Posted by Jeanne Rose MacWoW on Wednesday, 2 September 1998, at 8:09 a.m.

OK, I'll admit that I'm looking forward to the new series. Maybe not with the huge sense of enthusiasm that I would an extension of HLTS season 4, or the Methos Chronicles, but hey, I like Amanda, and I have faith in the writers they have on the job, and even if it isn't supposed to have the same feel, it will still be the world of Highlander (i.e. immortality, etc). At the very least it will provide new fodder for analysis and discussion.

Reading the first four plot summaries - OK, my first thought is that they sound - like season 1 of HLTS. Establishing the characters, their relationships, feeling their way around to see what sorts of things can be done. I hate to say it, but the cop angle does sort of make it sound like just one more of the hundreds of cop shows out there, albeit with an immortal twist. "Immunity", especially, sounds like a story I've seen lots of times before. But -

Some of the best HLTS episodes don't sound particularly impressive in summary form either. How many times do they say "MacLeod's on the trail of another bad guy", and we could get anything from "Avenging Angel" to "Homeland". It's all in the writing, the directing, the acting, in short, the execution. Frankly, I still have no idea what my reaction will be to the final product when it shows up on my TV screen.

Then, too, there is the fact that Nick is still a totally unknown character. And I worry - will I like him? Will there be good chemistry between him and Amanda? Will they be fun to watch? Will the dialogue be quotable and witty, or will it fall flat? Will I be moved to think about life, and good and evil, and all that philosophical stuff?

Last night I watched "Timeless" and "Chivalry" simultaneously (one was on USA, the other on my tape that I played during advertisements), and I tell you, there was a magic there. Methos and Alexa in the rain. Duncan and Methos with swords at each other's throats in the dojo. Duncan and Walter's fight (I should take your head - just to shut you up!). Duncan in the bathtub. Methos challenging Kristen (Pick it up!). Duncan talking tenderly to Claudia about the gift of immortality. Methos and Alexa taking off in that horrid green van.

Where did that magic come from? Who can say? Some of it was in the lines (as in, the writing). Some of it was in the acting and directing (which are sometimes difficult to separate). Some of it came from knowing the characters - part of the magic of Methos and Alexa was that we already know and love Methos, and seeing him fall in love with a girl who is dying, and deal with it and love her anyway and convince her to let herself love him was endearing and heart-breaking and wonderful. Some of it also came from the deeper thematic structure - love and sacrifice, chivalry and honor, living and dying, talent and self-worth.

The Raven has the potential for all these things. Perhaps there will have to be a foundation first. The first few episodes may not be magic. I can live with that, as long as the foundation is solid and reasonably entertaining in itself. The Raven premeire was written by the same person who wrote "Timeless", and the next three by James Thorpe, who gave us "The Valkyrie", "Indiscretions", and "Modern Prometheus". We know Elizabeth Gracen is a good actress, and we can hope that the casting department that gave us Peter Wingfield and Stan Kirsch has lived up to the best of their HLTS standards with the guy who plays Nick. Dennis Berry is even directing at least one of those first eps.

Who knows? Maybe it will be magic!

JR