Outlander: Ye Dinna Get Used to It (7x14)

Is it my birthday?? John Grey-centric episode, Hal, PERSEVERANCE WAINWRIGHT?? Ahhhhh.

Cons:

Okay, like, obviously there is a ton about this show where you just kind of have to hold your nose and pretend this is like, a parallel fantasy reality that's not our own, but I have to say: the dinner scene with General Washington was just so icky to me. Everyone's getting all reverent and patriotic and Washington is painted very much in his mythic "father of our country" sort of vibe. And the whole time it's just like... yeah, future President George Washington, who also owned human beings as chattel? And Claire is not shown to have any sort of thoughts or feelings about this whatsoever. The show has always been so awkward about this, not wanting to look at it head-on. Like the Jocasta stuff at River Run always bothered me too, because Claire reacts to it more like it's casual bigotry that she's having to grin and bear for the sake of social politeness, and not literally, you know, the institution of slavery. I'm not saying Claire should throw a drink in George's face, that wouldn't be very strategic of her, for one thing. But I do wish the show didn't have her be quite so giddy and honored to be in his presence and receiving a Betsy Ross flag as a gift from him. It's yucky.

Small detail, but when William gets chastised for his uniform being in disarray, and is literally told "you look like a groom from my estate," it's like... oookay. A little too on the nose. Couldn't he have said "you look like one of those slovenly continental traitors" or something else that's also true about Jamie but that isn't so oddly specific? It was too silly.

Pros:

We don't get a ton of motion on the 20th century plot this week, but Brianna does find Rob Cameron with some accomplices hanging around her house, and by the end of the episode she's come to an important decision regarding her future: maybe it's time her and the kids go to Roger. Dun dun dun! More on that in the coming weeks, one assumes.

I loved the Ian and Rachel scene in this episode, I continue to be surprised by how much I've been converted to them as a couple. It's so cute to see them being all giggly and newlywed, and Rachel helping Ian with his war paint is something that can be so personal (and sexy) actually.

I really love the casting for Jane, too, and the way she puts William back on his heel. The scene where she explains how she doesn't know how money works is a good way to open William's eyes, and ours, about the true depth of the gulf between them in terms of not only social standing but also life experience. She's lived a life that most high born ladies would find horrifying, but she's also had this very sheltered, very small world she's never had to poke her head outside of. We learn that in order to protect her sister Fanny, Jane killed the dickhead who was hoping to take her virginity for a high price. They are now under William's protection, which is... complicated. William's got a lot going on in his life right now, not the least of which is Richardson sending him off on another quest, that we learn from a certain Monsieur Beauchamp is a trap. I continue to be really impressed with the William actor for portraying this simmering rage and despair alongside a good, stalwart heart.

While I was cringing at the canonization of George Washington as a mythic figure of good, I do still get a major kick out of Claire bumping into history while out and about in town. The stuff with Lafayette (or should I say Gilbert?) was incredibly charming. I love that Claire really loves to be flirted with? It's this thing about her that Jamie ordinarily doesn't really mind either, this courtly type of good manners paid to her by gentlemen who would never dare cross a real line about it. It was so cute, the whole bit where he offers to let her use his first name, and then gives her the cheese as an apology for bumping into her in the street. I love him.

As always I've saved my bestie John for last in this review - this was a proper John-centric episode in every way, we start the episode with a flashback to John and Hal, we end the episode with John and Percy, and we get a ton of juicy stuff in between. I was in heaven. I don't know if David Berry has ever looked more handsome to me than he did in this episode, I don't know what it is - not the gross eye or the eye patch, but like, I think the wig looks good and his constant expression of injured affront is just so tasty to me. So many little book details made it in here, like John calling Claire "my dear" when they run into each other (although I wish it had been in Jamie's hearing lol), and Claire asking Jamie to hold John still while she works on his eye. Just like... the amount of history and hurt feelings in that room as Jamie clamps onto John's shoulders, wincing in seeming horror at the sound of him in acute pain while Claire yoinks his eyeball around in his skull... there are entire essays one could write in honor of this whole situation.

I think one of the reasons this plot thread is among my favorites in the book is how... intimate and personal the anger between these people is, like, the depth of feeling between them is the reason for the break being so extreme now. John isn't an acquaintance, John isn't the father of Jamie's son by happenstance, these people care about each other, and they're entangled with each other because of that care, and that's what makes the conflict between them so rich and devastating. I really loved the bit where Jamie's like "well, I should turn him into Washington, but then he might be hanged" and then abruptly speaks to John directly for the first time like "what the devil were you thinking?!?!" Because it's like, "I'm so mad at you right now I can barely look at you and now you've put me in the position of having to protect you from being killed because obviously you're family and I can't let you die even though I kind of still want to punch you in the face again..." and then he's distressed by John's pain but not necessarily sorry for having hit him... chef's kiss.

Claire and John having this post-marriage softness in their dynamic is something I've always really loved too. After what they went through together, they're solid for life, they'll always have this deep affection and respect for each other. And you see it in the way Claire touches his shoulder, and says she's sorry to John, and offers her support to him before leaving him alone with Percy at the end, there.

And let's talk about Percy. "For your beautiful eyes" like, sir, this is a Wendy's. The minute this guy's name came up at the dinner party I made a sound like a tea kettle going off. I'm so hyped to have John's most intense reciprocal love on our screens at last. They have, shall we say, a contentious backstory, and I'm delighted to see him here and to have this juicy opening scene between the two men, because it speaks to the possibility of getting even more John-related content moving forward as we dig into the deal between these two men. Also continuing to make me feel insane about the Jamie of it all, when Percy tenderly touches John's face and asks "who did this to you?" John's response is to say "a man who has a right to touch me." Which is just!!! Big yikes! I love!!!

I don't think the words "our son" ever cross Jamie's lips in the books when he's talking to John directly about William. I may be wrong, but in any case I deeply loved it when it happened here. John tells Jamie that William is in danger, and the solution to this problem is for Jamie to set John, his prisoner, free, and send him off after William. That moment, where John makes a quip about getting used to being in chains, and Jamie says "ye dinna get used to it," is so rich with the history of these characters. The first time they met, Jamie overpowered him easily. The second time they met, Jamie was John's prisoner, and it stayed that way for a very long time. Now, John is under Jamie's power, and both of them resent the situation, but Jamie might resent it more than John does. That "our son" moment was a touch of apology and forgiveness, but mostly it was a setting aside of everything else: no matter how much anger exists between them at any given moment, they can be united in wanting to protect William.

So yeah. I'm a happy camper once again. All you gotta do is put John Grey on my screen and I'm ready to be delighted!

9/10