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Starring:
Adrian Paul (Duncan MacLeod) Guests:
Ian Tracey (Johnny Kelly, aka Johnny K)
Written by Nancy Heiken |
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Johnny: "I already been paid." Downstairs, the security guard sees Johnny walk by the monitors, then sees Delio's body. Cut to stairwell, where Johnny is removing the leg extensions he was using to make himself taller. While the guard tries the elevator, Johnny is also removing the padding from under his coat, then the coat and the pants legs he was using to hide the skate-rat outfit he was wearing underneath. He slaps a cap on backwards, and skateboards out of the office. He returns to the E-Z store place where he apparently stores the tools of his trade. As Johnny spiffs himself up in the mirror, we see a collection of guns laid out on the table in front of him. He makes a face at the mirror, then turns and puts it away.
Joe's. A band is just finishing a song on stage, while Duncan MacLeod and Joe Dawson watch from the bar and applaud. As Joe is telling Duncan where he found the band, a woman (Betsy Fields) comes in, looking around as if searching for something. Joe glances her way, then stops. He shakes his head, muttering, "it can't be."
Duncan: "Something wrong?"
He turns to look where Joe's staring. The woman's face breaks out in a smile.
Betsy: "Joe? Joe Dawson?"
She comes to the bar, saying she can't believe it. Duncan gets up, looking a little awkward, as if he's not sure if he should stay or go. She asks if the place is Joe's.
Joe: "You didn't see the sign on the door?"
She says it's great, and Joe agrees, a little awkwardly. He's clearly uncomfortable, but trying to hide it by offering her a drink. Duncan gives her his stool, and Joe belatedly introduces her to him as Bette Fields.
Betsy: "Nobody's called me that since high school."
Joe gives Duncan a quick look, and Duncan makes a "Yeah, so?" face behind Betsy's head as she sits.
Joe: "Tom Collins, no fruit."
Betsy: "You remembered."
Duncan makes another face (This one is more "Yeah, go for it!"), but Joe doesn't look too happy. Betsy asks how he is, says she wants to hear everything. She tries to arrange to have dinner, but Joe says someone has to mind the bar (Duncan looks around in mock puzzlement at this). She asks about lunch, and Joe starts going on about having to fix a leaking beer tap. Duncan is looking at him like he's lost his mind, and offers to go get the parts he needs and says he can fix the tap. "I've been around, for a while at least." Betsy and Duncan laugh, and Joe joins in weakly.
Joe: "Yeah, thanks." (In a tone more suited to "Go to hell.")
Betsy arranges to meet him at one and leaves. Duncan lounges back on his stool, looking smug.
Duncan: "I think she likes you."
Joe: "You know, MacLeod, next time do me a favor ..."
Duncan: "Mm-hm?"
Joe: "...and butt out."
Duncan: "Am I missing something here?"
For an answer, Joe slaps the keys down in front of him. "Locker 14. Knock yourself out, pal."
Cut to E-Z Store, with Duncan's T-bird parked outside (ah, happy coincidence, no? ;)) Duncan is poking around a bit in the locker, tossing an old football, toying with a model train, inspecting an old mannequin with a wig draped on top ("I'm not even gonna ask"). Johnny arrives as Duncan is locking up, and they encounter each other at either end of the hall, swords drawn.
Johnny: "Surprised to still see me alive?"
Duncan: "A little."
The alley outside the "Puccini Appreciation Society." Inside, Duncan and three other men are playing poker and drinking, while Puccini (I presume, not a music expert! :)) plays in the background. Duncan raises, then turns as we hear a very faint little buzz effect (It sounds like just the beginning of a buzz, but much softer and it fades very quickly. I'm assuming it was meant to convey a buzz-like thing, anyway! :)) Johnny comes in and looks over the game, then glares at Duncan who's still staring at him.
Johnny: "What?!"
Duncan turns back to the game. "Nothing."
One of the other players (Jimmy) wins, and Johnny says that "for a sawbuck I'll tell you where he got that hand." Jimmy starts getting resentful, and Duncan difuses the confrontation by giving Johnny a dollar to get him more booze. Johnny leaves, and Duncan learns from the others that he's "a neighborhood nobody," just a kid with no friends and no family. They start another hand, and Jimmy leaves to get some air. He goes outside, and as he's lighting up Johnny returns with Duncan's liquor. A car comes up the alley, and as Johnny watches Jimmy is gunned down. They hear the shots inside, but one of the men tells Duncan not to worry about it. When Duncan comes out, he finds Jimmy with a sheet over him and the cops just starting to slap Johnny around. Johnny says he was "taking a leak" and therefore didn't see who did the shooting. The cops let him go, and Duncan tries to convince him to tell what he saw. But Johnny won't, because he's hoping to be one of the big fish someday, and won't start out by being a stool pigeon (Ouch, sorry about the wildlife analogies. :))
Johnny: "Nobody screws with those guys, and one day nobody's gonna screw with me."
Duncan: "It doesn't have to be that way for you, Johnny." Goes on to tell him that "you've got much more of a future than you think."
Johnny won't listen, though, and goes off.
Johnny goes to see Luca (apparently one of the "big fish" :)). Luca is practicing golf in his liquor warehouse by hitting balls at a cloth mural painted with "Fairway Golf" and spots for Traps, Roughs, etc. Johnny gets in by telling the guard he wants to talk about what happened at Gino's, that he saw who was doing the shooting.
Luca: "So you want to be one of my boys?"
Goes on to say that most guys would get very angry with someone knowing their business, but that he knows how to take care of business.
He starts talking about golf, then pulls a shotgun out of his golf bag and blows Johnny away.
Luca's man take Johnny and dump the body in an alley. As they do, we see Duncan, sensing another immortal. He's playing poker again, but folds his hand and goes out. He finds Johnny rolling around in the alley, just reviving. Duncan sits on a car fender, and waits. Johnny sees him, and tells him "Luca tried to kill me."
Duncan: "He did more than try." Duncan tells him he's immortal, tells him no one can kill him "unless they cut off your head." He whips out his sword and lays it against Johnny's neck. "With one of these."
Johnny is incredulous, then Duncan tells him to look where he was shot. When Johnny finds no wound, he starts to believe. Duncan tries to tell him about using swords, that that's how immortals defend themselves.
Johnny: "what do I need with a friggin' toadstabber? I'm gonna get myself a Tommy gun."
Duncan tells him he needs to learn about the rules, that there are laws they live by, but Johnny leaves, saying that all he has to know is that "they can't kill me."
Johnny is saying he bets Duncan didn't think he'd last, and asks if Duncan wants to try him.
Duncan: "Nice to see you're still alive."
He asks if Johnny ever found a teacher. Johnny says no, he "just watched a few pirate movies." Duncan tells him to take care of himself and and goes to the elevator.
Johnny: "I always do." He pulls a gun and shoots Duncan. "Sorry, MacLeod," he says, pulling his sword and walking over. "but in my line of work nobody knows my face. Nobody knows what I look like."
He starts to swing and Duncan manages to draw his own blade and feebly block it. Johnny doesn't have time to finish it, because the elevator starts to come up. He runs and Duncan gets to his feet and against the wall before two guys come out and see him leaning there. They tease him about what a party it must have been, and one slaps him jovially on his wounded shoulder before moving off.
Duncan, muttering to himself: "I'll know better next time..."
Duncan enters Johnny's lockup, closes the door, and surveys the place.
Duncan: "Very nice." He walks over to a rack of clothes, takes out a corset and looks at it with amusement. "Well . . . now we know your line of work." He puts the corset back. "Dear Johnny." Looks distinctly unamused.
At Joe's. Joe and Duncan are working on the tap, Duncan telling Joe that he found weapons and costumes in that locker, that Johnny is "an assassin, a real pro" (They never showed him searching or looking at the locker, btw. Either this is how they handled it happening, or it's a Eurominute! :)). Joe says Johnny used to be in the early chronicles, but then he disappeared. Duncan is annoyed that Johnny almost took him, but Joe points out that he shot him in the back, "not exactly kohser." Duncan says the word isn't in his vocabulary, that he was "a punk in '29 and he's still a punk now." Announces the tap is fixed, and Joe tries it and gets nothing but air.
Joe: "Well, it doesn't leak."
Duncan asks about the lunch, and finds out that Joe cancelled after all.
Duncan: "You lied to her, to get out of lunch? Why?"
Joe tells him to just forget it. Duncan looks at him, then gets a glass and bottle and pours him a drink. Joe starts talking.
Joe: "I was 18. All-City, All-State. We were the football hero and the prom queen. I would play all day, and we would dance all night." But he says it was 30 years ago.
Duncan asks what the difference is, neither of them are 18 anymore.
Joe: "She's still in one piece, you know?"
Duncan: "She doesn't know?"
Joe says he was the soldier boy who went off to war, and leave it at that. Duncan tells him "this has never stopped you before. You can handle this." Joe says no, and Duncan contradicts him until he gives in. "Scotsman," Joe mutters, and tells Duncan he can keep working on the tap.
Cut to Joe, standing in the lobby of a restaurant, adjusting his tie and talking to himself in the mirror. Betsy comes in and kisses his cheek, then notices the cane.
Betsy: "What's the matter? Hurt your knee changing a beer tap?"
Joe grimaces: "Betsy, I can't really hurt my knee. No knees. No legs, either."
Betsy: "Oh, Joe. How?"
Joe: "Vietnam."
Betsy looks down at his legs, then back up at him.
Betsy: "Why didn't you tell me?" Goes on to realize that that's why he never called or got in touch. "I always thought you'd met somebody else. I gave up waiting."
Joe says he figured she would, and says she doesn't have to go through with lunch.
Betsy: "After all these years, do you think I'd give up on you now?"
Over lunch, Betsy makes a confession. She didn't just walk into Joe's by chance. She saw his name in an article about blues clubs, and decided she would take a chance. Joe asks why.
Betsy: "I didn't think you needed to ask."
Joe looks away, then asks her to dance. She laughs, and they get up.
Joe: "I'll lead, no problem. And don't worry, I won't step on your toes."
They start swaying to the music, holding each other close, Joe looking over her shoulder, pressing his cheek into her hair.
Cut to Duncan back at E-Z Store. He goes to the manager with a tool box and says he borrowed it from the guy in 16, who seems to have cleared out, and wonders if he has his address... Cut to shot of a beat-up trailer. A phone rings faintly, and we cut in to see Duncan standing inside. He picks up the phone and presses the intercom next to it to talk. It's Johnny, and he tells Duncan he wanted him to find the address. Duncan asks where he is.
Johnny: "Want a hint? Read it in the funny papers."
Duncan's eye lights on a newspaper-wrapped box on the kitchen table, and he jumps for the door. Johnny laughs, and we see Duncan dive away as the trailer explodes behind him.
Betsy's hotel room. Betsy is telling Joe what a good time she had.
Joe: "The pleasure's all mine."
Betsy: "Not all of it."
She kisses him. Afterwards, Joe says maybe he'd better leave. Betsy asks why ("Midnight auditions?...That beer tap?") Joe says it's all moving a little fast. "I don't know if this is such a good idea." Betsy tells him it is if he wants it to be. She asks him, "Do you want this?" Joe looks at her, then says "Yes," and kisses her again, then reaches up and turns off the light...
Daytime, the dojo. A white shape moves in front of one of the windows, then we see Duncan inside, edging carefully around the window until he's gotten himself safely wedged in the corner. Joe saunters in, grinning.
Joe: "Duncan MacLeod. The man I've been looking for."
Duncan: "Did you swallow a canary or win the lottery?"
Joe: "Better. Way better. Betsy."
Duncan scuttles to the counter and gets a glass.
Duncan: "I'm happy for you."
He crouches down and opens the fridge while Joe talks, getting out orange juice and pouring while still crouching down. It finally dawns on Joe that he's acting strangely and he asks what he's doing.
Duncan: "I'm pouring myself some orange juice." Duncan says he has things on his mind, and says Johnny has plans which include "a shorter version of me."
Joe: "That snot-nosed little punk."
Duncan: "First he shot me, then he tried to blow me up." Says he's not playing by the rules, he might be out there right now with a rifle.
Joe: "A rifle!"
He gets behind a pillar, fast. While they're talking about what Duncan's going to do, Johnny calls. He says he can wait a long time. Duncan offers to pay him $100,000 to "point the gun somewhere else," and sets up a meeting at Christ Church.
Cut to Johnny wetting his comb in the baptismal font and combing his hair.
Duncan: "Didn't anybody ever teach you how to behave in church?"
Johnny starts telling him about what a tough guy he is, bragging about the number of people he's killed. Tells Duncan how he killed Luca, how Luca begged for his life.
Duncan: "And you felt nothing."
Johnny: "I felt great. I felt like God."
Duncan says no, "you're a pathetic little punk, Johnny." Johnny tells him to watch his mouth, says he doesn't need anybody, just wants his money.
Duncan pats his pockets: "Aw, no. I left my wallet in my other pocket." Pulls out some change. "Will this do?"
Johnny tries to grab it, but Duncan pulls back.
Duncan: "Not fast enough."
Johnny gets irritated, asks if Duncan knows how many people he's killed (249).
Johnny: "You don't get it, do you?"
Duncan stands up and grabs him by the throat, smiling pleasantly.
Duncan: "No, you don't get it, little man. You don't play by the rules, then we play another game. Okay?" Smiles brightly. "Now run along."
Johnny leaves, telling Duncan he's a "dead man," which doesn't seem to worry him too much. Johnny goes out front, where there's a wedding party. As he turns and looks around, Joe, mingling with the guests, takes his picture...
Cut to Johnny, pushing a hot dog cart down the street [cut to negative shot of the pic Joe took, forming on one side of a blank yellow background]. Johnny parks the cart [the words "Have You" drop into the top half of the blank space]. Johnny takes out a gun and starts assembling it ["Seen This Man?" slides into place under the rest of the picture]. Johnny takes aim at a man coming out of a building. He has him in his sights when a delivery truck pulls up in front of the target. The poster, with Johnny's face and the words "Have you seen this man?" slides into his scope. Johnny stares, and starts looking around... The poster is everywhere. We see people pasting black and white versions to walls, sticking them under windshield wipers. Johnny walks away, staring at the posters, the billboards (the whole time, there's an old song playing, with lyrics like "Only a mother can see him now ..." and "Everything a boy should be.")
Fade to Duncan, humming happily to himself while he works on the train set from Joe's locker. The phone rings.
Johnny: "I'm gonna kill you, you bastard."
Duncan (ecstatic): "Hey! Johnny! Nice of you to call. Well, it took almost 70 years but you're finally famous."
Asks him how many people he thinks know his face now. Johnny tells him he's a dead man. Duncan says he's heard that one before and hangs up.
Cut to Joe at Joe's, adjusting the stage lights. Betsy comes in. She doesn't say anything, but Joe spots her and his face lights up. He says to give him a few minutes, and they'll go out for "a little dinner, a little dancing, a little...who knows what?" Betsy says she'd love to, but she can't. Says she has to go, "something came up, business."
Joe, flatly, too fast: "Okay, sure, fine."
Betsy: "I'll call."
Joe: "You know where to find me."
She sighs, and leaves.
Duncan is sitting at the kitchen island, still tinkering, as Joe comes in. Duncan says he'll have the stuff back in the locker tomorrow, Joe says there's no hurry in a dull voice. He asks if the pictures worked, and Duncan grins evilly.
Duncan: "Like a charm."
He picks up a portable phone and dials a number.
Joe mumbling: "Great."
Duncan tells him it won't be safe, he should leave. He goes to his wall phone and picks it up as it rings, setting the receiver aside.
Joe: "She's gone. What the hell was I thinking. I shoulda known."
Duncan: "Known what?"
Joe: "What do you think? I'm damaged goods, okay!"
Duncan: "Have you talked to her?" Says he owes it to himself.
Joe: "Who are you, Dr. Ruth?"
Duncan asks if they can take it up later, "I'm expecting some target practice."
Joe: "Good. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll shoot me."
Duncan tells him to talk to her. Joe makes a face, but looks like he agrees. He leaves.
Cut to Betsy in her hotel, packing. Joe comes in and watches a moment, then knocks. Betsy seems happy to see him, but catches on after a few words that Joe isn't and asks if he's okay.
Joe: "I thought I was. See, what I think is necessary for you, I guess for most people for that matter, would be... would be legs, huh? Maybe one, or preferably two, right?" Turns to face her. "I need to know, Betsy. Is that why you're leaving?"
Betsy looks horrified: "No! Oh, God, no! I should have told you from the start."
Joe: "Tell me what?"
Betsy walks over to the bedside table and takes something from a drawer.
Betsy: "I'm not Betsy Fields any more. <holds out ring> I'm Betsy Mitchell."
Betsy: "All these years, all this time, I just kept thinking about you."
Says that once she found out, she had to come, that it took her two months to work up the nerve. Says she's sorry.
Joe: "Don't be sorry." Takes her hand. "Come on. I'll drive you to the airport."
Cut to the dojo, seen through a rifle scope. The same song that played through the "poster scene" can be heard coming from inside. A silhouette appears to be pacing back and forth, moving so that Johnny can't get a good shot. Finally, he calls and Duncan answers. The silhouette is now framed in the window, and Johnny quickly aims and fires. The figure falls, and Johnny stands up, satisfied. At least until he senses another immortal ... Duncan appears around the corner, sword over his shoulder and holding his cell phone.
Duncan: "I lost you, Johnny. I think we got a bad connection."
They fight, and it's clear from the start that Johnny is hopelessly outclassed. He hides and tries to zap Duncan with a tazer, but Duncan blocks with his sword.
Duncan: "Swords, Johnny. Remember? That's how we do it."
They fight on, jumping around and over the cars. Duncan finally pins Johnny over the hood of a car, his sword at his throat.
Duncan: "Guess you didn't make 250. Too bad."
He takes his head with a swift horizontal slice, then moved to the center of the garage for the Quickening. (It's been mentioned that this fight and the Quickening bear similarities to the first one in the first movie, and I have to say I agree, though maybe it was just that it was in a garage. :)) After the Quickening, the camera pans over the dojo, to the window with the three bullet holes, and down to the floor where a mannequin and wig lie over the scattered train set.
Duncan is sitting in the loft, packing away the train tracks. Joe comes in.
Joe: "Well, now I know why I've been saving that thing."
Duncan: "Came in a little handy."
Joe abruptly starts talking about Betsy, about how he thought the risk was all his, but it wasn't. She has a husband, a family, "and thirty years later, she's still in love with me."
Duncan: "I guess it must be the beard."
Joe looks down, picks up the football lying on the table.
Joe: "What did you need this for?"
Duncan looks guilty: "Uh, no reason."
Joe looks down turning the football: "Go long, MacLeod."
Duncan: "Yeah?"
Joe: "Oh, yeah."
Duncan turns and jumps on the bed, leaping up and catching the ball as Joe throws it. Joe grins, and we fade to credits...
Just some 'lil comments: The interaction between Joe and Duncan was really good. They were very relaxed, friendly and joking and comfortable. It seems like they were trying out the friend thing, and seeing if just ignoring the Watcher vs. Immortal thing for a while would work. One thing was that I kinda felt that there were things missing. Nothing big, but this is one of the few episodes where I've sat and thought, "hmm, there's where a Eurominute went..." :) The actor who played Johnny, btw, looked like a street punk. He had a broad face and a pug nose, and a gap between his front teeth. He still had a lot of the '20s look about him, even when he was dressed in modern clothes.
Thanks to Christine, who filled in that little extra Euro-treasure at the end of Act One.
Next week, "Dramatic License"!
These pages are written by Jinjifore and are translated into HTML and maintained by Ian.
Disclaimer: All the dialogue, characters, situations, and darn near everything else belong to a bunch of fine and talented folks at Rysher Entertainment and Panzer/Davis, and in particular the dialogue belongs to the credited writer of this episode. Me, I just wrote the rest down in my own words, which belong to me, but the episode itself was made by the aforementioned people and is owned by them. This humble synopsis isn't meant to infringe on their rights, and I'm sure as heck not making any money from doing these.
Everything not belonging to Rysher, et al, ©Copyright 1997 by Jinjifore
Feel free to copy and distribute as long as this copyright notice and disclaimer are included, except where local bandwidth laws apply.
Also, check out Ian's home page.
Celtic clip art courtesy of the Celtic Art Web Page.
| Last Rev: H71 [ 1 Jul 97 ] |
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