Outlander: Uncharted (3x11)

I don't generally think of Outlander as a particularly comedic show, but you know what? It kind of works!

Cons:

We spend the first several minutes with Claire as she washes up on the beach of an unfamiliar island, and wanders through the forest trying to survive. There are fire ants, and snakes, and a lack of water, etc. etc. and it all just kind of drags on a bit. The acting was fine, but there was nothing here to elevate the scenes from exactly what we would expect.

I can put up with some conveniences for the sake of driving the plot forward, but come on. Are you telling me that Jamie's ship just happens to need repairs on the very island where Claire washed up? Pulease. I think this happens in the book too, but when there are several pages to explain the extreme coincidence, it comes across as less jarring. I call this the Les Miserables effect - novel vs. musical.

Most of the comedy here works really well, but one thing that bothered me was Mamacita's hatred of Claire. It's sort of explained as Mamacita being afraid that Father Fogden will forget his departed love, but even that doesn't seem like enough of a reason to call Claire a whore.

Given that Outlander isn't used to dealing in comedic fare, it's odd that the serious moments in this episode are the ones that fell the flattest for me. For example, we get more foreshadowing about Abandawe, which is another instance in which it works in the books but on the TV show it feels very contrived.

Pros:

Father Fogden is super hilarious oh my gosh. He keeps consulting this dried coconut called "Coco" and asking it for advice, which leads to this perfect moment where Claire decides to speak with Coco in order to ingratiate herself to Father Fogden and get assistance in finding Jamie. This is the kind of comedy that would be easy to screw up, but it works perfectly here. Also, Fogden gets so many great moments during the wedding ceremony between Fergus and Marsali. The best exchange is between him and the bride: "Not as though he's lost his cock. Uh, he hasn't, has he?" "If you'd hurry up and get on with it, I could find out!"

Speaking of the wedding, oh my goodness. So much adorableness going on here I can hardly contain myself. First we get Marsali and Claire starting to clear the air a bit. Marsali wants to know about birth control, and says she's nervous that she won't enjoy sex with Fergus. The show truncates these moments from the book, where Marsali and Claire get to know each other over time while on the ship. Still, I really loved their little moment together. And then, at the wedding itself, one of my absolute favorite Fergus moments happens. Father Fogden asks Fergus for his full name, and he awkwardly says that his name is just "Fergus." But of course he needs a surname, so... Jamie provides. His name is "Fergus Claudel Fraser." It's the perfect capstone to what we've all already known - Fergus is a Fraser. He's Jamie's son. This moment just means so much to me, and you can tell from Fergus' face that it means so much to him as well. The wedding really is the perfect way to ease some of the tension and pain of their current circumstances.

The Turtle Soup scene at the end was delightful, as we get to see a more fun side of the sexual relationship between Jamie and Claire. Caitriona Balfe plays drunk, silly, relieved Claire very well. It's never quite over the top, but it's enough that we get to enjoy her intoxication right along with Jamie. Just precious.

One other highlight: Mr. Willoughby's apology for killing Fogden's goat was pitch perfect. I like that this scene painted Fogden as the weird eccentric from a strange, exotic land, and Willoughby as the unwitting tourist who made an innocent mistake. There's a great deal of power in demystifying someone who a Western audience would deem to be the "other."

There you have it! What a delightful episode of Outlander. Just two more until the season is over...

8.5/10