As the episode begins, we see a trio of mimes carry out acts of cartoon violence...before really killing someone. Duncan witnesses one of the killings and quickly concludes that they're the work of Kuyler, an Immortal assassin who uses clownish behaviour to get his victims to let their guards down.
There's a couple of nice elements to this. The flashback to Duncan and Kuyler's first meeting has a rather creepy Masonic handshake moment as they face off. We get another flashback, to Duncan and Tessa's first meeting, although it involves yet another case of Duncan facing an evil Immortal during his supposed century off from the Game. (He doesn't have a sword though, which is a nice touch.) And the show finally works out that they can have Duncan interact with the villain on holy ground rather than them fighting whenever they meet.
But essentially it's just your standard season one plot of a bad guy Immortal and an obstructive and rather clueless police investigation. (There's also a subplot about Richie buying Tessa a bust of Napoleon, which fizzles out halfway through.) First appearance of Inspector LeBrun, who'll be back next episode. While he's more suspicious of MacLeod than seems reasonable, by the end he's largely pieced everything together but apparently decided not to try and prove it.
Kuyler's base, filled with mannequins that match his whiteface appearance, is suitably creepy, although the real henchmen among the mannequins are easily spotted during the first scene there.
First appearance of Duncan's barge, which I'm not sure is ever this big again! Both Darius and Sergeant Bennett get mentions. (Yes, he's a sergeant again this episode.) The wonderful character actor Vernon Dobtcheff has a nice small role as a liqueur store owner.
There's a couple of nice elements to this. The flashback to Duncan and Kuyler's first meeting has a rather creepy Masonic handshake moment as they face off. We get another flashback, to Duncan and Tessa's first meeting, although it involves yet another case of Duncan facing an evil Immortal during his supposed century off from the Game. (He doesn't have a sword though, which is a nice touch.) And the show finally works out that they can have Duncan interact with the villain on holy ground rather than them fighting whenever they meet.
But essentially it's just your standard season one plot of a bad guy Immortal and an obstructive and rather clueless police investigation. (There's also a subplot about Richie buying Tessa a bust of Napoleon, which fizzles out halfway through.) First appearance of Inspector LeBrun, who'll be back next episode. While he's more suspicious of MacLeod than seems reasonable, by the end he's largely pieced everything together but apparently decided not to try and prove it.
Kuyler's base, filled with mannequins that match his whiteface appearance, is suitably creepy, although the real henchmen among the mannequins are easily spotted during the first scene there.
First appearance of Duncan's barge, which I'm not sure is ever this big again! Both Darius and Sergeant Bennett get mentions. (Yes, he's a sergeant again this episode.) The wonderful character actor Vernon Dobtcheff has a nice small role as a liqueur store owner.