Outlander: the magic touch
If Claire’s parting words from Sunday’s episode of Outlander are any indication for what’s to come, you’d better hold on to your kilts. Not only did Mistress Beecham officially cross the line and become too valuable for the MacKenzie clan to give up, but she’s now all but ready to take the 50 Cent approach to getting anything done: escape the castle without help or die trying.
I’d like to blame it on one thing that royally screwed Claire–becoming the castle healer that they’d eventually grow to trust enough to offer a favour, but since she’s arrived at Castle Leoch, Claire has continued sticking her neck a little too far out. For all we know it could’ve been when Claire gave Colum the borderline butt massage that sealed her destiny as an asset (pardon the pun), but by the episode’s end it really seemed like Claire’s intervention into the exorcism of a young castle boy ended up being the nail in her coffin.
Understandably it’s been difficult for Claire to accept the 18th century style of living as is, but after Geillis’ warning into meddling with the affairs of the oh-so-shifty Father Bain, she still couldn’t let the boy’s death go. Instead, Claire jumped in to save him from his Lily of the Valley poisoning, earning a target on her back from the misogynistic Father and winning over the title of miracle worker by the castle’s inhabitants–two things that hinder her chances of keeping a low profile. I’m getting rather frustrated, seeing Claire do things her way without looking at how it’ll shape her future. But if she is able to escape the castle as she hopes I suppose we won’t have to worry about it for much longer.
On a more positive note, I was very glad to see Jamie and Claire hadn’t let their inebriation cloud their judgment about hooking up. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing more I want out of this show than to see these two ignite their burning passion into something more than longing looks and witty banter. That being said, the slow burn is something I’ve grown to appreciate, so seeing the two flirt but never go in for the kill is enough to keep me tuning in every week. Besides, we shouldn’t be greedy. Seeing the way Jamie looked at Claire while the two got up to their fun hijinks at the ruins is all we really need for now.
Claire’s going to need to keep her head in the game, anyways. It seems dear Geillis may not be the ally we’d hoped, or at least she certainly knows a lot more than she’s letting on. Between those not-so-subtle hints at Claire experiencing something unexplainable to her pushing Claire for information on her past, there’s something about Geillis I simply don’t trust.
It would be nice to see someone else know Claire’s secret, though. The coincidental folktale highlighting Claire’s exact experience and Claire’s rash decision to make a break out of the castle means our heroine is more desperate than we imagined to get home. I just hope she doesn’t completely burn her bridges at Castle Leoch when she realizes getting back to the stones without hope is going to be a lot harder than Claire makes it seem.
In n’ Outlander:
- How fashion forward was Claire’s knit cable scarf?
- As much as I want someone else to know Claire’s secret, I’m just glad it wasn’t Mrs. Fitz she told like in her dream.
- Will Mrs. Fitz ever stop washing Claire and helping her dress?! Still so weird.
Outlander airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on Showcase and continues Saturdays on Starz.
Thoughts? Leave us a comment below.
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About The Author
Samantha Sobolewski
Samantha Sobolewski has been a TV Junkie since learning to count with The Count on Sesame Street. Since then she's graduated her TV tastes to the likes of such shows as Sons of Anarchy, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, The Newsroom, New Girl and Pretty Little Liars. You can find her freelance writing, sitting in the nosebleeds at a Raptors game, binge-watching The West Wing or on Twitter: @samsobolewski
I love your article, it made me smile, and thought that I would be thinking the same thing if I hadn’t read the book 20 years ago and know exactly what’s going on and going to happen. It’s a great series though – I find they’re doing justice to the book very well.
I read the series when it first came out. There’s many things I remember about the book, but with the STARZ treatment, they added or embellished plots and characters, and some of it really enhances Diana’s tale.
Like devoted fans of the series, I was really looking forward to the Wedding and the culmination of the amazing chemistry between Claire and Jamie. To say it was a disappointment, would be a vast understatement.
First of all, you anticipate that it will be awkward – Jamie’s a virgin and Claire is a married woman, with deep feelings for Frank. I don’t understand why they did not tell the story in a linear fashion. They get Jamie to finally agree, the Highlanders go about arranging the wedding details, they get married and now they are going to consummate their relationship. To me, the first time would pretty much be “slam-bam-thank you ma’am.” But the chemistry they had in the beginning was not there! This was a man’s version of romance and it was not romantic. In ‘Bull Durham,’ Kevin Costner, said he believed in “long, slow kisses that last for days.” And that’s foreplay-that’s sensual, that is hot. This looked totally scripted. If Jamie is so in tune with Claire’s feelings, he would certainly understand her mixed feelings about her “dead” husband. Frank IS the ghost in the room. There were no long, passionate kisses, they didn’t hold each other and he didn’t comfort her. Considering the way he always offered her his comfort and protection, that was shocking. I felt the nudity was gratuitous, and both of them have very fine bodies. The drinking, particularly on Claire’s part, was over-the-top. Is that a man’s way of showing her strength-like Karen Allen’s character in Indiana Jones? Women are strong in so many ways that some men will never understand, and Claire is a very strong person, without alcohol. When he gave her his mother’s pearls at the end, it seemed like it was a throwaway moment, not the meaningful, tender gesture it should have been. That is a seminal moment, not a semen moment. Then, in the next scene, Jamie is hurriedly getting dressed and worrying that they won’t get but scraps for breakfast ! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! He rushes off saying something like he wants to do that again soon. All that was missing is him putting money on the dresser to pay for services rendered. They lost me on this episode. Truly.