Outlander Season Two, Episode Seven: Faith....Restored

This episode was a gut wrenching, emotional roller coaster. It was the sort of performance from the actors that left you truly affected even hours after a viewing. An episode to watch once and then again, just to fully digest all of it. I sat for a long while after the episode ended, still thinking about the grief I felt, the pain I was able to feel right through the screen. There was so much to take in that it's almost too overwhelming for me as a viewer. Having read the books, I had anticipated this episode to be as soul stirring and as dreaded as Wentworth and To Ransom A Man's Soul. What I didn't anticipate was being more affected by the performance on screen than by the words on the page. If there was ever a real case for awards, Faith, deserves every single one it can get.

When it first opens, and you see that glimpse of Brianna and Claire in the future, it's sequence dreamlike, I think that the scene was meant to give us some hope in the face of all the pain we would soon bear witness too.

I'm not a mother (unless you count fur babies). I have never been in an a long term relationship. I have never felt a child growing inside of me or experienced the loss of a child but even still, this episode left me feeling hollow with grief inside at witnessing Claire's anguish. Caitriona Balfe gave the performance of her life this episode. It is still astonishing to me that she truly really had no acting experience before landing the role of Claire Randall Fraser. The way she can transform her face, her expressions so easily read. You can see every thought cross from her brow to her mouth. Her pain, her anger, her fury, her confusion. All of it shows so plainly and only enhances the viewers understanding of what she is going through. The portrayal of Claire is so realistic, that it's hard to imagine this show is set in a fictional version of a time long ago.

The first real gut wrenching moment is when she is calling out for her baby. "My baby. My baby." Over and over again she cries, clutching Mother Hildegarde who can only look on in anguish and explain how her child had never even drawn a breath. When Claire is clutching her stillborn child in her hands, singing to her, tears are streaming down my face and though I've never known what it's like to give a mother's love, I can feel my heart breaking in two. My nerves are ripped at the shreds. I dare say, that this episode affected me far more than To Ransom a Man's Soul and I can do nothing but heap praise upon Toni Graphia for doing such a wonderful job getting to the core emotions of the scenes in the books. Yes, there were changes, as their often are with book to screen adaptions, but I think this will be the episode that gives Claire an Emmy nomination, if not the award itself and I'd be sorely upset if the Emmys snub Outlander this year as they did last year. There is no way that episode won't get her a nomination.

The best thing about Outlander to me, is that despite the fact that it's a historical/fantasy drama, is that it does what other shows do not. It faces the consequences of every horrifying thing that happens to the characters in the show. It's not like Jamie being raped and then they skip over it like it never happened. It weighs heavily on him. A piece of him will always be affected by what happened to him and the show doesn't gloss over that. When poor Fergus relates his nightmare to Claire, even before that you can see the change in him and you just want to hold him tight and draw your fingers through his curls and whisper everything will be okay. By this point he's part of the Fraser family, a surrogate son to Jamie and to Claire and Claire has to face the reality that Jamie had true reason for breaking his promise. It is also poignant in how they deal with loss. Usually in movies and TV shows, there is grief shown when a mother loses a child, but I don't think ever to the degree I've witnessed with this episode. They went all in with it, showing her go from panicked denial, to silent grief and finally painful acceptance.

Whether you've lost a child or not, I think it's safe to assume that those who have might have seen some of themselves in Claire's grief, or seen what a mother goes through losing a piece of themselves and the man that they love. When she and Jamie are discussing what happens, and you expect for her to lay into him with her hatred, she ends up blaming herself for what happened. Jamie's words still resonate with me in the aftermath. That they'll have to carry their grief with them. Just as he still carries the weight of what Randall has done to him. Just as Fergus must now carry the weight of his own assault.

There was a lot of heaviness with this episode, and I found myself reaching for the tissues on more than one occasion. I just want to say, that I'm so utterly grateful for the story Diana has given us, and the tender care the show runners and writers have taken the heart of the story and brought it to life. I was not as affected reading it as I was watching it. As Jamie said, there's a difference between knowing something and seeing something and seeing Claire grieve the loss of Faith, seeing Claire and Jamie struggle over the loss of their child, broke my heart into millions of tiny pieces. All I can say is well done.

Well done.

Outlander Season 2: Episodes 5 & 6: Best Laid Schemes Go Asunder

Hello all! 

First off I do want to apologize to the loyal readers for my lack of a review last week. I've been having a lot of issues at home and I've actually been dealing with quite a bit of a financial crisis and seemingly hit after hit of bad luck. So thanks all for being so patient with me. So consider this a double episode review and what a review it is.

I have to say that these two episodes were certainly intense and in their own ways. We saw the re-emergence of the disgusting Black Jack Randall and the repercussions of that, as well as the strain of responsibility Jamie is under in trying to prevent Bonnie Prince Cry-Baby from getting necessary funds to run his uprising and build an army.  All of the relationships explored in these two episodes show their strengths and weakness.

Episode 5 had two great stand out moments. The first being when Black Jack comes back into the picture. The friction of that moment, followed with King Louis' subsequent humiliation of Black Jack left me tense and at the same time in a fit of giggles. I don't think I've seen anything quite as satisfying as Jack being forced to his knees to beg, only to be called a fool and be laughed at for it. Ah. That disgusting piece of crap deserved it and the best part was seeing the smiles on the faces of our dear Jamie and Claire as they looked on his humiliation with glee.

The scene was certainly more intense than it might have been considering that Jamie and Jack could do absolutely nothing to each other for they were in the presence of the King and as it has been noted before, drawing a blade, or any weapon in the presence of the king is a death sentence. Richard Kahan, the writer of Episode 5, I think has done the best job this season. He gets it. He totally understand Jack's character, Jamie's and Claire's and the writing was absolutely superb.

The second scene of Episode 5 that I thought was worthy of note was the final scene between Jamie and Claire when Claire forces Jamie to choose to wait to kill Black Jack because she knows that in the Family Bible, Jack has to marry Mary Hawkins and have a child with her. That child has to happen in order for her husband from the future, Frank, to be born. The intensity in that scene is palatable. Jamie's anger, though rather restricted is shown well in the stiffness of his body and on his face. He eventually agrees to wait a year before he kills Black Jack and when she reaches for him and he snatches back, recoils, it's a stab to Claire's heart. Mine too.

It's Sam Heughan's best acting since Wentworth. I know heaps of praise gets placed on Caitriona Balfe and Tobias Menzies but when Sam Heughan is given material to work with that highlights his acting skills, he definitely puts them to work and this scene highlights his great skill of using facial expressions and his eyes to convey more than what his words do. You can feel the anger, feel the hurt and betrayal coming forth with a single look in Claire's direction. Bravo Sam. bravo. All the awards. Maybe the Emmys and Golden Globes will show you some attention this season where they certainly didn't last year.

Episode Six: Best Laid Schemes... is perhaps more action packed but up until the last few minutes, less impactful than what happened in Episode 5. Even so there were plenty of moments to make you smile, and even crack a little laugh. We have Jamie and Murtagh trying to ensure that the wine that will be used to make money for the Jacobite cause  is never delivered. Murtagh even posing as a Highwayman which I'm thinking the Comte might be aware of. Murtagh's French isn't exactly impeccable and when he mentions how it was probably a set up, Charlie of course defends Jamie for it.

Of course, losing the wine and the money that he would have gained from it, makes Bonnie Prince Charlie cry and honestly, it's the highlight of the whole episode to see that man be a little crybaby and have to possibly go to, of all places, POLAND! It was a much needed laugh because the last minutes of the episode are even more intense, and heart breaking than the last moments of the episode before.

Bonnie Prince Crybaby

Jamie had gone to the brothel to settle Prince Charlie's debts and Fergus, the adorable little pick pocket, had gone into an open room and found some lavender oil. Liking the smell, he'd stuck it in his pocket and the camera had panned onto a British Officer's Uniform. Which of course, revealed the room to belong to Black Jack Randall.

When Claire returns home after staying the night at the hospital, she discovers a note, and a house full of frantic servants trying not to tell her that Jamie has gone to the woods to duel Black Jack. There is a note from Jamie apologizing and Claire is left reeling as to why he would break his promise. Not even the audience knows why he broke his promise, only that Fergus and Black Jack Randall are somehow involved.

The dueling scene between Jack and Jamie is already underway when Claire finally makes it there. We can hear Jack trying to get a rise out of Jamie asking "How could she forgive you?" to Jamie and I think it's because Jack knew well, that he had managed to break Jamie's will back at Wentworth and hopes to get under Jamie's skin. Jamie manages to get a stab to the crotch area of Jack and we can only hope and pray the man's junk was permanently damaged, especially just show watchers who haven't read the books.

It is after Jack is stabbed that the Gen d' Arms arrives to arrest them for their illegal dueling and when Jamie finally notices Claire who is in the middle of a very harsh miscarriage. When he calls to her, tries to get to her, and is unable to, the grief, the fear for her safety is palatable. In Season One, Episode Nine: The Reckoning, he states how seeing her and being unable to do anything, was like tearing his guts out and in that moment, you can see how he can't do anything to get to her. He's helpless to aid his pained wife and we're left with Claire calling out to Jamie, and fading into darkness. It's heartbreaking, and now we have to wait a week to see the outcome of that. Needless to say, for you show watchers, I'd recommend a box or three of kleenex. You're going to need it.

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Outlander Season Two, Episode Three: Not So Useless After All

First off, I want to apologize for the delay as I've been quite busy with real life and so it's been a bit hard to bang out a recap and review worthy of a read. So here we are on episode three out of thirteen and even though so much has happened in the past three episodes, there is still so much more to go. Crazy right? So let's get down to business and discuss those useful occupations.

There were certainly several key point that the show highlighted and focused on. Jamie has been run ragged working to undermine the Jacobite cause of Charles Stuart and Claire has been bored as hell doing nothing but attending teas and card games with Louise and Mary. Claire is a woman who's life has come to a stand still. She's not exactly the stay at home and mend a shirt type and her idea of a good time is actually doing something with her time that doesn't involve tittering behind a fan. She's envious of Jamie's coming and going and bored to tears and honestly I don't blame her for that. Sure it's a rich person's problem but Claire's never lived a life where she wasn't needed. She worked with her Uncle Lamb as a kid, a nurse as an adult and when she fell through time, she was a healer for the MacKenzie crew so she's never really been without something to do and it works her nerves.

Jamie on the other hand, is being run to his limit, playing politics, trying to garner information and like Claire, has the knowledge that a Jacobite uprising will end in the decimation of his culture and homeland. It's a huge weight to carry and it takes a toll on their relationship and at a key point in the episode it seems all for naught. Charles pressures Jamie into a meeting with Duvernay and it is at that meeting with Duvernay that we find out that Charles does not need as much money as Jamie nor Claire originally thought. It is revealed that high ranking members of English society are financially backing Charles and that means the amount of money needed isn't all that much. Charles also manages to turn Duvernay's head with he possibility of an alliance with England. It's to good a deal to pass up and Duvernay at least agrees to consider it and present it to King Louis once the proof is provided hat he does indeed, not need all that much from the treasury.

At the same time hat Jamie's hopes of stopping financial backers is being crushed, Claire has found a renewed purpose in life as Master Raymond has suggested to her that she could volunteer at a charity hospital. She takes that into advice and finds a renewed sense of purpose by working at the hospital. It's there we meet a very important character by name of Mother Hildegarde. A stern older woman who at first thinks that Claire is nothing more that a rich woman wanting to get a few props for doing a little charity work without much of the actual work involved. After Claire proves her knowledge of medicine and sickness, you can see that Mother Hildegarde finds some respect for a woman whom she had only assumed to be a rich lady without substance.

So after spending an entire day tending to the sick, she comes home to a waiting and impatient Jamie who is angry that she would dare subject herself to the sickly while pregnant. Their argument was certainly one that needed to happen and both of them were right to their anger. Jamie's anger stems from doing nothing but lying constantly. Claire's anger stems from Jamie's anger at her which ultimately I think is just jealousy on both of their ends. She's jealous that he's working to end the cause while he's jealous that she gets to do something that she enjoys. Obviously a more open line of communication between them would help them out.

After their fight, Jamie leaves in a huff and goes back to the brothel, where he notes the actions of a young boy picking the pockets of the brothel customers. An idea forms in his mind and he swiftly chases the boy down until he captures him and after some humorous back and forth, he essentially blackmails the boy, Fergus, into working for him and stealing letters.

The funniest part of the entire episode was when Claire discovers Fergus in the house eating some chicken and his response to her presence was to essentially tell her "nice boobs." Of course Murtagh interjects and states that he said the same thing to Suzette, the ladie's maid and Claire's response is quite funny. "Well that doesn't make me feel very special." It was honestly to me, the funniest part of the scene and Fergus is quite the little scamp and charmer. I just adore him.

So once Fergus is employed with Jamie, they begin intercepting letters and come across a musical code. A code that can only be cracked by someone with a knowledge of the German language and of Music. So it turns out that Claire's volunteer work actually comes in handy because Mother Hildegarde ends up helping to crack the musical code. So see, not so useless after all.

Once the code is cracked, Jamie and Murtagh and Claire are all celebrating but there is a dark stain on that celebration because it involves working with the Duke of Sandgringham and if Jamie sits down with the Duke, then Jamie will most definitely learn about the survival of Black Jack Randall.

It's also worth noting that earlier in the episode, there was a HUGE revelation about Black Jack Randall and Mary Hawkins. Turns out that Mary is he ancestor of Frank Randall and so that's certainly thrown a huge wrench into the cogs of the story. So how does Mary become the future great great grandmother of Frank Randall? Well, we'll just have to find out and see won't we?

I think the major head scratcher for this episode, if I were to really have a complaint, would be how openly Claire, Jamie and Murtagh talk subterfuge of the Jacobite cause in front of Jared's servants. True, Jared's servants are loyal, but they also know that Jared is a very firm Jacobite. Wouldn't such open conversation make it easy for the servants to relate the undermining to their employer? Not to say that this might be utilized by the show later. I don't think it will, it's just something funky I noticed.

So what did you think of Fergus? What did you think of Mother Hildegarde? And most importantly what are you looking forward to in next week's episode or at least hoping to happen? Sound off in the comments below.

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Outlander Season 2 Episode 2: It's All About Murtagh and I Love It!

So Sassenachs, here we are, already on the second episode and can I say what an absolutely jam packed episode this was. Introductions to so many new characters in flesh form, instead of just our imaginations, so many funny and tender moments and a few changes from book to screen that some people are okay with and others are probably ripping their hair out over. Overall I found the episode to be quite fantastic but I think the real star of S2E2 was Murtagh Fitzgibbons, the ultimate Wingman played by the ever so charming Duncan Lacroix. 

Now don't get me wrong. There are some great scenes outside of scenes with Murtagh but he seems to be the central figure in nearly every important scene there is, except for the introductions of Master Raymond and little Marry Hawkins. His complete aversion to French society is apparent throughout and honestly he and Jamie play so well off each other, almost like a bantering father and son.

We get our first glimpse of Murtagh with Jamie enjoying a bit of sword practice and Murtagh enjoying a great bit of teasing at Jamie's expense, pushing him to do better but it's obvious that Jamie's hand is still in quite a bit of mending.

The exchange between Jamie, Bonnie Prince Charles and Murtagh in the brothel is certainly tense. Charles is only after the throne, and wanting to use the Scottish people to accomplish the deed, claiming that it is by God's will that his father and he be placed on the English Throne. After all, they are Stuarts and not Hanovers!Those German Georges have no right to the throne! Murtagh of course, eloquently states that most of Scotland is home to simple folk, people who work and toil the land and fight each other often. What would make a simple farmer trade in his scythe for a sword? Of course Charles' answer is more preening about he is God's chosen to be on the English throne and it's quite quickly established that there will be no convincing the good Prince that to create an uprising would be disastrous. The only good news, is that Charles at least trusts Jamie enough to get him to play as a representative of Scotland and the Jacobite cause at the French Court of Louis XV and to make friends with the Minister of Finance. Charles after all, needs money in order to support a Jacobite rebellion against the English.

Murtagh is contemplating murder of a Prince here I'm sure.

Murtagh of course, is there when the information is relayed to Claire and they all seem to agree that convincing Duvernay that Charles is a bad investment is the best way to go about stopping the Jacobite Rising and as they are hopeful, we viewers have already been cursed with the future knowledge that their plans will fail. I suppose the producers and writers of the show wanted us to feel that same dread that Claire feels in knowing what the future holds, except we can't stop it like she's trying to do.

What? No line about "verra large sausage"? Inconceivable!

French court is of course nothing like Scotland. Full of vapid and shallow well dressed french men and women, and Murtagh certainly sticks out like a sore thumb. I have to admire how the writers really have created him as a great side kick to Jamie and to Claire. He's more brash, more blunt than either of them and isn't afraid to say what's on his mind. His reaction to both Claire's dress and the dress of the King's Mistress certainly made me giggle and that's nothing compared to the outright laughter I felt watching him play out the scene with Jamie while they were both in audience of the King taking a shit. And yeah, within a historical context, those things actually happened. A King of France had no privacy at all and was constantly surrounded by servants and high ranking members of French Aristocracy. I don't know about you, but I'm certainly glad I was never a French royal forced to be audience to a whole bunch of people while I used the bathroom.

We seriously came all the way here to watch a man shit?

Perhaps the most pivotal scene in the entire episode, is the one you least expect. It's when Murtagh spots the Duke of Sandgringham and nearly draws his weapon on the sorry bastard. Murtagh is going to cut his balls off but is stayed by Jamie who doesn't want to see his godfather executed for not following the rules of French society. Murtagh shows his disgust as Jamie and Claire seemingly forgive the Duke for the part he played in Jamie's imprisonment and subsequent torture and I'm sure we all felt like Murtagh.

That moment when we are all Murtagh.

The only revelation that isn't really made with Murtagh present is when Claire and the Duke are left alone and it is revealed that Black Jack Randall is not dead, and honestly, I wanted to run a sword through the Duke myself as he reveled in the fact that he'd caused Claire distress. That Jamie's horrible tormentor is alive and well is an icy chill down her spine. She and Jamie had been working toward intimacy and now she's debating on whether or not to tell him that the bastard that had raped and tortured him was still alive.

Seriously. Fuck this guy.

It certainly left the episode in a tense moment and that tenseness will just have to be kept until next Saturday when we see if Claire reveals the truth to Jamie or he finds out of his own volition. A distraction like this, would certainly put a damper on their plans to stop the Rebellion after all. Jamie would be hellbent on destroying Black Jack Randall in any way that he could.

Overall, I think the episodes funny moments wouldn't be quite so funny if we didn't have Murtagh in the background pulling faces. Be it the dress Claire wore, Jamie running into an old infatuation, or the Mistress to the King's swan dress, it's obvious that his face was what every one of us was thinking. It was a great episode, full to the brim with twists and turns and I am ever so impatient to watch the new installment of it come Saturday next.

The look of a man about to have a stroke. 

If he stares any harder, his eyes are gonna pop out of his skull.

I do think that my one disappointment was that the honey pot scene was not quite as humorous as it was in the book, and while I'm a little sad about it, I still found the changes very much in line with how the show is working things out. Book to screen adaptions, after all, cannot be perfectly rendered and changes have to be made to suit the medium the book is adapting too. We can just be thankful that books like these are given a tv series instead of a two to three hour long movie. Imagine how much would get cut out then!

So what did you think of this episode Sassenachs? Were you happy with the changes? Angry? Feel free to reply in the comments below!

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.

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Outlander S1E15: Wentworth, A Recap (sort of)

First off, I wish to apologize for the lack of recap last week. I won't divulge my personal life to you guys, unless you ask. I did that once before and had some rather rude anons on Tumblr get mad at me for it and I just can't handle the drama of that again. That being said, I will do this recap a little differently than what I normally do for this episode. Instead I want to focus on the acting, rather than what happens. And I doubt there will be much humor in this because there was nothing funny about this episode. It was grim, gut wrenching and disturbing. Also if you have any possible triggers involving brutality, torture, death by hanging and/or suicide, it would be in your best interest not to watch this episode. Also note that this post has possible spoilers for the final episode. You have been warned.

This episode was mostly focused on Jamie and Black Jack Randall. There were bits and pieces of Claire but the majority of it focused on the terrible BJR and his would be victim Jamie Fraser. There are several moments of true depravity in this episode. Moments of gut wrenching disgust at what the man does to our poor hero, but also moments of light. 

Sam Heughan, until this point, has done a great job as Jamie Fraser but perhaps has been slightly outacted by the older and more experienced Tobias Menzies. Tonight, all of that changed. Instead, it was Sam Heughan who shone through in his riveting moments on screen. First when he is sentenced to hang. Even when facing his death, Jamie shows humor, poking fun at how his wife would be disappointed to know how he might die by the noose. Even joking with McQuarrie. And Jamie tries to go out by being shot but instead, is moments away from being hung before the bastard that is Black Jack Randall rides in on his fiery hell horse, giving Jamie a temporary stay of execution. 

The moments after this are pivotal when considering the roles of Jamie Fraser and Captain Randall. Tobias Menzies manages to show cool aloofness, and true sexual pleasure in all the pain and torture he causes his captive. Sam Heughan, plays a man who even in the face of sexual deviance, and torture and true evil, can still find a sense of humor, still give a fighting chance. The struggle plays well on his face. Randall gives him the chance to give over his body in order to make his death quick and noble but Jamie Fraser is strong. The way Sam manages to convey his inner thoughts is truly a wonder. 

At the pivotal moments in this episode, the hand being crushed, the moment Claire comes in to save the day, only to be thwarted and Jamie's hand being nailed to the table...Sam Heughan conveys all of it. Pain, anguish, heartbreak, humor. Even when he is at his lowest point, giving in to what BJR wants to protect his wife, there is that moment when the two are embracing and I can feel his heartbreak but also his determination. I can see that even though he knows the worst thing to happen to him is soon to occur, he wants her to feel reassured, to know that he loves her, even for what he must do. It is a full self sacrafice. 

Sam manages to make me feel strongly, every emotion that comes into play in these moments. I'll admit that I cried. I didn't cry when he was having his hand smashed to bits. I didn't cry when his hand was being nailed to the table...I cried when he resigned himself to his fate and sat there with BJR licking his back and reveling in his defeat.

Before this episode aired, my favorite episode was Episode Six: The Garrison Commander. I had found Tobias' performance to be truly engrossing, and disturbing and every time the man is on screen, he steels the spotlight. Until tonight. Tonight it was all about Sam Heughan. He is a brilliant actor, who has had very little in the way experience compared to Tobias. Much like Cait, he's never truly carried many hard hitting, emotionally geared roles and he executes the part of Jamie Fraser so well, it is very hard to seperate the man from the part. 

In real life, Sam Heughan seems to be an utter gentleman, a truly humorous and good man, unused to the limelight and yet he truly deserves some sort of accolade for the performance given tonight. It outdoes any performance he has done in the show or movies of the past. It's brilliant and genius and true perfection.

Even if this episode was hard to watch, it has become my favorite episode because it managed to make me feel so deeply, more than I've ever felt about any sort of show before. I'm an avid TV lover but no other episode of any show I have ever watched, has ever made me fell the way I feel tonight. Knowing that we haven't seen the end of Jamie Fraser's ordeal, knowing what's coming, I can only applaud Sam Heughan, Tobias Menzies, and Catriona Balfe for all giving great performances. And mostly, I give thanks to Diana Gabaldon because without her talent for writing, we would of never seen how truly wonderful each of these individual actors could be. 

If this show doesn't win any awards, I feel like I'm going to riot. 

With no new episode next week, and with the finale a week from next Saturday, be content in the knowledge that this story has a happy ending. That the final chapter soon to play out on screen, ends with our two main characters setting sail for a whole new life. That despite the horrors soon to play out, that Jamie recovers. After all, Claire has to save his soul does she not?

See you in a couple of weeks Sassenachs, and as always, thank you for reading my thoughts on the matter. 

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