Even without having read Diana Gabaldon's books, it was easy to see that Claire and Jamie Fraser were destined to end up together. But I've absolutely loved the way in which it happened, seemingly as organic as two people first becoming friends and then finding something more a little further in the relationship. Starz even spent an entire episode on the wedding, going through the three demands that Jamie met in order to take his bride: 1) he wanted a real priest to marry them 2) he expected a ring to be made from a key (primarily the "bow" part of a key, which in itself taught me that a medieval key consists of a "blade" and a "bow," and 3) Claire would need the finest dress that they could get on short notice.
Instead of being some horrible plot device to save Claire from the evil "Black Jack" Randall, Jamie's insistence on details for his wedding turned the whole affair into one of the most romantic things I've ever seen. There was even courtship, with an exchange between the two of them that occurred after their wedding that went from Jamie telling Claire all about his lineage to their making love for the first time, to getting food and wine, and more sex, and well...yeah. It was pretty great considering that it could have been pretty awful. But maybe the true magic of the series is Claire, probably the best heroine I've come to enjoy in what seems like ages. Claire has this ability to see the worst of circumstances in the best light, and it's rather wonderful to see what she'll do next to get herself out of a situation. Or in the case of the cliffhanger ending of the mid-season finale, what luck will bring her when she is completely out of options and she's played her best hand only to fail miserably.
The most tense part of last night's mid-season finale though was Claire realizing she was just a hop, a skip, and a jump away from the pile of rocks that we can only assume will whisk her back to her own time period if she can only touch the center rock. Her husband in the future was at the stones at the same time on film, just about to leave when he heard her voice calling to him from the rocks. As romantic and tense as this seems, one thing I'm a little mystified with is the whole time travel mechanic going on here. It would appear that both timelines (Claire's future and her past) are moving at the same pace. So when she does eventually make it back to her timeline, whatever time that she's spent in the past will have passed for her in her future (essentially making her a "missing" person). It's an interesting mechanic because it means that time has consequence above and beyond the meddling one can do in the past that forges a divergent future. As far as time travel devices go, the rocks at Craigh na Dun are pretty stingy in this respect because if you're able to send someone into the past to live a different life, the least you could do when that journey's over is deposit them in the exact time in which they left so that (to an outside observer) you've only been gone a second. But doing it this way, Claire leaves a trail of broken hearts and broken men no matter "when" she goes.
So the real timeline is herself and what she is experiencing? After spending so much time in the past, would she really want to go back to the future after missing so much?
ReplyDeleteWill have to catch this later as we don't have Starz.
@Alex: Exactly. Don't have Starz? But it's sooo good. Original series of Black Sails and the White Queen not to mention Outlander. Plus Starz has the lion's share of movies you can stream for free.
ReplyDeleteI have avoided Outlander book because it is so huge, knowing it was awesome all the same. So, now. Sigh. Bookstore, used books, we must go.
ReplyDeleteOh, Susan, RUN to the nearest bookstore and buy the whole series - you won't be disappointed! DG is an incredible writer; as good as the series is, the books are better!
ReplyDeleteIncredible books and I'm enjoying the series as an adaptation. The stones as portal are fickle. Author Diana Gabaldon has said she's been asked to write her theory of time travel.
ReplyDeleteGreat post and something new to consider from you about Claire's reluctance to believe in magic. perhaps her trip through the stones has a scientific explanation while the Witches' Spring didn't. Personally I'm missing the visit with the water horse. .
What a shame that no motel chain has Starz. Guess I'll just have to keep watching football and stuff instead.
ReplyDelete**Spoiler Alert** This comment contains spoilers
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Diana uses the stones as a vehicle for time travel and they're not the only set of stones in the world which form a gateway between times. The inspiration does come from past stories of the Fae Folk, where someone would disappear under a "faerie mound" and not return for 200 years, looking almost the same as when they left (cue Gwyllyn the Bard). So yes, time is passing concurrently in 1743 and 1945 (which can definitely make the space-time discussion hurt).
Regarding Claire's view of superstition, she's a product of the 20th century- a nurse, vested in science; and nominally Catholic, although not necessarily brought up as such. The fact that she's brought back in time by a set of standing stones would not necessarily lead her to start accepting all superstitions as fact (cue the sick kid & the "evil church" which turned out to be plant poisoning) and she was not aware of the legend around Ninian's Spring before Dougal had her drink from it, so you can't really fault her for not believing in something she didn't know about ahead of time (even though history leads us to believe she would *not* have believed in it and probably have had some scientific reason for any story of someone's throat closing post-swallowing).
However, as the story progresses (and God willing we'll get a season for each book) you'll see that Claire's spirituality does grow stronger precisely because she's been exposed to super-natural events. She still takes a lot of folk traditions/superstitions as such, but is much more open to the idea of magic (in asmuch as time travel can be called "magic" and not a worm hole ripped through the space time continuum).
Claire is, and remains, a complex character, who grows throughout the series (as do most of Diana's characters). She is one of the best female protagonists out there and we're lucky to have Caitriona Balfe inhabiting the character & bringing her to life.
I'm so sad I no longer get Starz. Long story. I'll have to catch up on this later, but I did love the books.
ReplyDeleteI didn't expect to like this series...but I do. There's something very real about it, which is strange since it has to do with time travel.
ReplyDeleteSkipped pretty much everything because I haven't seen it, yet. It is on my list.
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of this series but it does sound interesting.
ReplyDelete@Jeannie: Thanks so much for the heads up on where the series is going. I'm so excited to see more of Outlander and really love the treatment the source material is getting from Starz. I'd think the author would be very pleased.
ReplyDelete@Debra: It really makes me want to read the books. I'll probably get to them after I finish with the Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne.
Hey, Michael,
ReplyDeleteI just stopped by to say HI. It's been ages! I hope you are well.
As for the series, I have so little time to watch TV and this does sound awesome, but a time sucker. SIGH.
Have you been working on anything new lately?
After reading your review, I not only want to see the series, I want to read the books too--no wonder they're bestsellers. I think a friend of mine has been watching it so I should get over to her place on those evenings.
ReplyDeleteI like that you say the romance started so naturally, so organically. Someone I know told me just this weekend that he's engaged and how naturally his friendship with the lady began and changed, how they're true soulmates. I really liked that.
I'm still deliberating on whether to continue watching the show when it returns in April or not. Similar to other criticism that it received I also think that the show was poorly written with extremely slow pace and lack of any dynamics within episodes. What also bothered me is the absolute lack of chemistry between the lead couple and the wooden highly unappealing performance from Caitriona Balfe thanks to which even the wedding episode was frigid and not at all sexy even though it consisted only of sex. I also expected that the show would be visually striking with great landscapes, colours and costumes, but it was deeply uninspired in that aspect too. Really a mediocre result in the end. But I did love the brilliant music, too bad it isn't used more in the show. And too bad we haven't seen more of Lotte Verbeek, she is really charismatic and I think she should've played the lead role.
ReplyDeleteI have loved this entire season of Outlander. I began reading the books a LONG time ago and stopped when I caught up with Diana Gabaldon. Back then, it seemed you had to wait an endless amount of time for the next release in a series, so different than today (if you exclude GRRM). Anyway, I am now listening to the audiobooks and am up to book six, A Breath of Snow and Ashes. This one is almost 58 hours long.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed at what a fantastic job Starz is doing to bring it to the screen. I cannot wait until April!