Outlander: The Bakra (3x12)

I've rarely been more split on my opinion about an episode of this show before. The stuff I loved, I loved, and I think it will be easy enough to guess what that stuff is. But then there are several things I found really aggravating and really did not enjoy. As always, let's start with those -

Cons:

Man, I was so excited for Geillis' return, but now that she's back, I really didn't like her in this episode. I know it's part of the book as well, but for some reason watching this woman in her forties sexually assaulting a teenage boy was even more disturbing to me this time around. And they made her unnecessarily sinister, what with the pool of blood and all of that. The thing that works about Geillis in the first book/season is that she's creepy but you're never entirely sure of her motivations, or how far exactly she'll go. She's kept in the shadows and hard to read. Here, all subtlety has gone out the window.

Then you've got Margaret Campbell and her brother, who are working with Geillis in order to figure out a prophecy that will tell Geillis when a Scottish King will sit on the throne. Again, I know we're pulling from the source material here, but come on. This is some campy shit. And Geillis does that exposition thing where she explains the plan to Margaret's brother even though he obviously already would have known it... the whole thing culminates in Margaret telling Lord John his fortune at the party, while holding the three sapphires that were handed down for generations, yadda yadda, and it felt like something out of a farce.

Even the scene where Geillis and Claire reunite felt forced and strange. I liked it back in Season One when you knew Geillis was fishy, but you could almost believe her affection for Claire was genuine. There's none of that subtleness on display here.

Pros:

But then on the other hand, this episode had some of the greatest Lord John moments ever, and I am so in love with that character. As much as I hated the stuff with Geillis and the Campbells, I loved the stuff with Lord John. Like. Oh my God. I feel like I want to break down and dissect every moment, but I'll try and spare you. John is so flustered and happy to see Jamie again. There's the way he refers to him as "Jamie," and Jamie calls him "John," a familiarity that warms my heart. And there's this moment when Jamie, John, and Claire go into John's office to speak in private and John makes this stuttering little step towards Jamie like he wants to embrace him, and you get the weird feeling that it's only Claire that stops him from doing so. Oh, and John keeps the sapphire that Jamie gave him, and wears it to "remember their friendship." Okay just kill me now.

After John leaves the room, Claire looks at Jamie, almost demanding an explanation. You can see it in her face: "dude, that man is super in love with you." I love the fact that Jamie doesn't offer that explanation. We know that Jamie told Claire all about John offscreen somewhere, but he clearly didn't mention that the man loved him, and there's this part of the friendship between Jamie and John that Claire isn't a part of. Claire and John next have a conversation. John is excessively polite, and he does seem pleased and astonished that Claire is alright. It's not that he wishes her dead, or anything. But there's this edge to him, seeing Jamie happy and in love, and Claire has an edge to her right back, as John remarks that she's returned to Jamie just as he hoped, and Claire simply responds: "yes, I have," with quite the tone of warning and superiority.

Okay, just one more paragraph on John and then I'll stop: there's a brief scene where Claire comes back into the party with Geillis, and she walks up to Jamie, who is sitting at a table with John. The two are clearly talking, catching up, and they both have the biggest smiles on their faces. I think what works about Lord John as a character isn't merely the fact that he's a nice and good man who has feelings for Jamie, but that he and Jamie actually do get along really well. They're good friends, and both genuinely enjoy the company of the other, on an intellectual as well as affectionate level. Even with all the social mores of the time, Jamie genuinely has gotten to a place where he doesn't resent or find disgusting John's love for him. He's able to smile away the fact that John keeps a token of him on his person at all times, even if he might fight it a tad uncomfortable. John's affection for Jamie isn't actually one-sided, even if Jamie doesn't feel for John in quite the same way.

Other stuff about this episode that I should really mention - Willoughby had the only good scene with Margaret Campbell, where he told her that she deserved much more than what her controlling brother was giving her. It was a sweet little moment of romance, to see these two people who are both outsiders for one reason or another, find some comfort in each other.

Jamie and Claire end up buying a slave in this episode, after Claire causes a scene at a slave auction in horror at what she's seeing. Not a ton comes of this, as of course Claire and Jamie free him immediately. They offer to take him with them to go somewhere a little safer for a freed black man, but the man takes his first opportunity to escape, which I quite liked. He's grateful to Jamie and Claire for setting him free, but he doesn't fall down on his knees and kiss their boots or anything. And Jamie and Claire actually ask him for his help in finding Young Ian, not as an order or as a condition for his freedom, but as a favor that he does help with. In fact, without this young man, Jamie and Claire would not have figured out that Geillis has something to do with Young Ian's whereabouts.

Fergus and Marsali are being adorable newlyweds, and I'm glad that they're still getting some screen time. Without spoiling anything about future books, let's just say I've always felt that Fergus' plot threads get downplayed at the expense of other things, and I'm always eager to keep him more center-stage when possible. I hope that the show can shed a light on Fergus moving forward, and give him a real chance to shine.

The episode ends with Jamie being arrested by the captain of the Artemis, as this young man had promised to do a few episodes back. Next week is the finale, and while I feel like we've gotten most of the pieces in place, I'm still anxious about the pacing... how on earth are they going to keep doing these behemoth books in thirteen episode chunks? Still, this has been a good season, and I'm excited to see how they wrap it all up.

7/10