I agree they’ve shown those scenes, but for some odd reason I didn’t feel like they really knew each other as soulmates, to the point of her being ripped apart and such despair. I know we are supposed to know that…but I haven’t felt it until the last episode.
I think the point is that THEY have not necessarily felt or known how much they love each other until they encounter these situations. At least Claire, who naturally is conflicted, doesn’t. It’s part of their journey. I think they have done a great job.
Churchmusicmom, that would seem to make sense. However, when I read the book (the first and rereads), I always felt that intensity before they even got to this point. I felt that connection way before this scene in the book. That just shows how different things resonate for different readers I guess.
The books are able to be much more involved, and are. There are natural limits to a TV show which only has one hour per week.
I am listening to Voyager on audio book. It is 43 hours to listen to it. The Outlander show gives us what, 16 hours or so, to cover a very very prolific novel. That’s just a limitation which comes with it.
I think they’ve done a really good job on the show. Of course we all have our own preferences with regard to what should have been cut and what should have stayed. Everyone has an opinion, as the saying goes…
Yeah, we’d have to have interminable voice-overs or something to really know how the characters are feeling. For me, they are doing a great job with the acting. That being said, I agree that the episode where so much time was spent on Claire and Murtagh’s search and the singing was mis-spent.
I’ve been listening to Voyager on audio book while riding my bike and driving around in my car. I had forgotten how much I LOVED that book!
@Nrdsb4 I love listening to the audios! I have read all the books and listened to all of them too!
I was away in a Scotland 
for 2 weeks and just caught up on Outlander. Tobias Menzies is amazing as Black Jack. I hate Black Jack, but admire Tobias’ ability to play him so well. I definitely watched a lot of episode 115 through my fingers. @Nrdsb4, my favorite books are Voyager and A Breath of Snow and Ashes
SPOILER:
Well, I couldn’t do it. Not yet, anyway. I watched the finale but skipped over the rape scenes.
Maybe another time. But I’ve never been able to sit through rape scenes, male/male or male/female, doesn’t matter.
I know the producers could not have omitted those scenes without a huge betrayal of the novel, so kudos to all for going there. I read a couple of reviews which praised the acting of Sean and Tobias, regardless of their opinions about the graphic nature of the scenes and whether or not it was necessary to take the audience the whole way.
It was a shame we couldn’t have seen the cave scene, where Claire tells Jamie her news.
I’m looking forward to season two.
I watched the whole thing. The acting was superb, and I’m one that has thought Sam is just an okay actor. I found the torture scenes from last week more difficult to watch. I think they did a good adaptation, but I missed seeing the cave scene too, but the boat scene at the end wasn’t bad. I didn’t like how Angus tried to kiss her, I thought that was a stupid addition.
^^^Yeah, the Angus thing was weird.
This review at first had me nodding in agreement. Then, really really annoyed.
The commenters addressed the flaws in this review quite well, I thought.
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/outlander-season-1-finale-jamie-rape/
I watched the whole show. The acting was amazing, but I do not want to watch the rape scene again. It was very disturbing. I always skip it when I reread the book, so I’ll do the same with the show.
Diana Gabaldon writes about the Finale:
Darn, I can’t link it due to TOS. If you go to All Things Outlander on FB, Diana has written a really interesting post on her thoughts about the last two episodes.
DH and I finally got to watch it (we have been out of town). It was so well done, I think. Though I did miss the whole cave thing.
Emmy awards all around, people!
It’s been around 10 years since I read Outlander. If the book went into minute detail about what Black Jack did to Jamie, I must have skipped over much of it. I feel like the show is spending much more time on this than did the author, although DG does love her sadomasochism, after several books that much was clear. I fast forwarded through most of the episode.
Does Caitriona Balfe ever smile -? Even when she told Jamie she was pregnant, purportedly something she wanted very much (envy of Jenny’s fertility was shown clearly), she looked fairly joyless.
^^^^Well, her husband had just survived rape and torture and became suicidal afterwards. She was probably ambivalent for many reasons. It’s not like everything was fine and dandy and she suddenly became pregnant. In the book she tells him in a different setting, but she is not described as being overtly happy or smiling. Nor is he.
Gabaldon, Diana (2004-10-26). Outlander: with Bonus Content (p. 550). Random House, Inc… Kindle Edition.
I miss Book Jamie. Will have to do a reread at some point.
I know it hasn’t been fun and games and they’ve compressed many events that were written to take place over a longer period of time. I just think…and then I’ll stop complaining about Catriona, at least for awhile, that she is missing what for me is a central characteristic of Claire, her wry and nearly always ready sense of humor. Even during difficult times, she’s not constantly wearing a scowl. Oh well, it is what it is.
MAJOR SPOILER ALERT:
I am still listening to Voyager on audio tape while I ride my bike. I’ve always loved this book, far more than Dragonfly in Amber. I wish we could fast forward to that book. I love how we find out about Claire’s life after Culloden with Frank, med school and life as a surgeon, Brianna and Roger, Claire’s discovery of Jamie’s survival, her preparations for travel, Jamie’s life in the cave, in prison, as indentured servant, the birth of Willie, the reunion, the painful reveal about Jamie and Laoghaire, penicillin, Ian and the parent dynamics, Typhoid fever, the Caribbean adventures, Fergus and Marsali, John Grey, the surprise about Geillis Duncan, etc. So entertaining and action packed. Probably would be very expensive to film, though, with all the various locations.
One thing that bugged me: How many damn times did Mr. Willoughby have to refer to Claire as “honorable first wife” before it dawned on her that there might have been another woman in Jamie’s life?!?!?!?!?