Highlander (TV Series) Glory Days (1996) User Reviews

Pre-immortal Punk, Immortal punk. Some interesting scenes.

[danrs000008 · 6/10 · 18 August 2020]

1. In Joe Dawson's bar Joe gets an unexpected visit from his old girlfriend Betsy Fields. She even gets to meet Duncan Macloud. Joe and Betsy plan to meet later. Actress Marcia Strassman makes a great appearance as Betsy in this episode. You may remember Marcia playing the role of the cute short haired nurse Margie Cutler during the early days of M*A*S*H). 2. Flashback to 1929 (prohibition) New York City. Our favorite immortal Duncan is, for reasons unknown, hanging out with gangster types and playing poker (probably just passing the time and entertaining himself). Apparently he's been in New York for quite some time because when he speaks we hear that he has picked up the local accent (or most likely with his life history Duncan is able to produce any accent he needs wherever he needs it in order to fit in). Standing just a few feet behind Duncan is pre-immortal (and punk) Johnny K. As soon as Johnny approaches the card table and stands next to Duncan, Duncan feels "The Buzz" which tells him that another immortal is near. 3. In past episodes of Highlander we have seen examples where Duncan and other immortals have been aware of exactly which people around them are pre-immortal, that is, they have not yet experienced their first death which triggers the full force of their immortality. This is actually the first evidence in Highlander that an immortal feels a "Buzz" from a pre-immortal (of course a pre immortal does not feel any buzz from an immortal). 4. Betsy and Joe enjoy a fantastic date and Joe is more happy than he's been in forever. Unfortunately Betsy tells Joe that she can't see him anymore. Joe goes back to thinking that it's because he has no legs. As it turns out Betsy is married with children and just wanted to see Joe behind her husband's back. This somehow makes Joe feel better. 5. 1929 flashback again - With Johnny K. being the punk that he is, it does not take long for him to taste death for the first time (shotgun blast from a gangster). His body is dumped outside of the building where Duncan is once again playing poker, but the punk, now immortal, begins to revive. Duncan feels Johnny K's "Buzz" again, but notice that Duncan feels it from a further distance this time because now the punk is not a pre-immortal, instead he is an immortal (and remember, he's an immortal punk). 6. Like many immortals with a few centuries under their belts, Duncan trys to help this new immortal. Johnny becomes Duncan's student for about a minute and a half before Johnny interrups Duncan's explanation about the rules of "The Game". Johnny refuses any further help from Duncan and they part company. 7. Flash forward to present day. Duncan and Johnny K meet again. Johnny still has his head, probably because he prefers to use guns. He even shoots Duncan and would have taken Duncan's head if it weren't for a couple of guys stepping off of a nearby elevator. The word punk was used many times in this episode to describe this particular immortal. Not only does he ignore the rules of The Game, he kills mortals and he cheats when fighting other immortals Duncan knows that Johnny K Punk needs to be dead. 8. When Duncan and Johnny finally face each other in a parking garage (a classic location for immortals to fight), Johnny is still confident that his only sword training (watching pirate movies) will be enough, but against Duncan Johnny K does not last long. Those of us in the television audience are able hear the distinct and satisfying thud of Johnny's head as it hits the concrete floor. 9. I enjoyed this episode because of its new insight into pre-immortals and because of Marcia Strassman's (RIP) awesome appearance. I also enjoyed seeing Duncan and Joe spending some time together as they continued rebuilding their friendship.