WatchrTina

I've read all the books, some more than once, and I don't think the ghost has ever been explained. I was very glad his face was not shown in the show because my own personal theory is that it is the ghost of Jamie -- a very elderly Jamie if I get my wish -- who has come back to this moment to see his beloved in her youth, they way she looked when they first met. I do believe it was a ghost (they walk on Samhain) and not a time-traveler for reasons I can't go into here. There is also a moment in book 2, Dragonfly in Amber, when -- WHOOPS -- I just realized that I'm spoiling book 2 and they asked us not to. So I'm cutting out the specifics about when this passage happens and will only say that at some point, when their lives are in jeopardy (again) Jamie says the following. God, that passage makes me weep. So that's my justification for why the ghost of James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser shows up at the beginning of book 1. If you want to know how long he lives before he becomes a ghost, read the books!

I agree. You know exactly what Murtaugh says when he brings Claire into the hut and you know exactly what Jamie is saying to Dougal when he warns him about the ambush. Subtitles would just be a distraction. I'm sure we'll get some in later seasons when they may become necessary, but for now I like being in Claire's shoes. There was a funny moment when I re-watched the episode with the closed captions on. There was a Gaelic word, used twice, that the captioner mistook for English and mistakenly captioned as a result. When Murtaugh rescues Claire he puts out his hand to her and says something in Gaelic which clearly means "Let's go" or "Come on!". Dougal says the same word as the horses depart from the hut. The closed-captions say "Druid" which makes no sense in that context. It confused the heck out of me for a moment. I looked on-line to see what the Gaelic translation is for "Let's go" or "Come on" but I could not find it.

I completely understand non-book readers not feeling the chemistry between Claire and Jamie yet because Claire isn't feeling it at this point in the show either. She is scared and longing only to get back to Frank. Oh that scene when she kisses him goodbye just before going to pick the flower at Craigh na Dun -- it breaks my heart, knowing what Frank is about to be put through. That scene IS an improvement on the book because it just KILLED me. As for Jamie, he may be attracted to Claire at this point -- we book readers know he enjoyed sitting behind her "nice arse" on a horse for the better part of two days, and he hints at it a bit in the teasing he gives her when she bullies him while bandaging his shoulder -- but he's had a few other things on his mind in the few scenes he has played (like extreme pain, a life-threatening fight, and fainting from blood-loss.) So yeah, if you are coming to the series cold but had seen the press about "finding love with an 18th-century highlander" or 'torn between two loves", then it would be perfectly understandable to not "feel" the Jamie/Claire thing yet. I actually think it's great that non-book readers are feeling more sympathy with Frank at this point. They are feeling what Claire is feeling. That being said -- my god Sam makes a fine-looking Jamie. Claire may not be feeling him yet -- but I certainly am. I hope his acting equals his good looks. So far it's been fine -- but he hasn't really been tested yet.

On my second viewing I noticed that Frank leans in to kiss her and she pulls away, putting a hand on his shoulder and urging him downward instead. That was a subtle and nicely done hint at the egalitarian nature of Frank and Claire's sexual relationship and also an indication that Claire is no shrinking violet in the bedroom. And speaking of the bedroom, I know some people have criticized the casting of Caitriona because she is so slim and Claire is written as having a "nice arse" but I have to say that scene where Caitriona's dress falls to the floor and we see her nude was just lovely. She is breathtaking -- she looked like a statue in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I can't imagine any man seeing that scene and complaining that she is too thin.

I actually think Diana's writing gets better as the series goes on. She admits she wrote the first book to learn how to write a novel and in my opinion, it shows. I found the first book difficult to read due to the quality of the writing (it didn't help that I picked it up right after finishing all of George RR Martin's As Song of Ice and Fire books). But the premise was good and I fell in love with Claire and Jamie so I just overlooked the bad dialog (like "Jesus H Roosevelt Christ!") or the repetitious use of weak metaphors or the use of too many adjectives and adverbs (which they preach against in Creative Writing 101). I've always assumed that after the success of the first book Diana had the money to do even more research, including travel to Scotland, and was assigned better editors, and that that was part of the reason that the writing improved. Yes the plot gets pretty free-wheeling in later books and the coincidences in the later books are positively Dickensian -- Diana's characters run into people they know in the remotest of locations -- but then again, Charles Dickens was a pretty good writer. Now about that spanking scene -- I absolutely hate it but I think it belongs in the book for two reasons. 1. Jamie tells her if he doesn't punish her for putting all the men in danger they will hold it against her. And of course he's right. They tease her the following day and all seems to be forgiven but before the spanking they will barely look her in the eye. She needs those men on her side and Jamie needs them to help him continue to protect her. If a spanking is the price she has to pay for their continued protection, then so be it. Besides, it's already been established that corporal punishment is commonly used in that time, even on adults. Laohaire nearly gets spanked in public until Jamie volunteers to take the beating instead. And Jamie tells of being spanked on his bare ass in front of everyone at castle Leogh after he insults Mrs. ______ (the one who assigns the rooms and runs the staff.) And he tells Claire that his Da always spanked him outside where the tenants could see so they knew he wasn't being allowed to get away with bad behavior. Claire's spanking is totally in keeping with the culture of the time. Her reaction, however, is totally in keeping with 1945 which brings me to the second reason I think that scene belongs in the book. 2. I love that she fights him and that he comes out of the room scratched and bruised. And afterward she warns him what will happen if he ever does it again and he promises that he never will. It's a moment of character growth for Jamie. He didn't take the 18th century position and tell her her to get used to the occasional spanking. He realizes that with this woman, that approach is going to have seriously bad repercussions and he adapts his approach accordingly. It a very enlightened and "modern" position for him to take.

Amen sister. Netflix has ruined me because all I want to do right now is binge-watch the entire series. Oh well, I'm grateful to have been able to watch it today because I will be traveling on the 9th. I nearly panicked however -- I tried to watch it on my iMac only to discover that my operating system is one generation too old. Then I tried to watch it on my iPad and there was no sound. Finally I recalled that I had already signed up for STARZ, just to see this show, so I was able to watch it there on demand. Twice. I loved it. Neither Claire nor Jamie matches the mental picture in my head -- especially since both of them are over 50 (as am I) in the latest book and I kind of love them being of my generation. But can I just say hot DAMN Sam Heugan makes a fine looking Jamie. And Caitriona Balfe is absolutely stunning in her 1945 clothes. She's further from my mental Claire than Sam is from my mental Jamie but that's probably because I always thought Claire's tendency to curse was a poorly written part of the books and so it makes it hard for Caitriona to pull it off. It reminds me of what Carrie Fisher said to George Lucas about some of his clunkier dialog in Star Wars. She essentially said "just because you can write it doesn't mean we can say it." As much as I love these books (and I do), it's clear to me that Diana's writing skills improved as the series went along. The first book is riddled with some bad dialog including Claire's favorite curse "Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ" so I wish Caitriona the best of luck in continuing to pull off lines like that. I also think Claire's bossiness when she goes into field-nurse mode was better done on the road than in the cabin. The cabin scene felt a bit stilted while the road scene felt entirely believable. Or maybe I was just enjoying the hints of the warming relationship between Jamie and Claire that we see in that scene. But cudos the the special effects guys for the cabin scene because I did wonder how they were going to depict a shoulder out of joint effectively. They did a good job and the reaction shots of the other clansmen wincing really sold it. Great fun. I can't wait to see the rest. I'm very grateful we will get 16 episodes but I'm disappointed to hear that they are going to have a hiatus in the middle of the run so some of the eps won't be seen until 2015. Oh well, I'll bellyache about that when it happens. -Slàinte!

There was an episode last season when Ser Jorah asked Ser Barristan if he sat on the privy council (apparently the head of the Kingsguard usually does) but Ser Barristan said no -- he had killed too many of King Robert's friends so he was denied a seat on the council. Ser Jorah was clearly wondering what Ser Barristan knew about him and his spying for Varys. I think it's safe to assume from what we just saw that this is the first Ser Barriston learned of Ser Jorah's role.

"Crows are all liars." -- Old Nan So yeah, that works. Go bad-ass Sanasa!

Someone on the "no book talk" board pointed out that it looked like a mockingbird dress which makes a lot of creepy sense. So I loved the changes vs. the book -- Sansa taking charge of her own destiny -- Arya getting all the way to the bloody gate and then breaking down in hysterical laughter at yet another dead relative. And I'm sorry Oberyn's gory death was so faithful to the book (I had to look away.) Could have done without the whole speech about idiot cousins crushing beetles though I presume that was a commentary on the capaciousness of the gods. I was a bit confused about Ser Jorah's pardon turning up. I guess there was a copy in the official archive in Kings' Landing and Tywin sent it? But he had whats-is-name Tyrell bring him pen and paper so I assumed he would be writing to Danerys to spill the beans. Did he just forge a copy of the pardon and affix the Baratheon seal? Can I just say I love Dolorous Edd? Both in the book and on the screen, he's a great character.

Is THAT what she was wearing? I couldn't figure it out. It looked a bit like one of the evil queen dresses from "Snow White and the Huntsman" but now that you mention it, it also looks a bit like Katniss' mockingjay dress from "Catching Fire" so yeah -- a mockingbird dress makes sense. Presumably she raided Lysa's closet. She's in official mourning for her aunt so that explains why she would go looking for a black dress and it makes perfect sense that Littlefinger-obsessed Lysa would have mockingbird dress in her closet. Well, that just ups the Littlefinger-Sansa creep factor doesn't it?

Your comment reminds me -- all through that tedious scene about the brain-damaged cousin who like to kill beetles I kept wondering "what the seven hells is the point of this?" Then I decided it was a commentary on the gods -- that they are just like the idiot cousin, killing men and woman and children mindlessly for no other reason than because they can. Yeah, I'm betting secret atheism runs rampant in Westeros.

Okay my only beef with this episode is Littlefinger's surprise at Sansa's speech. I assumed the whole I-am-Sansa reveal was written by Littlefinger. He's way to clever to kill Lysa without a really good story to cover for it and the Lady was right -- Lysa would never leave Sweet Robin without a really good reason and being jealous of Littlefinger's niece wasn't a good reason. That being said, I kinda like bad-ass Sansa after all these seasons of being victim Sansa. So I will willfully suspend disbelief. But it's a weak spot.

Seven hells! Actually I only saw the edges of the final scene -- my hands were in front of my eyes. The rest of the fight was fucking awesome! (Can we say fucking on PreviouslyTV?) He fought like a Wushu fighter with lots of Kung Fu styles spins and long spear technique. It was terrific. Right up to the point where he forgot to finish him. Where's a Spartan when you need him?

No, remember that guy, Polliver, who was on her list because he killed Lommy? He was the guy who stole Needle. He was in the fight with the Hound (the one following the "Fuck the King" and "i'm gonna eat all the chickens" speech by the Hound) and he ended up wounded on the floor. Arya took needle back, taunted him with Lommy's last words ("you'll have to carry me") and then stabbed him through the throat just like Polliver did to Lommy.