Oh man. Laoghaire you bitch. I mean, I knew that was coming, obviously. But it makes me so angry every time I read the book. Ugh. Let's go over what happened.
The Duke of Sandringham is visiting Castle Leoch, and Murtagh believes Jamie might be able to ask the Duke for his help in clearing Jamie's name. Claire informs Jamie that the Duke is working with Black Jack Randall, but of course she cannot say how she knows. Jamie believes her, but decides that he should still give it a try. Wtih Ned Gowan's help, Jamie produces a record of Jonathan Randall's heinous actions against Claire. This report, signed by both Jamie and Claire, should get the Duke to stop working with the man.
The Duke agrees to help Jamie, but only if Jamie agrees to be his second in a duel against the MacDonalds. Jamie agrees, despite the fact that there's animosity between the Frasers and the MacDonalds. Jamie ends up skirmishing with one of the other men, and he is slightly wounded. However, it may have been worth the trouble - the Duke agrees to try and remove the price on Jamie's head so he can be a free man once again.
While all of this is going on, Claire confronts Laoghaire about the "ill wish" that Claire found under her bed. Laoghaire insists that Jamie belongs to her, and that the marriage between Claire and Jamie must be a loveless one. Laoghaire also reveals that Geillis Duncan was the one to sell Laoghaire the ill wish. Claire finds Geillis in the middle of a witch ritual in the woods, and thus learns that Geillis is pregnant. Geillis tells Claire that she didn't know the ill wish was meant for her - she sold it to Laoghaire without knowing its purpose. She also tells Claire that the baby she is carrying belongs to Dougal MacKenzie.
Dougal's wife, who has been locked away, sickly, this whole time, dies quite suddenly. Dougal is a drunken mess, and Claire is fetched to give him a sedative. Spouses seem to be dropping like flies - at dinner in the great hall, Geillis' husband Arthur Duncan collapses. Despite Claire's best efforts, he dies, and Claire is pretty sure she knows why - Geillis poisoned him with cyanide!
Colum is fed up with Dougal for his drunken tirade and his betrayal in gathering money for the Jacobites. He's also angry at Jamie for spilling MacDonald blood without his say-so, potentially stirring up trouble. Colum tells Jamie to go with Dougal away from the castle on his errands, and to leave Claire behind. Claire and Jamie say goodbye to each other, with Jamie warning Claire to stay away from Geillis.
However, when Claire gets a note from Geillis saying to come to the house quickly, Claire rushes off. Turns out, Geillis didn't send the note - it was a trap! Officials come to the house to arrest Geillis for witchcraft, and in the process of defending her, Claire winds up arrested as well. As the two women are being carted off, Claire gets a glimpse of Laoghaire hiding in the shadows, a satisfied smirk on her face.
Well! What did I think of this episode? I thought it was great! Even better than last week's triumphant return from hiatus. I do think there were a couple of missteps, however.
First of all, the Duke of Sandringham and Arthur Duncan both came across as caricatures instead of characters. They were both over the top bumbling fat guys, and I felt like both of these characters - but especially the Duke - could have used more nuance. The lack of nuance also goes for Laoghaire's character, but I talked about that in last week's review. It's not really anybody's fault except for perhaps Diana Gabaldon's... the character is just so one-note. Her motivation for being a villain is that she's a jilted girl with a crush. Weak!
But mostly I loved everything this episode had to offer. So many things to talk about.
First of all - the episode starts with Jamie going down on Claire. Yes, please. This was glorious. A lot of people have talked about this already in this show, but I do think it's pretty remarkable how much this show plays with the female gaze. That scene was all about Claire's pleasure, and the best part? Jamie was loving it. Like, he was really pissed off that Murtagh interrupted him while he was trying to bring Claire pleasure. Nice.
We get to see some of Claire's bad-ass nature in this episode. She confronts the Duke of Sandringham, without Jamie's knowledge, and brokers her own arrangement. Although I earlier complained about the Duke's characterization, I did absolutely love the moment when the Duke gets all freaked out that Jamie has been injured, because he doesn't want to incur Claire's wrath.
I think the real star of this episode was Geillis Duncan, played by the outstanding Lotte Verbeek. For the first time we're starting to see some of what makes Geillis tick. She is uncompromising in going after what she wants. She doesn't let any of the pesky facts of reality stand in her way, as is proven by the fact that she murdered her husband! The moment when Arthur Duncan dies is really intense - we see Geillis' initial reaction, which is basically restrained glee. Then, she puts on a very convincing performance of grief.
Another highlight was the scene in the woods, where we see Geillis dance around in her witch-y ritual. This whole scene was just so visually impressive. Claire remembers the scene at the standing stone circle, with all of the women twirling around, but here we have Geillis undergoing something a bit more visceral and physical. She seems to get sexual pleasure out of this ritual, out of her connection with the earth. Knowing what I know about Geillis from the books, it was so creepy, yet undeniably interesting, to see her in her element here.
Then of course there's the cruel cliffhanger at the end of this episode. So not cool. For the first time in this episode, we see Claire and Jamie fully settled in to their married life, with all of their problems sorted out, and then... Jamie has to leave. And Claire gets arrested! No rest for these two! I'm really excited about how all of these elements are coming together. This season is teasing out a lot of different plot threads, some of which don't actually get picked up on until later books. Thus far, the tapestry has been expertly woven. Can't wait for more!
9/10
First of all, the Duke of Sandringham and Arthur Duncan both came across as caricatures instead of characters. They were both over the top bumbling fat guys, and I felt like both of these characters - but especially the Duke - could have used more nuance. The lack of nuance also goes for Laoghaire's character, but I talked about that in last week's review. It's not really anybody's fault except for perhaps Diana Gabaldon's... the character is just so one-note. Her motivation for being a villain is that she's a jilted girl with a crush. Weak!
But mostly I loved everything this episode had to offer. So many things to talk about.
First of all - the episode starts with Jamie going down on Claire. Yes, please. This was glorious. A lot of people have talked about this already in this show, but I do think it's pretty remarkable how much this show plays with the female gaze. That scene was all about Claire's pleasure, and the best part? Jamie was loving it. Like, he was really pissed off that Murtagh interrupted him while he was trying to bring Claire pleasure. Nice.
We get to see some of Claire's bad-ass nature in this episode. She confronts the Duke of Sandringham, without Jamie's knowledge, and brokers her own arrangement. Although I earlier complained about the Duke's characterization, I did absolutely love the moment when the Duke gets all freaked out that Jamie has been injured, because he doesn't want to incur Claire's wrath.
I think the real star of this episode was Geillis Duncan, played by the outstanding Lotte Verbeek. For the first time we're starting to see some of what makes Geillis tick. She is uncompromising in going after what she wants. She doesn't let any of the pesky facts of reality stand in her way, as is proven by the fact that she murdered her husband! The moment when Arthur Duncan dies is really intense - we see Geillis' initial reaction, which is basically restrained glee. Then, she puts on a very convincing performance of grief.
Another highlight was the scene in the woods, where we see Geillis dance around in her witch-y ritual. This whole scene was just so visually impressive. Claire remembers the scene at the standing stone circle, with all of the women twirling around, but here we have Geillis undergoing something a bit more visceral and physical. She seems to get sexual pleasure out of this ritual, out of her connection with the earth. Knowing what I know about Geillis from the books, it was so creepy, yet undeniably interesting, to see her in her element here.
Then of course there's the cruel cliffhanger at the end of this episode. So not cool. For the first time in this episode, we see Claire and Jamie fully settled in to their married life, with all of their problems sorted out, and then... Jamie has to leave. And Claire gets arrested! No rest for these two! I'm really excited about how all of these elements are coming together. This season is teasing out a lot of different plot threads, some of which don't actually get picked up on until later books. Thus far, the tapestry has been expertly woven. Can't wait for more!
9/10
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