Outlander Season 2, Episode 1: The Night Outlander Fans Lost Their Minds

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Picture it. April 9th, 2016. A hungry crowd of American women and men sit in front of their TVs, heart pounding and biting their nails in anticipation. This was it. The moment that eleven months of Droughtlander finally ended with the words "Previously on Outlander." There was a collective scream of excitement in households all along the East Coast and beyond and people on the edge of their seat as the first scene opened to Caitriona Balfe's Claire, laying on grass.

I don't know about you guys, but I feel like we're in for some depressing shit.

"I wished I were dead." Melancholy sets the tone for the first half of this episode. Gray tones in the cinematography create the environment that feeds into the depression that Claire is obviously feeling, as evident by the first words she utters and the horrifying scream as she gazes at the stones. We of course, soon realize that she has been brought back to her own time and the year is now 1948 and her plans of stopping the complete evisceration of the Jacobite Army at Culloden Moor has failed.

After the slightly altered opening credits and Skye Boat Song (partly sang in French) commence, we're back to the story and Frank purposefully steps into our lives again after a long eight episode absence. He's the concerned husband, a man shocked to discover his wife has been found after disappearing near on three years ago and you can see the nerves as he slowly enters into the hospital room where his wife lay, staring out the window.

 I wish I had a funny and clever caption for this scene, but it's just too depressing.

Now this entire first half of the episode was not written like this in the book but I think what Ron Moore and the writers did with the material was fantastic, and I'm going to go out and just say that TV Frank is far superior to Book Frank. In the book, Frank flips out when Claire tells him her story, and literally loses his shit. Now, for a lot of people, this turns them off of Frank in the books and makes him out to be some sort of super dick for it, even though he's completely within his rights to flip his shit. I've written an entire article on the issues I have with the Frank Hate in this link here, if you want to read more detail about that. TV Frank, on the other hand, is very humanized. He's seen throughout his time on screen as understanding, hopeful, angry, relieved, nervous, and desperate.

 Seriously, TV Frank is way better than Book Frank.

TV Frank's acceptance of her story, mirrors Jamie's acceptance of her time travel way back in The Devil's Mark of Season One. He tells her he believes her, and he's on board with everything until Claire tells him she's pregnant. At first, he's ecstatic, but then she reinforces that the child is not biologically his and we see him lose his sense of understanding for a split moment. It's a tense moment and you can see the anger he feels, his fist clenching up at the fury and then he just stumbles out of the room and the house of the reverend to a shed and tears it to shit. I found his behavior, not at all to much, or to out of place considering the situation, and I think aside from the fact that Claire was carrying a man's child, his own manly pride was hurt in that he could never give her a child, but this stranger had. It was something, I believe, that reinforced his lack of self worth because as a man of that time, not being able to have children was something worthy of shame. He, perhaps, did not feel like a whole man because he was unable to create a child.

After he cools down and talks it over with the Reverend, it seems that a cool head prevails and he and Claire have a bit of a chat. Start from scratch, renew their life together. I found it rather touching that he was so willing to be there for her and for the child in her belly. That he was going to stand by her when he had every reason to leave her to raise a child on her own and face the stigma of being known as that "crazy runaway wife with the bastard child." It showed that Frank was indeed an honorable man, who was so willing to start over with his wife and begin again. He's a good guy, a little flawed for sure, but ultimately, a good man to Claire.

So, Frank and Claire are onto new beginnings, but what happened that led her back to the stones? A question that is starting to be answered when the scene transitions back to the past and to France.

The depression and melancholic look of the film is replaced with a bright and bustling port and with Claire and Jamie and Murtagh. I don't know about you guys, but finally seeing Claire and Jamie together made me literally scream out loud in happiness. FINALLY! As great as Frank was in the first half hour, I was so ready to see Jamie's sexy ass again and there he was, dressed well enough, still pained, his hand bound and dealing with a good bit of sea sickness. At least he's finally got his sense of humor back eh? At least of a fashion.

 Murtagh's look of disgust as he talks about Frogs really mimics my own face when I get told to stop obsessing about Outlander.

Obviously, Jamie is still recovering from his terrible ordeal with Black Jack Randall and there's almost a motherly feel to the scene when she tells him "I'm here." Her voice is soothing and soft, reaffirming that she isn't going to let him go so easily.

They set their goal to try and stop the Jacobite uprising so as to prevent Culloden. Of course, it has already been revealed that the terrible Battle of Culloden Moor will happen, so it makes the optimism of Claire and Jamie a little harder to swallow and we as the audience, cheer them on, even though we know their endeavors will end in failure. Meeting Jared Fraser was certainly interesting and it's a shame we shan't see to much more of him. I like the passionate guy, that's for sure. Jared promises to get Jamie in on the Jacobite cause and to meet with the leaders of said cause, while also giving up the reins of his winery as he goes off on another business venture. It is after this meeting, that there is a panic on board a newly docked ship and as Claire is not the type to hold fast and leave things be, she jumps right in and lo and behold, the ship is infested with Smallpox.

"Seriously Sassenach, can you stop being selfless for once?There's no room in the past for you to be a decent person."

Smallpox being one of the most dangerous diseases in the world before vaccines were invented, causes everyone to panic and it is then that we meet Stanley Webber's Comte St. Germain. Now, I've seen Stanley Webber act before as Juan Borgia in Netflix's Borgia but seeing him in that powdered wig did make me giggle a little (not even gonna lie). Even so, the man cut's an intimidating figure and thanks to Claire's selfless act, he now has to deal with the fact that he's losing an entire shipment of cargo that he would have willingly put to the masses, knowing about the possible spread of small pox. Greedy selfish bastard.

 Is it bad that I think he's kinda hot?

Of course, losing all of that cargo certainly would put quite a hole in his finances so it's really not all that surprising that he would try to save himself money despite the horrendous outcome of spreading possibly small pox tainted cargo. Jamie notes that it sure doesn't take Claire long to make enemies but he still loves her anyway and they have a big ole smooch right there as St. Germain's ship lights up the night sky.

I'm sure the Comte will forgive them for making him lose a fortune. He seemed rational to me.

Now I did find the pacing of this episode a little off and while the Frank and Claire moments were engaging, words can't describe how happy I was to finally see Claire and Jamie together again after months upon months of waiting to see them back in action. I do think it's obvious that Season 2 will blaze through the source material a little faster than the original season of Outlander did with it's book. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, though with the liberties taken to Frank's story line might make some people upset. I'm not going to be upset because I really found Frank's character far more endearing here than I ever did in the book. I happen to like that such liberties were taken with the story line but that's of course, my own personal opinion.

Overall, the first episode was really great, and while the original premier of Outlander seemed slow to start, this one was full of raw emotion from the very beginning, gripping us by the heart strings and holding us tight through all of it. It set's the scene perfectly and makes sure to immerse us once more in a story we all love.

Though I love Wee Roger most.

So what were your thoughts on the premier? Did you enjoy it? Anything negative to say about it? I'd love to hear from you so be sure to leave a comment below or leave one on our Facebook page or on Tumblr.

Also OutlanderSassenach will be uploading PODCASTS every Monday following new episodes so stay tuned for that!

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Until next week, Sassenachs!

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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.

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