Outlander: Both Sides Now Show Only

September 28, 2014 6:07 AM - Season 1, Episode 8

Claire attempts to adapt to her new marriage, while Frank undertakes a desperate search for his missing wife.
posted by tracicle (6 comments total)

Every time I see a scene on a TV show where someone is bluffing, I know they're going to step into a trap. This goes all the way back to when I was 11, watching Audrey Horne attempt to get a job at One Eyed Jack's on Twin Peaks—when Black Jack started talking about the Duchess of Sandringham, I even said out loud "Big Amos still running things out there?"

I saw and kind of liked the symbolism in Claire tying Black Jack's noose-like cravat while bluffing. But when Black Jack sprung his trap, and pulled out an actual knotted rope, I liked that a lot more.

Damn, that cliffhanger! And they expect us to wait until April to see what happens? (Which I will, I hear the books aren't quite as polished as the show and get kinda problematic.)
posted by infinitewindow at 12:26 PM on September 28, 2014

If the folks in my circle are any indication, the long hiatus is going to send the book sales through the roof.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:11 PM on September 28, 2014 [1 favorite]

(Which I will, I hear the books aren't quite as polished as the show and get kinda problematic.)

I'm not entirely convinced that Problematic Scene #1 from the first book isn't going to feature prominently in the next episode in April (they haven't done anything so far to lead me to believe they'll deviate significantly from that particular plotline) so in that respect, I'm not sure failing to read the book is saving you from any of that. (Obviously, don't read the book if you don't want. But if that's all that's keeping you, I think at least for this first book and probably the second, they're unlikely to deviate that much)

A question, non-readers: did anyone notice/process the little kid at the Reverend's house? Or did he just feel very tangential and weirdly distracting? (The books give him a little more "screen time" and I'm just curious, based on my husband's reaction, how his appearance in the show compares)
posted by olinerd at 4:13 PM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

I haven't read the books in so long that I am treating the show as the Cliffs Notes version. I don't recall who the little boy is whatsoever, and I was confused as to who he was and why he was at the Reverend's home. Perhaps he's a fosterling of some sort? It was one of those trope-y "here I shall linger unnecessarily on this *cough* totally random character *cough* because they are super important later" moments. I'll be interested to see who the kiddo actually belongs to and why he is there. I have some wild suspicions at the moment, so we'll see!

There were so many small but great points in the show...Mrs. Graham talking to Frank about the stones, Angus's knife-teaching, the scene with Claire tying Black Jack's cravat, Jamie asking Claire, "Is it always like this...?", Claire being given the dragonfly-in-amber.

My library's book queue for Outlander is like 5000-people-long at this point, so I'm just going to have to buy at least the first two for a re-read and get caught up. I vaguely remember tearing through Outlander, then Dragonfly in Amber being an initial hundred or so pages of snooze and I gave up. I might have to skip ahead a few chapters. :)

Lastly: the TV.com Outlander community does a hilarious weekly photo recap for each episode and while this week's was kind of ehhh, the three-part wedding recap is great.
posted by cardinality at 8:27 PM on September 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

olinerd, I can only surmise that we'll see the kid's character again when he's much older, because child actors aren't cheap enough to be featured regularly on a show with the budget I've seen so far.
posted by infinitewindow at 8:31 AM on September 30, 2014

Aww no no no, I didn't want to see poor Frank, feel terribly sorry for him, and watch him be tempted to go over to the dark side before losing all hope and crying pitifully. It's too sad, and puts quite the demper on the steamy romance on the other side of the time tunnel.

Also, a bit heavy on the rape-y side, this show! I feel quite stupid now for expecting a swashbuckling Georgian costume drama with kilts. Alas. How many times has Claire been attacked by now?

I did wonder about the kid, though. Maybe I had never noticed him before, but for a moment I wondered if he'll turn out to be someone important later on. I have fantastical theories.
posted by sively at 8:12 AM on April 13, 2016