Customer Reviews

Highlander The Series - Season 6

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Although this season provides a nice ending to the series in the form of the two-part final episode - which is really a sort of It's a Wonderfull life-like reflection of the entire series, by and large this season was used as a "proving ground" for the female lead character they were looking for to headline the series "The Raven".

So a good number of the episodes in this half-season were taken up focusing on various other immortals. Not that that was such a bad thing as by-and-large I think they were decent episodes, but Duncan really isn't in them much, if at all. In fact, in the extras on the DVDs that's one of the things mentioned frequently - that Adrian Paul wasn't as available this season as he had been before - that he wanted to bring the series to a close for whatever reason, etc.

All that being said, this is still a somewhat important season in the series as Duncan comes to terms with his actions in previous seasons - the killing by his own hands - and the character goes through an important transition. For that reason alone, you might want to consider this season. Even still, when standing this season up against seasons 2,3 and 4, this one pales in comparison.

For "Highlander" fans everywhere, season six was a major disappointment. It started out bad, and it didn't get much better.

Picking up where season five left off, the finale season of the series begins with "Avatar", which has got to be one of the worst episodes of the show. When you see Duncan cover his ears and go berserk at the sound of rock music, then rip the stereo out of the car, all for no apparent reason - you know you're in trouble. Luckily for us, the 5,000-year-old Zoroastrian space demon behind these horrible episodes went poof in the next episode, "Armageddon". One of the biggest problems with season six is that half the episodes are used as "backdoor pilots" for a spin-off show - that is, episodes that use MacLeod for as little as thirty seconds and which feature a female immortal as the main character. The episodes which do star MacLeod suffer from horrible writing, namely "Black Tower", which is probably the worst episode of the whole show.

Season six did have a few good moments, though. The first of these was "Justice", an Agatha Christie-ish flashback episode in which Duncan sets out to find the culprit behind the "murder" of Hugh Fitzcairn (played by Roger Daltrey). Then there's "Indiscretions", in which everyone's favorite buddies, Joe and Methos, finally get their own episode. The greatest part of the season however was the two-episode finale, "To Be" and "Not to Be", which draws obvious inspiration from Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life".

Well, maybe if Adrian Paul hadn't had his hair cut for this season, the show might have ended better. Then again, maybe he wouldn't have received his paycheck and the show wouldn't have ended at all. Which still might be better than this.

Season six is strictly for die-hard fans of the show, or those looking to complete their "Highlander" collection. It's an astonishingly bad season and an unfitting demise to a great show.

Highlander, which is one of my favorite collections, was tainted with the last season. Out of the 13 episodes, Adrain Paul makes himself scarce, if in the episode at all. The only three worth the price was the series finale (last two episodes) and seeing Methos once again. Otherwise, save yourself the money and just get the series finale "To Be" and "Not To Be". The last three discs are all extras with a great many things that were already seen on the previous 5 seasons.

The Good:
Episodes 1 & 2: The first two episodes could be considered concluding chapters of Season five's finale.
In the middle of season six we get an entire episode of Roger Daltrey and Adrian Paul in a comedic period piece.
Episode 11: A wonderful episode centering on Joe and Methos sure to delight the fans who yearn for more screen time for this duo.
Episodes 12 & 13: The final two episodes: To Be and Not To Be provide an opportunity for most of the stars of the series one last reunion.

The Bad:
Episodes 3 thru 10: Unbeknownst to fans (or at least most of us) at the time, Season six was being utilized in large part as a spin-off proving ground for what would later become The Raven. This would not be under the heading of "bad" had they used these episodes to showcase the wonderful Elizabeth Gracen as Amanda. Unfortunately what we have here are several episodes with few, if any, appearances by series regulars, and storylines that involve actresses at one time thought be contenders for Gracen's role in The Raven.

The Bizarre:
Fans of the underdogs celebrate! But wait! Not yet! At long last fan favorites Elizabeth Gracen and Peter Wingfield are included in the opening credits. But sadly, that's about all you will see of them until episodes 11-13 of the 13 episodes in season six! I had hoped that in the bonus material of this final season we would learn why this happened. Alas, there was no mention of this oddity. There was also no mention about what led to Elizabeth Gracen being cast as The Raven and why they wasted all the mid-season episodes on guest stars. Perhaps that will be explained in The Raven on DVD?

The Bottom Line:
It's a half-good, half-bad season mainly due to the lack of series regulars in the middle of the season. I think the missed opportunity here was failing to utilize Byrnes, Gracen and Wingfield in episodes that went to unknown guest stars. If you already own the first five seasons, you owe it to yourself to complete your collection and revisit the lore of Highlander's final season. Here's hoping for a new Highlander movie starring all of our favorite series regulars!

The Highlander TV Show debuted well over a decade ago, and since then it has been embraced by fans across the world. The audience views the wicked world of Immortals through the eyes of Duncan MacLeod, who is played by Adrian Paul. Many of us have read stories about Mortal and Immortal in schools, but never really contemplated on the issue of life vs. death and staying vs. continuing. These are the themes depicted in Highlander and they are what caught my attention when I first started watching the show.

Season 6 once again built upon these themes and used the concepts to develop the characters even further. As the Highlander TV Series ended with Season 6, the storyline was tied with much passion, sadness, action, and emotion. This Season started with MacLeod finally defeated Ahriman, a demonic presence that confused MacLeod to the point of accidentally killing Richie Ryan at the end of Season 5. Like its regulars, MacLeod fought off others with his swords for his life. Although these fights lacked the strength of choreograph as in previous Seasons, they were still very entertaining.

The first two episodes, "Avatar" and "Armageddon" were integral to the plot as they pretty much presented the "ending" to Highlander. In "Armageddon," MacLeod's rivalry was intensified. Moreover, with the help of Father Beaufort and Joe Dawson, MacLeod begins to find a crack in Evil's armor. However, they soon learn that anyone who helps the Champion becomes fair game for the demon. This was one of my favorite episodes from the final Season because the characters had to struggle with guilt as they came to face their own demons. The highlighted scene belonged to MacLeod's wrestles with Ahriman in the final battle. For the remaining episodes, the writers presented glimpses of how MacLeod's friends and lovers would have been without him.

Although Season 6 offered fewer episodes, the bonus video interviews with various behind-the-scenes were such special treats. In addition, several episodes have audio and video commentaries that allow the viewers to get a better understand of the show's plot and production. If you are a true fan of the show, then you will really enjoy the Finale Backstage Documentary and Immortal Memories Featurettes.

Adrian Paul is an amazing actor, and his talents shine bright in every episode of Highlander that he is in. Season 6, however, is short on episodes with Duncan. Actually, season 6 is just plain short. With only 13 episodes, and even fewer with Duncan in it I find myself loving it much more now that I have it on DVD. When it originally aired I was confused as to why it had so little of it's lead character, but now I understand that they were looking for a spin-off character. Although none of those spin-off ideas worked it is still fun to watch these episodes. Also, the series finale is absolutely amazing! It brings back all of the favorite characters, and it really made me stop and think, `hum, I wonder what that would have been like'.

The DVD set has a lot of great extras that true fans will love to watch again and again (I know I do).

Bottom line: This is a great set, and I recommend it to all!

Even though this is the weakest season of the Highlander Series I give this 5 stars because of the finale to the series, the episodes "To be" and "Not to be", these are classics now for all the HL fans and to having ended the series with the touching notes of "Bonny Portmore" made us all celebrate the saga and life of Duncan Macleod. And being too an autoracing buff, for me it was a positive surprise that they had included the feature of "La carrera Panamericana", Adrian Paul is not a great driver but it was interesting to watch how a team is readied for a race and it was exciting to follow the teams thru all Mexico. Buy this season if you followed the series you wont regret it.

Highlander... There can be only one. Watching through the whole season 6 dvd collection, fans of the show are given an ending to a show that we've followed for many years. This dvd collection offers 13 episodes and extras including never-before-seen footage of deleted and alternate scenes as well as recently discovered footage. In AVATAR, the sword fighting is back again with more action from Duncan. In ARMAGEDDON, the final battle is well-deserved and the photo gallery captures the moments. In SINS OF THE FATHER, Dara Tomanovich adds to the story of danger and a promise to fulfill. In DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY, writer James Thorpe once again provides a plot of flashbacks and wishful thinking. In PATIENT NUMBER 7, Kyra gives Duncan a run for his time and I love the way she interacts with him. In BLACK TOWER, the story weakens and is one of my least liked episodes. In UNUSUAL SUSPECTS, JUSTICE, DEADLY EXPOSURE, and TWO OF HEARTS, the stories are too predictable, but the fightings are still good. For INDISCRETION, the scripts on the CD-ROM will give you a better understand of the whole episode if you got lost in it as I did. In TO BE, Adrian Paul gives one of his best performances in the final series. As for NOT TO BE, it seemed too brief of an episode to give what the fans really needed as an end to all. Overall, I suggest you to watch all the featurettes and listen to the audio commentaries. Afterall, this is the best collection set that the Highlander series had to offer.

The first two episodes, "Avatar" and "Armageddon" were integral to the plot as they pretty much presented the "ending" to Highlander. In "Armageddon," MacLeod's rivalry was intensified. Moreover, with the help of Father Beaufort and Joe Dawson, MacLeod begins to find a crack in Evil's armor. However, they soon learn that anyone who helps the Champion becomes fair game for the demon. This was one of my favorite episodes from the final Season because the characters had to struggle with guilt as they came to face their own demons. The highlighted scene belonged to MacLeod's wrestles with Ahriman in the final battle. For the remaining episodes, the writers presented glimpses of how MacLeod's friends and lovers would have been without him.
Although Season 6 offered fewer episodes, the bonus video interviews with various behind-the-scenes were such special treats. In addition, several episodes have audio and video commentaries that allow the viewers to get a better understand of the show's plot and production. If you are a true fan of the show, then you will really enjoy the Finale Backstage Documentary and Immortal Memories Featurettes.

The only episodes worth watching are the last two parter that ended the series. The other episodes, which is a set up for the series "The Raven" were average at best. I think the price for this set is not worth it.

I believe the Series Finale is available as a separate DVD. This would be a better choice.