S03.E13: Eye of the Storm

[Athena]

Quote

Claire is forced to play a game of cat and mouse with an old adversary as she searches for Young Ian. The Frasers race through the jungles of Jamaica to prevent the unthinkable.

Reminder: The is the book talk thread. This can include spoilers for ALL the books. If you wish to remain unspoiled for any of the books, please leave now and head to the No Book Talk episode thread.

[unlfan03]

Dang that was a fast 53 minutes. It was a good 53 minutes, but shorter than I had thought it could be. I was really hoping that Jamie would open his eyes and it would be Murtaugh poking at him to wake him up. Well there is always next season, stupid Droughtlander.

[FnkyChkn34]

Umm... amazing. 

For all my (our) complaints throughout the season, that wrapped it up so well. So good.  

[melody16]

Yay that was good!!! Although Claire was an idiot for not going below deck.

Favorite parts: loved the Jamie/Claire/Ian hug, the love scene (obviously), the looks Jamie and Claire shared on the beach, and the final shot with the music. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

Go Lord John!!!!!! ? Way to stick it to Leonard!!! I was clapping and cheering as he put that petulant boy trying to be a man in his place!

Paraphrasing:

John: “Where is the warrant?”

Leonard: “Uh, warrant? I, uh, don’t exactly have it yet. BUT I have Witnesses!! Yeah, witnesses!”

John: “Okay, then. I’m SURE you have the affidavits. Please produce those.”

Leonard: “Ummm...don’t have those drawn up yet.”

John: “So, no warrant, no affidavit; no cause or proof to arrest this man who didn’t commit crimes while on ship? Your “authority” ends on the edge of water, mine begins and I’m letting him go. Dismissed.”

Me: ??????????

Then I was all “GO CLAIRE!!!” when she nearly decapitated Geillis!!

I ??? at Wee Ian calling Geillis a blathering bitch!!

Geillis gone done cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. I found her very tiresome.

But the rest? Had me tense and on edge. That last scene in the storm, I kept hoping they wouldn’t end on a cliffhanger.

And I am all LALALALALALALALALALALAAA??????????????????????????????I CAN’T HEAR YOUUUUUU!!! To any and all who won’t like that last love scene between Jamie and Claire, along with the dialogue. My inner romantic heart and the romance lover in me LOVED IT!!!! LOVED IIIIIIT!!!!!!!

Me: ?❤️???????❤️?

The lines about Claire loving Jamie’s scrub. A SHIRTLESS Jamie!

 

 

Edited December 11, 2017 by GHScorpiosRule

[toolazy]

That was bonkers, but still pretty great.  I can't believe how much they squeezed into that one episode.  And while I was hoping for a Murtagh, I couldn't imagine any circumstances in which him turning up wouldn't hopelessly strain credulity. 

[Hybiscus]

Well freakin' done , Matt Roberts!  Yeah, Toni Graphia helped write, but Matt also directed.  I absolutely enjoyed it!  Margaret & YinTien Cho sail off to Martinique, Lord John Grey shows his commanding side, Claire & Jamie have true underwater hair.  

Shit.  Now I think I'll need to read "Drums of Autumn," even tho' I swore "Voyager" would be my last.

(Incidentally, as a former Navy officer, what Lord John says is/was true.  The Navy was much more "lax" about promotions.  I myself wore Lieutenant insignia for a few months even though I was a Lieutenant Junior Grade.  Not quite the LT to Capt jump, but mine wasn't a crises fake promotion.)

Edited December 10, 2017 by Hybiscus

[Quickbeam]

Well done, it is so hard to act under water. So flew by. 

[theschnauzers]

Can I just say they got everything right. ?

Notes not covered by others above. Joe’s discussion about the skeleton in 1968 suddenly comes back to Claire after she has finished off Geillis at the magical pond, giving clues to Claire about her time travel through the stones or in water.

The depicting of the hurricane at sea was especially well done. Clearly the hurricane’s eye brought them to the shoreline and they didn’t have to deal with the other side of the eyewall deep at sea.

And thank god the writers left that spot to be in Georgia. (When season 3 was going into production, RDM was indirectly quoted as saying, they’d come ashore in North Carolina.) It will work better in season 4 that way.

Edited December 10, 2017 by theschnauzers

[Crankybroad]

Wow. Thank you winter storm for forcing me to get the Starz app. I'm in Georgia and the 9 inches of snow zapped our cable and internet when it knocked out our power. I was desperate because I'd miss this finale, but unlimited data and the app saved the day! God, I enjoyed that! I've only started the books, so can someone explain why it's better they washed up in Georgia and not North Carolina where I know they end up? I'm thrilled it didn't end on a cliffhanger and they even let us know everyone on the Artemis didn't die. But I don't know if Jamie's tears at the end were joy or sorrow? I knew they were headed to the colonies, and I'm glad we don't have to spend episodes on the ship coming over next season. For some reason, I really don't like the episodes on boats. I'm happy for Willoughby and his lady friend, but I could have lived without the chicken sacrifice. One of my favorite parts was Marsali calling Fergus "Fergus Fraser" and insisting on going with him. I may come to like her yet. I also cheered when Claire killed Geillis and woke up my husband and dogs. I'm going to watch again right now. 

I loved the scene with John Grey! Pretty much I love all scenes with him. That actor's earnest expressions just break my heart. 

Edited December 10, 2017 by Crankybroad

[theschnauzers]

Crankybroad, in the book series, the story returns to Georgia with different characters from time to time. Especially in and near Savannah. And it doesn’t hurt that parts of old Savannah are still much as it was in that time period. There are events in Drums of Autumn before the story brings in Aunt Jocasta that to me, make more sense traveling between Savannah and Fayetteville, including a certain canine that makes their first appearance in Drums of Autumn. While the writers do of necessity have to streamline the plots from Drums of Autumn, it is nothing like the level they had to do with Voyager for season three.

 

I also checked and Wikipedia has a list of landfalling Atlantic hurricanes during the late 1760s, and it is likely one of them is the historical basis for the hurricane in this episode.

Atlantic hurricanes in the 18th Century.

[Dust Bunny]

That was great. Solid, all the way around. 

"But, first, I must hold you both." Family-man Jamie Fraser is my favorite.

I loved the dance scene. It really expressed how cultures can vary, but there are universal realities and experiences.

David Berry. Seriously. Please make a Lord John spin-off. He is liquid charisma, and the camera loves him. And David has gravitas to match Sam.

The hurricane effects were fabulous. It's good to know that Starz and Sony support this show enough to have a budget like that.

Loved that they kept the "plan" scene from the book. It's the inclusion of these small scenes that make such a big difference.

Bear McCreary is a gift to this show. I can't imagine Outlander without his music. It's sets the time and place, as much as anything on screen.

This episode is the Outlander that I stay for. Strong way to end the season.

[Cloudberryjam]

Loved the fife and drum music over the end credits!

Love Lord John

Loved the big underwater shot of Jamie swimming to Claire

Loved the last sweeping shot of the beach

The rabbit and the bird from Margaret

Margaret and Willoughby

Hope we see Murtagh at Jocastas...

Excited for S4!

[Petunia846]

On a whole that was very good, but tiny bits of dialogue were a bit off. Nothing important—the big scenes were well done—but for example when Jamie gets Claire out of Geilis' house, they run outside, stop, and Jamie says, "Which way?!" and Claire says, "This way!" and points the direction they were already going and then they keep running. Tiny things like that which weren't really necessary, but that's an extreme nitpick. Another one was on the boat in the storm a man is down and he yells, "Someone help me!" and Claire immediately yells, "Let me help you!" I just found her behavior/dialogue on deck during the storm pretty goofy. Once they were overboard the acting was great.

Loved the inclusion of that particular love scene (which is really from much earlier in the book, right?), but I did miss the line, after they get out of the cave where Jamie tells Ian, "I must just hold your Auntie now." Or something like that. I know what they did was similar, but...it's just a particular favorite of mine.

The intercutting of scenes in the "present" with flashbacks to earlier episodes was very interesting and well done. I had expected them to do it with the bones, and I like how they didn't just straight cut to a clip of that scene, but it kind of faded in and out. That was a nice way to reflect Claire's mental state. The flashes between the African dancing and the Druid dancing was surprising and, I thought, really smart. The scene with the dancing had the potential to be another racist landmine for them, but I thought intercutting it with the Druid dancing showed from Claire's point of view that it was a real, serious thing, not just some cultural tourism or window dressing for our story.

On a similar note...so happy our show!Yi Tien Cho gets a happy ending. Margaret's "prophesy" when she touched Jamie and Claire was interesting. The part about the rabbit and the bird is not in the book, right? And they kept in the bit where Margaret is channeling Bree. I never noticed that in the book until someone on this site was talking about it a few years ago. Very interesting.

I too expected Murtagh to be the one waking them up on the beach, but I guess we'll have to wait patiently. It's better that they didn't do it that way, but I'm still anxious.

And in conclusion, I finally *got* David Berry as Lord John this episode. That was a great scene.

[DittyDotDot]

3 hours ago, Crankybroad said:

I've only started the books, so can someone explain why it's better they washed up in Georgia and not North Carolina where I know they end up?

I don't know that it's better they landed in Georgia, but that's where they land in the book. Some of what happens on the road to North Carolina is pertinent to the larger story, but I'm not sure those same things couldn't happen if they had washed up closer to their final destination, though. I guess it just depends on how strongly you feel about them making changes from the books.

[cardigirl]

Well, just finished it. It was just okay to me. Last season’s ending episode was WAY WAY better, with the construction, and the filming, lighting, etc. 

I’ll rewatch it for sure, and it’s still a great show, just felt to me like the ending was squeezed into 57 minutes and would have been better served with another hour. 

Every episode in season two was so beautifully done, it was like watching a movie, and I didn’t feel that these last few episodes. 

Okay, I’ll stop being grumpy now. Must be the looming Droughtlander...

[Haleth]

4 hours ago, Dust Bunny said:

The hurricane effects were fabulous.

I won't watch until tonight but I wonder if the producers borrowed any of the hurricane footage (wide shots) from Black Sails.  

[LoveLeigh]

I think it was a wonderful season... so well done. However, I do not think we will see a new season before 2019. The long waits between the seasons are a real downer for me. 

They should consider airing half of the season when they finish creating it and then finish the season later. If they start filming in the spring, surely some of the episodes could air sooner. 

I was thinking of Westworld, which I think just started filming season 2. That season will probably air in the fall of 2018... which would make it two years between seasons. It all just seems frustrating. 

Edited December 10, 2017 by DakotaLavender

[Ziggy]

8 hours ago, DittyDotDot said:

12 hours ago, Crankybroad said:

so can someone explain why it's better they washed up in Georgia and not North Carolina where I know they end up?

I don't know that it's better they landed in Georgia, but that's where they land in the book. Some of what happens on the road to North Carolina is pertinent to the larger story, but I'm not sure those same things couldn't happen if they had washed up closer to their final destination, though. I guess it just depends on how strongly you feel about them making changes from the books.

I agree, I don't know that it's better, but it was Georgia in the book.  The one thing that made the book ending slightly better was that Jamie had never been arrested and he and Claire were both very concerned about Jamie being a wanted man.  They don't know where they are, and it takes a few questions before the wife realizes they need to know they are on the mainland.  (She first says the name of their plantation and then the name of their village or something before finally saying "the Colony of Georgia.")  Once they realize where they are, they tell her their names.  So there's just that little bit of added tension even on the last page of the book.

It's not a huge change, but Alexander Malcom vs. James Fraser is a much bigger deal throughout all of Voyager than it was in the show.

Edited December 10, 2017 by Ziggy
Spelling errors ... it was early :-)

[sas616]

1 hour ago, DakotaLavender said:

I think it was a wonderful season... so well done. However, I do not think we will see a new season before 2019. The long waits between the seasons are a real downer for me. 

They should consider airing half of the season when they finish creating it and then finish the season later. If they start filming in the spring, surely some of the episodes could air sooner. 

I was thinking of Westworld, which I think just started filming season 2. That season will probably air in the fall of 2018... which would make it two years between seasons. It all just seems frustrating. 

I'm not sure why Season 4 can't begin next September.  They are filming eps. 3 and 4 now and are scheduled to wrap the season in June.   Just like season 3.  Westworld in on HBO, isn't it? 

[Fallacy]

I had to suspend all realities about drowning and lack of oxygen to enjoy that last beach scene. I don't know why they waited for the beach for Claire to take a breathe. They needed to show her breathing while still in the ocean. It bugged me. 

I'm also not a big fan of narrating sex, but I'm sure most very much enjoyed that scene. I just have to get over the fact that these two love to talk about all the things they want to do to each other while doing them, but "dirty talk" was never my thing.

Still, Claire and Jamie had all the love and chemistry that keeps me watching this show, and I'm ready for next season.  

Edited December 10, 2017 by Fallacy

[ihartcoffee]

Westworld was a mind trip! It is on HBO. 

The episode was great,  I'll have to watch again later!  The hurricane scene was intense,  I couldn't imagine being in that.  The scene with Jon Grey was so awesome,  I'm loving that actor.  I always liked his character in the books.  

Sad it will be so long before the next season.  I recently found book 3 and 4 in my garage,  think I'll read them again and refresh my memory.  

[FnkyChkn34]

4 hours ago, DittyDotDot said:

I don't know that it's better they landed in Georgia, but that's where they land in the book. Some of what happens on the road to North Carolina is pertinent to the larger story, but I'm not sure those same things couldn't happen if they had washed up closer to their final destination, though. I guess it just depends on how strongly you feel about them making changes from the books.

And just to add, we never see them travel from Georgia to South Carolina. The next book opens with them in Charleston. So they could have landed there just the same. 

[WatchrTina]

Okay I'm posting without reading anyone else's reactions.

Oh. My. God.  That was a thrill ride.  Like at Six Flags (and not at Walt Disney World).  By which I mean that while it occasionally delivered some bonafide moments of epic adventure, it also served up forced moments and downright absurd, unnatural cheesy moments.  I laughed a lot during this episode -- often at things I was not supposed to laugh at.

I think the bottom line is that they just had to get through SO much plot in this episode that there was just no time to explain the things that made no sense (like how Mr. Willoughby and Margaret turned up at the bonfire when the last we saw, he was leaving the ball in a carriage with team Fraser and she was still her brother's clutches he was holding hands with Margaret in the Governor's garden.)

I love the show so I'll forgive them this huge plot-dump of an episode to wrap up the book but good grief that was a mess.  IMHO they could have skipped the silly sex scene.  It made perfect sense in the book where Jamie only talked -- they having no privacy and certainly no luxurious couch with a view at that time.  That scene made NO sense as shown given that they had  all that privacy and space.  Don't get me wrong -- I LOVE a good Jamie/Claire sex scene -- but that one embarrassed me because Jamie's narration seemed so . . . off.  And if they had cut it they might have had time to explain what the hell was going on at the Abernathy place.

Oh well, I don't much care.  Parts of it were excellent and it did what it needed to do -- wee Ian was rescued and Jamie & Claire ended up on the beach. (Just don't get me started on the relative indifference of the people on the beach who found them. They acted like they find people washed up on the beach all the time.  No big deal.  You all right then?  Well cheerio, we'll just continue our stroll.) 

I actually thought the episode was going to end when the camera pulled back from the eye of the hurricane.  I would have had to RIOT if they did that.  Okay, off to watch again.

Edited December 10, 2017 by WatchrTina
I misremembered what happened at the end of the last episode.

[FnkyChkn34]

3 hours ago, DakotaLavender said:

I think it was a wonderful season... so well done. However, I do not think we will see a new season before 2019. The long waits between the seasons are a real downer for me. 

They should consider airing half of the season when they finish creating it and then finish the season later. If they start filming in the spring, surely some of the episodes could air sooner. 

I was thinking of Westworld, which I think just started filming season 2. That season will probably air in the fall of 2018... which would make it two years between seasons. It all just seems frustrating. 

They are already filming and have said that they don't want long Droughtlanders between seasons. I think we'll see it in September 2018. 

I also saw that we're supposed to get a season 4 teaser already. It wasn't after the episode though like I thought it would be, so I'm not sure where it is. 

[WatchrTina]

8 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

I also saw that we're supposed to get a season 4 teaser already. It wasn't after the episode though like I thought it would be, so I'm not sure where it is. 

My understanding is that they'll air the Season 4 teaser after tonight's airing of the episode in its usual broadcast time slot.  We've all been watching OnDemand so now we know we'll have to watch it "live" as well.  (Like I wasn't already planning on doing that.)

[FnkyChkn34]

26 minutes ago, WatchrTina said:

My understanding is that they'll air the Season 4 teaser after tonight's airing of the episode in its usual broadcast time slot.  We've all been watching OnDemand so now we know we'll have to watch it "live" as well.  (Like I wasn't already planning on doing that.)

Oh, thanks! I don't actually get Starz through cable though, so I'll have to wait for YouTube... :(

[toolazy]

57 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

Oh, thanks! I don't actually get Starz through cable though, so I'll have to wait for YouTube... :(

I have no doubt that it'll be available on Monday and given how long we have to wait for the new season, I'm fine with waiting a day for the teaser.

 

The logistics of the hurricane kind of bug me because there is no way that the second half of that hurricane wouldn't have kicked their asses all over the beach.  At the very least, the storm surge would have washed them a lot further up the beach than they were.  But I'm not especially worried about it.  It always bugged me in the book, too.  

At the ceremony site, when they showed Claire's face framed by the foliage as she watched the dancers, I thought "ooh, like the druids!" and lo and behold, they showed the druids!  I loved that!  And I agree that it shows how cultures are often more similar than they are different.  

Edited December 10, 2017 by toolazy

[GingerMarie]

I must say Season 3 of Outlander has been just impressive  as Season 1 and 2.  Good and bad in each season but overall I feel the seasons just get better.  The chemistry between Jamie and Claire is just as strong as Season 1.  The secondary characters added a great deal to Season 3 and I will miss Yi Tein Cho.  But I am not really sure why he and Margaret needed to move to another island and not stay with Jamie.  Any insight in why this happened would be appreciated.  I really can't wait until Season 4.  I think our secondary characters are going to ROCK and that includes Brianna and Roger.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  PEACE

[mjforty]

I really liked this episode and I think this episode shows why some of the other episodes have fallen flat.  Because, while there was plenty of action going on, this ep took the time out to focus on the relationships between the characters.  From the sex scene between Jamie and Claire, to Fergus and Marsils’ moment where she reminds him she’s his wife, to Willoughby’s declaration of love, Lord John and Jamie’s conversation about saving each other’s lives and Jamie taking the time to hug Ian and Claire, this episode was peppered with reminders of the strong emotional connections these characters have for each other.  And that’s why other eps have fallen flat.  Because the writers were too focused in the action and not on the relationships or making up conflicts that weren’t in the book to add more “texture” to the story or to change things to make a character more sympathetic.  And it’s the relationships that are what make this story so enduring.  This episode is a perfect example of how you can weave the action and the emotional beats of the story together and nothing gets lost in the mix and you end up with a very satisfying viewing experience.

Edited December 10, 2017 by mjforty

[areca]

I did not enjoy Season 3 at all.  The writing and characterization was often off.  When it was right though, it was very, very right.  And I've noticed that the few times I thought it was right, included David Berry universally. Very interesting.  I'm hoping that America rekindles my love for this show, because I'm semi-off the train right now.

[GHScorpiosRule]

7 hours ago, Petunia846 said:

 The flashes between the African dancing and the Druid dancing was surprising and, I thought, really smart. 

The part about the rabbit and the bird is not in the book, right? And they kept in the bit where Margaret is channeling Bree. 

It was Jamaican, not African. And I agree, I loved the flashes between the two dances to show how very similar different cultures can be.

Right-the rabbit and bird weren’t in the buik. Interesting, I thought that Jamie actually saw Bree in the buik and not just Margaret channeling her with her voice. 

4 hours ago, Ziggy said:

 

It's not a huge change, but Alexander Malcome vs. James Frasier is a much bigger deal <snip>

It’s Malcolm and Fraser. No ‘e’ in the former and no ‘i’ in the latter.

[Petunia846]

1 minute ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

It was Jamaican, not African. And I agree, I loved the flashes between the two dances to show how very similar different cultures can be.

Were they not slaves newly transported to Jamaica from Africa performing their own traditional African dance? I'm not an expert on Jamaica, but it seems something considered "Jamaican" at that time would have been something from the Taino or Arawak people who were native to the island.

[Ziggy]

3 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

IMHO they could have skipped the silly sex scene ... if they had cut it they might have had time to explain what the hell was going on at the Abernathy place.

I agree completely with this.  A little romance is great, but I really would have liked it if more time had been spent on the cave and rescuing Ian, as well as on the storm and arriving in Georgia.  The latter two were a bit rushed.

Wish this finale had been longer like the Season 2 finale.

[GHScorpiosRule]

[theschnauzers]

7 hours ago, Petunia846 said:

Were they not slaves newly transported to Jamaica from Africa performing their own traditional African dance? I'm not an expert on Jamaica, but it seems something considered "Jamaican" at that time would have been something from the Taino or Arawak people who were native to the island.

No. There had been slaves in Jamaica for a couple hundred years by then, as well as the indigenous natives who had been enslaved. And as the one character noted in episode 12, there were a number of freed and escaped slaves as well. There was a group of them at and near the Abernathy Estate, and Geillis using their customs for her own reason. So these had been blended together over time

Edited December 11, 2017 by theschnauzers

[WatchrTina]

GENERAL

As I watched the opening credits I realized that they contained snippets of several scenes we had not yet seen – notably a love scene between Claire & Jamie (where he strokes her lip with a wash-cloth) and the scene of Jamie on the deck of a heaving ship, awash with waves.  I saw that and – knowing that we begin this episode with Jamie in custody and Ian still in Geillis’ clutches – I wondered “How the HELL are we going to get through all that in one episode?”  Now I know the answer: Rapidly, that’s how.

 

THE GOOD

That opening scene.  Mon Dieu!  “I was dead” (which is the opening line of the first “Jamie” chapter from Book 2) coupled with the “Faith” theme (the music that played when Claire returned home in Paris following the death of baby Faith) – well if that was calculated to tug at my heart-strings and set me up for an emotional episode – mission accomplished!

That group on the road with the torches was a nice foreshadowing to the fact that this episode was headed in a creepy, supernatural direction.

Did you see Geillis step into her shoes (her high-heeled shoes) just before Claire is brought in?  I liked that little touch – it suggests that Geillis wants to appear as imposing as possible when confronting anyone. In contrast she didn’t feel the need to do so when confronting wee Ian – which she did sitting on her bed.  That makes sense given that she’s been using him as a bed-slave. 

Lord John, Lord John, OMG Lord John!  Never was class privilege and the strictures of military hierarchy (not to mention intra-military distain of one branch for another) deployed in a more satisfying manner.  I just LOVE Lord John.  Did you notice that he obviously offered “Mr. Fraser” a seat while leaving the wee “Captain” Lieutenant standing?  Loved that.  There is the tiniest bit of screen chewing going on during that stand-off – all those meaningful looks between the three players – but I just LOVED that scene.

The choreography of the ritual around the fire was cool and the juxtaposition of Claire’s memory of the Mrs. Graham and her entourage performing a similar ritual around Craigh na Dun was wonderful.  Now I’m going to fan-wank that the timing of this ritual is similar to that of the Scottish ritual – shortly before sunrise.  That will allow me to hand-wave away the fact that when Claire, Jamie and Ian come out of the cave later on the sun has risen.

Oooh, that little moment when Margaret “sees” Jamie lying on he field after Cullodon and Jamie realizes what she’s seeing.  That reaction, “Christ!” and dropping her hand is a nice little moment to let us know that Margaret is for real. And Jamie’s reluctance to take her hand again in the next moment is perfect.

Ooooh that little moment in the cave where Claire warns Jamie that if the portal takes her she may not be able to come back and Jamie tells her if he is killed she must follow Gellis through the portal to protect Brianna.  Sigh.  It’s such a brief moment but in that moment they prepare themselves for the possibility of being separated through time AGAIN.  Heartbreaking.  And then Jamie drops his torch and pulls his dirk.  So Bad ass!

The first time through I thought that what Geillis poured on Ian was kerosene but on second viewing I saw that it looked like a liquor bottle she was wielding.  I also then recollected that all we’ve seen in this show as sources of light are candles and torches so the refining of kerosene must not exist yet.  Thank goodness!  I was being grossed out by the notion that all of Ian’s following scenes (including the hugging) occurred with him drenched in flammable petroleum products.  If he’s merely drenched in rum, well that’s not nearly so nasty (nor so flammable) and it will evaporate quickly.

I loved that Jamie taking Claire’s hand was enough to stop the mesmerizing call of the time portal.

I LOVED that Ian had the good sense to take all the gemstones that Geillis was using for her ritual.

Ooooh the call back to the bones that Joe Abernathy showed Claire!  I’d love to be in a room with a non-reader to see their reaction to that reveal.

That crane shot where Jamie is hugging them both and the camera pulls back way up high is cheesy as hell and I LOVE it.

This will not go down as my favorite sex scene – it’s an adaptation of a scene in the book that is MUCH better as written. In the book they don’t actually have sex – they’re in a cramped ship’s cabin with a tiny bunk and Jamie simply delivers a soliloquy about everything he’s going to do to Claire once has a shave and a wash and takes her back on shore into a secluded spot.  If I recall correctly this conversation marks the first time they are alone after all their misadventures as sea so they’ve been separated for a good long while, which makes the book scene even better.  That being said – Cait and Sam are very pretty people and I enjoyed watching the TV version of that scene.

I highly recommend watching the storm scene with good headphones on.  The creaking and moaning of the boat as it is tossed about really draws you into the intensity of the situation.

In fact the whole storm scene is terrific.  You can well imagine that there were experienced “Black Sails” crew-people on hand (hired as part of the South African crew) to advise in the filming of a realistic storm at sea because they have been there and done that many times.  That wave hitting them “broadside” – well that was awesome in the truest meaning of the word (i.e., “inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear”).

I have mixed feelings about the pull-back from Jamie & Claire in the water revealing them afloat in the eye of a hurricane.  I know that one possible tactic in a storm is to just pull in all your sails and “bob like a cork.”  I presume that’s what Jamie and Claire (and probably the Artemis) did, so their having survived IS plausible.  And that shot was really cool.  But damn, this show demands some willful suspension of disbelief.

Okay the first time I watched I thought it was odd and insensitive of the three colonists on the beach to just walk away from Jamie and Claire but when I watched the second time I saw that once they realized they were in America and embraced again Jamie is actually crying.  The man even makes a little gesture with his hand that I interpreted as “Right.  I can see your’re upset. We’ll just give you two a moment of privacy to pull yourself together.” It made me laugh.  Cue the drone shot and the sweeping, season-ending musical crescendo!

 

THE BAD

How could Claire have made it back to the hotel (and changed clothes and left again) before Fergus and Marsali got there?  At the end of the last episode Jamie tells Fergus “Have our carriages ready.  And find Willoughby.  We’ll meet you at the inn.”  Then Claire and Jamie learn that Ian is at Rose Hall.  So presumably that’s where they were headed when the little wanker (Captain Leonard) and his soldiers stopped them.  Fergus and Marsali, presumably went straight to the inn.  How did Claire beat them there?  The only fan-wank I can come up with is they lost a LOT of time looking for Mr. Willoughby at the party (he having already run off with Margaret at that point – more on THAT later) and then it took a while for them to get their carriage once they gave up looking for him.  But that’s a heck of a lot for the viewers to have to figure out.

Thank goodness for closed captions because without them I would not know what the heck Marsali was saying about Mr. Willoughby when they got back to the inn.  I misheard her twice.

This show (this episode in particular) is so DARK.  I don’t mean content – I mean you cannot see what is going on on-screen if you watch during the day with a normal amount of sunlight in the room.  I’m watching now on an iMac, which does a much better job of handling night scenes than my television (also my study is a naturally darker room than my living room) and I’m seeing so much more now than I saw on my TV the first time through.  It really annoys me that you cannot see what is happening on the TV screen during the night scenes unless you wait and watch at night with the lights off.  For example – I did wonder why Claire took such an interest in that pile of straw that the dog was harrying.  When I watched the second time I saw that you could see the legs of a white man sticking out of the straw.  Oh.

And speaking of that body – WHY is it there?  It’s been hinted that Geillis uses blood in her rituals. (We all know that wasn’t goat’s blood she was bathing in last episode, right?) but do we really think she just leaves dead bodies lying about the place?  I guess I can fan-wank that she leaves the bodies of her sacrifices in the area of the slaves’ quarters so that they must bury them (and also to terrify them) but again, that’s a LOT for the viewer to have to figure out.

When Gellis speaks of her first husband – the one she killed and burned to launch herself back in time – she says “Such a lovely cock.”  Seriously?  I know the writers are trying to signal to us how callous and cray-cray Geillis is but, seriously?

Okay, when Jamie shows up at the Abernathy place (and breaks in to Geillis’ house with lock-picking skills that we’ll just assume Fergus taught him) Claire asks “How?” and Jamie says “Fergus got word to John Grey.”  Oh PLEASE.  How – exactly – would Fergus know to reach out to John Grey?  Jamie didn’t know John was the governor until the ball.  Okay, okay, let’s all join hands and fan-wank that at some point during the party Jamie took Fergus aside and informed him that – as it turns out – Governor John Grey is a very old friend of his – a particular friend in fact.  Fine. <insert eye roll>  Then we’re just back to the sheer absurdity of Fergus – someone with no connections at all on the island -- somehow getting word to the Governor (the GOVERNOR) in time for that same Governor to dispatch a group of soldiers  to the docks to stop Leonard-the-wanker from taking Jamie into custody on his ship.  Somehow Fergus was able to accomplish this despite the fact that Leonard presumably took Jamie straight to the dock after capturing him on the road.  Once again, the passage of time in this episode is completely wonky.

So a community of escaped slaves who are living in secret on the island are planning on staging a fire-feast ritual (complete with drums and within earshot of a plantation) and they “invited” Miss Campbell to come to their ritual.  When?  How?  When last we saw her, Margaret and Yi Tien Cho were having a nice chat and some meaningful eye contact in the garden during the Governor’s ball.  Are we supposed to assume that an escaped slave snuck onto the grounds and invited Margaret (a complete stranger) to their bonfire and she and Yi Tien Cho said – “Sounds good.  Count us in!”  Okay that’s absurd so maybe I can fan-wank that Margaret was given the invitation while she was staying on the Abernathy plantation and so she had already been considering running away from the ball to attend the bonfire, and when she had her “one enchanted evening” moment with Yi Tien Cho she told him that she wanted to slip away to the bon-fire and he arranged it.  But then how did her piece-of-shit brother find them?  This episode . . . so many plot holes.

And then we get the most contrived exposition-dump in the history of the show – Archie the POS explains it all for you!  I laugh every time.

And then Yi Tien Cho snaps Archie’s neck just as the high priest snaps the neck of a white chicken so I guess we’re supposed to assume that the participants immediately think “If a white chicken is a good sacrifice than a white man must be even better” and thus they snatch him up to make him part of their ritual.  Okaaaaay.  Actually no, not okay.  Ridiculous.  And I suspect it’s insulting to anyone who practices Santeria as a religion.

I don’t understand why they added the line about Lord John using his influence to withdraw the warrant.  First of all there is no guarantee that he could do that and secondly they are already underway and on a ship (apparently bound for Scotland), long before any such action by Lord John could possibly have taken effect.  So if viewers are supposed to believe that they are headed back to Scotland right then, that line makes no sense.  It would have made more sense to say they were sailing to France, there to await word of the warrant having been lifted, at which time they would return Ian to his home.  Or they should have just stuck the book version in which Jamie knows he cannot go home to Scotland and must abandon the A. Malcolm identity that he used pretty much throughout the book.  It’s a lovely moment in the book when – realizing that they’ve landed in America – he is able to give his rescuers his real name.  The show, alas, has lost that thread of the story.

This is a nit-pick:  In the book, Claire getting turned on by Jamie’s facial hair makes more sense because they’ve been separated so long he’s actually grown a full beard.  In the TV show she’s getting all excited about 4 days growth and let’s face it – Jamie sporting a scruff of a few days growth is basically standard operating procedure for him.  We had to get used to clean-shaven Jamie when he turned up in Paris in Season 2.  So those straight-from-the-book lines don’t really make sense in the episode.  Oh well, who cares?  That scene is probably better with the sound turned off anyway since Jamie’s blow-by-blow description of what he’s going to do (while actually doing it) is a bit silly.

The order to “Secure the cargo and get below” when the storm is already fully underway is just dumb.  Surely they would have secured the cargo already?  You can see a storm coming from a good ways away on the ocean.

Oh no.  They used the “Wilhelm Scream” sound-effect when that one crewman gets washed overboard.  Shame on them.  So cheesy! (But I guess they included it as an “Easter Egg” for those who look for such things.  Google Wilhelm Scream if you are interested.)

Claire going up on deck after ordering everyone else on Team Fraser to stay below is the dumbest thing ever.  As a reader I understand the plot-necessary reason why she has to be up there (so she can be knocked overboard) but the TVwriters did not give the character a plausible reason for being up there. Anyone injured would be brought below to her.  Furthermore, when someone IS injured moments later and she (and another man) help him below, she fails to go below with the injured man.  It makes no sense.  The non-readers are going to be criticizing Claire for being reckless again, mark my words.

Okay, I’m pretty sure that when Jamie looks around the deck after that giant wave hits them broadside and then looks over the side, one is not supposed to laugh.  But I did.  Repeatedly.  Jamie finding Claire in that storm-tossed ocean, diving down into those dark waters with the skills of a Polynesian pearl-diver and the unerring targeting ability of  -- oh hell I can’t even come up with an apt simile for his ability to locate Claire underwater.  At any rate, that whole scene is ridiculous.  In fairness, it was probably ridiculous in the book but somehow I didn’t scoff so hard at it.  I guess I assumed that Book!Jamie saw Claire knocked into the water (when the mast broke), went in immediately afterward, and thrashed around quite a bit looking for her, perhaps following her down by using the ropes of the wreckage she was tangled in as a guide.  TV!Jamie, on the other hand, is Aquaman. You have to laugh.

 

THE UGLY

Geills says to Hercules (when she’s getting fed up with Claire’s explanations).  “You can have her.  Do what you will.”  Let’s just all stop and think about the ugly implications of THAT.

Yikes, when Claire strikes the killing blow Gellis’ head flops backward like a Pez dispenser. 

Edited December 11, 2017 by WatchrTina

[GHScorpiosRule]

43 minutes ago, WatchrTina said:

Yikes, when Claire strikes the killing blow Gellis’ head flops backward like a Pez dispenser. 

It might have been ugly, but I RELISHED it and think ye shood ha’ puit i’ under “THE GUID!” [sic]???

[Haleth]

As much as I loved learning about Scottish history and culture, the new home (and family) Jamie and Claire make is my favorite part of the series. 

[formergr]

Quote

It’s Malcolm and Fraser. No ‘e’ in the former and no ‘i’ in the latter.

That seems rather unnecessarily nitpicky...

[dbell1]

There was a ton to get through this episode, so I felt there was too much time spent on the road in carriages or watching the dancing. Loved the rewrite of Yi Tien Cho. Giving him and Margaret a new start was just touching. Geillis was just batshit. Claire going all momma bear to protect Bree was fabulous. I love Wee Ian in the books, wish we'd had more of him. That hug with Jamie, Claire and Ian outside of the cave was everything.

John's smackdown of Leonard was awesome. Loved that bit of rewriting too. Much better than the sea chase and all the saved sailors doomed.

I'm not sure how to handle Droughtlander time. I've been plowing through a re-read, and am almost done with the last buik. Might have to pick up the Lord John series.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Okay, I’m confused. I know that Game of Thrones’ next season isn’t until 2019, but I don’t recall this show’s fourth season being delayed two years. Did I miss that announcement?

I did wonder though, why Claire didn’t come back with “you lied to me too” when Geillis threw that accusation in Claire’s face-like about Wee Ian. Maybe she could tell she’d gibe batshit crazy? But then why the panicked “I have proof!” Never mind, I think I just answered why the panicked question.

I will say that at the end, on the shore of Georgia, I could see Jamie’s “beard,” in that it was more than his usual scrub, but difficult to see in the semi dark room, because the color is so light. But I’m not complaining because I got all giggly and ??? at Claire and Jamie rubbing their cheeks against each other.

Edited December 11, 2017 by GHScorpiosRule

[WatchrTina]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

But then why the panicked “I have proof!”

Because Geillis had just told Hercules he could have Claire to "do what you will."  Book!Hercules is a zombie.  TV!Hercules is not but still, he's big dude who hasn't minded manhandling Claire already so that's a pretty scary threat.  It may also have conjured up memories in Claire's mind of BlackJack threatening to "give" her to Marley -- another big scary dude.

Edited December 11, 2017 by WatchrTina

[theschnauzers]

Starz has already confirmed season 4 for this coming year, 2018. They’ve been at work filming the first several episodes already, hence, the tweet from Maril Davis this morning about filming in -7 weather. I imagines she means -7 C and not -7 F. Because that’s a big difference to work in.

Edited December 11, 2017 by theschnauzers

[mrsjoe]

Interesting that Jamie changing Willoughby's identity never really causes anything on the show. I love that Margaret gets a true happy ending instead of basically becoming a fragile deity.

The only problem with eliminating "the fiend" story line is that it made Reverand Campbell's killing seem a little bit like murder more than justice. I get it was sort of self defense, but it just seemed less justified somehow.

I too thought it was pretty odd to have Claire do the totally cliche cough after almost drowning when they did.

Having one book per season and only doing 13 episodes makes some things go so fast. The whole Geilles storyline, including her death, felt rushed. I have to wonder sometimes about the stuff they drag out (like the boat sex scene) compared to the stuff they cut or shorten. Interesting to me how the show really emphasizes Diana's reliance on huge coincidences for storylines to happen. Oh well. We'll just get to wait now for all of next season's enormous coincidences. 

[ferjy]

6 hours ago, WatchrTina said:

Yikes, when Claire strikes the killing blow Gellis’ head flops backward like a Pez dispenser. 
 

5 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

It might have been ugly, but I RELISHED it and think ye shood ha’ puit i’ under “THE GUID!” [sic]???

That head had to go. Geillis's hairline was so odd. The shiny forehead was near to bringing on a migraine.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Okay, so my dvr recording cut off right before the end of closing credits, so I missed the “tease.” BUT. It was just ending on the repeat airing and it wasn’t much. Just 10 seconds of Claire and Jamie sitting on a hill? With her telling him America is where people went to make their dreams come true. BUT. Then it returns to closing credits and the music is very American Revolutionary.?

And to use Jamie’s phrase: Thank Christ! The show is returning in 2018, NOT 2019. I think whoever thought and posted 2019, confused it for the return of Game of Thrones.

[Ziggy]

32 minutes ago, ferjy said:

That head had to go. Geillis's hairline was so odd. The shiny forehead was near to bringing on a migraine.

I didn't really understand that.  Was she supposed to have a receding hairline?  Is that supposed to be a sign of aging?  I don't know, I just found her whole appearance to be off.  I almost couldn't see "Geillis."

[WatchrTina]

They said in the podcast for the previous episode that they used some subtle prosthetics on Lotte's face to age her slightly but I don't know what was going on with her forehead.  They definitely put her in a wig -- they talked about learning how red-heads tend to fade as they age rather than go grey.  I think the bottom line is that Lotte has what Tyra Banks calls a "five finger forehead" (Tyra has one too) and we just noticed it more in this ep due to the wig.

ETA:  I googled images of Lotte and yep, she just has a big forehead.  Something about the wig must have made it seem more so than usual.

Edited December 11, 2017 by WatchrTina

[Ziggy]

33 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

And to use Jamie’s phrase: Thank Christ! The show is returning in 2018, NOT 2019. I think whoever thought and posted 2019, confused it for the return of Game of Thrones.

I just figured they were being pessimistic (or preparing themselves for a long wait).  After all, the previous Droughtlander was 14 months long!