The Best Episodes of Highlander: The Series

MacLeod's old compatriot Hugh Fitzcairn comes to town bearing a mystery -- some of their other Immortal friends have disappeared suspiciously. MacLeod realizes that someone may be following Fitz, and realizes too late that Fitz has put Darius in danger by visiting him. Finding Darius dead in his chapel and Fitzcairn kidnaped, MacLeod won't rest until he finds the men responsible. Tracking the killers of his old friend, MacLeod discovers that there is a band of mortals hunting Immortals, and even holy ground is no protection from them. MacLeod finds the renegades in time to save Fitzcairn and confront James Horton, leader of the Hunters, but Horton eludes his grasp.

Director: Paolo Barzman

Writer: Kevin Droney

After Midori Koto sees her husband, rich industrialist Michael Kent, murder her lover, she kills Kent and runs to MacLeod for protection. She reminds MacLeod of a vow of protection his ""ancestor"" (actually MacLeod himself) made to her family over 200 years before. Flashbacks tell the story of MacLeod coming to the aid of the samurai Hideo Koto after MacLeod is shipwrecked in Japan. Hideo befriends MacLeod -- even though the penalty for helping a ""barbarian"" in isolationist Japan is death. When Hideo is forced to commit ritual hari kari by his feudal overlord for that crime, MacLeod serves as his second. He vows to Hideo he will always protect the Koto family and is bequeathed the dragon head katana sword he uses to this day. Back in the present, MacLeod discovers that Kent is an Immortal and he's still alive. In order not to further dishonor her family's name, Midori returns to Kent. Kent challenges MacLeod, who fulfills his vow to the Koto family and frees Midori from her loveless mar

Director: Dennis Berry

Writer: Naomi Janzen

In the 1600s, MacLeod sought refuge for a time in a monastery founded by Paul, another Immortal. There he encountered Kalas, an Immortal monk with a heavenly singing voice. When MacLeod discovered that Kalas was routinely taking the heads of Immortals as they left the sanctuary, MacLeod and Paul expelled Kalas from the monastery, separating him from the music that was his life. Now in the present, Paul and his choir have been lured out of their monastery for a concert tour. When Paul disappears after a concert, MacLeod discovers that Kalas is after his revenge. Meanwhile, two mysterious deaths at the hospital seem to be linked to negligence on Anne's part. Later, when drugs are found in Joe's bar, it becomes obvious that Kalas is trying to destroy MacLeod's friends before coming for him. MacLeod confronts Kalas and finds that Kalas is a strong and skillful fighter, better than MacLeod has faced before, and is nearly the victor. To save himself, MacLeod throws himself off the concert ha

Director: Paolo Barzman

Writer: David Tynan

MacLeod is picked up at the airport in France by his old friend, Hugh Fitzcairn. For the first time in the 350 years MacLeod has known him. Fitz has settled down as a Universitv Professor with the love of his life, Naomi. Flashbacks show MacLeod and Fitz's first meeting, when MacLeod was protecting the Doge's daughter from Fitz's amourous advances in Venice, 1637. When Naomi's jealous ex-lover is found strangled next to a computer displaying Fitz's falsified teaching credentials, Fitz goes on the run from the police. MacLeod realizes that Fitz is being framed by Kalas, who has followed him from the U.S. Kalas challenges Fitz and takes his head while MacLeod watches, unable to interfere.

Director: Paolo Barzman

Writer: Jim Makichuk

When two Watchers end up dead by Kalas' hand, Joe realizes that Kalas is looking for Methos, the mythical ""oldest Immortal."" MacLeod knows that, with Methos' quickening, Kalas would finally be strong enough to defeat him. Kalas and MacLeod race to be the first to find Methos. Meanwhile, Richie muscles his way onto a top level motorcycle racing team and the champion, Basil, starts to get nervous. Flashbacks are to Paris in the 1920s, when Kalas, then known as Antonio Neri, was the toast of the opera world. When Kalas threatens a young girl in MacLeod's protection, they fight. Kalas escapes, but not before MacLeod inflicts a throat wound that destroys Kalas' vocal chords and the singing that has been his life since the Middle Ages. Kalas nearly takes Methos in battle and, realizing that he will not be able to defeat Kalas, Methos offers his own head to MacLeod. MacLeod refuses and challenges Kalas on his own, nearly defeating him when the police arrive to send Kalas to prison for the dea

Director: Dennis Berry

Writer: Jean-Vincent Fournier

McLoud bought a Celtic bracelet once given to the love of his mortal life and after her tragic death he buried it with her. He returns to Glen Finnin to return the bracelet to her grave and learns of several gruesome ritualistic killings based around the one immortal who killed Mac's father. Naturally Mac must get to the bottom of the killings and keep his head in the process.

Director: Adrian Paul

Writer: David Tynan

A mortal named Pallin Wolf, one of the renegade Watchers who believes the Immortals must be eliminated, lures an Immortal to his house and kills him, getting the advantage by tricking him into a sealed room that is completely dark, then stalking him with night vision goggles. Meanwhile, a Gypsy fortuneteller they meet in a restaurant, Greta, warns Tessa that she is in danger. When Tessa is kidnapped by Wolf, MacLeod returns to Greta, asking for her help. But she's mostly a hustler, and not accustomed to getting actual visions, so the clues she is able to provide are meager. Finally, Mac finds Wolf's house, where Wolf is waiting for him. He meets Wolf in the dark room and all seems hopeless until he remembers a matchbook Greta gave him with her phone number in it. Lighting the matches, he regains the advantage and kills Wolf. However, as Tessa and Richie are heading for the car, a young junkie accosts them for money, and in an act of senseless violence, shoots them both. As Mac mourns,

Director: Paolo Barzman

Writer: Christian Bouveron, Lawrence Shore

As Charlie regains strength, MacLeod accepts help from Dawson one last time, and barely misses catching Xavier and Horton. He then follows their trail to Paris -- accompanied by the persistent Renee Delaney. They track down Horton, and when he almost escapes, he is shot by Joe Dawson. MacLeod, with the help of his humorous new neighbor Maurice, then tracks down Xavier and finally takes his head. In a coda, however, we learn that Horton still lives.

Director: Peter Ellis

Writer: David Tynan

Fitz died three hundred years ago... Horton has taken over the Watchers... Joe Dawson has been reduced to a bitter, penniless vagrant... Amanda is a black widow... and Methos has rejoined the Horsemen to avenge his fiance's death. If you think that's bad, just wait till you find out what's happened to Richie and Tessa.

Director: Dennis Berry

Writer: David Tynan

Xavier St. Cloud returns, killing Immortals with the help of mortal mercenaries who shoot his prey, making his kill easy. His next target is MacLeod but, warned by Dawson, Mac and Charlie just manage to escape death -- though the dojo is all but destroyed in the gunfight. Renee Delaney, a CID agent investigating the mercenary angle, gets on the case. MacLeod goes after Xavier himself, and Charlie insists on coming along. During his battle with St. Cloud, MacLeod spots James Horton, the Hunter who killed Darius. Distracted, Mac is 'killed' and falls down an elevator shaft out of beheading range, and Charlie is badly wounded and lies near death. Blaming Dawson for helping Horton escape alive, MacLeod warns him not to cross his path again.

Director: Peter Ellis

Writer: David Tynan

Determined to investigate the death of his old friend Darius, MacLeod follows a lead back to his old stomping grounds in the Pacific Northwest. He meets Joe Dawson, a bookstore owner with a secret; he soon learns that Dawson is a high-ranking member of an ancient secret organization known as The Watchers, who observe and record the lives of the Immortals, passing their archives down from generation to generation. Unbeknownst to Dawson, his brother-in-law, James Horton (the man who killed Darius), has been recruiting Watchers to kill Immortals. We are left with the knowledge that other renegade Watchers may be waiting to try for MacLeod's head.

Director: Clay Borris

Writer: Marie-Chantal Droney

A serial killer dubbed The Scalper' is attacking blonde women, including a friend of Tessa's. MacLeod recognizes the pattern of an Immortal who, betrayed by the woman he loved, became a killer. To end the carnage, MacLeod was forced to confront and kill him, back in 1925. Now the killings have started again, the modern day killer mimicking the 70-year-old M.O., killing in the same locations as the previous murders. It falls to MacLeod and Tessa to stop this madman.

Director: Thomas J. Wright

Writer: Brian Clemens

An Evil Immortal, Kuyler, has hired himself out down through time as an assassin -- the most successful killer in all of history. He strikes again in modern day Paris using his signature disguise as a mime. A French Police Detective, LeBrun, suspects that Duncan MacLeod is connected to Kuyler, but of course he cannot imagine that Kuyler once killed an eighteenth-century baron under MacLeod's protection. When LeBrun is wounded protecting Tessa from Kuyler's men, MacLeod confronts the Immortal assassin and puts an end to his centuries-old reign of terror.

Director: Ray Austin

Writer: N/A

MacLeod stumbles across the trail of an Immortal, Xavier St. Cloud, who has lived in hedonistic splendor down through the ages by remorseless robbing and killing innocent men and women. MacLeod had nearly fallen victim to this remorseless killer behind the front lines during World War One, when Xavier used poison gas to loot a payroll truck. He uses even deadlier gas in modern day Paris, and MacLeod must track him down before he kills again. He succeeds in defeating Xavier, but the Evil Immortal escapes with his head. In a humorous yet touching subplot, Richie falls for a glamorous older woman, not realizing she is married, and Tessa must disentangle him from the woman's clutches.

Director: Robin Davis

Writer: Philip John Taylor

A mysterious death at the Paris Opera re-acquaints Duncan MacLeod with one of the strangest Immortals he has met in his many travels over the centuries. Ursa is a hulking giant -- more beast than man -- who Duncan rescued from persecution centuries ago, delivering him to sanctuary in an abbey. The abbey has long since been destroyed and Ursa now lives under Paris. He has become enamored of a past-her-prime opera singer who tries to use Ursa's innocent soul to murder her rival.

Director: Daniel Vigne

Writer: Marie-Chantal Droney

Grace Chandel has been a Good Immortal, working for the betterment of mankind as a midwife, doctor, and scientist over the centuries. Her one weakness is another Immortal, Carlo Sendaro, a former lover who is obsessed with her and refuses to let her go. He slays Grace's current (mortal) lover and, when she refuses to run off with him, frames her for the killing. She turns to her old friend Duncan MacLeod for help.

Director: Ray Austin

Writer: N/A

A day at the circus reunites MacLeod with a former lover, the Immortal femme-fatale, Amanda, who has always meant big trouble for him. Amanda, meanwhile, is in trouble of her own as her former partner, Blaine, has escaped from prison and wants her head. She plays the two Immortal men against each other, drawing MacLeod into a daring, high-stakes burglary she and Blaine are plotting.

Director: Robin Davis

Writer: Philip John Taylor

Richie meets a beautiful young woman who leads him into the world of haute couture. His youthful jealousy causes him to run afoul of a world-class fashion designer, a deadly Immortal.

Director: Dennis Berry

Writer: Christian Bouveron, Lawrence Shore

When fatal stabbing fails to kill him, Alfred Cahill becomes convinced that he has been chosen by a higher power to wage a crusade against 'perversion', and cuts a bloody path through Paris, murdering prostitutes and pimps, and endangering an old friend of Tessa's who has become a call girl. MacLeod tries to explain Immortality to Cahill, but he can't get through to him, and finally is forced to take his head.

Director: Paolo Barzman

Writer: Fabrice Ziolkowski

When the stepdaughter of an Immortal is raped, the Immortal comes after the young man. MacLeod, a guest in the home of the accused boy's father, feels he must protect the family from this unstoppable menace. He urges the Immortal to see due process done, but the man has no interest in listening to reason, and he lays siege to the house.

Director: Dennis Berry

Writer: David Abramowitz

When her mentor Rebecca is killed, Amanda is determined to avenge the death, even though it means going up against the formidable Immortal Luther, and very possibly losing her head. She comes to Mac for a final fling before her likely death, and when he discovers that she's after Luther, he tries to take the battle on himself, feeling he has a better chance of survival. Together they discover that Luther is hunting the pieces of an ancient crystal that Rebecca divided among her students, believing that the whole crystal will make him invulnerable and ensure that he is the Last Immortal. In the final confrontation, both Amanda and MacLeod take their turns battling the ascetic Luther.

Director: Paolo Barzman

Writer: David Tynan

The people of a tiny Balkan nation are rising up in arms against an oppressive dictator. The freedom fighters are led by Paul Karros, a vibrant, charismatic leader. Karros is an Immortal who once served as a slave under Roman oppression and fought his way to freedom with Spartacus. Since that time, whenever the common people have been fighting against oppression, Karros has been at their side. Karros and his assistant, Mara, have come to the U.S. to drum up support for their cause. MacLeod and Karros fought together in the Mexican Revolution and Karros tries to convince MacLeod to fight with him in this just cause. MacLeod turns him down, but Charlie is tempted both by the cause and by Mara. When Father Stefan, a local liaison, is critically wounded in an assassination attempt, MacLeod realizes that Karros is determined to fight the war at any cost -- even at the cost of sabotaging peace negotiations by killing those who trust him. When Mara discovers the truth, she threatens to expose

Director: Dennis Berry

Writer: Peter Mohan

Dawson has a new girlfriend, art historian Lauren Gale, and a new attitude on life. Unfortunately, Dawson arrives at Lauren's house one evening to witness her murder. We discover the murderer is Armand Thorne, benefactor of the Thorne Museum of Antiquities, who was being investigated by Lauren. MacLeod finds an ancient gold cross on display in Thorne's museum, a cross that had been stolen out from under his protection nearly two hundred years before. Armand Thorne, MacLeod discovers, is actually John Durgan, the Immortal trapper who murdered a frontier priest and stole the cross. MacLeod persuades Amanda to come out of cat-burglar retirement and help him to steal the cross from the museum in order to lure Thorne out of his heavily protected fortress. MacLeod confronts Thorne, taking his head, and finally gets fulfill his promise to return the Cross of St. Antoine.

Director: Dennis Berry

Writer: Morrie Ruvinsky

Michelle Webster, the rebellious teenage daughter of a friend of MacLeod's, drives away from her parents' house in a rage and right over a cliff. Trauma surgeon Anne Lindsey tries her best to save Michelle, but it's too late. MacLeod rushes to the hospital to comfort his grieving friends -- and sneak their newly Immortal daughter out of the morgue. He tries to train her in the arts of Immortality, but Michelle just wants to have fun. She meets Immortal Axel Whittaker who promises her all the fun and adventure she could imagine if she stays with him. In flashback, we see that Axel uses beautiful new Immortal women as bait to trap other Immortals and take their heads -- MacLeod barely escaped with his in 1896 Boston. Axel uses Michelle to lure MacLeod to his yacht, where they continue the battle they started a hundred years before. MacLeod defeats Axel. Michelle, witnessing the fearsome power of the Quickening, agrees to be trained as an Immortal under the protection of Amanda.

Director: Mario Philip Azzopardi

Writer: Karen Harris

Cullen, an old friend of MacLeod's, is burnt out from centuries of playing The Game and has turned to drugs and alcohol to get the courage to keep on playing. Cullen had a run-in with Richie and now he's coming for Richie's head. While playing ""chicken"" with Richie on a mountain road, Cullen crashes head-on into a bus full of passengers, killing many. MacLeod tries to convince Cullen, who he once knew as the greatest of the warriors, to stop using the drugs, but a paranoid Cullen believes MacLeod is just trying to render him helpless. Finally, MacLeod has no choice but to confront his former comrade and defeat him.

Director: Charles Wilkinson

Writer: Nancy Heikin-Pepin