Highlander: The Raven

Highlander the Raven was a bad show but I wouldn't blame the character of Amanda for it. First the name was bad because A) there was no Highlander in it) and b) since when was she known as The Raven? then yes Amanda was a character of questionable morals who wasn't as powerful a fighter as most of the imortals but she's survived. The question is "Why?" and the answer is not that she ran to Duncan for help. finding out how she survived all these years on her own would have made a good show. The problem was the lame hook her up with a mortal cop story line. That was what made the show bad. Notice the same thing is killing Birds of Prey right now ironically a female driven show with a woman who reminds us of Catwoman in the lead role. Anyone ever notice that Buffy is a hit show and she doesn't need to run to a big strong man to defeat her enemies.

Amanda(Elizabeth Gracen) goes from being a re-occuring guest, to a new show all about her. She is 1,000 years old, an immortal, tring to help an ex-cop, Nick (Paul Johanson) protect the innocent. She is trying to get rid of her thieving ways, but sometimes, old habits die hard. Along the way she runs into a few bad immortals and ends their immortality. It has Action, Sci-fi Fantasy like stuff, Comedy, and every now and then a touch of Romance. But Nick and Amanda aren't really a couple, just yet. I think because he's by the book kinda person and she does her own thing. But you know what they said about opposites. They attract.

I'm a huge Highlander fan, so naturally I had to watch this show - well, some of it, anyway. "The Raven" has two major shortcomings. It would be worthwhile if it just had one, but two of them sadly ruins its whole appeal.

Firstly, it has dull stories. Not as dull as they could be, but just not very inspired or exciting. The thing is, Elizabeth Gracen could have saved it just by her looks. She is very, very good-looking; I find her enormously appealing. A sexy lead actress can make a mediocre show well worth watching.

But that's the second shortcoming: they ruined her looks. Gracen looks fabulous with dark hair, and the more of it the better. So naturally they not only cut her hair as short as humanly possible; they also bleached it a blinding white.

Sorry, but that just makes her uninteresting to look at. And as she goes, so goes the show.

If you want good Elizabeth Gracen action, go back a see the final season of the Highlander TV series. Now *there's* some eye candy for a red-blooded Highlander aficionado.

Still, if I stumbled across the DVD set very cheaply, I wouldn't rule out purchasing it, if no one was looking... :-)

Rating: 5 out of 10.

> Mostly the weakness of the show as it stands is a given. > Amanda, Ms. Gracen, makes the whole thing watchable for those that have a > thing for her. Which isn't hard... . > Her white hair, criticised by another reviewer, gives her, in my opinion, an > exotic sexiness which she carries well. And which on someone over 1,000 > thousand years old should be expected. Just kidding. > Some more exciting characters for her to play opposite, who generate some > real sparks, would definitely help. >

Being a huge fan of the original series, it's pretty much required that I watch this one as well. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to it's predecessor's quality. Elizabeth Gracen reprises her role of Amanda, the 1200 y/o immortal. Gracen is one of those actresses you either absolutely love, or absolutely hate. I happen to be one of the former, so it's a shame to see her going to waste like this.

The storylines are thin at best. Basically they consist of, "Bad thing happens. Bad immortal from Amanda's past behind it. Amanda runs around for an hour, then kills said immortal." Not exactly groundbreaking stuff. To make up for the stories, you'd expect them to at least play up the action and have some fun with it (a la V.I.P.). However, they go in just the opposite direction and take it too seriously.

Paul Johansson plays Nick Wolfe, who is just as benign as his character's name. He's one of those cookie cutter sydie-action actors: about 6' tall, overly athletic, abnormally above average looks, abnormally below average acting ability. When Amanda is on the screen you want the scenes to last forever. When Nick is the lead, you cringe and hope for a quick death.

The show could use a major rewrite, possibly putting the focus more on Amanda's past. A character who has seen the last 1200 years gives you lots of potential settings. As for a quick & dirty rating using imdb's 10 star system, I'd give this a 5 for now.