AUTHOR! AUTHOR!
"My old friend died .... unexpectedly" - Duncan MacLeod
We knew the face, but we didn’t know the name. MacLeod didn't care - he just wanted revenge. The opening episode to Season 2 of Highlander picked up where Season 1 left off, with the aftermath of Darius' murder by The Hunters. Using the last clue left by Darius, MacLeod returns to Seacouver bent on vengeance. But is the man his search leads him to a new friend or a new enemy? Before he finds James Horton, he and we meet Joe Dawson for the first time and learn about the mysterious Watchers.
Cameron Bancroft, who played Robert, reappeared as Immortal David Keogh in Season 3's "Obsession". Kehli O'Byrne later changed her name to Kelly Byrne and appeared in a number of American made-for-TV movies. All opinions expressed here are my own, as is the retelling of the storyline.
Written by Marie-Chantal Droney
Cast
| Duncan MacLeod | Adrian Paul |
| Tessa Noel | Alexandra Vandernoot |
| Richie Ryan | Stan Kirsch |
| Joe Dawson | Jim Byrnes |
| James Horton | Peter Hudson |
| Lynn Horton | Kehli O'Byrne |
| Robert | Cameron Bancroft |
In the aftermath of Darius' murder in Paris, MacLeod is obsessed with the book he found hidden in the chapel, the mysterious Chronicle of the men who killed his friend. Written in the back cover is the cryptic '27NJS'. Knowing that Darius left the book for him to find, Duncan convinces himself that it is an address in Seacouver and returns there. Tessa and Richie go with him, to set about reopening the store 
whilst he tracks Darius' killers. Searching all the addresses that fall into the pattern of 27 North J. Street finally brings him to a book store. As he enters, both the owner and the assistant react to his presence. Duncan tells them that he is an antiques dealer, looking for information on the old book. The owner tells him that the book is valueless, but offers to buy it, as he collects old books. Duncan declines the offer and the man says that if he changes his mind, his name is Joe Dawson.
As he is about to leave the store, Duncan spots a laser targeting dot coming from across the road. He crosses to investigate, watched by Dawson. MacLeod finds two men hurrying away from the building and chases them. A fight ensues, with Duncan putting both men down, until Dawson appears and they scarper, leaving Dawson to tell the Highlander that he knows all about him, his life and his Immortality. Dawson is a Watcher, one of a secret society of historians who chronicle the lives of the Immortals, so that when there is only one, his or her story can be told. 
Dawson is surprised when MacLeod tells him that Darius was murdered by mortals and tells MacLeod that the book is one of their Chronicles, missing for over 500 years. He shows Duncan the records that the Watchers have on him and Connor and tells him that he's his Watcher, but refuses to believe Duncan when he tells him that Darius' killers had Watcher tattoos. As Duncan is leaving the store, Dawson’s niece Lynn comes in, to collect her fiancee, Robert, and to invite Joe to her graduation party that afternoon.
Meanwhile, back at the store, Tessa and Richie have been getting the new stock from Paris unloaded. As they are finishing, Tessa spots a man watching them. Richie lets the delivery truck roll back into the man's car and he and 
Tessa make a getaway in the Mercedes. When Duncan gets back, they are gone and there is no message to tell him what happened. However, Robert and the man in the car are waiting and they try to shoot him with a dart gun. Inventive use of the Chronicle stops the dart and Duncan sends the Watcher from the car flying through the shop window. He questions Robert, but gets no answers before he lets him go.
With his friends missing, Duncan watches Dawson's store and follows him to the party. Lynn spots him and drags him through to meet Joe and her father, a man shown in photographs on the wall as a baseball coach and caring father, but a man Duncan knows to be a killer. 
Dawson and Lynn both look on in amazement as James Horton and MacLeod spar, each initially denying that they know each other, but the hatred soon surfaces and they can no longer deny it, with Horton telling the Immortal to go to hell and Duncan hitting him. Lynn stops Duncan from tearing her father apart on the spot and he walks out, leaving behind a very troubled Joe Dawson.
After the party, Robert arrives and talks with Horton, unsure about Immortals because of Duncan’s attitude after their fight at the store. He tells Horton that he's quitting and Horton, 
calmly and coldly, throws him off the balcony of the apartment to fall to his death. The next morning, Tessa and Richie, who have spent the night in the car, return to the store. Duncan is waiting for Dawson at the bookstore and demands to know where his friends are. Dawson is hostile and is sceptical when MacLeod tells him that Horton was in Paris, believing that MacLeod has killed a Watcher and has come for him.
That night, Duncan rings Horton and arranges to meet him in a warehouse, Duncan making Horton believe that Tessa and Richie are still missing. Horton sets an ambush for the Immortal, but the waiting sniper never sees Duncan coming. Dawson confronts Horton about what he's doing, watched unseen by Lynn. When the Highlander appears, Horton takes Joe as a hostage, but Lynn breaks in and Duncan wrests the gun away. With Horton at his mercy, he listens to Joe and 
Lynn pleading for Horton's life and tells him that there'll be another time. Duncan puts down the gun and walks away, but Horton grabs it and shoots him. Before he dies, Duncan runs Horton through with his sword, in one of the few times we ever see blood staining the Highlander's sword. When Duncan revives, he is alone. He goes to the bookstore, but finds that Dawson has vanished, along with his records and any trace of the Watchers. However, as he tells Tessa and Richie, he knows that they'll be back.