S01.E02: Castle Leoch

[NoNeinNyet]

I listened to Ron Moore's podcast for this last night.  It included his wife, the costume designer.  She provided a lot of insight on the choices for costumes, if you are interested in more details.  You can find a link for the download on this page: http://outlandishobservations.blogspot.com/2014/08/ron-moores-podcast-of-episode-102.html

 

Does anyone know if there's an RSS feed for the podcast? I'd rather not have to download each episode individually each week.

[attica]

France and Scotland have a very old alliance aka The Auld Alliance.

 

Despite her often being portrayed in movies with a Scottish accent, Mary, Queen of Scots was French, raised in France, spoke French, etc. Sure, that's a few hundred years before events here, but still. One more grudge for the French to hold against the English..

[onthebrink03]

Someone was saying the episode 1 thread that in the podcast (I think it was the podcast) that's been referenced here and there, they made mention to a deleted scene.  Apparently Black Jack Randall came across her and tried to chase after her a bit and fell on top of her.  In that melee is when she lost the bits and baubles of her dress.  After that chase, he snatched her up and tried to rape her, which aired.  

Nope, she had lost her belt and her button before she met up with Black Jack (I just re-watched the scene).  She had her belt and button buttoned before she took the tumble down the hill.  Afterwards both were gone.  I believe the deleted scene made sense of why he went so quickly from introducing himself to being so aggressive towards her including threatening rape.

Edited August 18, 2014 by onthebrink03

[RachelKM]

Despite her often being portrayed in movies with a Scottish accent, Mary, Queen of Scots was French, raised in France, spoke French, etc. Sure, that's a few hundred years before events here, but still. One more grudge for the French to hold against the English..

Well she was Scottish in the sense that she was born in Scotland to the Scottish King, James V.  But her mother was French (see the France/Scotland ties discussed above) and she was raised in the France from age 5 or 6 (which makes the show Reign on the CW sort of HILARIOUS and a little creepy). So yeah, portrayals of her as having a Scottish accent are pretty funny.  But since English speaking movies, especially American ones, tend to make all monarchs/royals speak with some form of British accent, the alternative would be most likely some posh sounding standard English accent, which better? Worse?  I don't know.

[Petunia846]

I liked the flashforwardbacks...

Oooh, I like that term for those...flashforwardbacks. Because it's forwards in time, but it's still a flashback for Claire.

 

I think I would have a lot harder time understanding the characters' dialogue if I hadn't read all the books. It's not that they're taking dialogue straight from the book and I just remember it, it's that the author uses those words and spells things as they're pronounced, so you do pick up that Scottish vocabulary and the slight pronunciation differences. I haven't had any trouble understanding any of the characters so far, so that's what I'm guessing has helped me. If I spend a long time reading the books on the weekend or something I find myself thinking in their accent or using it with the cats. Heh.

[nyxy]

Despite watching The Tudors and the Monarchy series maniacally (which should have helped me see what led up the present state of affairs) and despite having read any number of works set in the 18th century I'm always flummoxed when it comes to the details. I end up having to look up backgrounds each time I start watching/reading something new about the period. On the plus side, it's always fun to find out even if the knowledge disappears from my head as quickly as Mr Google implants it there.

 

As for the French connection: the big historical event invoked in the series is the Jacobite rising, as we're told in the promos, and that's in 1745, two years after the year in which Claire finds herself. (I'm still trying to work out how many generations removed Bonnie Prince Charlie, the focus of this period, is from Mary Queen of Scots. He is a direct descendant, right? ) At any rate, he too spent much of his life exiled in France & it's from there that he began his campaign for the throne, so the French connection is central to the series one way or the other. I wonder if the reason the Laird and others are reacting so strangely to the yarn Claire has spun about France is because Bonnie Prince Charlie also has support in France and they must be aware that something is afoot there. They might assume that by referencing France she's dropping hints about her connection to Bonnie Prince Charlie, whom presumably they will support when the actual uprising happens.  Anyway, it's not very clear in my head but I think their response to her is tied up to that issue. Wonder how close she and the series will get to the big dramatic history of the period.

 

Maybe some parallel is being set up between Bonnie Prince Charlie and Claire. If so, the theme song is especially well-chosen- at first I took it to be just a general & lazy invocation of Scotland but now I'm thinking it's a more pointed reference.

 

On another note, I liked this second episode even better than the first, and one reason is the new female characters it introduces. Esp interesting: the  ally/friend Claire seems to have found in the witch woman (forget her name) that she meets on the moors. It's not clear that Claire can trust this woman, but they could be interesting foils for each other. The witch woman too is a healer (as is Mrs Fitz) and so the sense of these three women bringing their different expertise together is interesting.  I also think the Laird's wife is fascinating as a character. From the overreaction of all concerned when Claire made her faux pas about the kid's parentage, I'm wondering if milady is indeed hiding something.  I hope we get the backstories of all these women, including Mrs Fitz and her grand-daughter.  The series has done a great job so far in setting up mysteries large and small around all these characters. I do need to watch again to pick up their names  & other details.

Edited August 18, 2014 by nyxy

[Athena]

(I'm still trying to work out how many generations removed Bonnie Prince Charlie, the focus of this period, is from Mary Queen of Scots. He is a direct descendant, right? ) 

 

Five generations. The Young Pretender / Bonnie Prince Charles / Charles Edward Stuart was the great-great-grandson of James VI of Scotland aka James I of Great Britain whose mother was Mary Queen of Scots. 

[nyxy]

Thanks so much, Athena! Maybe this one time the details will stick in my head. Hope the prince makes a direct appearance in the series...

[annlaw78]

 

As for the French connection: the big historical event invoked in the series is the Jacobite rising, as we're told in the promos, and that's in 1745, two years after the year in which Claire finds herself. (I'm still trying to work out how many generations removed Bonnie Prince Charlie, the focus of this period, is from Mary Queen of Scots. He is a direct descendant, right? ) At any rate, he too spent much of his life exiled in France & it's from there that he began his campaign for the throne, so the French connection is central to the series one way or the other. I wonder if the reason the Laird and others are reacting so strangely to the yarn Claire has spun about France is because Bonnie Prince Charlie also has support in France and they must be aware that something is afoot there. They might assume that by referencing France she's dropping hints about her connection to Bonnie Prince Charlie, whom presumably they will support when the actual uprising happens.  Anyway, it's not very clear in my head but I think their response to her is tied up to that issue. Wonder how close she and the series will get to the big dramatic history of the period.

I still think the head-spinning has to do with why Claire is so far north.  Okay, maybe there's some Scots-French maritime connection in effect at this time, but then why not sail to France from Edinburgh?  Why is she going 150+ miles further northwest? Across the rugged terrain of the Highlands no less?  

[Sakura12]

But from her voiceover we knew tha,t on discovering the year being 1743, she was frantically searching her memory about whatever information she could remember for this period. One of those questions was which king. The wy she said it was just like  child in history class desperately trying to think of the answer and just doing so the moment the teacher asks the question. I thought it was a delighfully true moment.

 

I really liked that moment. It was like she said the name and was proud of herself of remembering her history. Which would then look weird to anyone living that history. 

 

I also think the Laird's wife is fascinating as a character. From the overreaction of all concerned when Claire made her faux pas about the kid's parentage, I'm wondering if milady is indeed hiding something.

 

I thought her reaction was strange as well, made me think that Dougal might be the father of young Hamish since Colum looks like he's been sick for awhile. 

[nyxy]

Great point, @annlaw- her location in itself would arouse suspicion for the reason you spell out so well.

 

Her story to them makes less and less sense the more I think about it. Couldn't she have come up with something more plausible? Her delivery too was surprisingly awkward- quite unexpected from someone we'd seen keeping her cool in one frightful situation after another. It's a switch in personality, and seems necessitated only by the plot. Definitely clumsy.

 

Gosh this brings up one of those maddening paradoxes and teases of  the time-travel genre. We could have had a simpler scenario if the Claire who is switched back in the 18th century were simply inhabiting the mind and body of one of her own ancestors- a temporary possession or fusion.  If so, that ancestor could have had not just an 18th century present but also an 18th century past that Claire should have been able to imagine or access. It would be as if 20thcentury Frank came back and found himself in the body of his icky 18th century ancestor Jack.

 

In Claire's case there seems to be no such ancestor..Claire arrived into the 18th century as a full grown woman but one who has no past in that century and so has to make it up from scratch. Moral: know your history and other centuries well in case you find yourself transported to one of them. Googlers with sieves for memory such as me will last 2 minutes if that.

Edited August 19, 2014 by nyxy

[WatchrTina]

 

It reminds me of the song used for when Duncan went to Scotland to bury the bracelet of his first love, who had died.

Ah, "Bonnie Portmore" from Highlander.  Yes, it does share some qualities with Outlander's opening song.  It's funny -- I didn't like that song originally for the opening credits and now I have it playing in my head off and on all day.  I'm tickled to learn that the music over the closing credits will change from week to week like Games of Thrones does (Bear McCreary said so in his blog).  That gives us one more thing to look forward to.

[nyxy]

 

 

 

I thought her reaction was strange as well, made me think that Dougal might be the father of young Hamish since Colum looks like he's been sick for awhile. 

Same here!I Though I completely missed that point about Colum being sick- nice catch.

 

Young Hamish did emphasize that he was the son and heir to the Laird. Maybe that's the complication. Maybe if the Laird didn't have a legit son Jamie would be next in line to inherit? Or maybe this is excess speculation. Even so, iIf I were the Lady of the castle, I'd be sticking pins into a Claire-doll every night.

 

On another note, I'm impressed with everyone here who has been using the actual names of the characters. I got lazy and instead of rewatching as I should have, I looked up character names in a review (just realized I could have just looked at the thread titles here).

 

Lady of the castle: Letitia

Herb-woman: Geillis

Mrs Fitz's granddaughter:  Laoghaire

Creepy guy who spies on Claire: Rupert

Edited August 19, 2014 by nyxy

[WatchrTina]

Well, I just listened to Ron Moore's podcast/commentary for the episode and he confirmed that Rupert WAS the guy who followed Claire to the stables AND delivered the beat-down on Jamie.  I got that wrong in an earlier comment.  So that's sorted.  Angus is the other one -- the "sassy" one who said "Fetch me she says" in the first episode.  Good -- glad I can stop wondering about that.

 

It was a funny podcast -- full of info about the clothes because Ron's wife Terry (?) the costume designer joined him for the talk.  There were a few times I wanted her to stop talking about the clothes and let Ron speak but for the most part I really liked her contributions. The thing I found most interesting is that she said Sam decided how he was going to wear his belted plaid and when she first saw it (in his very first scene -- the flashback to Lallybroch), she nearly had a stroke, but she later came to like the look.  That really surprised me because I assumed someone designed that look specifically for Sam/Jamie.  I think it looks great.  Good for Sam for cooking it up.

Edited August 19, 2014 by WatchrTina

[raspberry7]

Thanks for the podcast link...

 

...and, there goes another evening.

[Guest]

I found a blog with Gaelic translations from the show if anyone is interested.

http://greatscotblog.com/2014/08/17/outlander-episode-102-castle-leoch-the-gaidhlig-bits-i-could-decipher/

I guess now I have to watch the show a fourth time. Once live, once with the podcast, once with subtitles and once to pick up the Gaelic.

[Petunia846]

The thing I found most interesting is that she said Sam decided how he was going to wear his belted plaid and when she first saw it (in his very first scene -- the flashback to Lallybroch), she nearly had a stroke, but she later came to like the look.  That really surprised me because I assumed someone designed that look specifically for Sam/Jamie.  I think it looks great.  Good for Sam for cooking it up.

I heard that they let all the actors playing highlanders decide how they wanted to wear their kilts, which is cool if it's true.

 

By the way, I only listened to the podcast for this week once, but I'm pretty sure that Terry slipped and mentioned a pretty huge spoiler at one point. Ron doesn't comment on it and she doesn't mention it again, so you might not notice, but I just wanted to warn people.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Petunia846

[Pestilentia]

 

Well, I just listened to Ron Moore's podcast/commentary for the episode and he confirmed that Rupert WAS the guy who followed Claire to the stables AND delivered the beat-down on Jamie.  I got that wrong in an earlier comment.  So that's sorted.  Angus is the other one -- the "sassy" one who said "Fetch me she says" in the first episode.  Good -- glad I can stop wondering about that.

I found a great photo that cleared it up for me- (we can't post photos here, right?)  http://www.blastr.com/sites/blastr/files/styles/media_gallery_image/public/outlander_0.jpg?itok=dmboKtK6 that shows left to right Rupert, Murtaugh, Angus, Dougal, Jamie.

[Constantinople]

Her story to them makes less and less sense the more I think about it.

I think that's why Claire was detained.

 

Couldn't she have come up with something more plausible? Her delivery too was surprisingly awkward- quite unexpected from someone we'd seen keeping her cool in one frightful situation after another. It's a switch in personality, and seems necessitated only by the plot. Definitely clumsy.

I think it's one thing to remain cool in a situation for which you're mentally prepared and which has an explicable reason. When we see Claire performing battlefield surgery at the end of WWII, she's been doing it for years and she has some general idea of what happened that doesn't rely on magic, time travel, etc. When Claire saw the redcoats, her first thought was someone was filming a historical movie, not that she had traveled through time.

It's quite another to be transported 200 years in the past, and to be dropped among a group of people who are often speaking a foreign language. It also doesn't help that she's in a place where everyone has known everyone else for centuries so that her outsider status is emphasized (if she had traveled back in time to the American colonies, it would be a lot easier to provide a simple cover story).

So I think Claire is doing pretty well, considering, and I don't see it as a switch in personality driven by plot. 

 

Young Hamish did emphasize that he was the son and heir to the Laird. Maybe that's the complication. Maybe if the Laird didn't have a legit son Jamie would be next in line to inherit?

Isn't Dougal Colum's younger brother? In that case, wouldn't Dougal be Colum's heir if Colum didn't have a son?

[Athena]

I found a great photo that cleared it up for me- (we can't post photos here, right?)  http://www.blastr.com/sites/blastr/files/styles/media_gallery_image/public/outlander_0.jpg?itok=dmboKtK6 that shows left to right Rupert, Murtaugh, Angus, Dougal, Jamie.

 

You actually can post photos here! They should be of reasonable size (the photo applies) and then uploaded to Imgur because we don't want to take anyone's bandwidth. For more information, follow Dave's primer on How to add an image to my post?

[nyxy]

Constantinople, thanks. I do see your point, and will agree that Claire is doing well all told. Let me clarify however that I wasn't comparing Claire in the 20th century with Claire in the 18th, but Claire in the first few scenes after she's transported to the Claire we get later in the Laird's castle.  She was pretty darn impressive fleeing in the night with a bunch of potentially hostile companions. Later, however, she seems to stumble and sound awkward, not entirely convinced of her own story, IMO.  Surely she expected to be questioned about her past and had time to prepare a plausible story-- Jamie as good as warned her that her Englishness was enough to raise doubt. She's so incredibly smart and strategic that I didn't think she could be tripped up easily. So I still feel a let down...maybe she's just tired or maybe her guard is down with the greater danger being over.

 

About the question of inheritance... Dougal would presumably be next in line unless some bombshell  exploded about adultery between Letitia and Dougal....that might be enough to get Dougal disinherited & move Jamie up the line of succession. I'm not sure how else to read the group's reaction when Claire dropped her brick...there seemed to be a silent gasp. Something seems to be up with that- if so, I hope we find out what it is soon. 

 

That said, I'm hazy on the details of relationships within that clan & shall hold off on further guesswork about the inheritance till we get them. Could be I'm filling the loooooong wait until the next epi with too much idle speculation!

Edited August 19, 2014 by nyxy

[Haleth]

Moral: know your history and other centuries well in case you find yourself transported to one of them.

 

You never know when this might happen.  Best to be prepared.  LOL

 

How in the world is Laoghaire pronounced?  I also have trouble hearing the dialog and will have to resort to close captioning.

 

The opening song sounds like something for Celtic Woman.

[peacefrog]

You never know when this might happen.  Best to be prepared.  LOL

 

How in the world is Laoghaire pronounced?  I also have trouble hearing the dialog and will have to resort to close captioning.

 

The opening song sounds like something for Celtic Woman.

It's pronounced Leer-y. :)

[Constantinople]

Constantinople, thanks. I do see your point, and will agree that Claire is doing well all told. Let me clarify however that I wasn't comparing Claire in the 20th century with Claire in the 18th, but Claire in the first few scenes after she's transported to the Claire we get later in the Laird's castle.  She was pretty darn impressive fleeing in the night with a bunch of potentially hostile companions. Later, however, she seems to stumble and sound awkward, not entirely convinced of her own story, IMO.  Surely she expected to be questioned about her past and had time to prepare a plausible story-- Jamie as good as warned her that her Englishness was enough to raise doubt. She's so incredibly smart and strategic that I didn't think she could be tripped up easily. So I still feel a let down...maybe she's just tired or maybe her guard is down with the greater danger being over.

I'm going with tired from riding for 2 days in cold weather while wearing very little, plus the stress of everything.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Constantinople

[tennisgurl]

So I continue to love this show, and I cant wait to see more! I also need to watch it one more time, there is A LOT of information to process here. So much history, so many characters, and I am still trying to keep all the dynamics/relationships straight. As to Claire and her story, it sounds pretty sketchy. I mean, its probably the best she could come up with, especially because she spent a decent amount of time trying to process the whole "I wandered into Scottish stone hedge and now I'm time traveling" thing. Her story wasn't so bad that it would be immediately laughed off, but if I was in the middle of a war, worried about spy's? I would be pretty suspicious too.

 

Good thing Claire is up on her history lessons! History majors, this is your time to shine!

 

Also debating downloading the opening song...   

[BizBuzz]

A little late to the party.  I just watched it this morning.

 

I have purposely not come into this forum since the second episode aired because I didn't want to be spoiled.  And I didn't want my viewing to be colored by anything that was said before I saw it.

 

I also made a decision to post first and then read the comments because I want my thoughts unbiased.  I can be led quite easily sometimes.  ::giggle::

 

I have to say, I am going to have to watch this with CC on because I know I missed a LOT, but the beauty of this series so far is that the scenery and period elements are so captivating, the rewatchability is assured.

 

And I want to see Jamie's bare chest and manly arms again.  OMG, this guy is HOT.

 

I loved the costumes.  The way they show Claire getting dressed, I was captivated <--there's that word again.

 

I loved the scenery! 

 

The whole last scene where they kept going from present/future walking in the castle, wow, talk about putting me into the moment.  That was brilliant.

 

I am still trying to figure out all the characters, but I am enjoying learning about them, this pace is good for someone that didn't read the books.

 

Did not like the flogging scene, I cringed, but I understood why it was there.

 

Somehow I knew she wasn't leaving.  I was like if she leaves, where will the story go, so I knew either she was going to be forced to stay, or she was going to go to the stones and find out they didn't work in reverse and go back to the only place she knew. 

 

This works better for now.  Creates a deeper story.

 

Don't like flogging Frank relative, Black Jack.  Boo hiss. 

 

Now where is that remote, fast forward to Jamie's chest.  ::giggle::

[tennisgurl]

On further reflection, the real lesson here? If there is something about yourself, or anything you have you cant explain, just say that its "from France". No matter where or when you are, this will always lead to lots of "ohhhhhhhs" and head nodding. It works on everything from bras to aliens trying to hide out in Jersey! This lesson brought to you by The Coneheads.

[Pestilentia]

You actually can post photos here! They should be of reasonable size (the photo applies) and then uploaded to Imgur because we don't want to take anyone's bandwidth. For more information, follow Dave's primer on How to add an image to my post?

Thank you for providing the information I should have searched out myself  :)

 

To that end...

 

 

Left to right Rupert, Murtaugh, Angus, Dougal, Jamie.

[GHScorpiosRule]

HAH! Angus is Balding! That's how ye ken tell him and Rupert apart! Hee!

[WatchrTina]

Well, upon due consideration I've decided to forgive Rupert for the beat-down of Jamie.  After listening to Ron Moore's podcast and watching the episode again it's clear that Rupert wanted to stop and really hated having to continue with the beating.  So I'll cheerfully transfer my contempt to Dougal (ye auld devil!), the puppet master who was pulling Rupert's strings.  Besides, of the two designated MacKenzie clansmen that we've been introduced to, I'm betting Angus is going to be the bigger problem for Claire.  He always seems to be staring at her and he's the one that suggested they could "put it to the test" to determine whether or not she was a whore.  So Rupert's off my shit list for the moment (but I'm watchin ye, ye ken?)

[SonofaBiscuit]

I find myself curious about Dougal and unsure of how I should feel about him.  On the one hand, he made Jamie stay out in the stables while everyone else was eating, and he allowed Jamie's beating to go on for much longer than it should have.  But I took an immediate liking to the actor, and he seems like a person who has morals, as he shut down the rape talk in the first episode.  Plus, I thought it was very sweet how he was sword fighting with the little boy.  At this point, I kind of like the guy but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to or not.

[MedievalGirl]

 

Moral: know your history and other centuries well in case you find yourself transported to one of them.

 

I've been studying the Middle Ages for 20 years and I know I'd still be completely lost. My go back in time plan is to bring lots of sewing needles and ingratiate myself in with the women in a town/castle/whatever. 

I am a big fan of closed captioning. I don't have hearing problems but so many shows are not balanced well with background sound and music compared to voices. It is serving me well with this show but I need to watch again with it off just to enjoy the scenery. 

 

The dressing scene was my favorite. I had just been researching 16th century clothing and so many of the layers are the same. There is a lovely green and tan wool plaid in my stash that has been maturing for years and might just have to become an 18th century dress. 

[rozen]

I wasn't comparing Claire in the 20th century with Claire in the 18th, but Claire in the first few scenes after she's transported to the Claire we get later in the Laird's castle.  She was pretty darn impressive fleeing in the night with a bunch of potentially hostile companions. Later, however, she seems to stumble and sound awkward, not entirely convinced of her own story, IMO.

 

 

I think it fits Claire's (initial) characterization as a scrappy individual. I would expect her to flounder in any situation requiring social etiquette, no matter what century it was. Archaeology sites and triage stations are no place to develop conversational skills.

 

If they think she's a spy, they're assuming the English consider them really, really, stupid, eh? "Ah, we need a spy in the rebel camps. I know! Let's send an Englishwoman in strange clothes who is overly pushy and strident, but she'll heal real good, thereby extracting all their secrets!" I mean, really.

 

Then again, their solution to this danger is to stick her in the basement and give her the job that is critical in their not getting stamped out by said English. No witches are to touch your gunshot victims, but spies are ok, gotcha.

[BizBuzz]

These podcasts you all are talking about, are they safe to listen to and not be spoiled?  I mean after I have already watched the episode.  I don't want to listen if I am going to find out too much information.  I like being able to watch this with fresh eyes.

[Petunia846]

The one for the first episode was safe, as far as I remember, but the one from this episode had a huge spoiler in it. I think in general they're trying to keep them spoiler free, it seemed like just a slip up. They don't generally go through discussing spoilery things, this was just a comment in passing. You may not even notice it if you haven't read the books.

[ganesh]

I'd rather remain as unspoiled as possible because I didn't know much of anything about this show and it's been a great surprise. Could there be another thread dedicated to the podcasts? 

[nodorothyparker]

After listening to Ron Moore's podcast and watching the episode again it's clear that Rupert wanted to stop and really hated having to continue with the beating.  So I'll cheerfully transfer my contempt to Dougal (ye auld devil!), the puppet master who was pulling Rupert's strings.

 

The actor did a really admirable job of conveying how much he didn't want to keep going with just his eyes.  You could tell just from watching his face that he likes Jamie and didn't want to have to do that but was going to anyway until Dougal signaled otherwise.  Rewatching that entire scene, you could really see the uncles deciding to make an object lesson out of a situation that was unexpectedly handed to them.

 

I'm liking Rupert more here than I did in the books too.  He never made all that much impression on me there, but his monologue to Claire about how he's a better minder than Angus, "fornicator of women and shagger of wee beasties," was beyond fabulous.

Edited August 20, 2014 by nodorothyparker

[angelwoody]

Anyone care to share the spoiler from the podcast?  Behind the spoiler button, of course!

[Athena]

Anyone care to share the spoiler from the podcast?  Behind the spoiler button, of course!

 

I'll second that for the sake of the non book readers. As requested, I've also made a topic for the podcasts here where you can put the spoiler under the tags. 

[Tif]

 

I'm liking Rupert more here than I did in the books too.  He never made all that much impression on me there, but his monologue to Claire about how he's better minder than Angus, "fornicator of women and shagger of wee beasties," was beyond fabulous.

Every time I have watched this scene, I laugh out loud.  But I really liked him in the books too.  There's a couple lines of his dialogue in the book that I REALLY hope make it to the show.   

[sylvanaire]

I've seen a lot of people discussing how badly Claire did with her initial interrogation with Colum and her subsequent one at the dinner table. Claire is described as having a glass face. Everything she thinks is there for anyone to see, therefore, she is a terrible liar! I think these scenes are establishing that fact for the audience.

I am so enjoying this show. I'm such a fan of the books that it is hard to be objective about the show, to know if it is really good or I'm just so in love with the whole series I'm projecting it onto the show. But I don't care! I'm reading everything I can find after each show airs. I watched the trailers for Episode 2 before I watched it & wish I hadn't so am staying away for future episodes.

This is my favorite show on TV!

[some1105]

I found Rupert to be absolutely adorable in this episode (setting aside the beating, with which he was obviously uncomfortable).  Claire's crossness with him seemed true to her character, and yet also unfair--she knows throughout the episode that she's at Leoch under forbearance at best and more like outright distrust, and yet she freaks about being watched.  It seemed pretty reasonable to me.  But aside from that, Rupert was so hysterically bad at stealth, with his ever-present Suspicious Gaze of Suspicion, and once called out, he was so matter-of-fact and gloriously rude about it.  Jamie gets all the love, so here's some hearts to you, Rupert.

[WatchrTina]

Can we just take a minute to observe the subtle humor in the arrival scene at the castle?  I loved Jamie's line "Murtaugh found her and Dougal said we must bring her along.  So." because of the implied "don't look at me, it's not my fault!"  In fact, I rather wish the director had milked that line for a bit more of the humor.  And then later when Jamie clearly has no interest in having his wound tended (you know he just wants a bed) all it takes is one "Jamie!" from Mrs. Fitz and he's brought to heel.  It's clear if Mrs. Fitz says "jump!" Jamie (and, I suspect, most of the inhabitants of the castle) would say "how high?"  I also like Claire and Jamie having a wee disagreement over whether or not he'll "be fine".  They are both strong-willed characters.  They're going to clash from time to time.

Edited August 22, 2014 by WatchrTina

[Bort]

At work I've spent the last eight months on this international project, which means dealing with quite a few Scots. And I don't know if it's just a difference between dealing with real Scottish people and not Scottish actors with many years of theater lessons but I'm telling you, I've spent the last many months talking to someone who's standing right in front of me, speaking the same language and I'll be all, "What... WHAT?" At any rate, I have NO problem understanding the accents on this show. Good, because I'd hate for close captioning to distract me from all the scenery porn. And yes, that includes Big Shirtless Jamie. My my my.

So anyway, yeah, I only just watched the two episodes last night. Period piece + time travel = interesting concept. I quite enjoyed it, the second episode more than the first, which I felt started a little slowly. This episode had way better pacing.

[Elsinore]

I quite liked that this episode focused more on Jamie and less on Frank / Randall.

 

I kinda hope now that Jamie has told the story of the double flogging, we won't be treated to a visual of it. Those scars were awful enough.

 

Totally Jamie's episode though. I loved his wit and his immediate faith in this woman he barely knows.

 

Colum's legs were freaky looking. I also thought they were reminiscent of goat legs.

 

Laoghaire is pronounced like "oh you filthy whore". Usually.

 

Geilis, however much I adore Lotte Verbeek, seemed a little off. I can't really define it yet.

[DoughGirl]

And I don't know if it's just a difference between dealing with real Scottish people and not Scottish actors with many years of theater lessons but I'm telling you, I've spent the last many months talking to someone who's standing right in front of me, speaking the same language and I'll be all, "What... WHAT?" At any rate, I have NO problem understanding the accents on this show.

Same here. While in Scotland I ran into a few people I could not understand at all, although not so much in Edinburgh, but haven't had any trouble with the show accents.

[some1105]

Laoghaire is pronounced like "oh you filthy whore". Usually.

 

Thank you for this.  In honor of my new hilarious show woobie, I award you four Ruperts.

 

Geilis, however much I adore Lotte Verbeek, seemed a little off. I can't really define it yet.

 

For me, it was that she was doing Intentional Weirdo.  I didn't hate it, I didn't mind the acting choice, but there was a calculated sing-song to her line readings that was less "I'm an oddball" and more "If you remember nothing else from our conversation, it should be that I.Am.Freaky.  Oh, and should you, by chance, need an abortion, I am really down with that."

Edited August 24, 2014 by some1105

[annlaw78]

 

Oh, and should you, by chance, need an abortion, I am really down with that."

Yeah, she was announcing she's Pro-Choice over 200 years before there was such a label.  They were still sentencing abortionists to prison in post-WWII Britain, so she'd probably better keep that to herself!

[Elsinore]

Yes also,  knowing what we book readers

know about Geilis the abortion thing might not be so strange.

 

Thought of it some more, and it seemed that she was more amused with Claire then anything else. Perhaps that's why the sing songy voice.

Edited August 23, 2014 by Athena
Book spoiler

[WatchrTina]

I've just now figured something out.  I could no understand by Colum's wife tosses Claire a bannock in the dining room scene.  It just seems like such inappropriate behavior.  Af first I thought it was to make us think that she was a light-hearted soul.  But why?  She's barely in the episode.  Then I assumed it happened because her passing Claire a bannock the regular way would require her to reach across Colum an that was just too awkward the way the table was set up.  But still, why have the line at all?

 

I've just realized there are a few Scottish words that come up a LOT in the book and probably will turn up in the show so they need to be defined for the non-readers.  Colum's wife talks about baking bannocks (complete with visual aid), the kid in the village confesses to stealing two bannocks (then Claire helpfully defines them as a "loaf of bread") and Mrs. Fitz says the bannocks in Claire's going-away basket will be good for two days.  Mission accomplished. If any non-readers complain later on about not knowing what a bannock is, they just aren't paying attention (or re-watching the episodes obsessively enough.)

 

The same goes for the word "ken" (which means know).  It gets used many times in this episode so it's great when Claire goes to the trouble of saying to Dougal that perhaps he doesn't "ken" [emphasis hers] Colum's mind as well as he thinks he does.