Women of Highlander Survey for an Essay written for HL Down Under Convention of 2001 |
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In March of 2001, the staff at HLDU asked me to write an essay about "Women of Highlander." I didn't want it to be just my own opinions, so I asked on a couple of lists [HIGHLA-L, Critical Edge, ConnorList, J9G10] for people to tell me what they thought about the memorable women in HL. About fifty people responded, and their votes are listed below. Their comments can be found by clicking on the character's name. (If you want to add your votes or comments, write to me at darkpanther@erols.com. I tried to make sure I had permission from everybody before I posted the comments, but if your comments are listed and you don't want them to be, please let me know, and I'll take them down right away.)
The way I organized the names was modeled on the schema in Jean Bolen's book The Goddesses in Everywoman and is further explained in my essay. The top five are Amanda (30), Tessa (29), Cassandra (28), Ceirdwyn (19), Rebecca (16). The next six are Anne Lindsey and Heather (tied at 10), Alexa and Gina de Valincourt (8 each), Katherine (7), and Grace (6).
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Warrior-Huntress 19 Ceirdwyn |
Worker
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Hearth Tender (crone) 16 Rebecca |
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2 May-Ling Shen |
2 Randy McFarland |
Witch of Donan
Woods |
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Daughter 27 Cassandra |
Wife/Lover
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Mother |
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| Other Daughters
- Lori Bellian
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Other Wives/Lovers
- Irena Galati |
Other Mothers
1 Connor's Mom |
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Women who want out of a relationship |
OF THE DEAD |
| 6 Grace (Saving Grace) - Sara (Obsession) - Jill (Obsession) - Midori Koto (Samurai) - Teresa (Duende) - Debra (Homeland) - Laura Sullivan (Under Color of Authority) - Juliet (Unusual Suspects) |
Other Queens |
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Lover 30 Amanda |
The Watcher CD lists 24 Immortal women, including four minor characters: Carolyn Mortimer (Till Death), Sharon Collins (Rite of Passage), and Sara MacLaughlin and Cordelia Stanton, who are mentioned in They Also Serve. Immortal women also appear in some of the novels, and Faith/Kate appears in the movie EndGame. None of the women in the novels was mentioned as being memorable, and nobody mentioned Faith/Kate. Other women who were not originally mentioned include Sara and Jill (Obsession), Midori (The Samurai), and Teresa (Duende).
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| CEIRDWYN ~~ Yes, we have Xena, but I think that Ceirdwyn has more dimension and is therefore a more believable woman warrior. She definitely outclasses all the season six f'immies. ~~ Gotta love those old Celtic babes who paint themselves and bay at the moon. ~~ Ceirdwyn is the strong, warrior-like Immie woman to accompany the other three. she is the "solid" female Immortal, not so unreachable an paragon like Rebecca, but old and strong enough. It is easy to like her, to identify with her. She's more the "female Duncan", if there has to be one. The sixth season female Immies all were made as "possible female Duncans", but none of them held as much depth as Ceirdwyn, so they were easy to discount. ~~ I don't find her as fascinating as most do. I think her motivations were...dumb, at best. ~~ From the one ep Take Back the Night, so memorable, I even remember the name of the ep. She played a Pict? Celt warrior fighting the Romans. She played Scottish heroine Flora MacDonald who got Prince Charlie to safety after Culloden. In a bit of foreshadowing, she got MacLeod to stop butchering British soldiers, and he got her to stop killing the punks who killed her mortal husband. One of the few of his friends he didn't have to kill for transgressing his rules. ~~ Strong. Beautiful. From a warrior tribe before she ever became Immortal so not only did she have a sword but she knew how to use it. She didn't need anyone's help. She didn't run to Duncan when her husband was killed, she suited up and went after the killers herself. I'll not debate whether she was right or wrong to go after the whole gang; were I in that situation, I'm sure I'd do it too if I could. But she wasn't driven by her vengeance. She had compassion, too, able to let her hair down and talk openly with Duncan about mortals and Immortals and their relationships. ~~ What's not to like? strong woman, wonderful character, very believable impersonation. I liked her beginnings as a warrior, the short glimpse we get of her over a thousand years later as a woman who has learned that revenge and war will only bring more war and hate, and you could see her coming to that conclusion very much like Duncan did later through years of living very much as a warrior or a woman who was ready to fight; and her readiness to go back to revenge and take justice in her own hands in the present after her husband was killed was very believable, too. I wished we had seen more of her on the show. First on this list because she's mentioned too seldom, too. ~~ Another marvelously intriguing woman - from her roots as a warrior woman of the Iceni to her modern avatar, she had the air of someone with marvelous stories to tell. ~~ Ceirdwyn - for her strength and the way she carried herself. ~~ Ceirdwyn was also memorable because we saw her as a warrior in the past as well as the present...and we saw her fighting for something other than the game. ~~ for her strength and courage and because I think she had a profound effect on Mac's life. ~~ I think she's memorable for being a truly independent woman who could hold her own in a fight and still be a woman, without needing to resort to feminine wiles or stealing her way through the centuries. Despite being in only one episode she was a really rounded character.
MAY LING Mei Ling... hated the way she died, but she still sticks in the mind because of her fighting skill. And I generally liked her despite not knowing a whole lot about her. ALEX RAVEN Alex Raven - Until Alex showed up, Ceirdwyn would have had this spot. Similar ages and backgrounds, women raised as warriors, but Alex seems to have a little something extra. Maybe it's the fact she turned down Duncan. <eg> ~~ Alex Raven. Strong, take no sh!!, uses a crossbow, rides a motorcycle. Smiles sweetly at Duncan and decides she's not going to take a ride with him at the end. Complex enough that we can't decide if she's the good guy or the bad guy for a bit. ~~ I found her to be one of the stronger female immies out there, and I would have preferred to see her in a series than Amanda (unless they had done Amanda correctly, that is) KYRA Kyra is my fifth character: ("Patient Number Seven" - since I suspect no one else will). If we couldn't have Kate (Claudia Christian, "Two of Hearts") I wanted Kyra. She was a wonderful swashbuckler, she would have been a splendid centre to a new series - if the producers had had the guts to keep her just like that. I doubt it, somehow. REAGAN COLE Reagan Cole - from 'season sux'. Another tough cookie and I like Sandra Hess. KATHERINE (TWO OF HEARTS) funny, cool, and willing to fall in love with a mortal--and let him be in her business even though he was mortal. I remember her because she was strong and loving. ~~ she was not so superior to her mortal partner and she actually looked competent with a sword and she was my pick for spin-off girl ~~ I like her. This woman I would like to meet for lunch every week. She seems to have it sorted. Katherine - also one of the 'season sux' women. Liked her relationship with her husband. And she was no wimp, either. ANNIE DEVLIN Dedicated to her cause (not about to debate the rights and wrongs of it), strong and sexy, but vulnerable, too. FELICIA Felicia--I liked her and hated her. I liked her for her ability to outsmart Duncan, at least for a while. I liked the way she seemed kind of lost, even in her viciousness. She seemed vulnerable beneath it, somehow. I hated her for her cruelty and murderous intentions towards Richie, Duncan, Tessa, and the other Immortal whose family she was shown destroying and who she killed.
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| GRACE Many people think Grace is weak and even moaning, but I see her as one of the strongest women in HL. She has the strength to live her life in her own way. She's never (as far as we know) compromised her ethics as a healer to take up a sword in her own defense. I think she may be the only immortal we've met whose life isn't ruled by the Game. And she does this fully aware of the potential cost. ~~ Her name suited her well. Even though she was only in one episode I remember her very well. She is the kind of person I would hope an immortal would be if they really existed. She used her immortality to help others. ~~ Grace Chandelle (sp?) who on one hand annoys the crap out of me with her hiding behind everything (does she even *own* a sword???) But on the other hand there's just something about that says she's not a victim (or maybe I'm just a sucker for an accent<g>), ANNE LINDSEY Definitely memorable, though often for the wrong reasons. We've just been discussing the Anne episodes on the Highlander University list, and I discovered that yes, a remarkable number of fans *hate* her for completely illogical reasons. I don't: I regret that the producers treated her much more as "Duncan's girlfriend" than as "Doctor involved with an immortal" but I enjoyed her relationship, even though I regretted that Duncan was so stinking unfair to her. ~~ I'm not sure why Dr. Anne, except that I really liked that she always stayed true to herself. It would be easy to get overwhelmed by Duncan, and by Immortal life in general, but she didn't let anything change her or sway her from the path she'd chosen. That might be a flaw as much as a strength, but it made her memorable. ~~ I liked Anne Lindsay. I think she was an emotionally strong character, and to be honest, I think it was very lame as to how her character was written off. She struck me as the type who could have handled a great deal. ~~ The character was great and Lisa Howard is also a talented and believable. ~~ And finally Dr. A is influential, just because she helped to reawake DM's ability to love another woman. I think he didn't believe he'd be able to love again after Tessa died. She influenced him in some ways, i think and made him sad also. ~~ I always liked Dr Anne, and thought she got put down by a lot of people. She was always trying to do good the only way she knew how, and isn't that why we all loved Duncan? ~~ Partly out of sympathy for the underdog (i.e. the mortal girl- friend most people hated), partly because they gave her the realistic choice we had to see one person make about an Immie, and yet kept her sympathetic, partly I found her altogether more "real" than the idealised Tessa. Oh, and I adored her hitting it off with Amanda in "Reunion" ~~ I hate Anne, but she was a big part of Duncan's life. I thought she was too full of herself and always thought she knew best, even when she had no idea what was going on. Also, she was always nagging Duncan instead of waiting for him to tell her his secrets in his own time (which he would have, and did, eventually).
DIANE TERRIN Diane Terrin--Diane Terrin delivering that broadcast on the roof of the Savoy during the blitz is absolutely breathtaking to me. She said and did what no one else dared to do and inspired a population in the process. BRENDA WYATT She too was fiesty, humorous, and very passionate about her work and well...Connor. She didn't scare easily, yet she was very feminine at the same time, I was able to relate well to her. (And Louise is a runner up, I mean, the wall scene in 2 The director's cut, gosh, to have been in her shoes. Heh heh heh.) ~~ Connor's girl from the first film. She was fiesty. ALEXANDRA JOHNSON I liked her because she was smart enough to track Connor down and figure out who he was, she was a scientist, and she wasn't the type who screamed when she got scared. She seemed cool and collected, even when she was frightened. But she was also beautiful and sensual, and she brought out Connor's vulnerable side. She also seemed to grasp what his life was like, and she empathized with him. LINDA PLAGER Linda Plager--because we get to see her age, especially in contrast to Duncan, and she was courageous enough to want to go out and do her own thing, sexy man be damned. A woman doesn't need a man in order to have a good life. RANDY MCFARLAND Even though she was the blonde bimbo of the week, I think she could have been expanded more, become a real thorn for Duncan. What happened to her? Couldn't she have been recruited for the watchers after witnessing a beheading? I'm sure she would've been great at digging up dirt on unknown immies or creating great cover stories when 1 disappeared.
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| REBECCA Since "Legacy" begins with her death, we know little of Rebecca's present and the past we know about is shared with Amanda. She was a great teacher. Also a good friend to Amanda. I like her best when she meets newbie Immortal Duncan MacLeod with Amanda. ~~ She was an intriguing character that we didn't get to know much about. She tamed Amanda somewhat, which is a feat in itself, but what else did she do? She was obviously around for a while, and her sacrifice at the hands of Lucas was very noble (if a little stupid - but it fitted the storyline, I guess) ~~ Rebecca is very much like Tessa, even if we saw much less scenes with her. From the little we saw, we can *imagine* her to be a lot like Tessa, but Immortal, strong, a good fighter, much wiser due to her greater age and experience too, on tops of it. ~~ Rebecca: because a woman has enough smarts to be able to survive as an immortal as long as any man. She seems like the female Duncan to me--honorable, and so true to it and her love that it becomes her downfall. There but for the grace of god go-eth Duncan. ~~ If we mention Amanda, how to forget her Teacher? She was a great character. Very wise woman, a good fighter, too; forgiving, and somebody you could easily imagine in a position just like Darius, as somebody other Immortals came to for help ansd news. Too bad she died so soon, we should have seen a lot more of her on the show. ~~ I only got to see one episode with Rebecca, and that was Methuselah Stone. But she caught my attention right away. Not just because she was so beautiful, but she was someone whose presence commanded respect. She was obviously a strong woman, you could tell that just from the way she made Amanda face her immortality and fight when it was necessary. She was also decent and caring, for me she was the perfect balance of gentleness and strength. ~~ The single most intriguing Immortal woman, at least to me. I wish we could have seen more of her. Her strength, her obvious nobility and her mysterious past - how and why did she get the Methuselah Stone? And having got it, how many Immortals would have chosen not to use it for themselves, but distribute it among her students? ~~ Did I mention my weakness for ancient f'immies? Rebecca strikes me as ethereal and saintly, kind of an angelic, benevolent mother. Kind of makes me wonder how she got mixed up with such an idiot of a husband. ~~ I really love her grace and I think she was a great foil for Amanda. The only thing I disliked was the way she died...her stupid husband just standing there getting in the way :P ~~ "Legacy" is one of my favourite episodes. Not only does it give background and insight on Amanda (See above <g>) but Rebecca fascinated me from the opening scene. After seeing Duncan's struggles (esp 2B/not 2B), Rebecca's death (suicide?) has become even more significant. That event was the starting point for most of my writing ~~ Only two eps, but she made quite the impression. If only they hadn't given her a death scene whose illogicality rivaled Cassandra's infamous opening the door without a sword. Otherwise, serene, strong, yet no-one's fool. ~~ Rebecca-- for her honor
WITCH OF DONAN WOODS *Old* - older than any other female immortal we see: with odd powers that are never really explained: ~~ I think that she is actually the first positively portrayed Witch on a television drama. This makes her a landmark figure. ~~ Witches are always fascinating. 3000 year old witches even more so. She's mythical, very powerful and at the same time very vulnerable. ~~ I liked her because she was mysterious and alluring and sexy, she had what appeared to be magical powers, she was seductive, and she mentioned Connor to young Duncan. ~~ The character has a lot of attributes that make her memorable--the Voice, the shape-shifting, the prophetic announcements, her hair <G>. ~~ The idea of special powers fit right in with the Connor in HL that we saw: just a bit of something extra. I think Cass's use of the voice was perhaps more useful than Connor simply being able to 'feel' or 'experience' the creature he focused on. RACHEL ELLENSTEIN Connor's beloved Rachel. She loved him so much. LUCY BECKER My other vote is for Lucy Becker. There was plenty of spunk in the old girl yet. I love to imagine the hijinks that Lucy and Amanda probably got up to in the sixties when Lucy was younger. What would it be like to be Amanda's friend and companion? RACHEL MACLEOD
GRETA The palm reader from Darkness, because ... I really liked her character and would have liked to see more of her. I like a touch of magic.
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| CASSANDRA She only shows up in three episodes, I think, but she is one memorable character. Capable of bearing a grudge, yet she spares Methos when Duncan asks her: I want to know more about her. ~~ I also identify with Cassandra as a survivor of abuse, and I am inspired by her accomplishments in the millennia since her abuse. ~~ I'll never forget how she looked coming out of the elevator at Methos. ~~ I liked her because she was able to stick to something for over 3,000 years. That's a hell of a lot of perseverance. She also had the courage to go up against the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and that's not something just anyone would have the courage to do. ~~ I like the character and am amazed by the Methos-lovers who make her into the Wicked Witch. (That's Mrs. Wiked Witch to *you* bucko!) Cass makes just as good a villian as she does a heroine! Now *that's* a versitle F'immie! Oh, and she's drop dead gorgeous and you can tell her I said that! ~~ She's on my list due more to fanon than canon. On our TV screens she was by turns woo-woo mystical and revenge-filled harridan (who was still beautiful, natch.) Was she a shape shifter? What was the Voice? Why did she answer the door without her sword in the hotel in Bordeaux? Did she spend all that time just hating the Four Horsemen? Our TV screens didn't answer these and countless other questions, but some fanfic does. ~~ Another "memorable, but . . ." character. She pushes way, *way* too many "Mary Sue, and not in a good way" buttons for me: "you have psychic powers, you turn out to be Immortal, you have auburn tresses, Methos makes you his love slave, you never break a nail, Kronos wants you too, later you get even more cool powers, you're Duncan's first love, you wear really nice dresses . . ." I see her as yet another woman who gets men to fight her battles for her -- as Grace, for instance, does too, but Cass has a lot less excuse than Grace, who is suited for Immie combat by neither temperament nor physique. (I haven't met Ceirdwyn yet.) ~~ Cassandra goes on my list more because of her effect on the relationships between DM and M. I don't think that she's particularly evil, and I doubt that even she could have gone around full of rage and wanting revenge every single day of her long life. ~~ She's memorable for her obsessions, which are sources of both strength and weakness. ~~ Cassandra... she has a lot of the very flaws every one of us *has*, more's the pity, but doesn't *wan't* to have, and none of us want to identify with someone who is as helpless as we find ourselves all too often in real life, especially if we find ourselves standing against very nasty and overpowering adversaries... so, it is easy to *dislke* her. But on the other hand, that woman is supposed to be 3000 years old. She is supposed to have survived that long, in a world where you *can't* survive as an Immortal without skills like fighting, experience, a good dose of paranoia, and success. So seeing her screwing up hits much the harder. You are supposed to be much "better" than you are now after 3000 years, aren't you? a winner. So maybe, the thought that maybe, just maybe, after 3000 years, if we would live that long, we would still find ourselves to be the same, flawed, nasty, unsure, bitching, sometimes helpless creature we are now at least sometimes and we *hate* being, is even the more unwelcome and makes it that much harder to like her. ~~ Well, I think I can't get around her: Cassandra, more's the pity, although just because I strongly *dislike* her. She's very manipulative, she's using others to fight her battles for her (in Prophecy as well as in Rev), but not in a way that would leave a choice to the male hero she tries to use like the incarnation of that old bad cliche, (like Amanda with Duncan, who seems more to play that game with her than really dislike it), but because she demands that if her enemy is not killed, "the world" would be in danger (of course, it is still just her enemy, even if he is dangerous, and just her fight, but well. Let's not mention *that*. ~~ I can't say enough about her character. She is courageous, beautiful, mysterious, tenacious. I could empty a dictionary, but I'll spare you. I think she remains in my memory so well for her very human qualities. Vulnerability, fear, anger, self doubt, she showed it all and made me care about it. There is real depth to her, and I think in some ways she is the female counterpart of Methos- you are never really certain who she is or what she's thinking. Some part is always holding back and watching. Also I know that if I had been in her situation, had my father butchered in front of me, my tribe slaughtered, been taken prisoner, beaten, raped, enslaved, and then had to try and escape the desert with no supplies, not knowing what I really was or how to survive, I never would have made it. And when she was the one in power, an ax over her head, and her tormentor was on the ground helpless in front of her, she showed him mercy. She walked away-that's memorable. ~~ Cassandra--for her role in defining both Duncan and Methos ~~ Memorable, yes. Likeable - no. At least from what we saw in the TV series, she was intensely irritating. Her behaviour varied from sheer stupidity to annoying pseudo-mystical. She came across as a user, and not a very sympathetic one. Even after the Horsemen episodes, I was conscious of pity, but very little admiration. Frankly, I only got to admire and respect her after reading some wonderful fanfic. ~~ Someone has said they admire Cassandra as a survivor of abuse. Personally, I don't consider her a survivor, I see her as a self-willed perpetual victim. This is a woman who has *not* moved past what happened to her, who has not changed nor learned nor grown stronger. She still lives in the same headspace she did when her tribe and life were taken from her, concerned always and only with her own revenge. I don't see her caring what the Horsemen have planned for the rest of the world, I don't see her caring what is happening with Methos and Duncan's friendship and how all this is affecting Duncan's own mental and emotional state, I don't see her caring one whit about the mortals (or Immortals, for that matter) she encounters in her quest for revenge beyond how useful they are to her plans. While I don't blame her for hating the Horsemen for what they did to her and hers, and while I certainly see her as justified for wanting them dead, what she suffered at their hands doesn't make her any more noble or likeable to my mind. I cannot see Cassandra as other than selfish, petty, and weak, regardless of her motives. I *wanted* to like Cassandra, to at least find her somehow endearing in some way, because I love storylines that leave me conflicted as to which characters I want to come out on top, but I honestly found myself hoping Duncan would get sick of her "poor me" routine and take her head just to shut her up. I do suspect that had she harped on her own ordeal less, I would have liked her a lot more. ~~ Strong, self-reliant, beautiful, sensual, powerful. I have to admit that part of what intrigues me about Cassandra is precisely the polarization of opinion the fan community has about her. That our experiences of the same show are so radically different indicates to me that Cassandra's story touched something deep, something mythical, that I don't fully understand. ~~ I would probably put Cassandra next as having been responsible for a fair bit of discussion. She is certainly the next on my list of female characters I would love to have seen more done with. The witch of Donan Woods and the healer of the bronze(or was it iron?) age tribe also fit into the 'archetype sort of characters which Highlander does so well. I don't know enough about Jung to have any idea how this idea really holds up but it has always seemed to me that a number of the characters have been designed to fit 'perfect niches' in a lot of ways. ~~ Cassandra(whom I like more every time I see CaH/Rev6:8. I started out really disliking her but she's making it up as she goes along, the same as Methos is and you can't fault her for that), ~~ CLAUDIA JARDIN Claudia Jardin--because she didn't let Duncan or any other guy boss her around. She was talented, she knew it, and she made her own decisions, even when others sought to make them for her. She was what most people consider a "bitch" but didn't care. AMY BRENNAN-THOMAS Amy (Joe's daughter) - There was so much potential here! How does a rookie watcher handle being kidnapped by one Immortal and then saved by another. Does she quit or does she adopt Joe's habit of picking up stray Immortals? The father/daughter dynamic would have been very interesting to watch. Even though she was in the vulnerable position in the episode she didn't seem the "damsel in distress". She kept her cool, she didn't frighten easily. She may have been angry at Joe but she didn't get irrational. Here was one worthy to sit at the bar with the rest of the clan. ~~
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| ALEXA In a series of impossibly beautiful, impossibly passionate, impossibly angsty people, Alexa came in in her quiet, down-to-earth way and not only caught the attention and heart of the most impossible of those intense people, she also altered my own viewpoint on the courage of Immortals and the nature of endurance. I especially loved the contrast between her and Claudia Jardine, whose arrogance, histrionics, and outrageous flirting highlighted Alexa's pragmatism and determined independence. In a lot of ways, Alexa actually reminded me of Tessa, and I would dearly loved to have seen more of her time with Methos. ~~~ And of course, Alexa. Anyone who could elicit that wonderful speech from Methos in 'Methuselah's Gift', indeed, anyone who could get Methos to do what he did deserves a mention. ~~~ Her enthusiasm and love for life in the face of certain death. AND you have to be pretty spectacular for a 5000 year old man to take interest in you. ~~~ Alexa. Confronted with a declaration of devotion from one of the most attractive men in the universe, she says "No." Damn, I admire that. Unlike most of the other women in the HL universe, she dresses as though she has something to do besides attract men. She's honest, forthright, realistic, and isn't looking for someone to help her. I think that's what I like most: that she isn't looking for a man's help, and her first reaction to the offer is to reject it. She accepts in the end, but it's a realistic acceptance, she knows it won't solve all her problems. ~~~ One episode, two more with off-screen references, but she managed to touch me deeply. Part of the credit goes to Ocean Hellman's performance - with the obvious tear-jerker moments, Alexa could have come across as unbearably, syrupy sweet, but she was endearing and poignant instead, as was her romance with Methos. ~~ Alexa--for her strength
Old Linda Plager Another woman who gets huge points from me for saying "No" to a monstrously attractive guy. I found the actress who played Young Linda quite unconvincing, but Old Linda does a great job. ~~~ Linda Plager--It's the elderly Linda Plager on the verge of death who I find most moving and memorable, but she contains within her the young Linda Plager who accomplished so much during her lifetime. So Linda Plager combines the admirable woman of achievement and the pathos of the decline of old age. We rarely get to see both in the same character. SOPHIE BAINES Once again my preference for the spiritual stuff - coming to terms with what Ahriman had done to her and deciding it was best that she die again was also pretty aweinspiring |
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| TESSA Tessa--for her strength ~~ I've always regretted her death so soon - it would have been enormously interesting if Tessa had lived even two or three more seasons. She provided a human viewpoint in contrast to Duncan's immortal viewpoint, she was intelligent and interesting in her own right, and it would have been fascinating to see her dealing with Richie as an immortal, meeting Joe Dawson, yhe Dark Quickening, (Methos?), and even how a mortal and an immortal get married. (Okay, so Duncan's got fake papers.) A quiet (sneaky) ceremony? Would either of them have asked friends/family? ~~ I liked her because she was smart and tough and very sexy, and because we got to see her and Duncan having a genuine sexual relationship. That's very unusual on TV. ~~ a sentimental favorite. It was easy to believe she and Duncan had been together twelve years when the show started. ~~ One of my favorite female TV characters of all time. I won't call her "feisty", because that implies she's really only cute. She's self-motivated -- she doesn't live for love, or by men. She questions Duncan, challenging his assumptions. She's tough, she fights when she has to. She has friendships with other women, she makes decisions, and as artist she's not at all "girly" -- sculpture with a blowtorch is not dainty work. ~~ Tessa(what was not to love about Tess? Okay maybe not the wardrobe, but she was really a match for Duncan, wasn't she?), ~~ the whiney bitch. (a friend & I watch "The Darkness" so we can dance around and chant "the whiney bitch is dead, the whiney bitch is dead!") All she ever seemed to do is complain to Duncan. ~~ Funny, beautiful and strong enough to deal with Mac and his immortality. ~~ I did not like Tessa. She was a total nag. She wanted Duncan to run away from his problems while she, ignored his words of caution and wanted to face her problems and *not* run away from them, she wanted him all to herself, she seemed to try and dictate who his friends could be, she came off to be such a control freak. She did have her good moments, and I did like her better than Amanda, but not by much. ~~ Tessa rates #1, of course. ~~ Tessa is a bit like goddesshood embodied. She has a powerful creative spirit, she nurtures and is extremely compassionate as well as passionate, she has beauty, grace and a startling lack of fear. Thank god she can't dance. <g> ~~ Her love and devotion to Duncan was so great and his for her that it is hard to define. ~~ The only non-Immortal on my list. She's first becuz HL is a series about Duncan and Tessa is Duncan's great love. She's also a good and strong woman who also is talented and beuatiful. The quintessential Tessa-scene is in "The Gathering" on the couch when she and Duncan are celebrating her birthady and talking about Immortality. And she immediately gets that Immortality is lonely. If a hypothetical HL viewer missed the first season s/he would miss a big chunk of who Duncan is. ~~ Tessa because she is mortal and she essentially shapes the entire series. Duncan changes dramatically; he is alot more sad once she dies, and eventually goes to mess with Amanda (i guess) because he know that it will be harder for amanda to die. Tessa essentially shapes the romance of the upcoming episodes. ~~ Tessa, because she brought light to DM's "grim existence" and stuck by him despite his lack of honesty about what being IM was like. ~~ Tessa. Of course. I really liked her. She was a very strong woman, very wise, and even her few prejudices just made the character more believable. she was a great mortal characterization. ~~ Tessa was *the* reason I got into the show and watched it religiously the first season. She was a strong, self-reliant character, beautiful and smart without being unrealistically perfect. She made mistakes, she had a temper, she didn't get along equally with everyone, but she was a good character and Duncan was better when he was with her. While, from a story arch viewpoint, I can see how her death opened up the world of the series to all sorts of possibilities, I still mourn how her death made Duncan a lot less likeable in my eyes. ~~ Tessa - she is the only female character I've seen on series television who is intelligent, in a healthy long-term relationship, feminine, capable- the scene around the sword case with Grayson (that whole episode actually - one of my most watched), the determination to do something about the serial killer and her reaction after she is forced to run over him, her responses both to Caleb and Co and to the fight at the end. Plus the continuing snippets of wisdom in her responses to Duncan's/their dilemmas - I find the series of ideas in their conversation about growing old in The Gathering incredibly refreshing ~~ I can go on about Tessa just about forever. Definitely the top of my list. ~~ She's one of Duncan's only "true loves" (relatively speaking), she loved him and stayed with him despite knowing the truth, and she was beautiful and successful in her own right. She also didn't take nonsense from other Immortals ~~ Also a lady of intelligence and inner strength, with a fully developed sense of humor, though she had too few chances to let it shine. Her empathy sparkled, and I was truly saddened to see her death in 'The Dark.' ~~ Funny, beautiful and strong enough to deal with Mac and his immortality. Tessa is the perfect wife, not so much in the american cliche of the nice little housewife, but the wife every one of us would want to be in a good relationship with a wonderful man we love: strong, understanding, giving, having her own head *BUT* not being a bitch about it (what I, I have to admit to my regret, for example all too often am); creative, coureageous, an artist, wise... of course, everybody likes her! she has a few flaws, too: her prejudices against her Call-Girl friend in that first season ep with the crazy newbie-Immortal- gone-selfappointed-avenger-of-evil (forgot the name, at the moment), and again her sticking to some prejudices when Richie falls for her former friend, a much older woman in the first seasons Xavier St. Cloud episode. But then, without those, she would be unbelievable, so it just makes her more human. It's easy to like her, she's so perfect. HEATHER Heather: her love of Connor and his for her. again the actors just out did themselves in bring these characters to life ~~ Heather - okay I know she was only in one movie but she has always had a soft spot in my heart. ~~ Heather, because she loved Connor enough to stay with him regardless of the difficulties ~~ I adored Heather. She was sweet, yet filled with fire, her love for Connor was absolutely unconditional and she loved him till the day she died. She wasn't weak, but she wasn't overbearing on Connor either. ~~ CAROLYN MARSH Sandra Bernhard's character--smart mouth, smart woman, terrible taste in dresses. Not afraid to be bold and public with her fantasies. ANGELINA ~~ lovable, smart and spoiled. LOL Hey she'd done alright in my book. ~~ I wanted to be irritated with her. Her voice and accent grated on me. I usually hate temperamental women who fling things at people. But despite myself, I liked her. Don't ask why - her fierce protectiveness of her husband, perhaps. Maybe I just liked her taste in clothes. ~~ I didn't hate her, but I didn't really like her either. In a lot of ways she was selfish and she used people. (When Amanda does it I am amused, but for some reason I was less so when Gina did it. Maybe because Amanda is so aware of what she's doing.) Anyway, she sticks in my mind because she was half of the longest running immortal couple we saw, and that was pretty memorable. Rebecca Lord (Revenge is Sweet) Another strong woman, confident and I *loved* the interplay between Rebecca, Mac and Tessa. KRISTIN Kristen - Can't quite say why I find her more intriguing than the other f'immie k'immies, but I do. I think I usually have problems identifying with the mindsets of the bad guys, but I have no problem understanding Kristen's obsession with having been 'killed' twenty years too late. ~~ Kristin, the woman with the modeling agency, who seduced Richie. Memorable because I really disliked her...and we didn't get that many female villains. ~~ I hated her. She was jealous, controlling, vicious, cruel, and more than a little insane. I was glad when Methos killed her. The one good thing about her is that she did teach Duncan how to bathe. ~~ For me Kristin wins the all time 'no prize' for most unforgettable female Kimmie. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy evil females, but her character would have been more at home in a Charlie's Angels episode. She had it all..the lips, the hair, the poses, the melodrama. And that fighting technique, I think Carol Brady would have been more believable behind a sword. Even her voice was annoying, so I don't think I'll be forgetting her anytime soon. ~~ A strong villain is always more memorable than a victim. Kristin is a good old fashioned bad girl, manipulative, cunning and amoral. She likes to kill for profit, power _and_ fun! What's not to like about that, eh, Methos? <G>. NEFERTIRI Nefertiri is memorable to me because she didn't fit into the present time period since she as taken directly from Egypt to the present with no way to adjust...that plotline was different and makes her stick in my mind. I didn't *like* her particularly, but she interested me. ~~
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| MARY MACLEOD An immensely strong woman. She withstood her husband's and probably her village's condemnation of Duncan. She bested (damn! my mind's gone blank - the k'immie in Prophecy)[Roland] And wise. I love her when she publicly roars at Ian "Do ya nae know the difference between honour and pride?" ~~ Duncan's mother impressed the hell out of me when she resisted Roland's questions. Her coping with Duncan's death was also very inspiring. CONNOR'S MOM One thing I really loved about Endgame was that Connor was the product of the same kind of strong, courageous, fiercely loyal woman as Mary MacLeod ~~ On the strength of Connor's mother's answer 'If your God cannot cope with whatever the hell the line was, I'll have to find another one' I'd add her to the list. That sort of assurance when you're about to be burnt alive is awesome, and all you have to do not to be burnt ( presume) is renounce a son who would (possibly) have coped with such a 'betrayal' better than her death since he couldn't ever hear those words (the aweinspiring ones about God) KATYA Strength in love and revenge and forgiveness INGRID I'll vote for Ingrid Henning, but not because she was a k'immie. K'immies don't interest me as a rule because they're stereotypes. What made Ingrid interesting and memorable is that she wasn't one. She was complex and well-developed. You could also feel a certain amount of sympathy for what she was doing and ask yourself whether Duncan was right to take her head. ~~ Ingrid was tough, complex, also obsessed, and it's peculiar her name didn't start with a "K"...<G>. Of course, she wasn't wholly amoral and sociopathic, like Kristin, which makes Duncan's decision to take her head all the more interesting. This story marks a sea change in Duncan's character, I think, as he reexamines his automatic assumption of moral superiority.
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| AMANDA ~~ Amanda-- for both her wile and whimsy ~~ Amanda. I want to know what her original name was. It wasn't "Amanda" - that name didn't exist in the 10th century. I love the way she fights when she has to - the bouncy fast kicks. I love the way she doesn't fight except when she has to - how she manipulates and maneuvers and covers and runs. She's a survivor. I suspect that we wouldn't have seen much of her till after Tessa died, though, because I suspect that when Duncan is involved with a mortal Amanda steers clear. ~~ I find her most memorable because she's a fantasy figure for me. I only wish I had the courage to be so outrageous and open about my sexuality. I'm convinced that Amanda has more fun than any other woman on television. ~~ I liked her because she was smart and wily and sexy, because she could always get Duncan to do things, even though he knew better than to do them, and because she was a good thief. There was also a vulnerable, sweet side to Amanda, even though she didn't let it out much. ~~ Amanda is the flirtatious woman we would like to see ourselves sometimes: sly, gorgeous, funny, washed with all waters; later episodes and the Raven series have given her also character traits like being courageous, sometimes wise, and a passable fighter who knows her limits and when to turn to run. *AND* she's a very successful thief, on tops, so she has that litle flavour of *outside the law*, of fooling everybody normal and solid, but getting away with it. But she won't kill mortals if she doesn't has to, so it is safe to identify with her, anyway. ~~ What makes her memorable to me is her energy, her charm and flirtatiousness, her beauty and grace and her resilience. She's tough as nails but she hasn't lost her compassion or her femininity. She's the woman I wish I could be. Plus, she calls Duncan her best friend, which I just love for some reason. ~~ She always seemed to be there for Duncan when he needed her. Even with her mischievous ways. ~~ Amanda is memorable because I absolutely cannot stand her! She is pushy, obnoxious, and she is only out for herself! When I see her, I just want to slice her head off her shoulders. She's a slut and a thief and she uses Duncan. (More annoying is that Duncan *lets* her, but that's another story.) ~~ I didn't care for Amanda. Yeah, she was a diversion for the series and led us into silliness (and there's a place for that, okay?) but she never struck me as particularly intelligent -- I was surprised to see her alive. Then alive the next year. And the next. Duncan bailed her buns out a lot, but some immie would have gotten tired of her penchant for trouble and decided he wasn't going to be led around by his ... um ... er ... anyway -- and whacked her. ~~ Amanda reminded me of Richie. Richie, at least, the writers attempted to get out of the 'silly sidekick' role and do something with him. Amanda they never seemed to do that with enough. She was a toy and that always made me cranky because women are so often toys in TV and movies. ~~ Amanda(whom I loved from the word go. And not just because she's *gorgeous*, but she's so damn cool) ~~ the anti-Tessa. Another great love? bad penny? good time (or all three or in between them all) of Duncan's that he returns to over and over as the years go by. She isn't good, but she makes him laugh and get over himself. The defining Amanda-scene (Aside from HL;TR which I'm not sure I've seen all of and she's very different with Nick Wolfe than she was with DM.) is in the ep with Sandra Bernhart as the Romance writer. The end, when she's talking with Duncan as they walk along the pond, bay, body of water. ~~ She's memorable, all right, but my feelings about her are *strongly* mixed, leaning toward negative. In many, many ways, she's a parasite. She doesn't make or do, she steals. When she's not stealing, she seems to function by manipulating men to give her what she wants, as her style of dress advertizes. In "Lady or the Tiger" she's nearly a parody of the femme fatale; the writers kind of rehabilitated her further on, but not enough to get the bad taste out of my mouth. She later seems honestly devoted to Duncan, somewhat, but I still see her as having little or no respect for Duncan's other relationships (with Tessa, with Anne). I admit, I haven't seen all her eps yet, especially in season 3. Despite my negative feelings, she's probably the most complex, fully-realized female character in HL. She does have recognizable human feelings (e.g. for Rebecca, for Kenny), she doesn't claim to be more than she is, she's trying to get by and have a good time, to endure Immortality by being easily amused. When she stepped in to whack whosis and take the Q in "Lady or the Tiger," my husband said, "Amanda is the Immortal's Immortal:" living for the moment, dealing with the Game only when she has to, trying not to learn or care too much for mortals. ~~ Amanda is interesting because she's been able to last so long, keep laughter in her heart and despite all of the "naughty" aspects of her personality, she must have some really great redeeming features that we still haven't encountered. Otherwise, DM wouldn't have cared about her for so long. It's not just great sex that keeps them meeting back up over the years. They have a relationship. ~~ Amanda! no question about it. Now the Lady had her own show, but she sure as hell deserved it, too. Brilliant character, strong woman, who knows to use her powers, but also knows how to fight, and is unlikely to sink into despression either. I won't begin to praise her here because I am a very big Amanda fan and might not easily stop. ~~ Who could ever forget Amanda? Sex kitten with claws...she purrs, she slinks, she comes when she wants and leaves when she feels like it, and she can definitely get her back up. She's adorable, horrible and good hearted all at once. As for her relationship with Duncan, all I can say is he is one slow learner. ~~ This might possibly be because of the amount of screen time she got, but she did get my attention right from the "the Lady and the Tiger." fascinating woman - a bundle of conflicting impulses, she makes me cheer when she does the "right thing"; more often than not, when she doesn't, wackiness ensues, so can't complain there, either. ~~ Amanda - the woman is just a perfect joy to watch. She loves life and knows how to get what she wishes from it. She is my favorite. ~~ It's actually more the potential of Amanda I love, the *idea* of her (which is the main reason I'm frustrated Highlander: The Raven didn't last, we were finally getting more of her). She was very unevenly written in the series, but there was still enough there that you could catch what she was meant to be. For all her flighty ways and flirtatiousness, Amanda is a survivor who fights her own battles. Give her a few thousand years, and I can see her becoming very much like Methos, cagey and canny and ruthless in protecting what she considers of importance. ~~ Amanda - Could be screen time, could be my weakness for ancient female immortals. Amanda comes across for me as the f'immie that is most comfortable with herself, the most uh, self-actualized. She knows who she is, and she's happy with it. ~~ Amanda is my favorite female character on Highlander so she definitely makes my memorable list. I just love her attitude and the humor she brought to the show. And I love the fact that she's a survivor, and she'll use anything she can to stay alive. ~~ I have to mention her anyway. I adore her. "The Raven" was starting to show us so many other aspects of her character. I was sorry to see it end so soon. ~~ Amanda is interesting because she's been able to last so long, keep laughter in her heart and despite all of the "naughty" aspects of her personality, she must have some really great redeeming features that we still haven't encountered. Otherwise, DM wouldn't have cared about her for so long. It's not just great sex that keeps them meeting back up over the years. They have a relationship. ~~ Love the more than friendship, less then romance relationship she has with Duncan, her irreverent sense of humour, the fact that she's such an unpredictable mix of "me first" and genuine empathic and/or vulnerable moments ~~ I like Amanda. She's multi-layered; canny, feral and in full possession of a sense of humor. She's sensibly cautious at times, recklessly fun at others. She's hammered out her own sense of honor, and still has a learning curve. Her adaptability and resilience made a good example to Mac, I thought. She's not my favourite, but she is definitely memorable. Amanda is what she is, and she accepts herself that way. She can hold her own in fights just fine! (I've been keeping score. <g>)
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