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Starring:
Adrian Paul (Duncan MacLeod) Guests:
Peter Wingfield (Adam Pierson/Methos)
Written by David Tynan |
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Cut to Jack Shapiro on a backlit stage, with a small crowd of men and women in front of him. He's giving a speech about what happened. He blames the massacre on Duncan, but says the rest of the Watchers live, and that while they survive, everything stops except for one mission: "We find MacLeod. And Dawson" (As he continues speaking, we see Methos in the audience, looking grim and a little scared. Camera pulls in on him as Jack speaks) "And when we do, we eliminate them." Methos looks nervously side to side, then fade to credits...
Duncan is walking alone at night. As he walks, he catches sight of first one man, then another, who break from the shadows and start to follow him. He greets the second one, but doesn't get an answer. More people start to come out of cover, and when they have him flanked they open fire. Duncan runs, but another Watcher appears to cut him off and shoots him. Duncan gets to him and takes him hostage. The hostage screams for the others to shoot anyway, but they don't. Duncan fires a couple of shots (over their heads, it seems to me!), then breaks and runs while their taking cover. The Watchers give chase, but they lose him. The former hostage calls Shapiro and tells him Duncan escaped, but they'll find him and kill him. As he hangs up, someone reaches around with a cord and strangles him. As he falls we see our old friend Jacob Galati.
Exterior of bookshop fading into scene of Joe lying on bed and Mac at the other side of the room.
Joe: "Is there anything to drink in here?"
MacLeod: "No, Not a thing." He goes to wine rack.
Joe: "Oh, I mean besides the wine, I'm brushing my teeth with the stuff."
MacLeod: "Well, when you're holed up in a wine cellar, you've got to take what you can get. How about the '27 Latour, I hear it's a wonderful year for brushing teeth."
Joe: "I'm certain it's lovely. Listen, in another week, I'm gonna be crawling the walls, all these spiders are starting to look familiar to me."
MacLeod senses someone, Methos walks in
Methos: "It's OK, it's only me." He throws a bag of something at Joe. "Couldn't get any grapes."
Joe: "Thanks."
Methos: "How's the patient?"
MacLeod: "Well, hates the food, criticises the wine, I'd say back to normal."
Methos: "I suppose an improvement was too much to hope for." He walks over to bed. "Let's have a look at you then." He begins examining Joe. "Considering how shot to pieces you were, it's amazing you're still alive."
Joe moans: "Considering my doctor, it's amazing I'm still alive." He moans again. "Where did you say you studied medicine?"
Joe: "Where did you say you studied medicine?"
Methos: "Heidlberg. 1453."
Joe: "Did you major in medicine or dueling?"
Methos: "Both."
Duncan is standing by the window, listening. Methos says Joe will be able to travel in a day or two. When he's finished, he tells Duncan and Joe that a Watcher was killed after Duncan's run-in with them, which was apparently several nights ago. It was someone Joe knew pretty well. Duncan says it was the other immortal, but Methos says Jack is convinced it was him.
Methos: "Really, guys, it's time for you two to start a new life somewhere. Bora-Bora's very nice this time of year..."
Duncan: "You send me a postcard. I'm not leaving."
Methos: "Does the term self-preservation mean anything to you, MacLeod?"
Duncan says he has to find the other immortal to prove that he, Duncan, didn't do it, and gets Methos to tell him where Jack and the other Watchers are, figuring that the other immortal will eventually find them. Methos says that they're hiding out in a morturary on the left bank. Duncan goes there and is skulking along the rooftop when he sees someone on another roof. He gets him in his sights, then feels that buzz thing. The other immortal turns to him, and Duncan sinks down behind his roof in shock as he realizes who it is.
Duncan: "No. Not Jacob. It couldn't be Jacob."
Duncan and Jacob are fixing a wagon together, clearly good buddies, and all that. There's a female immortal also with them, named Irene. She and Jacob are supposed to be married ("After 65 years, I finally got tired of saying no.") She leaves them presently to go get water, and encounters a man who begs her to come and help his friend, who's wounded. He lures her into a barn and rapes her. Jacob and the others hear her screaming and run to help, but not until it's too late. Jacob wants to kill him, but Duncan convinces him to turn it over to the court instead. At the trial the judge says they have no case, taking the other man's story that Irene led him on, then tried to stab him. "We know what kind of people you gypsies are," etc. They throw the gypsies out of town, but as they leave the taunts of the rapist become too much for Jacob. He turns and stabs him, and is hanged in his turn for it. Duncan takes him away afterwards, but he's not happy that Jacob has caused himself and Irene to be exiled from the camp because of his need for revenge. He accused Jacob of not thinking with his head, and for choosing exile for Irene as well as for himself. Jacob says it was blood for blood, that it was justice.
Duncan skulks off again, and runs into a Watcher, who shoots him and is about to behead him when Jacob intervenes.
Jacob: "No more hunting today."
Shot of a huge mobile home of some kind, hooked up to what looks like a transfer truck cab. Hear guitar music playing, and cut to interior, which is decorated with bright hangings and movie posters. Jacob is playing the guitar, and we pan over to see Duncan lying on the couch, just now reviving it seems.
Duncan: "Play it, don't beat it to death."
Jacob: "It's called passion, MacLeod. If you'd been a real gypsy you'd know that."
Duncan asks Jacob what he was doing at the morturary. Jacob counters with saying that he saved Duncan's life so quit complaining. Gives him his nicely mended shirt.
Jacob: "That one went straight through your lung.
Duncan: " "Tell me about it."
Duncan repeats his question. Jacob starts telling him about the Watchers, saying that "they're monsters, man, they want to wipe us off the face of the planet." Duncan says he knows about them, too, and tries to tell Jacob they aren't after all of them, that they aren't all killers. Jacob says he wishes Duncan were right...
Jacob and Irene running away from their burning home. They flee into the woods, only to be surrounded by Watchers, including the Evil Man himself, Horton, complete with sword. The Watchers gun them both down. When Jacob revives, it's night and he and Irene are both tied. He's tied to a tree several yards from her, and when he wakes up Horton tells the other Watchers to watch him. "As many times as I've seen this, it never ceases to amaze me. And disgust me." He holds up the sword, and Jacob shakes his head in horror as he realizes what Horton is about to do. Horton says immies are a shadow on the face of the earth, asking how they dare place themselves a above mortals. Jacob tries to tell him he's wrong, but it doesn't do any good. Horton says immies have no right to exist. He tells Jacob, "I think your wife will be joining you soon," then cuts off her head. (There's some debate about "does he get the Quickening or not?" Well, there's the usual pyrotechnics, lightning crawling over Jacob, him yelling, etc.--It looks like he got it to me! :)) The Quickening frees Jacob's hands, and there's a way cool circle of flame that bursts up around him. Once he's loose, he runs forward and another circle of flame follows him as the first dies, then a third leaps up around Irene's body, leaving a nice figure eight. Horton backs off, looking a little surprised. Jacob stands in the fire for a moment, then runs off, with Horton's men chasing him.
Back in the caravan, Jacob explains that it took him a year to track down the Watcher symbol and eventually found out about the Watchers through questioning the members he found. Duncan tries to explain that Horton and his ilk were an aberration, that Watchers don't kill. Jacob points out that he just saved Duncan from a Watcher, and Duncan says yeah, because he thought he was the one killing Watchers. Jacob tries to get Duncan to join him, but Duncan insists that the Watchers are historians, not killers. Jacob asks how he can defend them.
Duncan: "Because one of them is my friend."
Jacob says he only wants justice, but Duncan says no, it isn't about justice, it's about vengeance. He asks if Jacob really thinks Irene would have wanted any of this. He tries to get Jacob to think about the wives and children of the men he's killed, saying that Irene would have. Jacob asks him if he trusts Joe.
Duncan: "With my life."
Jacob eventually agrees to meet with Joe, "For Irene."
Shakespeare and Co.
Joe: "Forget it. The guy's a murderer."
Duncan explains that Horton killed Irene in front of him, and Joe responds by asking if that gives him a right to kill. They get into a huge argument over it, with Methos sitting silently watching and looking upset as they yell at each other. Both Duncan and Joe are talking about friends that have been killed, and about Horton's role and the other Watchers.
Joe: "So when does this stop MacLeod, when he's dead or when we are?"
Duncan: "Look, all I know is that I'm tired of losing friends. We'll find another way."
Joe: "I don't think there is another way."
Methos, (finally getting involved): "Joe! We have to stop this, 'cause otherwise more people are going to die."
Joe just stops and looks at him: "We?"
Methos pulls down his sleeve: "Yeah. Hey, I wear one of these, too, okay? Or did you forget that?"
Joe: "No, I didn't forget. But we both know what you really are."
He leaves. Duncan starts after him, but Methos stops him, saying he'll talk to him. Duncan says he'd better, because if Jack or Jacob "put a bullet in his head, he's not the type to get born again." (Another note: Methos calls Duncan "Mac" in this scene, and I could swear it's the first time he's ever called him that. Yeah, really earth-shattering facts here.:))
Morturary: Four Watchers are loading a coffin into a hearse, while Joe lurks behind a handy pillar. A hand comes down on his shoulder from behind, and he looks around to find it's only Methos.
Methos: "Look at that. Watchers, afraid they're going to be killed by immortals, holed up in a funeral home. Is it just me, or is there some cosmic irony in that?"
Joe: "I think it's just you."
They discuss how Joe is even going to get far enough to talk to Jack without getting gunned down on sight, and at last Joe comes up with a cunning plan... He pretends to take "Adam" hostage, and demands to see Shapiro.
Methos (under his breath to Joe): "Would you be careful with that thing, it might go off."
Joe: "Well, you're in a good place for it. I mean, consider the irony."
Methos glares...
Cut to Duncan and Jacob meeting in a church (the exterior is Darius's church, I b'leve, but the interior doesn't match(?)). Jacob isn't too surprised when Duncan tells him Joe won't meet him. He says he wants the Watchers to fear him, to know what Irene felt, and then watch them die. Duncan says he can't blame them all, but Jacob says they're all guilty, they all "wear the sign of the beast, like the beasts they are." Jacob says it's stops when he kills them all. Duncan tells him he sounds like Horton, to which Jacob replies, "Blood for blood." He leaves, telling Duncan that if Joe gets in his way, he'll kill him.
Meanwhile, Joe and Methos get in to see Jack, who tells them they can drop the hostage act. Joe says he didn't come to kill him, he came to talk. He hands over his gun, and asks for ten minutes. "I'll listen," says Jack.
Cut to Duncan and Methos back in the secret basement. Methos is tidying up Joe's bed.
Duncan is asking "How could you let him do that?"
Methos: "It was a simple choice: Jacob Galati, or you. And since I don't give a damn about Jacob Galati, it wasn't that difficult to make it."
Duncan (mad): "Yeah, I guess it wasn't!"
Methos: "I'm a pragmatist, MacLeod. The Watchers wanted the real killer, and I want to keep you alive. You can't have it both ways."
Duncan grabs his arm to make him look at him: "Yeah, you're right, you can't have it both ways. You're either on of them or you're one of us. Got it?"
He goes, leaving Methos nearly growling. "Oooh, you..." he starts, and seems pretty mad, then he stops and looks a little thoughtful.
Cut to Jacob walking back to his home. There's a Watcher staking the place from above. Jacob starts to go in, and sees Joe standing with his back to him, apparently casing the street. Jacob goes in, then sneaks out the other side and creeps up on Joe, while the other Watchers inform Joe of Jacob's every move. Joe lets Jacob sneak up on him, and tells him that the Watchers have Duncan prisoner, and they're going to kill him. He says that Jacob is Duncan's only chance of proving that he isn't the killer. Jacob agrees to go with him to save Duncan, and as they leave together another Watcher approaches and shoots Jacob.
Jacob collapses, gasping to Joe: "You bastard!"
Joe: "You got that right."
A car drives up and they put Jacob inside. (The car, BTW, looks like Methos's, but there's no other sign of him, and the driver doesn't have nearly the right profile...;))
At the Mortuary:
Joe: "You double-crossed me, Shapiro. We had a deal."
Jack says he should be happy. He's proved his loyalty, he's back in the Watchers, etc. Joe says he brought Jacob here so that Jack could hear his side, but Jack doesn't seem interested. He gets a call,
Jack: "Guess who's here."
Duncan is brought in. He says Jack has become like Horton, a killer. He knows that Jack lost his son, but Jacob lost his wife. He asks Jack to call it off while there's still time, but Jack says no. Jacob is brought in. He says hello to Duncan and adds: "I've already met your friend Joe Dawson, the man you trusted with my life."
Duncan: "You son of a bitch, Dawson."
Joe just shakes his head, looking sick. Jack starts for Jacob with a sword. Joe tries to stop him.
Duncan: "You use that blade and you destroy your oath.... Nothing will ever be the same between the immortals and the Watchers."
But Jack does it anyway, before Duncan can escape. Jacob is killed in the next room, and Duncan (apparently) gets the Quickening (This is another Quickening under debate, but again Duncan acts as though he got it.) Jack comes in and starts to behead Duncan while he's still woozy from the Quickening, but Joe threatens to shoot him.
Jack: "This is not over."
Joe: "You'd better hope to God that it is."
An alley (I think maybe supposed to be behind the bookstore? But Duncan's still wobbly, so maybe it's behind the mortuary. I have no idea.). Methos runs out to meet them, calling Duncan's name, and pulls up short when he sees him.
Methos: "I'm sorry."
Duncan glares: "Sorry?"
Joe: "Mac, I was just supposed to get him there so they could talk to him. Jack set me up. They weren't supposed to kill him. You gotta believe me."
Duncan: "It doesn't matter what I believe."
Joe: "It does to me."
Duncan: "Either way--either way, he's dead."
Joe: "I did it to save you!" (Yelling as Duncan walks off) "It can be over now! It's gotta be over!" He turns to Methos, who's slumped down on the steps. "Stop him!"
Methos: "Why?"
Joe: "Well, if he goes after Shapiro, the Watchers are gonna go after him."
Methos: "And what about you, Joe? Who do you go after? I'm 5,000 years old. I don't know who I am anymore. I just helped set up one of my own."
Joe: "I did not know they were going to kill him."
Methos: "You keep telling yourself that, Joe. Maybe you'll start to believe it."
He walks off in the opposite direction from Duncan, leaving Joe standing there.
Back to funeral home. Joe talking to Jack, telling he doesn't realize what he's done. Cut to outside, see Duncan sneaking around. Jack says when Duncan gets there, they'll just have to deal with him. Says that Joe overestimates him.
Jack: "He won't be that hard to kill."
Cut to Duncan taking out a guard... Joe says they're Watchers, they're not supposed to kill. Jack says Joe's coming a little close to the edge, maybe it's time he went back to the States. Joe says they have to end it now, or they'll be a full scale war. More sneaky Duncan. Joe tells Jack if he kills Duncan, his friends "will come for all of us." Joe tries to tell Jack that he's made the Watchers what they've always sworn not to be, which is a threat to the immortals. More sneaking.
Jack: "You underestimate us, Joe. We know who they are, who their friends are...It won't be that hard." He says that the Watchers have to protect their own.
Joe: "Your own. Well, how many people have to die to pay for your son?"
Jack tells him to get out, and calls for security. He gets Duncan instead. Duncan has a gun.
Duncan: "Blood for blood."
Joe tells him not to do it.
Duncan: "He wanted it this way."
Jack says he's killing them for his son. Duncan tells him the dead ones feel nothing. Says Jacob's made him a killer. Joe pulls a gun on Duncan and tells him to let Jack go. Jack is yelling for Joe to shoot, and Joe is yelling for Jack to shut up and for Duncan to stop.
Joe: "Please, no more. This is all gotta end, right here."
Duncan: "You're gonna tell me how it's gonna be, Jack. You want war? You want to bury some more of your friends for something that Horton started? Or do you want peace?"
Jack: "Peace."
Duncan throws him in a coffin: "The killing ends here. Or I swear it's only just begun."
Closes lid on him, fade to commercial...
MacLeod slams lid of coffin down on Jack, sits on coffin looking completely drained. He gets up walks over to Joe and glares at him for a moment, then turns to walk out. Walks toward the door where about a dozen Watchers with guns are standing.
Joe: "It's over, let it be..."
MacLeod stops halfway up steps, drops his gun in a flower arrangement, looks back at Joe and then walks out.
Joe waiting for Duncan as he walks back to the barge.
Joe: "Hey, Mac! War's over. Jack's out. I'm back in. And I think we're gonna be able to pull the Watchers back together again."
Duncan: "I'm happy for you." (Not sounding it.)
Joe: "Have you seen Methos? I went by his place. He's gone, and no one seems to have any idea where he is."
Duncan: "And you're surprised at that?"
Joe shrugs.
Duncan, distant: "Is there something you wanted?"
Joe: "I thought maybe I could buy you a drink."
Duncan: "No thanks." Walks away.
Joe calls after him: "Maybe later!"
Duncan doesn't turn around, just keeps walking.
I ended up quoting several scenes between Joe, Duncan and Methos in full, because there just wasn't any way to convey it without their words. I tried to be as accurate as possible with the words, but there were a few sticky spots when I was fighting both AP and PW's tendency to mumble...;)
Until "Prophecy"...
These pages are written by Jinjifore and are translated into HTML and maintained by Ian.
Disclaimer: All the dialogue, characters, situations, and darn near everything else belong to a bunch of fine and talented folks at Rysher Entertainment and Panzer/Davis, and in particular the dialogue belongs to the credited writer of this episode. Me, I just wrote the rest down in my own words, which belong to me, but the episode itself was made by the aforementioned people and is owned by them. This humble synopsis isn't meant to infringe on their rights, and I'm sure as heck not making any money from doing these.
Everything not belonging to Rysher, et al, ©Copyright 1997 by Jinjifore
Feel free to copy and distribute as long as this copyright notice and disclaimer are included, except where local bandwidth laws apply.
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Celtic clip art courtesy of the Celtic Art Web Page.
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