Droughtlander: The Official Outlander Podcast

[Nidratime]

Interesting bit of info from the latest Ron podcast: Lotte (Geillis) originally auditioned to play Claire.

[peacefrog]

I liked hearing Matt Roberts. I swear this whole production just has chemistry with each other. Seems like a very special project for them all to work on. 

[Megan]

Has anyone been able to download the latest episode?

[justmehere]

Just downloaded

 

ETA: Good podcast with interesting information, but it didn't offer what I was most hoping.

 

Instead of an in-depth discussion of the scene at the standing stones, they told an anecdote about Sam over the first chunk of it. It was a cute story, but I wanted to know more about the decisions there -- especially since the writer said earlier that she wanted to shorten the trial to do justice to the Jamie and Claire scenes, but Ron wanted full courtroom treatment.

 

Production-wise, they mainly talked about writing the voice-over but not using it (Claire contemplating her rings was enough). No discussion about Claire's state during her initial approach to the stone or Jamie pulling her back; no discussion about what the writer initially wanted to achieve. They don't seem to have anticipated viewer confusion about the blackout on the second approach -- with some wondering whether Claire went through and came back, or whether the process even worked. They just said a couple of times that Cait's facial expressions conveyed everything. While I think she's wonderful and am more OK with the scene than many are, I have to disagree.

 

They've been so good about so much -- changes, additions, deletions, anticipating the audience. However, this wasn't one of their better moments.

Edited April 21, 2015 by justmehere

[Cali]

Hello

I thought I had my Outlander obsession under control, but since they restarted, particularly after the last episode, I can feel it more and more coursing through my veins like a drug, and I need to feed my addiction.

I have never watched the podcasts. Are they all still available, and does anyone know where? Is it pointless to go back to watch the old ones?

Also (there might be a better place to ask this, sorry), today on YouTube I stumbled on a deleted scene from The Wedding (Jamie telling Claire about the 'barbaric' blood oath). Are there lots of these? Are they all somewhere?

Thanks in advance

Outlander Junkie from Birmingham

[Nidratime]

Yes, Ron Moore's podcasts, basically adding commentary as he watches the episodes are still available. They are all on the following website, but there's a whole lot of other stuff on this site, so you have to "hunt" a little for them:

http://www.outlanderpod.com/

 

There are also a few other places where you can get some fun commentary/insight on each episode in the form of podcasts, as well as interviews with the writers and directors:

 

The Scot and the Sassenach:

http://storywonk.com/category/podcasts/the-scot-and-the-sassenach/

 

The OutlanderCast:

http://www.outlandercast.com/

 

As for the deleted scenes, they are all on the Blu-Ray version of the DVDs of the first half of the season that are now on sale. If they're all in one place online, I don't know. Probably not legally.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Nidratime

[Cali]

Thank you @Nidratime. That's an awesome compendium oand just what I was hoping for. :-)

[WatchrTina]

Okay the funniest story from the podcast for S01:E11 is that the writer was out in the middle of nowhere during the shoot -- driving back from somewhere in a van with other members of the production and they spotted a guy up in the hills all by himself.  She assumed he must be in trouble so they stopped the car to wait until he made it down to the road to offer him assistance.  It was Sam.  He was just out taking a cross-country hike to clear his head. 

 

Sam Heughan.  He really is the "king of men."

[justmehere]

I really enjoyed this week's podcast between Ron and the writer, Anne Kenney. There were lots of times that they went off the episode and talked more about television production in general -- and they covered such a range of things too -- yet they also managed to fit in some relevant story elements. It was interesting, informative, and gave real insight into the extremely complex collaboration of making a show. I wasn't unaware of production elements before, but their conversation conveyed it really well. I was surprised once again that anything comes out as well as it does. Plus, they seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Sometimes, it comes across like a bit of a chore, but they seemed to be having fun. Whiskey might have helped.

 

Biggest surprise: Jack Randall/full frontal wasn't exactly scripted.

 

Bonus: There's a comment near the end that again shows what a romantic Ron is.

[WatchrTina]

So I just listened to the podcast for 115, Wentworth Prison.  I laughed a surprising amount.  It was such a challenging episode to film and apparently there were ENDLESS discussions about many many details -- so many that it did become comical. 'What's Marley thinking?  How much does he understand?  Do we REALLY want to show Jack doing that with a mallet to Claire (no, cut it, cut it!). How many times should we show Marley's dead body? Oh gosh that brazier is going to be a problem in every shot -- what do we do with that?  Et cetera, et cetera.  They admit that there were very few laughs on the set itself -- it was a very serious, sober shoot.  But I have to admit to having laughed a lot during the podcast and in reading many of the reviews.  Gallows humor really is a thing -- when faced with something terrible we try to deflect it with humor.

 

At the end Ron makes a comment about the next episode being "funny".  He is, of course, lying through his teeth.  Yeah Ron, not falling for it.

[ulkis]

Do we REALLY want to show Jack doing that with a mallet to Claire (no, cut it, cut it!). 

 

Did they end up cutting it, or no?

[peacefrog]

Yes they cut it. BJR was going to use the mallet handle on Claire. They also said no to Tobias' suggestion of using Marley's body as a bed. 

[ulkis]

Yes they cut it. BJR was going to use the mallet handle on Claire. They also said no to Tobias' suggestion of using Marley's body as a bed. 

 

Whaaaaaat. 

 

And here I was wondering if Tobias felt awkward doing those scenes. I'm guessing probably not that much now lol.

 

(Also, thanks for answering!)

[MsProudSooner]

Technical question about podcasts.  Are they audio only?  When I load the podcast from iTunes, I get audio only.  There is a view button but nothing to view.

[ulkis]

Technical question about podcasts.  Are they audio only?  When I load the podcast from iTunes, I get audio only.  There is a view button but nothing to view.

 

Yes, they're audio only.

[magdalene]

After listening to the latest podcast I have come to the conclusion that Tobias Menzies  is getting off on every disgusting thing his character does. What a freak show.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

[WatchrTina]

I just listened to Ron's podcast with his co-writer Ira Behr.  The surprising news?  I laughed a lot.  This episode was really tough on everyone and it comes through in the commentary where they confess, with humor, as to how hard it was.  My biggest laugh came at the end of the climactic scene between Jamie and Claire when she pulls him back from the psychological brink and then they cut to the scene where Murtagh is going to cut the brand off of Jamie.  Ira let's out this involuntary "Oh God!" because he had forgotten that scene.  He thought the next scene was the one on the beach.  He forgot he had one more grueling scene to talk through.

 

I've noticed in other podcasts that when sex scenes are playing Ron sort of runs away from what is on the screen and talks about some semi-related witty antidote rather than what is on the screen because I think it makes him uncomfortable to talk about scenes that are so intimate for the actors to play.   In this episode both Ron and Ira just stop talking at several points.  You can tell they are really struggling with what is appropriate commentary for such intimate moments on the screen.  Suffice to say that as uncomfortable as it was  for many of us to watch this episode, it was ten times as uncomfortable to shoot and very tricky to discuss in a podcast.

 

They talked about a number of things that were in the first draft and had to be cut for time.  One of them said at one point that it was too bad that it wasn't a "very special" 2-hour episode of Outlander, to which I replied, damned right!  Oh well, I'm grateful that Ron takes the time to give us these behind-the-scenes insights.

 

ETA:  The people who 'got" to go on the ship at the end were all miserable.  Broken toilet.  No food.  Seasickness.  Rob "Tall Ships" Moore was really disappointed not to get to go but Ira claims he dodged a bullet and that Duncan gave Ira no end of grief at his having to be on the ship just to strike a pose in one shot.

Edited May 31, 2015 by WatchrTina

[ElsieH]

what is the link to the podcasts? I haven't listened to any of them, but for this one, I feel I need closure :)

[WatchrTina]

Here's the link to the podcasts:

 

http://www.starz.com/originals/outlander/more/podcasts

 

But I don't guarantee closure.  Just more behind-the-scenes info.

Edited May 31, 2015 by WatchrTina

[Clawdette]

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.

[toolazy]

Technical question about podcasts.  Are they audio only?  When I load the podcast from iTunes, I get audio only.  There is a view button but nothing to view.

 

The trickiest thing for me about listening to the podcasts was getting it synced up with the video.  A lot of what they're talking about means nothing unless you can see what it is they're talking about so I would try to get it synced up within at least a couple of seconds.  That's probably why I've only listened to them once, but I probably will listen again in the run-up to season 2.

Edited January 29, 2016 by toolazy

[tcay]

I might be wrong, but I think the podcasts were added to the DVDs as commentary. Anyone verify?

 

My habit with the podcasts was to start them and then wait for Terry to say where her name appeared in the credits, and sync up there :)

[DittyDotDot]

There weren't any podcasts on the DVDs I saw through Netflix, but they might be on the collector's edition. I was rather disappointed there wasn't any special features on the ones I saw.

[Nidratime]

I'll have to check this when I get home today, but I bought both the Part I and Part II DVDs, and I noticed on the Part II, they offered podcasts of the episodes. Now, I don't know if that's only for those from the second half or what. That seems rather strange.

[Andorra]

On my Volume 2 DVD the podcast for the episodes is included. Sadly not on the volume 1 DVD. I have only the normal DVD, not the collector's edition or Blue ray. 

[Athena]

Bumping this up.

[WatchrTina]

I've been talking about the podcasts in the individual episode threads but I'll weigh in to say how much I LOVE that the show-runners do the podcasts.  They're spontaneous which means that sometimes they bog down in minutiae (e.g., I love it when Terry talks about the clothes but I don't want to hear ONLY about the clothes).  And sometimes there are long stretches when no one is talking -- perhaps because they can't think of anything noteworthy to say about a particular scene but sometimes I think it is because they just get caught up in the episode (occasionally as much a s year has past between when the episode was completed vs. when it is broadcast.)  But I always hear something interesting and I love the peek behind the veil that these talks give us.  

We might want to re-name this discussion thread however.  It's no long just Ron & Terry who give the talks.  The one for 303 was Maril Davis and Matt Roberts and it looks like they are going to do 304 as well.  I appreciate their contributions but I did missed Ron in the 303 talk.  Ron always has something to say (he started doing these during his Battlestar Galactica days) so there is seldom silence during his podcasts.

ETA:  Here a note from the podcast for 303.  David Berry's very first scene as Lord John was the his last scene in that episode -- the one where he explains why Jamie wasn't sent to America with the rest of the prisoners and how John has done the best he could for Jamie by bringing him to Helwater.  He was still jet-lagged, having just arrived from Australia (the time that passed between when he was cast and when he was in front of the camera was startlingly short) and yet he had to play this very important scene full of a lot of tricky emotion and subtext.  He pulled it off and (IMHO) that ineffable and unpredictable thing -- his on-screen chemistry with Sam -- clicked right there from the start even under those trying circumstances.  Lucky us.

Edited September 27, 2017 by WatchrTina

[Nidratime]

Actually, it was Toni Graphia and Matt Roberts who did the 3.03 podcast and who will do 3.04 as well. Apparently, Matt wrote Episode 3 and Toni wrote Episode 4.

[WatchrTina]

Whoops. Thanks Nidratime.  I obviously didn't listen carefully enough.

[AheadofStraight]

On 9/27/2017 at 9:35 AM, WatchrTina said:

ETA:  Here a note from the podcast for 303.  David Berry's very first scene as Lord John was the his last scene in that episode -- the one where he explains why Jamie wasn't sent to America with the rest of the prisoners and how John has done the best he could for Jamie by bringing him to Helwater.  He was still jet-lagged, having just arrived from Australia (the time that passed between when he was cast and when he was in front of the camera was startlingly short) and yet he had to play this very important scene full of a lot of tricky emotion and subtext.  He pulled it off and (IMHO) that ineffable and unpredictable thing -- his on-screen chemistry with Sam -- clicked right there from the start even under those trying circumstances.  Lucky us.

Over on CompuServe, Diana mentioned that he was SO jetlagged that they had to keep feeding him every line. Amazing how well he pulled that off!

(She also mentioned his wig was lighter that first time but they made a decision after that to give him a darker one .)

[morgan]

I like the lighter wig, too bad.  

[Hybiscus]

9 hours ago, AheadofStraight said:

Over on CompuServe, Diana mentioned that he was SO jetlagged that they had to keep feeding him every line. Amazing how well he pulled that off!

(She also mentioned his wig was lighter that first time but they made a decision after that to give him a darker one .)

Oh man, that blond queue was the bomb, blowing in the wind, being all sexy.  But I'm okay with the brown curly queue (hee!) too.

[areca]

Not really a podcast, but from the script annotation for episode 4:

Quote

Toni Graphia Annotation - We couldn’t find a young actor who looked exactly like Jamie but our policy is always to use the best actor. 

I really do not understand Sophie...

[WatchrTina]

Well, I just listened to the podcast for Ep 304.  Meh.  I loved the episode and I am so grateful for the work of the two writers, Toni Graphia (who wrote exp 304) and Matt Roberts (who wrote ep 303).  But they are not great as pod-casters.  There were LONG stretches where they couldn't think of anything to say and even longer stretches where they just kept explaining the story.  I've seen the episode (multiple times) and I've read the book (multiple times) so I don't need them to rehash what happened in the episode.  I want the to tell my why they changed it from the book, what they had to cut that KILLED them to let go, what compromises they made to make the episode fit and hold together cohesively.  Tell me about the costumes. Tell me about the sets.  Something.  Anything.

Okay I'm being too hard on them.  They did sometimes talk about those kinds of things (sets, costumes, casting). It was interesting to learn that the interior of Ellesmere's mansion is actually Gosford, the estate whose exterior served as Helwater.  I also learned some interesting things about the scene where Geneva propositions Jamie.  They LIKED the fact that they staged it in a busy alleyway (instead of off in a secluded field as it was in the book.)  They LIKED the fact that Geneva was brazen enough to make her indecent proposal to Jamie right there while people were walking by and might overhear her and they thought it heightened the tension to have Jamie reacting to that (complete with him cursing out the daughter of the house) in a place where HE might be overheard.  Okay.  That's interesting. It's the opposite of my initial reaction (which was to think the scene completely unrealistic) but I'm glad to hear they at least thought about the increased danger.

They also talked about casting Willie and how everyone was in agreement about the young actor they chose (which isn't always the case when it comes to casting.)  They were big fans of the other guest stars (the actors who played Geneva, Lady Dunsany and Isobel.)  And they thought David Berry (Lord John) knocked it out of the park during that scene where Jamie "offers" himself. I do think it is interesting that Toni says she does not read ahead.  She hasn't read beyond Voyager so she has no idea of the real subtext that is going on in that scene -- information Jamie only shares with Claire in a much later book.  It makes me wonder if Sam knew while he was playing the scene. I'm betting he didn't.

Matt had a huge problem with Jamie and John shaking hands at the end of that scene (because that was not the custom at the time) but he got over it when Jamie takes John's hand in both of his hands, which is a visual call-back to the move that John had made at the prison -- the move that caused Jamie to say "Take your hands off me or I'll kill you."  I have to say I DO love the symmetry of that and the way John & Jamie's relationship has been so transformed.

The song at the end is unusual in two ways:  they don't usually use contemporary music and they don't usually do montages.  Nevertheless, Toni really wanted that song for that moment in the story.  She originally wanted Bob Dylan's original version but he'd just been nominated for a Nobel prize and she figured they'd never be able to afford it. In the end she was very happy to find the "Walk Off the Earth" version they used because it's a duet between a man and a woman and therefore a better fit as the scene cuts back and forth between Jamie in the 18th century and Claire in the 20th.

I really hope Ron starts doing the podcasts again or that they get the director involved.  I love the writers.  LOVE them.  I'm a writer wanna-be.  But for a behind-the-scenes podcast I want more than these writers have been able to bring to the table.

Edited October 4, 2017 by WatchrTina

[Glade]

On 10/3/2017 at 6:38 PM, WatchrTina said:

I really hope Ron starts doing the podcasts again or that they get the director involved.  I love the writers.  LOVE them.  I'm a writer wanna-be.  But for a behind-the-scenes podcast I want more than these writers have been able to bring to the table.

I totally agree, I couldn't even get through the last two podcasts because they're mostly just chatting or making pretty obvious comments (if at all.)  Ron's podcasts are so informative and interesting.  Unfortunately though Toni made some comment about continuing her (boring) badgering of Matt about the episode titles for another ten episodes, so maybe Ron is totally out for this season, which would be shame.

Edited October 5, 2017 by Glade

[WatchrTina]

Well, it was Toni Graphia and Maril Davis who did the podcast for ep 305 and they were great -- they never stopped talking and had lots of tidbits to share.  I don't remember hearing anything too surprising or noteworthy other than the fact that they actually did contemplate ending the episode with the bell ringing or with just the sound of Jamie's voice calling out to Geordie but no reunion moment at all.  I guess I can believe that they considered that . . . but I want to believe that they only considered it for about 15 seconds and then said "Naaaaah, we can't do that to the fans."  Mind you, they didn't SAY that, but that's what i choose to believe. Because hitting us with the credits without Claire and Jamie seeing one another, well that would have sucked.

I did like learning that they had to do a pick-up shot of Brianna drying her tears in the kitchen because as originally shot they went straight from her tearful goodbye to her mother and tearful hug with Roger to here-I-am-back-from-the-kitchen-in-a-Santa-hat-with-food-let's-have-a-holly-jolly-Christmas.  I'm glad they added that moment in the kitchen because it was a nice acting moment for Sophie.

They also said questions were raised about whether or not there should be a whiff of something romantic between Claire and Joe and they (Toni & Maril) fought against that and wanted the relationship portrayed as loyal and devoted friends but strictly platonic.  That is, of course, faithful to the books, but I think I recall that Book!Frank had his suspicions about Claire and Joe, so I guess I can understand some people thinking there ought to be an undercurrent of mutual attraction to their relationship.  I'm glad they kept it strictly platonic but I also think that Joe's comment about Claire's "great ass" shows that while they may be "just friends," he's not blind.

Toni & Maril were funny because they had to keep stopping each other from talking about the next episode by accident -- that reunion at the end obviously leads directly into what we'll see next week in TWO weeks (alas!)

[morgan]

I listened to them yesterday and really enjoyed their insights and info they shared.  Their joy and enthusiasm for the show is appreciated!  I loved how they considered doing a bit of the freedom trail.  Would have been interesting!  But loved the episode and how it went.  Definitely loved the bit about the pick up with Bree.  I thought Sophie was stronger this ep and have great hope for her next season.  

I am off to drive a bunch of kids to MIT and then will be walking around Harvard square and Boston before heading back home.  Will be thinking of Outlander in Boston (or “Boston”) while I am!

[Glade]

I'm so glad Maril was there for this podcast, which was really great, very amusing and informative.  I like how they pointed out that the episode of dark shadows was the one that originally aired on that date in 1968, and yet coincidentally had the paralell storyline (even though they couldn't remember the phrase 'dark shadows' and seemed to settle for calling it doctor who instead.)  I liked how they talked about Joe being familiar with Claire's clairvoyance and thinking of it as her 'party trick,' that she likes to perform on occasion.

[Nidratime]

I can't find it on the page where STARZ keeps its podcasts, but someone linked to the episode 6 podcast here at this link. Haven't listened to it yet, but reading the description, looks like the participants are Matt, Toni, and Maril.

https://player.fm/series/the-official-outlander-podcast-1581720

[WatchrTina]

Weel, isn't THAT interesting.  Nidratime's link has the new podcast but it's not up on iTunes or on the STARZ.com website yet.  Conspiracy or is it just the weekend and somebody didn't get around to it yet?  Anyway, thanks for the link.  I'm off to attend a film festival today but I'll be VERY interested to give that a listen tonight.

[koboldin]

13 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

LOL I was wondering the same thing about the podcast.  If they waited to record it until after the episode aired then, yeah, they must be drawing straws over who has to be the one to talk about the creative decisions that affected the print shop / photos-of-Bree scene.  I wonder if they'll even mention the twitter back-and-forth between Sam and the "Outlander Writers" twitter handle. I bet not -- why draw attention to that for the non-twitter crowd?  But even if they ignore that they ARE going to have to address the changes from the book in that scene because so many people have talked about it.

Now if they recorded it before the episode aired, that would also be interesting.  I'd like to know what their unvarnished thoughts were on the episode.

This is what I wrote on Reddit, after listening:

Quote

Finally! The do sound super defensive in the photo scene. 
And they acknowledge that Matt didn't want the Willie confession to play out right then. But they don't really get into the change of the scene's emotional bonding or how him handing the photos off to her instead of holding on to them and not reassuring her about the bikini photo means Claire is left more in pain. 

It was not a fun listen - you could hear the tension, and the banter was tight between Meryl Davis, Toni Graphia, and Matt Roberts. And they kept repeating how much - MUCH - they loved the performances. Very awkward. 

 

I wish I were a fly on the wall of the room or on set, as this must have been a hard week for everyone. I love understanding the creation of a show, and so often you don't get a sense of how a terrific production handles missed expectations or hurt feelings. 

[Glade]

Maybe it's because I already read all the interviews and articles about this episode, but I found this to be another snoozefest with almost nothing I didn't already know revealed (though I am happy they didn't go with giving Fergus a hook, as that would be ridiculous.)  I don't think Matt Roberts is engaging enough to lead these discussions, it just ends up in a really banal commentary of what's on the screen.  They also just realeased this too late, I'm so ready to watch the new episode tonight and move on, not to rehash.

Edited October 28, 2017 by Glade

[WatchrTina]

I enjoyed the podcast.  No, I didn't hear any thing particularly new or noteworthy but I'm a writer wanna-be so I always love hearing from the writers.  I would be curious to know when this was recorded -- before or after this week's online kerfuffle over the scene of Jamie looking at Bree's photos.  I couldn't really tell.  There was a bit of awkwardness in the talk but I think the thing the writers were stumbling over was explaining the reasoning for Jamie telling Claire about Willie now (rather than much later as in the books) without giving away a spoiler.  They alluded to the existence of a second secret as the reason for getting the existence of Willie out in the open now but I think they were trying to tread carefully around that topic.  It's a fine line to walk.

I think they messed up a bit at the very end.  They gave away something that is going to happen at the start of the next episode, which is different from what happened in the book.

Today I went to the Austin Film Festival which is an event that focuses on writers.  I spent the entire day listening to presentations by writers, most of whom have gone on to become directors and producers too.  It was interesting to listen to their presentations -- especially when they talked about adapting from novels -- with this episode of Outlander very much top of mind for me.

[WatchrTina]

The podcast for ep 307, Creme de Menthe is now available on STARZ.com

ETA:  Well I just watched/listened to it.  It's Matt Roberts and Toni Graphia again.  Alas, when you have two writers they tend to mainly talk about plot and characterization and, quite frankly, I've read the books and seen the episode so I already know a lot about the plot and characterization.  Here are the few things I DID learn.

1. Those street scenes are all filmed on a set they built in their parking lot for just such a purpose. 
2. The scene where wee Ian and Fergus sell the booze was a pick-up shot they filmed in South Africa MUCH later when they discovered the episode was short. They had cut the scene from the shooting script and so were glad to add it back since they love Ian & Fergus playing off one another.  They deliberately added the rain which I think is interesting.  I had assumed that the rain was something that actually happened during filming and they just had to deal with it.  I assumed that because it's not raining at any other time in the episode.  Now I'm guessing that it was a sparklingly bright summer day in South Africa -- nothing like a grey December day in Edinburgh -- so they added the rain to Scottish it up a bit.
3. Creme de Menthe was not actually available in 1760's Scotland but they loved that plotline and they had even chosen that for the episode name so they just ignored that historical inaccuracy.

I'm glad I listened but I REALLY miss Ron's involvement in these.

Edited November 1, 2017 by WatchrTina

[WatchrTina]

The podcast for 308, First Wife, is available.

It's the same team, Matt Roberts and Toni Graphia.  I really enjoyed it.  I laughed a lot.  Sometimes I laughed WITH them and sometimes I laughed AT them.

I laughed with them when Matt characterized Jamie's attitude at the end of the cliff-top conversation as "Shit or get off the pot."  He said that (laughing) in relation to Claire's voicing out loud her reservations regarding how badly things have gone since her return and Jamie's response that he has now apologized for all that and all the secrets are now out in the open so "Will you risk the man I am for the sake of the one you once knew?”  I have to say I really enjoyed listening to them talking about the whys and wherefores of that scene.  I STILL say that that intense conversation was included there primarily to give a plausible reason for why they don't notice the approaching ship (which Toni & Matt neither confirmed nor denied) but I was interested to hear Matt say that when Claire starts talking somewhat wistfully about how "Boston wasn't that bad" and "You had your print shop" she's really just looking for some additional reassurance from Jamie.  

I can see his point.  She's been through a LOT in her first week or so since her return.  She's been assaulted, tried and failed to save her attacker, learned that Jamie has a son, learned that Jamie is not just a printer, he's also a smuggler and guilty of sedition, watched the print shop burn down and learned that Jamie's nefarious printing activities are at risk of being brought to the attention of the authorities, learned Jamie has a WIFE and two step-daughters (including a wee red-headed lass that HAS to have reminded her of her two children, both lost to her now), learned that that wife is Laoghaire F**king MacKenzie, sees Jamie get shot, and learns that they have to take on a huge, burdensome debt to get Laoghaire out of their lives.  It IS all a bit much.  I think we should forgive Claire (and the writers) for her voicing a few reservations in that moment.  After all, it is safe to assume that once Ian is snatched Jamie and Claire will have only one purpose going forward -- a SHARED purpose to rescue him.  So I think I can call that moment on the cliff a last voicing of any doubts by Claire, which Jamie brings to a close with that great line.

I laughed AT Matt & Toni when they brought up the viewer discontent over the timing of the Willie reveal.  That was ep 306 but it's clear they're still smarting from the back-lash.  (Yeah I was a part of that back-lash and, sorry guys, ye BLEW it.)

That being said, it was interesting to hear them discuss how the timing of the two reveals -- Willie and Lougharie -- was the thing that was debated the most in the writers room.  (Persoanlly I agree with their decision to save the reveal of Laoghaire until this episode and to get the Willie reveal done quickly.)  Matt points out that Jamie having a bastard son is a much less of a big deal to Claire (it doesn't threaten her relationship with Jamie the way a second wife does) so it really doesn't make sense that Book!Jamie keeps it a secret so long.  It's not a secret that would have sent Claire running back to the stones like the Laoghaire reveal might.  That's why they added it to 306 and depicted Claire being sympathetic with Jamie's feelings about his son.

There were lots of other good points in the talk as well as some off-topic blather about what they were drinking now what they should eat and drink in later seasons.  It's a mixed bag but mostly good and I'm glad I listened.

ETA:  Oooh I just thought of something else that was revealed during their talk.  This episode was filmed early, out of order, so that it could be filmed in the same block as the other Lallybroch episode, 302 Surrender.  Sam & Cait had to film the arguments and angry sex in this episode BEFORE they got to film their reunion scene (and reunion sex).  This makes me obsess on Jamie's hair. Yes his HAIR, stay with me.  It was back to looking so nice and REAL in this episode -- blowing in the wind on that cliff-top.  It looked bad in the Helwater episode (304), which I blamed on the fact that Sam was clearly wearing a wig -- which I presumed they put on him to age him a bit.  He clearly was NOT wearing a wig in 303.  I don't remember noticing his hair in 306/307 (I had other things on my mind ye ken) and he was barely in 305 but when I saw his hair in this episode I was relieved and I thought that it meant we were done with wigs on him.  But alas, now that I know this was filmed out of order I'm afraid that means Sam's real hair has departed the series for good and we're going to see wigs (with subtle streaks of gray) from here on out.  Farewell, Jamie's good hair. 

Edited November 11, 2017 by WatchrTina

[WatchrTina]

I just listened to the podcast for 309, The Doldrums with Matt Roberts and Toni Graphia.

The most interesting parts were the discussions of how they filmed on the ships.  For example the Man-'O-War is a fixed set so they had to time their filming on it based on the sun position because they like the sun to be behind the actors,with the light on the actors' faces coming from artificial light that they can control.  The Artermis is a movable set so they can turn it get the sun where they want it.

The scene with Jamie and Hayes on the mast was filmed on a separate set -- not on the ship set as that would be too high and not safe.  They were actually only half as high as it appears in the show and were wearing safety rigs that were removed through special effects.

The filming of the scenes where they were becalmed was a challenge because the ship sets are located in an area of South Africa known as "Wind Alley".  The could only film early in the morning when the wind was minimal -- otherwise everyone's hair (and the sails) would be moving around on camera in a way that contradicted the story-line.

They talked at length about their inability to include Book Yi Tien Cho's fishing pelican in the plot.  Really, they went on and on about it.  Of all the things to obsess about . . .

BTW, Yi Tien Cho's acupuncture needles (which are HUGE compared to modern needles) ARE period-appropriate.

And speaking of period-appropriate, Matt admitted that whenever he gets a first draft of a script the does a global (electronic) search for the word "okay" which is NOT period appropriate.  He's found up to seven in a single script.

The stuff they used for fake vomit was too realistic.  It made a lot of people feel ill.

They also cannot move the ship sets nearly as much as you see them moving on camera because it will make the actors sick.  They have to get the ships' motion on camera though a combination of special effects (adding the water in the background with the horizon moving up and down) and keeping the cameras in constant, subtle motion

They had second thoughts about allowing Claire to dine alone with the Captain (wondering if that would be appropriate) but they decided that since Jamie WAS invited but didn't show up due to being ill it was okay.  Also Jamie's cabin was probably on a few feet away -- within earshot were Claire to cry out -- so they decided it wasn't unrealistic that such a meal would have happened.

Everyone was loving the South Africa summer weather when they first arrived -- such a nice changes from the Scottish winter they left.  But it was HOT on the decks of those ships and the charm wore thin after a while.

That's most of what I can remember.  Parts of it were excellent.  Parts were boring.  I still wish Ron participated.

Edited November 19, 2017 by WatchrTina

[WatchrTina]

I just listened to the podcast for 310, Heaven and Earth with Matt Roberts and Toni Graphia (alas, still just the two of them -- no Ron Moore, no Maril Davis.)

If, like me, you enjoy hearing behind-the-scenes tidbits about the creation of a particular episode then you can give this particular podcast a miss.  They talked at length about the process (in general) of adapting a book for the screen but I heard nothing I hadn't heard before and nothing that addressed this particular episode other than the fact that they did have to invent what was going on with Jamie once Claire left the ship. This annoyed me so much because (as a reader) I KNOW they had to make it up and I would have loved to have heard about the debates over what Jamie WOULD do in that situation.  I think I agree with their decision to have him lose is damn mind but they never addressed that. They just mentioned the notion that they needed to come up with something for Fegus to do, now that he's been introduced.  Okaaay.

They talked about the wonderful ship sets but again, nothing new was said (they talked about them last week) and nothing they said was particularly illuminating as to the filming of THIS episode.  

They did confirm that the writer had done his homework and the last-stitch-through-the-nose tradition of a naval shroud WAS a real thing.

I had to laugh when Matt Roberts pointed to the scene where caged Jamie is looking at Brianna's photos, saying that they KNEW there would be scenes like this later on and that's why they didn't feel the need for Jamie to spend a lot of time with Brianna's photos in the print shop reunion scene.  Keep telling yourself that Matt if it makes you feel better about how you BLEW that scene.  We know better.

They did talk briefly about filming Claire's leap into the water (it was s stunt person).

Sigh.  Such a let-down.  I miss Ron. 

Edited December 2, 2017 by WatchrTina

[WatchrTina]

I just listened to the podcast for 311, Uncharted.  It's tricky to find however because the wrong file was uploaded to iTunes (they uploaded 310 again by mistake.)  You can find it at STARZ.com as follows:  STARZ > Outlander > More > Podcasts.  But good luck navigating to that via your iPad.  I couldn't do it (the user interface is different on an iPad and you just can't get there from here.)   I could only find my way there on my iMac, which is annoying because it's in a different room from my TV.  So, in the end I could either:

1. Listent to the podcast on my iMac while watching the episode on my iPad OR
2. Hunt around hoping someone else uploaded the podcast in a manner that would allow me to listen to it on my iPad while watching my TV.  Thankfully I found a website (Outlander.online) that HAD uploaded the podcast correctly.  Note that I also tweeted to Toni Graphia et al to let them know the iTunes upload is screwed up.

Here's the good news -- it's a VERY entertaining podcast.  Much as I love Matt Roberts I was glad to learn that he had to miss the podcast and that Maril Davis had stepped in to replace him.  She and Toni Graphia make a great team.  Maril is particularly good at bringing the conversation back to the behind-the-scenes info about the episode (which is what I crave.)  The most interesting tidbit was news that there was something originally in this episode that was removed but they carefully avoided saying what because it was moved to a later episode.  I look forward to learning what THAT was.

They also said there were long conversations in the writers room about whether or not Mamacita's dialog should be translated.  It could be argued that NOT translating her was consistent with season 1 when the Gaelic that Claire heard was not translated -- thus placing the viewer in the same position as Claire.  But ultimately they decided to translate it because Mamacita has lot of funny lines that they didn't want to lose and it would have seem contrived for Mamacita to only speak English when she had a funny line to deliver.

There was some discussion of there being no dialog at all until Claire finds father Fogden.  There are definitely mixed feelings in the Writers Room about voiceovers (a.k.a. "Clairifications").  Matt Roberts revealed (in the podcast for 310) that he does not like them.  Toni said she did like the one in 310 but she seemed more ambivalent  about the use of it in the first half of 311.  In the end, however, they were certain that they just would not get away with having no dialog for the first 20-25 minutes of the episode (they were certain the network would object) so they added the voiceover.

There was a LOT of discussion and re-writing behind the scenes of this episode, which makes sense if you know how much was condensed / eliminated in order to get from Claire going over the side of the The Porpoise all the way to the reunion and the iconic Turttle Soup scene.  I complained about how Claire makes no effort to obtain a coconut when she finds that coconut palm and apparently that was one of the things that was discussed at length but in the end all possible options (Claire attempting to climb the tree or trying to knock a coconut out of the tree) seemed impractical or not a good use of screen-time.

Claire burning the bum-roll started out as a joke in the writers room -- but then they decided it was actually a good idea.  (I still say she should have saved the rest for later use, not thrown the whole thing on the already thriving fire.)

They talked about klepto-Claire stealing a mirror from a priest and revealed that in the first draft Claire sees a ship shortly after reaching the beach and tries unsuccessfully to signal it. That is why she takes the mirror.  But in later drafts that ship was eliminated since Claire would likely be fearful -- at that point in the story -- of it being the Porpoise.  Thus we are left with klepto Claire.  But I still say MY interpretation also works.  I thought Father Fogden came off as crazy with a side of sinister when he told Claire she couldn't leave for a least a week and then later lengthens that to two weeks.  I still think it makes sense to assume Claire took the mirror as a potential weapon in case the good Father was revealed to have sinister motives for keeping her there.  But that point of view was not in any way confirmed during the podcast.

The scene with the goat skull and the bugs creeped out both Toni and Maril.  That it had to be a skinned goat head (in order for the bugs to be interested) was something that the writers didn't realize until they were fairly far down-stream and committed to the scene.

Speaking of bugs -- that was definitely a stuntwoman's legs with the ants crawling on her (supplemented by fake ants.)

Much conversation and planning went into deciding how sunburned Claire should be and how long it took to get her there.  They also had to work within the boundaries of there being a scene in the next episode that was filmed back in Scotland (the ball perhaps?) and they had to keep Claire's look consistent when how she appeared (will appear) in that scene.

They were not happy about having to give Jamie & Fergus that big exposition dump that we hear when you first see them (to explain how the captain of the Artemis and two crewmen died in the storm) but there was no good solution once it had been decided to NOT film the storm/mast-break.  I think that decision was made to preserve the dramatic tension in the first 2/3rds of the episode (where is Jamie?) and also to save filming time, episode time, and money.  Apparently the logistics of filming Claire's slog through the jungle ate up a fair amount of filming time AND budget.

As always they got a bit reluctant to comment about the on-screen action during a sex scene so they instead started talking about what it's like to write a sex scene, which was interesting.

As a side note (and completely unrelated to what I've said above) someone in either this commentary or the prior one noted that in Scotland people were constantly commenting to them that the name "Rupert" is not Scottish.  That may be so, but he's Rupert in the book and they decided to stay true to the book in that instance.  I can't remember why that came up -- probably in the context of them keeping some book thing that is not strictly accurate.  But I thought it was interesting that in all the Outlander-related reading I've done of commentaries on the show, I've never heard that comment before.

Edited December 5, 2017 by WatchrTina

[Glade]

Thanks for alerting me to Maril's presence; after the letdown of 310 I was planning on skipping the rest unless Ron Moore came back for 313 (which I still hope he will, though at least we know Maril/Toni will be the podcasters for 312 as well.)  But this was very interesting.  I had thought that Claire stole the mirror to aide her in starting campfires in the jungle after her escape; deleting the reference opened it to many different interpretations, but I definitely understand how foolish Claire would look if she appeared to be hailing the ship that she had just escaped from. 

I hadn't realized that Jaime/Fergus/men of the time didn't wear wedding rings until they mentioned it.   I was intrigued by the description of the 'greens department' that, instead of being tasked with preparing kale, is responsible for dressing up the sets with all sorts of live plants (I know they mentioned doing this before, when they transform the hill into the location for the stones.) I was wondering if they would reference the fact that the hawksbill sea turtle is currently a critically endangered species due to the many centuries of human predation/exploitation, but instead it was just geeking out over the apparently famous book scene.

Edited December 3, 2017 by Glade

[unlfan03]

Yes the podcasts for Heaven and Earth is a miss. I had to turn it off about half way through since I felt like Matt and Toni spent a lot of the time complaining about readers that are not happy with the changes to the show. I think it shows a lot of defensiveness on their part. I know the two are separate and for the most part I can keep it separate but when I complain about changes it is because the changes are OCC for the character as they have been presented in the show (like Frank all of a sudden becoming the worst after he has been built up to be this good guy.) I do think that the scripts would have benefited from one last read over of someone who was more than just a casual reader. Personally I would like it if they would bring in some of the new voices into the podcasts, I guess it would be hard because they are currently filming season 4. I'm probably going to try picking this episode up another time but it just wasn't a good day to listen to more people comment on "death of the author" type things. I had put off listening to 311 for the same reason, now it sounds like it will be one to catch.