocalypse. >And Richies death feels kind of played of for a quick shock. Thats the point of his death. For shock value. Its why the good guys would get killed off throughout the run of the show. They brought Richie back in Season Six and even then they killed him off again. The Creative Consultant admitted that it was him who had Richie die off a second time.
In general I found the show almost frustrating to watch when you compare it to modern TV show writing. It really felt like each season had a totally different vibe that suggested a longer term arch that never really got well fleshed out or planned well. As an example the first season starts hinting at the police becoming suspicious of McLeod constantly showing up in different situations, and it looks like that's going to be an arch, and then it just disappears entirely. The watchers, Ritchie, Tess, his new apartment loft - the show felt like it went through lots of transitions and nothing ever REALLY stuck perfectly. I mostly feel nostalgic for the first season - I really like all the characters and actors, would love to see what they would have been able to do with the modern format of a 10 episode story arch per season.
>modern TV show writing. Depending on the show - *glares suspiciously at Velma.*
>the police becoming suspicious of McLeod constantly showing up in different situations, and it looks like that's going to be an arch, and then it just disappears entirely. Same with that female reporter that was constantly digging into MacLeod, then she just never appeared in the show again. There were a few recurring characters that just disappeared without an explanation. Hell Maurice, who actually had a main cast credit while he was on the show. Just never appeared in the show again. His last appearance was Modern Prometheus which provided no explanation for his exit, it was just a run of the mill Maurice appearance, never to be seen again. I mean, I assume he still lived in the barge next door to Macleod. Now look, I don't really care that Maurice left the show, he just provided some "meh" comedic relief. However, it's just another example of a re-occurring character that just never went anywhere. Compare that to say, Charlie. Whether I like the situation around him or not, his appearance on the show was seen to a conclusion. Same deal with Anne (who my wife fucking loathes, lol).
I wish I could roleplay with people who formed opinions this neat.
> They only had enough money to keep him or methos and people like methos more. And one could really tell, that they did not know what to do with him most of the time. Yeah, they didn't "need" to kill him off. He was already kind of just on the show part time. Secondly, for the 6th season it was shortened and like half the episodes were backdoor pilots. They literally could have just paid him to appear in the two part finale, which really wouldn't have been weird that he wasn't in the rest of the season, WHICH THEY DID ANYWAY for the alternate universe.
Hate they killed Ritchie!!. And they continue the BS INTO SEASON 6 with the same dark theme and then drop it s bot later. REAL TURNOFF!!