SassAndSnacks

It has taken me awhile to comment because my corneas are still burnt from the Bree/Rog sex scene that no one asked for and no one needed to see. And the soundtrack...so cringe. That song is an absolute timeless jam, but it belongs to Miami Vice and not one of the most uncomfortable and unnecessarily long love scenes I've ever seen. The moaning had me dry-heaving. 1980's Sophie doesn't bother me as much as 1770's Sophie but....blech. This isn't her best. But Buck...dah-yum. That was a feast for me, and I didn't even know I was hungry. He saved this episode for me. I felt like he was a bit of an ass in the book, but I was loving this guy. Was not expecting Show to pull the trigger on the Jemmy kidnapping plot just yet because we haven't met Mike Callahan, so I was surprised they went there so quickly. I don't feel like Show gave us time to process these new characters and set up the connection between Jem and Mandy or the reasons why Bree and Rog were comfortable letting Jem stay with Bobby. The timeline was longer in the book, so I wasn't like "WTF, you barely know these people and you're letting your kid stay with them?" when I read it like I was when I saw it. Roger finding Jem's scarf at the stones was a nice callback to Claire's shawl. Charles continues to actually make me give AF about William. He was great. Buuuuttttt...... Sorry, Show. This will always be Jamie and Claire's story, and the 5 minutes I saw of them wasn't enough. But I loved that they kept the line about the font size, bringing back Jamie's printer career. And Jamie in buckskins, yes please! I was thinking this! They got everyone else SO right (ok, maybe not Lizzie but it worked out fine), but this casting continues to be such a bad miss. YAAASSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! I completely ignore Bree and just look at the scenery - the Loch, the fab decor of the Lallybroch redux, even the caravan. 100% Agree. Without Mike Callahan, the Richardson plot doesn't go as far as it could/should. Ooooh, good point. But I still love the slow-mo shots of him. Maybe if I only watch the Jamie and Claire parts, I'd really like this episode? It would save a lot of time anyway. I was disappointed with this one. I stayed up late to watch it and felt like it was a bit of a waste. But I think the Phil Collins sex is marring my overall impression of it.

Wigs?!

Providing an update because I know everyone was waiting with bated breath! After a nice long run to this episode, I feel kinda the same. The beginning with William riding back to the fort and the rebel civilians escaping through the forest did absolutely nothing for me. This was something I didn't think they would adapt for tv, always assuming they would hop into the story at Saratoga, and I'm left a little...unmoved...by it all. I hit pause and did a quick count of the people retreating from Ticonderoga. It was a little less than 30 (hard to tell if one boat had 5 or 6 people in it). When reading, I pictured closer to 100, but maybe I was way off on that. This whole situation still feels silly to me. But everything else was really solid. Full disclosure - I'm also catching up on the final season of Succession which is so incredibly intense. By comparison now, this felt a little flippant, but that's not fair to Outlander. And in no way am I advocating for Succession-level intensity every week. There are only so many therapy dogs and butterflies in the world to help us all cope.

Yes to all of this! I'm going to watch it while I run today. If I run faster and don't notice the time going by = great episode. If I'm distracted and run slower = meh episode. This is all very scientific!

Yes - he ended up going through the stones mistakenly (ala Claire) in Scotland and then made his way to Lallybroch. 100% this. And and a quick perusal of the Show Only thread shares a lot of confusion and annoyance with how that entire plot point was conveyed. Can absolutely attest to this. I was a history major and an unabashed history nerd, and I'm always shocked by how little people know or care to know. I should be used to this by now, but my soul does die a bit each time. I feel like you're writing everything in my head! As I was watching the episode my train of thought was "Oh, we're doing that? Ok..." But it was done well, so do your thing, Show. THIS!!!!! The show has continuously done Roger dirty from Season 4 onward. His character arc is so compelling in the books, but in the show he just comes across as whiney. I loved the book thread of him having to uncomfortably shrug away the rope scar when people saw it and that he had to live through modern people thinking he'd tried to kill himself. And his journey to getting his singing voice back was so heartwarming. I adore Rik Rankin, and he could have easily carried all of this off. I need to watch this one again because I have mixed feelings. I never pictured their retreat from Ticonderoga occurring during the day, so it was jarring for me to see that and took me out of the story. When I read this section of the book, it was so tense and scary, but this didn't feel at all like that. I just seemed like Claire, Jamie, and Ian were walking around the same circle of woods, which made it seem silly to me. I did really enjoy captive Claire (for like the 50th time), and her interactions with William were so strong. I was so pleased they included the "curly wig" comment.

I know we're like 10 years on at this point, but I'm still annoyed with how the Show softened Frank, as well.

Agree. She doesn't command a scene, let alone a work crew.

My dad was a plant inspector. He retired in 2019 after almost 50 years at the same plant. He had a high school diploma and started out as a mechanic at the plant in 1971. I'm no Bree fan, but I think her being a plant inspector is plausible, especially then. Of all of things I have to hand-wave to comfortably watch this show, this isn't one of them! 😉

THIS!!! Book 7 has a lot of viable fat to trim, and so far, they haven't trimmed the fat that I thought they would, with the exception of the pirate attack. Their storyline feels like a separate show. As does Bree/Roger/Kids. And I know the book is this way too, but it feels all disjointed. This is really my criticism of the overall story/Book 7, and not so much the show. Echo is my least favorite. Show continues to do Roger dirty. And I love Richard Rankin. 100% agree! YES! I'm "no a fan" of Buik William, but show William...yes, please! The song has always made the season unique and helped to move the show to next stage of the story. The chorale version of Season 5...my heart... This version is so cringe. And if they wanted to go this direction with sound, tone, etc. why not choose a Scottish or an American singer? Basically my chief complaint. I want Jamie and Claire.

Richardson to William - "Are you familiar with the Dismal Swamp?" Me - "Ugh, F... Are we really doing that?" But it wasn't that bad. Show definitely condensed a really dismal Buik plot. Bah dum ching! Did they do some shots in the Southern US? I'm also really happy with Show condensing the whole pirate, three ships fiasco of the Buik, whereby even after reading it multiple times, I still have no idea who is/was who, what ship was which, who was taken, who sliced Jamie, etc. Glad we didn't have to deal with that. The reason for Jamie and Ian joining the rebellion felt much more authentic and earned in the Show than with how Jamie and Claire found themselves at Fort Ticonderoga in the Buik. Speaking of Ticonderoga...um...no Show. You didn't get it. The aerial shot of the fort was wrong. Ticonderoga is famous for its location and shape, and this wasn't right. They couldn't fly a camera over the real fort? Backing up a bit in the storyline, Claire and Tom Christie. The tea scene was so good - just how I pictured it while reading. "I shall have no peace while you live, woman!" And the scene with J & C after, also enjoyable. So much of the dialogue is right from the page, and I love it. I struggled through the 1980s scenes, though I did gasp when they showed the writing desk, and I like the more realistic portrayal of what it would take to bring Lallybroch up to modern building codes. Charles is going to make me actually care about William, I can feel it.

Some Questions - Is this season really THIS good, or is it just comparatively good because we've had a long hiatus from the show and Season 6 was pretty meh? Do you ever wish you could approach this show with a fresh perspective? Generally, I love knowing the story ahead of time and seeing how it will be adapted and portrayed, but sometimes, I kinda miss that jolt I had during the pilot episode when I knew nothing of Outlander but thought the first sights of it were so compelling that I just HAD to read the books. Watching this last night early this morning, particularly the confrontation of the Bugs, I found myself feeling that the this all escalated rather quickly! We've barely seen them and now they've stolen gold, hid it right there in a very conspicuous place, and now they're betraying the Frasers. It all seemed more plausible in the books because we see it play over time, but I felt kinda slapped with it last night, and I found myself wondering if non-book viewers got all of it and/or if it seemed abrupt to them too. Anyway, that's a lot of lead in to simply ask, do you ever wish you hadn't read the books first? Did you catch Arch's Gaelic to Jamie? So good. Did you want him to be a little more choked up over his wife's death, because I did. I always picture him so incredibly menacing and dangerous. This Arch has been passive this whole time. Was the mini ball in Jem's wooden chest the one that hits Claire in Monmouth or is it one of the golden balls that Jamie, Ian, and Claire melted down? When we see it early in the show, I immediately thought "Monmouth!" but then they show the "bullet making" so could it be that? Was that in the buik? That whole scene was wonderful. Speaking of Jem's chest, I love how they weave in these storylines. As soon as the delivery man placed the chest on the Manse's front stoop, I got a little lump in my throat. Was it accurate for Roger and Bree to feel that they changed history? Because they didn't. Bree went back to her parents because she saw the obituary claiming a fire killed them. She made the matches that helped cause the fire. They didn't change history, they helped make history. The dates are insignificant, but I guess that was just in the buik, because the show smudged the date in the original obituary. Time travel and its consequences are confusing. I love Jamie and Claire loving on Jamie and Claire, so I was all in for the entire hour. The quiet moments in this show have always been so strong. The flashback of them pounding in the property stake was so good and such a nice addition. So far, my $20 STARZ subscription was money well spent!

In the 90's (gasp!), this is how my parents knew to pick me up from after-school activities. I would make a collect call, and when the operator would ask me to say my name, I would say "Come get me!" and then my parents knew I was ready and they wouldn't have to actually accept the charges for the call. Tricks my children will never need to know...

Truly, this happened to me at work today. I was leaving a message with a client. I completely panicked when I got to my phone number, and I frantically had to pull out my own business card to remember my office phone number. I've worked at my current job for five years. As of a few hours ago, my office phone number is now written on a Post It that is attached to my computer monitor. I'm a book reader, so I won't weigh in on the rest of this topic, but I am really enjoying everyone's practical speculation.

Yes - Donner and his pack show up for gemstones, but in the Buik, it is Ian that actually ignites the fire. I'm glad they changed that here.

PS - Born and raised in Appalachia and those were the largest "fireflies" I've ever seen. PPS - After the MacKenzies awoke from traveling through the stones, the shot of Jem's airplane in the sky with the real airplane emerging from behind it made me gasp. This show...