Jack Shapiro is the main antagonist of "Judgement Day" and "One Minute to Midnight", the two-part finale of the fourth season of Highlander: The Series.
He was a senior member of the Watchers, heading up operations in Europe, the father of Watcher David Shapiro as well as the husband of a woman named Shirley with whom he also had at least two daughters. He is also the former friend turned archenemy of Joe Dawson.
He was portrayed by Jesse Joe Walsh.
Biography[]
Shapiro was friends with Joe Dawson, with both being mentored by Ian Bancroft, but came to believe Joe and his friendship with Duncan MacLeod was the reason eighty Watchers had been killed in the previous three years. He had Joe brought before a tribunal that he headed up, with the threat of execution if he was found guilty of betraying his oath.
When Duncan MacLeod turned up trying to rescue Joe, Shapiro saw this as vindication. Duncan and Joe both tried to argue that it was James Horton killing Immortals that led them together and defended the fact they had brought down evil Immortals like Quenten Barnes and Nicholas Ward, as well as stopping Antonius Kalas from exposing the Watcher organization. At one point, Duncan snatched a gun off a guard and pointed it at Shapiro to prove a point before standing down. Shapiro agreed to grant Joe a trial with a jury on condition MacLeod stand trial with him and be executed as well if found guilty.
Trial and Betrayal[]
Instead of providing a jury of field agents as Duncan had requested, Shapiro summoned the other senior Watchers, essentially fixing the trial. Charles Tarvise prosecuted with Shapiro overseeing things. Shapiro allowed researcher Adam Pierson (in reality the Immortal Methos) to testify about his "discovery" that one of Methos' Watchers had befriended him and had to hide it because of Watcher rules and that Watchers befriending Immortals would learn more, but was openly dismissive of his argument. The mood changed when news arrived that Shapiro's son David, who had been assigned to watch Duncan, had been killed. Even though they had both been with him at the time, Shapiro blamed Duncan and Joe. He ended the trial and jury chief Nadia Rostov immediately declared Joe guilty.
Duncan escaped but Joe stayed to face judgement. He requested Shapiro pull the trigger but Shapiro delegated the task to Tarvise and left the scene, with Joe sarcastically saying to give his love to Shirley and the girls. After Shapiro had gone, the execution was attacked and all the Watchers present, including Tarvise and Rostov, were killed. With Duncan having spirited Joe away in the aftermath, Shapiro assumed he was behind the attack and sent out Watchers with orders to kill both Duncan and Joe.
Joe and Methos went to Shapiro and convinced him that Jacob Galati, an Immortal whose wife, Irena, had been murdered by Horton, was the one who had really killed David and the others, seeing all Watchers as his enemy. Joe helped Shapiro capture Galati but was shocked that Shapiro intended to have him killed immediately. Duncan arrived and tried to resolve things peacefully but Shapiro insisted there was no other way. He had Galati dragged into the next room and beheaded him. With Duncan weakened by the resulting Quickening, Shapiro seemed prepared to kill him too but Joe stepped in and forced Shapiro at gunpoint to let him and Duncan go.
Downfall[]
Full of grief over the loss of his son, Shapiro prepared the Watchers for a full-scale war against the Immortals to avenge David, an even clearer violation of his oath. Joe returned and tried to warn Shapiro that making Duncan his enemy was a dangerous thing to do. Shapiro was dismissive of the threat of Duncan and any other Immortals, saying the Watchers knew everything about them and could easily kill as many as were necessary to safeguard their organization, which he seemed quite prepared to do.
Duncan quickly proved him wrong by getting past his security and confronting Shapiro with a gun. As Joe desperately tried to restore order, Duncan said Galati had made Shapiro a killer, just as Horton had made Galati one, and he was quite prepared to kill him in turn. Shapiro shouted that he would kill all of them for his son, and Duncan shouted back that nothing he would done had made things better for his son. Joe shouted at Duncan that it had to end and Duncan, still pointing the gun at Shapiro, asked him if he wanted to start a war that would see more of his people die because of Horton or peace. Whimpering and terrified for his own life, Shapiro chose peace. Duncan shut him in a nearby coffin warning him that he would be back for him if another body fell and Joe told Watcher security to let him go. Afterwards, he told Duncan that Shapiro was out of the Watchers.
Aftermath[]
According to The Watcher's Chronicles CD-ROM, Shapiro was tried by the Watchers for violating his oath, and nearly plunging the organization into war. He was forced to leave the Watchers as Joe mentioned, but further retribution was waived as the council determined that the loss of his son was punishment enough.
What happened to his relationship with his wife and daughters afterward is unknown.
Trivia[]
- It is debated amongst fans that Shapiro and Tarvise wanted to blame everything on Joe to cover up their own failures.
- It is also debated amongst fans that Shapiro's wife, Shirley, and their daughters knew about the Immortals and possibly held him responsible for David's death.
- If that is the case, Shirley likely left Shapiro after the finale and took their daughters with her.
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 Villains
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