This episode is such a major improvement over the previous one. It really shows the difference a change of director can make. I loved Garwin Sanford as Garrick. It's too bad he wasn't given a longer arc that lasted over multiple appearances. Actually that feeds into one of my issues with this plot: how is it that Garrick has been obsessed with Mac for hundreds of years yet never met up with him before now? What triggered him to suddenly attack? He kind of implies that he waited until he could successfully project visions but it seemed a lot of character development was left out.
This is another issue with the plot, his psychic powers. Now obviously immortals existing and quickenings are magical, but there's never been the slightest hint before that psychics are real on this universe. It just doesn't seem to fit the series. So that kept me from fully getting into the story.
The last thing that pulled me out of the episode was Anne's completely unethical search for MacLeod's medical records. It would be a major HIPAA violation today, but it wasn't yet in effect in 1994. Nowadays, looking up a friend's records like that could get you fired, and the computer tracks who accessed a file. No matter how well meaning, that's a major violation even without HIPAA. However, even in 2022, there is no national database for medical records. Their search would be impossible. Just this year, my hospital system is getting a program that links records just within our system alone. In 1994 records were still overwhelmingly on paper. So you've got Anne's privacy invading search into Duncan's health, plus they were using a non-existent computer system.
I know it sounds like I hated this episode, but for the most part it was pretty good as this show goes. I like the side plot with Ritchie and Joe. It was short enough not to subvert the overall story. And Garrick was such a good character. I wanted even more of the flashbacks to that time period. They were pretty well done considering the budget and period. So there were flaws but still good to watch.
This is another issue with the plot, his psychic powers. Now obviously immortals existing and quickenings are magical, but there's never been the slightest hint before that psychics are real on this universe. It just doesn't seem to fit the series. So that kept me from fully getting into the story.
The last thing that pulled me out of the episode was Anne's completely unethical search for MacLeod's medical records. It would be a major HIPAA violation today, but it wasn't yet in effect in 1994. Nowadays, looking up a friend's records like that could get you fired, and the computer tracks who accessed a file. No matter how well meaning, that's a major violation even without HIPAA. However, even in 2022, there is no national database for medical records. Their search would be impossible. Just this year, my hospital system is getting a program that links records just within our system alone. In 1994 records were still overwhelmingly on paper. So you've got Anne's privacy invading search into Duncan's health, plus they were using a non-existent computer system.
I know it sounds like I hated this episode, but for the most part it was pretty good as this show goes. I like the side plot with Ritchie and Joe. It was short enough not to subvert the overall story. And Garrick was such a good character. I wanted even more of the flashbacks to that time period. They were pretty well done considering the budget and period. So there were flaws but still good to watch.
