I reread the section of the book that had to do with Jamie, Claire and all arriving at River Run. I decided I didn’t like the way it was handled in the series. In the book Jamie is much more wise to his Aunts ways than he seems in the series. She is a McKensie after all. Claire doesn’t want to own slaves but doesn’t seem hostile to Jocasta and seems to understand better the time she is living in. She is also far less morally indecisive when it comes to the situation revolving around Rufus. I didn’t have a problem with the way they changed John Quincy Myers or that they eliminated his surgery. The first episode seemed to at least cover the major points that were in the book and did a decent job setting up future plot lines. The second seemed to make Jamie seem indecisive and like he was always waiting for direction from Claire. He was very out of character. It made Claire seem like she wanted to start the Civil War in 1768. Nothing has been irreparably changed but it made me lose a little of the appreciation I had for the two main characters.
Claire is us, the viewer (in reality, in the book, she’s a woman from the 60s, so she has a different understanding of race). We’d find it unthinkable to own slaves. We would refuse it. We’d call people on their concept slaves are happy (even in the 60s that was well understood as fallacy). Claire represents the modern viewer’s sensibility toward slavery and it might be a bit a bit more heavy handed due to some comments in some areas of the country.
So what did everyone think last night? I thought it was just ok, a bit slow. I don’t like the casting of Brianna and Roger, so I don’t enjoy those scenes like I was hoping I would before they were introduced. I’m glad to see more grey in Claire’s hair, but they need to do the same or something different so Jamie doesn’t look so young. Young Ian is spot on!
I thought it was good. Enjoyed the scenes of Jamie and Claire in the wilderness and was glad they didn’t kill off the horses with lightning.
Also interesting was getting a glimpse of Roger’s double standards and self proclaimed “old fashioned” values with regard to men being able to have sex before marriage and “good girls” abstaining. Up to this point he has seemed so gentle and perfect. He had a pleasant singing voice, but certainly not the heavenly purity described in the book. But they can’t get everything in one package, I suppose.
I think this scene comes pretty much intact from the book. Roger is certainly not a one dimensional nice guy as a character. SPOILER ALERT
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
At times I actively disliked him as I read the later books. There is a scene (I think in “Breath of Snow and Ashes”) where Brianna and Roger are camping at a gathering and Roger comes back late drunk and amorous. Brianna turns him down several times feeling self conscious because of the relatively public venue and the fact that Jem is sleeping nearby. Roger takes no notice and carries on regardless.
Anyone pleasantly surprised by the return of Murtaugh in the Dec. 2 episode? I had assumed he had been excecuted with the other Jacobites after Culloden. One of our favorite characters, especially when he was a fish-out-of-water when the gang was in France.
Never read the books but had a free month of the channel so I started watching. History, gorgeous landscapes, and a hot ginger - what else could I ask for? (I have a type and my type is Jaime - as everyone in my life has pointed out to me who has watched it.)
Holy crap I was hooked after an episode. I’m only in season 2 so not reading this thread yet to avoid spoilers but I’ve spent an embarrassing amount of time bingewatching this since Thanksgiving.
We just started watching Season 1. We never read the books, but my husband and I are hooked. I haven’t read this thread because I don’t want spoilers. I just had to see what the first and last pages were about. Anyway, we love it.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.i actually like this change with Murtagh alive. I think the actress who plays Claire is very good, she has such a range of emotions, facial and body language, she does well. Jamie, not so much. It’s like he has 3 or 4 expressions that he uses over and over.
I enjoyed the Jamie/Murtaugh reunion and the Murtaugh/Claire reunion though I’m not so sure I’m comfortable with the conflict they seem to have set up. The setting in Scotland in season 1 was perfect, season 2 was mostly in France and I felt they recreated that pretty well, season 3 was OK though I believe much of the tropics was filmed in South Africa. As for season 4, I know I’m nitpicking but those are not the Blue Ridge Mountains. The cabin was neat.
Another favorite book of mine that was turned into a movie/series was the Lord of the Rings. I found the original trilogy to be amazing, not completely accurate to the book but beautifully done and recreated the feel of the books wonderfully. Then they made the “Hobbit” and it felt they took too much liberty changing the feel and story of the book for dramatic affect. Season 1 of “Outlander” was definitely like LOTR for me. Though not a perfect adaptation of the book it really kept the feel of the story and recreated the sense of being there. I loved it. Season 4 has been more like the “Hobbit” for me. The sets have been interesting but not awe inspiring, the story line is there but changed enough that I feel like the story has been changed significantly enough that future plot lines will need to be changed (admittedly a book reader problem). I guess I also don’t trust them to stay true to the major plot lines. Somethings I just saw as silly such as the bear being changed to a human in a bear costume. While the set was in Scotland and France I really enjoyed the series as it’s moved to different locales the series has lost it’s allure for me. I’ll keep watching as I am curious to know how they handle some of the major story lines to come but I’m not anticipating the next show in the series the way I had been.
@romanigypsyeyes@silverlady I totally get how you feel! I found the show before the books and just fell head over heels for the story and the characters. It was during the live broadcast of season one so no binge watching for me, I had to follow along with everyone else. There was a hiatus after ep 6 or 8 for a few months and I used that time to read ALL the books! I had sleepless nights, probably damaged my vision, I read so much then. Love hearing what you think of things!
I totally loved the Murtaugh reunion, haven’t had those “feels” for awhile in the show and definitely had them when I realized who Ian was talking to in the smithy and when Jamie came in to complain about the price
I didn’t remember the native medicine woman being killed so quickly in the book. I have a vague memory of her spirit hanging around helping Claire…?
Very excited for the Bree journey, that was a great episode ending. I can’t recall how Roger came to realize he could time travel too but I have vivid memories of the reunion of Bree/Jamie and “reunion” of Roger/Jamie in the books…
Thought the family with the baby intro was jerky…well, non-existent? Suddenly Claire was delivering a baby and I was like “who are these people?”. I did a rewind to see if I missed an intro but guess not. Only later did I remember all that about the superstitious father messing everything up for everyone. I feel like Ian’s thing with the tribe is going to happen fairly soon…?
I’m glad in a way that I read the books so long ago now because I’ve forgotten enough that the show makes things new again.
Finally caught up with this season. As usual, I remember some things from the book, and completely forget many others.
Spoilers
^
^
^
^
I can’t remember what happened to Murtaugh in the book, but he is such a quiet hottie here and I really appreciate that! He was always described as “the little clansman” in the book, a bit disparagingly, but it was he who accompanied Claire on her long and tortuous journey to get Jamie out of prison back in the day.
I had to lol at that cabin. At the end of one episode there is only the bare bones of the footprint and at the beginning of the next episode it is all done, complete with cabinets, glass windows and fine furniture? Did 3 years pass and 20 trips to town?
I remember Brianna and Roger researching the history of Jaime and Claire together. Is that incorrect? They find first that she bought a slave in the Caribbean and they can’t understand why (the long ago ancestor of Joe Abernathy). I thought they discovered the news about the fatal fire together. ??? And I distinctly remember Brianna wearing “breeks” in the past which was a big to-do that she was characteristically stubborn about.
Also, the poor older Indian woman healer - I remember her saying “it wasn’t your fault” but I thought it referred to a disease outbreak (measles?) that befalls the local Indians.
Super Secret Spoilers:
^
^
@OHMomof2 - I think it will be a while before Ian’s adventure with the Indians. IF I’m remembering correctly, Ian and Jaime have a misunderstanding about Roger when he first arrives and they let the Indians take him away. It takes months to correct and then Ian does his thing.
I think the writers are taking a few liberties with the story this season. I sort of like it and I sort of don’t. I thought the beginning scene with the snake and the outhouse was a nod to the Persephone scene in the book, but maybe not.
What I find that I don’t like is that it seems Jamie seems any other character that just surrounds Claire, and not so strong and wise, as Jamie in the book. Although a strong woman, in the book I never saw Jamie playing second fiddle to Claire in those regards, but I do in the series.
I like the little Easter Eggs they drop at the beginning of each episode. The snake being thrown from the privy I think was teaser for book readers concerning the rattle snake that fell down the privy, later when pre teen William was there he wanted to see it and he ended up IN the privy. It didn’t make it in the episode but would be an amusing reminder for those who remember it. Last week the doll you see at the beginning was purchased by Mueller and was likely infected with the measles. He literally gave his family the disease.
“I can’t remember what happened to Murtaugh in the book,”
He died at Culloden.
"I thought they discovered the news about the fatal fire together. ???
Actually they found that out separately. Roger found out through some obscure manuscript and chose to keep it from Bree. He felt there was nothing she could do to change anything it would only upset her. Bree was the one who found out about the Jamie being the Super Cargo on the merchant ship and found them in the Caribbean and that Claire had purchased a slave. That is how she found out about the notice of the fire. She didn’t want to tell Roger because she didn’t want him to attempt to talk her out of it and she felt she needed him to be able to return to the right time in a return trip through the stones.
Thanks for the detail leading up to LJG and Jamie laughing about the privy scene. That’s my reference to Persephone and how they howled when they saw Willy.
I think it was something like, “what news from the underworld, Persephone?”
The only thing I wonder about is that the relationship between Ian and William is never established since they didn’t meet at Fraser’s Ridge. That means if it gets that far there will need to be some plot changes.
