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OUTLANDER is back!!
And that was a LONG wait, but oh, so worth it!
I
think I’d like, first, to address the elephant in the room.
While
I’ve been excited for months to see this particular episode, I’ve also been nervous
about it. I knew that even if it were handled as sensitively as possible, the
scene where Jamie ‘disciplines’ Claire for putting the group in mortal danger
would upset many viewers. It certainly has upset many readers over the years,
and I’ve had more than one discussion with other Outlander readers about that
scene.
In
my opinion the scene was handled very well. It is a difficult scene whether
you’re reading it, or watching it. I’ve read this book multiple times and knew
exactly what to expect but it didn’t make the apprehension any less. But what
occurs is true to the historical times in which the story is set, and while our
Twenty-First sensibilities and (rightfully held) beliefs make us want to yell
at the TV or the book, it doesn’t change that this behavior is historically
accurate. Claire put everyone in danger when she wandered off, thus allowing
herself to be captured by the English soldiers. For Diana Gabaldon to have
handled it any differently would have been an anachronism.
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Having
said that, and more on it will be addressed in a moment, the rescue was fun to
watch. Black Jack was dripping with evil. He asked Jamie how his “handiwork is
looking,” referring of course to the horrendous scarring on Jamie’s back.
Jamie’s simple answer, “Fine,” was perfect, as he refused to play into his hands.
As Randall is poised to rape Claire, he says to her, “We have an audience,”
then asks Jamie if he’d like to join them. Jamie doesn’t respond to these
taunts as he manipulates the situation so that he can get Claire out of there.
While this scene is in itself a great plot point, it also shows more of the
evil that is Jonathan Randall.
Once
Jamie and his merry men have rescued Claire from the clutches of the evil man,
we see the vicious argument between Jamie and Claire, the one that leads us to
the later spanking. After each hurls at the other every nasty word possible,
there is a moment of clarity and we can see the intense pain in their faces.
Neither can believe the words that were thrown at one another. They both
tearfully apologize and forgive one another. It is at this point that I think
their growing love for one another is revealed.
Poor
Claire. At the tavern everyone talks right over her, no one listens to her
words of gratitude for her rescue. She will be invisible until Jamie metes out
the expected punishment. "She doesn’t understand what she may have cost
us,” Murtagh tells Jamie, who agrees and answers, “Aye and she needs to.”
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Before
Jamie does what he feels he must do he tells Claire, “Your actions put all the
men in jeopardy.” No one more than Jamie, who is in much
greater danger from Randall now that he knows where he is. Then, “If a man
among us had put the rest of us in danger as you did they likely would have...
been flogged, if not killed outright.” But as his wife, it is his duty to mete
out the punishment. There’s that uncomfortable bit of historical accuracy.
An
icy fall-out follows the punishment, with Jamie spending some nights on the
floor. But after he brokers a peace between Colum and Dougal, following Colum’s
anger about the men raising money for the Jacobites, Jamie takes their example
back to his marriage. In a beautiful scene he tells Claire that just because
something has always been done a certain way, eg. husband disciplining wife, it
doesn’t mean it always must be that way. He gets down on his knees and pledges
his fealty to her, and in a heart wrenching moment she reaches out to him,
laying her hand on his heart, and forgives him. The looks on their faces right
here!! Many viewers say it was lust, but the way they looked at one another
wasn’t lust, it was love. It takes a strong love to be able to forgive what
happened, and here we have the first signs of a profound love that carries
through eight (and counting) books.
BUT,
it is at this point in the book, and TV series, that in many ways Claire truly
becomes one of them. Each time I read the book, it isn’t until the after all of
this and their reuniting that I feel Claire really feels connected to Jamie and
loyal to not only him but the people of the place and time. It’s definitely a
turning point. A huge one.
Jamie
and Claire will need that strong love to get them through all that still awaits
them. This second half of the season promises to be quite a ride.
This
week’s rant: That scene by the river
with Laoghaire isn’t in the book, and I wasn’t pleased
by its addition. To show Jamie as tempted by her at this stage of his marriage
is wrong, because he wouldn’t have been tempted. The look of lust and wanting
on his face isn’t in line with his character nor where his character is by this
time in the story. He is in love with Claire and committed to her. I wish they
hadn’t felt the need to add this new scene.
Slàinte mhath!
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