You say you have not watched the incredible new Starz original series Outlander? Have you been hiding in a closet since July 2014? You have some catching up to do, with the first eight episodes having already aired on Starz from August 9 to September 27.
The hugely successful book series written by Diana Gabaldon was adopted by Starz through the adapted vision of Ronald D. Moore (of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fame), much to the exquisite delight of the dedicated fans of Herself (as Diana’s fans lovingly refer to her). WELL…..if you need someone to bring you up to speed, allow me to enlighten you during the Droughtlander.
Grab your renish (Gaelic for wine) or your favorite whiskey and settle in for a treat. I’m not going to perform a scene-by-scene recap, this thing would turn into a novel, and Diana has already provided us with a brilliant one. I would hope this piece leaves you starving to watch the show yourself to get the full experience that is Outlander (or helps those who have watched the series and need a refresher course). We are going through eight episodes, so short is not the word to use either. I hope you enjoy it!
Episode One – “SASSENACH”
The series premiere begins our enchanting and time-traveling journey as Claire Randall, brilliantly portrayed by Caitriona (pronounced Katrina) Balfe, is a WWII combat nurse fighting to keep her patient alive before he bleeds out due to his femoral artery being severed. This fight in our heroine is an engrained trait that she will desperately need for the rest of her life, even more than she needed during the war.
Claire is in a difficult place right from the start. Nurses of any era have to be made of strong stuff, and Claire is stronger than most. She steps outside the patient and surgery areas, covered in blood, to see celebrations that would later be known as VE Day…THE WAR IS OVER!! Her husband, Frank Randall (played by the amazing Tobias Menzies who performs duel roles in the series) is a British Intelligence officer during the war. Frank is to become a post-war professor at Oxford University. Before that event, a rediscovering of each other is in order due to having been forced to spend five years apart during the war.
Arriving in the Highlands in 1945, the area seems almost untouched by the ravaging war, as Claire muses in the book not the TV series. With slight awkwardness, the couple begins to reconnect their ties to each other as they go about the countryside. Of course, a young couple will end up in bed (or other places) to sexually reconnect their relationship as well. Claire remarks that as long as they have that, she is confident the rest will work out.
With Frank being a future history professor, he puts on the guise of a tour guide at times for Claire, which she will come to appreciate more than she knows at present. Claire has a playful spirit and uses this to bridge the awkward moments that spring up between the couple. Claire is a forthright and independent woman during a time that started to see a shift of female independence, mainly provoked by the war.
Women had to keep the daily business of the country going while most men were away. Unlike most women, Claire was in the war, so she might be more independent than most women of her time. Ronald Moore shows this by diverging from the book during a scene at the ruins of Castle Leoch that has Frank giving Claire oral coupling in a lower-level part of the castle.
While in the area of Inverness, Frank meets up with a Reverend who is a minor historian as they look for his ancestors to map his genealogy. He finds evidence of an ancestor who was a Captain in the British Army around the 1740s. Captain Black Jack Randall (also played by Tobias Menzies, terrifyingly brilliant, I must add) is the topic between Frank and the Reverend. Claire has a chat with the housekeeper and, after a little prophetic palm reading, decides to head back to the bed & breakfast for a bath while the men continue to rummage through receipts and documents for hours on end. Can’t say I blame her there; quiet time for a woman is always a rarity, and listening to receipt accounts would bore me terribly. To each their own, and she left him to his.
On his walk back to the room, where Claire can be seen from a window attempting to brush out her curls, Frank happens on a man standing watching Claire from the street below. Fans speculate on the man’s identity, which is not revealed as of yet. As Frank approaches him from behind to ask him why he is watching his wife, the man turns and promptly disappears.
This is one of those shivers-down-your-spin moments. As he recounts this scene to Claire, he speculates that the man could have been a ghost. You sure get that feeling. Then Frank gets into the discussion around possible infidelity during the war to try to ask Claire if that had occurred on her part. This leads me to muse that Frank might be hiding a little something along that line. Claire gets upset that Frank would even think she was that person. They reconcile the issue after he professes his love to her will last forever, no matter what. And back into bed, they go for completion of the reconciliation.
Before the sun rises, they head up to watch a Druid order perform a ritual at a collection of standing stones, similar to Stonehenge but much smaller, known as Craigh Na Dun. Claire is intrigued by how herbs and natural remedies can heal people and sees an interesting plant that she returns to the stones to retrieve. Frank is tied up with the Reverend, so Claire goes alone. As she’s there, she hears noises and is compelled to touch the center standing stone. You guessed it, she is pulled through and propelled 200 years to the past, to 1743.
Claire is not aware of this trip to the past right away. As she moves about the area, realizing the car is missing, she sees and hears Scots and British soldiers skirmishing. She takes off running to get away from this activity and ends up face to face with Black Jack Randall, of course initially thinking he was Frank because he looks exactly like him in the face.
She quickly discovers that he is NOT like her husband. During his rape attempt, yes, he goes right to that just because she cusses at him, a Highlander drops into the area behind him, taking Black Jack by surprise. He knocks Black Jack unconscious and takes off with Claire; she is completely confused and bewildered by this point. Can’t say I blame her, I would be completely frazzled. Talk about your life taking on a life of its own. Welcome to the Highlands, Sassenach.
She is then knocked promptly unconscious and taken to a cottage where his Highlander comrades are holdup. Of course, they start speaking Gaelic, and Ronald Moore did not do subtitles. In a fan interview, he explained that the reason is because the story is from Claire’s point of view. She doesn’t know Gaelic, so the fans can most feel her side of it if they don’t get the subtitles. You still get the gist of what is being said though, quite brilliantly done in my opinion. This adds to your teleportation to the time, as well as feeling what Claire feels.
As she stands there being interrogated by the Highlander known as Dougal, played by Graham McTavish (of Hobbit dwarven fame), the other men eye her appearance suspiciously. She gives them her maiden name of Beauchamp. She is wearing different clothing that appears to them to be a woman’s undergarment, known as a shift. She is actually wearing a 1940s dress, but they have no way of knowing that.
The Highlanders have gathered in this cottage to care for one of their party who is injured. Enter the dashing ginger-haired Jamie, portrayed perfectly by actor Sam Heughan, with an arm hanging out of joint at his side. Her fear pushes to the side as she sees one of the men trying to prepare to force the arm back into joint. With the vocal certainty of an experienced nurse, Claire tells them all to step aside and she handles the task herself. As fans, and the men in the room, cringe at the sight, she pops the joint back into place.
The group takes Claire along to aid Jamie in riding to their destination. As they ride through the country, beautiful scenery is gifted to you along the way that gives new meaning to the color green. A British Soldier – Scottish Highlander skirmish the next day makes Claire demonstrate her nursing abilities again as Jamie is shot in the shoulder. After tearing cloth from her own dress to use for bandages, she rewards Jamie’s blood loss dazed stare with a barrage of cursing when the bandage does not want to stay in place. The men comment that her husband should tan her hide for such language, proving she is certainly in a different situation where men think differently of women.
After telling them all to mind their own business, she threatens Jamie to keep still while she finishes her task. These men see that she is not like other women they have known for many reasons. After getting Jamie patched and on his horse again, they head to their destination without further incident, on to Castle Leoch. As eventful as her journey has been up to this point, Claire realizes it has only just begun and that she is no longer in her own time.
Episode Two – “CASTLE LEOCH”
The second episode takes us right into the castle and a new set of characters. Mistress FitzGibbons pretty much runs the workings of the place. Mrs. Fitz, as she is known by all, tries to pull Claire along inside so she can be put into “proper” clothing and fed. Claire protests that she needs to tend to Jamie’s shoulder before it gets infected. Of course, the wording Claire uses is 20th-century medical terms and thus confuses Jamie and Mrs. Fitz for a minute. They sort it out and Jamie is pulled along too so he can be ‘physicked’ as Mrs. Fitz later calls these tasks.
Claire experiences short flashes back to the time she walked the halls with Frank, showing her mind is still on him. Enter the shirtless Jamie McTavish (true last name not yet known), and deep rumbling sighs can be heard from all corners of the audience. As Claire is treating the gunshot wound, she sees the web of scars that cover Jamie’s back. He was flogged twice, 100 lashes back to back (pun intended), in the space of a week just four years prior to this point. He recounts the reasons he was even in the hands of the English to begin with. Enter the villain we love to hate, Captain Black Jack Randall.
Jamie was protecting his sister and found himself arrested. This scene is best seen so I won’t do it injustice by being too descriptive here; the first taste of Black Jack in his element is best witnessed individually. Tobias does an outstanding job of making you see Black Jack and Frank as two distinctly different people and gets a bit more than joy out of actually horse-whipping Jamie. Sam really did get whipped, you can see the lash marks, and he admits to it during an interview before the season premiered.
Cut back to Claire treating Jamie as he cracks jokes about bobbing down the road in the wagon with the chickens to be jailed at Fort William. Claire finishes dressing the wounds and ties up his arm so he can heal from the shoulder being out of joint earlier – did you forget about that wound too? A bit banged up but none the worse for wear, Jamie comforts Claire as her emotions overtake her when he mentions her husband is a lucky man to have such a kind wife. Did every woman envision themselves folded in that strong embrace or what?
As they pull back slightly, faces still very close together, you can feel the chemistry between them crackle in the air with the fire embers behind them. Claire breaks the moment and steps back, apologizing. This is just the first glimpse of how sensitive yet strong Jamie is, especially in comparison to his other Scottish brethren of the era. Jamie tells Claire she need not be afraid of him, and he will protect her. He also makes it clear that when he is not around she could be in danger so be aware. She goes to bed and he leaves so they both can get some much-needed rest.
Next you see Mrs. Fitz going through the very lengthy ritual to get a woman dressed in that day. The book doesn’t detail this part as extensively, but it is interesting to see the layer upon layer that was required of that day. Mrs. Fitz’s reaction to seeing the brassiere instead of corset is very charming. Claire passes it off as being French.
Claire is dressed and taken to see the Laird (aka Lord) of the castle, Colum McKenzie. In Colum’s study, while waiting for him to arrive, she discovers the date she has been propelled into. Claire immediately starts tapping her memory for information of this time so she can acclimatize herself quickly. Frank had told Claire how to handle interrogations, so she attempts to answer Column’s questions but of course, can’t tell them 100% of the truth. Column and his brother Dougal remain suspicious of her and have others follow her as she moves around the castle.
Claire’s story of a widowed lady from Oxfordshire holds for the moment as she moves about the castle, helping with plants and treating illnesses, mainly Jamie’s, at this time. Claire goes out to the stables to replace Jamie’s dressing (gotta love watching a man work with a beautiful horse) and he fills Claire in on his story after he escaped from Fort William just after his flogging punishments. This is when Claire discovers that McTavish is not his real last name and that he is a wanted man. He also tells her that Column and Dougal are uncles from his mother’s side of his family.
This conversation is further evidence of their immediate connection that Jamie trusted Claire with his most important secrets right from the start, also evidence of his naiveté at this age.
As she is working through the grounds and helping with tasks Mrs. Fitz gives her she meets Geillis Duncan (Lotte Verbeek). Geillis lives in the nearby village and knows something about herbal remedies and much more as we continually discover about her and her own secrets. Geillis teases Claire a bit by saying that people “say I’m a witch,” but this is no small declaration in that era.
In the hall later that night, the needs of the public are addressed by the Laird. During the course of these proceedings, Jamie proves his prowess once again by taking physical punishment for Mrs. Fitz’s granddaughter who was accused of loose behavior. Dougal asserts his authority during this punishment to prove a point to Jamie. Anyone else hear “respect my authoriti” in their head just then?
Before Claire is allowed to leave with the local merchant as originally promised, she is taken down to a place they call the surgery. Claire recalls this room during her trip to the ruined castle she saw with Frank. Column informs her that she is to remain as his “guest” and take up the need of healing people for the castle. To Claire, and us, this feels more like being held prisoner. Claire later finds out that the title of “guest” does have its perks, but at this moment prisoner is the emotion.
Episode Three – “THE WAY OUT”
In the third episode, we start off back with Claire preparing to leave on the train for the frontlines of the war. This demonstrates Claire’s stubbornness to do things her own way. Much about this episode is meant to bring many elements forward that present themselves later in the book. We discover the local priest Father Bain (Tim McInnerny) and much about the superstition of the time.
Claire dives into the medical aspects of the time and tries to use it to get Dougal and Himself (aka Column the Laird) to trust her more. All she wants is to be able to get back to her own time, but they think she’s an English spy. As a guest of the clan, Claire is asked to join the castle inhabitants in the great hall while entertainment is given from a folk singer employed at the castle.
As Claire is sitting waiting for the festivities to begin, Mrs. Fitz’s granddaughter, Laoghaire (Nell Hudson), sits down near her so Claire introduces herself to Laoghaire. They both spot Jamie coming into the hall and remark on his “fine figure”, a thought that simultaneously crossed every woman’s mind at the same moment. Claire waves and Jamie comes to join them for the evening’s entertainment.
Now, during this time Claire is drinking Column’s renish. It is made strong because it is his painkiller of the day for a condition he has. Jamie remarks about her drinking it, and she admits to having drunk three glasses by that point. Claire lets Jamie finish her glass as they sit watching further. Jamie, ever the sly and respectful gentleman, finds a way to trick Claire into heading out of the hall and down to her surgery by saying he needed her to check his bandage on his shoulder. Once there, he admits that it was all a ruse to get her to her chambers while she could still walk and not make a fool of herself. Another little chemistry-cracking moment takes place as Claire says she wants to view the wound anyway. You will come to find out that Claire can certainly hold her renish or whiskey with the best of them. But it was almost enough to get her guard down so that she and Jamie kissed, but then she pulls back and wishes him good night, spell broken and no kiss received or given.
Later in the episode, we see Jamie kissing Laoghaire in a side room when Claire sees them. No wonder Laoghaire was getting in trouble by her father for loose behavior. Earlier in the episode Jamie all but ignored her, and now we see him kissing her. Anyone else think Laoghaire threw herself at him? Of course he did catch her this time, didn’t he? Guys will be guys, won’t they?
Claire does tease him about it that night at dinner. She then feels bad about it afterward. But the embrace she saw reminded her of her husband and how much she missed him and his affection. The next day Claire goes to see Geillis and get more herbs to prepare for the Gathering of the Clan McKenzie. She sees more evidence of barbarism in that a boy almost loses his hand due to theft, but instead is nailed to a pillar by the ear. Claire is astonished to discover, even after all of this, the boy is expected to tear his own ear away after his hour sitting punishment is done. She can’t allow that to happen so she and Jamie cook up, only through piercing looks, that they will help set him free instead. Already they are on the same wave link.
Episode Four – “THE GATHERING”
The fourth episode, “The Gathering,” is just that…the gathering of the clan to pay respects and pledge loyalty to Column as Laird. Herself, Diana Gabaldon, and Ronald Moore did a cameo in this episode during the oath-taking part. Claire starts off the episode with the intention of trying to get away. She covertly sets the way to break free from her watchers and the castle. With all the men drinking heavily during the festivities, Claire is stopped in the corridor on her way out of the castle and almost raped by three clan members. Dougal stops them but also says she has to pay the price for it, and gives her a pressing kiss. Yes, Dougal had been drinking a good deal too. Claire wallops him over the head and knocks him out. See, that independent woman shows up again to pull herself out of a difficult situation. But that independence pulls Jamie into a difficult, and, yes, life-threatening, situation….not for the last time.
Jamie stops Claire’s escape attempt and does not tell anyone about the attempt so that Claire will not get in trouble. Jamie was hiding during the gathering, but comes out of hiding to safely escort Claire back to the castle. In the book Diana mentions a few times that ladies within the castle were not to be found alone while all the men are around and drinking so heavily. You guessed it, some men were pigs back then too and the drink would certainly bring that out. The historic version of ‘date rape’ maybe? Ok, moving on…
Since Jamie is discovered he has to join the oath-taking in front of Column. He is a McKenzie by blood and in line to become Laird should he wish to take that honor. Dougal is of course holding the honor for himself at such time as Column dies, so naturally, Dougal feels threatened. If you remember the little punishment scene in episode two, there ya go as to the point he was making. Well right now in front of the majority of the clan Jamie is a substantial threat to Dougal. He cannot refuse to take the oath or the other clan members will kill him, and he cannot take the oath or Dougal will kill him to keep his claim to the succession in place. Jamie handles the situation masterfully and shows that his innocence only extends to certain things in life, family politics not being one of them.
The next morning, as part of the festivities, a hunting party goes out in search of a boar. When the hunt turns tragic, and one of the men is mortally wounded, Claire shows she knows how to handle the situation…much to Dougal’s surprise. That is when Dougal decides to take Claire with him out on the road to gather Rents from those on McKenzie lands that did not come to the gathering.
Episode Five – “RENT”
The fifth episode finds Claire outside the walls of Castle Leoch once again. She thinks she might have the opportunity to get back to the standing stones of Craigh Na Dun. The dangers on the road prove to continually distract her from that end, to the point of all but forgetting about going back through the stones. Back in the wild she goes, sleeping on the ground and living in rugged conditions. The Highlanders do not know this about Claire yet, but she is not uncomfortable in the wild. She is also not a typical woman of the time that might be insulted by vulgar jokes or squeamish about blood.
While on the road, Dougal uses Gaelic to speak to the towns he visits, he also uses Jamie’s scars, much to Claire’s disgust. Jamie is angered and upset about the requirement of his scars to drum up money but understands the cause they are supporting…return of the Stewart King of Scotland. At first Claire thinks Dougal is lining his own pockets, but picks up enough along the way that it sparks her memory of what Frank told her about the Jacobite revolt around the time.
The realization of their patriotic behavior instead of it being thieves makes her see them all in a more favorable way. The group starts to accept her a little bit as she proves she can joke with them by telling Rupert that he does better with his hand than the ladies as he professes in his stories. But don’t all men go down that path of bragging without something legit to brag about? Just sayin’. The men grow more protective of her as well.
There is a hilarious tavern brawl where Angus just BOUNCES this other Scot’s head off a table (I bust out laughing each time I watch this scene). Other men at a nearby table were making rude remarks about Claire and calling her a whore in Gaelic, well Clan McKenzie couldn’t let their ‘guest’ be treated that way. Claire was giving them a tongue-lashing when she discovered that the fight was about her and their defending of her honor. This is a moment when they all sort of make a silent truce.
Episode Six – “The Garrison Commander”
The sixth episode finds Claire in the hands of her countrymen again. She starts off charming them and succeeding in getting them to agree to take her to Inverness so she can get a way back to the stones. Then, in walks Captain Black Jack Randall. Up to this point you have a dislike for him, knowing he very nearly raped our heroine. As Claire and Black Jack chat, he continues to pigeonhole her into a corner. She cannot admit the full truth, in that day people would think she was either a witch or crazy, a no-win situation either way. She has to make up tales to try to explain things, but she is not a skilled liar.
Diana writes in the book how completely Claire wears her feelings and thoughts on her face; it is near impossible for her to get by with a lie. As with deceptive men in general, BJR sees deceit in Claire and is determined, by any means necessary, to get to the bottom of it. He starts off by being slightly charming and giving Claire a glimpse of her beloved Frank, whom she wishes to return to in all haste. He sketches her likeness on a napkin then calls her out for a liar. The flash of Frank is gone.
BJR is determined to find evidence that Dougal is supporting the Jacobite cause so he can arrest him. He feels Claire is the key to that discovery. When she denies it and is determined to refrain from further questioning, BJR lets her know very clearly that he will get to the bottom of what he wants to know. Claire then says she knows the extent of his mercy and through gritted teeth, calls him out for the lashes she knows he put on Jamie.
In the book, Dougal tells Claire about the lashing experience, but the show has it told from BJR’s perspective. He talks about the episode like it was a marvelous day in the park with his best gal by his side or something, and it’s very sadistic and blood-curdling to hear. As all the fans watch, the scene switches to the second lashing Jamie took just those four short years before.
The amazing and cringe-worthy performances of both Tobias Menzies and Sam Heughan fully draw you into the encounter. My favorite line of the episode is uttered by Jamie when BJR asks him if he is afraid because he is shaking. Jamie says, “I’m just ‘fraid I’ll freeze to def afore you stop talkin,” always the sassy and stubborn Highlander. Talk about making a bad situation worse, but how many of you wouldn’t take a similar opportunity to smart off? When Jamie pulls off his shirt you are happy to see the perfect upper body and appalled to see the wounds on the back all at the same time. I just can’t do this scene justice so please watch the episode and spare me the reliving of it…{sniff}.
As BJR is recounting this tale to Claire he speaks of it as a love story. She is disgusted and crying, while he is longingly looking into the distance and actively reliving the events. The single element of the recounting from BJR that he puts a tone of unhappiness to is the fact that Jamie would not beg for mercy. Jamie took the punishment without crying, screaming, begging, or anything that BJR would have liked to have made him do. He’s upset that he did not break Jamie’s will, stubbornness has its uses.
After the recount of the event he makes her believe that he has a level of remorse about it. She would like to believe that her beloved Frank’s good nature is still alive in this ancestor, so she believes him.
When he leads her to believe he will take her to Inverness, he helps her out of her chair and promptly punches her in the stomach. How did he do that with the corset I wonder, but I digress. She hits the floor scratching for breath to enter into her lungs again while BJR calls for the poor little Corporal at the door standing guard. He forces the guard to come in and kick, yes I said kick, Claire in the stomach while she is still trying to gather breath from the punch. The Corporal is all but in tears but does as ordered. Dougal bursts in to take possession of his guest and prevent any further physical abuse. Dougal gets her out of there but is commanded to bring her back the next day. Dougal has little choice since Claire is an Englishwoman and under a different set of laws in this particular instance. One of the few times Dougal is gallant and gentlemanly. Glad to know, like most men, he would be there in a pinch!
They ride out of the town and head toward the original encampment with Jamie and the others. Little does Claire know a pit stop is in order before they get back to the other men. Dougal, under the pretext of needing water, takes Claire to a spring he says is magic. Hey, whatever gets Dougal off Claire’s back about being a spy is a good thing. It is then that he spills his plan to prevent her being forced back into the hands of Captain Randall. Claire has to marry a Scot!! Enter the dashing, tall, handsome, always protective ginger-haired Jamie. There is certainly chemistry between the two, but that is not why Jamie is Dougal’s choice. He has clan politics as his motives, but Jamie accepts for other reasons entirely.
When Claire and Jamie discuss the preposterous idea of them being married, Jamie is accepting of the idea much quicker than Claire thinks he should be. She asks if he has another lass in mind, but Jamie assures her he does not. Always self-deprecating, he feels he is no catch for a lass, nor would a father accept him either being an outlaw and everything.
The next little exchange is one of my favorites, and I love that Diana made Jamie this way. Claire asks him if he isn’t bothered that she is not a virgin, of course he thinks she is a widow and knows this already. His reply is the shock of the situation. He says it doesn’t bother him, as long as it doesn’t bother her that he IS a virgin. How totally charming is that?! And so…on to the wedding, Tulach Ard!
Episode Seven – “The Wedding”
“The Wedding” episode aired September 20th; watch out for birth rates to spike in the summer of 2015 as a consequence. The book is amazingly descriptive and extends for three days what this episode had to accomplish in a single night. The way they handle the awkward first time for Jamie, realization of the connection from Claire, and all the steam in between is simply astounding that it was captured all in one single hour’s episode.
The book lengthens the event through about 50 pages, and is linear in activity. The show starts with Claire and Frank walking past City Hall and spontaneously going in to get married. In the book, Frank and Claire were married in the Highlands, another reason for the second honeymoon there. In the show’s portrayal, Claire has no warning before either of her marriages are spontaneously thrust upon her (no pun intended this time).
When the episode picks up with Jamie and Claire’s wedding, Ron scares the fans by having them come in at the “you may kiss the bride” part of the ceremony. In a book it makes sense to be linear; in a show you want certain things in certain places so it makes sense to do it differently. Jamie comes in the room, attempts to make a joke and Claire calls him Bob Hope….I just love those references she gives to her own time that no one but the audience really gets. Keeps us in the room, though many would rather be in the room and kick Claire out I imagine.
The tension builds until Claire proposes a drink. In her usual fashion, she downs them much faster than any man around her, in this case Jamie. Jamie feels he has to remind Claire that she doesn’t have to be afraid of him; he wouldn’t force himself on her. Little does he know that is not why she is worried or nervous.
So she starts to ask questions, and he is patient and honest in his answers to them. She starts out by asking that he give her the reason he agreed to marry her. He recounts how Dougal reminded him of the danger to her should she have to go back to Black Jack. Having his own history with the man, and other as yet unadvertised reasons of his own, he agreed. Jamie has so many deliciously sweet and immediately endearing lines that other men should take notice if they want a woman, or want their woman to adore them. Men usually protect their family, but actually admitting that they will do so no matter what is so sweet….a woman just melts.
Claire drops some level of the tension for just a minute and sits on the bed, takes his hand, and…… almost kisses him. She stops him to ask him to tell her about his family. This part of the episode feels like an homage to the fans. Little snips of things that only a book reader would understand go in and out as Claire does another voice-over to move the activities along.
And THEN in bursts comedy relief.. Angus and Rupert ..inquiring about their progress, on orders from Dougal. Jamie throws them out of course, and Claire and he have a short laugh. Claire then admonishes that they should go to bed. Jamie replies, “To bed, or to sleep?” like there is a choice…. Seriously! It is swoon worthy that he even asked the question in the first place. Most men of that era would have had her and be done with it, but Jamie is respectful and let’s face it… a bit scared himself.
He does sneakily suggest he help her out of her corset and things. Covert intentions are always more sensual than obvious comments…. paying attention men? She suggests the skirt first. His face after she turns around is just TOO CUTE! Jamie hasn’t walked this particular path before but fumbles through it to the point he runs his hand lightly up her arm. Did every other woman in the world get goose bumps and their flesh tingle, or was that just me? She turns around and he helps her undo the corset. Those little hooks are a pain at any time, but right now talk about a mood kill. Standing in her shift, he looks at her beautiful porcelain skin. He gently touches it, as if she would break. Steam coming out your ears yet?
She takes off his belt and he grabs her for one of those toe-curling, heart-pounding, and knee-buckling kisses we all dream about receiving on a daily basis. She is shocked at how good his kiss is, and asks where he learned to kiss like that. Jamie’s perfect reply is, “I said I was a virgin, not a monk.” The first round is clumsy and perfectly portrayed. Who is debonair their first time at anything? He spins her around thinking he is to take her from behind; she spins back around and lets the education begin. She pulls him down on her to get the process started. She then interrupts the proceedings by asking him to stop crushing her, so he puts his weight on his arms. Once completed the amazement on Jamie’s face is so adorable.
Claire asks him if it was like he thought. He admits the reason he spun her around by saying, “I thought you did it the back way, like horses you ken.” Such a precious and vulnerable moment… men keep taking notes. He then asks her if she liked it. The night before Jamie got lots of incorrect advice from his fellow Highlanders, as often happens when men start on the subject of “how a woman is” or “how a woman wants it.” But Claire admits that she did like it, to his surprise.
She is mixed with emotions already in the process. Her mind goes back to Frank; she calls herself a bigamist and adulterer in a voice-over. The confusion on Jamie’s face is evident as she turns from him to get food and charges for the door, forgetting she is just wearing her shift at this point. Of course Jamie is only wearing his shirt, but tries to stop her and they both end up on the landing outside their room door.
Let the good-natured ribbing begin. Jamie insists she go back to the room and he will endure the heckling long enough to bring up some food. He brings up a tray and they sit, eat, and chat over some whiskey. Jamie walks behind her and touches her gently. Her response is one of rejection and she apologizes to him. So he comes back to try again, and calls her Mo Nighean Donn (Gaelic for my brown-haired lass). Every time he says it women everywhere give a deep sigh. She then asks him about the new kilt he wore for the occasion. He excitedly explains it is the tartan of his clan, the Frasers.
Jamie proceeds to explain the wedding preparations beginning with how he acquired the kilt, then the ring, then the wedding dress, all terribly cute and funny in parts. This collection of men did a good job bringing this rushed wedding together. Women, at times less is more. And so he is James Alexander Malcom McKenzie Fraser and she is Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp Fraser. They make a striking couple, her in the gorgeous gown and he in his full Highlander attire. The blood oath they take during the ceremony is also one of those times of vulnerability between them that adds so much charm to the story.
As they discuss the ceremony Claire gets more comfortable with Jamie, and even grazes his shirt sleeve with her hand. She then tells him to take off his shirt because she wants to look at him. He does, with a smoldering piercing blue gaze I might add, and stands before her completely naked. Every woman in the world follows those fingertips as they probe his body in various places. He then proclaims that fair is fair and she is to do the same. She drops her shift and stands before his gaze completely exposed. He is amazed that she is his and swiftly takes advantage of the situation by picking her up off the floor and walking to the bed.
Round two is certainly a toe curler for anyone with a pulse. When Claire climaxes Jamie apologizes and fears he has hurt her. As she tries to regain her breath, she tells him she is perfectly fine. So cute here too how he is worried he hurt her, you could just sop him up with a biscuit some times. Sorry… Southern reference… my Southern belle brethren will get that one completely.
After this very hot encounter Jamie falls asleep. We see Claire smirk, some things never change no matter the time period. After a brief nap Jamie wakes to see Claire sitting by the fire. He rises, walks to his sporran to get something, and drapes that something about her neck. It is his wedding gift to her, his mother’s Scottish pearls. Vulnerability arises when Jamie admits they are very precious to him, just as Claire is precious to him. Guys…notes, notes, notes!!!! She climbs on to his lap and round three begins. She wraps him in his own clan colors during their soft and spine-tingling encounter. The next morning, replacing Frank’s wedding ring on her hand she looks down to see one on each of her hands. Now torn between two husbands, exceedingly handsome husbands I might interject. What is a lass to do?
Episode Eight – “BOTH SIDES NOW”
In the final episode before Droughtlander takes over, both sides are explored in this mid-season finale. Since the book is written from Claire’s point of view, little is explored about where Frank is during all these events. In this mid-season finale, Ronald Moore gives the audience a much-needed look on the other side. Frank is aggressively searching for Claire during these few short months of her disappearance. Cut to the past where Claire is sitting with Jamie on a beautiful hill in what is known as soft Scottish weather, misting and cold.
Jamie shows his innocence again and asks Claire a question that he is worried she will feel is accusing her of being “experienced”. He asks if what is between them is “usual” for a couple. She answers, “No, it is not usual,” much to his delight. Up pops a close friend of Jamie’s, Hugh Munro (Simon Meacock), with news about what could clear his name and allow him to go back home once again with his new bride.
Later that night as they all sit around a fire, Rupert tells a charming water horse story while Claire and Jamie fondle each other’s hands. Then the camp turns tense as the men realize others are near. A typical Scottish clash of clans relieves the party of three bags of grain and a horse. We get the joy of watching some excellent sword play by some very manly men. The next morning they decide Claire should know how to handle a sgian-dubh (Gaelic for hidden dagger). So Angus teaches Claire the fin art of dagger thrusts while Jamie and the others look on. Several times you can see the proud hubby expression on Jamie’s face as Claire does well in following instructions.
This lesson was very timely as shortly thereafter Jamie and Claire are in a loving embrace, among other activities, and find themselves interrupted by a musket to Jamie’s temple. After one attempts rape on Claire and she stabs him just as Angus taught her, Jamie slices the throat of the other, both English deserters. Claire is in shock and Jamie is upset at himself for not being more careful.
During all this time Frank is back in his time being lured to an alley where people attempt to rob him, with no success I might add. Frank does have a bit of his ancestor in him after all. And the Reverend is trying to help him accept that his wife is gone. When Frank finally decides to leave he takes a short stop at Craigh Na Dun. At this same time, Claire is left behind by Jamie and the other men to go meet up with the contact that has the news Hugh spoke to Jamie about. Claire sees the stones, not realizing she was that close to them, and darts for the hill.
I’m not going to spoil the rest for you. You need to watch the episodes before Starz picks the series back up April 4, 2015. You have plenty of time, and any Outlander fan will be happy to translate anything you need clarified. You even have time to read through the first book of the Outlander series. Give a massive shout “Tulach Ard” and go after it. All are welcome in Clan Outlander. Slainte Sassenach!!
Does anyone else think Sam Heughan is the only man who takes a good selfie every time? Just asking!
