Clawdette

I read an interesting interview with Patrick Stewart in which he noted that in the UK, there is no differentiation between acting in film or in television. They are considered equally prestigious. He was surprised to come to the US and find out that his Star Trek TV role was considered a step backward by folks here. If that is the case, Sam may well be open to future television work if the role is right.

When I pictured Bree I imagined an Emma Stone-type - spunky up the wazoo. I can't think of any actresses who fit that bill so maybe there is an unknown who will be a good fit. Molly Quinn has the red hair but isn't tall enough. I couldn't picture anyone in the role of Roger but I can see his hair. I hope they get that right. ETA: I just remembered that I did have a Roger in mind but I discarded it because I knew that wouldn't happen. Theo James. I loved his short-lived CBS series. Golden Boy.

To me, he will always be Billy Elliott's father. I love that movie.

I finished The Firey Cross today and enjoyed the rich descriptive nature of the narrative. And, I'm not usually a big fan of that style of writing. But , you know how you become aware of something and then it just drives you crazy like someone clicking a pen or kicking your chair? The word alacrity. I began to notice its overuse in Drums of Autumn but today I encountered it four times during a 30-minute read. Gabaldon's editor should have caught this. It's not as if there are no synonyms that could be substituted. Willingly, eagerly, readily, quickly. I'm not sure whether I'll move on with alacrity to Buik 6 but I'll be moving on with the series.

I have now encountered nightfall on the neverending wedding/no wedding day and suddenly on page 147 I read of a Mr. Campbell from Barbecue Presbyterian. This is the church in which my father was born into and is where by grandmother and aunts and uncles are buried. It was established in 1758. I grew up in a "sister" church to Barbecue (it began as a mission of Barbecue in 1913) and the two churches were a married field, meaning they shared a minister. In the 1960s, a Rev. James MacKenzie was called to serve and he embraced the rich Highland Scot heritage of the area. The youth at the churches erected a Cairn of Remembrance on the Barbecue grounds, incorporating stone from Flora MacDonald's home in Scotland. We learned - or attempted to learn - to play the recorder in anticipation of moving up to bagpipe chanters. We could sing the 23rd Psalm in Gaelic. We learned a lot about our history. In Drums in Autumn and in this book so far, I think Gabaldon was done a wonderful job of capturing the history of Highland Scots in North Carolina as I remember reading about it. She certainly has done extensive research. I'm glad I decided to tackle the series.

Someone should write one of those "What if ______________ had had cell phones" parodies for Outlander. Drums in Autumn could definitely benefit from some cellular service.

Well, I've taken on Game of Thrones to help get me through Droughtlander. I've finished season one and am enjoying it, although I am not as enthralled as I am with Jamie, Claire, and the merry Scots. I have had to turn away several times because of violence and never had to do this in Outlander. Is it next year yet?

Nidratime, I mentioned in the Episode 16 thread when it aired that the scene you describe above was the one scene that brought tears to my eyes. I thought it was very poignant.

The Highland Games and Gathering of the Clans are this weekend at Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. I'm only a hour away and am verra pulled to go.

By sheer luck I was able to match the episode exactly to where Ron and Terry were viewing in the podcast. Very informative. Yes, I'd like a do-over so we would have gotten a two-hour finale.

Now that I've watched the episode twice, I have to say that the scene that brought tears to my eyes was when Willie was watching the boat row out to sea. Angus and Rupert had already moved on but you could tell Willie was really going to miss Jamie, Claire, and Murtaugh. It was a beautiful shot.

I was very satisfied with the season finale. The changes made from the book were plentiful but worked within the time constraints of one episode. Great performances all around. The only thing change with which I would quibble is that I don't think that made Jamie appear as physically sick as he was in the book. His mental anguish came through but I don't know that non-book readers will realize how close he was to dying.

I am shocked at my level of being unshocked. After all the dire warnings I was expecting much worse. As others have said, performances were outstanding.

I think Oliver was smiling because Felicity looked like an adorable mouse in the suit.

I was so pleased when Murtaugh began the sword dance. I grew up in central North Carolina which has a large population of Highland Scot descendants. (I'm a life-long Presbyterian.) We grew up learning about our Scot heritage and had the opportunity to learn dances and compete in the Highland Games in the NC mountains. In addition to the sword dance I could perform the Highland Fling, Lilt, and Scottish. Had a kilt and everything. Seeing the sword dance really took me back home. ,

Sam Heughan was especially handsome tonight and I could feel his pain when he took Claire back to the stones. I must admit I shed a few tears with him.

Relief - and satisfaction, I guess.

It is a Gremlin! When I so identified Bob's car last year, I was corrected. Didn't Bob call it a Gremlin tonight?

With Blair Brown I go all the way back to "Captains and the Kings," a 1976 miniseries. I wish someone had this available through streaming because it was excellent. Not going to pay almost $200 for the DVDs at Amazon.

My lines of the night were Boyd's in the bar while he's trying to eat his burger. I won't quote the entire thing but he says that, due to his hangover, he doesn't have the bandwidth for casual conversation "so what say we get to it." This entire scene was a writer's dream.

Since Justified won't hit the magical 100 episode threshold, is there any hope that it will enter syndication? I know I can stream on Amazon but I'd like to happen across it on cable from time-to-time.

I may be wrong - and frequently am - but I don't think Emma and Hook have done the deed yet. There is always some type of interruption or obstacle and We haven't seen that Emma has been all-in up to this point. I hope the show runners don't make the mistake that Bones made with having the action take place off-screen. Fans were outraged and I don't think the show has ever recovered.

I was just able to watch. Loved the opening credits and the opening driving visuals. But my favorite touch was that they used my Hartmann Wings cosmetic case as the receptacle for the jewels. I love that case.

I automatically record Once and was able to watch after The Good Wife. I absolutely hated the episode and I am a Once lover. Been there through thick and thin. Was looking forward to a new season. But, to me, this was a jumbled up hot mess as if Sleepy were driving the plot all over the place. I am so disappointed.

I began watching Smallville on TNT and caught the train at season 8. I finished seasons 9 & 10 and then began with season 1. My opinion of Lois greatly improved as I went along. I did not particularly care for her when I came in for the last three seasons. But when I cycled back around and caught the evolution of the character, I really liked her. Part of this may have been a reaction to my dislike of the Lana Lang character. I hated the way she was drawn and understand the whole "Lana Lang effect" that was coined on TWOP. I thought Lois exhibited much more ingenuity and initiative than Lana and felt she was a better partner for Clark. My only quibble with their relationship is that I never felt that Clark articulated clearly to Lois that he was over Lana.