Top Ten Claire Moments of Outlander Season One

It's the end of the year, and with Droughtlander upon us, I decided to go back and rewatch all sixteen episodes of Outlander and pick and choose which moments I decided were the best. Claire is a complex character, both strong and vulnerable, both impulsive and patient. She gets shit done, and she is honestly one of the best female characters ever created. Many props to Diana Gabaldon for creating such an awesome, realistic, complex woman that women of all ages can relate to in one way or another. And so here are my top ten moments of Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp Randall Fraser.

#10 - "You have strong fingers." The Way Out, S1E03

I have to say this was the pivotal moment where the friendship between Jamie and Claire was well and truly established. When she asks if he's got strong fingers and then they both set about rescuing the boy from the pillory, it always makes me grin. Especially the part where she feigns a faint and then Jamie says she faints at the sight of blood. It has to be the oldest trick in the book, though, considering the time travel, maybe the diversion is the newest trick in the book? Either way, it is one of my favorite moments of the entire series and always makes me giggle.

#9 - "Not a Wet Nurse." Sassenach, S1E01

By far one of the humorous scenes. Back in the day, the only nurses anyone knew anything about were the wet kind, so that moment when she's putting Jamie's shoulder back in place and says she's a nurse, his eyes go straight to her boobage and she's all aghast about it. Honestly, if not for the situation, I think she would have slapped him. And it would have been a well deserved slap.

#8 - "Oh Fuck" The Search, S1E14

Nothing quite encapsulated the moment so well when Claire was forced to literally sing for her supper, or at least information. She and Murtagh are scouring the highlands for Jamie Fraser and part of doing so means putting on singing shows. And so, Claire's first show to a rowdy bunch of drunks in a tavern is quickly started off with the exclamation. Brilliant and funny.

#7 - The Dagger to the Throat, The Reckoning, S1E09

After the six month break between episodes eight and nine, nine came in with a huge bang. And by bang, I mean Jamie slamming that window open and pointing that pistol at the sorry bastard BJR. Now the reckoning, was actually my favorite episode of the entire season and there are two moments on this list. This is the first one. After all the fighting, and back and forth between them, Claire and Jamie have some good ole fashioned make up sex, you know, the best kind there is and while she is on top, laying it on him thick, she takes his weapon, puts it to his throat and makes him swear to never lay a hand on her again. It's also a sex scene where she is most definitely in control of him and she lets him know it too. Considering the fact that he'd tanned her hide earlier, getting fucked while subsequently being told if he ever hit her again, he'd have his heart cut out and she'd eat it for breakfast, is probably enough for a man to get the picture. She was the boss, and Jamie knew it.

#6 - "Does it bother you?", The Garrison Commander, S1E06

After a really tense hour of superb tension between Claire and the disgusting Black Jack Randall, it is determined that the only way to save Claire from the clutches of the evil bastard is to turn her from an Englishwoman into a Scot. And that means marriage. And so, she and Jamie are set to be wed. After all that tension, the two moments that break up the anxiety the most are Dougal's Corn Grinding line, and this one when she asks Jamie "Does it bother you, that I'm not a virgin?" And when Jamie responds. "No, so long as it doesn't bother you that I am," the look on her face and the guzzling of her wine are proof enough that she's just not wanting to deal with this shit. It's also why she gets more than a wee bit drunk. Who wouldn't with that kind of news?

#5 - Choosing Jamie, The Devil's Mark, S1E11

One of the most pivotal moments in the entire show for Claire, was when she makes the decision to permanently put Frank behind her. In a way. When she decides to choose Jamie, in this world of war, pain and torment, versus the much safer world she lives with Frank, you can see the angst, the fear and then the complete and total determination. The moment she tells Jamie "On your feet soldier" and you seem them embrace and kiss, you know that everything, for now, is going to be alright. That she's found her soulmate and she loves him, even if she doesn't say the words.

#4 - The Dying Man, The Gathering, S1E04

This moment is truly when you see Claire's compassion. The man gored by the boar has no chance of survival and it is this moment that I also believe Dougal finally gives Claire some respect. Granted, he is still a major asshole, but he's the kind of asshole, you can't help but admire a little. Regardless, this moment when she comforts this dying man in his last moments, it's tender and shows Claire's true want to help and the grief when she cannot do so. A common thing for a woman who is used to seeing the dead and dying on the battlefield.  A poignant moment for Claire's character and her relationship with Dougal's character.

#3 -Pregnancy Announcement, To Ransom a Man's Soul, S1E16

The ending moments of the season, after all of the ups, the downs, the terrible things that have happened, when she tells Jamie she's pregnant is truly the light at the end of a dark tunnel. They love each other, and the child she never thought she'd have, is now in her belly and so she and Jamie are truly a family again. Things aren't back to normal, by any means, but they are getting there. And this baby is truly that hope for a better future between them.

#2 - The Big Fight, The Reckoning, S1E09

By far the best Claire moment with Jamie is this one. By a mile. The tension between them and the chemistry are clashing. The insults back and forth, the affrontry. The sexual chemistry is so strong between them in this one scene that you can feel it steaming off the tv screen and when they glare at each other, you don't know if they are going for blows or for hard kissing. It's sexy, raw, powerful. Claire hold's her own, she let's Jamie know what for, she calls him a fucking bastard, he calls her a foul mouthed bitch. By far some of the best acting of the entire series happens in this moment and I'm honestly sure when she slapped him, she really slapped him. Note to Jamie, never tell a woman to apologize when they don't think they've done anything wrong. I think he learned his lesson.

#1- The Bitch Slap Heard Round the World, By the Pricking of My Thumbs, S1E10

Ah yes, nothing quite felt as satisfying all season, in my opinion as the moment when Claire loses her shit on Laoighaire. Now...I get it. Laoghaire is a teenager. She's a bit bratty. She's got this huge ass crush on Jamie. But she really crossed the line when she tried to seduce him by the stream. Then she has the utter nerve, to say that Jamie must get sloppy drunk to fuck Claire. And the reaction to such a thing is the satisfying bitch slap that Claire lands on her. Now, hitting anyone is wrong, but admit it, most if not all of us felt a great deal of satisfaction in watching that display.

So what were your favorite Claire moments of Season One?

Falling Through the Stones: My Outlander Love Affair

I was introduced to Outlander a couple of years ago. I never had liked time travel romance. It was always so unrealistic, so wrong, so...just...blah. These stories all sounded the same to me. So when my best friend told me to read them, I was skeptical. I mean my thought process was pretty simple.

Time travel? Uck!

A married woman, going back in time? Double uck!

First person point-of-view? Gross!

Her being OLDER than her lover? What is this madness!?

Needless to say, the only reason, and I mean ONLY reason I decided to pick up Outlander and read it, was because of my love for Scotland and history and romance. I figured, one book wouldn't hurt and if I didn't like it, I would shrug it off and move on. Until that point, the only book series I had ever read were Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables and Twilight, and Twilight wasn't exactly high end reading material. Most of my casual reading involved old classic novels like Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights or (as a personal favorite) Pride and Prejudice. When not reading classic novels, I was reading Harlequin Romance Novels and Hannah Howells (because the Murray Clan are awesome-sauce). I hadn't found an adult book series that had really peaked my interest and love for my ancestry (as a Scot and an Irishwoman). It all changed by the time I finished reading the first in the then, seven book series. It blew me away. What was normally typical of the female tropes in romance novels, were switched on their heads.

The woman was the sex ed teacher, the older and more experienced of the two. The woman, was married and in love with her first husband. The woman was take charge, protective, a true fighter. Claire Beauchamp Randall-Fraser was by no means the meek lass. She was headstrong, stubborn, more than willing to go toe to toe with her brawny highlander husband. And despite her situation, she was never really a damsel in distress. In romance novels, it's almost always the man's job to sweep in and save the woman and this novel was completely different.

Jamie, the handsome hero of the story, was every bit as stubborn as his older bride, but full of honor and an inherent nobility and sense of right and wrong to match no other. He was powerful and strong, but also in several instance, completely and utterly at her mercy, and emotionally laid bare. In some instances, truly vulnerable with Claire coming around to pick up the pieces. He was the untried virgin, the one scared most of the first night, scared he'd muck it up. After all, a man is supposed to come to his marriage bed as a man who knows what he's doing and yet, he doesn't mind it at all that Claire is teaching him.

Their relationship is truly one of equality where as even heroes in romance novels, are usually the ones still holding all of the power, even by the end of the novel. It's not the same here. I think that's why the novel resonates so well with people, and with me. The characters are human, imperfect, and more realistic. Despite this crazy premise, I can see this as an actual relationship between two people. About the only thing I couldn't see is having a man speak as eloquently to me as Jamie does sometimes. That's just some Nicholas Sparks shit. Or maybe, I just haven't found the right man yet, who is willing to say those sweet things to me, and to treat me as well as Jamie treats Claire.

Their relationship is the kind of relationship that most people envy. They are equals. They are soulmates. They are the other half of each other, both with good qualities and bad but still so utterly perfect for one another. Diana Gabaldon has certainly given people a super high standard to live up to so far as romance in their life don't you think?

So I read the first book, I fell in love with the characters, the setting, the truly near perfect historical accuracy. And so I picked up Dragonfly in Amber and was thrown for a loop by how it started and then I read further and I was sobbing at the end of the book. It was as emotionally affecting to me as when Dumbledore dying in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Up until that point, no other book had made me sob. And so the cycle continued. I read Voyager and it turned out to be my favorite book in the entire series. And then Drums of Autumn where I found that I would truly love to have Roger for a husband (oh if only I were a six foot tall redhead), or at least someone like him. I had two men to love, two men to admire, and two heroines to love and get frustrated with.

I found respect first, and then admiration for young Lord John Grey, and for William and a love for Fergus and Marsali and Young Ian. Each of these small characters became family to me. They were all imperfect and human. It turned from a story of romance to one of faith, honor, familial love, and that no matter the mistakes, no matter the heartbreak, there is still a reason to be alive.

I fell in love. That's all there was to it. I fell in love with the people, the setting and the words that Diana Gabaldon so eloquently put to page, ruining me for  the typical romantic storyline. Thanks to her, no other fictional man measures up to the flawed but wonderful Jamie Fraser. No other woman is the perfect mix of strength and vulnerability that most women are. Claire's strength of character, and mind are truly the foundation for most of these books and I've read in interviews that Claire pretty much wrote herself into the story and there was no turning back. I think it's safe to say that Claire and Herself have much in common.

So I was into it. Hook, line and sinker. And then I found out about them turning it into a television series and was worried that the integrity of the books would be lost in translation and in August of 2014 I watched as Claire, Frank, and Jamie came to life on the screen and I was mesmerized by how my new beloved book series was so well transitioned. Yes there were things I didn't like, things I missed, things I thought could of been changed, but overall, I was just so glad to see Claire and Jamie come to life for me the same way Sam Heughand and Caitriona Balfe brought them to life. They were perfect casting choices and while the show itself was not perfect, I do believe it showed great respect to it's source material in ways other book to show adaptions have not.

Even now, a few months after the final episode, I'm still reeling, about to start the sixth book A Breath of Snow and Ashes, and I find myself truly enraptured in this world of time travel that Diana has created and loving every minute of it. No other book series since I turned eighteen, has effected me quite like this one and I'm so glad that my best friend managed to pick up a book I would of otherwise avoided. So Aislene, thank you. Thank you so much. And thank you Diana Gabaldon for creating a story I never thought I would ever enjoy but now adore.

Outlander S1E16: To Ransom a Man's Soul, A Recap

Here it is. The end of the line. The final episode of the first season of Outlander. When we first started our journey in August, who knew that this show would garner the following it has. The tumblr I run with my best friend has a mass following of ten thousand people. We see fantastic reviews from the critics and from 95% of the show watchers who are also book readers. As a book reader, I'll admit to some disappointment over the past season. Now Ron Moore has done a rather fantastic job and this is one of the best book to screen adaptions I've ever seen, second only to 1995's Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth, but I do miss certain lines of dialogue. I think it's safe to assume that we book readers have all had small disappoints, some more than others. And I know that a few of us have hated the show but I am not one of those people. I loved it. Kudos to Sam, Cait and Tobias for their acting skills and much graciousness to Ron Moore for bringing the book to the screen. But mostly, I want to thank Diana Gabaldon. The woman who brought us these characters, and their stories. A woman who created one of the most epic romantic, historical, fantasy, dramatic novels of all time. She is truly one of the great American writers of all time. And with that, it's time to discuss the Outlander Season Finale.

The show opens with a scene of the British flag being raised at the Prison. But all of that is nothing to the shot we have of Jamie. He's laying there on a table, his broken and abused hand present, his eyes vacant, his body filthy and naked. He doesn't move, he seemingly doesn't breathe. He is completely and utterly shattered. We see Black Jack Randall behind him sleeping, only to rouse and begin dressing. It's as he is dressing that Jamie snaps out of it and it is apparent that what he wants is for BJR to slit his throat. Randall grabs the knife to do just that but before he can, there are noises that rouse his attention. As Jamie sobs in defeat and anguish, BJR goes to inspect what is going on and as he nears the door...BAM....a heard of cattle come and run his ass over. Murtagh, Angus, and Rupert enter and save Jamie, then ride him to Claire waiting in the middle of the road.

When she sees his condition, she knows he needs help and so they ride to an abbey, intent upon getting him better. Now in the books, they travel to France before they even start the healing process but moving it up in the show, makes sense. A lot of stuff was left out to make time for what happens in this episode and therein lies some disappointments that we book readers have, but overall, I understood that the adaption had to make sense for non-book readers. And that little bit of the unexpected, keeps book readers on our toes.

So they are in the abbey, discussing what needs to be done. Jamie's having serious moments of PTSD, Claire's face, interchangeable to that of Black Jack Randall is having serious emotional repercussions. He's angry, hurt, broken, and utterly destroyed. The monks speak of his soul needing saving and there are several hints to his soul throughout the episode, no doubt hints to the title of this episode.

One of the most heartbreakingly delivered lines of the entire episode is when Claire asks him what happened and his response:

"To much, and not enough."

I will leave it to you, dear readers, to ascertain exactly what that statement means.

As the scene cuts back to a flashback of Jamie with BJR, I'm sick to my stomach. Tobias Menzies is gut wrenching, using kindness as a way of debasing and humiliating Jamie. This whole entire moment of glory is about his power over Jamie. He refers to Jamie as a "beautiful creature" rather than a human being and kisses him, but is not satisfied with Jamie's lack of response to him. Well that certainly won't do. He starts to give Jamie a few strokes with his hand and Jamie finds himself unwillingly responding, loses his temper and spits on him, telling him to take his pleasure and be done with it.

And then BJR picks him up, bends him over, spits on his hand and then proceeds to rape Jame Fraser until he screams. It is graphic, it is disturbing but it is not gratuitous. It's gut wrenching and terrible and horrible but in no way a gratuitious scene of violence. I started to cry and cry hard. Selena Gomez style:

As the flash back zones out, Jamie takes a healthy swig of laudenum, letting the opiate overtake him and then Claire sets to work. We hear her narration, discussing how Jamie had once said he could handle pain for himself but couldn't bear hers and it relates both ways. How she managed to have the strength, I will never know. As she is dismissed by the monk to go rest, she sets herself in the chapel. Another monk, the head of them I'm sure, enters and tells her he'll hear her confession. And so she confesses. She confesses EVERYTHING, blaming herself, ultimately for what has happened and the monk wisely tells her that perhaps her being here is some sort of miracle and tells her "whatever your sins my lady, have faith they will be forgiven,"

Murtagh and Jamie have a discussion but it is all in Gaelic. At moments like these, I really wish for the subtitles but understand that we are supposed to be as clueless as Claire about the Gaelic since this story was initially her point of view. Even so, it would be nice. I don't know what's being said at this point but Murtagh is looking like he's saying, use your damn head, don't be stupid, or are you insane?

We're having another flashback. Jamie's got blood all over between his thighs. And he's broken down enough that BJR manages to get him to brand himself with his initials. Marking him as property, debasing him even further. It breaks my heart in two and just when I'm finished sobbing about the first flashback, I'm reverted back to tears. It's so bad, so achingly realistic and disturbing.

As we're back in the allie, Willie tries to liven Jamie's spirits, try to help and Jamie tells him to cut his throat, that dying is far better than remaining here on earth. We find out in the next scene with Claire that that was essentially what he told Murtagh and the knowledge that Jamie wants to kill himself, put himself out of his misery, is enough for Claire to faint. When she comes to, the monk says that his soul is in danger of being lost forever in the darkness and Murtagh suggests that someone might have to slip into the darkness with him.

In the book, this was more self reflection on Claire's part than anyone telling her but that wouldn't exactly translate well to screen and so it was changed with Murtagh giving the suggestion of going there, rescuing him from his own thoughts. And so, she makes a vat of oil of lavender and goes to his room, determined. The resulting scene is her rousing anger out of him, and finally getting him to react to her in more than a dead stare and muted words. they end up on the ground, her trying to figure out why he's so destroyed, wanting to heal him and then she sees the brand. He tells her that he put the brand there himself and then goes on to explain that he was not just raped but made love too.

The final BJR flashback is the one scene that truly breaks my heart. Where Black Jack Randall uses lavender oil and uses his manipulation for Jamie to think of Claire. He uses Claire's power over Jamie to destroy him. This young man has faced hell, death and destruction but his breaking point is BJR using Claire to debase him, to demean him, to destroy him utterly and completely. Jamie finds pleasure with this final rape, the sort that comes from mental, emotionally and physical exhaustion. And when he comes to, and realizes that he found pleasure with his rapist, it's the moment that you see this man so full of pride and honor, break and shatter into a thousand pieces.

Male Rape has often been used as a punch line in tv shows and in movies while female rape is often used as a lazy plot device/place holder/shock value. Most times, female rape is meant to be gratutitous, appealing to the basement dwelling men who get off on the fantasy of a helpless woman. The rape of Jamie Fraser by BJR is none of those things. It's a disturbing look of violence, trauma and true destruction. It was depicted as the disgusting crime it is and not as a weak plot device meant to shock viewers. It was groundbreaking and horrifying.

As he finishes with his confession, thinking Claire would never forgive him, she does...and she manages to bring him out of the darkness enough that he can distinguish her from BJR. He comes back to reality. Is he completely healed? No he is not. I think that for people saying that he was healed with just a few hugs and tears are missing the point. He isn't healed. He isn't completely himself. All she's managed to do, is pull him out of the darkness enough that he has a will to live again. That's what he had lost and she brought it back. He's not completely better, he's not back to normal, and he is still traumatized, but at least now, he is not wanting to die and put himself out of his misery. He's willing to fight his way back to normacly or at least a semblance of it.

With Murtagh's help, they cut away the brand and then they get ready to travel to France.

As all say their goodbyes, we finally get a little bit of comic relief by Angus who decides to kiss Claire in a not so gentlemanly fashion and then Rupert does it with a bit more finesse by kissing her knuckles as that is the proper way to kiss a lady.

The final scenes of the episode are on a boat. Jamie makes a small joke, Claire is glad to see he has a sense of humor and he admits to trying. And then she suggests that they try and change the future. He doesn't think they can but he's at least game for it and then she makes one final reveal. That she is pregnant.

Jamie, who had thought he would never be a father, is struck with a moment of pure joy. For the first time in the episode, his eyes light up and he smiles and admits he never thought he'd be happy again, but he is and they embrace and so the episode ends.

It's been a long time coming, the end of a fantastic debut season. I'm so happy to see the books brought to screen, but very much sad that we now have to wait until next spring for Outlander: Dragonfly in Amber.

So a big thank you to all of the followers we have on tumblr, to the readers in Outlander groups on Facebook that read what I have to write, and thank you most of all to the cast and crew of Outlander for bringing us a wonderful first season. And with that, I make this special announcement:

Outlander S1E13: The Watch, A Recap

It is time ladies and gents for a new episode of Outlander. We were left with quite the cliffhanger last time with a gun pointed squarely at Jamie's head and the threat of his brains being sprayed all over the floor and so now it's time to play the game of "Who the Fuck are These People?". It's one of my favorites. So without further adieu, let's commence with the review and recap of the episode.

Turns out the man pointing a gun to Jamie's temple is a man named Talum who is in charge of some of The Watch. He's rather well acquainted with Jenny and Ian and it turns out the two of him have been paying them to keep the redcoats away and it's part of the reason for their visit. Ian's quite chummy with this Talum fellow and has even had the man's sword repaired or what have you. Since the men are hungry, Jenny departs to the kitchen to start some dinner and is followed by her brother and her husband and eventually Claire. Jamie's a wee bit pissed about the whole idea of the Watch being there, saying that it wasn't right at all for them to decide that sort of decision but Jenny was like "fuck you bro, we had to do what we had to do without you around..." Well you get the idea.

They all agree the best course of action is for Jamie to keep his nose clean and his head down and then the Watch will be gone and no one will be the wiser. All shall be well in the land of Lallybroch.

At dinner, we learn more about the relationship between Ian and Jamie through the questioning of Talum MacQuarrie. He is quite suspicious of the two but says very little on the matter and gives the greatest toast I've ever heard.

"Here's to a good life and a long one.
A quick death and an easy one.
A good lass and an honest one.
To great whiskey, and another one."

Gif makers take note, I'd love to have this giffed for me. I'll pay you in hugs and internet cookies I promise.

The following day Jamie is guiding a horse to the stables in order to have a look at his leg since he's supposedly lame, seeing one man smoking on Ian's tobacco. He's a bit of a smartass to the man and goes about trying to mend the horse's leg with the help of wee Rabbie. Next thing you know, there's a big ass fire and the dick who was smoking the pipe had lit it. Fucker! Well Jamie and a few others manage to get it out but Jamie's fucking pissed and decides he's not going to take this shit any further. His clean nose didn't last eighteen hours.

A fight breaks out, Jamie ends up kicking ass and MacQuarrie ends the squabble and apologizes. You know, for all he does, he's certainly a bit of a charmer. I can see why Ian likes him. He suggests that Jamie would be a great fighter on his team but Jamie's like "nah dude. I love my wife, I'm settled..." Smart guy Jamie Fraser.

As the men are returning to the main house from the stables, there are the men that MacQuarrie's been waiting on and who'd be in their ranks but Horracks. In case you don't recall, Horracks was the man that knew Black Jack Randall was responsible for killing his own man in order to frame Jamie for it. All for a price ye ken. Now he's with the Watch, and they are all at Lallybroch and he knows who Jamie is. If he spills the beans, Jamie's sure as shit off to Fort William and Black Jack Randall's clutches. Jamie is fucked.

Thankfully, Horracks keeps his mouth shut on first meeting and all seems to be well. Claire of course is scared to death that something bad is going to happen but she's Jamie's strength in this moment.

"What ever happens, we'll handle it...no matter the cost."

Later on we see Claire and Jenny doing the wash. There's a cute moment with Wee Jamie (who is super adorable, omg I want one) and Claire. They talk and wash, of bairns and children, of Jamie and Ian and all of sudden, Jenny's water breaks. Looks like there is a wee babe a coming. And come to find out, Claire discovers the babe is breach, meaning it's in the wrong position. In case you aren't familiar with old time child birth, this is very dangerous for the mother and the baby. Claire tries to get the child right in her belly but it doesn't work and there is nothing to do but wait out the birthing.

During this time, Jamie approaches Horracks and they discuss what the bastard wants. Well he wants to go to Boston of course (as all Irishmen seem to do) and make a life for himself in the American colonies. Problem is, he needs money and he wants Jamie to give it to him, if only to keep his mouth shut. Jamie concedes but is none to pleased about it. Who would be? After all, the bastard is blackmailing him.

Cut back to Jenny and Claire, Jenny's pacing and Claire asks what it's like to be pregnant. Jenny's description is verbatim from the book. I've never been pregnant before but the way Jenny describes it, it's both a mixture of beauty and misery. Claire is calm through it all and no doubt sees the conversation as a way to distract Jenny from her contractions. It's going to be a long day. I'm very glad they decided to keep all of this dialogue from the books in the show. A midwife was supposed to help out Jenny but the midwife's away (of course), so it's up to Claire.

Claire: It's alright. It is possible to deliver a breached baby. I'll only have to reach inside and guide it out.
Jenny: Alright. You'll be fetching me a good stiff dram before we start.
Claire: In that case the baby will likely be drunk too.
Jenny: Well then he'll come into the world a true Scot.
Claire: Alright

The show cuts to Jamie and Ian speaking while cleaning the wagon with the burned hay. Ian explains why he likes MacQuarrie and why he enlists The Watch to look out for them. He doesn't want Jenny in the same position she had been in when Jamie was taken away. He does it to protect Jenny the only way he can. Jamie confides in him about Horracks and Ian speaks to him of the money that Jamie's father put aside for him.

Jamie doesn't want to take it and explains why to Claire. It was meant for her, and for their children. It's at this point that our strong heroine Claire Fraser confides in Jamie, what she feels is a major shortcoming. The inability to have children. It's so heartbreaking, seeing her pain in thinking she is barren and there is some disappointment in Jamie's features but he brushes it aside.

Again, there is more dialogue very close to the book and he comforts her. One of the many reasons I love Jamie Fraser. He's truly a good and kind man and even if he is powerful and strong, he can be sensitive too. He's the King of Men for a reason and this only reinforces my opinion. It's just sweetness and love.

Our next scene is when Jamie meets Horracks with the cash. But as all blackmailing goes, it's not enough. He needs more money to keep his mouth shut and even goes so far as to threaten Jamie's family. Before Jamie can do the job of killing him, Ian runs him through with a sword, the death affecting him. This scene is pivotal, showing the true bond betwen Ian and Jamie and what makes them almost as brothers, not just brothers in law.

As they return home, Jenny's in the throes of labor upstairs and the guys from the Watch are being rude as fuck. Horracks is nowhere in sight and MacQuarrie querries about what might of happened to him. See what I did there? Jamie's like, fuck if I know where he is.

It's morning now. Jenny's still in labor and MacQuarrie is still wondering where Horracks is at. His horse is still there? Man wouldn't take ten steps to piss, let alone run off. MacQuarrie's a pretty good smartass and then Jamie tells him the truth, kind of. He says he kills Horracks because he dared blackmail him and threaten his family. At first we think everything is going to hell in a handbasket but then MacQuarrie laughs it off.

"Yeah fuck that guy. Fuck that old Irish son of a bitch..."

Unfortunately, the man has a wee bit of a problem. He needs a man on his mission to ambush a party of the British and Jamie agrees to go along, Ian too.

Before they leave, Claire gives him a carved snake that his brother William had carved for him. And they kiss and she makes him promise to come back to her. It's love and it's beauty and I"m crying. Not really, but I'm heartbroken, knowing what's coming.

So the men go off and then Jenny's actually having the baby. Holy fuck. She's giving birth and Claire reaches right on in there and pulls the babe out.

At the same moments of this, the scene cuts to where Jamie is with the other men of the Watch, waiting on the chance to ambush. Jamie, observant as ever, realizes to late that it's an attack and there's no way of escaping. The screen white's out as the British attack and fire the guns and we are left in the dark as to what happened.

As the scene moves to Claire and Jenny it's touching and sweet. Instead of the son Jenny thought it was, it's a wee daughter. Margaret Eleanor Marie Murray and she's totes adorbs. Okay, I quit.

Three days pass and there is still no sign of Jamie or of Ian. Claire's worried and Jenny has turned into the quiet sort of strength that Claire usually is with Jamie. Then the dogs bark and there are two figures hobbling down the road. It's Ian! But it's not Jamie with him but a man of the watch.

He explains that Jamie stayed behind to help a wounded MacQuarrie and that the British took him. My response is Oh Fuck!

So Diana Gabaldon has already said her piece on the matter so far as what happens. Half of the episode is very much straight from the book (Jenny's birthing) while the other half is not (The watch, backstory on Ian and how Jamie gets taken into custody). We also get a bit of background on Ian and Jamie not in the original novel but in a story she wrote for an anthology called "Virgins". See picture below:

I really like how they did this episode and how they changed it from the book. It was a major change but it easily transitioned the story to where it needed to go. Now the job of Claire is to find Jamie and for book readers, we know that we're less than an hour of the season away from the dreaded Wentworth Prison.

Until next time my fellow Sassenach and Outlander Addicts.

Picture Credit: Starz/Showcase/Amazon Prime UK

A Frank Discussion about Frank Randall

First off I will say I am completely on the side of nearly everyone when I say Claire and Jamie are the perfect match and their love is something worth wanting. They are the love story to end all love stories but everyone is quick to vilify Frank. Is he a villain that many people make him out to be?

Here are my thoughts. A few months ago I got into a heated debate on tumblr with someone who said that Frank was the worst human being on the planet, essentially, and was overall super shitty to Claire throughout the entirety of their marriage. I disagreed on several points. I will go through the accusations and explain my points on them.

Accusation #1: Frank cheated on Claire after her return through the stones.
Diana Gabaldon has said that Frank did not cheat on Claire but we are going to negate that for the sake of this argument. Claire says he was very good at hiding it but on the night Frank died, they got into quite the row and she accused him of cheating and he did not flat out deny her accusations, saying something along the lines of "I didn't think you'd care enough". Even if Frank did cheat on Claire we have to realize a few things. One being that Claire was gone for three years and even if he thought her story was crazy as shit, she came back to him, alone and pregnant with another man's child. They were not especially intimate after their return, by Claire's own words, so he was obviously a lonely man. Yes, adultery is not a good thing, but to argue he cheated on her and to make him a villain for it is silly considering she, essentially cheated on him for three years. Claire married Frank first in the chronological order of her lifespan and had the chance to go back to him when Jamie brought her to the stones and she chose to stay. So even though I'm one of the hardest hitting Jame x Claire shippers there are, she was still unfaithful to him. So no, adultery is not right and if he did cheat on her then they were both guilty of it. So feel free to berate Claire for doing the same thing that Frank may or may not of done as it is never truly confirmed.


Accusation #2: Frank was emotionally and verbally abusive to Claire throughout their entire marriage. 
The only instance that I can even see this being remotely possible, is the argument the night he died. He and Claire both said shitty things to each other and he accused her of infidelity, and said he was taking Bree away from her. By this point, Claire and Frank were less a couple and more like an arguing set of siblings, constantly on the end of each other's rope. They were both yelling and screaming at one another and yes Frank did insinuate some racism by saying part of the reason he was taking Bree away from the US was where she wouldn't date some black guy and apparently thought Claire was having an affair with her friend Joe Abernathy. It was a shitty thing to say but Claire said shitty things too and once more Frank is vilified for daring to do the same thing Claire is doing. It doesn't make it right but then again, neither of them were truly right in how they handled the situation. Both showing impulsiveness and brashness in the face of anger. There is never any other time in the books where he is spitting at her. Claire describes the later years of their marriage as very argumentative and honestly if not for the fact that divorce was so frowned upon, I'm certain they would of done it.

Accusation #3: Frank was never supportive of Claire in any way. 
Well this one is flat out wrong. Think back to Voyager for a minute and imagine that part where Bree is a baby, Frank has friends coming over for dinner and Claire is the frazzled housewife who ends up so at the end of her rope that she just leaves Bree with Frank and walks off into the night, needing to take a break. It's that night that Frank agrees being a housewife is not the job for her and suggests that she goes to school to become a doctor. Yes, he was looking at it more for Bree's sake than for hers but it is a very uncommon thing for a man in the 1950s telling his wife go and be a doctor. Back then, women were the home makers. They knitted, they sewed, and they had dinner on the table at six. He at least understood her enough to help her become a doctor, even if his motivations were more toward Bree than Claire at the time. They were not exactly a close couple after her return through the stones.

Accusation #4: Frank is the absolute douche-baggiest douche-bag on the face of the earth.
This is a general statement but I've seen it written several times over. So here is my case as to why he is not the worst man to ever walk the face of the planet. For one, he generally loved Claire when they got married. He loved her sass and her vivaciousness but they were only married for a very short time before war separated them. He started working in intrigue, he had to hide and lie and fabricate and no doubt was affected by the war as many men were. Then he and his wife are on the way to reconnecting, having only spent ten days together in the space of seven years. Of course there is some distance between them. Neither of them are the same people but he still loves her. And then his wife disappears for three years and he mourns her and searches for her and then she shows up pregnant with another man's child, wearing another man's ring telling him this cockamamie story of how she fell through time. Of course he doesn't believe her. Most men of that time would probably plop her right into an insane asylum but he doesn't. Yes he yells at her while she's laying in the hospital bed but he was listening to her tell him a story of time travel. Certain she'd lost her mind. In the end, he calms down, he apologizes and he promises to not abandon her though he is well within his rights to do so. He takes Bree and raises Bree as his own. He loves Bree so much, he treats her as if she were his own flesh and blood and prepared her for a life that she might face should she ever travel back in time with her mother. He might not of believed Claire completely but he eventually believed her enough to at least try and prepare Bree for a life in the past.

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In conclusion, I will say this. Frank and Claire's relationship after she returned through the stones, was tentative and distant through most of that 20 years, with only brief spaces of intimacy between them. He was not a perfect man. Neither was Claire a perfect woman but he did what he thought was honorable. I think the reason people are so quick to vilify him is because of the simple fact that he is boring in comparison to Jamie. Jamie, despite his faults, is charming and witty and funny and sweet. He's honorable and strong and a manly man while also treating Claire like an equal.

I don't think Frank ever stopped loving Claire but after her return, he had to watch his wife love and pine over a man she thought was dead for twenty years. He knew she was in love with someone else and tried to be a good husband to her but her heart was set on Jamie. So if he did cheat, I don't blame him for doing so. Claire was very emotionally distant from him when she returned back to him. The fact that he so willingly took her back and tried his best to be a good husband to her says something for the man of honor he was. He couldn't offer her adventure or a life of purpose tending to wounded men. He couldn't offer her the passion and love of a soulmate though he did love her. He could not offer her a love that shadowed the love she felt for Jamie Fraser. It doesn't make him evil.

Yes, Frank made mistakes. He was not a perfect man but he was not an evil villain bent on destroying Claire's happiness. Claire was imperfect and so was Jamie. They are all flawed in some way. I think people just want to villify Frank because he was an obstacle between Claire and Jamie. He was always there when he was alive in Dragonfly in Amber and Outlander. Always at the back of Claire's mind even when she was with Jamie. He was the other man in a love triangle to span the centuries. He was not perfect, but he was not the villain and for people to have so much vitriol for him is silly and wrong. At least in my opinion. Your thoughts?

Picture Credit: Starz