 In 1993 , Vandernoot wanted to leave the show because shooting Highlander was too demanding and required her to spend several months each year in Canada . Vandernoot also wanted to spend more time with her family . According to Abramowitz , a further , artistic , reason was that " ... a small part of [ Vandernoot ] being a really strong actress wanted to play a more aggressive part in the show and sadly , the nature of the beast was that it couldn 't happen and she made a decision . " Panzer said that creating interesting female characters in the Highlander franchise was often a challenge because the producers found it difficult to " ... have the women be something other than a victim , a hostage , other things when [ one is ] dealing with an immortal hero . " Consequently , the creative staff needed to write Tessa out of the show but were restricted because of the character 's strong relationship with MacLeod . Associate Creative <unk> Gillian Horvath said that , " There was no way ... to have a scene where she said , ' Okay , I 'm going to go to Paris without you . Nice knowing you , MacLeod . ' " The writers decided that the only solution was for Tessa to die , despite Abramowitz 's feeling that her death was " ... sad " and " ... heartbreaking " . 
