- Title: Highlander – The Lady and the Tiger
- wiki: link
Throwback Thursday 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. “The Lady and the Tiger” introduces us to one of Highlander‘s best recurring characters, and the only one to get her own spin-off. A trip to the circus reunites MacLeod (Adrian Paul) with Amanda (Elizabeth Gracen), a thief and former lover who has left Duncan holding the bag several times over the centuries (an example of which we see in the flashbacks). The episode never explains the coincidence of the pair’s reunion as Amanda seems as surprised to see Duncan in the big top as he is to see her on the high wire. The episode also introduces Amanda’s former partner Zachary Blaine (Jason Isaacs) who escapes a prison transport in the opening scene with plans on killing Amanda, at least until she offers to help him take MacLeod’s head instead.
Jealousy plays a large role here in both Zachary’s hatred for McLeod and Tessa‘s (Alexandra Vandernoot) reaction to meeting one of Duncan’s former lovers for the first time. The episode features Amanda walking a tightrope both figuratively and literally as she strings along both men in hopes of using Zachary to help steal a $10 million prize and using MacLeod to get rid of her former partner. Aside from Amanda’s introduction, the episode is notable for Duncan not taking a head (Amanda scoops in to claim the prize, seemingly breaking a cardinal rule of the franchise), a heist, and a couple puzzling plot holes as to why Zachary and Amanda don’t sense Duncan during the robbery and why no one notices a rather loud sword fight just minutes away from an active crime scene. Thankfully, nagging plot points fail to slow the story down as Highlander introduces a character we’ll see much more in the coming years.
