Outlander: The Watch Books Included

May 4, 2015 11:27 AM - Season 1, Episode 13

The men of the Watch descend upon Lallybroch. Claire realizes that Jenny's impending childbirth will be dangerous, but Jenny swears her to secrecy. The Redcoat defector Horrocks appears, and threatens to reveal that Jamie has a price on his head unless Jamie pays him.

I don't read the books, but I figured y'all would want a post on this.

posted by infinitewindow (7 comments total)

I think the fact that any of us usual suspects didn't make a post already shows just how "... okay" this episode was. (YMMV, tracicle?) It moved the story along, and we book readers know where it's going and that it's time to stock up on the whisky, but it didn't really stand by itself as anything particularly good, IMO.

I feel like Jenny's description of pregnancy is better read than translated to the screen. It just felt like someone reading the book lines, rather than anything someone would actually say. Not hating on Laura Donnelly's acting - she's great - I just think that passage doesn't translate well.
posted by olinerd at 3:29 PM on May 4, 2015

I liked this one more than the episode about the Duke of Sandringham a few eps ago. I liked that they deviated so hard away from the book, I was pretty tense through the whole thing wondering how it would go down. I kind of loved to hate Horrocks, that actor had charisma. Listening to Ron Moore's podcast was interesting, apparently they rewrote this episode after seeing the Horrocks actor in episode 8 because they liked the actor so much and wanted to get him back to do more.

I could have lived without the whole Jenny subplot, though I get that they wanted to give Claire something to do. I agree that the passage didn't translate well at all, but I have always been kind of squicked out by Diana's writing about motherhood, something about it just never sits right with me. Though Toni Graphia (this episode's writer) specifically mentioned that she loved those lines in the book so much she had to put them in the show, so I guess my mileage may vary from everyone else's. It's funny to me that some of the book lines that really grate on me have been specifically called out by the show writers as being their favorites (and yet they cut the amazing conversation between Claire and Jamie after she runs to him from the stones! Are we reading the same book, writers??).

I am really looking forward to next week!
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 5:53 PM on May 4, 2015 [1 favorite]

I think the fact that any of us usual suspects didn't make a post already shows just how "... okay" this episode was.

I was tempted to do the post, but I'm already doing several shows regularly, thought it might be rude to swoop in on another.

I thought it was a decent episode though. I couldn't remember the book circumstances on how Jamie ended up getting caught by the redcoats - was pretty sure that it was nothing like what was in this episode. But I really liked that scene between Ian & Jamie after Ian killed Horrocks, so, I didn't mind the change.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:12 PM on May 4, 2015

Haha yeah, it wasn't a fun episode. Lack of nudity?

It felt again like change for the sake of change from the books -- why bother getting rid of McNab's betrayal and bringing Horrocks back in, except that maybe the guy playing Horrocks was good enough that they wanted to reuse him. Although like banjo_and_the_pork says, it adds tensions where readers don't actually know what's going to happen, which is nice.

But overall I was pretty ehhh, and I only watched it once(!).
posted by tracicle at 10:57 PM on May 4, 2015

Yeah, that's a fair point, I was waiting for Macquarrie or however you spell it to turn traitor, but I was pleasantly surprised that he didn't. You're right, as a reader it was nice to be surprised.

But still not an overall exciting episode. Needed more floppy penis.
posted by olinerd at 1:47 AM on May 5, 2015 [2 favorites]

Very underwhelming. Why go to all the trouble to write in a entire new series of events if it's not really going to advance the plot? With all the ground they have left to cover this season, I don't understand the reasoning for inventing a new storyline at all. It was a waste of time.

I also find it extremely implausible that Jamie and Ian would have left with Jenny in labor, especially considering Ellen Fraser died in childbirth.
posted by something something at 6:40 AM on May 5, 2015 [1 favorite]

Detour from the book but I think it will end up in the same place. The episode was completely redeemed by the Jamie/Claire good bye closeup. Sam Heughan has the sexy look completely down.
posted by bluesky43 at 8:26 AM on May 5, 2015