Outlander: Not in Scotland Anymore (2x02)

There is a lot to talk about in this episode. We are definitely not in Scotland anymore, that's for sure!

Cons:

One of the most consistent complaints I've had about this show is that it sometimes fails to trust its audience. This was particularly true in this week's episode. The plot is fairly basic - Claire and Jamie endeavor to start making contacts in the world of the Jacobites. Jamie meets with Charles Stuart in a brothel, and later Claire and Jamie attend the court, where they meet King Louis XV. The quickness of their progress into the center of court life might be a tad unrealistic, but more than that I felt like some of the dialogue was way too spot-on. Especially when Jamie and Murtagh go to meet Bonnie Prince Charlie in a brothel. They've been talking for literally two seconds when Charles tells Jamie that they need to get funding for the Jacobites and that they need to talk to the French Finance Minister, and that Jamie should go and do it because Charles is an unofficial guest in Paris. That's a lot of trust this guy is placing in Jamie, who he literally just met. I guess I understand the need to propel the plot forward and not waste time, but I think a lot of this information might have been presented to the audience with more subtlety.

This lack of subtlety is also apparent in the introduction of some of our new characters. We meet a lot of new people in this episode, and we got a few caricatures thrown in. Particularly, Louis XV and Bonnie Prince Charlie. Both of these two came across as bumbling comedic figures with no greater depth or substance. In the case of Louis XV, I think this more light-hearted take might work out wonderfully. In the case of Charles Stuart, I do hope that we add some complexity to his moronic countenance as the season continues. It's too early to judge too harshly.

One last thing: Jamie calls Claire's genitals her "honey pot" in this episode, and I would just like to lodge a complaint along the lines of "ewwww." That is all. Moving on.

Pros:

As is always true with this show, the atmosphere of this episode is stunning. It definitely feels like we're in France, and the depictions of the city, of Claire and Jamie's residence, and of Versailles were all excellent and elaborate. All of the costumes were stunning - particularly, of course, Claire's stand-out red dress. And then there's the nipple dress, which was a vivid enough description in the book, and looks pretty darn insane on the screen as well. I can't even imagine the level of detail and time and effort that goes in to costumes, props, and set design on this show. Serious kudos for making the world feel so immediate and real.

Despite my qualms about the cartoonish nature of a few of the new characters, I do want to praise this episode for how effectively it managed to introduce most of our new characters for the season. (There are a few more to come, of course). We've got the King of France, of course, who makes his memorable first appearance attempting (and failing) to take a shit in front of an entire crowd of anxious onlookers. There's Charles Stuart, who takes delight in the elaborate skits of the brothel women, and seems to be more than a little unhinged, but still grateful for Jamie's honesty.

We also meet Louise, a frivolous and silly new friend of Claire's. Louise could have veered into cartoon land as well, but I found myself really enjoying her. She's so different from Claire, and yet she's a genuinely nice person, for all of her silliness. She waxes her own "honey pot" (EWWW) in front of Claire and Mary Hawkins, a young English woman who is staying with Louise, much to her terror. Mary came across as very timid and sweet, and for us book readers who know her eventual significance, it was interesting to see her introduced here.

We also get our first glimpse of Master Raymond, a man who runs an apothecary. Claire goes to him to get a tonic for Jamie's nightmares and sleepless nights, and finds that her own name is already known to the man, who heard the story of Claire getting the Comte St. Germain's ship destroyed to protect people from the pox. It appears that Master Raymond and the Comte are enemies, which allies Raymond very nicely with Claire. I had a favorable first impression of Raymond's character. I can't wait to see what the actor does with all the juicy material waiting for him as we proceed.

But we must not forget our tried-and-true characters who carry over from Season One, specifically Murtagh, who was a lot of fun in this episode. He couldn't stop staring at all the beautiful women on display - including Claire, when she first came down the stairs in the fabulous red dress. He also spent his fair amount of time ogling the woman in the nipple dress. Oh, Murtagh. I love that even while being utilized for comedic reasons, Murtagh's loyalty and love for Jamie was still at the center of his actions. He helps Jamie to practice sword fighting with his injured hand, and accompanies him to his meeting with Charles Stuart, because, as he says to the prince, "where he goes, I go."

Even as this season and this episode in particular catapult us into a new setting, the trauma of last season's events still haunts our characters, Jamie in particular. There are two scenes where we see that Jamie is still very much haunted by what Jack Randall did to him. In one, he dreams that he's making love to Claire when suddenly Claire becomes Jack. Jamie brutally kills Jack. Later, when Jamie and Claire are in bed together, Claire again becomes Jack in Jamie's mind, and he's unable to continue. Claire understands, but she's devastated by Jamie's pain. I love how supportive Claire is, and I love that Jamie, while immensely frustrated by his situation, isn't taking it out on Claire. He does his best to be a good husband to her, and to respect her enough to share in the burden.

Then, of course, there's the big reveal: Black Jack Randall isn't dead. At Versailles, Claire is introduced to the Duke of Sandringham's new secretary: Alex Randall, the little brother of the infamous Black Jack. Alex mentions that he'll let his brother know that he's met Claire, and Claire is shocked to learn that Jack isn't dead. She wonders if she should tell Jamie or not. The consequences might be devastating. Alex Randall is another character to keep your eyes on, of course, and we're already setting up the connection between him and Mary Hawkins. I can't wait for more.

I'll end this review by saying that I appreciated how funny this episode ended up being. There was a lot to accomplish in just an hour: establish the lingering trauma that Jamie is experiencing, introduce a whole host of new characters, and propel our leads into the world of French politics, all while reminding us that saving Scotland is the bigger goal. There were too many funny moments to name, but I'll hit a couple of my favorites. Jamie's reaction to Claire in her dress isn't awestruck wonder, but rather "are you mad, woman? I can see all the way down to your third rib!" I also liked the silly brothel scene. It served as a reminder of this whole "we're not in Kansas anymore" vibe that this episode was trying to present.

The best moment was when Jamie runs in to an old friend at Versailles, a pretty woman who Jamie once fought a duel over. Claire's face is just priceless during this whole thing, as she looks at Jamie with a mix of amusement and condemnation. Absolutely hilarious. I also enjoyed the memorable moment when Claire gains an audience with the French financial minister (the mission that Bonnie Prince Charlie set for Jamie), and the minster, misunderstanding the reason she wished to meet him, starts to nuzzle and fondle her, over Claire's embarrassed protests. Jamie shows up, sees this scene, and, quite casually, pulls the man away from Claire and pushes him into the water. This scene could have been a dark echo of previous moments of sexual assault, but it was played for laughs to great effect. See, Claire wasn't in any danger. In fact, she was quite amused by the man's behavior, knowing it to come from a place of misunderstanding. And Jamie doesn't storm over all enraged. He just plucks the man off of his wife and tosses him aside as if it's nothing, while Claire tries to tell him that he's about to toss an important French official, one instrumental to their plans, over the wall.

There's also the stuff at the beginning, as Claire gets frustrated by all the servants in Jared's house. One maid in particular keeps asking her why she insists on making her own bed and folding her own clothes. When Claire says she'll attempt to be sloppier in her personal habits, the servant is overjoyed to hear it. This was a good moment of reminding us of how displaced Claire is both in location and in time. The idea of a house full of servants to take care of everything for her is quite foreign.

I'll stop there. A solid second installment in the season. I'm looking forward to next week in particular, because I believe we're going to meet Fergus, one of my favorite characters in the entire series!

8.5/10