Today AAR’s Melanie–who is all caught up on the show–shares her thoughts about this season of Outlander. She watches the show each week with her sister, Natalie. Here’s their take:
With much ado, the current season of Outlander, the Starz adaptation of the novels by Diana Gabaldon, is coming to a close, and I have been an avid watcher since the beginning. While I don’t have the cable channel myself, I’ve enlisted my sister’s subscription and DVR to the service of romance series television, and I’ve gotten her hooked.
As I start to write this, I have to admit two things: one, I have never read Outlander, or any of the series by Diana Gabaldon (I’m perpetually stuck at 6% of Outlander, for no other reason than I have too many things to read in a limited amount of time); and two, I drank an entire bottle of wine during last Saturday’s penultimate episode of the season, Wentworth Prison.
In case I’m missing things (like large chunks of my memory and my liver), I’ve asked my sister, Natalie (who has read the books and is now on the fifth book of the series) to help me fill in the blanks. Her additions are in red.
We’re almost at the end of the first season of Outlander, and I’ve been loving it. Well, up until this last episode where (spoilers!) terrible things are happening. I knew something big was going to happen (Dabney sent me this link about the episode which this little sister found highly disappointing as reviews go. I mean, having read the books I know what to expect and after reading that review I find that it was highly melodramatic in relation to the latest episode), but no matter how much I asked, Natalie just would not tell me what was going to happen. So mean.
Most definitely NOT mean!! Just want to save all the good stuff until you see it. Plus as far as the book form goes I was not sure how they would portray certain events.
The loveliness of this series being transferred to television for our viewing pleasure is that they have stuck to the books very well. I mean if you sat there and followed along they use a good 80% of the dialogue from the book. <3
I’m trying to keep things spoiler-free here, so I’m not going to discuss any major plot points (plus, unless it was part of the show, I definitely wouldn’t know anything about it).
First of all, Jamie is a beautiful man.
No matter what terrible things are happening on screen, Sam Heughan makes me happy. And in this last episode, many terrible things happend. But Sam’s Jamie made me feel a little bit better about it. Plus, his character is masterfully created – Jamie is vulnerable in interesting ways, strong in others, more than a little headstrong, and definitely suffers from acting before thinking.
Lies!!! While I will have to agree that he is vulnerable, strong, definitely headstrong (like an ox), he does not, I repeat DOES NOT “suffer from acting before thinking.” Jamie was raised in a time when you have small windows to react, but he is always thinking. Just unlike Claire, you cannot always ken what he is thinking.
Secondly, Claire has the survival instincts of a lemming. She’s smart and strong, obviously a trained nurse, and used to working near the front of World War II. Why does she continue to act as though she’s in the 1940s? What is it that she just doesn’t get about the 1700s?
The little sister disagrees! Claire knows how to be independent, but she takes the highroad when she is back in time, in part, because she knows she must allow her husband, Jamie, to be a man in his time. As the story goes on you learn just how strong of a woman she is and you understand better why she acts like such a sissy or lemming, as Melanie calls her most of the time.
I do really like her, though. Caitriona Balfe is a fabulous actress, and her beauty fits well in both the 1940s and the 1700s. Claire really is a strong female character and is unapologetic about the things that make her fit in less in the 1700s. For example, she’s quite fond of drinking. I fully support this.
She’s able to translate a lot of her skills (from nursing to building a fire you don’t have to get up constantly to add logs to) to things useful for the 1700’s time period, and also use her knowledge of the era, thanks to her modern-day husband, to navigate the political scene. I doubt I would be able to do as well in that situation.
It has been really hard to watch that whole scenario from the outside (by which I mean my living room). In the beginning I LOVED Frank, but Randall (Tobias Menzies plays both men.) has poisoned my sense of him and so you get that awkward uncomfortable, squirm in your seat feeling when you think of them. But, alas, Claire handles it with the utmost, unnatural calm that she uses in almost all situations.
And oh, the chemistry between Claire and Jamie!
I wasn’t expecting it to be quite as wonderful as it was. They really are quite beautiful together, and it’s not just because actors are generally a beautiful species. When they work together, they really work together. It’s definitely more about how their characters mesh than how they look kissing. And doing other things. Though again, they are pretty people, so that certainly doesn’t hurt.
Speaking of chemistry, all of the sex scenes (of which there are many – be prepared to see Claire’s breasts, and so much Jamie butt) are beautifully done, even some of the more awkward ones. The show is very careful about keeping the sexual moments (and really, the entire show in general) in realm of the feminine gaze. The sex is all about Claire and her pleasure, instead of watching her as Jamie, which keeps things from being pornographic while still getting pretty darn specific. It actually fits perfectly with romance as a genre, and I’m quite pleased with the result.
And, of course, the scenery is absolutely stunning. Each image works like a beautiful picture, and I want to be there with them. Except with electricity. And the internet. And a bathtub with hot running water.
Looking back over the course of the season, there are very few moments that do not move the plot along, which is amazing for a world that is so huge. As I said, I haven’t read any of the books, so I don’t know if there are things missing, but I’m looking forward to more – I’d watch the whole series this way.
Having read the books I will say that I hope they get to complete the whole series. There are moments that have you sighing with the beauty of it, moments I find myself giggling all by myself whilst reading the series, and times I cringe and worry and read as fast as I can to resolve whatever has happened. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series. I dread the day that I get to the final chapter of the final book.
Have you been watching Outlander? Are you waiting for the season to end, so you can binge watch the whole thing (which, now that I think about it, is a great idea. Which they are actually doing on the Starz Channel Memorial day Weekend starting at 2 pm CT and leading up to the Season Finale!!!!!)? Let us know what you think!
AAR’s Melanie and her sister Natalie
I’m glad that someone finally addressed the issue about rape that isn’t understood–that men or women can physically respond but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t rape. That is the part that tortures the mind most.
As both a reader of all the books and a watcher of the series, I feel that, unlike the wedding scene, the series made some improvements to Diana Gabaldon’s writing. They left out the ridiculous wolf scene. While I was reading I was thinking, “”Really?? She’s gone in, found the key, found Jaime, gotten strangled, thrown out a pit and now ….she has to fight wolves?”” Diana sometimes gets off on inflicting pain! (I mean that literally and ironically).
And they left out the ridiculous decision by Claire to torture Jaime out of his PTSD. In the book, Claire doesn’t really get Murtagh saying that someone has to go into the darkness with him, she immediately goes there–to inflicting pain on him like Randall does–in order to bring him out of it. It was a ridiculous assertion in the book and the series has corrected it to some extent.
But while I’m at it–the Wedding and the character of Claire during that whole first half–was extremely disappointing. Claire is a lusty, bold woman. In the wedding scenes she is this shrinking violet who (a) let’s Jaime twist in the wind while he wonders how his first sex was received. Who does that? (b)each sex scene was interrupted somehow. (c) Claire is constantly turning away –actually WALKING UPSTAGE–away from Jaime, when no one would do that. (d) When they finally begin to hit it off, Claire decides she needs to show Jaime how pain can be good. [Again, my assertion that Diana herself is a bit twisted. ] So, in terms of her character, that whole part just didn’t fit the book nor what the character of Claire is supposed to be.
Having read all 8 books and knowing all that has to happen, it makes me a little tired thinking of the series–mainly in the waiting. I will wait for the next seasons (if there are some) to be over and binge watch. It’s better than this dribbling of content. IMO!
For those interested in some of Gabaldon’s comments on the Wentworth scenes, check here: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1smdnbc
Partial quote:
“” So we’re coming now to the end of the first season, and _to_ those scenes at Wentworth. Now I’ve seen Mr. Heughan do them, and my expectations—which were pretty high (I mean, I’ve _been_ in Wentworth; I know what went on there)—were exceeded in every particular.
(snip)
But it’s Jamie who’s at the pointy end, and it’s Sam who did what I thought he could do, and made it real. I’ve honestly never seen anything more courageous than what he and Tobias did there. Yes, it’s strong stuff—so is what I write, and it’s not for everyone. But as the people who ¬_do¬_ read my books realize, that depth of emotional engagement—with its attendant risks—has a substantial payoff.””
I don’t know why you feel the need to educate me on rape and consent – I am not the one claiming that Jamie consented and that it was not rape. You might want to read my comment instead of just attacking me. I don’t need to be schooled about rape by you or anybody else here. And my feelings and thoughts about Outlander are just as valid as yours. But that’s the Outlander fandom for you – whenever anybody dares to say something critical about the “”sacred text”” the rabid fans go into attack mode.
I don’t get the sense you were attacked, just disagreed with. And bringing up rabid fans and applying to anyone here isn’t fair and a bit of a low generalized low blow. There has been no name calling. For myself, I’m as far as can be from a rabid fan. The only book I read from cover to cover is Outlander and I read that about ten years or so ago.
But I did start watching the series and skimmed the book again as I love period drama. I’ve found this series mesmerizing from the very first scene. The actors are amazing, the scenery beautiful, the soundtrack haunting
I think many of us watching can all agree on that. Where we disagree is what happens in the last episode and the one coming up.
I had loved the TV show until and including the wedding episode. That was such a lovely episode. But I haven’t enjoyed the later episodes as much and I absolutely loathed the Wentworth episode and this final episode was just beyond the pale, like a kick in the stomach. So exploitative and pornographic. I had a chance to see the new Mad Max movie Fury Road last weekend and it is so ironic that this movie with such a violent pedigree is such a positive watching experience for women in general and for rape survivors in particular. I left this movie feeling empowered and excilarated. While the last Outlander episodes made me feel diminished, dirty, depressed, abused and most of all angry for having watched. I won’t watch the second season next year.
Have you seen Game of Thrones? Or Spartacus? Those are both shows where I found the violence gratuitous and I had to stop watching both even though for a while I was really enjoying GoT.
The Wentworth episode left me feeling dirty, depressed and diminished too, but for me that’s the point! That’s how Jamie was made to feel and we shared that. The reason, at least for me, is being so invested in the characters. But the book made me feel the same. Although I knew even from 10 years ago that what Jamie went through was very disturbing.
But it’s a testament to the love that he and Claire share that he triumphs to a large degree.
Without going to the deepest depths we can’t appreciate the highest highs.
While I even had to change the channel in a couple of spots last week, I’m GLAD I watched all that I did. Because when Jamis comes back, it’s that much sweeter.
At least that’s how I see it :-)
Actually, I pointed out that if *people in general* don’t understand that having a physical response to a sexual assault doesn’t make it consensual, they need to be educated. You know, those people you think will get the wrong idea from Outlander depicting such a thing. I do argue against your interpretation of what happens in the book, because I think it’s wrong. I haven’t seen episode 16 and can’t say how faithful the adaptation was in that regard, but I will assume they stuck pretty closely to it.
Your argument so far basically seems to be to 1. Outlander provides fuel for people who believe that rape survivors enjoy the experience and therefore deserved it 2. It’s meant to titillate because some people find it titillating 3. Disagreeing with you and pointing out weaknesses in your argument is an attack, reflects rabid fandom, and/or the perception of Outlander as a scared text.
It’s fine to dislike Outlander the book or the show, to be upset or angry about some of the things they depict, and to share your take on these things. But you can’t expect everyone to fall in line with your interpretation, and having a different perspective from yours does not make me, or Eliza, or Kristie, or anyone else a rabid fangirl (which, unlike the responses to you, actually is an attack).
I’m findinding some views very disturbing too. Jamie had no other option but to submit to Randall considering what he would do to Jamie’s beloved Claire. To say its the least bit consensual is most unbelievable. I just finished rereading Outlander a few days before the Wentworth Prison episode and felt the anguish Jamie suffered and marveled at his bravery, knowing only a small part of what he would be going through.
And equally disturbing is that some are calling this torture porn or other things. I applaud the cast and production team for actually going there. It is true to the book that was written how many years ago now? And people are saying this? Sad.
KristieJ, I too find it disturbing that words like torture porn, slash fiction, titillating and the like have been used for the Wentworth scene. Equally sad is any time one poster dismisses another poster’s take because s/he is a “”rabid fan.”” Attacking a person instead of addressing the subject at hand is an ad hominem fallacy–a failure in logic and reasoning.