absnow54

And I always wondered why they got married in Scotland in the first place.

No, it's unless there's evidence. Right now Randall doesn't have any proof that Claire's up to no good, only a hunch. Because she was an English subject, they could take her into custody. By making her Scottish they can only take her in with the Laird's permission, or with solid evidence that she's committed a crime. That's why Jamie isn't safe either, because they have proof that he's a criminal, and it's why he generally hangs low whenever red coats or the night watch is around.

Yeah, that plot hole continues to bug. I guess Dougal tells Randall that she's married to Collum's nephew and nothing more. Randall possibly knows that Jamie is Collum and Dougal's nephew since Dougal was present at the flogging, but I'm not 100% on this. Also, Jamie listed two other MacKenzie sisters Janet and Jocasta(?) during the tell-me-about-your-family montage (I watched it with closed captioning) so it's not like Jamie is the only possible nephew they could be marrying off. BJR was awfully quick to recall "that boy" last week though, so I wouldn't put it past him to make the connection. I just think it's silly to treat BJR's current interest to catch Claire as a very serious threat, while ignoring the looming danger BJR poses to Jamie, especially after we saw his twisted infatuation with breaking him last week. Like, you must save Claire lest you want BJR to ask her questions! Which is much worse than the flogging and hanging you'll receive if he finds out we have you! To me it paints an even bigger target on both of their backs.

All this talk about Cait's breasts. I found Sam's Ken doll smooth groin to be 100 times more distracting. Was Jamie experimenting some manscaping techniques with his dirk? That's the only part of the nudity that took me out of the scene. I noticed all the Jamie finger ticks, but I also noticed when Claire was nervous about Jamie undressing her, she instinctively touches her bare ring finger to twist her wedding ring.

I prefer the shorter hair too. Every week I get nervous as it gets longer and longer. I hope that if they commit to having him really grow his hair out, they grow out the bangs too before it looks like a mullet.

Thank you! I was so confused when they showed up in the end, because I knew she had given them away, but I had listened to it as a book on tape so it was impossible to investigate!

I think both Claire and Jamie are in super difficult positions. Claire's issues are more easily drawn out because we've been in her head the entire time. With Jamie, though, it's been obvious from the start that he's really into Claire, but in this episode we saw even more into his vulnerability. That scene at the very end when he gives her his mother's pearls, the look on his face was so heartbreaking because this marriage is it for him, and this woman he thinks he's in love with is only there because the alternative is an English prison. I don't blame Claire for it. Her situation is even worse, but this is the first time we got a glimpse into Jamie's POV. It sort of highlighted all the times he shrugged off being a worthless fugitive with a price on his head. We know he's got a sister who he cares for, but he couldn't protect her, and now the only family he has are either trying to use him or kill him. Claire's the only family he can count on now, and she's seemingly miserable to be there (again, completely legitimate and understandable reasons to be miserable, but Jamie has no idea.)

Since the pearls have made their appearance on the show, there's something I was always a bit confused about, although I may have just missed a detail. In Dragonfly doesn't Claire pawn the pearls to buy blankets for the Fraser men while their imprisoned? When does she get them back? Because isn't that one of the reveals at the end of the book that she still has the pearls?

I do think Dougal's threatened by Jamie, and while the marriage is a huge political gain for Dougal, seducing Jamie's wife would be an even bigger gain to his ego.

"But where's all the murder? What kind of show are you trying to make here?"

I always think of Claire as a character out of a Katharine Hepburn movie.

I loved the way the scene played out where he was all suave "If I need help I'll ask" and then he immediately goes to take her from behind and then there's this quiet wonder when she turns around to do it face to face but he refuses to lose his posturing. And then the crushing her and the only lasting 10 seconds, yet he's still so proud of himself after. It was the most perfect devirginizing sequence.

I thought they were probably breaking with Jamie rescuing Claire from Ft William, but given how much they're looking to jam in the episode -- including a Frank side story that didn't exist in the book -- I think they'll end with Claire in the copse realizing how close to Craig na Dun she is and whether or not she'll run.

I thought they did address that. After they do the deed Claire voice overs that she is a bigamist and an adulteress and that she liked it. They could have had her agonizing over "Ugh, I had to do it! I had no other choice!" but she doesn't take that easy way out. She admits to her willingness with the sex.

I found the voice overs less noticeable this week. I really liked the use of narration over the wedding scenes where it was Jamie and Claire remembering it as we were watching it.

I think it was the key to Lallybroch, which I kind of love.

In the books Jamie puts his father's ring on Claire's finger during the actual ceremony and then she promptly returns it after,

I don't think they're really playing favorites here, I just think that Graham and Tobias have the more interesting roles. Dougal especially is a very complex character and Claire never knows whether to trust him or not. Everything he does is compelling because he's unpredictable. Similar with BJR. We know that he's twisted and dark, but we don't know his limits, so everything he does leaves us on edge. With Jamie, besides her early encounters with him where he threatens to throw her over his shoulder, he has been a character who Claire immediately trusts and relies on. Often the hero is the least interesting to watch because we know he'll do the right thing. And with Jamie, especially, there's not much mystery, because he'll give you the full, detailed story without much prompting. I think as the season progresses Jamie will become a more realized character and will have more noteworthy scenes, but I think because of their complexities, Dougal and BJR will continue to be the characters who spark the most interest.

This I will accept given all their superstitions. And I will say, I have read the book and I do know all the reasoning for why Jamie specifically was picked, that doesn't mean I don't find the setup sloppy. In my opinion Diana comes up with a lot of over complicated plot points that only matter when she says they matter and Jamie's fugitive status is one of them.

This is my thing. All parties involved on the Scot side know that they're running a scam on the English. If all it takes is a bunch of drunk witnesses and a priest held at dirk point to tell the English that the Lady is married, then that's all they have to do. If all it takes is to wave a 3 page handwritten contract in illegible type, then she can be married to Scooby Doo for all it matters. If the marriage has to be legal, and had to have a legal contract with their legal names, that means the possibility exists that upon news that Claire is now a Scot, BJR could demand to see the contract. It doesn't mean he will. But the possibility is there, otherwise what's the point of having the proof. And when he sees the contract, then the Clan will run into even more trouble trying to hold onto both Claire and Jamie. For Jamie's case, a known crime has been committed on his part, so there's nothing that Scot's law can do to protect him from being handed over. That's why although there are some political advantages for Dougal. There's a real immediate inconvenience to using Jamie as a pawn right now, when they're better off keeping him off the radar when tempting the English. The consummation thing is ridiculous too, because really all they have to do is say that it's consummated. Claire's not a virgin, so it's not like they'll have bloody bed linens to wave out the window. If Claire were trying to deceive Jamie into marrying her so she'd have protection without Jamie knowing that it's a sham, then, yes, the whole consummation thing would be an issue. But he knows too, so the contrivance is a bit silly. Shut up Claire, you want to have sex with him, don't pretend. That said, I love forced marriage tropes, I think they're a lot of fun, and I'm excited to see this go down. It's just the arrangement doesn't make sense given the immediate peril it's supposed to resolve. Oh no we need to stop them from taking Claire, let's throw another person they're looking for into the spotlight with her! This won't backfire at all!

I concur. The current format relies on you being interested in watching 30+ hours of the same people attempting stage 1. I really liked the World competition because we got a taste of all the stages in a single special. My husband and I were completely over Ninja Warrior after this never ending, drawn out season, but this special pulled us right back in.

I like the point of view from those who haven't read the book because when I read the book for the first time, I sort of plowed through it because I was so excited to see what happened next, that there were lots of little things I didn't question because they explained the reasoning for it later. I think when you only give a viewer so much information at a time there's more time to analyze and pop holes in certain plot points. A lot of the things that have been brought up I had never questioned -- obviously Dougal's just doing this for political reasons that will be revealed 10 chapters from now! -- but within the context of what we currently know in the show verse, there are plenty of "wait..." moments for me at least. Outlander is a really fun and compelling story, but it was produced by a first time writer as an exercise, so the plot isn't air tight and I think the pacing of the show brings some of those issues to light. I don't think any of it is a detriment to the overall story, more just little things that you wonder why none of the characters are questioning or challenging certain decisions.

My problem is the contrivance. You have to marry the sexiest of our brood and have immediate sexy times so that there's no question that the union is legal. Oh wait, the groom is wanted by the same man who wants to take you into custody. If we produce a legal contract, he'll see that you're with a fugitive he's looking for. No problem, we'll just doctor the documents with a fake name. No. No. You still have to consummate it though. For reasons. It would have made a lot more sense for her to marry someone else in the party who wasn't a fugitive on BJR's radar if they were worried about presenting a legal union to BJR, but I don't think there are shippers clamoring for Claire to get a better view up Angus' kilt.

In the book he forces a soldier to hold Claire for him while he punches her in the gut, but it's a one and done thing. While some of the gore on the show is excessive, the two scenes -- Gordy's death and Jamie's flogging -- where it took center stage, I didn't find it to be gratuitous. I think simply showing blood and guts for the "hell yeah!" moment is one thing. Outlander chooses to linger on it past the point of comfort, because these are things that shouldn't be easy to watch. Yes, Gordy was a random character who we knew nothing about, but that didn't mean his life didn't matter. With Jamie, I think showing how brutal his flogging was important because he's such a glamorized hero. He'll get right in the thick of it, get beat to a pulp, and walk out standing tall with a smile on his face like we've seen several times through out the season, but this flogging was not like that at all. It makes me think of the discussion they had earlier about Jamie not being comfortable with Alec seeing his back because he'd look at him differently. I found that seeing the scars on his back was one thing, but after watching the flogging scene, when Jamie appeared at the end of the episode, I looked at him as an entirely different character. So while it was hard to watch, the scene was very effective.

It would be such a convenient bait-and-switch deal for BJR. Scottish law wouldn't protect Jamie because he's "committed" a known crime, so with the marriage contract, if BJR knows that Dougal is harboring him, Dougal would have to turn Jamie over. For someone who is supposed to be hanging low for a while, Jamie is sure finding himself in the thick of it a lot. As others have said, they could produce a fake marriage contract, but at that point, why go further with the farce? Having Claire and Jamie marry out of convenience is a fun trope that I am entirely on board with, but there's definitely a glaring hole in the plot with Jamie's fugitive status. Especially since the person he's running from is the same person who will want to see proof of Claire's marriage.