I have lost count of the number of times I have watched season one although not The Search because, even then, I was fuming at the time being wasted. I was even more fed up when, as a result, there was no time for the 'ransoming' to play out properly and have Jamie and Claire back in tune before Dragonfly in Amber in season two. Of course, it became apparent as that season went on, TPTB wanted to explore the idea of PTSD so we had Jamie and Claire at odds with each other for ages.
This season particularly seems to have entirely different production values. Poor green screen and CGI are taking us out of the story whilst, in direct opposition, the cabin is far too beautiful and well appointed to be even remotely believable. The lack of any visible tenants (bar the extremely accommodating Tom Burley) and stuff like feeding lovely fresh food to the animals is another anachronism too far.
Whether the drop in values is down to Ron Moore now taking a back seat, the difficulties of trying to pretend to be North Carolina when you are actually in Scotland, or just budgetary restraint I don't know. I just know that I am sad about it because it was something so special and now is verging on the mediocre.