Outlander: The Gathering Books Included

August 31, 2014 6:53 AM - Season 1, Episode 4

Claire plans to attempt an escape during the "Gathering," but her plans are thwarted.
posted by tracicle (12 comments total)

Men in kilts having a hockey fight was something I never knew I needed til I saw it.
posted by peppermind at 7:04 AM on August 31, 2014 [8 favorites]

I need to rewatch, after an initial viewing I thought it was a little too slow. Also, it needed like 1000% more Jamie smoldering at Claire, they only had like a 5 minute scene together! I liked it, of course, but I got nervous that non-book-readers would get bored with the pacing of the episode. I also never really cared for the boar hunt interlude in the book, and was hoping they'd cut that from the show for something a little more interesting.

Next week looks like the pace is going to speed up!
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 7:12 AM on August 31, 2014

I'm a non-book reader and the pacing didn't bother me at all.

I'm surprised, however, that no one here has mentioned Diana Gabaldon's cameo appearance yet.
posted by miss-lapin at 8:30 AM on August 31, 2014 [2 favorites]

I didn't recognize that as being Diana at all, but I did think when I saw her in the scene, "oh, that person looks like how I imagine older Jenny to be." And then I laughed out loud when I realized who it was after the fact. I wonder if she intentionally modeled Jenny's description after herself?

This episode followed the books more closely than any other so far, I thought. There were many lines at the gathering and the hunt that were taken directly from the novel. However! I agree there is still not enough Jamie.
posted by something something at 8:52 AM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]

I have a personal pet peeve about authors' cameo appearances when their books are filmed. It gives me contact embarrassment for some weird reason. This was pretty decently done, I didn't love it or hate it. I think Ron Moore also had a quick cameo in this episode, as a clansman at the Gathering?
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 9:19 AM on August 31, 2014

Author appearance are often painful because they are terrible actors. I thought her part was well done, although it may just have been because I loved Mrs. Fitz's response.
posted by miss-lapin at 9:23 AM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]

I kind of laughed at the cameo, because her accent is *so* careful. And when you see her in the background later, she's still staring at Claire and Murtagh! Did you also notice Ron Moore? Pretty sure the camera panned past him during that long take -- which was fairly impressive, I thought.
posted by tracicle at 4:47 AM on September 1, 2014 [2 favorites]

After a rewatch I liked that episode a lot better. I've been reading a lot of complaints about the 40s music in the background, but I love it and think it's really clever. The details on this show blow me away.

Also, I just read that Graham McTavish is in Boston to work on a movie that's being filmed here. You guys, I could run into Dougal on the street! This excites me more than it should.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 11:02 AM on September 2, 2014 [3 favorites]

I meant to mention the 40s music! I love it, too. I like how the show is making me focus more on Claire as a woman of that era; I have always sort of pictured her as being completely modern, which is obviously not the case.

I was so worried about the casting for this show, and how it was going to ruin the pictures I've always had in my mind of these people. Four episodes in I do feel like my previous conceptions have been thrown out the window, but I could not be happier about it. Jamie is realer to me than ever and the minor characters' casting has been great across the board. I don't even remember what I thought Dougal looked like, McTavish so perfectly inhabits the character.

Which reminds me of another thing I really enjoyed in this episode, the Dougal/Claire interactions, beginning with his drunken assault and ending with him viewing her with grudging respect. These are really complex characters and relationships, and the show is handling them well.

I also liked the hockey scene because there were moments when Jamie's fierceness was really apparent. We have mostly only seen him be civilized and respectful up until this point.
posted by something something at 11:36 AM on September 2, 2014 [2 favorites]

Yeah. I'm really pleased with the way the show has set up Jamie's relationship with his uncles. It was a little wishy-washy in the book. It makes much more sense that Dougal would view him as an interloper and potential rival and treat him accordingly.

Additionally, the shinty scene following Geordie's scene really humanised Dougal. The grieving followed by anger vented physically, against someone who is a potential threat to him, makes perfect sense in this world. It also gives us our first real indication of what warriors these two men are.
posted by tracicle at 12:33 PM on September 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

The part where Claire nearly gets run over by the boar was very "Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist."

Also, it's terribly difficult to figure out which side characters are which. I'm only just now thinking, "Oh, that guy must be Murtagh."
posted by Madamina at 7:49 PM on September 2, 2014 [3 favorites]

Jamie/Dougal is fleshed out a bit more in The Exile....and SPOILER:





It's made clear that Geillis was NEVER Claire's friend.
posted by brujita at 8:43 PM on September 2, 2014