Season 3 is here! My intention is to write an “Insta-Reaction” post for each episode soon after viewing, to share some initial thoughts, questions, reactions — you name it.

Warning:

I may be talking about events from this episode, other episodes, and/or the book series… so if you’d rather not know, now’s your chance to walk away!

Outlander, episode 305: “Freedom & Whisky”

The official synopsis (via Starz):

Brianna grapples with life-changing revelations and Claire must help her come to terms with the fact that she is her father’s daughter. Roger brings news that forces Claire and Brianna to face an impossible choice.

My take:

Major plot points:

This episode is 99% Claire — the focus is on her life in Boston following her return from Scotland, her relationship with Brianna, and the decision she must make about whether to attempt to return to Jamie again.

• Claire is clearly a skilled surgeon, but her professional success and close friendship with Joe Abernathy still don’t fill the hole in her life.
• At a ceremony honoring Frank, Claire is confronted by his long-term mistress. Awkward.
• Roger shows up to experience “an American Christmas”, but also to hand something to Claire — proof that Jamie was alive, living in Edinburgh and working as a printer, only a year before.
• Claire initially rejects Roger’s information, insisting that she can’t leave Brianna. But Brianna convinces Claire that the time has come to find the man she loves.
• Claire heads back to Scotland, through the stones, and ends up back in Edinburgh in 1766. She finds A. Malcolm’s printshop, and enters to see Jamie working over the printing press.
• Claire and Jamie lock eyes… and then Jamie faints.

Insta-reaction:

This was, by necessity, a slower episode — especially relative to the previous four, with their emphasis on Jamie’s travails post-Culloden. Here in 305, the drama is mostly internal. It’s all about the choice facing Claire — a choice she never really believed she’d have to make.

On the one hand is the man who still haunts her every waking moment. It’s been 20 years, but she’s never forgotten or stopped loving Jamie. But until Roger shows up with his new proof, the idea of actually seeing Jamie again was just a dream, not a real possibility.

And of course, on the other hand, there’s Brianna. Can Claire make a decision that will result in probably never seeing her daughter again? Claire has a powerful, touching conversation with Brianna about all she’ll miss — seeing Brianna marry and walking her down the aisle, being a grandmother to Brianna’s children — and simply being a part of her daughter’s life.

Brianna is a young woman who’s been through a lot in the past year, losing the only father she knew and finding out the truth about her real father, and now faces losing her mother as well. She handles it with grace and poise. She NEEDS Claire to go, to find her father and make sure he knows that he has a daughter. Brianna still isn’t fully formed as an adult, but she insists to Claire that it’s time. Brianna will be okay — now it’s time for Claire to find Brianna’s father.

The scene at the ceremony for Frank struck me as a bit unnecessary. Why bring Frank’s mistress back into the story? She accuses Claire of selfishness, of refusing to let Frank go when he could have had years of happiness with someone who really loved him. Now, we know that Claire did offer Frank a divorce after the debacle the night of her graduation. So why force this scene now?

In thinking about it, it ties in with the scene earlier in the episode in Brianna’s history classroom at Harvard, when the professor discusses Paul Revere, then talks about the difference between historical facts versus what gets passed down through time. History depends on whose version we’re hearing. So back to Frank — did he tell the other woman that he’s the one who chose to stay in the marriage? Perhaps her version of history feels real to her, but it’s based on her source, who didn’t share all the information with her.

And speaking of Brianna’s history class… The professor informs Bree that she’s failing the class. Bree suggests that she’s just not smart enough, which is nonsense. Before Frank’s death and the trip to Scotland, she was an outstanding student. Clearly, Brianna has been through some life-altering events. As she sits in class, she’s drawing sketches of campus architecture rather than taking notes on the lecture, and later, giving Roger a tour, she becomes animated talking about the intricacies of the building’s design. Brianna is a history major, following in her father’s footsteps, but this is a clue that her true passion lies elsewhere. It’ll be interesting to see how much more of Brianna we see this season, and whether her career/education path gets more attention.

Roger, as always, is a sweetheart. He’s so awkwardly romantic with Brianna, and he cares for Claire so much. It’s not just the historian in him that gets him to keep digging for Jamie when it seemed they’d hit a dead end. Roger is now entangled in the story of Claire and Jamie (and Brianna), and he doesn’t want to let go of the connection.

And finally, after soul-searching and conversation upon conversation, Claire decides to go. She makes herself an 18th-century-appropriate traveling outfit with lots of hidden pockets so she can store her penicillin, syringes, and other 20th century must-haves (the show calls it her Batsuit!), and she’s ready to go.

Claire says goodbye to Brianna and Roger in Boston. It would be too hard to have Brianna with her at the stones — perhaps she wouldn’t have the strength to really leave her. And next we see, she’s in Edinburgh!

From Boston…

… to Edinburgh!

Finally, finally, we get the start of Claire and Jamie’s reunion. There’s absolute joy on Claire’s face as she finally sees Jamie working at the printing press. And then Jamie hears her voice! He freezes, slowly turns and sees her, and then passes out! Well, naturally — Claire has been on a journey back to Jamie for months, but Jamie has had absolutely no warning. It’s taken him 20 years to come to terms with losing Claire and rebuild a life for himself, but he never expected to actually see her again. And then there she is, suddenly, standing in front of him! Fainting dead away is a reasonable response, given the situation.

And…. fade to black! That’s the end of the episode. Oh, it’ll be a long, cruel couple of weeks until we see what happens next, but we can be sure that good things are in store for Claire and Jamie!

Insta-reaction wrap-up:

Another strong episode for a fantastic season. I can already imagine that there’s some grumbling going on among fans who can’t stand being Jamie-less for a full episode (or thereabouts), but anyone who’s read the book knows that we’d caught up to as much of Jamie’s life as we could expect to see as of the end of last episode. Yes, there are still some years to cover, but we’ll find out more about those when Claire does. Meanwhile, knowing that he’s a printer in Edinburgh is all that was truly important for the sake of getting Claire to finally go to him.

I’m glad that the show took a shortcut along the way, showing Claire stepping out of the taxi and into 18th century Edinburgh. We didn’t really need to see her arrive in Scotland, go to Craigh na Dun, travel through the stones, then find transportation to Edinburgh. We know that’s what happened without seeing it on screen. A book can take the time to show every detail, but in this visual medium, with a limited amount of minutes per episode, it was more important to get Claire to her destination than to spend time on the journey — especially since we’ve seen her go through the stones twice now, and Geillis once. We know how it works, so the show was right to get straight to what matters most, bringing Claire and Jamie together.

Thinking about the stones and time travel for a moment more, it’s lovely to think about the differences in Claire’s journeys. The first time she went through, it was purely by accident. She made no decision, but was pulled through without knowing what was happening. The second time, she went through the stones to save her child. It was deliberate, but done very much against her will and desire, and felt like the end of her real life. It was a moment of despair and heartbreak, from which Claire never truly recovered. How lovely, then, that Claire is owning her life and destiny here by choosing the stones this time. She’s fully cognizant of what she’s leaving, and makes the decision to go back in time in order to consciously choose a life with Jamie. Such a beautiful testament to the love she feels for him and its power.

On a different note, I enjoyed the scenes showing Claire and Joe Abernathy*. They’re colleagues, but also friends — probably the only friend Claire has. Claire tells Joe a partial truth about Jamie — that he was her true love and Brianna’s real father, and that she may have a chance to reconnect with him. Joe is supportive and enthusiastic (yet another person pointing out to her that no one really bought the fairy tale that she and Frank were happily married). Joe offers Claire reassurance that she’s still attractive.

*Side note: It’ll seem odd and unimportant to anyone who hasn’t read the books, but the scene with the skeleton in Joe’s office isn’t just a throwaway. It may seem weird in this episode, but there’s a reason to include it. ‘Nuff said.

It’s odd to see poised, careful Claire showing this type of vulnerability, wondering if Jamie will still want her now that she’s 20 years older. I was a little disappointed by her deciding to cover up her gray hair before leaving for Scotland. What will she do when the roots grow back in? Can she make a hair dye from acorns or something? Still, this too shows the internal fear which she hasn’t shared with Brianna. She knows she’ll always love and want Jamie, but she really doesn’t know what his life has been like over the past 20 years. Will he still want her, love her, or have room for her in his life? She’s stepping out into the unknown with no guarantees at all. I suppose I can understand her doubts and fears, as she looks at her gray hair and (completely unnoticeable) wrinkles. (Wouldn’t we all love to look like Caitriona Balfe as we age??) And this highlights how truly brave she is. It’s not just the danger of the time travel and the uncertainties inherent in the passage through the stones. Even if all goes according to plan and she finds Jamie, she really has no idea what he’ll be like and whether she can restart a life with him.

And she goes anyway. Like I said, that’s bravery — and love.

A final note:

Oh, the cruelty of whoever puts together the Starz calendar! We now have a two-week wait for the next episode, which means we won’t see the Claire and Jamie reunion until October 22nd. How shall we bear it?

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Season 3 is here! My intention is to write an “Insta-Reaction” post for each episode soon after viewing, to share some initial thoughts, questions, reactions — you name it.

Warning:

I may be talking about events from this episode, other episodes, and/or the book series… so if you’d rather not know, now’s your chance to walk away!

Outlander, episode 304: “Of Lost Things”

The official synopsis (via Starz):

While serving as a groomsman at Helwater, Jamie is pulled into the intrigue of a British family. In 1968, Claire, Brianna and Roger struggle to trace Jamie’s whereabouts, leaving Claire to wonder if they will ever find him.

My take:

Major plot points:

Since Claire and Jamie are still apart (spoiler alert — not much longer now!!), this episode follows two separate timelines.

In Claire’s world:

• We’ve now caught up to where Claire’s story left off at the end of season 2. Claire, Brianna, and Roger are determined to find Jamie.
• They realize that time moves equally in both time periods. Since it’s been 20 years since Claire came back through the stones, they begin searching historical records to try to find out where Jamie was 20 years after Culloden.
• They’re able to trace Jamie through his time at Ardsmuir, but the trail runs cold once the prison closes.
• Out of options, Claire gives up and heads back to America with Brianna.
• Brianna and Roger share a kiss before she leaves.

In Jamie’s world:

• Jamie is a groom at Helwater, serving the household of the Dunsany family. Lord Dunsany knows that Jamie was a Jacobite, but advises him to keep this a secret, as Lady Dunsany hates all Jacobites, having lost her son at Prestonpans. Jamie goes by the name Alexander MacKenzie while at Helwater.
• The Dunsanys have two daughters, Isobel and Geneva, and Geneva is a pistol.
• John checks in on Jamie regularly, as promised, and the two have resumed their chess games and their friendship. Things turn awkward when John’s brother Hal shows up, since he knows who Jamie really is.
• Geneva is promised in marriage to the Earl of Ellesmere, a man old enough to be her grandfather. She’s pissed.
• Geneva blackmails Jamie into sleeping with her. She wants to lose her virginity to someone young and desirable, unlike her husband-to-be.
• Geneva is soon married, pregnant (with Jamie’s child), and then dies in childbirth. Ellesmere knows the baby isn’t his (they never consummated the marriage), and threatens to kill the baby, but Jamie kills him instead, earning the eternal gratitude of the Dunsanys.
• Lady Dunsany is so grateful that she offers Jamie his freedom, but he declines so he can remain near William, his (secret) son.
• After many years, the resemblance beween Jamie and Willie is becoming obvious, and he realizes it’s time to leave. Willie is heartbroken, and so is Jamie.
• John marries Isobel, who is Willie’s guardian. John will raise Jamie’s son.

Insta-reaction:

Oh, this season. This show. It’s just so ON. Killing me here.

Jamie’s story is the dominant one in this episode, with good reason. What happens to him in the years shown is just way more important and dramatic than the month Claire et al spend doing research. I mean, I’m glad they’re doing it, but let’s be real — how exciting is it to watch three character sift through papers and take notes?

Therefore, onward with the Jamie side of things.

Kudos to the show on the marvelous casting choice for Geneva. Sadly, we’ll only see her this one episode. Actress Hannah James was fabulous in PBS’s Mercy Street (watch it if you haven’t yet!) — and it’s funny, but when I watched Mercy Street, there were certain scenes where she reminded me of Claire, so it feels appropriate to have her playing against Jamie in this episode. She did a wonderful job of capturing Geneva’s strong will and high spirits, yet also captured the vulnerability behind the bravado in the crucial scene with Jamie.

Speaking of which…

I was glad that the show made some changes from the book in terms of the sex scene between Jamie and Geneva. In the book, there’s a moment that has generated endless (really, I do mean endless) debate among readers — namely, at the moment of penetration, Geneva tells Jamie to stop because she’s changed her mind, and he says no, and goes right ahead. I’m not getting into it here — was it rape? If he didn’t live up to his side of the bargain, would she take revenge? Look, book readers have been talking about that scene for AGES. I’m just happy the TV series didn’t go there.

Instead, we see Jamie in an impossible position. He hates what Geneva is demanding of him and has no intention of complying — but she’s got him by the you-know-whats. She’s making threats not only affecting his parole, but also making clear that even his family back at Lallybroch could be endangered. So Jamie is very much coerced into having sex with Geneva. But Jamie is Jamie, so even though he’s there against his will, once he shows up in Geneva’s room, he’s kind to her. He knows she’s scared, but she makes clear that she’s determined to go ahead with it. Jamie gives her permission to watch him undress, and asks permission before touching her. He tries to guide her through the process so that she’ll take pleasure from it, which she clearly does. She even declares her love for Jamie, but he (kindly) points out that what she feels isn’t love, just the aftermath of really good sex. (Well, he didn’t say it quite that way, but that’s the point.)

The confrontation with Ellesmere is a little confusing (although highly dramatic). If Ellesmere and Geneva never had sex, why did he wait until she gave birth to freak out so completely? It’s not like he couldn’t tell that she was pregnant.

I liked Isobel very much. She’s the meeker of the two sisters, but has her own thoughts, and I enjoyed her interactions with Jamie, from her confessions of feelings for John to her sorrow and anger over Geneva’s death to gratitude toward Jamie, and acknowledgement of his role as William’s father. Knowing the book, I think I know what’s next for Isobel, but it would be nice to see her down the road too.

Okay, and then there’s the moment when Jamie offers his body to John, as a payment for his request to John to take care of William after Jamie’s departure. Seemed a bit out of the blue to me. It’s been 7 or 8 years since Ardsmuir, and the two men have reestablished a friendship based on respect. Why would Jamie feel the need to offer himself in this way? Clearly, John would do anything for Jamie, no sexual bribes needed. Jamie has some very screwed up notions about sex, methinks… although who can really blame him, after everything he’s been through. John, bless him, expresses gratitude as he turns down Jamie’s offer. They’ve cemented their friendship for sure, and John is set to be Willie’s stepfather.

I did like the little moment when John tells Jamie that he’s getting married, and Jamie asks “to a woman?” Yes, Jamie, to a woman. Unless John can figure out how to time travel to the 21st century, he really doesn’t have too many choices, does he?

So sad to see Jamie leave poor Willie behind. I would have liked to have seen more of the two of them together, but the scenes we did see were enough to establish the strong bond between them. Jamie’s hand-carved snake is a wonderful, personal gift for Willie, as is the secret baptism Jamie gives him when Willie declares that he wants to be a “stinking Papist” too.

Back to Claire for a moment — it’s hard to see her giving up, but I suppose she feels that they’ve reached a dead end and that there’s no hope left for finding Jamie. I was surprised to see Fiona giving Claire the pearls. It’s hard to believe that Claire would have given the pearls to Mrs. Graham, but I suppose this was part of her letting go of the past (just like allowing Frank to burn her 18th century clothing — that still makes me mad!). Perhaps the pearls here are meant as a foreshadowing of sorts, although Claire doesn’t know it yet. They’re a piece of her past that she thought was long gone, but they’ve now come back into her life. What else from her past will she find? (Hint: Jamie.)

Insta-reaction wrap-up:

I feel like this showing is coming together in a smooth and seamless way that’s hard to define. Maybe it’s just that I wasn’t thrilled by the Paris plotline last season (note: I thought the acting and production were fabulous, but the storyline itself was problematic in several ways). Trying to change history and stop a rebellion is big and outrageous, and in some ways takes the emphasis away from the personal. So far, in season 3, the stories are intensely personal. It’s all about the characters and their journeys — maybe that’s why I’m loving it so much.

I’ll admit that I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the 3rd book in the series, Voyager. The first third or so, showing Jamie and Claire’s time apart, just blows me away, most especially Jamie’s 20-year struggle post-Culloden and all that he’s suffered and experienced. Later on, the book starts feeling kitchen-sink-y to me. I’ve warmed to it over the course of subsequent rereads, but the fact remains that certain plot elements hinge entirely on the unlikeliest of coincidences, and there’s just so much thrown in (voodoo, slave uprisings, and pirates, to name but a few) that it’s a difficult book for me to fully swallow.

Given all that, I’d say the show is doing a remarkable job. They have a tremendous amount of ground to cover this season. Voyager is a big book (870 pages in the paperback edition!), and there’s just SO MUCH PLOT. With 13 episodes in the season, a lot will have to be condensed in order to fit. So yes, book fans may complain about details being omitted at Ardsmuir or Helwater, but ultimately, the show has a story to tell and has to put all these story threads together in the best way possible to create a beautiful TV show — even if characters or actions end up on the cutting room floor or have details swapped out.

Episode 304 covers crucial years in Jamie’s life. After the sorrow of losing two children, as he mentions to Lord Dunsany — baby Faith, stillborn during season 2, and Brianna, who while alive is lost to Jamie nonetheless — Jamie finally has a child of his own. And while he can’t claim Willie, he can love him with all his heart, and that, I think, makes all the difference. Jamie now has meaning in his life, after all those empty years after losing Claire. And even though he’s forced to leave Willie behind by the end of the episode, he’ll always hold Willie close in his heart. Jamie Fraser is no longer alone, and that’s a beautiful thing.

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Season 3 is here! My intention is to write an “Insta-Reaction” post for each episode soon after viewing, to share some initial thoughts, questions, reactions — you name it.

Warning:

I may be talking about events from this episode, other episodes, and/or the book series… so if you’d rather not know, now’s your chance to walk away!

Outlander, episode 303: “All Debts Paid”

The official synopsis (via Starz):

In prison, Jamie discovers that an old foe has become the warden – and has the power to make his life hell. Claire and Frank both put their best foot forward in marriage, but an uninvited guest shatters the illusion.

My take:

Major plot points:

Once again, the episode follows two separate timelines, as we see Jamie and Claire’s separate lives.

In Claire’s world:

• Claire and Frank’s marriage is worse than ever. There seem to be occasional warm moments during Claire’s medical school years, but then we find out that they have an “agreement”, which allows Frank to cheat so long as he’s discreet about it.
• Claire and Joe Abernathy graduate from medical school. At a graduation celebration at Claire and Frank’s house, Frank’s girlfriend/mistress/”harlot” shows up an hour early for her assignation with Frank. A holy row ensues later. Claire felt humiliated in front of her friends and colleagues. Frank reminds Claire that she’s the one who first allowed someone else into their marriage.
• They discuss divorce, acknowledging that their marriage is a sham, but decide to stay together because of Brianna.
• Jumping ahead several years, Brianna graduates from high school, and Claire is a busy surgeon. Frank informs Claire that he wants a divorce, has been offered a post back in England, and want to take Brianna with him. Big fight. Bottom line: Brianna, at age 18, can decide for herself.
• Frank leaves after their fight, and Claire is called back to the hospital to perform surgery. After the surgery, Joe finds Claire to give her bad news: Frank has been killed in a car crash.
• Claire says a tearful good-bye to Frank, and tells him that she did truly love him once. He was her first love.

In Jamie’s world:

• Jamie is a prisoner at Ardsmuir prison. It’s awful. Rats abound, and the men are cold and sick.
• Jamie is the only Jacobite officer in the prison, and is the only prisoner kept in shackles.
• Lord John Grey arrives to take up his post as the new governor of Ardsmuir. His predecessor (Harry Quarry!) lets him know that Jamie is the unofficial chief of the men, and that Grey should seek him out.
• This is the same John Grey (then known as William Grey) who scuffled with Jamie back on the eve of Prestonpans.
• Murtagh lives!!! He’s at Ardsmuir with Jamie, sporting a white beard. He appears to be quite ill, but Jamie is able to negotiate with Grey for medical care for Murtagh.

• Jamie and John eventually develop a respectful relationship, but John misreads Jamie’s openness and makes a slight pass, which Jamie rejects and can’t seem to forgive.
• By the end of the episode, Ardsmuir is being shut down. All prisoners are sentenced to transport to the American Colonies, where they’ll serve 14 years in indentured labor before earning their freedom, if they survive the passage. Murtagh is sent off for transport, but Grey has other plans for Jamie.
• John takes Jamie to a beautiful English estate called Helwater, where he’ll serve his sentence. John now considers all debts of honor paid.

Insta-reaction:

Another glorious episode — perhaps a bit of a slow burn, but full of tremendous performances all around. The character moments are fully realized and heartbreaking and REAL.

Okay, Claire and Frank. What a bitter, sad state of affairs. At the beginning of the episode, as Frank is cooking breakfast and Claire suggests they go see a movie, it seems for a moment as though they’ve reached some sort of pleasant middle ground in their marriage. But no. Frank has seen the movie already, and it’s clear that he’s seen it WITH someone — and that someone is not just a work colleague. Apparently, they’ve agreed that Frank can do as he please and see other people, so long as he’s discreet, and he’s kept his word. And is seems like Claire is okay with this, so long as she doesn’t have to think about it too much. She seems to have perfected the art of denial.

Frank’s discretion slips later on, though. Years later, Claire hosts a party at their house celebrating her medical school graduation. There’s to be a dinner at a restaurant following, which Frank will be skipping… but the dinner is scheduled for 7:00, and Frank thought it was at 6:00. Did he really get the timing wrong, or is this his passive-aggressive way of humiliating Claire? His girlfriend shows up at their house an hour early, and Claire answers the door. Oh, if looks could kill! The girlfriend is shown into the house to stand mutely near Frank while Claire and all her guests walk past them to leave for dinner. Yikes. Painful.

The fight later that night between Claire and Frank is terrible (although brilliantly acted). I read in an interview with Caitriona Balfe that they were going for a “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” feel here, and they really nail it. The years of slow poisoning of the relationship lead to this scene in which Frank is drunk, Claire is angrily smoking, and the venom between the two is fully on display. Frank should never have invited his mistress to the house, of course — especially not on Claire’s graduation night. But really, who can blame him for pursuing love and affection when there is none at all in his home? Claire and Frank are both essentially good people, but they do awful things to each other. In our time, they never would have stayed together all those years. But Frank has seen fathers shut out of their children’s lives after divorce, and he will not risk his relationship with Brianna, despite Claire’s assurance that she would never try to keep them apart. Frank has some justice on his side when he points out to Claire that her promises don’t really mean a whole lot.

Finally, when Brianna graduates from high school, the moment of truth arrives. Frank informs Claire that he intends to accept a post at Oxford and take Brianna with him to live in England… and Claire’s not invited. He wants a divorce, and wants to remarry his girlfriend as soon as he can. It’s a bitter and angry scene once again, and yet another that makes it clear that Claire will absolutely never have room for anyone in her heart but Jamie. We also learn, at least from Frank’s perspective, that between her medical career and her yearning for Jamie, Claire has not been a particularly present mother, something Brianna hinted at at the end of season 2 as well.

Frank walks out, Claire goes to the hospital to perform surgery… and Frank dies. Claire’s good-bye to Frank is yet another quietly heartbreaking moment. She did love him… once.

And the Jamie story:

Ardsmuir is just as awful as we’d expect. The men are sick and cold and starving. And yet, when John becomes aware of the rats in the cells and orders a guard to have cats brought in, thinking he’s doing good by getting rid of vermin, Jamie points out the flaw in the plan: The prisoners count on the rats for food. They’d rather endure the filth and the bites and not lose the meals the rats provide.

Fan favorite Murtagh, who dies at Culloden in the books, is alive! Although not doing very well, with a nasty cough and seemingly very weak. Still, it’s wonderful that he and Jamie are together. Jamie does the best he can to care for Murtagh and the other prisoners, remembering his lessons about medical herbs  from Claire. It’s sweet to see Murtagh speaking of Claire, although the pain on Jamie’s face — poor man has really nothing to live for.

Later, after a piece of the plot that involves a dying man who may know the whereabouts of missing gold and a prison escape — an overly convoluted piece of the story — we see an incredibly powerful scene between  Jamie and John. Jamie makes clear that he realizes who John is after all, and basically begs him to settle the debt between them by ending Jamie’s life. As John holds his sword to Jamie’s throat, there’s an almost ecstatic look that crosses Jamie’s face. His suffering will finally be over. It’s not to be, though — John is far too honorable to hurt or kill an unarmed man.

John and Jamie develop a friendship of sorts as they meet in John’s chambers to eat, play chess, and have Jamie serve as the informal representative of the prisoners. They’re evenly matched in terms of sensibility and intellect and seem to truly enjoy one another’s company. Jamie finally opens up about his wife, and John shares the story of losing someone himself. Without being 100% explicit, it’s clear that this “particular friend” who died at Culloden was a man that John loved. All might have been well, had John not misinterpreted Jamie’s sympathy as perhaps something more than just compassion. John places his hand on Jamie’s, and Jamie threatens to kill him if he doesn’t stop touching him.

Oof. Poor John. The tears running down his cheeks! And poor Jamie too. Had Jamie not had the experiences he did at the hands of Black Jack Randall, perhaps he could have more kindly declined John’s interest. But this situation is all too familiar for Jamie: He’s a prisoner, at the mercy of a British officer, with no power of his own, subject to a redcoat who holds his life in his hands. It’s just too much. Of course Jamie reacts with coldness and the threat of violence. This is a man who suffered PTSD from his torture for years — given his past, he actually shows a great deal of restraint!

Oh, it was heartbreaking to see Jamie pulled off in one direction while Murtagh is taken off in another. They didn’t even get to say good-bye! A sentence of transport could easily be a death sentence — many of those being shipped to the colonies won’t survive the journey. John is again sparing Jamie from possible death, both from his sense of a debt to the man as well as the emotional connection he now feels for him. Jamie may not realize it yet, but John has given Jamie a gift with his new terms of imprisonment at Helwater.

Minor complaint: John rides his horse with Jamie led behind with a rope attached to his wrists as they travel from Ardsmuir to Helwater… for three days? Are we really to believe that John would drag Jamie along like that for so long? Maybe the show producers were going for dramatic effect, but it actually seemed ridiculous to me (and — book note — Jamie rides a horse too in the book version), and not in keeping with John’s sense of dignity.

Insta-reaction wrap-up:

I do need to watch this episode again. (I watched in on my phone while on a plane, and missed some dialogue — and the tiny viewing screen resulted in my not recognizing Murtagh until about halfway through the episode!). I’m sure I missed some key moments, lines, looks — these episodes are all so rich, and deserve full attention!

I am thrilled that the show is keeping Murtagh around. Based on the events of the books, I feel certain that Jamie and Murtagh will reunite later this season and that Murtagh will have an ongoing role in the story. There’s another character from the books he could easily replace, and given that Murtagh is a fantastic character whom fans love, I think it’s a safe bet that we’ll see more of him.

This episode was light on action, but that’s okay. The character moments are really what matters here. For once, I’d say that at least on my initial viewing, the Claire parts were even more powerful than the Jamie parts. The slow, tortured disintegration of Claire and Frank’s marriage is so painful and so well done. Tobias Menzies has done a phenomenal job as both Black Jack and Frank, and it’s sad to think that his time with Outlander is now over (although there’s always the possibility of flashbacks, I suppose). Claire and Frank should never have stayed together, and although they did so with the best of intentions, they were simply miserable for much of their 20 years together.

In the books, we’re led to understand that Frank was unfaithful to Claire throughout their marriage, post-time-travel, and we don’t particularly have sympathy for him. (Diana Gabaldon has also alluded to readers only getting Claire’s perspective in the books, so how certain can we be that Frank cheated at all?) Here, Frank is definitely involved with someone, but it’s unclear whether this was multiple affairs or one long-lasting relationship. It’s easier to feel sympathy for TV Frank — he’s in a loveless marriage, through no fault of his own, and lord knows he’s tried to reconnect with Claire. He seems to have had her blessing to seek love (or at least sex) elsewhere — Claire only minds when his outside activities impact the illusion they’re maintaining of having a happy home. As someone who never cared for book Frank or felt much compassion for him, it’s good for me to more fully see the pain the man suffered all those years and his basic decency in the face of an impossible situation.

It’s interesting that the show hasn’t kept Claire and Jamie’s stories in perfect parallel, time-wise. Claire’s story is now caught up to where we saw her at the end of season 2, more or less. I assume we’re ready to pick back up with her, Roger and Brianna searching for signs of Jamie in the historical records. Meanwhile, there are still quite a few significant years ahead for Jamie, most of which I believe will be covered in next week’s episode.

All in all, I continue to be impressed with season 3. The story structure is being handled with great care, and the acting is out of this world. No one wants to see Jamie and Claire apart for too long, and yet, the work the cast is doing in conveying the sorrow of their lives is A+ material.

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