S01.E05: Rent

[gingerella]

Loved the opening scene with Claire and Ned, it felt comforting that Claire seems to have another friend not foe in Ned. He has an interesting story IMO. “When men were men and the pernicious weed of civilization was less e wild Bonny face of this land...” Ha! That was such a great line. Beyond that scene I spent most of my viewing time wishing Claire would keep her sassy gob shut and stop calling out people on what she thought they were doing. She didn’t come across like this at all in the 1940s, maybe it’s her fight or flight response kicking into overdrive but I keep yelling at her to STFU.

The campfire scene where they’re all speaking Gaelic and being lewd, I could really related to Claire’s feeling excluded, I have been in such situations in other countries and it feels as if everyone is talking about you when they probably are not even thinking about you. Jaime, always willing to help Claire or help her feel less uncomfortable. I love that he knows she’s still thinking of how to escape. It must be unnerving to have someone you just met be able to read your mind.

The first time Dougal rips Jaime’s shirt off, I was a bit shocked, it felt so raw and so exploitative, especially since from what we know right now, Jaime is very private about his scars. Then when Claire thinks she knows what’s what and mouths off at Ned, assuming she knows what’s going on, it’s an issue Claire better rein in and stop mouthing off before she really understands what’s going on here. 

When she realizes what’s going on, and overhears Dougal talking about it to Jamie off camera and the following convo ensues:

Jamie: “I don’t take ye Dougal MacKenzie, kinsman or not, I don’t owe you any less”

Dougal: “I seem to recall a certain oath of obedience ‘as long as my feet rest on the lands of Clan MacKenzie”

Jaime: “I gave my oath to Colum not to you”

Dougal: “Its one and same laddie and you ken well...same laird, I am Colums head, hands as well as his legs”

Jaime: “Aye, better a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is up to”

Dougal: “MacKenzies, the MacBournes, The MacFinishes, none can force them them to get against their will, but we have something in common, we want our king back where he belongs.....don’t you?

*super awkward silence from Jaime* 

Dougal: “You have more to gain from a Stuart throne than I do, if you don’t want to save your own neck...”

Jaime: “Me neck is me own concern, and so is my back!”

Dougal: “Not while you travel with me sweet lad”

I wrote out he above dialogue because it clearly tells us that there IS indeed something special about Jaime, something so special that if Bonny Prince Charlie is reinstated as King, there is something very important that Jaime will gain. Jaime’s Christian name is James, perhaps this is significant and he is a direct descendant of King James? Jaime doesn’t strike me as someone would would take up a leadership post on any level. He doesn’t want to be Laird of Clan MacKenzie, so I doubt he would want a political position in a court of Bonny Prince Charlie. All that said, perhaps all Dougal means in this exchange is simply that If a Scottish King is back on the throne, then Jaime can petition for amnesty and no longer be no the run? The latter is the most simplistic explanation, but the former is more intriguing...I’m really not sure which is the right path but that conversation felt very important.

Just afterward, when Claire walks down to see him, Jaime tells Claire ‘a man has to choose what’s worth fighting for’ and they exchange smirks...Is he talking about her or is he talking about something bigger than them, something related to what Dougal just said? Again, I don’t know but I am intrigued.

I love that Claire sees them differently now but it’s so sad that she knows their mission will fail. I hope she doesn’t show them pity because that will be her downfall. They are far too proud to pity. 

The entire exchange about Jaime sleeping outside Claire’s door, and the look on his face when she invites him in to sleep where it’s warmer was priceless. He seems so innocent and shy, and inexperienced, and I would have thought him a real Lothario with his rugged good looks, but he really IS that good guy, that knight in shining armor that rescues fair maidens in distress...except he doesn’t wear armor, he wears a sexy kilt and a flouncy shirt! No wonder Dougal is threatened by him, he is truely a good man, a man with morals and integrity. 

And again Claire opens her gob and starts talking future shit with Ned, STFU woman! When Dougal follows her to the stream and demands that she tell him who she is, all I can think of is that all those hours that Claire’s been sitting atop her horse she better have been concocting her back story! I don’t think she will throw Dougal under the bus with the British though, I think for some reason which she probably doesn’t fully know or understand, she will protect him to the extent she can. She has softened to these people who essentially took her in, and it feels like she is seriously conflicted. If she really wanted to, she could say she was being kept against her will and they would likely kill Dougal, she knows this, and she won’t let things get to the that point. 

Edited March 14, 2021 by gingerella

[Anothermi]

Claire is not my favourite character in this episode. And what's with the manipulation of us viewers at the end—among other things? Normal!Claire can't keep her gob shut but confront her with a baby faced English soldier and she has no words. No support for Dougal's claims about her being there of her own free will is tantamount to claiming that she is a captive! Is she actually torn between the brutes who rescued her and the 'Assenachs? Does she think the British will let her do what she wants?  Jesus H Roosevelt Christ!

I'm sure her silence is just in service of the cliff-hanger ending, but I. Don't. Like. It. 

The other manipulation that annoyed me was the whole "I don't speak Gaelic and they're speaking it to annoy me" thing. The problem is that quite a number of them would have little knowledge of English. And yet, there are the women of this small village all speaking fluent English! Women, as a group, would be the last to learn a foreign language. It took me completely out of the episode.  So, now I've got to calm my breathing  and start again. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~calmness demarkation (kinda)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I started the episode being lulled by the voice of Ned Gowan (Bill Paterson, who's mellifluous tones narrated the feel-good BBC show The Repair Shop).  His voice makes me believe all is right with the world. And he seemed like a lovely man and Claire treated his asthma with natural remedies. What could be better?

We got to see how rents are collected and these clans people seem more willing to pay their share than depictions I've seen of rent collection from Englishmen during a similar time period. Especially given what we learned next. 

We moved quickly to Claire's exchange with the women, ALL of whom knew a foreign tongue—English. I waved my hands about pushing that unlikely scenario out of my mind and I enjoyed learning about the dying of the wool.  The piss involved in setting the dye was not a surprise nor was the singing really. I expect the point of that scene was that she got 'intel' on where her circle-of-stones is located in respect to where she was at that point. Oh, and that the baby was going hungry so the Laird could be paid. Then Claire was fetched back and, having stoked her internal fires of outrage did what she does best. Interfere in a belligerent way. (Sigh. She is a slow learner)

During the altercation she started, the new minister of Granchester an Englishman arrives to save her.  She loses her ability to speak. (Hope this will be explained because I was spitting tacks at the message she was sending him—"ooh, I can't speak out or these devils will hurt me".   Yup. Still can't believe she lost her tongue. 

It was interesting that Ben Gowan didn't disabuse her of the conclusions she had drawn. But, why would he? She might just run off and inform the English. She certainly acts like a (very inept) spy.  Her belief in her own superiority is breathtaking. I wished she would just remember that she was "no longer in Kansas" /wizard of Oz.  At least I was happy that Jamie told her not to judge things she doesn't understand—which is most everything in THIS world. 

Then finally she was able to put a few words of Gaelic together and with the assistance of a remembered conversation with Frank she realizes that the fund raising is not a charlatans scheme, but for a cause. Frank has his uses. 

All of a sudden she's sympathetic and they end up fighting to defend her honour, but because she has put no effort into even learning the basics of Gaelic she misunderstands even that and berates them for just being  juvenile. 

And then she thinks she has to dissuade them (or some one who might be able to) from participating in the coming attempt to put Bonny Prince Charley on the throne of Scotland even though she can't back up her knowledge without sounding crazy and comes across sounding like and Sassenach apologist instead. 

At least the Frank  memory tapes were once again brought in to explain the devastating consequences of losing that fight. The breaking up of the clans; the loss of all their property; the banning of Gaelic.  Me thinks knowing where Jamie is in the pecking order will not mean anything at that point.  

And so to the ending I was ranting about at the beginning. I know this episode was probably needed. But I didn't enjoy it.

On to a better one.

 

[gingerella]

I just remembered something possibly related to the exchange between Dougal and Jaime...Was it last episode, just before Jaime goes to pledge his obedience to Colum at the Gathering, where Jaime says "Je suis prest" to Claire. His family's house motto, "I am ready". This came back to me because of the comment Dougal makes when he says that Jaime has more to gain from a Stuart throne that he, Dougal, does. 'I am ready". Ready for what though, that is the question...Just wanted to file that here for safe keeping before I forget about it!

[Pallas]

Thank you for the transcription, gingerella! 

On 3/12/2021 at 12:40 AM, gingerella said:

Just afterward, when Claire walks down to see him, Jaime tells Claire ‘a man has to choose what’s worth fighting for’ and they exchange smirks...Is he talking about her or is he talking about something bigger than them, something related to what Dougal just said?

I think both. Jamie is advancing the idea that while he may not care for Dougal's peremptoriness, he is under obligation to the clan (and probably in agreement with the cause, which he and Dougal are discussing amongst themselves in English, in honor of their guest and the Hanoverians). He's trying to coach Claire by example: "Dear English lady, every night, my uncle turns me into a rhetorical device. And what of it. If a fight is what you live for, you'll always be busy and you'll never get much done. Go knock yourself out."  And Claire takes his point, barb and all. I'm fascinated by this capacity of Jamie to slip under her guard and bestow a lesson that Claire can hear and even acknowledge.  

On 3/12/2021 at 2:41 AM, Anothermi said:

Claire is not my favourite character in this episode. And what's with the manipulation of us viewers at the end—among other things? Normal!Claire can't keep her gob shut but confront her with a baby faced English soldier and she has no words.

This made me laugh and annoy the cat. But still: Claire is English. She's spent the last few weeks as a prisoner of her nationality, and the last five years as a commissioned English officer, serving with, surviving with, nursing, saving and losing thousands of English soldiers. These are her people, her first home. 

On 3/12/2021 at 2:41 AM, Anothermi said:

Then Claire was fetched back and, having stoked her internal fires of outrage did what she does best. Interfere in a belligerent way. (Sigh. She is a slow learner)

(Cat is now beyond annoyed.) Aye, and another thing that Claire does best is play defense to score points. She's someone who's easily nettled by her own wariness, and not afraid to strike first. In this situation, anyway. What gingerella said: 

On 3/12/2021 at 12:40 AM, gingerella said:

She didn’t come across like this at all in the 1940s, maybe it’s her fight or flight response kicking into overdrive

Yes, she's living in a state of constant fear, where each day's work is a barrage of decisions that could leave her stranded forever, or dead. Or more likely, the decision won't be hers, just the consequences. Living in fear, she is constantly yawing between fight or flight. Or freeze -- the third fear response, which I think Claire succumbs to at the end of the episode. She's frozen by the power of her internal conflict.

I really like that the show, or Caitriona, isn't afraid to show us a Claire who grew up in a British Empire that rules 1/4 of the world. She spent her youth traveling to foreign places that were mostly, likely, dominions of that Empire, among subject populations. She is used to deference. She may not seek it or like it but like Frank, it had its uses (bye, cat: thank Anothermi!): it gave her passage even where she wasn't welcome: even where being English was not a pretty thing to be. 

[SassAndSnacks]

On 3/12/2021 at 2:41 AM, Anothermi said:

Claire is not my favourite character in this episode.

Full disclosure - I am a BookClaire fangirl.  I usually rise to her defense in almost everything. I also have regular quibbles regarding how her character is portrayed in the show.  I totally get how she annoys the crap out of people with her inability to shut her trap.  I have a similar problem...

I think the main point about Claire is that she stands up, almost viciously and occasionally irrationality, for what she believes to be right.  No matter what the circumstances are, no matter who else is around her, no matter if she will get hurt or someone else will, she calls it out.  It is most often to her detriment.  I think its great that Jamie seems to be the one person that can actually speak to her in a way that she fully comprehends, whether she likes what is he saying to her or not.  

But also, I was pissed at her here that she wouldn't at least mend Jamie's shirt AND that she told Ned their cause was hopeless.

Overall, I think she is still desperately trying to make mental amends to the fact that she is actually in the past and WTF happened.  Her brain must constantly be going a mile a minute assessing not only what is currently happening right before her but also analyzing how she got here, how can she get back, can she get away, is she safe, what is going to happen tomorrow and on and on and on.  

On 3/12/2021 at 2:41 AM, Anothermi said:

On to a better one.

For me, I liked this one more after seeing other episodes.

1 hour ago, Pallas said:

I'm fascinated by this capacity of Jamie to slip under her guard and bestow a lesson that Claire can hear and even acknowledge.  

  Yes!  He's the Claire whisperer.  

1 hour ago, Pallas said:

She's spent the last few weeks as a prisoner of her nationality, and the last five years as a commissioned English officer, serving with, surviving with, nursing, saving and losing thousands of English soldiers. These are her people, her first home. 

Oh, goodness.  This is so perfectly said.  Even now, my natural inclination would be to trust a fellow American, but in reality some of us are freaking awful.  I think the fact that she actually served and fought and watched other die for her country only compounds her English-ness.

1 hour ago, Pallas said:

I really like that the show, or Caitriona, isn't afraid to show us a Claire who grew up in a British Empire that rules 1/4 of the world. She spent her youth traveling to foreign places that were mostly, likely, dominions of that Empire, among subject populations. She is used to deference. She may not seek it or like it but like Frank, it had its uses (bye, cat: thank Anothermi!): it gave her passage even where she wasn't welcome: even where being English was not a pretty thing to be. 

Ahh!  This is SO good.  She also came from a higher class, and so she is used to certain privileges that go along with that deference.  Sure, she can sleep in the dirt, eat a fresh kill, and go for days without bathing no problem.  But she is also used to a certain level of respect and having people respond to what she says.  The adjustment has to be mind-boggling.  

I also really like that Claire isn't perfect and that her flaws are pretty freaking visible and annoying.  

[Anothermi]

59 minutes ago, SassAndSnacks said:

Overall, I think she is still desperately trying to make mental amends to the fact that she is actually in the past and WTF happened.  Her brain must constantly be going a mile a minute assessing not only what is currently happening right before her but also analyzing how she got here, how can she get back, can she get away, is she safe, what is going to happen tomorrow and on and on and on.  

Well put @SassAndSnacks. I appreciate your point of view. I WAS easily annoyed when I wrote that, but I was aware that time could easily bring a new perspective for me. I do believe the show runners show us what we need to know. That's why I'm trying to keep track of the stuff I can't explain (to myself). Just not the day I viewed this episode. 

[Cdh20]

SassAndSnacks I had to give you a point just for saying Jamie is the Claire whisperer! Best line ever! 

[Beeyago]

On 3/12/2021 at 2:41 AM, Anothermi said:

Claire is not my favourite character in this episode.

 

Yep. Agree 100%.

[Camera One]

I like that so far, every episode has shown us a different aspect of Highland culture and how the society worked.  It was nice to see Claire talking to someone different (Ned).  I think I might watch a few more of Season 1 before going back to finish Season 2.