And I like what I see as one major difference between this mythos and the other immortality-based Sci-fi plots of recent memory: The fact that he has children and watches them grow old. I think that is why I feel the character is, as I put it, more human.

immortality until he finds his true love, because of a Native American ritual

immortality until he finds his true love, because of a Native American ritual

Could be worse: could be he'd turn evil then, because of gypsies...

3) he's actively trying to die ... he's searching for "the one" but (so far) his motivation mainly seems to be excitement at the prospect that when he finds her he can finally grow old nd die

I'm inclined to agree with Omar that if finding True Love means you're going to die, it's not much incentive...seeing other people grow old and die would be painful, but we already deal with that with pets, and many people feel just as strongly about them as other loved ones

"What he wants is some kind of normalcy, and also to experience what it's like to be with someone and have a relationship that lasts, and to grow old with someone," Coster-Waldau said in a conference call with journalists. "That's a huge dream. I think that's the biggest dream he has, to actually spend his life with one person and have a family and be able to be there for his children when they grow up. All of that has been something he's only been able to watch at a distance."
...
"I don't think he sees [death] as a loss," Coster-Waldau said. "But, of course, I think that's one of the things that would be interesting to examine [if the show continues]: Be careful what you wish for. If this is really what he wants, how will that affect him if he actually does become mortal? It certainly will affect the way he performs his job as a homicide detective, that's for sure."