- Title: Highlander – Free Fall
- wiki: link
Today’s Throwback Tuesday post takes us back to a man born in the Highlands of Scotland more than 400 years ago and a murderous game between sword-wielding immortals where there can be only one. Joan Jett guest-stars as an apparently new immortal with eyes for Richie (Stan Kirsch) and in need of a teacher. Although MacLeod (Adrian Paul) agrees to instruct her, neither he nor Tessa (Alexandra Vandernoot ever trust Felicia completely. With a looming immortal named Devereux (Eli Gabay) hunting her, “Free Fall” reveals in flashbacks the Felicia is actually hundreds of years old and her method for targeting other immortals is to insert herself into their lives to attack their loved ones. Devereux has good reason to want her dead (although her skill with a sword, even if it was marginally improved by MacLeod’s lessons makes it seem like she could have taken Devereux’s head at any point over the past two centuries).
“Free Fall” is a mixed success more notable for Jett appearing in the episode than in her performance. While the flashbacks of how she tortured Devereux are well done, there’s simply not enough time for her to do the same in the present which forces the show to truncate the storyline quite a bit. There are some interesting ideas at work here, including ones the show will put to better use later in the series. The episode showcases two sides of MacLeod, both honorable teacher and wearied warrior. While he’s willing to give Felicia benefit of the doubt, and provides her with some basic sword-fighting lessons and a valuable sword, his suspicions about the woman keep him and his friends alive. The choice of MacLeod to spare her for Richie at the end of the episode is an interesting one, hinting that the writers may have planned for her to return at some point later it the series. One final note, the show puts its guest-star to work in another manner as Jett’s “Cherry Bomb” plays from Richie’s radio to open the episode.
