Outlander: Not in Scotland Any More   Books Included 
April 17, 2016 2:26 AM - Season 2, Episode 2 - Subscribe

Jamie struggles to overcome his past; opportunities arise following a fortunate meeting with Prince Charles; the Duke of Sandringham's presence causes complications.

Claire, Jamie and Murtagh are settling into Jared's amazing Parisian maison and speaking a lot of French, but Jamie and Murtagh can also speak in Gaelic when they need to be secretive. Claire is struggling with having servants and taking work away from them by making her own bed.

Claire befriends Louise de Rohan, a frivolous noblewoman with a pet monkey and a hairless honeypot, and is invited to Versailles. She and Jamie plan to befriend the French Minister of Finance, a politician with control over Charles Stuart's access to war funds and a foot fetish. While at Versailles, Claire and Jamie confront the Duke of Sandringham, who may or may not be there to support the Jacobite rising, and meet his new aide, young Alex Randall.

Randall, you ask? Why yes, coincidentally he is the younger brother of Jonathan Black Jack Randall, who is NOT DEAD AT ALL. /mike drop
posted by tracicle (10 comments total)
 
Also: Jamie's hair behaves better than last week, Claire wears THAT dress, the King's mistress wears THAT dress, Murtagh and Jamie randomly swordfight in a garden, 18th-century Paris is beautifully rendered, Master Raymond is pretty much just like in the books and I love him, we have our first POC character who even gets a speaking part, and the King's constipated face makes him look like Denethor, Steward of Gondor.

A/V Club review: A
Wall Street Journal Review
posted by tracicle at 2:33 AM on April 17, 2016


So, I guess we're not going to get the book scene of Jamie removing the bandages/splints from his hand and realizing that he's not been crippled. I guess we'll get some version of it - there's that shot in the opening credit sequence of what looks like Claire stroking Jamie's hand - but if he's already switched to a brace and is practicing swordplay, then we're already past the point where he thought he'd have no use of the hand at all. Bummer, I really loved that scene.

I didn't really notice the CGI in the premiere, but that shot coming into the royal party from the gardens felt distractingly fake.
posted by oh yeah! at 6:48 AM on April 17, 2016 [1 favorite]


I felt that way about Le Havre last week, so this week seemed like an improvement to me. But yeah, the horse fountain seemed shopped in, or something.
posted by tracicle at 9:11 AM on April 17, 2016


In the book Claire doesn't have her pubic hair removed....and Jamie is shocked that there are women who do so. I also inferred that he likes the smell of Claire's unshaved pits.
posted by brujita at 9:34 AM on April 17, 2016


That episode felt like it packed in like a third of the book in one hour. There were some priceless looks in this episode that better become gifs immediately- Sandringham's little parting shot at Claire, and the way the king just totally dismissed her. Also, bless this show for spending a solid five minutes on the king's constipation. I never really got into Master Raymond as a character, but I'm curious to see what the show is going to do with him. He is exactly like I pictured him. The casting on this show continues to be ridiculously amazing. Alex Randall does have a bit of a resemblance to Frank/Black Jack, but nicer. What sorcery did they do to manage that?!
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 7:42 PM on April 17, 2016


I loved all the Meaningful Looks. There was a lot of really good wordless acting.

But yeah, it was one of those "move the plot forward without anything actually happening" sorts of episodes.

I loved Master Raymond's shop.
posted by olinerd at 4:24 AM on April 19, 2016


I want to just pause to appreciate Terry Dresbach's exquisite costume design, and how deeply the makers of this show understand the need to allow space to savor the frockporn, e.g. the lingering shot of that super-elegant French heel in Claire's dressing scene, the reveal of Claire in her red dress.

It does mean I need to watch each episode twice, because I'm so distracted on first view by the luscious costumes that I don't take in stuff like [waves hand vaguely] "plot" and "dialogue", but this is FINE WITH ME.
posted by stuck on an island at 3:29 AM on April 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


Here's her mood boards for Master Raymond's costume.
posted by stuck on an island at 3:31 AM on April 22, 2016


Oh wow, wow, wow, and the breakdown of Claire's 1740s-does-1940s outfit in which she visits Master Raymond.
posted by stuck on an island at 3:35 AM on April 22, 2016


and the way the king just totally dismissed her

I didn't get that feeling at all. I think he was just filing her away for future reference.

And Bar, my absolute favourite design of all time. Stunning interpretation.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 7:20 AM on January 15, 2017


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