It’s Outlander time, finally! I realize I’m two weeks late in posting about the new season, but I’ve seen both episodes a few times now and I feel it’s my duty to post my reactions. We need season 3 to be greenlighted!
To start with, I was truly hoping I wouldn’t bawl during the first episode, having read the books. To no avail, though. The opening scene brought on all the tears. I could feel her pain, and I could literally hear Claire’s heart break when the man told her the British still won the battle at Culloden. What anguish. How great is Caitriona??
I didn’t have any problems with the first half of the episode being in the 1940s. We need to understand Frank & his love for Claire. We need to understand why she wanted to return to him in season 1 & why he resumed their marriage in season 2. In the books, I haven’t found myself too fond of Frank. I’m no FoF, that’s for sure. But, watching his emotions play out on screen through the wonderful Tobias Menzies really brought home what he experienced the two years Claire was gone. The first viewing almost had me feeling that Claire was being too hard on him & pushing him away. Of course, I then remembered she did indeed do her best to push him away in the books, as well. They set the stage for him to believe her on down the road, but Claire was ultimately right in calling out Frank’s supposed belief in her story - she knew his logical mind wouldn’t take that leap of faith.
Tobias was so BJR when Claire revealed that she was pregnant, it was brilliant. Superb acting on his part. He showed restraint where Blackjack never could & I think that will work a long way towards Claire learning to separate the two over the next 20 years.
I also never had much of a problem with Claire almost removing her ring. It was a heart attack moment for some, but you could tell she was very reluctant to do so. It was maybe more of a pretense on Claire’s part - Frank had already realized Jamie never made her remove his gold band. Plus, I think it sets us up for a big fight or point of contention down the road; “When you’re ready,” he said. But, we all know she will never be ready.
Having Mrs. Graham as Claire’s confidant was an awesome on-screen change. She needed someone to believe her; I wouldn’t be surprised if they did away with her granddaughter and simply aged her into an old woman in the 1960s. After all, Mother Hildegard is still around twenty years later
The transition between the 1940s and the 1740s was BEAUTIFULLY done!! Oh, I just cried my eyes out finally seeing Jamie appear with that lovely smile on his face. Great job, Ron Moore!!!
There isn’t much to say about France. It was well done and looked beautiful. The storyline got things going and that was enough. The Comte St. Germaine! Arrogance has never looked so lovely!
The casting for this show is supreme. From the driver at the beginning to Mrs. Graham to the Comte. They haven’t gone wrong yet.
