S02.E02: Not In Scotland Anymore

[LilJen]

On 8/10/2019 at 6:09 PM, Cdh20 said:

We have a joke in Canada that all of us (many generation Canadians) has at least 1 Scottish grandparent! 

Did you end up enjoying the rest of season 2?

Yes, enjoyed being back in Scotland more than the French machinations.

[Cdh20]

2 hours ago, LilJen said:

Yes, enjoyed being back in Scotland more than the French machinations.

The thing I loved the most about France were those capes Claire wore!! And clean shaven Jamie -well maybe not that, he's even better with scruff!

And much of season 3 is a treat! Hope you get to watch soon! 

Edited September 10, 2019 by Cdh20

[Camera One]

Oops, I didn't realize there was a Book Spoiler version of this thread, and I went into it by mistake. 

I don't miss Scotland per se, but I'm not finding the storyline in France too engrossing.  I might have been more interested if the story slowed down and we saw Claire and Jaime adjust to life there, and we could have seen a bit more of Paris of the time.  I was glad we got to go to Versailles, but it all felt contrived.  I hope we won't get the usual tired subplot of a drawn out lie now that Claire knows surprise surprise that Blackjack is still alive.  This mission to change history isn't as interesting as I was expecting it to be.   The story seems to be more concerned with sexual escapades and edgy content.  I don't find myself liking any of the characters, unfortunately.

Edited March 1, 2021 by Camera One

[Anothermi]

They got me hook, line and sinker with the old Christmas Panto ploy:

Claire- Black Jack Randal is dead.

Charming Randal Brother- OH NO HE’S NOT!

Dead fish Me-  ...but   ...but   ...but

And the moral of the story, children, is that if the show doesn’t provide a flashback of Frank and Reverend Wakefield talking about it? Claire is lying to us about Black Jack Randal’s death!

 I don’t remember anything else. Oh. Except:

Murtagh was Magnificent!

Edited March 27, 2021 by Anothermi

[Pallas]

7 hours ago, Anothermi said:

They got me hook, line and sinker with the old Christmas Panto ploy:

Claire- Black Jack Randal is dead.

Charming Randal Brother- OH NO HE’S NOT!

Dead fish Me-  ...but   ...but   ...but

And the moral of the story, children, is that if the show doesn’t provide a flashback of Frank and Reverend Wakefield talking about it? Claire is lying to us about Black Jack Randal’s death!

 

Hilarious. Especially Charming Randall Brother, playing along with a jolly OH NO HE'S NOT!  Also, your pointing out the Christmas Panto Pop-Up Exposition Elves hiding out in the pantry with Mrs. Graham when the question arises, "Just when did the bastard die?" 

I do miss the young buck in the opening credits, but admire the carriage shots. The French are drawn a little broadly, no?, and at one point Louise seems to be translating from the original Yiddish ("But mahn-kee? Not zo much"). While Claire and Jamie's munificent clothing allowance is what happens when the man drawing 35% of the profits is the man in charge of the accounts. They've gone Hollywood. 

 

[gingerella]

Well I figured that piece of rotting shit wasn't quite dead because they've left him for dead twice now, bastard. They ought to have stabbed him on the way out but they were understandably in a hurry. I wondered if Claire really remembered his death date or made it up to freak him out because it did seem like she knew his birth date from the look on his face. That said, if she did know his death date then surely she already knew he wasn't really dead, yet she acted like it was a shock to her at the party where she found out.

Speaking of France, the French are portrayed as so vapid and vacuous compared to the salt of the earth Scots, aren't they? It couldn't be more of a contradiction of social mores if it tried. Even the sword training that Murtagh was giving Jamie, the onlookers were shocked, and even the men looked so priggish and effeminate compared to our manly Scotsmen, or should I differentiate and say Highlanders?!? That scene was lovely with Murtagh trying to give Jamie some physical therapy as well as mental health therapy. The flashbacks any time Claire and Jaime try to get intimate were done well in that I'd assume that would happen under the circumstances and I'm glad they're not jumping back into their glorious sex scenes, which I find myself longing for because they are beautifully done and reflect a more innocent time in their union. But the whole full Brazilian waxing but seemed gratuitous at best. I mean, was that even done in France during that time frame?! It seems like it would not have been. And for Claire to do it to get a rise from Jamie - yes, pun intended because it was too easy not to - that seems out of place as well. I'd have assumed Jamie, being a Highlander who loves living close to the land, would prefer his woman to have a forest he can wander through, instead of a honeypot sitting out there in all it's glory so to speak! I suppose it was all heading for a plot device that says no man can resist a freshly waxed twat...seriously Show? Whatever, they lost me with that one.

When Claire first steps out to go to the chemist her hat looks far too 1940s/50s to me and that confused me greatly. As did her short red gown, and it further confused me that Jamie was so taken aback at the front being lower cut given that her initial dresses from the House of Mrs. Fitz Couture had her breasts bulging over her neckline. I guess that's normal in Scotland at the time, but the 2-3 inches of center line showing was somehow indecent?!

The Duke I didn't recognize at first and then realized who he was. So he admitted to giving BJR that paper immediately, scumbag. I hope he meets a demise shortly because he is not to be trusted. Certainly he must have many enemies as a result... The brother of BJR, why do I get the feeling they are going to be sympathetic to him? Uch. Just kill of the lot of them. Then again, if the Randall men are all killed off now then perhaps that would affect Frank being born, which I'm okay with, but I figure the Show isn't so...I fear these creeps will remain for a while more.

I loved the Apothecary Shop and hope we see a bit more of those characters. But overall I'm not liking France at all. It's funny, for all the hoopla over how refined and beautiful the French and their culture is, they come across as superficial and shallow, only interested in the outward appearance and lacking any substance at all, which makes Jamie and Murtagh all the more deep and interesting. Claire could easily succumb to the French way of life I think, but never Jamie or Murtagh!

I did laugh when Murtagh called Rupert and Angus "Fatty and Big head" or whatever it was he called them, and then Jamie noted that indeed Angus' head was too big for his body! We need that levity right now because it all seems so hopeless. BPC is an entitled, clueless twit who was immediately pegged by both Jamie and Murtagh, and I loved both their replies to him, especially Murtagh's question. But WHY, after meeting Jaime once, would BPC pin all his hopes on Jamie and ask him to liaise with the Minister of Finance on his behalf? That seemed either daft, or he's testing Jamie. It just did not ring true at all to me.

And last but not least, there was almost no mention of Claire's pregnancy at all was there? I think the maid or someone mentioned it at the very beginning and then nothing the entire episode. Did they think we forgot about such a monumental story line?!?

Edited March 27, 2021 by gingerella

[Cdh20]

On 6/7/2016 at 3:23 PM, piequinn35 said:

What was that the queen wearing or not wearing?  lol

Still on episode 2 here...

I think she was a mistress NOT the queen! 

[Anothermi]

6 hours ago, gingerella said:

I wondered if Claire really remembered his death date or made it up to freak him out because it did seem like she knew his birth date from the look on his face. That said, if she did know his death date then surely she already knew he wasn't really dead, yet she acted like it was a shock to her at the party where she found out.

Yep. That's when I knew we'd been had and that she added the hour of his death just to freak him out. 

6 hours ago, gingerella said:

Speaking of France, the French are portrayed as so vapid and vacuous compared to the salt of the earth Scots, aren't they? It couldn't be more of a contradiction of social mores if it tried.

But then, in Scotland all we'd seen of the upper classes was Lord SmirklyFace and the military idjits that bought their status in the Army. The apothecary and his assistant in France seem to be the closest we've seen to middle class French people.  The lifestyle of the Court—among  many other systems that treated the salt of the earth folk more like dirt than salt—was why those common folks rebelled  almost half a century later. 

6 hours ago, gingerella said:

When Claire first steps out to go to the chemist her hat looks far too 1940s/50s to me and that confused me greatly. As did her short red gown, and it further confused me that Jamie was so taken aback at the front being lower cut given that her initial dresses from the House of Mrs. Fitz Couture had her breasts bulging over her neckline.

That is true about the hat, but there are illustrations of slightly similar hats if you google 1700 fashion, France. What is strikingly different is that Claire was not wearing a wig—nor were Jamie and Murtagh—but the illustrations from that time indicate a wig was a standard part of a woman's apparel. There are also illustrations of dresses that short, but they all seem to be designed to emulate shepherdesses.  I expect liberties were taken by the show. And those red shoes certainly deserved to be seen!

6 hours ago, gingerella said:

I hope he meets a demise shortly because he is not to be trusted.

So, you weren't in favour of Jamie and Claire stopping Murtagh from making it sooner?  🤣🤣🤣

7 hours ago, gingerella said:

I did laugh when Murtagh called Rupert and Angus "Fatty and Big head" or whatever it was he called them

"Lard bucket and Big head".  Yes. Much more descriptive than my nickname attempt.  

And I loved when Jamie says:  Is your longing for home worth the murder of a prince and The King? No, for all we know, the death of his son would make James even more determined to sit on the English throne. 

And Murtagh replies: I talk of action and YOU give me logic.

[gingerella]

One thing I keep forgetting to mention, and now that we know scumbucket is alive AND Claire's just made the acquaintance of his brother, who by all accounts seems a decent lad...we know Jamie knows Claire's first husband is called Frank, yes? But thus far, she hasn't told him Frank is a relative of BJR, has she? I don't think she has, and I am dreading that conversation...

[Cdh20]

50 minutes ago, gingerella said:

One thing I keep forgetting to mention, and now that we know scumbucket is alive AND Claire's just made the acquaintance of his brother, who by all accounts seems a decent lad...we know Jamie knows Claire's first husband is called Frank, yes? But thus far, she hasn't told him Frank is a relative of BJR, has she? I don't think she has, and I am dreading that conversation...

In 111,  when Claire tells Jamie where/when she came from, she says she told him the whole story which I assume includes that Frank is a descendant of Jack.

Edited March 29, 2021 by Cdh20
Spelling

[SassAndSnacks]

On 3/28/2021 at 1:32 AM, Anothermi said:

And I loved when Jamie says:  Is your longing for home worth the murder of a prince and The King? No, for all we know, the death of his son would make James even more determined to sit on the English throne. 

And Murtagh replies: I talk of action and YOU give me logic.

My favorite part of this episode.  The rest...meh.  Just a lot of exposition that didn't do much for me, really.  And I know this is sacrilege, but I did not care for the red dress.  

[Anothermi]

30 minutes ago, SassAndSnacks said:

I did not care for the red dress

How about the red shoes? ! I thought they were worth a second look.  😁

[SassAndSnacks]

4 hours ago, Anothermi said:

How about the red shoes?

Mmmm...no...sorry.  And I love shoes very, very much. 

Cait is a former super model, so she can rock the shit out of any outfit, and we've seen her do it.  And yes, she was rocking the shit out of that red dress.  The shoes were actually my second least favorite part of the dress.  Absolutely least favorite was the length.  But I digress.  We're trying to prevent an uprising here, people!

[mythoughtis]

Ok I am confused.  Why did Claire’s supposed friend force that odious man on her with false intentions?  Yes Claire and Jamie wanted to meet him, but not in that way. 

[gingerella]

4 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

Ok I am confused.  Why did Claire’s supposed friend force that odious man on her with false intentions?  Yes Claire and Jamie wanted to meet him, but not in that way. 

Not sure which odious Frenchman you are referring to - because there are so many - but that was how business was conducted. Tit for tat, pun intended.

[mythoughtis]

34 minutes ago, gingerella said:

Not sure which odious Frenchman you are referring to - because there are so many - but that was how business was conducted. Tit for tat, pun intended.

The finance  minister that put the moves on her until Jamie put  him in the water.  I felt her friend that told the guy that Claire wanted to meet him made implications that steered the man’s mind in the direction of a sexual encounter when Claire hadn’t implied that to her friend.  Of course, her friend had  sex on the brain   

Edited August 13, 2022 by mythoughtis