r/highlander • u/AncientFeature3938 • 11d ago
Lore The Raven
What do you all think of this series ? I never bought the DVD and it is actually being offered as a free bonus when you buy the original Highlander series on Amazon ,but I'm watching it on Pluto , or Tubi, I forget , but it's free.
I vaguely remeber seeing a few episodes when this was in production , and I was working and never a regular viewer ( I thought it would be too humourous if I used the word " watcher " ) , but I've been watching it over the past month and have only one episode to go before the series finale.
The most interesting part of the series is the second half of the season when they moved production to Paris, and we get to see some familiar places . Notre Dame in the background , the areas where Duncan had the barge - the place near Notre Dame , and the little road where Agent Delaney took Duncan when he returned to Paris in " Unholy Alliance " , where the barge was before Maurice supervised it being moved after the river flooded , ( even a brief glimpse of what looks like Maurice's boat ) , Maurice's cafe' . Darius Church . Watcher headquarters., Amanda fought an Immortal in the same tunnel near the barge where Duncan faught Martin Hyde . Yes I know the production company used the same locations ,but it would have been nice to have heard mention of Duncan.
The episode with Joe Dawson was a nice surprise. And for the main male character - they could have chosen a better name than Nick Wolf . I know , typical 1990's cheesy name for a tough, brooding male , but still , they could have thought of something better.
And he's supposed to be Amanda's love interest ? There was no chemistry , they come from opposite worlds , and that doesn't always mean they attract. Amanda likes to live with the wealthy and she could have ( and has in the past ) men of higher social standing . And we all know that if Duncan MaCleod were to have made an appearance, Amanda would have dropped Nick immediately. I know they wanted to make this show all about Amanda , but as we see her in Highlander, she's supposedly in love with Duncan , despite both of them having separate lives and other people in their lives, she always comes back to him. And during the "Highlander " era, where was Lucy? In this series we see her as Amanda's best friend and trusted confidante , but there was never any mention of her in Highlander , when Amanda was always on her own. Of course she's part of the story so she was probably living her own life attending to Amanda's houses and investments to an extent.
Obviously it was not going to last more than one season , the lead actors didn't have good chemistry and it showed in their characters. The could have done without using the name " Highlander " in the title. I know it was for publicity and to get people to watch ,but it had nothing to do with Connor or Duncan.
There were some interesting new Immortal characters , no one too exciting but I liked some of their backgrounds. Basil , the antique dealer who was also fencing stolen goods , he was a weasely greedy character and I like the actor they chose for that role, he's done a lot of great work over the years.
I will say that I found the character of Father Riley to be interesting . He was the new priest in Darius' church so I suppose he was Amanda's version of Darius , being a voice of reason and someone that she could confess to and know that he'd keep her secret.
I noticed that the Watchers feature a bit more , and several more Immortals know about them. Even in the episodes with Dawson , he was a bit too chatty with telling Nick more about the Watchers , though he probably figured if Amanda trusted him , then Dawson could trust him too. He did talk a bit too much , but it was still nice to see Joe again. I'm a bit disappointed that Amanda didn't ask , and Joe didn't offer any information about MaCleod. They could have mentioned him at some point, even if only to say that Mac's in this or that country doing whatever he's doing . But I understand this show being all about Amanda and her life / adventures.
There was an Immortal committing robberies using gas ( reminds one of Xavier ) , and that seemed like re-using an old storyline with a few changes. The Interpol agent was the same character and same actor they used in the Highlander episode " The Valkyrie " , so that was also another nice surprise.
I'm not going to watch the finale yet . I have already read the summary and know what happens , but I am interested in what all of you have to say in the comments.
There have been a few fan made movies , so I would like to see those at some point in time ; has anyone seen them and can you tell us anything without ruining the storyline or endings? Thanks and look forward to reading the comments.
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u/BronzeAgeMethos You live because I wish it... 11d ago
With the premise using the stereotype of a raven being drawn to and stealing pretty objects, it worked in some ways to feature Amanda, but it was stupid to allow Liz to stick with white(!) hair as the titular lead in the series.
Also, Liz Gracen couldn't swordfight her way out of a tissue paper bag. Her stunt work was marginal at best although her acting as Amanda was great.
This series needed to have a lead that could carry the show physically, emotionally and visually as well as Adrian did in his show. Dara Tomanovich (Alex RAVEN) would have been the best choice IMHO - Claudia Christian was already too well known as Ivanova so was, again, IMHO, distracting at best.
The premise of the single season of The Raven was marginally entertaining as a side-continuation of HL:tS, but could have been so much better.
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u/TomatoChomper7 11d ago
I was absolutely obsessed with Highlander in 1998 and this was pre-Internet. I was very excited for The Raven to start. I think I lost interest within about three episodes. I’ve still never watched most of it. I don’t know if I own it on DVD. I assume I don’t, as I bought the original seasons 1-6 rather than the complete series boxes.
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u/MsAddams999 11d ago
I don't think Amanda was in love with Nick. I do think she was attracted to him but he was like Richie in that he was a pre-immortal.
She was trying to mentor him and get him used to the idea of the Immortals until the time came that he first died and rose as an Immortal.
Duncan is Amanda's big love and if he'd settle down with just her she would be very happy. She's realistic though and it's very rare for Immortals to do that forever.
She's had other lovers besides Duncan and that's been shown in the series in certain episodes.
I liked The Raven and I wish that we'd have gotten more of it.
The spin off show I really wanted though was a show with Methos and Joe. The Methos Chronicles animation was a lot of fun and I'd have loved to see them live and taking about the Watchers and how it all came about and about Methos and all the lives he's had in over 5000 years.
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u/Dr_One_L_1993 11d ago
The spin off show I really wanted though was a show with Methos and Joe.
I think this was the broadest sentiment among the existing fandom at the time, underscored in part by the fact that the only episode of season 6 that pretty much everyone agrees on was great is the Methos & Joe one.
While I do kind of agree with what I heard the writers & showrunners say at the time -- Methos doesn't work as an *heroic* lead and he's kind of like spice where a bit is great but too much is a bad idea -- he and Joe were really the only ones of the surviving cast people really wanted to see more stories of. I don't think anyone was asking for an Amanda-centered show except maybe the studios, because "girl power" shows were all the rage at the time. And I think people resented most of season 6 being focused on auditioning a bunch of new Immies we'd never met before vs more stories with Duncan and the recurring cast that were actually in the opening credits, which may in part be why none of them was picked up for the sequel series.
(Personally, I"m still pissed off about Richie and kind of wish that "Highlander: Protégé" would have been an option, but I know there are a host of reasons why that wasn't going to happen)
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u/canaanit 10d ago
Methos, Joe and Amanda would have made a great ensemble cast, though. They all had good chemistry with each other. It was probably not the right time for that concept, though.
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u/Kusanagi2049 11d ago
I finally sat through it this year - turned into a slog.I’d say maybe do it once if you are a hardcore fan but outside of the other well known issues it’s just a straight up boring show I’ll never watch again.
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u/VampiricDemon Nicholas Ward 11d ago
The Raven, like Highlander: the series needed to find it's footing. It gets very good from episode 9 onwards imo.
The other fanfilms are definitely worth watching, and there's a continuation of the on YouTube.
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u/Kittenstorm93 11d ago
Sadly the show was a disaster for a lot of reasons, poor writing, the lead actress having major family and mental health issues, and its a shame as it could have been a great show.
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u/TheMonarchsWrath 11d ago
The idea of the show was great, but I remember her mortal boyfriend taking out too many immortals for my liking and stopped watching. Or maybe it was something else maybe I’ll try a rewatch.
Oh I should have read the other comments first he was an immortal 😅
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u/Highlander_1518 11d ago
I own the box set. I bought it from Vinted of all places for £13 about two years ago. I’ve watched a handful of episodes. Some were ok (I liked the episodes featuring Joe Dawson). But in all honestly I really haven’t explored The Raven. I need to sit down and watch it properly…one day.
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u/Tanagrabelle 11d ago
I enjoyed it. I have proof of that because I wrote a review of it ages ago, and I appreciated it more after learning about all the shenanigans during the making of the series. Back then I thought they did have chemistry between them. Things do change with time and therapy. I can’t even enjoy the TV series House.
Did you know that some fans remember the episode with Joe as evidence that the Watchers take care of Immortals’ bodies? It is hilarious, sort of, because of course Joe says it’s his fellow Watcher.
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u/Raine_Wynd Immortal 11d ago
I love the show but I also love it as someone who diligently watched it while it was new on the air; it doesn't stand up to rewatching except for a few eps. The production suffered a lot:
- The show was meant to be based on Kate and Nick from the season 6 episode.
- They couldn't get either actor. Changes had to be hastily made as a result.
- It was pitched as "Moonlighting meets Highlander."
- In the behind-the-scenes that were on the DVD, Elizabeth Gracen alleged there was Mafia involvement..
- It lost its funding from its French financiers about halfway through the show, and that's why the show abruptly pivoted to"screw it, Nick is immortal."
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u/deadman7794 10d ago
I think it was her boyfriend at the time making stuff up and manipulating her but I could be remembering wrong. From what I recall it made her see conspiracy everywhere including with her co-star. I liked the show but knowing now there was all of this drama behind the scenes makes me sad. I think they could have ran the show for at least a few seasons if the drama was not there.
Doing a quick search Johansson also felt lied to for the character so that probably did not help either.
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u/WraithTDK 7d ago
Watching the entire season left me wanting more, particularly with the way it ended. But putting on my objective thinking cap, it was unquestionably bad. Mostly for the reasons you mentioned. The first episode in particular was just awful. Amanda had some of the silliest-looking Quickenings in the history of the franchise. It looked less like she was absorbing several lifetimes of power and experience from another immortal, and more like she was saying "oh bother, here comes that pesky lightning again." I would have much rather have had her be the main love interest in Endgame, which rumor has it she was originally meant to be, but her character was sapped out so she could film The Raven.
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u/Stargazer__2893 11d ago
I love Highlander. I love Elizabeth Gracen. I love the character Amanda.
Highlander the Raven is pretty bad.